The article I am going to offer up for conversation this week is one that has nothing to do with megachurches, tithing nor any other controversial subjects…I hope 
Not to say that Timmy Brister's witnessing to his coworkers at United Parcel Service didn't stir the pot. But it stirred the pot in the right way, methinks.
The Cross Isn't Sexy: A Dying Man's Confession has nothing to do with death. But it does have to do with bearing one's cross, while proclaiming Jesus, working the graveyard shift amongst pagans.
I stopped by his blog and encouraged him in the comments field, not the least because I deal with similar issues at my job. I suspect those of you who don't pastor full-time deal with them as well.
Another blogger wrote about the Brister article and his own experiences at UPS, and parts of his post hit home with me. I saw something of every job I've ever worked at in both of those articles. The world can be a nasty place; fortunately for us Christians, our God is mightier than any employer or coworker, and they are mere tools in His hands as He works out his ways in our lives.
Other links to fuss and fight about
If you've heard of Tim Keller but have never had the chance to hear him first-hand, here's a YouTube video of him speaking at the University of California-Berkeley (HT: Bob Hyatt and Justin Taylor)
Barton writes on FTA about blessings.
Brister follows up his UPS post with one on witnessing at work.
Owen Strachan reviews D.A. Carson's memoir of his father and talks about how it is reflective of ordinary pastors everywhere. Pulpit Magazine also reviewed the book.
Bryon Mondok updates what's going on with his granddaughter. He also talks about being mad at God.
Catch up on summaries of each session of the recent Ligonier Conference.
J.D. Greear's report of his meeting with Henry Blackaby reminds us of how important having older mentors and drawing from their wisdom is.
Dan Kimball interviews house church guru Frank Viola.
Joel Virgo interviews Mark Driscoll (part one, two and three).
Trevin Wax discusses the weaknesses of some of the alternatives to the penal substitution theory of the atonement.
Ben Arment spent a weekend at Mark Dever's church. Here is his final wrapup. Why Dever seemingly sabotages his own ministry. Dever on ministry.
Jared Wilson says the Kingdom of God is for losers.
Michael Patton tried to answer a friend's hard question about God.
The Internet Monk (Michael Spencer) interviews Patton - the interview is very good.
Tim Challies discusses Al Mohler's advice to love homosexuals more than they love their own homosexuality.
Wyman Richardson reviews what seems to be an interesting book about John Michael Talbot.
Just bought Keller’s book “A Reason for God”. He’s was in Portland Border’s tonight speaking and pushing the book
Big Guy,
Thanks for the link to Timmy Bristers peice. Reminds me back when I first became a Christian. I remember that seemed easier to share my faith in that production/warehouse environment than in my current office setup. Some of it has to do with my work situation. I office in aa client site, so I am not “on the team” when it comes to what directly concerns the client. I am basically a contractor. So I generally do not get involved or am asked to get involved in their conversations, about business or anything else.
In the warehouse environment, while we had work to do, you could talk about anything you wanted to. At one point, I remember that we would ask, “What’s todays topic?”, just because you wanted to talk to somebody about something!
Timmy is in a good place, where he gets to work alongside someone new every week and then spin them off. Kind of made me think that he was like an imprisoned Apostle Paul, who got chained to a different Roman guard while under arrest.
Reading about sharing the gospel at work reminded me of a situation where I was witnessing to a lady that I worked with (at my part time job, not church) and we were just about to pray when my boss walked in the office and said, “oh God, not that Jesus crap again - get back to work.” I wanted so badly to “close the deal,” and at the same time felt obligated to return to work as instructed by my boss. In the end I got back to work, and found out that the next weekend the young lady went to church with a relative and made a public profession of her faith in Christ!
Some water, some plant, and God brings the increase.
Thanks for the links. Trevin Wax’s post is especially insightful. I’ve done a riff off of it at my site, which you might also enjoy.
Grace and Peace,
Raffi Shahinian
Tim Keller is the man! I like listening to him preach, teach and talk! He’s a true gift to the church and the world.
