Revshortridge

Is Twitter Taunting Christians in 140 Characters or Less?

noreply@blogger.com (Wes Shortridge) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:40:00 +0000

John Piper has started Twittering. Below are his reasons: (from DesiringGod.org)

Why and How I Am Tweeting

By John PiperJune 3, 2009

I see two kinds of response to social Internet media like blogging, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and others.

One says: These media tend to shorten attention spans, weaken discursive reasoning, lure people away from Scripture and prayer, disembody relationships, feed the fires of narcissism, cater to the craving for attention, fill the world with drivel, shrink the soul’s capacity for greatness, and make us second-handers who comment on life when we ought to be living it. So boycott them and write books (not blogs) about the problem.

The other response says: Yes, there is truth in all of that, but instead of boycotting, try to fill these media with as much provocative, reasonable, Bible-saturated, prayerful, relational, Christ-exalting, truth-driven, serious, creative pointers to true greatness as you can.

Together with the team at Desiring God, I lean toward response #2. “Lean” is different from “leap.” We are aware that the medium tends to shape the message. This has been true, more or less, with every new medium that has come along—speech, drawing, handwriting, print, books, magazines, newspapers, tracts, 16mm home movies, flannel-graph, Cinerama, movies, Gospel Blimps, TV, radio, cassette tapes, 8-Tracks, blackboards, whiteboards, overhead projection, PowerPoint, skits, drama, banners, CDs, MP3s, sky-writing, video, texting, blogging, tweeting, Mina-Bird-training, etc.

Dangers, dangers everywhere. Yes. But it seems to us that aggressive efforts to saturate a media with the supremacy of God, the truth of Scripture, the glory of Christ, the joy of the gospel, the insanity of sin, and the radical nature of Christian living is a good choice for some Christians. Not all. Everyone should abstain from some of these media. For example, we don’t have a television.

That’s my general disposition toward media.

Now what about Twitter? I find Twitter to be a kind of taunt: “Okay, truth-lover, see what you can do with 140 characters! You say your mission is to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things! Well, this is one of those ‘all things.’ Can you magnify Christ with this thimble-full of letters?”

To which I respond:

The sovereign Lord of the earth and sky
Puts camels through a needle’s eye.
And if his wisdom see it mete,
He will put worlds inside a tweet.

So I am not inclined to tweet that at 10AM the cat pulled the curtains down. But it might remind me that the Lion of Judah will roll up the heavens like a garment, and blow out the sun like a candle, because he just turned the light on. That tweet might distract someone from pornography and make them look up.

I’ve been tweeting anonymously for a month mainly to test its spiritual and family effects on me. In spite of all the dangers, it seems like a risk worth taking. “All things were created through Christ and for Christ” (Colossians 1:16). The world does not know it, but that is why Twitter exists and that’s why I Tweet.

By his grace and for his glory,

Pastor John

I Twitter mostly for the relational connection, but Piper has over 18,000 followers. I now have 125 followers on Twitter, and it has changed my tweets. I don't know most of my followers. Piper's advice is good-- I wonder if I can Twitter something that makes an addict think before using?

Still not Twittering? Set up an account and follow me! http://twitter.com/revshortridge

Flight 93 Memorial

noreply@blogger.com (Wes Shortridge) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:17:00 +0000

We stopped by the flight 93 memorial yesterday. I have been there before, but it still has a strange feel. Eight years after 9/11 it still feels like yesterday.

Thank God for people that stand up for what they believe. There were heroes on flight 93.

The memorial is also located in one of the prettiest areas on Earth. The Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania are a motorcycle rider's dream. Especially Rt. 30.

Pittsburgh

noreply@blogger.com (Wes Shortridge) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:09:00 +0000

I have been riding my motorcycle this week with some great friends and brilliant pastors. We are in Pittsburgh.

Only pastors really get other pastors, and it is great to have good friends to spend time with. The best part is that most of these friends are also Apostolic leaders that are planting churches at the rate we would like to at LCC. It is encouraging to hear their experiences in mothering churches.

I am excited about planting again! We have two couples that will be planting next year. Any of you blog readers out there ready to plant?

Pacifist Church?

noreply@blogger.com (Wes Shortridge) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 22:01:00 +0000

I have posted a few times about the Assemblies of God and its early pacifist position. I wrestle with this as any Christian should. At heart, peace is our goal, but we live in a world that is far from peace. Where is the line? Aggressive pacifism or aggressive police action?

