The Elisha Foundation

Elisha Foundation

If you have sniffed around this blog long enough you will know of my love for Justin and Tamara Reimer and The Elisha Foundation. I was thrilled (yes, THRILLED) to return from my travels and find TEF has a new website that more than ever before communicates what they are about and how to help.

I plan to check out that donation page in a few minutes... maybe you could, too?

Mark Webb and Mike Bullmore sermons available for free download.

One of my true joys this summer was preaching at the Fort William Summer Bible Conference in Thunder Bay, Ontario. I was eager to see the work of God in that part of my country and desirous of getting to know more of the saints from the north.

The preaching at the conference by Mike Bullmore and Mark Webb was of the highest calibre. Mark’s last two messages from Galatians were of special notice as he clarified a couple of passages that always stumped me. And Mike brought a wonderful series calling on all to look to the one true refuge: God. If Mark’s strength in preaching is his penchant for captivating illustrations, Mike’s strength is the pithy phrase. The combination over 3 days was rich instruction!

I just checked and you can download these messages (I think for a limited time) from here. I highly commend them!

The Cowboy reviews Planting Missional Churches

Cowboyology: Rain, Rain, Go Away So I Can Finish My Book

I always appreciate the even-handed and thoughtful treatment my friend Clint gives to things. This review of Stetzer's "Planting Missional Churches" is no exception.

This book, Planting Missional Churches, is the kind of manual that would have been helpful for me to be exposed to in seminary. It offers practical advice about how to proceed in all of the logical necessities of church planting. Financial controls, child care set up, and facility usage are shown to be the regular residue under the church planter's fingernails. Stetzer provides guidance in these wisdom issues that keeps a weary planter from the burden to re-invent everything from taking the offering to taking out the trash.

But I'm also glad that I wasn't exposed to it in seminary. The mass of information on methodology, practicalities and do's and don'ts of church planting can easily give a distorted picture. A green seminary student could easily think that the weight of church planting is bound up in these things, and not in clear, gospel priorities.