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Do you ever read something and a short phrase jumps out at you and just gnaws away at your brain? That happens to me a lot. Today as I was doing my daily Bible reading it happened again. I was reading in Mark and  the statement “It was not the season for figs” (Mark 11:13) captured my attention and wouldn’t let go, so I did some digging.

The context of the verse is that Jesus came to the fig tree looking for fruit but found none. It’s a symbolic judgment against the religious leaders of the day, in that they have the appearance of goodness but are lacking in what really matters. Mark points out that the fig tree had leaves but no fruit.

Typically this type of thing is easy for me to just take at face value, but the phrase “not the season for figs” really bothered me. Why would Jesus curse a tree if it was just doing what it was supposed to be doing, as in it wasn’t yet time for fruit to be there? Was Jesus being unreasonable?

Through a little bit of digging in some of my commentaries and resources I’ve come to this conclusion: When Jesus is present it’s time for action. The Jews of that day were not ready for Jesus and opposed his ministry. In the verses and chapter that follows this encounter with the fig tree, the religious leaders of the day are shown as being in conflict with Jesus. The fig tree is symbolic of them. They appear to righteous, but aren’t producing. They weren’t ready for the savior of the world to come. They wanted Jesus to act on their terms, but Jesus requires everyone to follow his plan.

All in all, Mark 11:13 probably isn’t the most controversial verse in the Bible, but for some reason I had to check it out deeper. This is why I love the Bible. Almost every time I read it God shows something new to me.

What’s a verse that’s bothered you lately?

Fig tree image courtesy of flickr user BigBlackBox

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The Dallas / Fort Worth Metroplex has no shortage of mega-churches or mega-church pastors. It’s been called The New Capital of Evangelicalism by Christianity Today. It’s not unheard for a mega-church to be across the street from another mega-church. There is also a history of at least one other Dallas pastor getting caught in a money scandal.

Yesterday, I asked how much a pastor should make for his work, but today I want to look at another angle of the Ed Young saga. That is how the media portrayed him and another area mega-church pastor very differently this past week. The other pastor is Matt Chandler from The Village Church.

If you’re not familiar with Chandler, here’s a brief history. His church has grown rapidly in the past seven years that he has been the senior pastor. The average attendance when he began was around 150. Now they average around 6,000 each weekend and have three campuses. This past fall he was diagnosed with brain cancer and had surgery to remove a rapidly growing malignant brain tumor.

The Associated Press ran a story last weekend that was very favorable to him. They pointed out that he drives a car that he affectionately calls his Dodge “Gimpalla” and has over 140,000 miles. They also were very gracious in their descriptions of his desire to “suffer well” for the glory of the cross of Jesus Christ.

What struck me as I reflected on these two portrayals in the media was how Matt and Ed stand in juxtaposition to one another. One pastor is an over-the-top personality who’s known for elaborate sets, props, and creative communication in his preaching. The other is known for his simplicity (not to mention his self-described yelling at his church while preaching) in pointing people to the cross. They really are two very different personalities and have been portrayed as such by the media.

I’m not intending to pick on Ed Young. I still think he’s a good guy, loves the Lord with all his heart, and is leading his church properly, but I can’t help but think of verses like 1 Timothy 3:7, “He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace.” Also, Jesus’ words to his disciples as he sent them out to do work in Matthew 10:16: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”

These two stories were good reminders to me that the outside world is watching our actions and I need to make sure that I reflect Christ in everything I say and do.

What’s your take on these two stories in the media? Share your response in the comments.

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This past week WFAA Channel 8 ran a story that painted Ed Young, Senior Pastor of Fellowship Church, in a very negative light. The gist of the report was that Ed’s salary ($1 mil) and various perks (private jet, $200k+ parsonage allowance) are intentionally kept hidden from his congregation and he’s profiting from his non-profit church behind their backs.

