The Threads Blog

Ed Stetzer posted on his blog about the new video from Threads that discussed the research from Lost and Found. Click here to check it out!

Looking for an easier way to connect music to your Bible studies? Collegiate now has its very own iMix on iTunes. Just go to the iTunes Music store to view the Summer 2009 Collegiate playlist.

Usually I do all the talking on this blog, but this week I am going to do the listening. Now I know you are out there, and I know many of you read this blog. If you just read that sentence you have been recorded as a viewer f this blog so now you have to move from viewer to active participant. Here is the question for this week:

What does a life of encouragement look like?

Tomorrow, May 19, at 9:30 a.m. CDT, Rick Howerton, author of last week’s leadership article “Starting a Small Group Ministry,” will be participating in an eLearning training session with David Francis, LifeWay’s director of Sunday School. Tune in here to watch them debate/discuss the differences between the two models of Bible study.

It’s hard for us not to get so focused on our little piece of the puzzle that we miss out on the greater story of what God is doing through us and around us. We get too caught up in our circumstances to see how He is blessing us and giving us opportunities to bring Him glory. Today this kid’s message has caused me to see things differently, and my prayer is that the change will last.

Last weekend I discovered a talent in one of my friends. She can name just about any TV personality or movie star from the last 25 years. And if she can’t quite get the name or show right, her iPhone will deliver within seconds. We joked that she would be my lifeline if I ever made it to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? While keeping up with pop culture is fun, and the drama is quite entertaining, at what point do we draw the line?

Have you ever known a whiner? Whiners are known for their grumbling, which you can usually hear from a mile away. They come in every age and from all walks of life. What’s so irritating about them is that they focus only on the things that aren’t fair, the things they don’t have, or the things they wish they didn’t have to deal with. They completely ignore all the good things in their lives: “I got this brand new, sparkly, fully-loaded, sporty SUV, but I absolutely cannot stand the color of the seats.” Know anyone like that?

The Threads team is excited about the May 1st release of our new 6-session Bible study Chase the Goose, by Mark Batterson. Click HERE to read the Bible study overview, watch the video from Mark, and download a FREE sample. If you are interested in teaching Chase the Goose in a large group setting as well as small group study, we have free sermon outlines for download. These outlines will help you teach Chase the Goose without repeating the book content that small groups will study during the week.

Would you rather be an important person or do important work? This is the question I was faced with this week. If I remember correctly, it came from Mark Batterson and I spent some time really thinking through it. Initially, I reasoned that they go together—it’s hard to do one without doing the other. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that is not the case. This world is full of people doing important work who will never be celebrated publicly. On the flip side, the world is also full of important people who do almost nothing of real importance. I had to wrestle with my answer to the question for a bit. What about you?