Two New Essays from David Alan Black

David Alan Black has posted two great new essays on his Web site, "Reformation, Revival, or Restoration?" and "Church as Meetinghouse". I would encourage everyone to not only read these two essays, but to bookmark one of my favorite sections of his Web site, Unleashing the Church.

Dr. Michael Green's Messages About the Church

On February 8th and 9th Dr. Michael Green spoke at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary chapel services. On Feb. 8th he shares a message about "The Church God Uses" from Acts 11, and on Feb. 9th he shares a great message about "The Leaders God Uses" from Acts 20. You can find these messages online here:

http://www.sebts.edu/chapel/chapelMessages.cfm

Whatever you call it (house church, home church, simple church, family church, relational church, organic church, micro church, biblical church, etc.), the idea is to be faithful to the intent of the original Apostles in our church life. This can be done with any size congregation, meeting at any location as long as the New Testament model is followed instead of the modern day church model. There are many great resources available online to help us learn more about being the Church like God intended.

http://www.unleashingthechurch.com/
http://www.theschoolofchrist.org/
http://www.homediscipleship.org/
http://www.house2house.com/
http://www.lifestream.org/
http://www.ntrf.org/
http://www.visionforumministries.org/sections/ncfic/default.asp

The Theology of Everything

"He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).

These seven words found in John 3:30 contain the entire mystery of God’s dealings with man from ages past to eternity future. "He [Christ] must increase." All of God’s works are towards this end of increasing Christ. In other words, everything God has done, is doing, and will do is related towards revealing His Son and bringing us into the full-knowledge (epignosis) of Him. The goal is for Christ to have the preeminence in all things, beginning with us individually as disciples, then with the Church, and finally with all creation, "that He may be All in All."

This online workshop is an intensive study that will get you focused on the preeminence of Jesus and help you understand God's Ultimate Purpose for the individual disciple, the Church, and all creation.

The cost is FREE. Each lesson will take 10-15 minutes to complete online, but you may study at your own pace.

Click here to register online!

NFC WILD CARD PLAYOFF

The Redskins have qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1999. As a Wild Card participant and the sixth seed in the NFC, the Redskins will travel to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday, Jan. 7.

Game time is 4:30 p.m. ET. I will be there in section 334 thanks to my loving wife who got me the tickets!

Back where they belong

For the first time since 1999 and just the second time since 1992, the Redskins are headed to the playoffs. Clinton Portis ran for 112 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-20 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday as Washington (10-6) closed the regular season with its fifth straight win. The Redskins trailed 17-10 at halftime but rallied with three second-half TDs, including both of Portis' scores, to pull out the cliniching victory. Washington will visit Tampa Bay to open the postseason on Saturday, Jan 7.

Source: NFL.com

Redskins 35, Cowboys 7

Energized by a raucous FedExField crowd, the Redskins dominated the Dallas Cowboys in every facet of Sunday's game, winning 35-7 and enhancing their playoff hopes in the process.

Keep the Black's in your Prayers

Dave and BeckyLynn Black are leaving for their trip to Ethiopia this afternoon. Be sure to keep them in your prayers as the make another missionary trip. They have posted an Itinerary and Prayer Guide for the trip on their site, you can click here to print of the page as a reminder to lift them up in your prayers daily as they allow God to use them as His servants in Ethiopia over the next month.

Redskins: 3-0!

After defeating the Cowboys, 14-13, in a week 2 Monday night thriller (the victory was Washington's first in Dallas since 1995), the Redskins have moved to 3-0 in week 4, defeating the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday afternoon. This is the first time since 1991, that the Redskins have been 3-0, the last time they went all the way to the Super Bowl and won the championship finishing 14-2 that year.

Redskins 14, Cowboys 13

Week 2:
Redskins 14, Cowboys 13

www.unleashingthechurch.com