Media Habits of 12-24 Year-Olds vs. 25-54 Year-Olds — Key to Shaping Your Nonprofit Marketing Agenda
Posted by wagardner - 31/10/07 at 07:10:00 pmGo read this article by Nancy Schwartz at the Getting Attention Blog
There is a tremendous amount of good information for those of us who have a message to communicate.
Words and definitions
Posted by wagardner - 31/10/07 at 02:10:00 amAs I read or listen I often need to know what words mean. I am sure that you know these words but sometimes I have to look them up:
Hedonism-= Pursuit of or devotion to pleasure, especially to the pleasures of the senses, Philosophy. The ethical doctrine holding that only what is pleasant or has pleasant consequences is intrinsically good, Psychology. The doctrine holding that behavior is motivated by the desire for pleasure and the avoidance of pain.
Pelagians The theological doctrine propounded by Pelagius, a British monk, and condemned as heresy by the Roman Catholic Church in A.D. 416. It denied original sin and affirmed the ability of humans to be righteous by the exercise of free will
Pelagianism is the teaching that man has the capacity to seek God in and of himself apart from any movement of God or the Holy Spirit. According to semi-Pelagianism, man doesn’t have such an unrestrained capacity, but man and God could cooperate to a certain degree in this salvation effort: man can (unaided by grace) make the first move toward God, and God then completes the salvation process. This teaching is distinct from the traditional patristic doctrine of synergeia, that the process of salvation is cooperation between God and man from start to finish.
Semi-Pelagians a Christian theological understanding about salvation; that is, how humanity and God are restored to a right relationship. The Semi-Pelagian teaching is derived from the earlier Pelagian teaching about salvation (see below), and teaches that it is necessary for humans to make the first step toward God and then God will complete salvation.
Bible Maps
Posted by wagardner - 27/10/07 at 08:10:00 pmSomething that I enjoy using while I am studying is an online program of Bible Maps. You simply plug in the chapter and verse and you will see a map of the locations that are mentioned in the passage of Scripture. I hope you will check it out and that it will be the blessing to you that has been to me.
Born to be Rich
Posted by wagardner - 27/10/07 at 12:10:00 pmI am currently reading Born to be Rich by Rollan Roberts. Rollan and Renee are currently attending our church and I was given a copy of his book because I was truly interested. I am half through the book. It has a lot of good stuff in it but one thing that I really like comes from page 33.
“The first step to controlling your circumstances is to accept personal responsibility for where you are right now at this point in your life. You can’t blame others. This is not how you get ahead. That’s right. That means you can’t blame the economy for where you are financially.”
Well there is a lot more even on that point but how many times do I hear people talking and blaming. It is time that I realize that it is not what happens to me but rather what I do with what happens to me.
Radically scary
Posted by wagardner - 27/10/07 at 12:10:00 pmWhen you do not want to offend anyone and also you do not have the Word of God as your anchor it is amazing what you will allow yourself to believe. We must be students of the Bible. We must get into God’s word. It is not a matter of pleasing people or being nice. It is a matter of being true to the perfect Word of God and saying what God says.
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Betty’s article
Posted by wagardner - 24/10/07 at 06:10:00 amI just came across this article that Betty wrote. I do not remember who she wrote it for but it has to to with us returning to the US and I thought it was interesting enough to hold on to.
As I sit here pondering how wonderful my Lord has been to me over the years, I don’t know why I sometimes doubt His guidance and plan for my life. I then have Scriptures such as Proverbs 3:5-6 and Matthew 6:33 come to mind. I have to remember that I am to do my part. I am commanded to trust Him with ALL of my heart and not to trust in my own reasoning or understanding. I am to seek His kingdom and His righteousness first and He will reward me with the things that I need. So many times I want to hold on or be in control of just a small part of my heart and life.
Recently I have had a tremendous change in my life that has literally turned MY PLANS upside down! For the past twenty years my husband and I have served with Macedonia World Baptist Missions in the country of Peru in South America. Our four children grew up there and two of the four, along with their families, are serving there now. Our youngest son is on deputation and will be heading back with his wife sometime in 2007. We have one daughter living in east Georgia that works alongside her husband in the printing ministry out of their church. During the many years that we were in Peru, we developed friendships with so many of the people that the Lord so mercifully saved. Marriages were mended and families were brought back together. We watched them grow in His love and grace. What a thrill! In other words my life, my heart and my all were in Peru.
