Sky Links, 7-7-18



Graham Cooke:

Maturity in the Kingdom involves gaining an elevated perspective for what appears to be obstacles in everyday life. Elevation allows us to see from God’s perspective, so we learn to navigate life with greater ease and confidence.

God, in His wisdom, is willing to allow obstacles in our lives even though He could prevent them. The more we mature in this new man life, the more we understand that obstacles are an opportunity to gain an elevated perspective.


Obstacles mean upgrades are possible!





Hate Hurts and Cursing is Real:

Ahmed Best played Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. You probably have feelings about that, and Best knows you have feelings about that. The actor has said before that the intense negative response to his character, as well as various death threats and accusations, affected his life, but on Twitter this week, he said the backlash drove him to think about suicide.

Jar Jar Binks Actor Says Fan Backlash Made Him Consider Suicide




Dee Parsons: Cooperative vs. Competitive Church Planting

Last year, I had the opportunity to speak with a thoughtful, semi-retired,  conservative Lutheran pastor whose sermons I have enjoyed. I asked him how the Lutherans plant churches. He spoke about how my church got started. In his leadership role, he saw the need for a Lutheran church in a rapidly developing community. He met with the other churches of the same synod in the area and together they decided a church was warranted.

The churches cooperated in bringing this new church into existence.This church did not start by sucking members out of other Lutheran churches. It started with a small group of people in the area and was supported by the surrounding churches.

Why Do Southern Baptist Churches Engage in Hardball Competition Against One Another? What Happened to the Cooperative Effort?




David F. Watson: I Want The Wesley Option


Earlier this year I read Rod Dreher’s The Benedict Option. Its basic premise is that the culture has turned against us as Christians. We need to retreat and form tightly knit communities that will serve as arks in which we can ride out the flood of neo-paganism in Western culture. This is the best hope we have of preserving a Christian identity in the midst of a hostile world.

After I finished it, though, I thought, What if John Wesley had done that? Thankfully, he didn’t. In fact, he did the opposite. He preached in the fields and where anyone would listen. He went into the places where he knew people were hostile to him. He was attacked by mobs. He was badmouthed and ridiculed. He didn’t retreat from the culture. He confronted it. And in the midst of all this, he led a revival that swept through England and eventually became a global movement.

I don’t want the Benedict Option. I want the Wesley Option: high-octane evangelism with a deep commitment to Scripture and an emphasis on sanctification and social holiness.


Four Marks of the Next Methodism



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