Happy Valentines Day!

I'm a geek, and not too bright, so I'm electronically sending some of these Valentines Day cards to my wife today!

You can go here to see a few.

Or see the entire DC Comics gallery of valentines day cards here.

Which one would you send to your love (or would-be love) if you were a geek like me?

I spent some time last week joining and tweaking social media accounts for myself and my church*.

If you're interested at all you can follow me, or my church in the following public areas.

Nathan James Norman
Twitter
Pinterest
RSS Feed

The Orchard Church
Facebook
Twitter
Google +
RSS Feed


*I'm not particularly fond of saying "my church" as if I somehow have ownership over it. But it is shorter and less awkward than writing "the church where I serve as the pastor".

I plan on releasing internet memes (graphical billboards) on a somewhat regular basis.

I want to use my "preaching ideas" which are basically the last thing I say at the end of my sermons, and post the memes and files on my blog and make them available for people to download and share.

I try to making these "preaching ideas" artful. And they each represent the culmination of 10-20 hours of work. I think they have the potential on the internet to:
1. Inspire
2. Cause believers and non-believers to reconsider their theology
3. Challenge believers and non-believers
4. Get people to read the text in the Bible for themselves to see what is being talked about.

This may work. It may not. It might be successful, or it could just flop. I think it is worth trying, though, because it could have a meaningful impact on the online community.

If you’re an artist and would like to work on one of these “memes” send me an e-mail and I’ll send you a list of available preaching ideas you can select from.

A dear sister in the Lord, Juli Woodgerd, has illustrated the first of our memes:

Preaching Idea: "Believe it, receive it, worship Jesus and tell others." Mark 15:42-16:8
(From the sermon How Will You Respond to the Resurrection?)

© 2013 Nathan James Norman

Meme: "Recycling for Our Lord"
© 2013 Juli Woodgerd


Feel free to pin them, post them and share them as much as you want. Just don’t change, sell or adapt them.

I'm a good enough theologian to know that Jesus does not have a cell phone . . . or at least he doesn't give his number out.

I know I don't have it.

I ran across this VBS curriculum in a magazine recently, and I really don't know what to make of it.

If you were a kid coming to this VBS in the summer, what would you think was going to happen during this week?

If I went to this VBS as a kid I would be thingking, "I'm going to be able to text a message to Jesus this week!"  But then, that thought would be followed up by, "But cell phones are expensive and only Zack Morris can afford to have one!" Followed by, "And what's a text?" (Because I grew up in the 90s  you see . . .)

So what's going to happen at this VBS? Is a staff member supposed to get a burner phone ("hey, Jesus has the same area code as me!"), hide in the back and pretend to answer the kiddo's questions via text?

I'm pretty confident that I could make a convincing texting Jesus . . . for a little while. But then, weeks after VBS is over and the kids are still texting, they would start getting texts back from "jesus" with answers like:

• idk?
• who cares?
• leave me alone, I'm sleeping
• that's a dumb question
• I have no clue what ur talking about

And this, of course, would lead to terrible theology and disappointed kids.

But, upon further examination of the VBS curriculum below, it is very clear that the week is focusing on texting about Jesus. That's not what a quick glance at the advertisement would lead a kid to believe, though. (Or a busy pastor).

So, take a peak at the curriculum below, and let me know what terrible things you'd wind up texting if you were pretending to be a "texting jesus".

Note: The Orchard Church will not be using this curriculum.

Summary: Outlining the theories, the definitions and models of global missions contextualization, Moreau offers an extensive overview of the models used to reach people for the gospel. He also assesses their strengths and weaknesses throughout the book.

Review: On the surface of things, Contextualization in World Missions: Mapping an Assessing Evangelical Models looks like a book written only for future long-term missionaries and seminary students. And for those sorts of people, Contextualization is a helpful, enjoyable book filled with diagrams, explanations and case-studies.

But Moreau defines contextualization as “the process whereby Christians adapt the whole of the Christian faith . . . in diverse cultural settings.” With this definition in hand, much of the information in this book can be helpful to church planters, pastors, missions boards and lay persons involved in regular outreach and discipleship.

The book is divided into two primary sections. In the first, Moreau explores the philosophical, historical and theological framework for contextualizing the transcendent gospel message to various people-groups. This is pretty weighty stuff, but Moreau’s writing flows so well that the chapters go by rather quickly and are often enjoyable.

The second section explores six of the major types of contextualization methods. He identifies these models as the facilitator, guide, herald, pathfinder, prophet and restorer. He identifies biblical, historical and contemporary figures who exemplifies these models of contextualization. Then he offers a brief, but helpful critique of each model.

While this book is foundational for those involved in missions, I think this book is also helpful for pastors and church planters as they explore what sort of communicator of the gospel they are, as well as how they will best present the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in their unique settings.

Rating: 5/5 (I loved it)

Get the book from: Kregel or Amazon.

I  received a physical copy of this book for free in exchange for an unbiased review.

Abbot and Costello's "Who's On First?" routine is one of the wittiest and funniest comedy routines around.

Recently, Jimmy Fallon released a "Who's On First? The Sequel". Normally, I find these sorts of updates on old classics to be distasteful, boring and uninspired.

But this! This! This is wonderful. If you haven't seen the original sketch, watch it here first before scrolling down and watching the sequel.