I have been meaning to give this more thought and do a full post on it. Good news is, Paul Grabill beat me to it. Read his article here. It will bring up some issues and thoughts to further this conversation.

Cyberstalking

noreply@blogger.com (Wes Shortridge) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 21:22:00 +0000

I enjoy posting to this blog. It helps clarify my thoughts, and I have met some interesting people here at Revshortridge. I have been rather light in posting lately, however.

I had a cyberstalker. What is a cyberstalker? Here is Wikipedia's definition: the use of information and communications technology, particularly the Internet, by an individual or group of individuals, to harass another individual, group of individuals, or organization. The behavior includes false accusations, monitoring, the transmission of threats, identity theft, damage to data or equipment, the solicitation of minors for sexual purposes, and gathering information for harassment purposes. The harassment must be such that a reasonable person, in possession of the same information, would regard it as sufficient to cause another reasonable person distress.

I hate to admit it, but it freaked me out a bit. I have never had someone look into my postings so hard. They even wrote letters trying to get me removed from pastoring LCC. I hate to abandon Revshortridge, so I guess I will try again.

Here are a few things I have learned:

Make sure you are clear in your postings. It is easy to be misunderstood.

Keep copies of everything. Some of the postings by this stalker were so offensive that I deleted them immediately. I should have kept copies.

Make sure your church supports your blogging or that you are clear that it is your personal blog and that it might not reflect the church's opinion.

Keep blogging-- there are stalker types everywhere. We keep living and we keep blogging.

One of My Heroes

noreply@blogger.com (Wes Shortridge) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:15:00 +0000

Gerry Stoltzfoos is one of my heroes in faith. He has blessed me many times and was the catalyst behind LCC for a long time. He was recently asked to pray at the PA state legislature. In typical Gerry fashion, it ended up in the news.

Read the article here.

I have learned to pray in a non-offensive way in a mixed faith crowd, and I am certain Gerry has as well. It seems odd to even invite religious leaders to pray if you are going to edit the prayer. I am glad there are people like Gerry that are willing to take a stand.

Father's Prayer

noreply@blogger.com (Wes Shortridge) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:13:00 +0000

Here is a copy of the prayer we prayed for fathers yesterday. As written here it is written by Dr. David Lim.

I cover my wife and children with the love of Jesus and the blood of Jesus

I am the spiritual gateway to this family

No enemy can attack unless he comes through me first

I reject the attack of the enemy

Church Life Cohort Month 10

noreply@blogger.com (Wes Shortridge) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:04:00 +0000

I am spending the week with Dr. David Lim from Grace Assembly of God in Singapore. We are exploring how the Holy Spirit operates in the church. Dr. Lim is challenging a lot of what I thought I knew about the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts in the church.

Here are a few thoughts that challenged me today:

All of the spiritual gifts are for all the people.

All acts are prophetic acts.

All of us look at God through "filters" that affect our accurate view of Him. We, however, become like the god we are serving.

The early church was moved forward with first class ministries, focus on essence not form, treatment of all people as first class, desire to bring God glory, the Holy Spirit's intervention, a multi-cultural base, deliberate sending, unity within the larger church, sovereignty of local churches.

The baptism in the Holy Spirit is a relationship not an event.

Dr. Lim is challenging, but he is also inspiring outside the class. His passion for his church is inspiring. Grace A/G meets on a lot less than an acre in size. We feel cramped at LCC with 300 people on an acre. They have 3000 on less than an acre. (They also have seventeen services per weekend.) It is going to be a great week.

Proper Dress for Church

noreply@blogger.com (Wes Shortridge) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 20:46:00 +0000

We have been trying to put together some policies at LCC. Most of them are things we already do, but some of them have been a bit sticky. We started with a template from an older, established church in the South and have edited extensively.

The stickiest point has been dress for staff and pastors. The original template spelled out pressed suits with shined shoes, short hair, no tattoos, no piercings, and socks. We edited it once to say clean clothes and shoes, and have finally reverted to our former motto-- "As long as it it legal."

Personally, I will wear whatever it takes to reach people. Jeff Leake recently posted on this subject. I always appreciate Jeff's perspective.

One Day Lard Will Be Health Food

noreply@blogger.com (Wes Shortridge) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:44:00 +0000

Remember when eggs were bad for you and coffee was supposed to be kept to one cup a day? Now coffee, chocolate, wine, eggs, and many of the things we grew up thinking would kill you are actually good for you. One day they will say eating lard isn't bad for you. Hold on... this new article says just that-- lard is good for you. The trans fats we replaced lard with kill us and lard is a good, natural product that is quite healthy. It doesn't even raise cholesterol levels.

