Aaron Menikoff, pastor of a church in Atlanta, GA, writes this recent article entitled, "You Don't Find Community by Looking for It." This would be one of many resources we can point to for anyone to read, learn from, affirm, or change in their understanding of Christ and Christianity, especially as one is "looking for a church" or "looking for community." There seems to be many ways to describe a local church like house church, family church, mega-church or other ways like through the church name, denomination, association, or network. More often, these categories become unhelpful and fillers for conversation. We want to see the conversation change along with lives changing because of God's work in people's heart and lives through the gospel of Christ and making known that "Christianity" is all about "Christ."
Listening: Humility by Alistair Begg
Alistair Begg, pastor of Parkside Church in Ohio and helpful resource Truth for Life, taught a four part Dallas Theological Seminary chapel series going through Humility, Anxiety, Adversity, and Security. The 30 minute video message on humility takes us from being aware of self-love and self-glorification to be humbled before God through the Bible passage of 1 Peter 5:6, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.”
Listening: Telos Center
We have begun the organization and resource for equipping and training people in truth and love in varying context of life, Telos Center. The phrase is a purposeful and instructional phrase to capture the biblical pattern of what is to happen to any of us when listening and learning from God, his word, and living in the world. We want to provide helpful resources that reveal, affirm, and exemplify God's work on us to live for him in real life. Therefore, what finishes (telos) our hearts aims (telos) our life.
Listening: Day By Day by Citizens and Saints
Listening: Promises by Sanctus Real
I'm posting this more for the lyrics that encourage, and Sanctus Real provides a helpful and reflective song for when life suffering and difficulties his home and hit hard. They calls us to remember scripture, get into God's word, and "hold onto his promises." "Let God's word be your strength" rings true as his he is stronger than life and anything that comes with it. This is true as we humbly live by truths, principals, and conviction through life's ups and downs as well as goods and evils. Either we turn to God's steadfast word and love or we look to the world for answers, comfort, and security. Those that turn to the Lord also build community with one another to no longer walk life alone.
Listening: Artistic Explanation of the G.O.S.P.E.L. by Propaganda
Listening: What are you doing in Sacramento? Planting the Gospel
Plant the Gospel video produced by Together for the Gospel is a unique and helpful resource to overall explain what we are doing in Sacramento which is to live and love for Christ that results in a unified and localized church community. Telos pastors are not here to "plant churches" but "plant the gospel and it bears fruit and forms a community." The gospel is also not a means to an end of wanting a local church to appear but the gospel is the reason for a local church to appear and pastors pastor to God's end.
What are you doing in Sacramento and beyond? Wanting God to become the epicenter of people's hearts and lives that love others to reveal the gospel as truly good news to be justified and sanctified by.
Listening: The Real God by Chip Ingram
Pastor Chip Ingram addresses Dallas Seminary's first night chapel during the 2016 Fall semester with a message really for anyone. The intro video Chip plays brings clarity to what he's addressing and bringing us to understand which is trusting and knowing the Creator God. Chip brings us from how we view God to how God wants us to view and trust him.
Listening: Experiencing the Real God by Chip Ingram
Pastor Chip Ingram addresses Dallas Seminary's chapel in the 2016 Fall semester with a message really for anyone. Chip speaks on "Experiencing the Real God" following his previous chapel message the night before on "The Real God."
Listening: How to Listen to God by Dr. Stanley Toussaint
Dr. Stanley Toussaint addresses Dallas Seminary in "How to Listen to God and God's Word." The message serves anyone beyond being a seminary student. Dr. Toussaint brings a heritage of humility and honesty in teaching God's word. Dr. Toussaint makes clear that God has revealed himself in many ways and mainly in two primary ways of his world and the word, in which ultimately and supremely through the Living Word of Jesus Christ.
Listening: King's Kaleidoscope Christmas Songs: Live In Season
Listen to these lyrics from hymns sung recently by the music group, King's Kaleidoscope. You can watch their 2015 "Live in Season" album of 5 hymns below or on their youtube playlist. King's Kaleidoscope's music is available on iTunes ("Live in Season") as well, providing a robust list of albums and lyrics that reveals depth and width of scripture from old hymns sung contemporarily. Hymns uniquely and adequately provide lyrics filled with truth for anthemic, passionate expression, especially when sung collectively with resounding conviction.
Listening: Sovereign Grace Christmas Music: Prepare Him Room
Sovereign Grace Music put together this great 2014 album, Prepare Him Room, somberly capturing the Christmas truth of the biblical and historical story of Jesus the Christ's divine birth into humanity for anyone to listen to and especially for local churches to corporately sing together. Their website also provides musical charts for instruments and direction. Sovereign Grace Music's website provides lyrics, varying ways to purchase the album beyond the iTunes album. Here's three musical sessions singing through the Prepare Him Room album.
Listening: Ghost Ship Music
Ghost Ship music albums are available on iTunes especially their 2015 music album, Costly, capturing the truths of God and the costly life in following him in real life. As you find time to listen and even share, think through these lyrics which tied directly into profound and overarching truths in scripture bringing listeners to be challenged, comforted, and convicted. A few other impactful music albums that combine some new renditions to old hymns include A River With No End and The Good King.
Listening: Missio Dei by Dr. Mark Young
We hope you become rocked on how you think about God, Christianity, church, and life through this teaching video series by Dr. Mark Young. Dr. Young had taught the below video series at Dallas Theological Seminary's chapel on the critical concept of Missio Dei. Dr. Young's 4 part chapel series completed in one chapel series week provides the origin and history of the phrase and overarching truths of scripture through the lens of Missio Dei.
Listening: Shane and Shane Music: Bring Your Nothing Album
Shane and Shane music albums provide a combination of simplicity and profoundness. The above video from Shane and Shane previews their 2013 "Bring Your Nothing" album. Their album title rightly explains the a core truth in our relationship to God, that we have nothing and he is everything. What's interesting is that God values his creation of humanity but he is the one who determines, describes, and distributes value. Shane and Shane's music provide a biblical and theological frame that helps consider God and his love to anyone one of us, especially through the gospel of the person and work of Christ Jesus.
Listening: Shane and Shane Music: The One You Need Album
Shane and Shane explain their album "The One You Need" in the below video and lyrics as the song comes from a parental heart of a prayer, confession, and counsel to their kids (daughters) to trust Christ as the one you need and the only true love in life knowing full well that they are temporal and he's truthful and eternal. They explain that the only 'true love' in life is in the person and work of Christ Jesus -- the one you need.