November 2011 ~ The Journal

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

The Glory of God in the Face of Christ - Revelation 5

7:16 PM Posted by Daniel Rose No comments

This is a recent sermon I gave on Revelation 5.

Why?

6:22 PM Posted by Daniel Rose 6 comments

It's crazy when you begin to self reflect. I don't recommend it. It's not very much fun. You begin to grab hold of some things that you take for granted or take lightly and find that you need to change.

I love change.

I love changing other things.

I hate changing me.

Do you want to hear a confession? I truly enjoy social media. One night I was watching a Tigers playoff game and bantering back and forth with a number of friends on Twitter. It added to my enjoyment of the game.

It was all out "there".

Last night a few of us started talking about Twitter. A comment was made that has stuck like a "splinter in the brain" and brought some of my self reflection full circle.

He said, "You guys put so much stuff out there it's really hard to find what's valuable."

As a pastor, there is one thing I know, words matter. I desperately want my words to count and to have meaning. I want them to have purpose. Everything I do is all about words. When I started to write a blog I thought about why I blogged.

I have never thought about why I social media'ed.

So, here's the deal, the way I use social media needs to change. That witty banter on Twitter? It's going to disappear from the public forum. It will find its way into Direct Messages. Twitter is all about interaction. So there will still be some @-tweeting but only when it counts, when there is something to be gained by doing it. The posts will be fewer because what I put out there needs to have meaning. Typically, they will be connected to larger posts at Tumblr/Posterous.

Facebook? I will probably continue to use it the way I have been. Which is to post things about my family, links, and various ministry related things.

What about Goole Plus? That's been a different beast all along. I am not sure yet.

Foursquare? Is there value in people knowing when I check in? Nope. I will be moving to Forecast and use it when I want it to be publicly known where I am going to be and for a purpose.

My hope is that when someone looks at my feed on Twitter, my timeline on Facebook, or my series of posts that they will quickly and easily find something of value and meaning.

As one of my favorite blog's title reads, "Less Clutter, Less Noise".

You Wanna Tip?

9:59 AM Posted by Daniel Rose No comments

This is an image from an article that just hit my news stream and I am sure that it will begin to pop up in more and more places.

It's one of those that picks up steam. It's embarrasing and frustrating.

It begs a bigger a question...

What is the gospel?

Scot McKnight has done a great job exploding the Gospel myth that he refers to as "The Plan of Salvation". The myth is that the Romans Road or the Four Laws are the "Gospel".

News flash: They aren't.

The Gospel is big and broad. It is the all encompassing story that makes sense of all other stories. Pay attention this Advent season. You may just hear the Gospel.

He's Coming!

7:44 PM Posted by Daniel Rose No comments

See the full gallery on Posterous

Part of the traditional hanging of the ornaments in our home includes Amy telling the story of each ornament.

The first ornament hung is always the same.

It's hung in honor of my Mimi. Her legacy will always live because her story will always be told.

Over the course of the next four weeks we will be telling the story of another. He is the one who would come and culminate all the stories of all the world. His is the greatest story.

Do you know it?