Bookmarks

I bookmark (favorite) pages on the internet all the time. I probably have like 100 stored up. I try to move them over to this site so I have them all in one spot that's easily searchable and I don't forget about things. I haven't done it in a long time, so they're just stacked up. I'll start moving the links over in the next few days, but here's the first. It's a movie called The Boy In The Striped Pajamas. It looks fascinating to me because it shows how relationships can change mindsets and how hatred can destroy relationships.

Interaction

I struggle interacting with people sometimes at work. I tend to be rather task-oriented, so I like to stay in my office and accomplish stuff. I have to remind myself everyday to float around to other people's offices to interact. Love this post by Seth Godin on how important relationships are. Love this part:

I've worked in three companies that had lots of people and lots of cubes, and I spent the entire day walking around. I figured that was my job. The days where I sat down and did what looked like work were my least effective days. It's hard for me to see why you'd bother having someone come all the way to an office just to sit in a cube and type.

The new rule seems to be that if you're going to spend the time and the money to see someone face to face, be in their face. Interact or stay home!

JM

Acts 8:5-6

People don't care about my message. At all. No matter how well I present it or how I package it, it doesn't really matter to them. That is, until I back it up with actions.
We were talking about how to publicize an upcoming event at our church today and several different ideas came out: newspaper, radio, direct mail, door-to-door flyers, etc. All of these will see very little return. They're all just spam because the information is outside of the context of relationship.
I suggested just creating really nice invite cards and giving them to our people to invite their friends and neighbors. Blank stares.
The point is that any message we try to communicate will have very little retention if it is outside of the context of relationship. I guess the old cliche is right: you have to earn the right to be heard. JM

Acts 8:4

What would it look like if evangelism was really a part of our lives? If we didn't compartmentalize everything and get all nervous about having a spiritual conversation. I'm guessing that it would be a lot different. It's like we have our lives and then we have the part of our life that we let God rule. And we don't want the two to mix. We love God and we're committed to him, but we refuse to let him invade every part of our life.
I think it's because we're too busy. We're too busy to be available to people and really listen to them. We don't want to spend time with people. Evangelism is work when you do it right. When it flows naturally out of relationship. I think that's why God asks for laborers and not managers. JM

Relational Evangelism

Ben Arment has a great post about relational evangelism. People don't care about what the Bible has to do with their life and what you know about it outside of relationships. Click through to read the whole thing, but here's his main point:

In these cases, the Word has to first become flesh.
The flesh of a friendship. The flesh of some humble questions. The flesh of shared interests in music and movies. The flesh of dinner together. The flesh of an embrace during a difficult time...

JM

Relationships

The longer I do ministry, the more I am convinced that nothing truly impactful and life-changing happens outside of the context of relationships. The bond that I have with the guys with whom I've done ministry and the ability I have gained to ask probing questions and receive honest answers is solely based on my relationship with those students.
Today after church I was talking with a student. He just wanted to see how things were because I hadn't seen him in a while. He just finished his sophomore year, so he's two years removed from being in my ministry.
Kind of randomly toward the end of our conversation he mentioned the fall retreat that I did in 2004. We took 3 vehicles on the trip, and I was in charge of driving the van filled with the luggage. There was only one other seat in the van, and for a large part of the trip, this student occupied that seat. I can't remember what we talked about, he probably can't either, but he mentioned that car ride.
Creating that memory with him and whatever we talked about at during those few hours I'm sure had more of an impact on his life than all of the messages that he listened to me give. There was no structure, just conversations about his life, my life, and any advice I could give him.
I don't think we should ditch all programming, but I do feel that the vast majority of ministry needs to be focused on free-form small groups where students and adults can interact in a casual atmosphere, can ask probing questions, and receive honest responses, input, and advice. The more I think about it, that's exactly how Jesus ran his ministry. Sure he had his big programs that impacted people, but I bet he relished the times he spent with his disciples around the fire at night. I wish I could have been there. JM

Matthew 10:26-33

I can't imagine disowning God in front of other people. I mean, when i am called to speak about my faith or my God, I always represent, and represent him well. The problems come when I'm not asked about it.
I mean I don't like do things or behave in a manner that is unbecoming of someone who calls themself a Christian. I just don't bring up my faith. If the door is open, I'll take it. But it has to be open like wicked wide. I have trouble seeing the spiritual conversation that lies beneath every conversation.
That's where I need the most work. Not that I need to bring it into every conversation, I would just like to be more aware of when i can turn conversations spiritual. JM