tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184775492011-07-07T14:51:58.334-06:00Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.comBlogger731100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-91049203636290215972010-02-27T21:17:00.002-06:002010-02-27T21:20:56.159-06:00

The local paper in Austin interviewed my friends Jeremy and Christina Gabrysch about his recent trip to Haiti and his ongoing ministry in Sudan with our church. The article represented them well. The article especially reflected that demonstrating the gospel of Jesus Christ is why they go. I was really pleased to see this kind of article in the Statesman. Read article here.

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com39tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-59214717766581292212010-02-10T20:31:00.003-06:002010-02-10T20:51:46.113-06:00

The last two posts are the highlights from my notes on the Verge Conference. Above all the notes, I appreciated the heart of worship and the centrality of the gospel in the conference. There wasn't a watering down of the gospel of Jesus, but rather an intentional focus on letting mission be the identity of the church. Sometimes it is easier for me to think about how to apply this in our church,

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-27983379564330880182010-02-10T20:16:00.003-06:002010-02-10T20:31:08.068-06:00

Here are some more Verge highlights. Dave Ferguson discussed how to get the church excited and motivated toward the mission of God? This is how he establishes apostolic cultures or entrepreneurial environment.1. Ordain every Christ follower. Who are you called to impact or reach?2. Lead with a yes. Ask how later on. Be comfortable with mistakes and failures. 3. Teach people to “go” and not just “

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-67234689682045496002010-02-10T19:43:00.003-06:002010-02-10T20:16:00.677-06:00

The Verge conference was designed to rally churches and church planters around missional communities. Missional communities are simply communities of Christians that are committed to each other and are committed to being connected to the mission of God. Mission is not a service project or an event, but an identity, a critical part of discipleship and a lifestyle. I found the conference really

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-83591043571596303332010-01-26T20:57:00.003-06:002010-01-26T21:02:03.930-06:00

My friend, Jeremy, just returned from Haiti. Great perspective for all of us. Read the whole post here."One last thought. If you or I learned that a friend or family member was losing a limb or had passed away, we would be grief- stricken. When I read that the number of dead in Haiti may be near 200,000, the numbers are overwhelming. And in the numbers, you lose sight of the fact that each

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-435978876914319452009-06-21T20:50:00.002-06:002009-06-21T20:54:29.251-06:00

Mark Driscoll just distributed a free online book on scriptural insights on fatherhood. It is called Pastor Dad. Below is a quote from the preface. "This book is a simple attempt to help God’s men be a “poppa daddy,” as my kids call me. Some day when my children are older, I hope to, by God’s grace, write a more thorough book on fatherhood, since I expect to learn from my mistakes and gather more

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-22965047306673848092009-06-19T21:33:00.005-06:002009-06-19T21:45:54.226-06:00

I recently reread one of my favorite books on leadership called Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards. It is written as a story exposing convicting leadership principles from King Saul, David and Absalom. It is great to be reminded of the upside down paradigm of leadership and identity in the Kingdom of God.“The clearest memory I have of my King, when we lived in the caves, is that his was a life

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-17917756909640407032009-04-10T20:00:00.000-06:002009-04-11T19:46:59.944-06:00

Pauls speaks of the reality of the Christian life," We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." How can we know for sure? Only because Jesus experienced all of this for us so that we wouldn’t have to.Jesus was crushed for our iniqities.Jesus' sweat turned into blood in despair.Jesus was forsaken

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-4567011208757188102009-04-02T10:49:00.002-06:002009-04-02T10:51:55.295-06:00

Anticipation! Preparation! Celebration!Every Jewish family was busier than usual this week preparing their home, their family, and their hearts for Passover. Passover was the annual celebration of God’s redemption of His people out of slavery from Egypt. The Rabbis taught that each generation must regard itself as having been personally delivered and redeemed. Therefore, the preparation was

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-84615765814238156972009-03-03T11:21:00.003-06:002009-03-03T11:46:40.726-06:00

This last week I preached on the letter to Laodicea in the churches of Revelation. The problem with that church was their lukewarm response to the gospel. They were not uninfluenced by God, but it was so moderate that it actually disgusted Jesus (Revelation 3:14-22). Jesus says it makes him want to literally "vomit." Yikes. This is not what you want Jesus to say to your church. I was really

