Free Seminary?!

Do you want a seminary level education but never could afford it or didn't know where to look? Today, I was over at the Gospel Coalition and found out that there are a couple of different schools that offer classes for free. Click on this link to check it out:

http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/resources/category/courses/a#BySchool

If you don't already have iTunes you will probably need to download it:

http://www.apple.com/itunes/

Also, there is an online seminary called Rockbridge Seminary:

http://www.rockbridgeseminary.org/

Personally, I think that you cannot beat classroom interaction, but sometimes this option is not available to everyone. Enjoy!

Answered Prayer! (...and new prayer request)

To those who have prayed for the internship I want to thank you so much for your prayers, I am very appreciative, and I have good news because I have been accepted! However, this does not mean that I am going to be a part of the program because it requires Katie and I to find a new place to live in order to be fully involved with the church plant and still be a student. I see this internship almost as important (if not more) as my education at Trinity, so we are in an aggressive hunt!

Please pray:
-That the Lord would provide a place for Katie and I to live that is near Trinity and free by June 15th.

-That if this door closes that we would have a clear sense of the direction that God would have for us during the remaining two years at Trinity.

Thank you so much for your prayers, they are appreciated!
(I will also try to do a better job of posting now that my semester is over with.)

Prayer Request...

In the past year or so church planting has been heavy on my heart and I believe that God is calling me to plant a church (that plants more churches) and eventually mobilize other churches to plant churches. It is really cool and really exciting stuff, and I hope to write and release a number of blog posts in the near future.

Anyways, I have an amazing opportunity at Trinity to join in planting a church in Mundelein, IL under a very experienced and passionate leader which is something that I truly desire. This Thursday (April 30th) Kate and I have an interview to be a part of this church planting team. Would you pray:
1) I get accepted into the residency program to plant a church.
2) That if this is not where HE wants me, there would be a clear leading in another direction.
3) As I continue to pursue church planting that God would grant me enormous passion and clarity of vision.

Thank you to my faithful few blog readers (and thank you to RSS feeds!) and I really do appreciate your prayers.

Preaching and Prayer: Not Critical???

I try to follow a number of blogs across the nation of people that are much smarter than me, I guess I just hope that something will stick! Anyways, one of the people that I follow is Ed Stetzer who is a leading mind in the world of church planting. He recently posted on the Southern Baptist Convention's pastors who recently took a survey on 1) the most important ministry in their churches and 2) what they see as the most critical ministries for the future. I posted the results from the second question here:




All this is very interesting, but I also find it somewhat troubling. Note the bottom two: preaching and praying. It is my hope and prayer that (future)pastors and churches do not neglect these two key components to Christianity. In fact, I think that if a church has robust preaching and fervent praying the rest of the ministries will follow suit like children's ministries, missions, discipleship, etc. Obviously, effort still needs to be put in those areas, but I think my point is clear.

How about you?
Do you agree with me or disagree?
Is the role of preaching to be overlooked compared to other things?
What are the top areas churches and pastors should be focusing on for the future?

The rest of the article can be seen here: http://blogs.lifeway.com/blog/edstetzer/2009/04/critical-ministries-study.html

Does Satan Exist?

Tonight there is going to be a debate on the topic of Satan and if he does actually exist. The panel will be lead by Mark Driscoll in favor of his existence with Annie Lobert versus Deepak Chopra and Carlton Pearson who will be against two people who say that Satan is just a made up person.

The debate is tonight, Thursday the 26th, on Nightline (your local ABC station) at 10:30 central time.

If you don't want to stay up that late, or missed it check out the website and you'll be able to see it and probably see some bonus coverage.

http://abcnews.go.com/nightline/faceoff

Who was Saint Patrick?

To the casual observer it would seem that Patrick was an Irishman who had a nasty reputation for hitting the bottle. Surprisingly, neither of these are true, but in our vigor to drink we have made this a drinking holiday in the name of a great saint. So, instead of rehashing him for myself I will refer to Mark Driscoll and his latest blog post that deals with him directly. So sit back, have a Guinness, try and be sober and enjoy!

http://theresurgence.com/Vintage_Saints_Saint_Patrick_Part_1

Atheist: Evangelism Not Optional

Okay, you may not want to listen to me about evangelism, but maybe an atheist can change your mind:


This is Penn, from Penn and Teller, who is well...an atheist. I would like to comment more, but his words seem to do the job.