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This Week with Henri Nouwen – Two Sides of One Faith

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 12:48 PM

This Week with Henri Nouwen – Two Sides of One Faith: "

Van Gogh“Our faith in God who sent his Son to become God-with-us and who, with his Son, sent his Spirit to become God-within-us cannot be real without our faith in the Church. The Church is that unlikely body of people through whom God chooses to reveal God’s love for us. Just as it seems unlikely to us that God chose to become human in a young girl living in a small, not very respected town in the Middle East nearly two thousand years ago, it seems unlikely that God chose to continue his work of salvation in a community of people constantly torn apart by arguments, prejudices, authority conflicts, and power games.


Still, believing in Jesus and believing in the Church are two sides of one faith. It is unlikely but divine!” – Henri Nouwen




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All Things

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 12:43 PM

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 NIV)  

Friday Proverbs: A Little Slumber

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 12:12 PM

Friday Proverbs: A Little Slumber: "


A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

- Proverbs 6:10-11

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#1 With a Bullet

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 8:41 PM

#1 With a Bullet: "“The first care of every Christian ought to be, to lay aside all reliance on works, and strengthen his faith alone more and more, and by it grow in the knowledge, not of works, but of Christ Jesus, who has suffered and risen again for him.”

- Martin Luther, Christian Liberty

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John Hosier on: Simplicity & Generosity

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 6:35 PM

John Hosier on: Simplicity & Generosity: "From a talk John Hosier did on 'remembering the poor' at CCK Brighton.



'If we reject materialism and asceticism it seems to me we are left with the biblical way of generosity, which in turn is linked with simplicity. Simplicity is not to be understood in 'nothing' but 'enough.' When we consider the needs of the poor, and indeed the needs of world mission, then there is a challenge to generosity - something that can always be increased as we simplify our lifestyle.



This is a sensitive area, for simplicity can easily become pharisaical when we begin to bring our opinion and judgement to bear on how others should simplify their lifestyle. (And particularly pharisaical if others should suggest how we might simplify our lifestyle!) The reality is that we are all extravagant in different ways. Voluntary simplicity of lifestyle is a way to increase our generosity.'

"

Much difference?

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 1:27 AM

Much difference?: "
Fred Sanders reflects on the death of Paul Tillich -- liberal theologian, serial adulterer -- here. Sanders recounts:

After his death, [Tillich's wife Hannah] returns home and opens his locked drawers. “All the girls’ photos fell out, letters and poems, passionate appeal and disgust. Beside the drawers, which were supposed to contain his spiritual harvest, the books he had written and the unpublished manuscripts all lay in unprotected confusion. I was tempted to place between the sacred pages of his highly esteemed lifework those obscene signs of the real life . . . .'

If there could be placed between the sacred pages of our theological lifework the obscene signs of the real life, would there be much difference between Paul Tillich and us, really?

'Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.' 2 Timothy 2:19
"

Wendell Berry "the food system"

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 1:04 PM

The Food System is firmly grounded on the following principles:

  • Food is important mainly as an article of international trade.
  • It doesn't matter what happens to farmers.
  • It doesn't matter what happens to the land.
  • Agriculture has nothing to do with "the environment."
  • There will always be plenty of food, for if farmers don't grow it from the soil, then scientists will invent it.
  • There is no connection between food and health. People are fed by the food industry, which pays no attention to health, and are healed by the health industry, which pays no attention to food.
  • It follows that there is no connection between healing and health. Hospitals customarily feed their patients poor-quality, awful-tasting, factory-made expensive food and keep them awake all night with various expensive attentions. There is a connection between money and health.
Wendell Berry (Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community, 1994).

