words and thoughts

I am writing some coorporate prayer exercises for Summer Conference this year and have hit a little bit of a dry spell in the writing process. I am calling on you for your assistance. Below I have listed the four topics that the prayer exercises will center around. Please consider these topics and post any thoughts/phrase/words that come to mind. I don't mind if your posts are incomplete thoughts - in fact I would love the first 10-15 words that come to mind when you read each subject. Give me the randomness that is the human mind! Also, if you know of any sources or quotes (bonus points if you come across some writings from early church fathers) along the same lines I would be thankful for those as well. Your responses could differ but basically, you can't give me a wrong response. Here are the topics:

1. "Alive in Christ"
2. "Worldwide family/unity"
3. "Looking like Christ"
4. "Battle is not against flesh and blood"

Government Insurance?

As ministers we have the right to opt out of social security on the grounds that we do not believe in "public insurance." I'm going to write a paper on this issue for practical ministry and I wonder what your thoughts are? What scriptures do you think might be relevant?

Method for Relationship Cultivation (or Presence Problems pt.2)

Lately I've been wondering about the best way to cultivate a relationship with God. I usually preach and teach about a daily time of prayer and Bible Reading (i.e. the Daily Quiet Time). However, at times I feel that the most harmonious relationship with God is to be had through a "consciousness of his presence." Not that these two methods have to be opposing one another, but I feel that the Daily Quiet Time can morph into a regiment more than a relationship. I feel it becomes a small item on a checklist of things to do rather than a time of relationship cultivation. I'm not sure if this means anything at all.
I see these immediate answers...

1. I need to just strive for quality in my time with God.
2. The daily quiet time needs to serve as a catalyst for the practice of God's presence.
3. The daily quiet time is a weak method that needs to change.
4. YOU GUYS HAVE INSIGHT THAT I DON'T HAVE...

...and can probably help. Hope to hear your thoughts.

Major League Church

This is fresh in my mind...
I just learned in church history that up untill the tenth century it was nearly unheard of for the minister (bishop back then) to switch congregations. Once thy were at a local church they stayed. It was considered very immoral to leave the place God had put you.
I put this together with some of the things I hear about Eugene Peterson and wonder what our stance should be today. Should ministers ever leave a congregation for a bigger and better one, a more healthy one, or even one with more problems? Is there a sense in which ministers are trying to graduate to the "major leagues" of a mega church. Obviously there are the exceptions when churches or elderships go completely mad and destroy a church. What is there there to be said about faithfulness to a congregation? I truly do not know what our stance should be considering our American specialized ministry context. I realizeI asked a lot of things. Hope to hear your thoughts.

Nick's Sermon

He's going to hate that I'm doing this, but check out Nick's sermon on The Crossing website (link on your left). He does a great job of laying out God's redemptive plan. He is aiming to help regular folks get a vision for what God is doing in the world.

Need money and illustrations?

If there is one great weakness to my preaching it is illustration. I, of course, have a long way to go, but illustrations are difficult for me. Damien told me about a friend of his who is starting an illustration archive and has tons of stories and news clips that he needs to be turned into illustrations. The stories are all current and true. He wants to build up 500 before actually going public. Anyway, he is willing to pay people a dollar per illustration. It isn't a lot, but I figure at least it's a good excerise to make illustrations, and it will help us individually build our illustration archives. Well if anyone is interested e-mail Brian Mavis at bmavis@gmail.com He'll give you more info on how it all works.