I stayed up pretty early this morning to watch the lunar eclipse, which was amazing indeed. I wanted to show you all a friend of mine’s astrophotography–it is AMAZING! Phillip and I went to church together as children and teenagers. ?We later went to Southwestern Seminary together as well.
Check out his amazing astrophotography on his website, Visual Universe.
Here is a photo he took last night of the Lunar Eclipse…stunning how God placed everything in it’s place!
Lunar Eclipse, December 2010. Phillip L. Jones. visualuniverse.org
Check out this video about how much we spend each year on Christmas alone…staggering. ?Because of our reduction in income this year, we have decided to make our presents this year for people, which I hope will help our boys (and us) realize that Christmas is much more about giving than getting. ?Wow, what we could do if we leveraged what we had to help others instead of spend all of what we have on ourselves!
Enjoy…And then maybe do something about the contradiction. ?Learn more here at Advent Conspiracy.
You can also give to a great missions organization’s Christmas Offering?here that churches all around the world participate in each year. (By the way, 100% of this goes directly to the field…no administrative costs are taken out of this offering). ?You can drill wells. ?You can serve at your local homeless shelter. ?Give new toys to children who won’t have a Christmas this year. ?There is so much to do. You know the drill.
Thanks John for the gentle nudging, I had this post in my “drafts” for a month or so now–it needed to come out in the open! ?I needed to preach to myself here for a little bit, too!!
I have always been a huge fan of U2 and I also was a “band nerd” in high school and college, so I love Broadway musicals. ?The best of both worlds has collided in a new Broadway musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” coming out soon.
What I absolutely love to see in this “60 Minutes Overtime” video is the creative process between Bono, The Edge, and the musicians. ?I have a good friend, Jeremy Ball, who is an amazing guitarist and musician, who has talked about he sees music in “colors.” ?There is place toward the end of this segment where Bono and Edge have this conversation about how the song is just “too brown” and needs some more “color.” ?Brilliant! ?Amazing musicians who see in vivid color. ?I’ll just stick to my simple campfire guitar playing of simple chords. HA!
Enjoy!
http://www.pastordavidstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/logo-340x701.png00David Stonehttp://www.pastordavidstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/logo-340x701.pngDavid Stone2010-12-09 06:18:232010-12-08 12:19:33Backstage with U2s Bono and The Edge
I am slowly getting around to reading some of my friends blog posts in my Google Reader. ?I came across this post from my high school friend Matt Wilkie. ?It is a powerful post on what he is thankful for . . . based on his travels “around the world with Jesus” to spread the Gospel.
Numbers 1 & 2 really hit me hard this morning as I sit inside in the warm typing on a computer with wireless internet. ?My how we take for granted what we have and how God has blessed us–why us, I will never understand!
1. I?m thankful I don?t have sores on my legs because of arsenic in my water supply.
2. I?m thankful we have enough food on our table so we don?t have to consider whether or not to sell a family member to those who might hurt them in order to pay for food for others in the family.
http://www.pastordavidstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/logo-340x701.png00David Stonehttp://www.pastordavidstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/logo-340x701.pngDavid Stone2010-12-08 10:05:562010-12-08 10:10:5410 things for which I?m thankful?a not so traditional list
The idea for this category came from Dr. Daryl Eldridge.?It is based off of the name of his blog–“My Soul Friends.” ?He is one of “my soul friends” too, by the way!
I first met Darrin at the Missouri Baptist Convention’s “Baptist Building” in Jefferson City, MO in the Fall of 2001 at a church planting assessment.? He and I were both walking through the process to plant a church in Missouri; Darrin in St. Louis and myself in Nixa.
My first thoughts about this guy were, “wow, this dude is pretty sharp” and “he knows what he is doing”–both were things that I didn’t feel I had going for me!? (Don’t let the “dumb jock” stuff fool you.? Darrin is a very bright church leader.)? I just felt like God had called me to plant a different kind of church in Nixa to reach people who were not churched. I thought I had my stuff together, but he was a whole lot further down the road with his church than we were with ours.
Darrin had been through several other “boot camps” and was describing the process to me and a couple other guys that were there for the assessment.? (I didn’t even know what a boot camp was, except that I watched my brother’s graduation from boot camp in Chicago from the U.S. Navy!)? From that first meeting, I knew that God was going to do amazing things through my “friend.” (I use friend very loosely because we are not close; I have just admired and kept up with him and his church from afar and the occasional time I would bump into him at conferences–that he was LEADING!!)
God has truly done an amazing thing in The Journey Church in St. Louis, but I think more importantly God has done in his life.? Darrin has been faithful to learn and grow in his walk with Christ as well as hone his “craft.”? I love to hear him teach his people on their podcast each week.? He has been
This sounds like a total love fest for Darrin–and I guess it is. However, there is nothing really “special” about Darrin.? He is simply a guy that takes the Gospel seriously and has followed God’s calling on his life to reach the nations for the Gospel in a city that he loves with a great passion.
Take a look at this interview (you can also download just the audio here) and you will hear his story and insights from his new book, Church Planter.? It is a great read…like sitting down across the table at the Baptist Building in Jefferson City in the fall of 2001.