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-24249813194703198062009-02-16T21:15:00.003-06:002009-02-16T21:40:33.006-06:00

In the last two months, I have added a new baby and have added another job at the church. Needless to say, blogging has been down on the priority list. What better way to kick it back up than to talk about U2's new album. I know you are shocked that a pastor likes U2. At the risk of being cliche, I admit that I like U2. This review makes me pretty excited about the new album. Below is an excerpt

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-46395076845128908822008-11-22T21:10:00.004-06:002008-11-22T21:40:22.969-06:00

In my study on 1 Timothy 5:1-2, I was struck by the little phrase "with all purity." Purity in this passage is in the context of respect and mutual submission. And the question is what does purity have to do with respect? Often times purity is talked about in terms of what we don't do. Obviously that is a part of purity, but pursuing purity from this passage is a proactive way to give respect to

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-60832106774919652182008-11-04T21:48:00.002-06:002008-11-04T21:57:43.062-06:00

Here is an excellent post by John Piper on how Christians should view government and our call to prayer. Check it out.

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-58199686583284201982008-10-24T12:56:00.004-06:002008-10-24T13:10:24.595-06:00

I really appreciate the recent work on Christians in culture. I believe that our call as Christians should involve interpreting our culture as well as interpreting scripture. That is the good work of each of us as missionaries. Too often we either throw darts at culture or simply let it wash over us instead of asking how we can be involved in the redemption of culture. On Andy Crouch's blog, he

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-15670248639078522982008-10-10T19:54:00.002-06:002008-10-10T20:21:04.438-06:00

A Wall Street Journal article came out today about the newish phenomena of mystery worshipers visiting churches to evaluate them. It is much like secret shoppers who evaluate their experience at restaurants and stores. This particular consultant charges $1500 for a visit and a written evaluation. The article said that some pastors "say that church shopping has become necessary for churches

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-64438250415691417522008-10-09T13:17:00.002-06:002008-10-09T13:25:15.540-06:00

Tim Keller has a new book coming out this month called "Prodigal God." It will discuss how the famous story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 shows the heart of the gospel. This is one of my favorite stories in all of the Bible. I can't wait. Below he talks about the sermon that gave him inspiration for this book from crossway: "Many excellent studies have been written on this Biblical text over the

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-14455479726032392092008-10-09T13:12:00.001-06:002008-10-09T13:14:38.010-06:00

I read a good post by Dan Kimball today on Bill Maher's movie: Religulous. I have not seen it, but Dan has and gives thoughts on the documentary/commentary. I also appreciated some of the dialogue in the comments below.

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-87080498045291957212008-09-11T14:34:00.002-06:002008-09-11T14:38:04.562-06:00

Christians would never say it, but sometimes they act like the gospel is "old news." Most of you guys know that is one of my biggest frustrations with the church in America today. When that happens much of Christianity simply becomes moralism. Michael Horton's new book addresses this issue: Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church. You can read more on Justin

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-42110586556968155352008-08-15T18:46:00.003-06:002008-08-15T18:51:59.260-06:00

This Saturday night at 7pm Rick Warren will be interviewing Barack Obama and John McCain on CNN and online. This is the first time in history where both candidates will meet with a pastor to talk about faith's role in politics. This should be very interesting. There is more information here: Saddleback Civil Forum

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-8678731511252757442008-07-17T13:15:00.002-06:002008-07-17T13:24:38.857-06:00

Christianity Today wrote an article about the changes that the EFCA made to its doctrinal statement. I was very happy to see the inclusion of "God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed..." Check out the article and the changes here.

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-37446268063172706182008-07-03T14:35:00.002-06:002008-07-03T14:46:04.315-06:00

The Christian Vision Project is spending all of 08 asking the question, is our gospel too small. I have enjoyed several of the articles, but I particularly liked this interview by Andy Crouch of James Choung called From Four Laws to Four Circles. I would be curious to hear your thoughts. Also, on the gospel, I would recommend Christianity Today's article by Tim Keller called "The Gospel in All

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-22026002155739778872008-06-18T19:30:00.003-06:002008-11-15T01:58:24.500-06:00