Free Tim Keller Sermons - Great Resource

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 3:02 PM

Free Tim Keller Sermons - Great Resource: "

Tim-keller-free-sermons Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York has opened up a new free sermon resource, starting with 150 of Pastor Tim Keller’s sermons, all categorized, labeled, and downloadable, at this site:



Here’s more info from the site:



    Redeemer’s Sermon Ministry has been faithfully recording, cataloging and reproducing all of our sermons for the past 20 years. To celebrate all 20 years of our history, and to meet the growing demand for our church’s teaching in New York City and around the world, we have created this resource of 150 sermons and lectures covering a broad array of topics, completely free to download and share.


    The recordings chosen for the Free Sermon Resource were culled from classic sermon series as well as lectures and seminar addresses delivered to various Redeemer ministry gatherings, and are intended to present to the listener the full scope of teachings they would receive over several years of active involvement at Redeemer.

This is an amazing new resource, and there will be more content getting added regularly, so tell all your friends: Redeemer Free Sermon Resource. (HT)

"

Manifesto- Wendell Berry

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 11:51 AM


Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front
Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion — put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?
Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn’t go.
Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.
Wendell Berry

It's all about Relationships!!!

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 11:43 AM


Group Magazine did a "Cool Church" survey, asking teenagers to rate factors that influence their commitment to church. The things most frequently rated "very important" were:
  • A welcoming atmosphere where you can be yourself (73%)
  • Quality relationships with other teenagers (70%)
What did teenagers rate as least important?
  • A fast-paced, high-tech, entertaining ministry approach
Talk about a wake-up call...


read from  this newsletter: http://www.churchvolunteercentral.com/

The Farm

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 9:03 PM

This contingent nature of the farm comes from the reality of what a farm is—a tenuous patch of domestication in the midst of a wild landscape. Nature creeps in always and can only be managed, never controlled. - Excerpt from Ragan Sutterfield’s Forthcoming Book Farming As a Spiritual Discpline

Francis Chan Quote!

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 12:04 PM

"Churches we build only by our own efforts and not in the strength of the Spirit will quickly collapse when we don't push and prod people along." -Francis Chan

Top 8 printable productivity forms

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 4:06 PM

Top 8 printable productivity forms: "

Organizing and planning can be fun, especially with the perfect tools to fit our needs and our lifestyle. There are hundreds of companies and creative minds developing forms and guides to keep you on top of your life. Printable planning solutions are one of these tools.


Printable forms are a great alternative to purchasing a hardcover planner and tend to be more specialized and adaptable to the tasks and projects that need to be completed.


The following list links to printable forms that are all free. Here are my favorites and ones that worked for me:



  1. Blank calendars — every type you can imagine: monthly, weekly and booklet formats with blank or lined boxes. These calendars are perfect for brainstorming schedules on the fly before entering them on a permanent calendar, or print out different variations to create your own planner!

  2. Habit list — Productivity 501 has developed a mini course on developing and sticking to new habits that comes with a great, free PDF chart for tracking. Personally, I’ve used this as a daily checklist form for items that go beyond tracking personal development habits, and there are many other uses as well.

  3. Organize literally everything — I LOVE these planning pages, and this would be my top recommendation if you’re looking to explore printable productivity tools. The free planner page on the site links to new forms each month for daily and monthly planning, organizing your blogging schedule, plus some productivity jump starter pages. Build your own combination of these pages for the ultimate planning tool!

  4. Daily planning — If you’re an Excel lover like myself and are also very particular about what your planner looks like, consider this daily planning page by Vertex42. The Excel sheet is customizable, so you can start from a great system and tweak it to fit your perfectionist needs! Also check out their daily checklist form.

  5. Planning with fun concepts — WhiteHatBlackBox has designed some incredible planning and productivity forms linked to on their productivity gear page. Choose from habit lists and daily checkbox forms or the “shoot ‘em down” form set where you shoot down colored invaders as you complete tasks! Also highly recommended.

  6. For index card lovers — the mind depositor system is designed to print out on index cards or on 4×6 papers that can be affixed to index cards. The concept works well with any GTD system you have developed.