In October of this past year, it became very obvious that the Lord was leading us to leave Peru and start a church with a training center for missionaries in Alpharetta, Georgia. My heart broke just to think of leaving the country, the people and the life that I had known for the past 18 years. I began to doubt the Lord’s wisdom in this matter and look for any excuse to be able to stay in Peru. Funny thing, 20 years earlier I was looking for excuses to stay in the states, when He was calling us to go to Peru. It just goes to show that no matter where we are, if we are in the center of God’s will, He will give us a peace and happiness that humanly we can not understand but which is so sweet (Philippians 4:7).
We are now here in the “good ole US of A,” working, praying hard and waiting to see what our God is going to do. My husband says, “At 51 years old I should be going through mid life crisis, wanting a red sports car, a girl friend and unbuttoning my shirt down to my belly button. Instead I am starting a church!” And as his wife I surely am glad that he has chosen the latter of the above mentioned list. I am scared to death yet at the same time excited to see what my God has for me this time around. I know that He only wants the very best for me. He has blessed me with innumerable blessings so undeserved. I pray that I will never forget all that the Lord has done for me and that I will always put into practice my life’s verse: I Samuel 12:24, “Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you. “
Good Questionnaires
Posted by wagardner - 24/10/07 at 05:10:00 amI was just going through some old files and came across this old web page. It is very good as an idea of the type of questionnaire that is good for missionaries. Some are just plain ridiculous and only being used to weed out missionaries. This is one sent out as an attempt to be a blessing to their missionaries.
********* Baptist Church
Men’s Missionary Questionnaire
1. List all types of books that you enjoy reading
2. Do you have any favorite authors?
3. Are there any specific titles of books that you would like?
4. What titles and types of magazines to you enjoy?
5. What is your favorite aftershave or cologne scent(s)?
6. What type of socks do you like? (Color and size)
7. What are your favorite coffee flavors? Regular or decaf?
8. What types of candies do you like?
9. Do you collect anything? (Ex: Paperweights, baseball memorabilia, model cars, etc.)
10. What are some desk/computer supplies that you need?
11. What are your hobbies or interests? What supplies do you need?
12. Are you in need of any particular tools?
13. What kind of ties do you like?
************** Baptist Church
Women’s Missionary Questionnaire
1. List all types of books that you enjoy reading.
2. Do you have any favorite authors?
3. Are there any specific titles of books that you would like?
4. What titles and types of magazines do you enjoy?
5. What is your favorite perfume scent(s)?
6. What scents of lotions and soaps do you like? (Such as Bath and Body products)
7. What type of decorated stationary or note cards do you like? (flowers, animals, Americana, etc.)
8. What type of hosiery do you prefer? (Color and size)
9. What are your favorite coffee flavors? Regular or decaf?
10. What are you favorite tea flavors? Regular or herbal?
11. What types of candies do you like?
12. Do you collect anything? (Ex: bird houses, candle holders, etc.)
13. What are your hobbies? What supplies do you need?
14. What kind of scarves do you like? What designs and colors?
*************** Baptist Church
Children’s Missionary Questionnaire
1. What kind of music do you like to listen to? CD’s or tapes?
2. List the types of books you like to read.
3. Do you like to write? (Journal, notes, stationary)
4. What are your favorite snacks?
5. What kind of movies do you like?
6. What is your favorite candy or gum?
7. What are your hobbies?
8. What are your favorite colors?
9. Do you need any articles of clothing? Shoes? (sizes)
10. What types of bath and body products do you like? (girls) What type of cologne do you like? (guys)
11. If you could wish for one thing, what would it be?
Follow up Questions and Preparation
1. We ask that your wife and children plan to attend the conference with you. Will your wife and children be attending? Please list the names and ages of your children.
2. We also ask that you stay for the whole conference. Do you plan to arrive on Saturday afternoon, October 20th? Do you plan to stay through Friday morning, October 26th?
