Who Is Entering College and What Has Shaped Them

I love demographic research and trend speculating and attempting to apply them to ministry contexts. In this link -- The Class of 2013 - EdStetzer.com -- Ed links to the Beloit College annual About The Mindset List. It is a list of things that have either shaped the mind of the freshman class of that year or are things that make them distinctive from previous generations. Here is the Class of 2013's Mindset List. Here are 4 that I found interesting: They have never used a card catalog to find a book. Rap music has always been main stream. They have never understood the meaning of R.S.V.P. Most communities have always had a mega-church.

Global Anglican Theological Institute

Updating a previous post the Global Anglican Theological Institute site has a new URL and look. Here is a there announcement from Virtue OnLine: VOL announces the formal kick off this week of GATI - The Global Anglican Theological Institute. You can see it here. http://www.globalanglican.org/ Some 17 lectures are available in 42 languages. We will be adding more in time. VOL plans to cover the full range of biblical truth along with lectures on the 39 Articles and much more. Please let us know what you think. I am pleased to announce that the Rev. Dr. Robert Sanders is the theologian in charge of this project and if you think you would like to contribute to this education forum please feel to write him at: Robert Sanders dr.sanders@globalanglican.org He'd love to hear from you. Submission guidelines are provided. Our objective is to provide a free theological education for the whole Anglican Communion. There will be three levels - for beginners, medium and advanced learners. We want laity, pastors and bishops who are on the run to see this as a resource for them. Let us know what you think. What a great vision. I like free. I hope they develop a video & audio repository of teachings and lectures of Anglican essentials: history, distinctives, theology, etc.

Save Your Pets After The Rapture -- No, I'm not kidding.

Eternal Earth-Bound Pets, USA Have you ever worried about what might happen to your pets if you are raptured according to 1 Thessalonians 4:17? These caring atheists have developed a business to care for your pets once you are on your way to eternal glory. For $110 they will care for one pet ($15 per additional pet). Nope. I'm not kidding. They're serious. Even atheists believe in the rapture.

Private Investigator Jobs in Upstate New York

Hey friends, I have a friend who is looking for people with private investigator skills in Onondaga, Oneida, Madison, Cayuga, Oswego, Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties -- especially up north. Retired military or law enforcement, investigative case workers and others with appropriate skills to discretely perform surveillance, use of a video camera and ability to interview people.

The Church and Islam

One Anglican group is taking seriously the training of North American Anglicans and other Christians to thoughtfully engage Muslims in dialog and to love them. The Church and Islam is put together by a CANA priest and has a handful of articles and video presentation with information for Christians understand Islam and it's agenda for the US.

Syacuse Vineyard Church Plants Campus in Auburn, NY

The Syracuse Vineyard Church is expanding into Auburn, NY. Their updated web site looks fantastic and they added a "Our Campuses" tab. Here's the info: The Vineyard Church will be starting weekly church services in Auburn on September 13th, 2009. We will be offering a relaxed service with live contemporary worship, relevant teachings that you can apply to your everyday life, and an exciting children's program. For more information about who we are please check out http://syracusevineyard.org. We will be meeting at 360 Grant Ave. next to the MoviePlex. Kudos to John Elmer and the Vineyard! We need more CNY churches expanding their influence like this instead just thinking about how can we stay alive.

Christ Church NYC

Christ Church NYC is hosting a it's first annual ministry conference this fall at American Bible Society. Here is their press release: Focus on Ministry Conference 2009 "Getting Sunday Right" October 21-23, 2009 Christ Church New York City is excited to announce our first annual ministry conference to support pastors, clergy and church leaders with fellowship, encouragement and practical tools. We will explore scripture, learn from historical figures and reflect on the elements of Sunday worship. We aim to bring together quality theology, biblical strategies and practical wisdom to equip our ministry leaders to build their congregations and reach our cities with the truth of God's love. There will be no legislation or position papers, simply the fellowship and encouragement of ministers of the Gospel gathering in a world-leading city in the cause of Christ. This program is non-denominational but will use specific examples of the rich history of the Anglican tradition as a platform for discussing liturgy and the essentials of ministry on a wider spectrum. We are pleased and thankful to announce that our ministry conference will be held in the American Bible Society on Broadway & 61st Street in New York City. Special thanks to Reverend Simon Barnes and the American Bible Society for all of the support and hospitality. Please contact karen@christchurchnyc.com with any questions.

