Network Buzz
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Posted on December 1, 2011, 11:07 am | 5 comments
Topics: Network Buzz, Pastors
Dear lady at Starbucks, I just wanted to let you know that you won't be getting the job. I overheard parts of your interview and you did well. The interviewer asked good questions and you gave good answers. But you won't be getting the job.
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Posted on November 14, 2011, 2:15 pm | 3 comments
Topics: Network Buzz, Synod
The following discussion took place on November 3, 2011 at Bethel CRC in Lansing, IL. Hosted by Classis Illiana, speakers Rev. Peter Borgdorff and Rev. John W. Cooper discuss the pro and con of adopting the Belhar Confession as a fourth confession of the CRCNA...
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Posted on November 8, 2011, 11:08 am | 25 comments
Topics: Network Buzz, Caring
Recently, Max Lucado published a book which included a devotion with reflections on disability and disease called "We Shall Be Like Him." Although he intends to encourage the reader, the language used and assumptions made in the devotional diminish people with disabilities.
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Posted on October 22, 2011, 2:13 pm
Topics: Network Buzz, Nurturing Faith
Last week I received an email from First CRC of Detroit asking if I had a kid-friendly version of the Ten Commandments. Their pastor had been preaching on the Ten Commandments in worship while the kids have been also learning about the 10 Best Ways to Live in Children’s Worship. When I followed up I found that they had written their own kid-friendly version...
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Posted on October 19, 2011, 3:57 pm | 5 comments
The title may seem a bit crass -- and actually it is -- but that is precisely the question that I am asked most often as a stated clerk by elders: "How do we get rid of our minister?" I vividly recall the conversation from the chair of council who actually began our phone conversation with that question. I quickly learned that he was the one having difficulty with his pastor and he simply wanted him 'gone'.
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Posted on October 10, 2011, 8:35 am | 9 comments
I haven’t seen any mention of a Women’s Ministry or women’s perspective in the CRC Network or the Banner, yet more than 50% of the members of the CRC are women. Rarely do I see anything other than Coffee Break in the CRC. This is a wonderful ministry but is that all Women’s Ministry is?
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Posted on September 6, 2011, 4:07 am | 12 comments
Topics: Network Buzz, Planning Worship
“Just get ‘em warmed up with a few great songs and put me on!” Week after week, Preachers preach and Worship Leaders lead worship and nobody bothers to check with each other about what direction they are going.
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Posted on August 29, 2011, 11:20 am | 6 comments
Topics: Network Buzz, Financial Management
As we sat at a table in the Worship Center with the countdown to worship on the Power Point, I was excited to worship. The music was led well and then the message started with a You Tube video entitled God’s Pie. Once again I was reminded that God uses money and possessions as a test of our faith and trust in Him alone.
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Posted on August 25, 2011, 10:37 am | 40 comments
I would like to think that I am a Reformed Charismatic but I wonder what that means. So, here’s one attempt to clarify the convictions of a Christ-follower who believes that the Holy Spirit is alive and well and that John Calvin had a pretty good understanding of the apostle Paul.
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Posted on August 24, 2011, 12:07 am | 3 comments
Topics: Network Buzz, Pastoral Care
Confession of sin is part of the healing process. It's important to note that this does not mean that a particular sin was the cause of sickness. It does mean that when we come before the Lord with a request on our lips we also prepare to enter into the presence of God. Coming before the Lord is not a “right,” but a gift of the Lord.
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Posted on August 23, 2011, 8:02 am | 5 comments
Topics: Network Buzz, Advocacy
I have heard people refer to men and women who have intellectual disabilities as “kids” or as “boys and girls.” Anyone over 18 should be referred to as a “man” or “woman” not a “kid.” If we truly want to honor the image of God in each individual, we’ll use dignified language because it avoids condescension and recognizes the fundamental equality
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Posted on August 15, 2011, 8:00 am | 6 comments
Topics: Network Buzz, Serving
Circles of friends with a shared vision are the birthing rooms for Kingdom collaboration. But sometimes circles of friends can become closed networks. Circles of friends can warp into ethnic or denominational bubbles or even just plain Christian bubbles - - bubbles that protect those on the inside from people and ideas that seem different.
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Posted on August 8, 2011, 7:00 am
Topics: Network Buzz, Youth
Several years ago, a few teens from the church youth group were caught drinking alcohol in a motel room on a school day. Angry parents demanded to know, “What are you teaching our students in youth group? What goes on there?” It was shocking that parents were so quick to lay blame on the youth pastor and his volunteers. Didn’t the parents have any responsibility? They’d been raising their children for years. How could the youth leaders be blamed when they only spent a few hours with these teens each week?
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Posted on May 3, 2011, 8:55 am | 16 comments
Topics: Accessibility, Network Buzz
Will there be disabilities in heaven? I couldn’t say it any better than jheyboer who wrote, “The question then isn't so much if there will be disabilities in Heaven. But whether or not a person is humble enough to accept the true and complete person God has intended for them to become, of which we are only shadows of now!”
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Posted on April 25, 2011, 12:07 pm | 5 comments
Topics: Accessibility, Network Buzz
On a radio program one time, Ben Mattlin talked about his disability with pride. Then he asked, "Are there no wheelchairs in heaven? I'm not buying it. For me, if there is a heaven, it's not a place where I'll be able to walk. It's a place where it doesn't matter if you can't.”
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