Here are a few Saturday night misc. items.

New Series

Tomorrow I will start a 4 week series on stewardship. The morning message will be based on :

1 Chronicles 29:10-14 (HCSB) "Then David praised the Lord in the sight of all the assembly. David said, “May You be praised, Lord God of our father Israel, from eternity to eternity. Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in the heavens and on earth belongs to You. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all. Riches and honor come from You, and You are the ruler of everything. In Your hand are power and might, and it is in Your hand to make great and to give strength to all. Now therefore, our God, we give You thanks and praise Your glorious name. “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and we have given You only what comes from Your own hand.

The series will include:

• God's Ownership (1/27)
• Debts Dangers (2/3)
• Greed's Antidotes (2/10)
• Money's Purpose (2/17)

Upcoming Conference:

I just received a nice note from Tim Keller. Tim has invited Mark Driscoll, CJ Mahaney, Darrin Patrick, and me to come to N.Y.C. for a conference in April. The conference is called "dwell" and it will focus on urban ministry.

The theme is built around Jeremiah 29:4-7:

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace.

It is my anticipation that after hearing Tim I will want to move to New York City, C.J. will make me want to be more humble, Darrin will make me want to be more culturally aware, and Mark will get me in some sort of trouble.

And, I do love N.Y.C., having been reared just outside of the city on Long Island.

Upcoming Conference:

The folks at New Spring Church have asked me to share about their upcoming conference. I have had the chance to share a platform and visit with Perry Noble, and the growth of their church is remarkable. Also, Tony Morgan (who send me this info) was on a panel I moderated at the National Outreach Convention.

Here are the fast facts on Unleash:

Unleash 08 hosted by NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC on March 13
One day. Two main sessions with Perry Noble. 14 breakout topics.
Featuring worship music from Lee McDerment's new CD.
NewSpring launched in 2000 and has grown to over 8,000 people each weekend. The Church is located in a town of only 25,000 people.
Early bird registration deadline is February 11.
Learn more at NewSpringMinistries.com.

Perry and Tony are both in my Bloglines reader and they both challenge my thinking.

A New Podcast

Doug Baker, a friend from way back, is leading a new podcast feature called InSight. Doug is now on the saff of the Baptist State
Convention of North Carolina and he recently sent me info about the new podcast. You can read the press release here.

His most recent interview is with Nathan Finn. Nathan is an emerging young scholar that does a great job blogging at The Fullness of Time.

The bowtie makes it hard for me to completely me endorse him (see our exchange about it here). Before reading the ugly reality of my bigorty, keep in mind that Nathan called me "pernicious" and, after looking that word up, I have to make a comment about the bowtie.

I see Nathan as one of those few who can demonstrate firm convictions, a sense of humor, and an irenic spirit. May his tribe increase.

If he just did not wear a bowtie...

Note:

Now, this leads to the obvious question: if you mentioned Unleashed and Insight because they asked, will you mention my conference/blog/podcast/t-shirt sale?

Probably not... but these guys are friends, so what can you do? Grin.

Schedule Next Week:

Next week is a crazy one.

On Monday, I am in Orlando at Global Church Advancement with Steve Childers (prof. at Reformed Seminary). You can find out more here.

Tuesday it is off to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Chicago for a joint E.Free. / Acts 29 / Trinity church planting focus. I preached at Trinity's Church Planting Week a few years ago, so this is basically the same type of event.

Wednesday it is off to Liberty University to speak to Thomas Road's Wednesday Night "Campus Church" to speak on church planting, then to consult with Jonathan Falwell, Ergun Caner, and others about their plant to plant 500 churches in 5 years.

It would appear, based on the schedule, I am interrupting the series that Ergun is currently teaching: "Sex in the City of God." I imagine the attendance will drop from its current thousands to dozens when I don't address that topic.

Please pray for God to be glorified, for close flights to not misconnect, and for strength!