Anglicans Planting 1000 New Churches In Next Five Years

Check out this quote from ACNA Bishop Robert Duncan: RNS Feature: "No longer Episcopalians, Anglicans launch own church": "In his sermon, Duncan urged those who align themselves with ACNA to focus on evangelism and mission by planting 1,000 new churches in the next five years, engaging Islam—“because there is only one way to the Father; it’s a matter of life and death”—studying Scripture and practicing works of mercy." Let's do the math: 1000 churches in 5 years is 200 churches per year or approximately 17 churches a month or 1+ churches every other day. Seriously. That's ambitious. The article mentions that they are starting with 650 churches representing 69,000 Anglicans. I love the missional heart of this new Anglican group. They are finding their identity in church planting and North American missions, instead of finding it in being ex-Episcopalians or victims.

The Ultra Rev Preaching at Lyncourt Wesleyan Church, August 23, 2009

I have the distinct privilege of preaching at Lyncourt Wesleyan Church this week as Pastor Wayne Wager, Jr. is on vacation. The worship service begins at 11:00 am. You can see where they are located on the map below. This is a great church with a very significant ministry to Burmese and Karen people. I'm looking forward to worship with them as they were really wonderful to me last time I was with them. View Larger Map

Spressos Coffee House -- Rome, NY

Sometimes it is painfully difficult being a coffee snob and not just able to drink anybody's brown swill masquerading as coffee. I was in Rome, NY today desperate for a good cup of coffee and scared that my choices were going to be DD or McD's -- which really aren't choices at all. So I borrowed the WiFi of a hotel I stumbled upon and Google Mapped "coffee rome ny". I found Spressos Coffee House at 307 N James St. It's a super nice coffeeshop with a fantastic house blend: "Pronto". I had a fresh scone but they had a whole case of fresh pastries that was difficult to choose from. The only downside was that they get their beans from place in Maryland, which is really too bad when there are some very fine roasters in Central New York -- namely Matt Godard of Cafe Kubal.

A Prayer from The Private Devotions of Bishop Lancelot Andrewes

I saw this at my wise and beloved friend, Rick Lindholtz', Facebook page. He is working on a project to paraphrasing The Private Devotions of Bishop Lancelot Andrewes, who was a contemporary of William Shakespeare and who headed one of the translation teams for the King James Version. Remember that I am called by Your name, and look on me with your eyes of compassion, eyes that looked on Mary Magdalene at the feast, on Peter in the hall of denial, on the thief upon the wood. With the thief , let me cry out to you in humility, “Remember me, Lord, in Your Kingdom”. With Peter, let me weep bitterly and say “O the my eyes were a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night”. With Mary, let me hear You say “Your sins are forgiven”, and with her, may I love you deeply, because many sins have been forgiven me. paraphrase ©2009 Rick Lindholtz

The Daily Office @ Oremus

Oremus is a Latin word that means "Let us pray." and it is also a web site for a form of the Daily Office for prayer. It has several other resources to observe the church year, for the lectionary and other daily office / prayer sites.

Good Samaritans are born not raised, new study suggests - Telegraph

Good Samaritans are born not raised, new study suggests - Telegraph "Researchers believe that the ability to understand and share the feelings of others is at least partly innate and built into our bodies at birth." Somehow, I don't think that was what Jesus had in mind when he told the story of the Good Samaritan. It's my understanding that He believed anybody could do it. The Parable of the Good Samaritan 25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" 26 "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" 27 He answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" 28 "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." 29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' 36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" 37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