I recommend unChristian as a great book that everyone should read. The book records 20 somethings' views of Christianity. Unfortunately we all know that Christians have not always represented Jesus very well and the research confirms it. I appreciated the research, but I especially liked the end of the book where respected leaders discussed how to positively contribute to culture. I found it

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-21170370752614030652008-06-05T18:34:00.004-06:002008-06-05T18:47:58.242-06:00

This week as I sit in a coffee shop in rainy Seattle, I keep having these few words running through my head. "Come let us go to the other side." We all know that Jesus spent time with the prostitutes, tax collectors, cheats, lepers, but now Jesus was taking it to a whole new level. The other side is the pagan area called the Decapolis or the land of the Gerasenes. This is a place that every

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-17070509286818534182008-06-02T21:59:00.002-06:002008-06-02T22:08:13.399-06:00

Today I met some of the most amazing people that I have ever been around. People from all over the world like Kenya, Nigeria, Taiwan, India, South Africa, Holland, Reno, Seattle, San Diego to mention a few. I talked to many people today and was quite overwhelmed by all that these people are doing to demonstrate and declare the gospel of Jesus in our world. But one new friend is Jack. Jack serves

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-85102269569814216322008-05-23T15:31:00.002-06:002008-11-15T01:58:24.928-06:00

This week as I was preparing for a sermon about the poor and the oppressed, I was reminded of this convicting clip in Hotel Rwanda. It is a film that talks about the genocide of 800,000 pople in 100 days in Rwanda in 1994. Just as a comparison: 2700 people died in the Twin towers and the Pentagon on 9-11. The genocide in Rwanda would be the same as the World Trade Center and the Pentagon

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-35739022175224942362008-05-21T14:12:00.002-06:002008-05-21T14:15:43.097-06:00

This is an exerpt from a letter to Diognetus in the 2nd Century describing early Christians. I thought it was a good explanation of being wholly countercultural while still looking like our culture. I wonder what it would take for someone to write a similar letter today. “Christians are not differentiated from other people by country, language, or customs; you see, they do not live in cities or

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-60194940699985093312008-05-14T18:30:00.004-06:002008-05-14T18:50:28.977-06:00

It seems everywhere you look, our culture is longing for true community. This is from John Mayer's blog: "This is about us all. Every one of us. Who all seem to know deep down that it's incredibly hard to be alive and interact with the world around us but will try and cover it up at any cost. For as badass and unaffected as we try to come off, we're all just one sentence away from being brought

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-62595391060542417232008-04-14T19:57:00.003-06:002008-11-15T01:58:25.168-06:00

I meant to write earlier about the Transforming culture symposium at our church but April has absolutely been a slammed month for us. All of the speakers were outstanding and I enjoyed interacting with some of the people who came to the symposium. Andy Crouch kicked off the symposium with a brilliant message on culture, art, worship and obedience. I sat next to Jonathan Dodson who took better

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-15813828823767631872008-03-31T20:20:00.003-06:002008-03-31T20:24:18.706-06:00

"It is hard for me to forgive someone who has really offended me, especially when it happens more than once. I begin to doubt the sincerity of the one who asks forgiveness for a second, third, or fourth time. But God does not keep count. God just waits for our return, without resentment or desire for revenge. "- Henri Nouwen The Road to DaybreakI was reading Shaun Groves blog and came upon this

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-30431977670965529422008-03-10T19:34:00.005-06:002008-11-15T01:58:25.408-06:00

I thought Shaun Groves post on college students was interesting. Just like his post, I totally thought of myself as tired, busy and poor in college. Today, I look back and I wasted so much time, spent money on random things and took a nap a day. Now I realize that poor is not eating hot pockets, but working as a rickshaw driver in Bangladesh. And my view of tired and busy are very different now

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-88958844408640665022008-03-03T20:25:00.004-06:002008-03-03T20:56:34.778-06:00

My friend Matt sent me this article from Christianity Today by Scot McKnight. He has 8 points about a more Robust Gospel. Today I had the awesome opportunity to share the gospel with someone who visited the Gathering. It is always amazing to be reminded what good news the gospel is in its story, its forgiveness, its reconciliation, and its compelling vision for us and for all creation. The gospel

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-78556222605475683032008-02-28T16:53:00.004-06:002008-11-15T01:58:25.596-06:00

