J.R. Briggs

9 :: Thoughts, links and musings

August 27, 2009

Here is a smattering of links and information that are significant, interesting and/or both…

1. Renew is hosting The Prayer Experience on Sunday morning September 6 (Labor Day weekend). We’re pretty excited about it. It’ll be experiential and different. If its good weather its going to be a great time. If you find prayer to be difficult or if you don’t know how – or what – to pray this is a good thing to consider participating in. Read more about it here.

2. Are you a runner in the Philly area? Here’s a great race through a National Park for a great cause. Duane Freed, one of Renew’s elders, is sponsoring this first-year race called River Fest, a 5-mile race through historic Valley Forge National Park. River Fest benefits Hope International, a great organization that offers microloans to those in Third World countries. Check their website out. Megan will be running in the race and Carter and I will be there to cheer her on. I’ll be there. Will you?

3. People have been asking me lately what I’ve read recently or what I am currently reading. Here’s the list…

1. Home Game (Michael Lewis)
2. The Upside-Down Kingdom (Donald Kraybill)
3. A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix (Friedman)
4. Simply Christian (N.T. Wright)
5. The Gospel in a Pluralist Society (Newbigin)
6. Church Morph (Eddie Gibbs)
7. The Cost of Discipleship (Bonhoeffer)
8. God in Search of Man (Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel)
9. Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels (Kenneth E. Bailey)

4. I’m curious: What are you reading lately that you’d recommend?

5. I taught on fasting in Bethlehem last Sunday evening. Ramadan started this past weekend as well. My friend Mohammed, the Imam at the North Penn mosque, invited me to attend Ramadan meal with him next week. Here’s a well-written article on the Muslim approach to fasting. What are your thoughts?

6. Scot McKnight is blogging his way through the book of Acts. I highly recommend you follow along. It’s fresh and sparking great thoughts on me as I’ve been reading.

7. Considering deleting your Facebook account? Donald Miller offers some resolve on his blog. (BTW, I’m really looking forward to his book releasing in a few weeks).

8. Rob Bell is now on Twitter.

9. My friend Ben Sternke is planting a church in Ft. Wayne, IN. Check out the vision of his new faith community on his blog called “A Missional Proposal.” It’s worth the time.

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