Free Audio Book :: Ministries of Mercy: The Call of the Jericho Road

Why would someone risk his safety, destroy his schedule, and become dirty and bloody to help a needy person of another race and social class? And why would Jesus tell us "Go and do likewise"? Like the wounded man on the Jericho road, there are needy people in our path- the widow next door, the family strapped with medical bills, the homeless man outside our place of worship. God call us to be ministers of mercy to people in need of shelter, assistance, medical care, or just friendship.

This month, christian audio's free e-book is Ministries of Mercy: The Call of the Jericho Road by Tim Keller.

Keller uses Luke 10, the parable of the Good Samaritan, as the paradigm for the church’s understanding of mercy. He seeks throughout the book to answer the question the expert in the law asked to Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”, by explaining the parable and bringing the rest of Scripture to bear on the question.

Some of the questions Keller addresses in the book include:

• Is everyone called to mercy, or only those who are gifted in mercy?
• Should I show mercy to my neighbor even if I don’t feel like it?
• Didn’t the poor just get themselves into the mess they’re in? Do they really deserve my help?
• Is it ever merciful to withhold giving to someone?
• How do sharing the gospel verbally and living out the Christian life balance?

The first half of the book deals with the principles of mercy ministry, and the second half gives some practical ways you can start putting the principles into action at the church level.

An Aggressively Inarticulate Generation

The Power of Being Lead

Over the past several months I’ve made an interesting observation. My children may be watching television or some other mindless activity. On such occasions, the motivation emerges within me to help engage them in some mind-stimulating activity or at least something that will cause them to exert some physical energy. I can say to one of my children, “Hey, you wanna do a puzzle?” The almost immediate response will be “no.” I can follow that up with something like, “How about we build something?” The response? “No.” I can go through a litany of options, “A bike ride?” “Too hot.” You get the picture. Of course there are some wild cards. Chuck E Cheese’s always gets a thumbs up. However, often the end result is potential discouragement or frustration.

Here’s where the interesting observation comes in.

On a given day, my children could be engrossed in a movie of some sort. I can nonchalantly walk through the room, grab the youngest child, put them on my lap, spread a box of puzzle pieces on the floor... and within seconds. The couch is empty, the movie is mere background noise and I have kids all around me fighting over who gets the corner pieces. I can waltz through the room and say, “Oh... I’ll see you guys later... I’m gonna go for a bike ride around the block...” (pause)... and I have three kids begging to go with me. Did I mention the heat index is a hundred-and-eight? Suddenly, being hot is no longer a factor. Regardless of the activity, if I merely begin doing it, engaging it, etc - my children join me. Interesting!

It’s like they wanted to do something more active and engaging, they just didn’t know it! They needed to be lead. They needed to be shown. They needed to be engaged. I wonder if much of our parenting frustration is caused simply because we tell them what to do, but fail to show them how to do it? We ask them if they want to do something, when all they need is to be invited to join us.

Now, let’s turn the tables a bit.

How does this principle apply to our own spirituality? How often do we not want to do that which is most needed to do? Perhaps engaging some spiritual practice (Scripture, Prayer, Serving, Fasting, Giving, etc)... I’ve discovered, quite often we’re just like our children. One of the keys to spiritual maturity is being able to discern what we need and how to do something about it. Often, I’ve learned that if I simply begin engaging a practice or discipline, before long (like my children) I actually enjoy and find pleasure and benefit in doing it. I just need to be lead.

Often we spend too much time following our heart,
and not enough time leading it...

The Pursuit of God: The Human Thirst for the Divine :: Free Download

During a train trip from Chicago to Texas in the late 1940's, A.W. Tozer began to write The Pursuit Of God. He wrote all night, the words coming to him as fast as he could put them down. When the train pulled into McAllen, the rough draft was done. Although written in such a remarkably short period of time, Tozer's passionate classic offers not only a deeper understanding of Biblical Truth, but a personal encounter with the very Source of that Truth.

Christianaudio.com is offering this as a free audio download for the month of July. Go here. As you check out insert the coupon code JUL2010.

The Learning Revolution

A while back, I referenced one of my favorite talks by Sir Ken Robinson. In this talk, he explores the idea of - Do Schools Kill Creativity?

Recently, Robinson gave another talk Bring on the Learning Revolution. Here, he makes several interesting comments that have great relevance on education, creativity and personal pursuit of passion(s). Several of his later remarks would make great conversation pieces as it relates to the Church. Rather than extract various thoughts and quotes, I've simply posted the 18:00 presentation.

The Truth about Motivation

The following is an interesting clip about motivation by author Daniel Pink.

Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in theaters December 10th, 2010.