Friday, April 29, 2011

Book review: The Official Joomla! Book

Whether you're looking for information, a product, or local service, chances are one of the first places you'll check is online. In today's world, every organization needs a web presence, and with Joomla!, this has never been easier.

Joomla! is a free content management system (CMS) for creating websites and applications. Our church has been using Joomla! for the past five years and has been very satisfied. There's always been help available at the Joomla! forum (http://forum.joomla.org/) and Joomla's wiki-style documentation site (http://docs.joomla.org/), but  nothing beats an old-fashioned physical book in hand to browse through, markup pages, see the big picture, and have new ideas at your fingertips.

The Official Joomla! Book is more than just a user's manual. It's a whole introduction to web design. The author's goal is to help you build an effective website. Joomla! just happens to be their tool of choice. The authors accomplish their goal by looking not only on the anatomy of Joomla!, but also discussing the purpose and branding of a company, strategic importance of the home page, and an appendix of helpful links that extend well beyond the boundaries of Joomla! I was glad to see after several chapters of technical instruction on the program, the authors include extensive practical applications in the area of business, nonprofit groups, and education.

The book has a clean layout, a helpful glossary and index, and generous use of illustrations. Whether you're an experienced Joomla! user or just getting ready to build your first website, The Official Joomla! Book could be a real help to your company or organization.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The birth certificate

I'm sure by now you've seen it. It would be almost impossible not to; it's all over the news. President Barack Obama has released his Hawaii birth certificate hoping to satisfy critics once and for all that he's a U.S. citizen. A man's origin came into question, and some official proof was needed to settle the argument.

That got me thinking, something very similar happens to Jesus in the Gospel of John. The Jews accuse Jesus of being a fake, a fraud, an impostor. They seriously doubt whether He is the Son of God. After all, there is no certified paper with these words:
Name: Jesus Christ
Heavenly Father: God
Biological Mother: Mary
Conceived By: Holy Spirit
Birth Date: Existed Before the Foundation of the World
Physical Place of Birth: Bethlehem in Judea

So, how can God prove to mankind that Jesus is truly His Son? He does it at the very outset of Jesus' public ministry, when Jesus is baptized. And John the Baptist is standing by to report the event for us:
“I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God." (Jn. 1:32-34)
When no birth certificate is available to verify His Son, God does something even better. He speaks audibly from heaven, He sends down His Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, and He puts John on the scene to witness and report the events for us. 

If there was ever a question about Obama's origin, today's release of the birth certificate would seem to settle the case. And if there was ever a question about Jesus' origin, John chapter 1 provides all the proof we need to believe that Jesus is truly the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, we would have life in His name (Jn. 20:30-31).

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Jesus is alive!

Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” Two angels asked the women on that first Easter Sunday. “He is not here, but He has been resurrected!”

Jesus, who suffered a gruesome death just three days earlier, now stood in triumph over sin and death. The tomb was empty! Jesus was alive! God had raised up His Son! And the world would never been the same.

The story is told of a Muslim in Africa who surrendered his life to Jesus Christ. When asked why he’d become a Christian, he replied,

“Well, it’s like this. Suppose you were going down the road and suddenly the road forked in two directions, and you didn’t know which way to go. And there at the fork in the road were two men, one dead and one alive—which one would you ask which way to go?”

Truly, Jesus is alive, and worthy of our trust and devotion.

May we continue to celebrate the wonder of Christ’s death and resurrection for our forgiveness, and to share this astounding message with others.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Amazing love

But He was pierced because of our transgressions,
crushed because of our iniquities;
punishment for our peace was upon Him,
and we are healed by His wounds.
We all went astray like sheep;
we all have turned to our own way;
and the LORD has punished Him
for the iniquity of us all. (Is. 53:5-6)

Here's a video that reminds us of God's amazing love demonstrated by sending Jesus to the cross.


Take time today to meditate on the work of the cross. God's love is amazing, and available to all who turn from sin and accept God's free gift of eternal life through the death and resurrection of His Son.

Related posts:

Sunday, April 3, 2011

One Flesh: God's design for marriage

First Corinthians 7 contains one of the most detailed treatments of marriage found anywhere in the Bible. At church this morning, we concluded a five-part series on the subject, after taking some "detours" along the way to look at singleness, divorce and remarriage, contentment, and discipleship as slavery to Christ, plus two weeks while I was at the hospital to care for Natalie.

But here are the links for all five messages side-by-side. They really stand alone as an independent series.

Part 1: Purity
Marriage is one of God's antidotes to lust and sexual immorality

Part 2: Pleasure
God commands a husband and wife to be united in heart, mind, and body, and to bring pleasure to one another. (No audio available, but here is the link to the full transcript)

Part 3: Permanence
God instructs a believing husband and wife to stick together, through thick and thin.

Part 4: Permanence, cont.
Even when one spouse is an unbeliever, God still calls the believing spouse to remain faithful for the good of the home

Part 5: Perspective
This life is a short journey, so travel light. Even the best of marriages needs to keep an eternal perspective.

At the beginning of the new year, when we launched into this series, I asked our congregation the following questions. Why not ask them for yourself, then listen to what 1 Corinthians 7 has to say:
  • On a scale of 1-10 how strong would I rate my love for my spouse when I first got engaged and married? How strong is it now? Do I think this is God’s will for our marriage?
  • Have I learned to tune out my spouse when they speak?
  • Am I ever critical of my husband or wife when I’m around friends?
  • Is our marriage relationship nothing more than a contractual obligation, just two roommates sharing the same roof?
  • Have I entertained, even for one moment, the thought of divorce?
  • Because of my spouse’s lack of attention, have I begun to seek emotional, relational, or sexual fulfillment in someone else?
  • Do I see my spouse as someone who mainly exists to love and help and serve me, or someone God wants me to love and help and serve? In other words, is our marriage primarily self-centered or God-centered and others-oriented?
  • As I’ve listed these questions, have I been thinking to myself, “I sure wish my husband or wife is listening right now,” or have I been examining my own heart?

New Blog

Today I'm closing up shop and launching a new blog called Pinch of Clay. You can visit it by clicking here . Please stop by and...