While I think the story had some holes in it and didn’t paint a complete picture (no interviews from people defending Ed), it did raise a few questions that I think are worth asking of every church and pastor. In particular, how much money should a pastor be paid for his work?

I know there are quite a few opinions on how to determine the answer, but here are just a few examples:

• Pastors should not be paid for their work. While this opinion is rare in the United States today, it can be found. Some people think that all pastors should be bi-vocational (work one job to earn a living while serving the church).
• Pastors’ salaries should be less than the average salary of their congregations. The idea here is that pastors are servants. If someone is making less money than another then by default they will feel like more of a servant.
• Pastors’ salaries should be comprable to the average salary of their congregations. There’s an expectation for pastors to live in the area in which they serve and be able to relate to their congregants every day lives, so they’d have to make about the same amount of money to do that.
• Pastors should make more money than is average in their area. Ministry is a stressful profession. In addition, many pastors are highly trained, well educated people. When you compare the work of many pastors to jobs in other lines of work you’ll see that salaries are pretty high in those other jobs.

The actual dollar amount will of course be different from one town to the next, but these are some ideas that I’ve seen used to determine a pastors salary.

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Image courtesy of flickr user borman818.

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Let’s face it. Even though the actual football being played last night was really compelling, the real reason to watch the Super Bowl is for the commercials. The early to mid 2000s saw a slump in the quality of the commercials (mostly website, beer, and movie commercials), but the last few years have seen a jump in really good commercials.

Here are my Top 5 from last night:

#5 -- Snickers Game

Anytime you see Betty White and Abe Vigoda getting tackled in the same commercial is comedy genius!

#4 -- Vizio Forge

This commercial made me immediately regret buying a tv less than six months ago. Lots of really cool ideas/features packed into a sleek looking TV.

# 3 -- E*Trade Baby Girlfriend

“Milk-a-what????”

#2 -- Doritios Gym

I laughed so hard when the dude used the Dorito as a ninja star. Funny, funny stuff! Doritos made a big splash with their commercials.

#1 -- Google Parisian Love

Google did an outstanding job with this spot. It was simple, yet told a story that drew you in. It showcased their products. It was true to who they are as a company. Oh, and this was their VERY FIRST TV AD EVER!!! Great job Google!

Did I leave out your favorite?

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Have a few books you want to sell but you don’t want to get ripped off by Half Price Books? I’ve been there and I’ve found that it’s really easy to make a lot more money from selling books using eBay and Amazon. When I first got started I felt like I was spending way too much money on the packaging materials for the book, so I looked for a better way and found it.

What I’ve ended up with is a nearly perfect way to pack and ship books that’s easy, cheap, and pretty much guarantees that your book won’t be damaged in transit. Follow these simple steps below and you’ll never ship a book another way again.

Step 0 – Gather the needed supplies.

The first step to any project is to make sure you have all the supplies you need. Some of these you may already have around the house, but here’s the list of stuff you’ll need:

• Corrugated Cardboard B Flute Roll (18″ is what I use)
• Heavy Duty Stapler and 1/2″ staples
• Scissors
• Plastic Poly Bags (ZipLock or similar)
• Packing Tape
• Book to ship

You probably don’t have any b flute cardboard sitting around the house. It’s an odd name for the product, but it works. It works so well in fact that I’ve found myself using it for shipping all sorts of stuff. I bought my roll of b flute from a local paper/cardboard box dealer at least three years ago and I haven’t run out of it yet. It was the best $20 I have ever spent on shipping materials and was BY FAR cheaper than using cardboard boxes or manilla envelopes.

Step 1 – Put the book and order slip into a plastic poly bag.

You need to ensure that your book arrives to its intended recipient in the same condition it left. I like to put the book along with a packing slip into a plastic bag to protect it from rain or if a postal worker drops the package into a puddle. Plus, the bag keep the book from getting scuffed up by the cardboard. I like to leave a little bit of air in the bag to add some extra cushioning for even more protection. Again, you don’t want your book to be damaged in transit. That’s never good for anyone.