I Want You To Grow Spiritually 15: Participate in an Alpha Class

Here is something for the spiritual life of both my Christian and non-Christian friends: Participate in an Alpha class (or similar). Alpha is primarily meant to be a class for those inquiring/exploring the Christian faith and answers an exploring question during each session. Examples include, "Who is Jesus?", "Why did Jesus die?", "How do we pray?" "Why and how do we read the Bible?", "Who is the Holy Spirit?", "How can I be filled with the Spirit?" etc. Most Alpha courses have a meal with every class and are very pleasant experiences. After the meal there is a presentation: either live or on video that address one of the exploring questions. Dessert is served and then discussion groups for people to ask questions and discuss the presentation. There is no arm-twisting or pressure to become a Christian or even to participate in the discussion group. It's OK to participate if you are extremely skeptical or even hostile to Christianity (assuming you can be respectful) but are open to exploring. Alpha is a place to get your questions answered about God, the Bible, church, religion, Jesus, etc. AND, it's OK to participate if you are already a Christian. In fact, I recommend it. My experience has been that many Christians have had their faith strengthened through participating in Alpha. Seeing other people become Christians while they are in the course is a tremendous faith builder. Watching God create new life in another is incredibly alarming, motivating and invigorating for one's faith. Beyond that, several other elements of an Alpha class will move one towards a renewed faith: Relearning and reaffirming some of the basics of the Christian faith. Enjoying the community that is built around the dinner table at Alpha is fun. And for those that eventually take a servant role in the ministry of Alpha are blessed Here is a link to a guide that compares Alpha with other similar courses though it isn't very complimentary toward Alpha: Evangelism Course Comparison Guide - 9Marks. Alpha isn't perfect but I have personally seen very positive results and overall, people have had very positive experiences with the course. Alpha is best enjoyed with a friend so invite someone to go with you. Attending an Alpha course is something you would likely never regret. Alpha originated in an Anglican church in London; however, it is not tied to a particular denomination. It is used by Roman Catholics, Anglicans and a variety of Protestant churches. Right on the Alpha homepage you can find a link to look for a course near you. If you don't find one, contact me and I'll help you. As a side note: my church -- Catalyst Church of Syracuse, NY -- is currently offering a Christianity Explored class on Wednesday evenings which is run very similar to Alpha. If you want to check it out contact Mike Mazzye. ———————————— This is part 15 in a 20 part series on spiritual growth. If you feel like you are not growing deeper in your faith or relationship to God, if you are not loving and serving others more, if you have a sense of 'stuckness' in your spiritual journey, and you really want to grow ——— the answer might not be to try harder. All too often I have heard the same solutions offered over and over — 'All you have to do is have daily devotions, pray more, read more of the Bible, be in worship every week and get more involved in the church.' In other words try harder. Sometimes that doesn't work and I'm going to offer some suggestions that might help you move forward. Previous Installments: I Want You To Grow Spiritually 1: Give Up Daily Devotions I Want You To Grow Spiritually 2: See A Counselor I Want You To Grow Spiritually 3: Spiritual Direction I Want You To Grow Spiritually 4: Get A New Church I Want You To Grow Spiritually 5: Go On Retreat I Want You To Grow Spiritually 6: Fight A Spiritual Battle & Win I Want You To Grow Spiritually 7: Take A Seminary or College Class I Want You To Grow Spiritually 8: Take Communion Weekly I Want You To Grow Spiritually 10: Observe The Daily Office & Church Year I Want You To Grow Spiritually 11: Get Tough on Sin I Want You To Grow Spiritually 12: Start Journaling I Want You To Grow Spiritually 13: Time For Fasting I Want You To Grow Spiritually 14: Forgive Yourself Note: Part 9 isn't published yet. I'll get to it eventually.

