Filed under: Fireproof the movie, firefighting, friendship, marriage, observations, opinion
So far, with the help of several donors from our community and church we have distributed a couple hundred tickets to firefighters and married couples in our area. There are several reasons why I would recommend this to any lost or saved person, any married couple, or any single young person thinking about marriage.
1. The movie has a wonderful script that meshes several themes and surprises.
2. The movie accurately depicts the hopelessness of the lost and the falleness of man outside of Christ.
3. The movie communicates the Gospel accurately, and in a clear way.
4. The movie shows the power of prayer and spiritual accountability.
5. The movie shows how parents of adult children can still be an influence on their children.
6. The movie accurately shows how couples fade away from each other when they make common marital mistakes like: lack of Financial accountabillity, Porn addictions, lack of communication, and flirting.
7. The movie is a great opportunity for couples to have a date night that can build them up in their marriage.
8. Finally, the movie was researched well on the firefighting end. Although it had a couple of long shots included in the action portions, the language, actions, and lifestyle of the firefighter was depicted in a non glorified manner which I appreciated very much. Even the ”hero saves” that were done were not on the order of “Backdraft” and other ridiculous movies of the past about firefighters. I am not fearful that any firefighter would come away from the movie criticizing the action scenes or the work of the firefighters rather than seriously thinking about their marriage.
Go see it. Then buy you some tickets and use it as a witnessing tool. I promise it works.
Filed under: Dr. Bill Poore, Hottub blog, NAMB, SCBC, church planting, contemperary worship styles, leadership, observations, opinion
It seems that only truly cutting edge contemporary churches are receiving the support of our convention and missions organizations these days. All I hear from church growth gurus that teach our seminars (at least since the early 90’s) is that we must adapt ourselves to the culture in order to reach it. This has caused a new tradition to evolve from an adaption of Rick Warren’ philosophy. While I deeply respect what Warren has done in reaching his culture, it seems that a church planter would only need to spew a few things out from his seminars and books in order to get the full blessing of the convention and mission boards. I attended a church planting seminar when I graduated seminary in 97, and I was seriously considering pursuing church planting. However, all I heard from this SCBC sponsored seminar was how to correctly write a vision statement to get the support of the convention. After 10 years as a pastor of 2 churches I would like to know if a church planter who had the following vision would get any support from our convention and missions organizations. The following statement has no target group identified or weird methodologies as you would typically find. What do you think?
1. Our vision is to glorify God through being missionaries to the lost and building up the visible local church to be what God intended it to be. We will do this through regular corporate worship, determined discipleship, and investing our lives in local and international missions.
2. Our preaching will be ex positional. Our worship style and educational program will include blends of old and new traditions in order to develop unity and cooperation among all ages of believers. If possible, we will not hold 2 services but will demand that the church always be together in worship.
3. We will approach worship as an activity for the Christian,but we will confront and call the lost to salvation, recognizing that the lost will be present at all times.
4. Our outreach efforts will be balanced to reach our growing populations of all ages. Our staffing will be appropriate to current needs not future potential.
5. We will hold members accountable and encourage family worship. We will encourage the father to be the spiritual leader in the home.
6. We will promote Christian education as a local church agenda and demand that all small groups be held accountable for doctrine and content through a church curriculum.
7. We will not begin this church with members of any local church unless the church agrees that these members are leaving as missionaries to reach the lost in the community.
The answer would probably be… Don’t count on it. Its just not weird enough to work.
STUPID NEWSBRIEF FROM CHARLESTON W.VA.
A West Virginia man who police said passed gas and fanned it toward a patrolman has been charged with battery on a police officer.
Jose A. Cruz, 34, of Clarksburg was pulled over early Tuesday for driving without headlights, police said. According to the criminal complaint, Cruz smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech and failed three field sobriety test before he was handcuffed and taken to a police station for a breathalyzer test.
As Patrolman T.E. Parsons prepared the machine, Cruz scooted his chair toward Parsons, lifted his leg and “passed gas loudly,” the complaint said.
Cruz according to the complaint, then fanned the gas toward the officer. “The gas was very odorous and created contact of an insulting or provoking nature with patrolman Parsons,” the complaint alleged.
What is this country coming to? We are steamrolling toward socialism in government and law enforcement (The gas Gestapo) will not allow people to pass gas anymore. Don’t they know that if you hold it in you will hurt yourself?