I am excited about our new series at the Gathering on Sunday nights starting this week March 2nd. I am particularly excited about hearing testimonies of how God is redeeming people within our community. Here is the blurb for our redemption stories:The longing for redemption and healing is one of the most common themes of movies, music, and art. Culture communicates about the brokenness of our

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-62636834303133402952008-02-17T22:45:00.000-06:002008-11-15T01:58:25.856-06:00

With the oscars coming up, I figured I should write about a few movies that I have liked this year. I have a baby, so most of my movie watching is through Netflix, so I apologize if I am behind on the times. I have learned after my last blog on a movie (Lars and the Real Girl) that I have quirky movie taste. But recently I have found many others who like these films. Obviously, there are things

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-52401377878250845172008-01-30T20:19:00.000-06:002008-01-30T20:20:02.035-06:00

My friend was recently confirmed as a match for a bone marrow transplant. One of his co-workers struggled with the operation because my friend was not allowed to know what kind of person would be receiving the transplant. The uncertain co-worker said, “I would have a tough time sacrificing anything for an undeserving person.” This scenario exemplifies the radical and countercultural nature of the

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-7530690410828313572008-01-25T13:19:00.000-06:002008-01-25T13:27:23.714-06:00

I read this interview with Tim Keller on Justin Taylor's blog (called Between Two Worlds) about his book coming out in early February. I am pretty excited about this book called Reason for God and have already pre-ordered it. Check out his interview at this post.

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-60124557146940796282008-01-24T21:00:00.000-06:002008-11-15T01:58:26.111-06:00

While in East Asia I finished a great book that I have wanted to read for a while now. It is called The Call by Os Guinness. I recommend this as a thorough resource for those called to vocational ministry, business, politics, the arts, etc. I appreciate how he says that the call is first to Someone - God. The secondary call of what we do with our life then overflows from the primary call to be

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-69536657844120088862008-01-07T13:36:00.000-06:002008-11-15T01:58:26.188-06:00

We are back from East Asia and had an absolutely awesome time. I have so many stories and thoughts. I am a little out of it from the jet lag, but here are a few to start with. The average student had barely even heard of Jesus. That shocked me but it gave us some freedom to share the gospel without any preconceived notions. The education system has, in my opinion, not really given most of the

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-56260762546499734822007-12-11T21:55:00.000-06:002007-12-11T21:56:49.559-06:00

We live in a performance-driven world where the main measure of success is results. In John Hayes' book Sub-merge (see previous post), he has a very good understanding of results. In ministry to the poor, you can't be too focused on performance. He rightly explains,"God’s economy is indexed to obedience, not performance.” He goes on to clarify later in the book by saying, “performance focuses on

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-83956918311761687262007-12-10T21:18:00.000-06:002008-11-15T01:58:26.492-06:00

More on the vision of this Transforming Culture Symposium. I encourage you to check this out. Ie especially like the last paragraph. Below is from the transforming culture website. “When TIME magazine compiled a list of the one hundred most significant people in twentieth-century art and entertainment there were only five who had shown any public signs of Christian faith.” - Steve Turner,

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-49053457431141113162007-12-10T21:05:00.000-06:002008-11-15T01:58:26.772-06:00

Sub-merge: Living Deep in a Shallow World is a great read on ministry among the poor. This book is a practical guide for his ministry called innerCHANGE. They are "committed to expressing the kingdom of God in needy neighborhoods in both word and work, in holistic union.” He says, that his life and ministry focusues less on the movers and the shakers in this world and more on the moved and

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-85657769089341563242007-12-07T11:28:00.000-06:002008-11-15T01:58:26.938-06:00

Our church is hosting this Transforming Culture Symposium in early April. I can't wait. I am thrilled that this subject is being addressed and that Eugene Peterson and others are coming to speak. You can check out more info and buy tickets online at www.transformingculture.org. Also, if you are interested in a good read on the subject, check out The Culturally Savvy Christian by Dick Staub.