The Mainstreaming of Homeschooling

Study: Homeschoolers score 37 points higher Test scores aren't everything. And all public schools aren't the same. But homeschooling is becoming a popular option for giving one's kid an educational advantage. It used to be the choice for kooks and conspiracy theorists and many of the kids were socially inept and weird. Not any more. It's not even just for ultra conservative evangelicals or those who are anti-public school. Believe it or not, people are actually choosing homeschooling because they perceive it as the best educational choice for their child. Numerous media outlets this week are reporting on recently released studies showing how much better homeschoolers are scoring on standardized tests and doing so for thousands of dollars cheaper. Also of interesting note, studies are showing that the level of education of one's teacher is not a direct correlate for how well a child does in school. I saw this related article at Postus Frequentus: Pajamas Media - Why Some Kids Aren’t Heading to School Today

What Robots Will Do To The Church

Robots. When I say "robots" a picture comes to your mind. Maybe R2D2 or C3PO from Star Wars. Or perhaps you are thinking along the lines of Austin Powers' "Fembots". :) Rosie -- the Jetson's housekeeper? The Bionic Woman? Maybe you are old enough to remember Lost in Space. Or possibly you're thinking of the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz. Mostly likely though, you are thinking of something clunky, minimally communicative and you really aren't sure what use it might be. For most of us, robots are still something of science fiction. Yet, I have observed a growing number of news articles about robots including this one: Robots are narrowing the gap with humans | McClatchy. The article reports: "Nevertheless, robots guided by their own computer "brains'' now can pick up and peel bananas, land jumbo jets, steer cars through city traffic, search human DNA for cancer genes, play soccer or the violin, find earthquake victims or explore craters on Mars." Nearly all of them suggest that robots are making substantial improvements in their artificial intelligence, ability to communicate, usefulness and over human like appearance. Fashion robot to hit Japan catwalk Technology Review: Making Robots Give the Right Glances Yahoo! News - Human-like robot smiles, scolds in Japan classroom So that of course gets me thinking about the church. What will robots do to and for the church? I recognize no one else is thinking about this and it seems even a little bit farther out than science fiction. But I suppose at some point in the future, there will be an intersect between robots and church culture. Eccleisabots. Churchbots. Pastorbots. Use your imagination for a moment. Some things are very easy to dream of. A robot that cleans the church. People already have cleaning bots. But the bots could also be programmed to tune all the worship team's instruments (including those with complex organs), perform security tasks, routine maintenance on building mechanicals, multimedia and computer back-up and maintenance, snow removal, lawn care, Sure it would be expensive to own a robot but what if you leased them? Similar to your cell phone contract: 5 years, a couple of thousand dollars a month, upgrades included. You might already be paying that amount for maintenance already. What if robots could not only be programmed to tune the worship team's instruments, but they actually became the worship team? The church's worship pastor could just program the songs. Oh right, we probably wouldn't need a worship pastor or we would share a worship pastor amongst several churches. The same could be done for preaching. We could have a PreachingBot or SermonBot or HomilyBot. RoboPastor. With preaching and worship leading, these are very easily attainable. Bots are on pace to become extremely lifelike in their look. You might not be able to tell if the musicians were human or bots. Once human likeness is accomplished, programming them to play music or speak words isn't difficult. According to the McClatchy article, some scientists are speculating that artificial intelligence will catch up to human intelligence in the next 20-50 years. Even more recent articles are suggesting that machines may outstrip humans in their thinking capacity. Scientists Worry Machines May Outsmart Man - NYTimes.com Are we on the brink of creating a computer with a human brain? | Mail Online Reuters AlertNet - Killer robots and a revolution in warfare Maybe clergy will be replaced by robots altogether? But if they are not, robots will pose some other dilemmas. I'll write about those soon.

