Category Archives: Videos

Love is a thread.

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In the garment of justice, your love is an irreplaceable thread.

The Justice Conference
February 24+25 in Portland, Oregon
thejusticeconference.com

A mark of a maturing believer and follower of Jesus is a growing awareness of the true needs in the world, and a love for those people with a passion to help meet those needs and build bridges for the Gospel message. We see the inequity in the world and are not content to wait on governments to move solely for the sake of the marginalized, needy, poor, and destitute. We give up personal comforts so others can have the basic necessities for health and life.

Justice is about reconciliation, which is rooted in love. We who have been reconciled with God, get to see His reconciling work spread to every area of our lives and all of creation. What began as a personal relationship with God adds a public dimension that becomes a transformational relationship with the world. One day the universe will be set right (final justice), though we don’t have to wait until then to meet the needs that are within our control today. The love of Christ compels us.

 

Unreached.

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Lost from AsiaLink HistoryMaker on Vimeo.

“The missionary question is not ‘Where are their unbelievers?’ And then send a missionary there. There are unbelievers everywhere!

The missionary question is, ‘Where are there peoples who do not have any Christians in them?’ Or don’t have a church strong enough to do the neighbor evangelism that we can do if we just want to do it. That’s the missionary question. That’s the question of peoples and nations. How many are there? How many are unreached?”

Over one billion people worldwide have no opportunity to hear the gospel.

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Unapproachable, inaccessible in location or situation, untouched, untouchable, disconnected, unable to be met or out of touch. These are all words and descriptions given for yet another word: Unreached.

[HT: Brick in the Valley]

 

-ISMS: Consumerism.

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Today we begin a new weekly series I’ll simply call “-ISMS,” a look at the dominant philosophies of our day. Some will be overtly religious; some will seem non-religious (at first); all are the lenses through which we tend to think and feel about ourselves, God and the world around us. First up, consumerism.
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The more we consume, the less we live.

Alan Hirsch gets to the heart of how everyone is a disciple of something and why someone cannot stay a consumer and become a growing disciple of Jesus.

(Let this 3 minute video provoke your thoughts.)

“Everyone is a disciple and no one stops being a disciple.”

“If we don’t disciple, then the culture sure will. (And it’s doing a good job of it.)”

Consumerism is being defined by what we consume. One’s meaning, identity, purpose and belonging becomes tied to the consumption of products. Consumerism is the most prevalent religion of our day.

Jesus’ call to all consumers:

DIE.

Only then will we truly live.

radish seed sprout

 

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” —Jesus (John 12:24)

 

Our God Above.

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“Our God Above,” a song of God-centered renewal, from Andy Melvin’s album The Human Engine Waits:

Come and fill us Father
with Your living water
’cause these wells we’ve dug are dry
the world we have befriended
has left us empty-handed
and only You can satisfy
 
as we return to You
our spirits are renewed
and our hearts are moved to worship You alone
 
our God above
we lift You up
to the place that You deserve
within our hearts
and we glorify
the Lord on high
You have no equal on the earth
No equal on the earth
 
Lord, we claim the promise
that the work You started
You’ll be faithful to complete
so we trust in Your might as we offer our lives
as a living sacrifice of praise to You
 
and we! declare! our love! to You!
yeah we! declare! our love! to You!
 

Live recording of “Nothing Compares” by Andy Melvin and the Unlikely Sons [see in HD]:

 

What is your passion? What are you willing to sacrifice and die for?

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Ever heard of acedia?

No doubt you have experienced acedia, which at least means being passionless.

Passion has historical meant suffering. Our passion is what we are willing to sacrifice for, even die for as a cause. It takes great courage and generosity of soul to be full of true passion. And we tend towards acedia in our proud and greedy sinful nature.

But there is hope!

Tim Keller explains how real passion and acedia are related:

[HT: Chris Nye]

Sloth: not just a slow animal.

The end of Dorothy Sayers quote, which Keller gives, describes acedia (or sloth) as “a sin that believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, and remains alive because there is nothing for which it will die.”

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Flying football.

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Alaska Air commercial featuring Portland Timbers head coach John Spencer:
http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/dhlhV0iCsgM?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0

Awesome.

Here in the States we call this game “soccer,” and instead call “football” a game that only involves using one’s feet to kick in the margins of the game: to begin halves (kickoffs), when you’ve given up your turn (to punt), want to grab a few points (field goal), or just scored (point-after-try and then another kickoff). All of the kicking in football happens in “special teams.” In professional American Football (the NFL) those teams practice separately, have special coaching staffs, and run their own special plays. It’s kind of an oddity. Football fans like to crack jokes about “soccer” — that the game is boring, there’s not enough scoring, and the game is too long. In reality it is our “football” that is a little bit silly; consider there are only about 11 minutes of game action in an NFL game. A whole lot of grown men standing around; and then running into each other.

Even over here in little America there are avid football fans. (And by “football” I mean “soccer,” which is the true football). Listen as Portland Timbers fans all join in together for a chant: “You Cannot Stop Us … We Are The Rose City”:
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