We need your prayers.

Please pray for my friend’s mother, Ellen Martindale. She started Chemo Therapy on Monday and we’ll will just have to wait and see how that goes. The phone number below is the number for her prayer pager. This pager is so that people can let her know she has been prayed for. If you get the chance please use it. You need to call and let it ring 3 times and then hang up. This will let Ellen know that you have said a prayer for her. Needless to say she has ups and downs with her emotions and I really think this will be great at lifting her up. The love and support shown for this family so far has been overwhelming. Please keep praying for her family, for Ellen, and that the Lord will heal her.

Ellen Martindale’s Prayer Pager
903.624.6440
Call. Let it ring 3 times. Hang up. Repeat as needed.

On Sunday I had the opportunity to teach the adult class at church. The class was full of caring adults who are seeking to raise their children in safe, loving, and God-honoring homes.

Over the course of this quarter the main topic is holiness. The idea is for us to begin to create families that live holy lives set apart for God. To that end we are teaching on different topics that families struggle with. I was asked to teach on Teen Culture. I spoke about how adolescence begins at puberty and ends….. whenever the culture says it does. In fact, I read one article last week that said that adolescence ends at 26 (So, on Saturday I’ll become an adult?). I also spoke about MySpace.com. I didn’t treat the online community like the devil but I was honest with the parents about it. Teens have this need for community and without caring, involved adults there can only be a shadow community of the blind leading the blind. Wired.com had a couple of good (not great) articles for parents about MySpace. You can check them out below.

Wired News
Link

Matthew Winkler had been the minister at the Fourth Street Church of Christ for just over a year, and the congregation loved his straight-by-the-Bible sermons and his quiet wife, Mary.Now church members are struggling to understand how their charismatic 31-year-old minister could have been shot to death in his small-town parsonage.

CNN
Fox News
ABC.com
Jackson, TN Sun

For those of you who couldn’t get enough of the three hour long Lord of the Rings movies you can now sit through the three hour long musical adaptation. Enjoy.

Link

Ooops, wrong Gutenburg.

Five hundred and forty nine years ago today (maybe) the printing press printed the first book otherwise known as the Gutenburg Bible. On this note, the ESV Bible Blog has posted a history of the printing technology and the editions of scripture that have helped shape our world. The post is titled, Celebrating the Printed Bible and there are some great links and pictures for those of you who might be interested.

Today marks the first anniversary of MichealFelker.com and the second anniversary of my initial foray into the blogosphere. The theme that I have been running over the last few weeks is what the blog looked like one year ago. Over the last two years I have enjoyed this curious habit. It is fun, challeging, and theraputic. During this brief time I have reconnected with old friends (awesome), made some new friends (cool), made some people angry (D’oh!), and learned alot about myself and writing for a mass audience (all 4 of you). Thank you for journeying with me thus far. Over the next week or so I will be making some announcements and changes that are currently affecting my life and my ministry. These exciting changes are right around the corner and I want to keep you all in the loop.

If you are a regular reader, Thank you. Thank you for putting up with my spelling and poor grammar. Thank you for enduring every single post on U2 or Bono. Thank you for your encouragement and your support. Thank you.

Excuse me… Um. We ordered the large Jesus statue for our building.

The Beatles can step aside thanks to the 62-foot, $250,000 Jesus statue erected by the Solid Rock Church of Monroe, Ohio. The sculpture towers over the church and nearby interstate 75, serving as a “beacon of hope and salvation.”

“We’re living in a day when a lot of people feel hopeless, but we believe that when people see him, they will understand he is the hope for the world,” said Darlene Bishop, wife of pastor Lawrence Bishop and originator of the idea.

There is also some debate as to the biggest Jesus ever status as Eureka Springs, Ark. claims to have a 67-foot Jesus.

For $250,000 I wonder how much “hope and salvation” could have been offered to people in the form of food and shelter? Our evangelism tactics are messed up.

Link

My 26th birthday is right around the corner. The first of April or April Fool’s Day if you will. I’m really not very big on my birthday. It is just another day. No reason to get too excited. Maybe that’s because I have endured year after year after year of practical jokes at the expense of this day. One year my friends made up a roll of toilet paper to look like a cake. They sang “Happy Birthday” to me as I tried to cut into it. Hardy-Har-Har! (That was actually a pretty good prank! Joke was on them though cause I don’t like cake.) Also every year somebody always says, “Today’s your birthday? I bet your mom thought you were a joke!” Yeah, good one the first 13 years I heard it. And of course, I can always count on the obligatory, “Hey, I got you a gift! Ha-ha! April Fool’s Day!” I laugh on the outside but cry a little on the inside.

You know, you can make my birthday wishes come true if you’d like. Micheal’s Wish List is open 24/7 for you to pick out something to make up for all those year’s of ridicule. Go ahead, check it out. Go nuts!

Need some help?

To Own a Dragon by Don Miller
iTunes Gift Card
The Youth Worker’s Guide to Helping Teenagers in Crisis by Jim Hancock
The Legend Box Set Johnny Cash
Creative Bible Lessons (CD-ROM) by Youth Specialties
Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement ed. by Douglas Foster
The Physics of Superheroes by James Kakalios
Shalimar the Clown : A Novel by Salman Rushdie
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (UMD)
Apple iWork ‘06

More…

Thanks for allowing me to shamefully self-promote my birthday!

Very interesting article over at Out of Ur, the blog for Leadership Journal. I am a product of Christian education. I went to a private k-12 school as a kid, I graduated from a private 4 year college, and, for now, I work for a private k-12 school. It a real “circle of life” I guess. There are pros and cons of this kind of environment and I know that where I choose to send my kids has a lot to say about my theology and perspective on the world around me. I don’t have any children yet but the reality of where to send them when they reach school age is always on my mind.