Alcohol Benefits Debate | Wine Adds Years to Life | Wine Temperatures

Baptist Press - CULTURE DIGEST: Benefits of alcohol in moderation debated; Barna poll assessed - News with a Christian Perspective Some experts are claiming that moderate alcohol consumption for health benefits has been overstated. "The bottom line is there has not been a single study done on moderate alcohol consumption and mortality outcomes that is a 'gold standard' kind of study -- the kind of randomized controlled clinical trial that we would be required to have in order to approve a new pharmaceutical agent in this country," Tim Naimi, an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told The New York Times in June. Other experts are claiming: Wine Adds Five Years to Life, More Than Beer, Dutch Study Finds - Bloomberg.com "Half a glass of wine a day may add five years to your life, a new study suggests. Drink beer, and you’ll live only 2 1/2 years longer." Web MD: Half a Glass of Wine for Longer Life "Researchers in the Netherlands conclude in a large study that drinking up to about half a glass of wine daily may boost life expectancy, at least in middle-aged men, by five years compared to men who men who drank no alcohol." The Baptist Press article above states the Southern Baptist stance: "The Southern Baptist Convention, in its most recent stance on alcohol, said because alcohol use has led to countless injuries and deaths on the nation's highways and because the breakup of families and homes can be directly and indirectly attributed to alcohol use, among other dangers, Southern Baptists should abstain from using it. Messengers to the 2006 SBC annual meeting expressed their "total opposition to the manufacturing, advertising, distributing, and consuming of alcoholic beverages" and urged Southern Baptists to be "actively involved in educating students and adults concerning the destructive nature of alcoholic beverages." Clearly we have conflicting opinions. For those of you who ignore Baptist opinions, Lifehacker has a nice chart recommending wine temperatures and chilling times: Wine Chart Recommends Proper Temperatures and Chilling Times - Drinking - Lifehacker

Self Help & Pastoral Care: Get Some Sleep

Sleep deprivation and negative emotions - The Boston Globe I continue to see a plethora of articles published on sleep deprivation and inadequate sleep. Note that those are two different things: some people are not getting enough sleep and others are not getting enough good sleep. Sleep deprivation can influence memory, mental alertness, appetite and according the Boston Globe article our ability to recall good experiences and emotions. It's as if a lack of sleep facilitates our ability to recall negative experiences and emotions. Pastors, in providing pastoral counseling for any host of issues -- depression, marital, sexual, spiritual, etc. -- try talking to people about their sleep health. See also: The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur | 8 Myths About Sleep And How To Make The Quick Fix

A Church Full of Missiologists

How to Exegete Your Community (Part 1) - The Urban Loft A great article for church leaders, pastors and especially church planters. Something every clergy person needs to do: exegete their community. Do you know the community, the people and the culture you live and minister in? What do they do with their time? Where do they spend their money? What are their values and priorities? What are their dreams, hopes, desires? What do they yearn for? Do you speak their native tongue and appropriately use their colloquialisms? Do you know the streets, parks and icons of the community and the actually history of the area -- both actual and legend? Have you read a demographic report of your community or at least the census data? Clergy are more accustomed to thinking about these matters -- at least increasingly so amongst younger clergy. However, I believe lay people need to be trained to be missiologists as much as the pastors. I wonder how our VBSs or other children's outreach might look if our lay people are trained in missional thinking and exegeting their culture. What about youth ministry or small groups --- even our worship? This kind of training might prevent or diffuse many a church conflict when pastors are proposing some new fangled missional idea.

New Sexual Ethics Needed

Polyamory: The Next Sexual Revolution? | Newsweek Culture | Newsweek.com This Newsweek article has been linked and shared all over the web in the past week. The widespread reporting and the actual content itself almost appear more as agenda promoting and attempted mainstreaming of polyamory than news reporting. But I called this one years ago. (Here. And here. Also here.) Polygamy and polyamory are well on their way to becoming mainstream. What we haven't seen yet but surely will are church acceptance and rites for them. Nearly every argument used by certain religious groups for the justification of homosexuality, even in the face of scriptural admonishments, could be used equally to support polygamy/polyamory. Here's an old link to someone else suggesting the same thing: VirtueOnline - Beyond Gay Marriage: The road to polyamory - Stanley Kurtz

DUIN: Gordian 'knot' for evangelicals - Washington Times

Wikipedia defines Gordian knot as: "The Gordian Knot is a legend associated with Alexander the Great. It is often used as a metaphor for an intractable problem, solved by a bold stroke ("cutting the Gordian knot")" So what is the "intractable problem" of evangelicals according to the Times article? It's our individual focus when it comes to marriage and having children, causing our young people to marry later and causing us to speak hypocritically to homosexuals. And the bold stroke? Early marriage.

