Minipost

September 9, 2010

Roundup on the Qur’an burning

Carl Medearis: There’s a little Qur’an burning in us all. Fear is the biggest problem. World leaders protest the planned burning: Obama, Clinton, Gates, Religious leaders, too: Vatican, World Evangelical Alliance, Military leaders are worried: Petraeus: Quran burning is like Abu Ghraib. Petraeus: Burning Quran Endangers Americans. Interpol: Quran burning likely to trigger attacks. US [...]

September 7, 2010

Single Iraqi women over 30: no husbands available.

via Haaretz.com. “In Iraq’s conservative society, women are expected to be married in their teens or early 20s. Women who cross the 30-year threshold and are single face powerful social stigmas and live under heavy limitations.” But after seven years of turmoil, many young men have been killed and social networks have been destroyed.

September 7, 2010

Relief workers risk lives in Pakistan flood chaos – News with a Christian Perspective

Relief workers are risking their lives to help an estimated 8 million people in urgent need of assistance in Pakistans flood crisis, Southern Baptist humanitarian workers report. via Baptist Press.

September 3, 2010

How to explore various aspects of missions

Do you feel God leading you toward the mission field, but you arent sure where you would want to go or what you would want to do?Approximately six years ago Wycliffe Bible Translators and Operation Mobilization joined together to create a program that allows young people, ranging in age from 19 to 26, a chance [...]

September 1, 2010

Unearthing invisible norms

Innosight discusses “norms” (what in swarming we refer to as “shared values”): those implicit and unstated rules that govern how processes are done. Read to learn more about them and how to explore and change them.

August 31, 2010

Operation World Resources Now Available For Order

Order Your Operation WORLD Resources Today! (Receive an extra 5% discount if you order before September 1) Order by Phone: 1-800-569-6312 ext. 576 Order Online: www.gmi.org/operationworld Email: jhirst@gmi.org Facebook: Search for “Leaders Using Operation World" Twitter: www.twitter.com/OWTips What is Operation WORLD? A global resource that provides a simple and straight-forward way to pray for every [...]

August 31, 2010

Doctors, Death, Ethics, Religion & Soundbites

Faith & Reason highlights how media spin can really color a topic in this age of headlines and soundbites. Which headline should someone use: “Nonreligious physicians let their severely ill patients die early” or “Religious physicians may prolong dying patients’ pain.” I don’t really count this as an illustration of persecution, but rather of the quintessential conflict [...]

August 29, 2010

Get out of debt: Patience and Persistence Pay Off

Reader Story: Patience and Persistence Pay Off is the very practical story of one person’s journey out of debt. Leftover college debt has been remarked on as a major barrier to missionary service. This article has some excellent tools well worth sharing.

August 29, 2010

5 Leadership Lessons: The Wisdom of Bees

Leading Blog: A Leadership Blog: 5 Leadership Lessons: The Wisdom of Bees is an incredibly useful short article for anyone interested in leadership, decentralized organizations, and swarms. How can you apply this in your own micro-mission?

August 29, 2010

Looks aren’t everything: integrated strategy is primary

The article As the reborn Kindle proves, looks dont count for everything in the Observer examines the role of an integrated strategy in Amazon’s continued dominance of the ebook market, despite Apple’s splashy iPad. Some estimates suggest Amazon ebooks on the Kindle are outselling iBooks by 60-to-1. You don’t have to have the best looking or [...]

August 27, 2010

Seth Godin: Promises not meant to be kept = Lies.

Seth’s Blog: Little lies and small promises. “Not a true statement because it’s a promise not meant to be kept.” Plausible promises are meant to be kept–they are not goals meant to be broken. Are you keeping your promises? Did you ever intend to? What specific steps are you taking so that your good intentions [...]

August 27, 2010

Afghanistan aid workers’ deaths highlights delicate position of Christian-affiliated groups – CSMonitor.com

“The killing of 10 aid workers with the International Assistance Mission in Afghanistan underscores the suspicion Christian-affiliated groups can face from some Afghans and government opponents. Such groups point to codes of conduct they follow in the country.” via Afghanistan aid workers’ deaths highlights delicate position of Christian-affiliated groups – CSMonitor.com.

August 27, 2010

Swarm – ACT Alliance

Here is another swarm, transcribed into English: Over a hundred relief and development organizations with a religious background now form one of the world’s largest aid alliances, the ACT alliance. The whole world, the Swedish Church’s international work is one of the members. – Almost everywhere in the world where there are churches, there is [...]

August 27, 2010

Caritas – a swarm

Translated from the Caritas Sweden website, here is an interesting description of a (potential) international swarm most of my readers probably haven’t heard about – the Roman Catholic aid agency Caritas International: “Caritas Internationalized with headquarters in Rome unites Caritas organizations in 201 countries. It is an international network with unique opportunities for rapid information [...]

August 24, 2010

Needed: Missions Incubators?

From TechCrunch: AngelPad: Seven Ex-Googlers Are About To Launch A New Incubator. One interesting comment, “The problem is obvious: it’s hard to launch a startup. But one potential solution, great mentorship and support, isn’t so easy to come by. With their own startup of sorts, seven ex-Googlers are going to attempt to solve that.” Do we [...]

August 24, 2010

Interviewed on Missionary Talks

David Peach interviewed me for his excellent Missionary Talks. You can listen to the 20 minute chat, and also check out the other talks and chats he’s had.

August 18, 2010

London’s brothels: migrants coerced into trade

The Press Association: London has the most brothels of any city in UK, says report. 6,000 brothels in England/Wales. 2,100 brothels in London. 30,000 women in the trade. 17,000 of them are are migrants, mostly from China, Thailand, and Eastern Europe, coerced or forced in. Ministry to UPGs in England will likely involve ministry to [...]

August 16, 2010

Cult of less: Living out of a hard drive

BBC News look at people who have literally gotten rid of everything – except their digital equipment. This trend has ongoing implications for missions. (H/T Michael Jaffarian).

August 10, 2010

Belief is not enough to be saved

Today John Piper responds to the question, What Do I Have to Believe to Be Saved? I absolutely agree with the response, insofar as it goes. But the one thing we have to keep in mind: it’s not enough to believe in Jesus and be saved. The entire text is, “If you confess with your lips [...]

August 10, 2010

If there’s no price, are you carrying your cross?

(This deserved additional comment:) “THE American clergy is suffering from burnout, several new studies show. And part of the problem, as researchers have observed, is that pastors work too much. Many of them need vacations, it’s true. But there’s a more fundamental problem that no amount of rest and relaxation can help solve: congregational pressure to [...]

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