The Thoughtful Pastorate: Resources to Strengthen Ministry and Christian Life, Pt. 2

The resources I shared yesterday were mostly blogs. They're all free, and they will, if you check them regularly, keep you very much up to speed on the basic thought trends and events of evangelicalism. Even if you don't have time to scan them every day, taking an hour or two each week to scan the listed blogs will help a great deal to keep you aware of challenges to the faith and positive developments.

Here are some other miscellaneous resources that you could check if you have a little extra time beyond the five cornerstone outlets. These are sites to visit on, perhaps, a bi-weekly basis.

1. The Kairos Journal. As a pastor, you have to sign up for this and have someone recommend you for the site. It's geared for pastors who want to think in a Christian way about culture. It's a great preaching resource. The "Daily News" feature compiles important news stories from around the world.
2. The Al Mohler Radio Show link list is a compendium of top news stories and feature pieces from the leading print media. It's a fantastic resource that you should have to pay for, but don't. Subscribe to it by email and it will be delivered daily. Separate from Dr. Mohler's writing.
3. Time or Newsweek. Both of these popular print magazines have their biases, but they do a pretty good job of capturing the latest cultural trends. If you don't want to subscribe to the print versions, you could always scan their websites for the latest headlines. That would be helpful.
4. World Magazine is a solid counterpart to the secular print magazines. It provides Christian perspectives on current events and key trends. I enjoy and benefit from World and find its subscription price worth it.
5. National Review is also a current events-and-trends print magazine, but it's explicitly conservative, often helpful, and sometimes quite funny.

No one wants to pay for news anymore, but if you have a little extra in your church budget, pay for a few of the above magazines. You can of course visit the websites of these outlets, but I personally think it's worth supporting a magazine that you find helpful if you can. It ensures that you'll keep getting what you want: the news. Most magazines don't cost much, either. With that said, it may not be worth getting many magazines due to cost and time concerns.

More resources tomorrow, the final day of this series. Hope it's helpful--please share any useful ones I'm missing in the comments.

The Week-est Link, February 15, 2008

1. Karis Community Church recently hosted New Testament scholar Tom Schreiner for a series of lectures on Jesus. Check out this link to listen to the talks. They sound quite interesting and personally profitable. Dr. Schreiner is a man of great gifting and great humility. It's rare to find those qualities mutually existing in one person, but they do in him.

2. Newsweek Magazine recently profiled Manhattan pastor and church planting guru Tim Keller. Go here to read the article. The author gets a number of things wrong, but it's interesting that this piece represents a pretty respectful portrayal of an evangelical. Keller's thoughtfulness and humility have sowed good seed in New York.

3. Criswell College radio host Jerry Johnson recently discussed my friend Greg Gilbert's recent 9Marks blog/manifesto on an overemphasis on good music in the current among many evangelicals. Here's the link. I would have liked to hear Greg say a few more words about the importance of evangelical pursuit of good music, but I think he makes some very good points in his original post on the 9Marks blog. It's important in correcting things, though, that we take care not to over-correct. Greg wouldn't want to do that, and neither would I.

4. Speaking of good music, here's a great track by one of my favorite bands, Postal Service, called "Clark Gable." It's a beautiful mix of male and female voices, and it has a melancholy feel that is accentuated by the driving beat. Good tune.

Have a very nice weekend, all.