Sermon Tasting

Jeremy Jernigan —  April 24, 2013 — 2 Comments

I bet each of us has at least one or two areas where we consider ourselves a connoisseur. You usually hear that word used to describe someone who can fully appreciate a good glass of wine, or some type of art, or maybe just food in general, but I think it could apply to many areas of life.

Anything that you enjoy—usually more than other people—could be in this category. One of them for me is a good sermon. As a preacher, I love hearing from other preachers and learning from other styles. I usually have two reactions when I’m listening to a phenomenal sermon:

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In Preaching
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Start by Jon Acuff

Jeremy Jernigan —  April 22, 2013 — 3 Comments

Disclaimer: I was given an early copy of this book that releases today. This is my most objective review possible and I am in no way obligated to give it a positive review.

I’ve been a fan of Jon Acuff for awhile now. I’ve read his books Stuff Christians Like and Quitter before so I was excited when I got to dive into his newest book, Start. This is a kind of follow-up to the book Quitter as it shows you what to do to follow your dreams. He walks through the different stages that people go through in a career and shows how it isn’t dependent upon your age anymore. You can move between the stages when you choose to.

My only complaint about the book is the number of times he says the word “awesome.” It becomes a bit excessive and even distracting after awhile. If that’s the worst thing going for it than I’d say the book should be just fine overall.

What I love most about the book is how Jon inspires you to get off your butt and do something about those dreams you have lingering inside you. I’m convinced that we all have them but only a few of us ever do anything serious about them.

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In Reading
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Catalyst Day 2

Jeremy Jernigan —  April 19, 2013 — 2 Comments

Today we experienced day two of the 2013 Catalyst West Coast conference (minus the last session that we had to ditch to get to the airport in time). One of the coolest experiences of the conference was when they had everyone use the Wham City Lights app for iPhone and Droid that attached your phone into the light show in the room. The video above shows a taste of this and the awesomeness of that moment.

Like I mentioned yesterday, the quotes below may not be exactly word for word of what was said but represent the ideas being taught.

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In Bible, Church
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Catalyst Day 1

Jeremy Jernigan —  April 18, 2013 — 4 Comments

Catalyst West Coast 2013

I’m experiencing my first Catalyst West Coast conference this week with some of the team from Central. As far as conferences go, this one is stellar. Incredible creativity and humor mixed throughout all of the elements. I’ve also had the joy of reconnecting with a few of my friends from college that are at other churches outside of Arizona.

Here are some of the ideas that stood out to me about the first day. Note that some of these are not direct quotes but rather my own summations of their ideas.

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In Church
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What Tax Day Says About Your Faith

Jeremy Jernigan —  April 15, 2013 — 1 Comment

April 15th. Few days create an emotional response quite like it. Maybe February 14th for men, but that’s not quite as universal.

April 15th is the day we all are held accountable to our taxes. It doesn’t matter if you are rich, poor, old or young… we all answer to tax day.

For many people it is a day of dread. If you are in this camp it’s probably because you haven’t put money away all year for this or you are waiting till the last minute to file. For you, April 15th represents the inevitable moment when reality comes crashing in.

For others, tax day represents a celebration. If you are in this camp it’s probably because you’ve put money away for taxes all year and have filed with plenty of time to spare. For you, April 15th represents an opportunity to have some unplanned money coming back to you.

Two radically different responses to the exact same day. So what does April 15th have to do with our faith?

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In Bible, Church
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