The Mustard Tree

Uncle Sam’s Plantation by Star Parker

mustardtree — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 01:12:03 +0000

Star Parker, a miracle through the welfare system tells her story of change from poverty and liberal ideology. The author also details how she believes how many America’s poor are destined to stay poor because the government chooses to keep them in this situation.

This book surprised me with the author’s harsh criticism. She is definitely not gentle. But some surprises were good. The information covered in the book both statistics and stories is very educational and bolsters the author’s points. The author does not stray from the ideology of the books endorsers on both the front and back covers (Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Larry Kudlow, and Dr. Laura Schlessinger). I recommend this book to anyone willing to indulge the Star Parker’s sharp tongue because there is a lot to be learned from her in depth analysis of America’s poor and the government that keeps them poor. If you can’t bear to listen to the endorsers listed above, you will not be able to finish this book.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Your Money God’s Way by Amie Streater

mustardtree — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:33:25 +0000

Amie Streater, a journalist turn financial counselor, shares her journey to financial peace and lessons learned from individuals while serving as associate pastor. The recommendation from Dave Ramsey, a financial guru, emblazoned across the cover and the goal to reveal “7 myths that keep Christians broke” drew me in immediately. Unfortunately, you can’t judge a book by its cover.
Streater quickly replaces the word, myth, for “counterfeit convictions” (and I believe she covers more than 7 – consider it a bonus) as she talks the reader through her experiences with several “broke Christians”. She also occasionally adds in Bible verses to emphasize her point. Overall, the book is very disjointed, switching from 1st person to 2nd and 3rd person perspective and never really creating a theme for each chapter thereby making it difficult to follow at times. The saving grace in the book was the review questions at the end of each chapter giving the reader something to mentally process and grapple with.
My biggest disappointment with the book is that it is directed to a very small group of people, Christians in America who have fallen for the “prosperity gospel”. She is wisely harsh on these folks. If this isn’t you (and it wasn’t me), you’ll find better Christian finance books.

Pascal

mustardtree — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 13:53:06 +0000

“For after all what is man in nature? A nothing in relation to infinity, all in relation to nothing, a central point between nothing and all and infinitely far from understanding either. The ends of things and their beginnings are impregnably concealed from him in an impenetrable secret. He is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness out of which he was drawn and the infinite in which he is engulfed. ”

Blaise Pascal, Pensées #72

Nightlight Face-Off – The God Debate

mustardtree — Tue, 08 May 2007 12:34:39 +0000

Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort had a debate with the Rational Response Squad. The Rational Response Squad has an ongoing Blasphemy Challenge. If you don’t know about it just do a search on YouTube for Blasphemy Challenge. It’s self explanatory.

Here’s how the debate starts,
Hi, I’m Kirk Cameron and my partner and I Ray Comfort come to you tonight not as molecular biologists or rocket scientists, but simply as an author and an actor, and we want to do two things that fly in the face of convention. One, we’d like to show you that the existence of God can be proven, 100 percent, absolutely, without the use of faith. And secondly, as a former atheist myself — an evolutionist — I want to pull back the curtain and show that the number one reason that people don’t believe in God is not a lack in evidence, but because of a theory that many scientists today believe to be a fairytale for grownups.

Who wouldn’t want to watch that?

To watch the first “Nightline Face-Off,” visit ABCNEWS.com Wednesday, May 9; the debate will be posted at 1 p.m. EDT. The debate will also be featured on ABC News Now at 2 p.m., and during our broadcast edition of “Nightline” on the same evening.

In the meantime read the abc article about the Nightline interview with Mike … er … I mean Kirk from March. There are some good videos there too.

Source: ABC Website

Saturday Night Outreach

mustardtree — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 16:54:25 +0000

Lately, we’ve been trying to zero in on some good ways to share the gospel with Harrison County, WV. Do we expect an unbeliever to show up at church on Sunday morning? Do we go door-to-door and invite them? Do we pass out flyers at the mall? Do we simply invite our friends? If they do show up on Sunday morning, is the ‘service’ appropriate for them?

Perhaps the title of this post gives away a little too much. We finally decided to have an ‘event’ every Saturday night throughout the summer. We currently plan to rotate between having a film and theology (film and spirituality or reel theology … you get the idea) and an improv comedy night.

Film and Theology night is planned to be set up like James Harleman does at Mars Hill. Watch the movie and afterwards have someone talk about the movie and its spiritual influences and consequences.

The improv comedy night is much more simple. Enjoy improv comedy (think – Who’s line is it anyway?) for an hour or so and then present the gospel in 5 or 10 minutes.

We are still in the ‘come and see’ stage, but we are identifying common ground to communicate the gospel and meet our community.

I plan to keep blogging about resources that I find in case any one else is interested in pursuing some of these same avenues.

Evangelism 101

mustardtree — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 13:21:13 +0000

Being missionally minded is not an easy transition for me. It is something that is developing. I’ll be blogging about this development in the next several weeks.

I was reminded earlier this week by a couple different people about the ministry and methodology of Way of the Master. Ed Stetzer writes about it here. He discusses what I think many of us struggle with. We know it is important to share the gospel and we even know what Scripture to share to present the gospel, but we just can’t figure out how to start the conversation. Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron demonstrate how to move past the intellectual conversation to the heart. Here are some videos to help get you started.

There are more at Youtube. You can also go to www.WayOfTheMaster.com They have some good free videos and resources. If you having trouble sharing your faith, welcome to club – now let’s figure out how to get over it.

In the words of Red Green – Remember, I’m pulling for you. We’re all in this together.

The Supremacy of Christ

mustardtree — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 19:49:06 +0000

If you know God, this will either make you jump and down with praise or fall on your face in worship. My favorite part of John Piper’s sermon on how one must know Christ comes in the last 30 seconds.

Pubtricks – Wave Change

mustardtree — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:23:49 +0000

Ok this one is really cool. Watch the video at Pubtricks. The person changes the card seemingly by waving it. This one seems very difficult, but usable. I just might have to buy this one. I’ll be disappointed if I just find out that he has two cards glued together. If I do, I won’t tell you how it works.

Mark Driscoll – Of Brokenness and Buddies

mustardtree — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 18:25:00 +0000

Mark writes of the difficulties of ministry and the encouragement of fellow pastors and friends in his blog.

Are you Stoopid?

mustardtree — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 15:38:04 +0000

Since I’m not allowed to use the word in my own home, I figured I’d put it on my blog. Take the Stupid Tester quiz. It’s pretty fun (especially if you get a good low score).

Your Score Summary

Overall, you scored as follows:

97% scored higher (more stupid),
1% scored the same, and
2% scored lower (less stupid).

You are 2% stupid. This means…

You are our next Einstein. Wow! Keep up the great thinking.