In this ever changing, fast paced virtual world that we now live in, it can be difficult to sift through resources and new study guides.  Here is one Pastor’s helpful tips on items he has found useful.

 

I am all about digging for resources and binging on information. It’s part of how God made me (that makes me a “maven” according to Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point).

 

A while back I took Gallup’s Strengthfinder 2.0 (one of the best personal assessment tools I’ve found) and it showed me that I basically have two strengths: Gathering and disseminating large amounts of information, and liking people.

 

That’s it, that’s all I’ve got, but thankfully they work well with being a pastor. Just don’t ask me to actually get anything done (I would be in so much trouble without my lead deacon).

 

From time to time I will contribute a post to this blog with some resource I’ve found useful as a pastor, in hopes that they are useful to you as well.

 

Speaking of assessments, one of the ways my wife and I celebrated our 10^th anniversary was by completing Life Innovations “Enrich” inventory. This tool allowed us asses our strengths and weaknesses and brought up some issues we didn’t even know were there. This is also the best premarital counseling resource I have found. If you are not using it, I really encourage you to look into it.

 

Another recent find is Ask Moses, where you can ask a real live rabbi Biblical questions (obviously OT only). Here is the answer to a question that I recently asked. It really gave me a new perspective.

 

If G-d hardened Pharaoh’s heart why was he punished?

 

The hardening of the heart was in itself part of the punishment. He was wicked to the degree that he brought upon himself this harsh punishment.

 

Other Biblical commentators explain that G-d hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he should be able to maintain his free-choice. In other words, even if Pharaoh did not want to release the Jews from bondage, the Plagues would be enough to cause him to allow the Jews to go–despite his desire to further enslave them.

 

G-d hardened Pharaoh’s heart, causing that the plagues should not affect his decision regarding the Jews. Thus Pharaoh was “free” to do as he wished–and as it turned out, his wish was to retain the Jews as slaves.

 

Need help getting organized and staying on task? I sure do. Here is a great blog to subscribe to: Lifehack. FYI: This is not a Christian site, so don’t get mad at me if you find some “inappropriate content.”

 

Finally, here are two fun ones: LarkNews.com (an online Christian satire magazine – my favorite headline this month: “Christians planning to be offended by next Eminem album”) and Stuff Christians Like (a smart Christian with a slightly irreverent, yet insightful blog).

 

Hope you enjoy this stuff!

 

Josh Kelley

The Gathering Christian Church

http://www.tgcconline.com

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=777588613

Tags: counseling resources, Pastor resources

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 28th, 2009 at 9:15 am and is filed under The Library. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.