Jonathan Dodson gives some great practical ideas on how we should be living “in the world, but not of the world” (John 17:15-18), aka living missionally, or engaging our culture:

• Eat with non-Christians
• Walk, don’t drive
• Be a regular
• Hobby with non-Christians
• Talk to your co-workers
• Volunteer with non-profits
• Participate in city events
• Serve your neighbors

You can read the whole article here.

Some related posts I’ve written on this topic:

• We are called to “Go”
• Why we don’t obey Christ’s call to “Go”

For those of us who weren’t able to make it to Chicago last week for The Gospel Coalition conference, we can still listen and benefit from all the plenary and breakout sessions. Here’s the full list with audio links:

• Tim Keller, “The Grand Demythologizer: The Gospel and Idolatry” (Acts 19:21-41)
• John Piper, “Feed the Flame of God’s Gift: Unashamed Courage in the Gospel” (2 Timothy 1:1-12)
• Phil Ryken, “The Pattern of Sound Words” (2 Timothy 1:13-2:13)
• Mark Driscoll, “Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth” (2 Timothy 2:14-26)
• K. Edward Copeland, “Shadowlands: Pitfalls and Parodies of Gospel-Centered Ministry” (2 Timothy 3:1-9)
• Bryan Chapell, “Preach the Word!” (2 Timothy 3:10-4:5)
• Ajith Fernando, “Gospel-Faithful Mission in the New Christendom“
• Panel Discussion: Tim Keller, John Piper, Ligon Duncan and Crawford Loritts (chair: Stephen Um)
• Ligon Duncan, “Finishing Well” (2 Timothy 4:6-22)
• Don Carson, “That By All Means I Might Win Some’: Faithfulness and Flexibility in Gospel Proclamation” (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)

Two workshops are available in video (as well as audio):

• C. J. Mahaney, “The Pastor’s Charge”
• Joshua Harris, “Ministering in a Church-Hopping Society”

The rest of the sessions are available in audio only:

• Thabiti Anyabwile, “The Decline of African-American Theology”
• Buster Brown, “Preaching in a Christianized Culture”
• Steven Chin, “Working Faithfully Under a Senior Pastor”
• Graham Cole, “Homosexuality and the Bible: Texts, Hermeneutics, and Pastoral Wisdom”
• K. Edward Copeland and Charlie Dates, “Mentoring Younger Pastors”
• Andy Davis, “The Gospel and Social Action”
• Joshua Harris, “Ministering in a Church-Hopping Society”
• David Helm, “Biblical Reflections on Building a Staff”
• Bill Kynes, “Complementarianism: Definition and Priorities”
• Crawford Loritts, “Staying Faithful, Staying Relevant: The Use and Abuse of Polemical Preaching”
• Tom Nelson and Matt Perman, “The Gospel and Money”
• Colin Smith, “Transformational Expository Preaching”
• Stephen Um, “On Ministry and Revolving Doors: Practical Challenges and Ideas for Ministry in a Mobile Society”
• Sandy Willson, “Gospel Mission to the World: Arrogance or Love?”

Three of the sessions are not available yet because of corrupt audio files:

• Michael Bullmore, “The Functional Centrality of the Gospel”
• Tim Savage, “Power in Weakness: The Heart of Gospel Ministry”
• Scotty Smith, “A Biblical Theology of Worship: On Preference and Other Matters”

Well, that should fill up my MP3 player for a while.

HT: Justin Taylor

Things may be quiet around here for a while. My mom is visiting us for another five days and all of us are fighting off colds. Ministry is keeping me very busy right now, and blogging just wouldn’t be the best use of my time. In addition to shepherding the flock and preparing for weekly sermons, I’ve been working a lot on summer VBS and an outreach booth we’re going to have at the Grubstake Days fair in May. I’m also getting ready for a young adults retreat I’ll be leading in June.

The more I look at my calendar, the more I feel overwhelmed and in need of God’s grace. I hope to blog again soon!

Marty responded to last Thursday’s post with this question:

I know that I too often fail to go. Part of my omission is that I feel under prepared. However, that sense of inadequacy should drive me to pursue with violence to be prepared to give an answer of the hope that is within me. Do you think that preparation is the biggest reason that people do not go? What can we do to be prepared?

I can relate to feeling unprepared and inadequate for the task. Which is pretty convicting. Because if I (a pastor who has been saved for over 25 years; has listened to countless sermons; has read books and attended workshops on evangelism; has graduated from a Christian college and seminary; and has shared my faith on many occasions), if I feel unprepared, HOW MUCH MORE unprepared will most laypeople feel!

I think the #1 reason we don’t go is fear. Fear of talking to strangers. Fear of what to say. Fear of how to say it. Fear of when to say it. Fear of being misunderstood. Fear of questions we can’t answer. Fear of sounding like a Bible-thumping fundamentalist. Fear of putting ourselves in compromising situations. Fear of rejection. Fear of persecution.

Some of these fears can be remedied through better study, practice, and preparation. Others demand more spiritual courage. All of them require prayer, wisdom, and an utter dependence on the Spirit of God. Some of these fears will only subside as we begin to obey Christ and repeatedly share our faith.

Another reason we don’t “go” as we ought is busyness. We get so caught up with the busyness of jobs, of family, of commuting, of ministry, of studying, of hobbies, of entertainment, that we leave little or no time for purposeful evangelism. We get so busy doing stuff — even good stuff — that we miss the divine appointments all around us. We must be careful. Busyness can actually be a Satanic strategy to sear our consciences and disguise our fear of obeying Christ’s command to Go. If we’re too busy to share our faith, then something else needs to be cut out of our schedules.

Walter Price, pastor of Fellowship in the Pass in Beaumont and current president of our Southern Baptist state convention, has called for a special day of prayer on Wednesday, April 15:

In light of the current moral, spiritual and economic decline of our nation, I am calling all CSBC churches to a season of focused prayer. April 15 is a significant date for all tax-paying citizens – it is also a Wednesday and many churches will be holding their scheduled prayer meeting.

Let’s dedicate an entire service on this day as a time of prayer for our nation. We should also dedicate a specific time in every Sunday service following this date for a similar special prayer focus as well.

What a powerful opportunity for our churches to join our hearts and voices together across this great state in prayer. God’s Word reminds us that we are to “Call to the Lord and He will show us great and mighty things” (Jeremiah 33:3). We are in a unique position as the people of God. The church is the one group in America that has good news and carries the message of true, lasting hope. With so many depressing reports coming from the secular news media, it is time for God’s people to respond with the good news of God’s abundance and sufficiency, even in a time of crisis.

Imagine the spiritual energy as every church, large and small, city and rural, joins together in this timely prayerful response. We should be careful not to craft the prayer services as identical models to follow, but we should embrace a few common elements as we pray together. Consider adding these five items to your prayer focus on April 15:

• Families facing financial struggles as a result of job loss and cutbacks
• Churches to respond with sensitivity and compassion to those in need
• Local, state and national elected officials to use wisdom in leadership
• Opportunities to share the Good News of Jesus clearly and effectively
• Humility, repentance and a true spiritual awakening in our nation

This call to prayer is being issued in the other state conventions across this nation by their presidents as well. I pray that we will join our hearts, minds and spirits together to call upon our holy and righteous Heavenly Father to grant us mercy and give us grace to help in our time of need.

Walter Price, pastor, Fellowship in the Pass Church, Beaumont