A few observations:

Sometimes science (dietitians, medicine...) have no idea what they are talking about.

We are all going to die one day. It would be a shame to die perfectly healthy.

Can't wait to get some lard in the house. (Better hurry before they change their minds.)

Mattress Money

noreply@blogger.com (Wes Shortridge) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:05:00 +0000

Just read an article about a woman that decided to surprise her mother with a new mattress. Problem was her mother had been stuffing the old one with money for years. Turns out she had over one million dollars in her mattress. Obviously the race is on to find the mattress in the landfill.

I love what the mother had to say, "'The heart is crying but you know we could have been in a car accident or had a terminal disease." She also said, It's a very, very sad story but I've been through worse. It's a matter of proportions in life ... people need to know how to accept the good and the bad in life."

I once put a $100 bill in a book for safekeeping, and I still don't remember what book it was. I miss my $100. I think I would miss my million dollar mattress more.

What is the craziest place you ever stashed money?

America's Future

noreply@blogger.com (Wes Shortridge) — Thu, 28 May 2009 12:48:00 +0000

I saw some news footage yesterday of people burning flags. Many are saying America's best days are behind them, and that it is downhill from here.

Everyone gets an opinion, but I am having trouble believing we are giving up so easy. I read a copy of a speech given by Rep. Tom McClintock. Read it here.

Seems like some Americans still believe in America. We could use a few more from Rep. McClintock. I like the sound of "the eve of the American re-awakening"

Not Returning to LCC

noreply@blogger.com (Wes Shortridge) — Thu, 28 May 2009 00:09:00 +0000

One of the things that really bothers me is when people visit LCC and don't return. Many do come back and become part of the family, but it hurts me when someone gets up enough nerve to try us out and they don't feel welcome.

From the parking lot to the closing music we try to create a welcoming atmosphere at LCC, but sometimes we fall a bit short.

Read Mel Ming's post about why people don't return after a visit.

What do you think we can do to get better at this? Any of you LCCers willing to step up and fill some of the gaps?

I would love to see everyone that visits us leave feeling that they could belong in our family. Let's do this together!

Books for June Cohort

noreply@blogger.com (Wes Shortridge) — Wed, 27 May 2009 02:45:00 +0000

Here are the books I am reading for June's cohort with Dr. Lim:

Is One Prayer Cool Enough?

noreply@blogger.com (Wes Shortridge) — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:41:00 +0000

Craig Groeschel ponders the idea that cool is no longer cool in American church. Here is his post:

"The American Church is not lacking for “cool” pastors. Like a single guy who is trying just-a-bit-too-hard to impress a girl, some churches are simply trying too hard to be cool.

I’m very encouraged to see a shifting in direction. For years, many of us seemed focused on:

Designing relevant church experiences.
Producing entertaining videos.
Creating inviting environments.
Crafting sermon series to draw a crowd.
Writing sermons with shock value and plenty of humor or stories.

While all of the above can be effective tools, many of my friends are intentionally moving in a stronger direction. So many great Christian leaders are seeing far better results with:

Bathing a sermon in prayer.
Fasting regularly.
Practicing personal confession and repentance.
Preaching from the overflow of time alone in God’s word.
Caring deeply for others in biblical community.

I’m thrilled so many leaders are placing less emphasis on being cool and more emphasis on being like Christ."

Makes me wonder if the motive behind cool pastors and churches isn't really to attract all the cool people from the church down the road. Most of our cool stuff in church looks ridiculous to the unchurched. We have made ourselves tha laughingstock of their world rather than the spiritual leaders we are called to be.

This post reflects something God has been speaking to me in prayer for some time. I feel a real call back to disciplines and spiritual strength and maturity rather than coolness. The pendulum does swing, and it looks like maybe we are swinging in a good direction.

Groeschel is the man behind One Prayer. One Prayer is over a thousand churches working together to hear from God this June. I am fired up about LCC being a part of this, and can't wait to see what God does with this now that the coolness of it is out of the way. My prayer is that God shows up in the thousand churches of One Prayer.

Did Vincent Do It?

noreply@blogger.com (Wes Shortridge) — Fri, 15 May 2009 10:26:00 +0000

Some new research claims that Vincent Van Gogh didn't really cut off his ear in a psychotic attempt to impress his alleged prostitute girlfriend. The revised story is that Paul Gauguin actually cut off Vincent's ear with a sword in a drunken argument over the prostitute.