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-1680445115930970982007-12-03T21:55:00.000-06:002008-11-15T01:58:27.158-06:00

Today we set up our Christmas decorations, tree and Mandy's little nativity set. I looked at the nativity set with fresh eyes as we are looking at these characters in the Gathering. When we look at a typical Nativity set, the people we see are the least likely people to be involved in a King's birth. Poor, dirty Shepherds; Pagan, Gentile Magi, a poor, young, unmarried pregnant girl from a dumpy

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-14455061181552421942007-12-01T22:28:00.000-06:002008-11-15T01:58:27.399-06:00

On Monday we were asked to lead a mission team to East Asia. Within 48 hours Mandy and I are both going and we are very excited about the opportunity. We look forward to teach, counsel, help out the missionaries (our good friends there) and do whatever else the Lord would have us do. We will leave on December 31st and bring in 2008 while on the plane. It is a little bit of a whirlwind as we get

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-26417746167416217952007-11-19T22:35:00.000-06:002007-11-19T22:39:41.472-06:00

One of my favorite subjects to discuss is how to engage culture with the truth of the gospel. We talk at FEFC about learning what we need to receive from our culture, reject from our culture and also in what ways we can look to redeem our culture. Marvin Olasky has an interesting article with a great quote on this subject. I am not into politics at all and strangely enough this article is about

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-64430490921795377892007-11-19T22:21:00.000-06:002008-11-15T01:58:27.541-06:00

This week I spoke at the FEFC youth retreat and the Dutton Band led worship. The Dutton Band used to fill in for David Crowder at UBC when he was touring. So they played a ton of crowder songs this weekend, which I really enjoyed. But I was out blogging and read this article on the character of David Crowder and was even more impressed. It is great to see that he is not just talented and creative

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-47412365735572824652007-11-02T17:39:00.000-06:002008-11-15T01:58:27.884-06:00

This week Shaun Groves wrote a post about if he should even keep going to church. I realize that it is tongue and cheek, but I think his premise in the post is the wrong approach. His entire post is talking about things that he should be able to get from church and then how he can get those things better in his cul de sac. We have a long way to go to change our view of church away from the

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-42629430329945907052007-10-30T18:34:00.001-06:002008-11-15T01:58:28.332-06:00

One of the most telling lines in the movie is when Lars says to Bianca (his doll "girlfriend") that the fake flowers are beautiful. He says they are great because since they are not real, they can never die. For Lars, real life community has been hard because his parents died, his brother moved away and everyone abandoned him. Therefore, Bianca is perfect because she is not real, so she can never

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-26039938706169287612007-10-29T22:00:00.000-06:002008-11-15T01:58:28.503-06:00

On Friday night, I saw Lars and the Real Girl because of Cheryl Fletcher's recommendation. She lives in L.A. now so her movie recommendations are that much cooler. I definitely recommend the movie. At first it looks really weird and it will make you squirm a little bit with some painfully awkward moments. But it truly gets to the need for community and the power of community. The messiness in

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-61245348033262551322007-10-26T16:04:00.000-06:002007-10-26T17:06:41.759-06:00

Talk about a resource. Tim Keller's book is coming out early 2008. I can't wait. I think it will be a great read and an especially great read for the skeptics out there. It is called "The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. Someone told me that they read that it was designed to be the Mere Christianity for a Postmodern World. Here is the table of contents:Introduction – All doubts are

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-1165061517314723912007-10-26T09:30:00.001-06:002008-11-15T01:58:28.752-06:00

I watched the documentary God Grew Tired of Us on Wednesday night and then went to see John Bul Dau at St. Edwards University. He is one of the Lost Boys from the Sudanese Civil War. Our church is doing a lot of work in Southern Sudan with education, health awareness, community development and we are planning to start a biblical institue in April to help train national pastors. In the Didinga

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-70774690210031914602007-10-24T11:07:00.000-06:002008-11-15T01:58:29.063-06:00

This is an interesting article written about one of the largest and most influential churches in the last 30 years. I find it really interesting what they found from their research within in their church. It seems so simple, but so profound for the American Christian and the American church. Check it out and let me know what you think. Their book is called "Reveal" where they highlighted their

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-33966773107128181622007-10-16T20:55:00.001-06:002008-11-15T01:58:29.320-06:00

My friend gave me an article by Marvin Olasky from World Magazine. Olasky is currently living in NYC, but usually lives in Austin from what I understand. It is pretty obvious that he, like others is being influenced by Tim Keller's theology of the city by Olasky's article entitled "urban calling." He said in this article:"Today, sadly, the pattern is reversed: Christians are mostly in the

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-6338974203301732162007-10-09T19:04:00.000-06:002008-11-15T01:58:29.433-06:00

We just started a new series at the Gathering called "Exiles." We are looking at Esther to learn how to influence our culture while living as an exile. Exiles by definition are people living in a culture with different language, convictions, practices and narratives than their own. We, the church, are living as exiles in a culture that does not reflect the gospel narrative, but has all-together

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-16277312928314554502007-10-09T18:57:00.001-06:002007-10-09T19:02:39.122-06:00

Sorry. I couldn't resist. Here is Caroline shaking her rump on Mandy's blog. Click here to see it.