I saw this post on The Buckhead Church Blog…very cool post!? The Church needs to embrace the fact that these little guys are going to be leading us sooner than later!? We need to help them follow hard after God!
http://www.pastordavidstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/logo-340x701.png00David Stonehttp://www.pastordavidstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/logo-340x701.pngDavid Stone2010-12-03 10:03:102010-12-03 10:03:10A note for Jesus
I know I am a little late to the party on this one, but Buffalo Bills wide receiver, Stevie Johnson, dropped a game-winning touchdown pass on Sunday.
Stuff happens, right?? I mean, things don’t always happen the way we want them to happen.? I sometimes feel that I am living out the wilderness wanderings experience of the Israelites on a daily basis.? However, I don’t think I have ever thought about tweeting to God for my problems. But, then again, Twitter has created a sort of online journal of sorts for us all to share our joys and frustrations, ups and downs.
I wonder what David would have “tweeted” on his Twitter after his cycle of sin with Bathsheba?? Well, we don’t have the twitter feed, but we do have the storyline as well as a song that he wrote to God about the whole deal in Psalm 51.? I have been reading through the Scriptures using Professor Horner’s Bible Reading System, (which is awesome, by the way.)? One of the 10 “lists” that you read through each day is the Book of Psalms.? As I read Stevie Johnson’s tweet, I thought to myself, “This isn’t really that different than the Psalms where the psalmist was asking God “why” are bad things happening in my life?”
There are many out there in the blogging world who have jumped on Johnson’s back about “you can’t blame this on God.”? Interesting enough, this post was going to be another “one of those posts”…until I read Johnson’s twitter feed.? Here is THE TWEET that started the whirlwind…
I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! THX THO…
But I had a change of heart when I looked at a few more of the tweets after he had time to “cool off” and get some perspective about whole thing.? Later the following day…
I learned A lot Within 24hrs. Saw Both Sides.(Ups&Dwns) I AM HAPPY & THANKFUL 4 YESTERDAY! w/out Sunday iWldnt have grew closer w/The Lord!!
And No I Did Not Blame God People! Seriously??!? CMon! I Simply Cried Out And Asked Why? Jus Like yal did wen sumthin went wrong n ur life!
And then, Kurt Warner chimes in to the feed in support of Johnson and says this to him…
@StevieJohnson13 all I can say, is I have been there many times… (while coughing) 100 yd INT ret 4 TD in SB 43 was most recent!
Wow, Kurt Warner, classy guy with a great perspective on winning, losing, and worshiping Jesus in BOTH!
Also reading through the Book of Job in my reading plan and it is interesting how similar the Psalms and Job are in how we react to difficult times in our lives.? We all have had those “friends” who want to help us out and say “just repent of your sin” and “get right with God.”? We are left asking the same questions that Job, David and the psalmists, and Stevie Johnson all ask…”why God?”? What I love (and hate at the same time) about the Bible is that we don’t hear a clear answer to those questions.? I do know this…that God invites us to ask as many questions as we want.? And He understands and cares for all His children.
So tell me, what is the last thing that left you asking God “why?”? I hope you wrote about it in your journal so you can look back on it and learn from the situation.
Here is the video of the play in case you missed it this Sunday night…
http://www.pastordavidstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/logo-340x701.png00David Stonehttp://www.pastordavidstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/logo-340x701.pngDavid Stone2010-11-30 12:50:532010-11-30 12:50:53Stevie Johnson tweets his frustration to God…in ALL CAPS no less!
I am online watching a Leadership Experience sponsored by Leadership Network called “Leaders & Readers.“? Check it out and register online here.? Best of all…it is free!? Technology is amazing, isn’t it?
So you think you’ve had “one of those days?”? Take heart, my friend!
Seems that when things couldn’t get much worse for the Dallas Cowboys after their horrible loss last night, the “hits just keep on comin’!” The problem wasn’t on the field, or on the sidelines, or up in the coaching booth…although there are many problems in all three of these places.
http://www.pastordavidstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/logo-340x701.png00David Stonehttp://www.pastordavidstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/logo-340x701.pngDavid Stone2010-11-08 22:12:212010-11-08 23:14:04When It Rains, It Pours For Cowboys
Check out this “live” picture of the advance of the Gospel around the world!? Pretty amazing stuff!
I just spent several minutes praying for each person that popped up on the map; whether it be a believer logging on to see the progress or a report of a new believer in Christ.? What a powerful way to leverage technology for the cause of the Great Commission!
Global Media Outreach is a global ministry formed to present the good news of Jesus Christ over the Internet. Our staff of 60 is located in Silicon Valley (San Jose) California, Orlando, Florida and Houston, Texas. We have more than 5,000 online missionaries who respond to emails coming in from gospel and discipleship websites.
Our goal is to stay on the cutting edge of emerging technologies and use these technologies to reach the world for Christ. People need Christ all over the world. For many people, it is difficult to find a church, or they may not feel comfortable connecting in person. Each day, millions of searches are done on the Internet for spiritual terms. ?I need God???Who is Jesus? ??prayer?? people are searching around the world. Every day, thousands of people come to one of our websites. Many are searching for God; some have specific questions; others just want to know more. We present the gospel in over 100 languages. In many languages, we have online missionaries available to respond to those who e-mail us. Our goal is to help those who contact us find Christ and then to help them grow in their Christian faith and perhaps become connected to a local church. For more information, visit us at http://www.globalmediaoutreach.com.
I am online watching a Leadership Experience sponsored by Leadership Network called “