Step 2 – Wrap the book with cardboard.

Once the book is snug and secure in a plastic bag, wrap it tight with corrugated b flute cardboard. You’ll want to make sure you hold it tight through this step because the cardboard tends to unroll fairly easily. Wrap it with two layers of cardboard. Any more and you’ll have trouble stapling it closed. Any less and the book is more likely to get damaged.

Step 3 – Staple the ends of the package closed.

Now that your book is tightly rolled with the cardboard, grab your heavy duty stapler and close both ends of the package. I’ve found that 1/2″ staples do the job pretty well. Just be sure to pay attention to the limits that your stapler has. I bought some that were too long for my stapler once.

Put use about four staples on each end of the package, depending on the size of the book. The key is to make sure the package stays closed, but you still want it to look professional, so don’t go crazy with the stapler (as tempting as it might be).

Step 4 – Add a shipping and postage label.

The easiest and cheapest method of shipping that’s out there for books is USPS Media Mail. This is a discounted rate for shipping books, CDs, DVDs, and video games and the like. The USPS lists shipping time as taking up to 9 days, so this may not work in all situations. I’ve found that the package usually arrives in about 4-5 days, so it’s a good deal and not much longer than more expensive options.

I always print labels using PayPal, no matter how I sold the book. I also just use regular paper (it’s cheaper) and affix it to the package with packing tape. Printing the label at home is cheaper than buying it at the post office and you can much more easily track the status of delivery. PayPal sends an email confirmation with the tracking number for every label you create, so it’s easy to track down the number, especially if you use Gmail.

Step 5 – Ship it.

This step is probably way too obvious to really be necessary, but I did want to point out that you have couple options on how to actually ship your package. I live really close to the post office, so I’ll just drive by and drop the package into the bin inside the building. I’ve never had to wait in a line for this, so it’s really quick to get in and out. You could also schedule a pickup for your package in PayPal, but I haven’t done this in a long time, so I’m not too sure how that works out.

Conclusion

So that’s the method I use. It takes some practice at first to make the process run smoothly, but after you’ve done it two or three times you’ll find it happening much more quickly.

What about you?

Do you sell books online? What tips or tricks have you found useful? Is there anything unclear in my tutorial? I’d love to hear from you.

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Some things are so much better than football.

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Over the past month or so I’ve been wanting to get back into blogging and trying to figure out what my personal blog should be focused on. What’s my niche? Why do people read my blog? What should I write about? It’s the type of questions that I believe every blogger asks at some point in the life of their blog.

Through the course of asking myself these questions, having a couple of conversations with a friend about a new joint-venture in blogging, and looking for some ideas to generate a little extra money on the side I decided to buy a copy of the book ProBlogger by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett. I’m glad I did.

The sub-title of the book is “Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income,” so I was expecting the it to be mostly a “I got rich blogging and here are the ways that you can get rich quickly, too” type of book, but getting rich quick was not really the main focus of the book. There are a few chapters on money-making blogging strategies, but the majority of the book is devoted to helping you figure out how to run an effective blog. In fact, throughout the book the authors stress that most successful/profitable blogs are the result of years of work.

The main takeaway that I got from the book was that the best blogs are ones that focus on a niche market. The more specific the niche the better. Beyond that, the book was filled with practical ideas on how to write content that people want to read and gave numerous specific examples on how to generate ideas for new blog posts.

Overall, I’m really glad I spent the time to read the book. I don’t know whether or not I’ll make even a dime from blogging, but it has given me some motivation to get back in the game, as you can probably tell from this new post.

If you’re new to blogging, a veteran blogger looking for ideas to get unstuck, or trying to figure out how you might make a little money writing in your spare time I highly recommend getting a copy of the book for yourself.

Check out the blog that inspired the book at ProBlogger.net.

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