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-76024071699546111732007-10-03T19:37:00.001-06:002008-11-15T01:58:29.618-06:00

I think it is perfectly ok to have a "man crush." Mine for 2007 and probably of 2008 is Tim Keller. He is the pastor of Redeemer Pres in NYC. If you have not read some of his stuff or heard from him, I highly recommend it. He is doing some of the best thinking on the gospel and our culture. But I also think that his article on all of life is repentance is one of the best things that I have read

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-34948580638508247702007-09-26T21:12:00.000-06:002007-09-26T20:38:40.442-06:00

A few weeks ago Mandy and I are starting to teach a class at church on marriage. Yikes! I think there is this temptation to think that we have to have it all "figured out" before we can talk about marriage. We obviously don't have all the answers and are still growing and learning everyday about our own marriage. I liked Wendell Berry's thoughts from Life is a Miracle in dealing with the tension

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-2093453972627954952007-09-11T09:29:00.000-06:002007-09-11T09:33:38.111-06:00

Here is my acting debut as "frightened inmate #2." Oh wait, that was Arrested Development. This is actually me playing the mean church boss, but Dave Hampton is hilarious. Check it out below or on youtube.http://www.gatheringaustin.com/blog/?p=61

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-82066270545072966642007-09-11T09:28:00.000-06:002007-09-11T09:29:09.174-06:00

This is a great story of a couple of folks within our community who have started a ministry to single moms and widows. We have been teaching through the book of Acts and we keep seeing how God gives the apostles impossible tasks and then provides so that His people can be on a mission. Here is their story of being on a mission.“We began trying to contact our single mom on thursday to no avail. We

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-81760942187465690332007-08-17T07:59:00.000-06:002007-08-17T08:11:05.575-06:00

I have really enjoyed Pastor Mark Driscoll's blog series called "death by ministry." His statistics in week 2 are sobering if not scary. It comes out of his experience of the difficulties and depression often associated with ministry. His thesis is that if you don't take a sabbath, God will impose one on you. I find his reminders helpful for all of us in a busy productive culture who don't allow

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-29679147969229191292007-07-10T19:39:00.001-06:002007-07-10T19:54:30.955-06:00

A good read:This week I have really enjoyed: Real Sex: the naked truth about chastity by Lauren Winner. I honestly recommend everyone to read this book whether single or married. It is great on chastity but also great on a gospel understanding of married sex. The whole thing is great, but here is a quote that I think particulary pegs our false thinking."We are not sure whether bodies are good or

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-47602369530225939212007-07-03T19:39:00.000-06:002007-07-03T20:18:32.638-06:00

This last week in the Gathering we had a guest preacher, Matt Blackwell, who continued our series on Acts. I have always loved Acts 3 and the story of the lame beggar at the gate who was healed and went away leaping, jumping and worshiping God. It is such a beautiful picture of our response to salvation. When I think about how God intervened through Jesus when I had no hope - I want to leap,

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-91111846809287551282007-05-30T18:01:00.000-06:002007-05-30T18:32:10.877-06:00

Do you remember cutting out UPC's from your cereal box to collect prizes when you were a kid? I would get all kinds of things like toys, baseball cards, and posters of athletes. That was the greatest way to collect some junk that you would end up selling in a garage sale.This morning I looked at my cereal and I literally saw..."Free cholesterol test kit with 3 UPC's." I began to wonder how old am

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-75317231183706703202007-05-01T20:54:00.000-06:002007-05-01T21:23:22.356-06:00

