Presby-Musings

In the early 2000's Jim Henderson , a former pastor and newly minted church consultant,"bought" an atheist off of E-Bay for $504, and put him to work.  The atheist, a young man named Hemant Mehta , had been looking for a fun way to show Christians that he could attend church with an open mind, and was willing to allow Christians to give him their best shot at converting him.  Henderson won the bid, and sent Mehta out to start visiting churches with the assignment of reporting what he experienced. The result spawned a website, discussion groups, stories by the Wall Street Journal and much more. In 2006, Henderson met Matt Casper, a marketing copywriter and freelance writer and singer/songwriter, who lived in San Diego.  Casper also happened to be an atheist.  The two became friends and decided to write a book together as they visited churches all across America--documenting their dialogue and their experiences.  They agreed to be as open and honest with one...

This week I am continuing the sermon series that we started last week entitled, "Smartest Man In The Room: Lessons from the Life of Solomon." As we established last week, this sermon series draws it's inspiration from the award-winning television show, Mad Men---particularly the character of Don Draper, who has a lot in common with Solomon himself.  If you would like to read more about how we made this connection, click HERE . Solomon was a man for all seasons.  A renaissance man before there was a Renaissance.  His thirst for knowledge was insatiable.  He is credited with writing 3,000 proverbs, which became the source of a great deal of wisdom in the Hebrew tradition for generations to follow him.  It is believed that he wrote 1,005 songs and poems.  The guy knew everything and had everything.  We're going to find out just how much in a little while when we read from the Biblical story of his life. But he forgot the one thing that he should ...

You Can Be Everything God Wants You To Be by Max Lucado You know that you are a superstar Christian author when you can church out sound bite-sized devotions that get published into uplifting, inspirational gift books.  Such is the case with best-selling Christian author, pastor, teacher and speaker, Max Lucado.  You Can Be Everything God Wants You To Be seems at first blush to be the kind of book that only the Joel Osteen-listening crowd would love.  There was a sticker on the cover, in fact, that indicated it would be a "great gift for a grad!"  But I have to say, I was mildly surprised by the depth of this pithy little book.  I was expecting another Christian self-help book full of Hallmark card aphorisms about growing where you are planted, striving to be more in Christ (especially if more means more of the American dream).  Lucado actually addresses some serious stuff here---self-image, faithfulness, dedication, obedience to God and much more.  ...