I am a Vincent fan because his apperantly tortured life comes across so clearly in his art. Vincent was a minister early in life, and became frustrated with the religious establishment. You can see his faith in works like Starry Night as you look at the steeple rising near the center of a confusing and big world. I have felt like that a few times in life also.

The thing about the ear always bothered me. It made Vincent into a pathetic lunatic instead of an artistic lunatic. The new story is that he was protecting Paul in not revealing the actual events. That seems much nobler to me. I don't like historical revision, but I think I like this one.

A few months after the ear incident, Vincent passionately takes his own life and dies with his benefactor brother Theo by his side. The difference is in whether he was a pathetic, lovesick puppy or an artist that was born out of time. Medicine saysthe lead and arsenic in Vincent's paint likely led to his demise, but I wonder if it wasn't a longing for something he couldn't find in Europe in the 19th Century. The new story about Paul adds a new element to Vincent.

Hand Off to Church Planting Success

noreply@blogger.com (Wes Shortridge) — Thu, 14 May 2009 12:08:00 +0000

Bill Easum recently wrote about a Lilly Foundation study on why some church plants thrive and some sit still. I could give several reasons that are my opinion, but Easum and Lilly have concluded that thriving has a lot to do with handing off ministry.

Pastor's that know their job and are willing to hand off tasks to others seem to thrive. A pastor's job is found in Acts 6 and Ephesians 4. The job is to hear from God and to empower others. Anything else is not the real job, and if you let it it will choke out the real work of pastoring. Church plants thrive when pastor's trust the Holy Spirit to empower people while the pastor focuses on the real job.

We are getting ready for a new plant at LCC. I can't wait to see the new location thrive!

Finding Your Next Job

noreply@blogger.com (Wes Shortridge) — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:37:00 +0000

Lot of people looking for a job in this economy. The worst trap you can get into is sending out a couple resumes a week and watching tv all day. The sharpness just slides away after hours of Oprah and All My Children.

If you are a Christ-follower, this situation is not a surprise to Jesus. I'll bet He has a way of using this time in life to transform you to the next level and to transform your career. Here are some ideas from Mark Meyer:

Do the basics well. Clean, attractive resume, practice interviewing, etc. Essentially, spend 6-8 hours on the web looking at the resources, take notes, and build a plan for your resume, interviewing, networking, and action plan. Normal? Wing it, hope something happens... there's tons of resources for me to spend too much time on it... one I found on Twitter: thejobsguy
Everyone needs an editor... who are you practicing an interview with, reviewing your appearance (your bushel of hair coming out of your ear is not helping you), tweaking your resume, etc? We all have blind spots, get help. Normal is going at it alone...
Focus on building relationships, not finding a job. Networking is about proactively talking with people, understanding needs, and getting the opportunity to tell your 15-30 second story.
Understand if A + B= Getting a Job You're only in control of "A", the things you can control. "B" is all the things you can't control... timing, divine intervention, etc.. You being unemployed doesn't define who you are... keep focused on what you can control and do that.
Surround Yourself with Positive Influencers... the people around you should be encouraging, expanding your network, expanding your ideas on what industries you could be part of, and giving you helpful input. Turn off CNN and the unemployment reports if needed. You become who your surround yourself with. Normal is finding and reciting the list of excuses of why they won't and can't find a job.
You've got 15-30 seconds to tell me a story about you that I could potentially repeat to prospective employers for you. If you confuse me, I won't talk about you. If you inspire me and give me easy "handles" to talk about you, I may be the one to find you a job. Develop your 15-30 second story, make it crisp, and tell it to everyone you have an opportunity to meet.
Have coffee twice a week with a new connectors/person to review your plan and ask their advice/input on your job search. Practice your 15 second story, have them interview you, review your resume, and build a new relationship. People love giving advice. Be willing to take it, connect, and sharpen your plan and story.
Be real and authentic. Employers like to see a genuine person with integrity willing to show their hand and be real. It's something/someone they can trust and will get straight information from...

I would add:

~ Stay involved somewhere. Get up at a regular hour and do some volunteer work at least three days a week. We could use some work at LCC, and so could most of our area charities. Times are tight for most non-profits, and you could make a difference at the homeless shelter, food bank, or a local church.

~ Do something new. Enroll in a college class or learn a skill. Most skilled craftspeople would be cool with you helping out around their shops doing odd jobs in exchange for some coaching in a new skill.