  7. Build your own planner — an entire site is devoted to the concept! D*I*Y Planner has some great templates and documents, plus an entire system with directions to get you started. They have more than one post and lots to see, but starting here is a good bet.

  8. Be an effective CEO — David Seah has created an incredible series of forms that can turn you into a highly productive and organized CEO! The Printable CEO series is a must-consider and also check out the compact calendar idea that is perfect for blank brainstorming pages.


All of these free resources are fantastic and I encourage you to try out and test which one works for you. In my case, I use a combination of these resources to build the perfect system for my needs. Much thanks to all of these folks for fantastic resources that can help me and you reach our goals!




"

Friday Proverbs: Commit to the Lord

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 3:39 PM

Friday Proverbs: Commit to the Lord: "


Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.

-Proverbs 16:3

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To believe that all swearing is wrong, you also have to believe that our culture is right.

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 2:54 PM

To believe that all swearing is wrong, you also have to believe that our culture is right.: "

Social customs define what’s taboo. Therefore, saying taboo language is uniformly sinful implies that our social customs uniformly align with God’s will.




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Day 14 on simplifying my life

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 2:37 PM




Check Out the new simpler layout of my blog... Working on office STILL!!! 
Reduced my computer CD's and DVD's by 75%. 
I had a lot of garbage DVD's and CD's that were taking up a whole drawer. 
As I simplify will continue to blog about it...

Wendell Berry's Questionnaire

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 1:47 PM











Wendell Berry's Questionnaire


1. How much poison are you willing
to eat for the success of the free
market and global trade? Please
name your preferred poisons.

2. For the sake of goodness, how much
evil are you willing to do?
Fill in the following blanks
with the names of your favorite
evils and acts of hatred.

3. What sacrifices are you prepared
to make for culture and civilization?
Please list the monuments, shrines,
and works of art you would
most willingly destroy.


4. In the name of patriotism and
the flag, how much of our beloved
land are you willing to desecrate?
List in the following spaces
the mountains, rivers, towns, farms
you could most readily do without.

5. State briefly the ideas, ideals, or hopes,
the energy sources, the kinds of security,
for which you would kill a child.
Name, please, the children whom
you would be willing to kill.

Read it here: http://pastorkes.blogspot.com/2009/10/wendell-berrys-questionnaire.html

North American spirituality

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 1:17 PM


The great weakness of North American spirituality is that it is all about us: fulfilling our potential, getting a handle on principles by which we can get an edge over the competition. And the more there is of us, the less there is of God.”
Eugene Peterson: Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places

Beholding Christ as Antidote to Worldliness

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 8:24 PM

Beholding Christ as Antidote to Worldliness: "

John Owen on seeing Christ’s glory:


It is by beholding the glory of Christ by faith that we are spiritually edified and built up in this world, for as we behold his glory, the life and power of faith grow stronger and stronger. It is by faith that we grow to love Christ. So if we desire strong faith and powerful love, which give us rest, peace and satisfaction, we must seek them by diligently beholding the glory of Christ by faith. In this duty I desire to live and to die. On Christ’s glory I would fix all my thoughts and desires, and the more I see of the glory of Christ, the more the painted beauties of this world will wither in my eyes and I will be more and more crucified to this world. It will become to me like something dead and putrid, impossible for me to enjoy.


The Glory of Christ (1684)

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America and Church

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 8:08 PM

What a lot of people call church in America has very little to do with the church that Jesus had in mind . . . religious people killed Jesus because He threatened their system. Rob Bell

D. A. Carson in The Cross and Christian Ministry

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 4:33 PM

D. A. Carson in The Cross and Christian Ministry: "
'Why is it that we constantly parade Christian athletes, media personalities, and pop singers? Why should we think that their opinions or their experiences of grace are of any more significance than those of any other believer? When we tell outsiders about people in our church, do we instantly think of the despised and the lowly who have become Christians, or do we love to impress people with the important of the men and women who have become Christians? Modern Western evangelicalism is deeply infected with the virus of triumphalism and the resulting illness destroys humility, minimizes grace, and offers far too much homage to the money and influence and 'wisdom' of our day.' (The Cross and Christian Ministry - Leadership Lessons from 1 Corinthians, 29)
"

My Flaws and the Gospel

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 12:05 PM

Tim Keller wrote, "In Christ I could know I was accepted by grace not only despite my flaws, but because I was willing to admit them. The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. 

Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 9:00 PM

Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say let your affairs be as one, two, three and not a hundred or a thousand… We are happy in proportion to the things we can do without.” – Henry David Thoreau.

Day 10 on simplifying my life

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 12:41 PM


Went through all that I own that is sitting around... things I collect and things I horde lol! I was surprised at the pile I came up with. YOU will be shocked at all the little things you have. I am weird I know, but I have mental clutter with these "things". I got rid of a few things, sold some and it felt great!


Now I am going to follow these 2 simple rules on the rest:
1. Identify what is most important to you
2. Git rid of everything else

Approved

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 4:16 PM

Approved: "
'For am I now seeking the approval of man or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.' Galatians 1:10

Paul had lived for human approval. That's what his uppity legalism had really been about. It's why the word 'still' is in there: 'If I were still trying to please man . . . .' Paul gave it up, in order to please God.

It is so freeing to stop caring so much about what people think. It is so freeing to lift your eyes to Christ, whose approval is all that finally matters. What does he want from you? Not that people would think you're wonderful, but that your gospel would be pure and honoring to him. You can't control how people respond. That is their own responsibility before God. And if your gospel is pure, some will inevitably disapprove (2 Cor 2:15-16) and will blame you for it. Why? The impenitent are incapable of self-awareness. Don't be discouraged. Just keep your gospel clear. And keep your heart close to the Lord.

Here is his word to you: 'Approved.'
"

This Week with Henri Nouwen – The Sacredness of God’s Handiwork

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 2:12 PM

This Week with Henri Nouwen – The Sacredness of God’s Handiwork: "

Van Gogh“How do we live in creation? Do we relate to it as a place full of “things” we can use for whatever need we want to fulfill and whatever goal we wish to accomplish? Or do we see creation first of all as a sacramental reality, a sacred space where God reveals to us the immense beauty of the Divine?


As long as we only use creation, we cannot recognise its sacredness because we are approaching it as if we are its owners. But when we relate to all that surrounds us as created by the same God who created us and as the place where God appears to us and calls us to worship and adoration, then we are able to recognise the sacred quality of all God’s handiwork.” – Henri Nouwen




"

Free to Be Honest About Yourself

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 2:42 PM

Free to Be Honest About Yourself: "



“The gospel gives you psychological freedom to handle the wrong things that you will do. You won’t have to deny, spin, or repress the truth about yourself. These things don’t make it impossible to know who you are.


Only with the support of hearing Jesus say, ‘You are capable of terrible things, but I am absolutely, unconditionally committed to you,’ will you be able to be honest with yourself.”


- Tim Keller, Journal of Biblical Counseling (Winter 2007)


(HT: Provocative Church)






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Friday Proverbs: Hidden Love

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 6:43 PM

Friday Proverbs: Hidden Love: "


Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

- Proverbs 27:5

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DAY 3 & 4! Of Simplifying my Life as a Disciple of Jesus

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Posted by Jason Rigby | Posted in | Posted on 6:03 PM


Made headway on office, still working on getting books under control. I have reduced my commentaries and books I use all the time to two bookcases. These will be color-coordinated by my wife very soon, as I love seeing the books by color! as this example in this pic!
All of this arranging of my life and getting rid of "stuff" is these things get in the way of establishing true relationships. We see Jesus' focus was on people never on stuff, so I as a disciple must shift my focus from stuff to people. Let the painful journey begin :)