We..I’m…planning on posting threads of each remaining day of the Holy Week on FTA. Did you know today is Spy Wednesday?
http://fromtheashesblog.com/?p=875
Thank you for the link to the Tim Keller video. It got my evangelistic juices going! I cut my teeth on evangelizing in the university setting and I loved Tim’s approach to God through “reason.” Like Tim, I also now have children that age. My son is a university student daily contending for his faith in the “marketplace of ideas.” I think Tim’s book would be a wonderful Easter present for him. Hey, I think it would be a good present for me too. Long live thinking Christians!
Brian D~
The Timmy Brister link was most encouraging!
Very provocative how he describes the “religion of others” that we are supposed to accept/listen to day in and day out, without question.
People can sing the praises of football and basketball, laud all sorts of sports idols, entertainment and American Idols along with the vast variety of objects and values the world worships,
Yet, we are told not to sing the praises of Jesus, the one we worship and adore.
His approach to sharing the gospel is refreshing and filled with great love and understanding, bridging a gap that is sorely needed.
Sister, I thought Brister’s article was worthy of consideration by everyone here.
Everyone, I thought the Keller video was especially worthy of consideration as well. For that matter, all of the links I offered in the lead article.
Funny, how these threads go sometimes.
When I read Brister’s article, I was encouraged, challenged and humbled.
Humbled because, in my opinion, to be an effective witness for Jesus at work you have to be above reproach from day one. That hasn’t been the case for me; not being in church, personal issues, etc. aren’t an excuse.
I could be very wrong about that, too.
The value of having a good name amongst the pagans so that if the time comes for you to “share Jesus” with them you can do so without some ugly or uncomfortable issue from the past thrown up in your face cannot be underestimated.
At the same time, God’s grace despite your flaws and shortcomings and despite anything you’ve done in the past cannot be underestimated either.
And then there’s the case of workplaces being full of sin, gossip, laziness, backstabbing….not all places have this in abundance, but some seem to and it can be a huge challenge to stand up for Christ in the midst of all that in-your-face sinful arrogance.
Still, a good name and reputation are to be desired…but what you want most of all is to follow Jesus, no matter the cost.
Good words Brian D!
Also dont underestimate the value of humility, honesty, and love, even in the midst of struggles from the past.
One point that stood out in Bristers post was his love and concern for the spiritual well being of others. People know when you are being genuine, they know when you care. And if they dont realize it immeadiately, they will in the long run…
When one truly follows Jesus, and dies to self, the good name, the good reputation follow in due course, as it becomes a part of who you are as a result of close communion with Christ.
Perhaps this illustration may help.
If you have ever had the opportunity to walk through a life size replica of the wilderness tabernacle… Walk through the outer courts, the place of cleansing, then the place of sacrifice, finally into the Holy of Holies filled with incense so strong… you come out of there smelling like the incense.
In like manner, as we cleanse ourselves from all unrighteousness, bring our sacrifice and obedience to God, then enter into the Holy of Holies, delighting in His presence, the fragrance of Christ will permeate our lives. At times it is undiscernable to ourselves, due to the fact that compared to the essence and fragrance of who Christ is, the fragrance that we retain seems to pale in comparison. Yet to those in the world, who have not beheld His fragrance, the fragrance of Christ which becomes a part of who we are, stands out quite noticeable to them.
This is an encouragement to each one reading, that no matter how dim your light for Christ may seem to be, continue to draw closer to the Lord, and continue to let even the littlest of light within you shine to others, it may be the life line to their Salvation, unbeknownst to you…
Quoting from Brister’s article: ***Simply due to their schedule [i.e. working graveyard], they by default become some of the least reached people in Louisville, and their lack of engagement comes from the fact that they are practically non-existent to the people who work in the day.***
I used to work 3rd shift, and that is sooo true.
BrianD
Lots of stuff that got overlooked here… great linkathon thanks for the good work.
And yes the Keller piece is worth the whole thread…
Following the links about the UPS worker was also very powerful
again thanks