Curt Campbell works for the Men of Valor prison ministry as the Jericho Project Coordinator. He spends his days inside the prison overseeing the other staff members and working with the men themselves. When we did these interviews, I was extremely impressed with Curt’s insightfulness into the way we think about doing work for God and the way it can impact prisons in the US. More importantly, he talked about the idea of doing “just enough” versus really getting seriously involved (and thereby getting seriously inconvenienced) through serving others. It hit me between the eyes and I thought, ‘yep, I’m guilty of that.’ If you’d like to see the entire Seek Social Justice lesson that features Curt and the Men of Valor ministry, watch Working Toward Justice here.
That’s what Voddie Baucham quotes in the introduction to his book Family Driven Faith. It’s a sobering thought. 7 out of 10 kids who are now in church won’t be there in the future (he’s not talking about unchurched kids; he’s talking about kids whose parents assume they’re Christians until one day they reject their faith). I thought about my children’s Sunday School classes and all the little kids running around – according to this, 70% won’t make it past college. Wow. One of the reasons I’m reading Baucham’s book is that we’re developing a new curriculum on family worship, and it reminds me that the only way to change these numbers is at a grassroots level, one family at a time. If you’ve got children yourself, I recommend getting Baucham’s book – it’s a good reminder of what’s really at stake for parents, as well as what can be done to build up the little ones in our care.
I have been an irregular reader of Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost For His Highest for at least 20 years. When I do pick it up, I usually find that the subject is often peculiarly appropriate to the unique situation in which I find myself. Today’s reading is a case in point. My views of predestination could lead me to chalk it up solely to God’s foreordination, but I also see these seeming coincidences as an indicator that there really isn’t anything particularly unique to any Christian: we all are sinners who want to control our own lives as much as possible and in the process allow “the cares of this world” to choke out what really matters. Chambers’ quickly sorts things out: “Whenever there is competition, be sure that you put your relationship to God first.”
One important aspect of Modern Parables is the individual study materials found in the Study Book. In an attempt to supplement personal study, we’re now offering a set of downloads of all six films designed specifically for participants who either are going through or have gone through the class. These downloads include: 1) all six MP films, 2) special chapters on understanding and living the parables, and 3) questions for use in family study. We’re pricing the films to make them affordable to individuals: $10 for all six films in SD quality and $6 for all six films in iPod quality. If you’ve been a part of an MP class (or you’re a regular follower of our site), you can go to our participant download page and use this code (2B6B8D) to purchase the films for your personal use.* We hope you enjoy them!
*These downloads are for personal or family use only, not for teaching a class. To purchase a set licensed for teaching, go to modernparable.com.
I’m doing research on a new project and have been reading through a number of books on ‘family worship’ (also known as ‘family devotions’ in some circles). Over the years, I have often thought about leading some form of daily worship with my own family of girls (4 including my wife), but beyond evening prayer [...]
Seek Social Justice can be downloaded for free on the website, but the links are in different places under the six videos. I’ve pulled them together in one place so you can get to them easily. If you do download them, I recommend that you go to the website and sign up to get regular [...]
I had lunch today with Carl Carlson, the founder of Men of Valor prison ministry. I gave him a few samples of the new Seek Social Justice study that was just released (MOV is the subject of Lesson 4: Working Toward Justice), and he caught me up on what the ministry was planning for the [...]
My first disclaimer is that this is a subjective chart. Having spent a number of years trying to create video for use in Christian educational settings, this graph is an attempt to visualize some of my conclusions and opinions. It will likely be of little interest to most people, but for those few who are [...]
The fifth lesson in the Seek Social Justice series is probably the most sobering. We traveled to Orange County, California to explore the story of Shyima Hall, an Egyptian girl who at age 8 was sold by her parents into slavery. She was brought to the US by her Egyptian owners and kept as a [...]
SeekSocialJustice.com is now live and includes streaming HD versions of all six lessons. The Heritage Foundation designed the site with some great additional resources, including bonus footage from all the experts involved, spotlights on the different ministries, and suggested readings for further insight. You can watch the complete lessons streaming in HD (when viewing full [...]
That’s what Voddie Baucham quotes in the introduction to his book 
I have been an irregular reader of Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost For His Highest for at least 20 years. When I do pick it up, I usually find that the subject is often peculiarly appropriate to the unique situation in which I find myself. 