3. Do you plan to drive or fly to the conference?
4. If flying, when do you arrive? What is your flight number and airline? Do you need transportation from the airport?
5. Will you need any special audio visual equipment for you presentation?
6. On Monday you’ll have the opportunity to play golf or go fishing. Which do you prefer?
7. Will you need equipment for golf? If so, what? Clubs?(left or right handed) Shoes? (Size)
8. If you have an electronic picture of you and your family please email it to me.
Village God
Posted by wagardner - 24/10/07 at 01:10:00 amAt a nearby seminary, John Stott told the story of visiting a tiny church in rural England while on a study leave. He worshipped with them every Sunday, participated in their fellowship, and heard their discussions. He related his dismay when week after week, the pastor would preach about issues facing the village, pray about concerns in the church, and discuss decisions related only to their congregation. “I came to the conclusion,” Stott observed, “that these people worship a village God.”
Heart work!
Posted by wagardner - 23/10/07 at 11:10:00 pmby Charles Spurgeon
Our work, when earnestly undertaken, lays us open to attacks in the direction of depression. Who can bear the weight of souls without sometimes sinking to the dust? Passionate longings after men’s conversion, if not fully satisfied (and when are they?), consume the soul with anxiety and disappointment. To see the hopeful turn aside, the godly grow cold, professors abusing their privileges, and sinners waxing more bold in sin are not these sights enough to crush us to the earth? The kingdom comes not as we would, the reverend name is not hallowed as we desire, and for this we must weep. How can we be otherwise than sorrowful, while men believe not our report, and the divine arm is not revealed? All mental work tends to weary and to depress, for much study is a weariness of the flesh; but ours is more than mental work — it is heart work, the labor of our inmost soul. How often, on Lord’s-day evenings, do we feel as if life were completely washed out of us! After pouring out our souls over our congregations, we feel like empty earthen pitchers which a child might break. Probably, if we were more like Paul, and watched for souls at a nobler rate, we should know more of what it is to be eaten up by the zeal of the Lord’s house. It is our duty and our privilege to exhaust our lives for Jesus. We are not to be living specimens of men in fine preservation, but living sacrifices, whose lot is to be consumed; we are to spend and to be spent, not to lay ourselves up in lavender, and nurse our flesh. Such soul travail as that of a faithful minister will bring on occasional seasons of exhaustion, when heart and flesh will fail. Moses’ hands grew heavy in intercession, and Paul cried out, “Who is sufficient for these things?” Even John the Baptist is thought to have had his fainting fits, and the apostles were once amazed, and were sore afraid.
Losing your zeal!
Posted by wagardner - 23/10/07 at 11:10:00 pmby Charles Spurgeon
We shall often find ourselves in danger of being deteriorated in zeal by the cold Christian people with whom we come in contact. What terrible wet blankets some professors are! Their remarks after a sermon are enough to stagger you. You think that surely you have moved the very stones to feeling, but you painfully learn that these people are utterly unaffected. You have been burning and they are freezing; you have been pleading as for life or death and they have been calculating how many seconds the sermon occupied, and grudging you the odd five minutes beyond the usual hour, width your earnestness compelled you to occupy in pleading with men’s souls. If these frost-bitten men should happen to be the others of the church, from whom you naturally expect the warmest sympathy, the result is chilling to the last degree, and all the more so if you are young and inexperienced: it is as though an angel were confined in an iceberg.
Frequently the audience itself, as a whole, will dampen your zeal. You can see by their very look and manner that the people are not appreciating your warm hearted endeavors, and you feel discouraged. Those empty benches also are a serious trial, and if the place be large, and the congregation small, the influence is seriously depressing: it is not every man who can bear to be “a voice crying in the wilderness.” Disorder in the congregation also sadly afflicts sensitive speakers. The walking up the aisle of a woman with a pair of pattens, the squeak of a pair of new boots, the frequent fall of umbrellas and walking-sticks, the crying of infants, and especially the consistent lateness of half the assembly ; — all these tend to irritate the mind, take it off from its object, and diminish its ardor. We hardly like to confess that our hearts are so readily affected by such trifles, but it is so, and not at all to be wondered at. As pots of the most precious ointment are more often spoilt by dead flies than by dead camels, so Insignificant matters will destroy earnestness more readily than greater annoyances. Under a great discouragement a man pulls himself together, and then throws himself upon his God, and receives divine strength but under lesser depressions he may possibly worry, and the trifle will irritate and fester till serious consequences follow.
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