Why Does God Allow Pain & Suffering?

Last week at UCLA on Greek Row discussing, “I would follow Jesus BUT…I want to have fun.”

By Beau Crosetto

I am speaking inside a fraternity house on Wednesday night on this subject. Its a tough one. We are in the middle of a series called, “I would follow Jesus BUT…

This week the statement is, “BUT…he allows bad things to happen to people.”

I’d love your prayers as I have this discussion, but I’d also like to pass along this helpful video as well as the website as a whole…

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Winner: APE Tshirt Design

Ok, we are almost ready to print! Here was the clear cut winner from the comments, Facebook & Twitter. It was suggested to put the “ape” where the O is and I like that a lot. I also had them put the website on the back.

Pre-Order this shirt now

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But I think we need two kinds of options so I want to print one more kind of shirt as well. Please vote in the comments for the one you like best out of these three choices.

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What part do WHITE people play?

Scott profile picScott Hall is a prophetic voice in our culture and a great guy that I work with in Los Angeles. Here is a post I thought could be helpful that he wrote a few weeks ago. Enjoy and be challenged!

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In light of this past week’s MLK holiday, and the upcoming Black History Month, I’ve been reflecting on the role White people have to play in God’s heart for justice.  After centuries of being at the center of power in the West, is it time for White folks to take a back seat to people of color?  Do we no longer have the right to have a voice in the conversation?  Or is there a place for our voices and leadership?  Is there something lost without us in the mix?

Last week I asked some of these questions to students at Pacific Lutheran University.  A junior at PLU, Catherine, responded to my challenges in an email I have pasted below:

You can read the whole article and their responses here

Take The Training Wheels Off!

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By Jon Hietbrink

In my last post, I shared about how we, as aspiring movement leaders, must seek to lead our ministries on, but not over, the “edge of chaos” and almost nothing highlights this tension more acutely than how we handle the people we lead. True movement is impossible without all-play empowerment, and this kind of mobilization hinges on our willingness to both trust and entrust those we lead.

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APE T-Shirt Designs

Here are 10 different designs for APE t-shirts. Please vote in the comments which one you like best. If you like a few of them equally then feel free to put multiple numbers. We will select 1 shirt design to print and sell at first. Obviously if there is some demand then we can print other designs going forward.

So which ones/one do you like best? What would you be proud to wear? Vote now!

 

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You Can’t Reduce The Gospel To A Tweet!

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By Tyler Allred

“You can’t reduce the gospel to a tweet!”

I heard that this weekend. Is that correct? Is the gospel “un-tweetable?” Or maybe I could put it this way: If you only had one sentence, would it really be impossible to express the good news of Jesus?  In reaction to a truncated, individualistic gospel, have we stuffed that word with so much, well, ‘stuff’ that it has lost some of its linguistic worth?

Specifically when it comes to this word, “gospel,” the great, good, glorious news of the Christian faith, I believe we absolutely need more clarity, not less.

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3 Resolutions From John The Baptist

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By Sarah Carter

[This is part of a series on John The Baptist as Prophet. You can read the other posts here!]

Dear American Church, here are some Resolutions. Love, John the Baptist.

Ok, I’m a little late for the New Year’s resolutions, but since it’s still relatively early in 2014, I think we can still throw a few out there. Instead of new gym routines and eating better, maybe we can collectively agree on some resolutions for the church in the US as a whole. In line with our John the Baptist series, I’m gonna go out on a hermeneutical limb and try to imagine what John’s suggestions for improvement to the American church might sound like. What he would say to us if we, like the crowd, invited him to tell us what to do? (These are my reflections on Luke 3:1-18).

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Are Apostles For Today? What’s Their Role?

Often times today in our churches the "road" is closed to apostolic leadership. Our hope with this blog is to open this "road" back up to the mission.

Often times today in our churches the “road” is closed to apostolic leadership & discussion.

 

The term apostle can provoke all kinds of reactions. What exactly does this word mean? Are there really present day apostles? If so, what do they do? And why does it matter? These are all really important questions. This blog post series is an attempt to look at these questions and point to biblical answers. I have asked Tim Catchim, a great thinker and writer on the apostolic, to write a blog series for us. Here is post two in the series “Are Apostles For Today?” (read the rest of the posts here)

As we continue this series of posts on apostles, we should probably give a brief description as to the kind of ministry that is associated with an apostle. As the word itself suggests, it is the quintessentially missional ministry as “sentness” is written into it (apo= separate stello = sent.)

We see this definition being played out for us in the book of Acts when Paul and Barnabas join up to go on their first missionary journey (Acts 13:1-8). A quick snap shot of this story will help illustrate what apostolic ministry is about.

As Paul and Barnabas are worshiping with other disciples at Antioch, the Holy Spirit says to them “Now separate to me Barnabas and Paul for the work to which I have called them.”

For Paul and Barnabas, the separation (apo) took place when they left the Antioch church. The sending (stello) aspect of their calling took place when they planted new churches in various places and people groups.

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Sheep Herding- School for Prophets

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[This post is part of a series called Rooted. Find the other posts here]

By Steve Stuckey

In this season of reflecting upon the incarnation, it strikes me that the response of the shepherds to the coming of the messiah might be helpful to apostle, prophet, and evangelist types. Some of Scriptures greatest pioneers of the faith–Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, and Amos–all got their start as shepherds.

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