Don Henley - Heart of the Matter

My friend Christian Fahey linked this on his FB page today and I found it moving. Enjoy. Don Henley - Heart of the Matter I got the call today, I didn't wanna hear But I knew that it would come An old true friend of ours was talkin' on the phone She said you found someone And I thought of all the bad luck, And the struggles we went through And how I lost me and you lost you What are these voices outside love's open door Make us throw off our contentment And beg for something more? I'm learning to live without you now But I miss you sometimes The more I know, the less I understand All the things I thought I knew, I'm learning again I've been tryin' to get down to the Heart of the Matter But my will gets weak And my thoughts seem to scatter But I think it's about forgiveness Forgiveness Even if, even if you don't love me anymore These times are so uncertain There's a yearning undefined ...People filled with rage We all need a little tenderness How can love survive in such a graceless age The trust and self-assurance that can lead to happiness They're the very things we kill, I guess Pride and competition cannot fill these empty arms And the work I put between us, Doesn't keep me warm I'm learning to live without you now But I miss you, Baby The more I know, the less I understand All the things I thought I figured out, I have to learn again I've been tryin' to get down to the Heart of the Matter But everything changes And my friends seem to scatter But I think it's about forgiveness Forgiveness Even if, even if you don't love me anymore There are people in your life who've come and gone They let you down and hurt your pride Better put it all behind you; life goes on You keep carrin' that anger, it'll eat you inside I've been tryin' to get down to the Heart of the Matter But my will gets weak And my thoughts seem to scatter But I think it's about forgiveness Forgiveness Even if, even if you don't love me anymore I've been tryin' to get down to the Heart of the Matter Because the flesh will get weak And the ashes will scatter So I'm thinkin' about forgiveness Forgiveness Even if, even if you don't love me anymore

Who Are The Hardest Working Clergy?

Archdiocese of Boston raises priests’ retirement age from 70 to 75 - The Boston Globe Nobody works as hard as a Roman Catholic priest -- especially the ones here in the Diocese of Syracuse. I'll bet a lot of priests do a dozen or more masses per week + hospital visitation + parish administration. Imagine doing 2-3 funerals and weddings + 6 weekend masses + daily mass and coming up with a homily/sermon for each service. Not sure what the retirement age is here but I heard from someone at St. Joe's Hospital that the nuns have to work into their 70's -- HAVE TO! But then again I heard reports today of Social Security tanking in 2013 today so it's possible we're all working into our 70's -- though I'm having a little trouble working in my 40's.

Missio Church | Eastwood Neighborhood Church | Syracuse, NY

Check out Missio Church | Syracuse, NY -- new web site -- done in Flash. Flash makes a nice site but I hate it because it's so much more difficult to pirate the videos and graphics and I really like the photo on the front from Missio's new site. They are breaking with common web site culture and put their pull down menus at the bottom of the page. I think it actually looks nicer though when I clicked on them they went "below the fold" on my small MacBook screen. Missio Church meets in The Palace Theater in Eastwood on James St. on Sundays at 10:00 am. They have a group of elders that lead their church: Jordan Stinziano, Jim Murphy, Bernie Eliot, Jeremy Cali and Brandon Owen. Super leaders. I hope you don't just visit their web site but actually visit Missio on Sunday morning.

Find A Church in Syracuse, Utica, Rome -- all of Central New York

The Land of the Ultra Rev continues to expand and improve. Not only can you now find a job here (see the right hand column), now you can find a church (see the right hand column). I'm a wealth of information -- serving the people.

CANA in Syracuse

Transfigurations: Church of the Holy Trinity (Anglican) Syracuse NY The former Westside Anglican Fellowship is now worshiping under the name Church of the Holy Trinity. They celebrate Holy Eucharist on Sundays, 9:00 am under the leadership of Fr. Jeffrey Altman and meet at 2002 Teal Ave., Syracuse, NY The picture on Google street view appears that this is previously a chiropractic office