The No Entry No Exit Quote

A couple of posts ago I menioned the "no entry - no exit" illustration that I had heard but wasn't sure who to credit. This morning it appeared on Rick Warren's weekly email. Here it is:

"Despite our efforts to keep him out, God intrudes. The life of Jesus is bracketed by two impossibilities: a virgin's womb and an empty tomb. Jesus entered our world through a door marked 'No Entrance' and left through a door marked 'No Exit.'" - Peter Larson, Prism (Jan/Feb 2001)

That dog will hunt! Preach it.

Twentysomethings

I'm not sure where, how or when the term "twentysomethings" got started. Maybe someone out there in blogger-land knows. What I do know is that it is a very important demographic and it is a segment of most congregations that get's little or no attention.

We are typically big on children's ministry and youth ministry or even senior adult ministry. But as our teens morph into adults and get jobs or lay around or go to college...who is providing meaningful ministry opportunities for them?

I've had this conversation with a number of people and I intend to host a think tank on twentysomethings here @ HQ in the New Year. Here are a few links that I have found to be helpful:
www.illuminateresources.com
www.boundless.org
www.futuregen.org
www.relevantmagazine.com

What are your thoughts on ministry to this age group? What have you found to be helpful?

Singles Ministry

Last week I had an excellent phone conversation with Kris Swiatocho ( don't ask me how to pronounce that one! ). Kris is the Director of thesinglesnetwork.org If you are unfamiliar with the Singles Network you need to point your browser and all those interested or involved in singles ministry to their site. The site is loaded with usable resources to start, promote and maintain a dynamic ministry to singles.

It was refreshing to hear Kris talk about how she just wants people to use whatever they can get off of her site without having to pay for everything. Her heart is in serving the local church and making things accessible to churches of all sizes. Kris travels exensively speaking to churches and challenging people to reach out to the singles of their communities.

If you are looking for a low-cost but high-quality conference on ministry to Single Adults you might want to check out www.navigateconference.com

So what is single's ministry like in your church? Does it exist? Should it? Do you have a distinct outreach to Singles or or they incorporated into what the church is already doing?

No Entrance...No Exit

God does the impossible - and a baby is born to a virgin. It defies logic. It's impossible. It goes against everything we know. It's God's specialty. The "no entrance" sign didn't just hang over an over-crowded inn, it hung over a door called humanity. Human restraints are no match for God and a sinless Saviour enters the world, our world, and we will never be the same.

Another sign hung over a tomb. This sign reads, "no exit" and it is firmly nailed to a door callled death. No one escapes death...until Jesus. Once again God blows away the barriers of our reality and ushers in a new era of grace, mercy and truth. The One who entered this world under what we would call impossible circumstances leaves this world through another 'impossibility' - the Resurrection.

Every time you see a no entrance or a no exit sign this Christmas remember that God specializes in things impossible.

Throw Another Blog On the Fire

The more I blog the more I become aware of how blogging is growing and becoming more mainstream. Obviously, if you are reading this you are at least somewhat familiar with blogging. More and more I am hearing of other churches, Pastors and ministries that are leveraging blogs for the Kingdom. Cool.

Are you reading any other blogs? What types? What subjects? Are you using blogs in your ministry? If so, I'd love to hear about it.

--Tim

"Values" from a Mortgage Company

We have one of those shower radios - just so there isn't a single moment in any day that we aren't inundated with commercials and media! Most of the time it is nice to start the day with some Christian radio.

This morning as I was going through the usual routine the tag line to a mortgage company ad caught my ear. Right after their name they gave these words:
Honour
Trust
Integrity
Faith
Family
Friends

I'm not usually this sharp first thing in the morning, but I did think, "Wow, what if we all had these values? They are selling mortgages and they have higher standards than a lot of churches or people I know!" The reality is that you CAN build a company on values like these and you can also build a marriage...a career...a reputation...a legacy...