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I added music videos on a resource page on this site.
You can use music from the videos or the Sower playlist to:
• encourage others to witness,
• share the Gospel.
Of course, you could post videos on your web site of on Facebook or MySpace.
Feel free to add your ideas of how to use these videos or recommend more videos.
I am addressing Easter cards this afternoon and plan to invite some of our neighbors for a local sunrise service and also for our church’s Easter service. As you probably know, Easter draws a lot of people to church services who otherwise would not go to church during the rest of the year.
I have given the “Jesus” film as a gift at Easter time, but realized today that I have not been that creative in using Easter as an open door for reaching people. Fortunately, I received two emails recently with a lot of good ideas that I can share with you today.
Campus Crusade’s website has an article entitled “10 Outreach Ideas for Easter“. The ideas range from gifts, to Easter egg hunts, to Facebook ads, to a strategy your church might consider (Prayer on the Porch).
Some of the items mentioned can be ordered at one of Campus Crusade’s online stores.
Our staff at our main store suggest two new resources.
1) The Case for a Creator is a new DVD based on Lee Strobel’s book of the same name. According to the email I received, “The Case for a Creator DVD is one of the most compelling arguments for the intelligent design theory useful for believers and skeptics alike.”
Click here for more infomation or to order your own copy.
2) 6 Reasons for Faith distills the essence of the Gospel into 6 points and 55 pages so you can take it anywhere. You could mail it to family or friends, hand it out when shopping, or use it for a community outreach.
I am experimenting with an opportunity to be more interactive with The Sower subscribers.
So, you are invited to read a short, but important book, God is the Issue by Brad Bright. Brad explains who the book is written for on page 17:
“This book is written to the person who ardently desires to bring about wholesale change within the American cultural mindset. It is written to the person who wishes to help frame the message that could ultimately allow us to win the war, not just individual battles.”
You can get an overview of the content of the book by reading this CBN interview of Brad Bright.
You are invited to join our discussion of the book OR join the discussion on The Sower Facebook group..
Go to The Study Hall for a reading / discussion schedule.
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For Facebook users, have you considered writing something in your Notes that might minister to someone? You could write how God came into your life or how He helps you with this day’s challenges.
The following is almost the entire entry from the Facebook Notes of a college music major to give you an example of what you might consider doing:
There has been much drama in the Music Department as of late, ever since The List for who made which performing ensemble was posted. (There are actually several lists, but each one is The List to at least one group of people) Several people didn’t Make It. Some didn’t even have a chance, some just barely didn’t get in, some had Made It several times in years past but were bypassed by more talented musicians. All are dealing with intense feelings of loss and despair.
I’ve seen very many different expressions of this loss. There’s anger, talking trash about how undeserving the people who Made It are; indignation, “I can’t BELIEVE he did this to ME!”; sadness in the form of convulsive sobbing; and bitterness masked by resignation that slowly eats a person alive until they can think of nothing else. . . Everywhere is the sound of grumbling, crying, or even wailing. It is the sound of people desperately crying out for Grace.
The music performing world is like a mad carousel gone haywire. It spins frantically, gears rumbling, bright lights and garish colors flashing, odd snatches of fragmented melodies mingling with groans and grunts of people trying desperately to hold on to the wild ride. Instead of magnificent horses, they ride on the backs of less talented or less fortunate musicians, and slowly try to climb their way to the quivering center where they will find success, fame, and possibly happiness. The nicer ones politely say “excuse me” as they tread on their unfortunate colleagues. Those who fall off are cast into outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. It is a ride fueled, operated, and propelled by Ungrace.
It is easy for those who have Made It (at least thus far) to look patronizingly on those who express their despair dramatically and say, “they should know that it isn’t personal, they shouldn’t put their self worth only in what Dr. T. says.” Or in other words, “go somewhere else and cry…it’s embarassing.” But do they really know what failure is like? Do any of us know the depth of despair when your self-made monument to music comes crashing to the ground until it actually happens to us? When your identity that used to be a positive thing, “I am a talented musician,” suddenly becomes “I’m just not good enough,” or even “I’m no longer good enough.” Can we blame them for lamenting the crash?
Because, in truth, all of our monuments will crash to the ground at some point or another. All of us will fall off the carousel eventually. And what happens then? Some will be content with their long ride and will slip comfortably into retired obscurity, only mildly aching for the high days of their career. Others will never be able to get over the regrets of an unfulfilled past.
I suppose the question then becomes, where is your hope? If your hope is in the center of that carousel, of which you have been kicked off, you are now hopeless. And if you are still riding high, you will eventually discover that it is a very shallow and fleeting hope. And then it’s gone. What kind of hope can a person possibly hold on to in a spinning, chaotic, and noisy world of music?
Thanks be to the God who brings beauty out of brokenness, whose greatness is unfathomable, and whose love will never end. Thanks be to Him who accomplishes great things, not because of our own worthiness, but because of His great faithfulness. Thanks be to Him who defeated despair by taking it upon Himself, and yet was not vanquished by it, but rose triumphantly to reign as King. And praise be to the God who gives us immortal and unshakable identity, purpose, and hope.
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