14) The BackPage: These Times they are a changin’
I’m not a huge Bob Dylan fan. But my son is. So somehow, I had heard of the song by that title (These Times the are a changin’). Apparently it was a made-for-TV movie too? Same title? (The YouTube of that title sequence has 5 million views.)It was produced in 1964. The first verse goes like this…
Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’.
Does every generation think it’s in the middle of paradigm shifts to end all paradigms? Apparently. But we seem to get more than our share. In his new book, “Our Anchor in a World Adrift,” Jon Hirst (CEO of Global Mapping), chronicles 7 stats you need to know to serve the King (and lead out in missions). They revolve around these key themes:
*** An unprecedented refugee crisis that has millions on the move
*** Economic instability, unemployment, and individual identity
*** Personal disconnection in our digitally connected world
*** Evolving sexual morality and definitions of family
*** Why the world’s fastest growing population centers are becoming less Christian
*** Secularism and suicide, both of which are rising worldwide.
*** The quest for a spiritual home
Most of these themes have become central (or nearly so) in the agency that I lead, a mission agency with 300 workers in just over 40 countries. I bet the same things are popping up on your windshield as well. So I’m grateful when demographics guys like Jon Hirst make it easier for me to lead, speak, and preach to today’s audiences. That’s why I’m hoping this book (and its message) makes its way out to churches, agencies, and families all over the globe today. Learn more about the book here..
http://www.gmi.org/products/books/gmibooks/7stats/
Now — disclaimer — I haven’t seen the book. But it sounds great. Once we DO see it, let’s sit down together and swap our take on how he handles the details. But from where I’m walking today, this book… these THEMES… are indeed central to everything we do. Go Jon. : )
15) Closing Stuff
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2016/02/21 — Brigada Today
Compiled/Edited by Doug Lucas and Tina McCormick, Team Expansion. Your gift to Brigada will help get motivation, resources, and news/trends out to thousands of Christian workers throughout the globe on a weekly basis. Search over 2 decades of weekly Brigadas using the search box below.
In this issue…
1) The Guy who Trained Ying Kai (resulting in 2 million believers!)
2) Marriage and Parenting Materials
3) Could this Water Bottle Really Fill Itself?
4) We’re all Connected, Right? Maybe not so Much (says Sherry Turkle)
5) Help the Deaf Hear the sounds of Good News in India
6) Cool Tools: Back up Your Work
7) Play a Scrolling List Of Unengaged at Your Next Missions Event
8) Not sure What the Unengaged ARE???
9) Help Your Church/Group Pray for the Unengaged
10) Muslim Leaders Go On Record Asking for Freedom of Religion
11) Get the Big Picture of Church Multiplication “Must-Have’s”
12) The Most Powerful Task Management App Yet?
13) Get this Husband/Wife Devotional for 23% Off while it Lasts
14) After you Catch Wednesday’s Webinar, see MoreDisciples.com
15) Closing Stuff
1) The Guy who Trained Ying Kai (resulting in 2 million believers!)
Ever hear of Ying Kai, the guy who coined the term, T4T? Ever wonder how he managed to start a movement that led to 1.7 million baptized believers? Ever wonder who trained him? You’re about to find out. Register for the webinar at…
http://us10.campaign-archive1.com/?u=80b5be7bce3917413bb68934c&id=04744c29ae
Scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 24, at noon Eastern Time (USA), and you’ll learn exactly how Ying Kai got started. You’ll discover the magical secret (which is so simple, and so Jesus-inspired, you won’t believe it). These are principles you can start applying TODAY wherever you live. Curtis Sergeant is the man. Never heard of him? It’s time you did. This is a service of…
2) Marriage and Parenting Materials
Intermin’s fresh look works beautifully on any device. Browse and see how you can use these materials to help people you serve around the world to build better lives, marriages and families. Marriages around the world need help. These materials can be used well in outreach, with new believers, and in churches. Available in English, Spanish, and Mandarin.
3) Could this Water Bottle Really Fill Itself?
We couldn’t believe our eyes when we saw this new product. Imagine setting up your team with water bottles that self-refill all day long. Wild. And imagine helping nationals acquire this technology so they hydrate too!
4) We’re all Connected, Right? Maybe not so Much (says Sherry Turkle)
Did you think that the internet and digital devices would connect communities? Check out Sherry Turkle’s take:
https://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together
If she’s right, we could be ambushed by waves of lonely people in our respective orgs. Yikes. : ) We better start listening more! : )
5) Help the Deaf Hear the sounds of Good News in India
If you work in India, and you have met a deaf person there, and wish you could conect him/her with Jesus, you just might be in luck. Now you can point them to
where you’ll find four different sign language versions of India that may meet their needs.
6) Cool Tools: Back up Your Work
Sooner or later, you’ll unintentionally overwrite your work, or worse yet, your equipment will fail or be stolen. We’ve tried online back-up software. To us, it has just become too big of a hassle and too slow. But if you want to give it a try, check out CrashPlan (free with ads) or CrashPlan Plus. (You can evidently use CrashPlan for free with an external hard drive, though we haven’t tried this option. This would be a great choice for Mac users, by the way.) However, with large hard drives dropping so low in price, we now recommend carrying a 1-, a 2-, or a 3- terabyte hard drive. It’s about the size of a small smart-phone. (We live in an amazing age, eh? USB sticks are another option, if you have a USB port on your device (all of them should!). Backup software varies greatly per device. If you’re on Windows, check out
http://www.cobiansoft.com/cobianbackup.htm
It’s free and easy to set up. The only problem is, you have to remember to delete your old backups (maybe leave 3 previous versions). Mac users, see the above note about CrashPlan.
If you don’t mind paying for backup software, try Acronis True Image. It thinks like we think.
7) Play a Scrolling List Of Unengaged at Your Next Missions Event
In 1 1/2 minutes, you’ll see all the world’s largest remaining unengaged, unreached people groups (as listed by Finishing the Task).
The516LargestUnengaged from Team Expansion on Vimeo.
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