Ed Pruitt :: Friends blog

http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/tallskinnykiwi/2008/09/you-might-be-a.h

In the spirit of Jeff Foxworthy, I was just thinking up some ideas for my session at GodblogCon in a few weeks when I teach on the missional church in the internet age. You might be a faith blogger, I was thinking . .

IF . . .

- if you sit in the back row of the church because thats where the wifi signal is the strongest

- if your sermons allow both comments and trackbacks

- if you tithe through a widget

- if you think committing the original sin is getting tempted by the latest Apple

- if you pray that God will allow you to upload your photo to the Lamb's Book of Life

- if your prayers are less than 140 characters because thats all Twitter allows

- if you ever wonder why the domain of Satan doesn't have its own URL

- if you think Jesus' command to Peter to "Feed my sheep" was to allow RSS syndication

- if you think streams in the desert is a blog from Las Vegas

. . . then you just might be a faith-blogger!

Now thats funny! I don't care who you are! But now its your turn to throw me a bone. If you add your own faith blogger joke in the comments, I might even use it in Las Vegas at GodBlogCon, which is part of the larger BlogWorldExpo.

Related on TSK: Interview for GodblogCon

GodBlogCon 2008 - I got invited to speak

BlogWorldExpo - I am going

http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/tallskinnykiwi/2008/09/the-new-atheist.

I just reposted a 2 year old post on new atheism because it got messed up. I also added a few new links to update it.

http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/tallskinnykiwi/2008/09/the-new-athei-1.

I just reposted a 2 year old post on new atheism because it got messed up. I also added a few new links to update it.

http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/tallskinnykiwi/2008/09/on-going-fourth.

So it's like 3 FLIPPIN' A.M. and I cant sleep and my mind is churning over and I am solving the worlds problems when I should be snoozing. Again.

I have recently requested some funds for a number of social enterprises. What was keeping me up was the measurement criteria for a global mission fund for missional entrepreneurs. How can we raise the standards? How can we measure a truly holistic ministry enterprise? How can they in turn spin off other enterprises? The thoughts in my sleepless, delirious, half-awake brain were like . .

Fourth Sector. We all need to go fourth.

Government institutions [first sector] need to go fourth.

Private businesses [second sector] need to go fourth.

Ministries and charities [third sector] need to go fourth.

And social entrepreneurs need to figure out what the fourth sector looks like in the 21st century and how it's success might be measured.

But how to measure it? Ahhhhh. It might be a little corny and its certainly not there yet, but the word FOURTH popped up 4 times [4x4]

1. Fourth Sector. It is not just a non-profit ministry [third sector] that wants to start a business enterprise and it is not just a private business [second sector] that wants to get charitable but rather it is a hybrid, something unique, a fourth sector enterprise that must therefore be driven by a unique set of values and be judged by unique measurement criteria.

2. Sent Fo[u]rth: It is missional. It is connected with the "Go Forth" of the Great Commission of Jesus, in which it finds its mandate as well as its direction - that of continually extending itself outwards into new territories where it seeks to give itself away to others, to impact and transform,

3. Fourth Bottom Line. Outcomes are measured by four bottom lines - it will be (1) socially transformative, (2) environmentally responsible, (3) economically self-sustainable and (4) spiritually renewed.

4. Fourth Year Turnaround. By the fourth year, the enterprise will have moved from receiving funds to becoming financially sustainable (in the 2nd or 3rd year) and by the fourth year it should be assisting new enterprises to launch, thus reaching maturity and reproducing itself.

4x4 . . . just a another stupid cheesy thought half-dreamed and half-baked. But sometimes thoughts like this tighten up later on. Might as well blog it for a laugh, ay?

Related: Mission and the Fourth Sector, by Andrew Jones, a missions article published on CMS site [and totally ignored by everybody!!!] regarding Henry Venn, co-operatives and fourth sector enterprises.

More thoughts and resources on fourth sector and emerging mission.

Technorati Tags: mission, fourth sector

http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/tallskinnykiwi/2008/09/church-of-scotl.

Technorati Tags: church of scotland

http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/tallskinnykiwi/2008/09/four-square-on.h

After having an interesting discussion with a Foursquare pastor who I met when I spoke at their gathering of leaders a few years ago in Switzerland, I should point to a fantastic little resource page on their site called Missional Conversation. It deals with their engagement with the emerging church but uses a wide brush, like many of us have done.

Technorati Tags: foursquare

http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/tallskinnykiwi/2008/09/did-don-carson.h

Is true that Dr D.A. Carson preached in my church last year?

No. That is totally inaccurate! It was 2006, the year before, that Don Carson preached in my church, North Beach Baptist Church in Perth, West Australia. But it should be known that I no longer pastor at that church. I left in the 90's to bring my family back to USA and back into overseas mission. But it really was a fantastic time and we learned a lot from that church as well as giving of ourselves. Earlier in the year I was back in Perth and I popped in to say hello to the new pastors who are all doing a great job.

Technorati Tags: don carson

http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/tallskinnykiwi/2008/09/world-of-good-o.

"4 billion people—often in developing nations—earn $1,500/year, and most businesses traditionally view these people as customers. WorldofGood.com wanted to inverse this fundamental approach. “We flipped it on its head,” said Chatwani. “Instead of bringing products into those markets, we are pulling out products from those areas with entrepreneurs.” TriplePundit

Ebay launches World of Good, a marketplace for socially responsible goods and companies. Looks pretty good to me. Any one have any products on it? Any stories?

Technorati Tags: philanthropy, social enterprise

http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/tallskinnykiwi/2008/09/sweet-notions-1.

Shannon: "In this part of the venture we are getting people to think how they support missional activity beyond just writing a check, asking them to actually take the time and see what they have and then we turn that into capital. It also gets people thinking about other innovative ways to engage in kingdom work. So in the giving there is a stewardship and discipleship aspect and as we do it is also allows people to think more creatively and gives us a platform to help others launch social enterprises and think of what they can do with that they have."



You may remember Shannon Hopkins from The Truth Isn't Sexy Campaign which was a huge success. Now Shannon and Jessica Stricker are launching a incredible social enterprise called Sweet Notions.

Shannon: "You might know that I have launched a new initiative with a friend whereby we collect accessories and resale them through boutique events around the world. We did a pilot in the spring in America and found we were onto something. So we are publicly launching in both the US and UK in the autumn.

This initiative is considered a social enterprise because we are tying to create multiple kinds of capital: economic, environmental, social and spiritual. I am excited about this venture and would love for you to go check out the website. www.sweetnotions.org

Technorati Tags: social enterprise, sweet notions

We really do need help to make this a success... We are still looking for women who will partner with us by clearing out their closets and giving us their accessories they no longer wear, and asking their friends to do the same. If you are interested their is a flier you can download from the website. We are also looking to book more boutique events for the fall calendar. Why don't you think about hosting an event in your home, office or church??



Check out the site and let me know what you think!

And please pray for me as we launch this new venture.



Cheers

Shannon"

http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/tallskinnykiwi/2008/09/on-being-a-holy.

Thoughts on being a holy fool from Bob Beltz who made National Examiner of the Day last Sunday.