~ Read like crazy. The library is free, and filled with stuff you will need in your next job. Get ahead of the crowd.

~ Consider early retirement. What if you seriously downsized and got a part time job. Might not keep up with the Jonses, but might be a cool way to live. Think of the volunteer time you would have.

The new job market will be lean and volatile. Whatever you do, be prepared for it. The most important thing-- keep up your spiritual life through disciplines. This might be a great time for a prayer retreat, extended fast, vow of silence, time of solitude, extended Bible reading, or deeper Bible study.

Church Life Cohort Month Nine Day One

noreply@blogger.com (Wes Shortridge) — Wed, 13 May 2009 01:20:00 +0000

I am back in Florida for month nine of Church Life Cohort. This month is about conflict resolution-- something every pastor can use. Churches sometimes have a lot of conflict. We are passionate about faith, and sometimes we take that passion to the wrong places and create conflict.

Today, we spent the day with Max Yeary from Christian Life Center. Yeary is an amazing manager, and the theme for the day was that good management in the church prevents most conflict in the church. Yeary states that 95% of pastors have experienced serious conflict in the church, and that 94% of pastors say they learned from it. Yeary shared his story about how conflict in his church taught him to manage it well.

Although some say conflict in the church is normal, Yeary points out that the church is a body not an organization. Conflict in a body requires a doctor.

In reflecting on management and conflict I realized that the first year LCC was open I overmanaged it. I had policies and procedures for everything, and I nearly killed LCC by managing at the expense of leading. I learned to lead well, and now feel I am leading at the expense of management and that there is some conflict as a result.

Balancing extremes is the primary skill in Christ following. Guess I need to put a bit more weight on the management side of things.

Freak Out Your Great Grand Kids

noreply@blogger.com (Wes Shortridge) — Tue, 12 May 2009 11:17:00 +0000

Wouldn't it be cool if you could speak to your kids years into the future. ?Might even be able to speak to your great grand kids. Now it is possible with futureme.org

You can write an email and have it sent anytime in the future. This could be a great way to freak out your great grand kids from beyond the grave (assuming you can figure out their email address). It would also be a great way to freak yourself out by sending some email to yourself in the future.

Really, you could use it to remind yourself of your life mission every few years. You could also use it to send an anniversary note to your wife so you won't forget.

Mel Ming Blog!

noreply@blogger.com (Wes Shortridge) — Mon, 11 May 2009 10:53:00 +0000

I just discovered that Mel Ming has started a new blog. Mel is a great thinker that contributed a lot to LCC's early success through his training network. Check out Mel's blog here.

New LCCBealeton Campus Ideas

noreply@blogger.com (Wes Shortridge) — Sun, 10 May 2009 00:50:00 +0000

I found these pictures on Barton Damer's blog. They are of a youth center, but they sum up the multi-venue approach to church I am hoping to put in our new building. The balconies and the lobby area fit well with a new LCCBealeton campus. Imagine it with our current patio concept somehow included.

Times are tight, but I believe the time is right for LCC to build a community center in Bealeton. Our teens are struggling, and so are our adults. We are simply out of room in the old building, and I can't wait to see the life change that will happen in the new building.

This is our time!

Posting Comments to RevShortridge Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Wes Shortridge) — Fri, 08 May 2009 17:21:00 +0000

I love to get feedback from readers, but many of you are commenting to my email box. A blog is a public forum, and I do not respond to posts privately by email. If you would like to comment or receive a comment from me, please post to the relevant topic.

Some of you have commented that you are afraid to post publicly. You can post anonymously, or you can just post. The idea of a public forum is one in which your ideas are open to criticism, and it helps me and you if we keep it public and open to the criticism of the world. It makes us sharpen our words, define our meanings, and check our facts.

Feel free to post comments!

Meet Jonathan Woodard

noreply@blogger.com (Wes Shortridge) — Fri, 08 May 2009 10:25:00 +0000

Jonathan is our newest staff member at LCC. He is coming on board as an interim associate pastor while he prepares for foreign missions.

You can get to know someone best by reading their blog, so here is Jonathan's blog.

If you are an LCCer, make sure you welcome Jonathan and his family to LCC.

Facebook Manners

noreply@blogger.com (Wes Shortridge) — Thu, 07 May 2009 11:25:00 +0000

Facebook is taking over, and it seems to be doing some strange things. Just like real life relationships, Facebook relationships require manners. Check out this video on Facebook manners. Also, if you aren't my Facebook friend you should be.