The article Really Old School: What 1st Century Judaism Says About the Public/Private/Home School Dilemma looks at the four Jewish beleif systems that were vying for dominance in the first century: the Essenes, the Sadducees, the Zealots, and the Pharisees. The author compares these faith communities with modern day school choices: Homeschool, Public, and Private education.

Very good thoughts but sadly little follow through. It is worth the read though.

Link

On Saturday evening I stopped by Border’s for some coffee and a chance to stretch my legs. It is always a little dangerous for me to walk around a bookstore because I never seem to leave empty handed. This time was no exception.

I picked up Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense by N.T. Wright. I was surprised to see the book on the shelves because according to Amazon.com this latest Wright book isn’t supposed to be released until tomorrow (March 14). Well, fortunately for me I now have a copy in hand.

THe book is intended to be a kind of a Mere Christianity for today: a summary of the faith, hope, and love that Christians claim to live in. One of the things that I love about Wright is that on one hand he can write on subjects that are so lofty and complex that they require an advanced degree in comprehension and on the other hand he writes for the Every Man. This book is for the latter.

Bishop Wright divides the book into 3 sections. Part One is entitled Echoes of a Voice. “It is as though,” he writes, “we can hear, not perhaps a voice itself, but the echo of a voice: a voice speaking with calm, healing authority, speaking about justice, about things being put to rights, about peace and hope and prosperity for all.” Of course, this voice is the voice of God speaking to his children about true justice, living spirituality, God-honoring relationships, and this world in which we live. Every human being hears this voice or at least the echo of the voice and we all must respond. That brings us to Section Two. In this section. Staring at the Sun (Lovin’ the U2 reference BTW), Wright tackles the basic building blocks of Christianity: God, Israel, Jesus and God’s Kingdom, Resurrection, and Life by the Spirit. It is only after we understand the story in which we are invited to join that we can begin to live this Christian life to the fullest. Section Three, Refelcting the Image, introduces the reader to worship and prayer, community and fellowship.

I cannot wait to finish this book. If you liked Mere Christianity or if you are a fan of N.T. Wright, pick up a copy of Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense. It might be a good way to help you introduce the concept of Christianity to those around you. Peace.

Got this email today and I wanted to pass it on to you:

Last Thursday, the Senate Budget Committee cut back funds to the President’s plan to fight global AIDS and extreme poverty-but we still have a chance to make a difference!

Right now, two U.S. Senators are reaching across political divides and asking the Senate to add $566 million to fund critical AIDS, TB and malaria programs running around the world. Senators Rick Santorum, a Republican from Pennsylvania, and Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, have proposed an amendment to ensure America continues funding the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.

Call 1-800-786-2663 TODAY and help make AIDS, TB and malaria history.

The Global Fund saves lives. Please call the two Senators from your state TODAY and ask them to support the Santorum-Durbin Amendment for global AIDS funding.

Call 1-800-786-2663 to be connected directly to your Senators and ask them to support the Santorum-Durbin Amendment.

Remember, AIDS kills 8,500 people every day, TB kills 5,000 and malaria kills over 3,000 in Africa alone– every day. Together, we can help fight back against these killer diseases.

Thank you,

The ONE Team

All it takes is a phone call. Please help. Maybe one day we can talk about malaria and TB like we talk about polio. “Remember when…” Let’s make that a reality.

If any of you have ever purchased anything from Amazon.com you may have noticed that they give you a chance to bundle similar products together and save money. This feature usually works really well. Sometimes I bundle multiple books by the same author. Sometimes I’ll bundle movies with the same actor or director. However, the bundle feature can’t work perfectly all the time.

Case in point:

The Mel Brooks Movie Collection got paired with The Chronicles of Narnia.

We at Kicking at the Darkness would ask that you think twice (or three or four times) before you bundle these two products together for your children.

Just a friendly PSA. Thank you.

I’m on the road today heading to Pennyrile, KY for a youth rally. I’ll be speaking on being Revived: Is There Life After Death? I am very excited about speaking tonight and tomorrow. Keep me in your prayers!

Update:
5:30 pm- I made it safely. My name is up on the church sign (I hope that doesn’t turn anyone away)! Also,

4 words: Wi-Fi in the Sanctuary.

Have a great weekend.

From U2.com:

It is with great regret that tour promoter The Next Adventure announces the postponement of the final ten dates of U2’s Vertigo ‘06 tour. This action is unavoidable due to the illness of an immediate family member of one of the band. The effected dates are listed below.

‘Any fan of U2 will realise that this decision has not been taken lightly’, said TNA President Arthur Fogel. ‘We will announce further details as soon as we have them.’

Please keep the families in your prayers.

U2.com
@U2

Two quick posts today:

The new album from Matisyahu drops today. I pre-ordered it from iTunes last week and downloaded it first thing this morning. First impression is that Youth is a solid effort from my favorite Hasidic Jewish Reggae artist. The title track is hot, Jerusalem is cool, and the album version of King Without a Crown captures the raw energy of the live track and polishes it into a new creation. Good stuff!

Over the weekend I read Andy Stanley’s newest book, It Came From Within! Andy is one of the best teachers and ministers out there right now. Everytime he speaks I get a fresh perspective of God’s Word. The new book invites readers to look below the surface of our problems (Guilt, Anger, Jealousy, and Greed) and begin to rid our hearts of these monsters with the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. It isn’t about changing our behaviors but about changing our hearts. I heard Andy speak on this subject a couple of years ago and it was refreshing to see his thoughts fully formed on the page. After identifying the monsters, Andy invites us to join in a new set of habits to destroy their power (Confession, Forgiveness, Celebration, and Generosity). The book was such a breeze that I read it in 3 days. You need this book!

Have a great Tuesday everyone!