Have you ever thought about Jesus' miracles. I have always known that Jesus' miracles were to authenticate his message and to show that He was the Son of God. But have you ever thought about what kind of miracles you would do so that people knew you were the Son of God. I mean obviously healing the sick, feeding the 5000 and giving sight to the blind are pretty awesome miracles, but is that the

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-52011829506456109132007-04-17T19:57:00.000-06:002007-04-17T19:59:05.830-06:00

When you meet someone for the first time; the first question that everyone asks – is what do you do? When I tell them that I work at First Evangelical Free Church, most give me the same perplexed look as they respond to “evangelical” and especially “free.” Some assume that I am one of those “free” types that they see on TV and others think they have me pegged politically. Then I try and explain

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-6409562287607065612007-03-26T21:04:00.000-06:002007-03-26T21:17:34.847-06:00

A few weekends ago, I hung out with some college buddies of mine from all over the US. I have not laughed that hard in a long time. When you get all of us in the same room we will pretty much be one constant laugh for hours. Also because for some reason when you get together with people like that, it is almost as if nothing has changed. We laughed at stories that were funny 10 years ago and for

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-40618729440224436152007-03-14T20:58:00.000-06:002007-03-14T21:06:30.159-06:00

Ahh… My favorite time of the year: the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament - March Madness. This Thursday night and Friday night I will likely stay up late watching the cinderella upsets and last minute shots. One of the time-honored traditions during March Madness is filling out the brackets for the tournament before the games start. Now I have been a basketball fan for my whole life, and for some

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-34260518608687174882007-03-07T20:22:00.000-06:002007-03-07T21:33:20.992-06:00

Last week I was talking with a friend who told me that he was experiencing great Christian community as a group of friends were meeting simply to eat soup together. It is organic, not contrived, and everyone likes each other. Sounds great, right? But he was growing increasingly frustrated with his soup group. He said that he wanted to continue to experience the community, but also wanted to be

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-84270922580889941752007-02-23T14:19:00.000-06:002007-02-23T14:45:19.240-06:00

I have to admit that whenever someone starts talking about building a deck, or doing the electricity in thier house or just simply being handy around the house, I always feel a little inadequate. I sometimes wonder if I missed the handyman class in elementary school. But in reality I am ok with not being a house expert and I have embracied my inner cityboy.But this week I was at a conference at

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-5282808012331187662007-02-17T10:12:00.000-06:002008-11-15T01:58:30.206-06:00

Some of you know that I always make fun of Austin local news. Lets be honest I got a little spoiled by the Dallas news most of my life. After spending 3 years of making fun of it, a few Saturday Mornings ago Mandy's flowers were on KVUE's morning news. They were talking about wedding coordinators and they showed a large arrangement of Mandy's. The flowers were pretty awesome, if I can say so

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-26119998767305230912007-02-16T22:30:00.000-06:002007-02-16T22:37:58.691-06:00

We haven't had much Andy in the Office lately. I guess he took a few days off after his tantrum. Here is a little "best of" Andy for those of us who have missed him. Enjoy.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70HBNN3xEn0

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-6278960047731545492007-01-31T21:03:00.000-06:002007-01-31T22:09:45.732-06:00

I spent a few years being "against" internet communities, chat rooms, blogs, and especially message boards (that's another story for another day) only because I felt like it was a cheap substitute for real community. Maybe I was a community snob. Congratulations blog gods, you win! I still don't feel like the internet is where I will have my accountability, my sharpening relationships, my

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-75778559914732382512007-01-30T10:54:00.000-06:002007-01-30T11:17:43.404-06:00

I am teaching this class on theology in a postmodern culture and in the first week, I raced through history to explain to some degree where we are as a culture. I recognize that this doesn't do justice to all the complexities of history, but it is a survey. It is vastly stereotypical and mostly focuses on Europe and America. Most of these notes are taken directly from three lectures I have heard

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18477549.post-63853224398104035242007-01-29T20:08:00.000-06:002007-01-29T21:06:54.014-06:00

Ok. I know I am finally rolling into 2002 and writing a blog. I actually started this blog a couple of years ago and then sorda forgot about it. Recently I have been thinking about writing again in my free time. So much has changed in our life because Mandy and I had our first child Caroline, who is the most beautiful, brilliant, and fun baby that I have ever known. We have a blast with her

Jeff Fritschehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04220690148908622555noreply@blogger.com4