(sola)s hattiesburg

For those of you looking for ways to give money to Help Haiti, here are my suggestions:

1. Buy a Help Haiti shirt from Aaron Ivey.  He’s the worship leader at The Austin Stone Community Church and has adopted two Haitian children, Story and Amos.  His journey of getting Amos is incredible.   He and his wife have been trying to secure a visa for Amos for over two years to get him into the U.S. to no avail, but because of the earthquake Amos is now with Aaron and the family. God works in mysterious ways!  Anyway, Aaron is selling shirts to help support relief efforts. The shirts are cool and its a trustworthy channel of giving. All proceeds are funneled to either Real Hope For Haiti or Heartline. To buy a shirt and give, follow this link.

2. Give to Churches Helping Churches, an organization started by Mark Driscoll and James MacDonald. These two guys were some of the first people to actually get into Port Au Prince and to document the devastation.  Their desire is to give directly to like-minded and like-hearted churches in Haiti, to enable local churches and Christians to extend Christ’s love to people in need.  Giving to this organization is a partnership in gospel advancement.  If you would like to see some of the video they shot, how to give to this organization, and what you are giving to, check out their website.

3. Buy a Haiti’s Song CD for $10.  The worship leader at 24church, Nathan Loxley, wrote this song in response to the tragedy in Haiti, and 24church is selling the song to raise money for relief efforts. All proceeds go to either Compassion, Living Water, or Churches Helping Churches. To buy the song, go here.

Nightline recently hosted a debate on the subject of, “Does Satan Exist?”  The debate is very interesting and thought provoking…and painfully frustrating at times.  This discussion fits in perfectly with our current series on Thursday nights, “Contend for the Faith.”  What would you say to a person who asked you if Satan is real?  On what grounds would you make your argument?  If you have the time, you should watch the debate online – it’ll make you think, and it’ll make you really thankful for Mark Driscoll.

         20/20 Collegiate Conference mp3

In the words of Bob Dylan, “Oh the times, they are a changin’.”  We live in a world and a culture that is rapidly evolving.  But despite its constant changes, culture continues to have the same problem of sin, manifested through perversions of all kinds.   As a result, the local church must consider how it is to respond and relate to an ever-changing, yet consistently sinful society.  There have been many approaches taken to this situation.  Some churches have said that we should isolate ourselves from the culture so as to not be influenced by it.  Others have said that we should be so much a part of culture that we end up looking just like it.  Neither of these approaches are helpful.  We cannot influence the culture with the gospel if we’re not in culture, nor can we influence culture if we’re no different from it.  Jesus took another approach. He was in the culture, but he lived counter-culturally.  Jesus was missional.  He hung around sinners (so much so that he was accused of being a drunkard and a glutton), but Jesus did not sin.  Jesus revealed to culture what true life looks like.  And this is the same approach the church must take in the 21st century.  We must demonstrate to society what true humanity looks like, what true culture is about.  The church must be a city within a city – the city of God amidst the city of man.  This is how culture will be impacted by the gospel.  Mark Driscoll recently spoke on this topic at Southeastern Seminary.  His talk is very helpful, you should check it out.