tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155316862024-03-06T23:38:36.620-05:00The Pensieve"Whatever is thought, if it was worth thinking,
must be written down." ~George WatsonAaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.comBlogger443125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15531686.post-86664012607144198532018-10-31T13:15:00.001-04:002018-10-31T13:15:46.530-04:00Kicking it back into gearI'm re-launching this blog, not with fanfare, but as a discipline. We'll see what happens. Anything written prior to October 31, 2018, may or may not represent my current thinking.Aaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15531686.post-29988101344809427652011-07-12T14:15:00.001-04:002011-07-12T14:15:59.291-04:00Elephants, Elephant Riders, and the PathHi friends, I trust your summer is going well! I know most of the groups or ministries you facilitate, lead, and host are moving into a summer schedule of sorts. You deserve a break and some time to refresh in order to minister and serve others again as God leads. Part of my role in serving you is to help you think, plan, promote your groups and grow in your ability to Aaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15531686.post-24838980102769376982011-06-14T09:23:00.001-04:002011-06-14T09:23:23.157-04:00Who's on your Team?Hi friends, I have a question for you: Who's on your team / in your small group / a part of your ministry? As servant-leaders, I encourage you to answer that question in two ways. First, know really well who's in your group / on your team / a part of your ministry. Each of the people you grow with, serve with, and serve has a name and a story. You Aaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15531686.post-61963962476606896392011-05-18T08:48:00.001-04:002011-05-18T08:48:12.564-04:00(D x V x F) > RHi friends, Thanks for your continued service at Centennial Road in groups, group ministry, and other discipleship areas. Did you know that when (D x V x F) > R that change happens? Spelled out, "Dissatisfaction" with the way things are, a "Vision" for a better reality, and "First" steps must combine to produce something greater than our "Resistance" to change.&Aaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15531686.post-10527211685070026742011-04-20T10:41:00.001-04:002011-04-20T10:41:40.786-04:00Prayer RequestHi friends, Would you please pray with me and as your groups that God would raise up leadership for our college aged students. We are in the beginning conversations of developing a mentoring ministry, as well, and I deeply covet your prayers. Thanks, AaronAaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15531686.post-7792914878094871102011-04-19T17:01:00.001-04:002011-04-19T17:01:43.400-04:00Leadership in DiscipleshipHi friends, We are getting ready for Passion Play and I so very much appreciate the prayers you are offering and the prayers you are leading your groups through. We are all working hard and working smart, and then painfully aware of how absolutely, completely dependent we are on God's Holy Spirit to do all the work we cannot do that makes all the difference. I was Aaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15531686.post-48888664917166090502011-04-11T11:49:00.001-04:002011-04-11T11:49:41.356-04:00Small Group DesignHi Friends, Thanks for your continued leadership and ministry in group ministry at the church. It is wonderful having praises and good news to share from your groups on a weekly basis. I love hearing the stories of your groups, so please keep them coming. A thought for you today: Your small group is perfectly designed to get the results it is getting. It is Aaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15531686.post-27025797897217468722011-04-06T16:12:00.001-04:002011-04-06T16:12:58.482-04:00Three Simple RulesHi friends, Thanks for your continued leadership. You are prayed for in your efforts in group ministry and discipleship. I wanted to share something simple with you with our heritage in small groups back to John Wesley. Wesley was a tremendous organizer and believer of mutual discipleship. He organized societies or classes that have some reflection to small groups Aaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15531686.post-38757290681823590652011-03-26T14:49:00.001-04:002011-03-26T14:49:30.229-04:00The Right PersonHi friends, Innovation and education expert, Sir Ken Robinson, says, "Don't ask, 'How smart am I?'; ask, 'How am I smart?'" I agree. And let me tweak it: Don't ask, "Am I the right person?"; ask, "For whom am I the right person?" You are all involved in ministry and pouring into the lives of others through small groups and group ministries in the church. Aaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15531686.post-49261807542076597632011-03-24T21:02:00.001-04:002011-03-24T21:02:52.033-04:00Passion Play and Million Mile Prayer Walk - RequestsHere are some prayer requests for those of you who are praying for the Passion Play this week. Some of you may have already received these as I sent out earlier emails to those who contacted me individually. Pastor Aaron would like to keep everyone informed whether or not their group or ministry is participating in the Million Mile Prayer Walk. Therefore I will attempt to send a message at Aaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15531686.post-32826357518252427392011-03-19T16:16:00.001-04:002011-03-19T16:16:31.005-04:00Passion Play and Million Mile Prayer WalkDear Small Group and Ministry Leaders, As Pastor Aaron has already indicated, we are attempting to set up the Million Mile Prayer Walk in conjunction with our Passion Play prayer focus. The Million Mile prayer walk is an intercessory prayer initiative that is directed to motivating believers to pray for revival within their families, friends and community. The Passion Play is an outreach Aaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15531686.post-62793029350318869742011-03-07T15:54:00.001-05:002011-03-07T15:54:45.602-05:00Don't Blame KatrinaHello friends! We've all come across someone whose life has had a defining moment that has, in their minds, at least, crippled them emotionally, spiritually, financially, or relationally. Perhaps the person you know hasn't been crippled, but has never quite received the health, joy, peace, or freedom that you just know could otherwise be theirs. Sean Aaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15531686.post-68397649772965752011-03-02T10:00:00.001-05:002011-03-02T10:00:37.843-05:00InternsHi friends! Would you please do me a favour? We are looking for one more host home for a 10 week student, providing room and board. We are also looking for a functioning vehicle for 6 months. I realize this may not be a ready option for you. So, I am asking that you would please distribute this request to your small group members and others in your networks. Aaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15531686.post-79509818915899173752011-02-28T17:01:00.001-05:002011-02-28T17:01:38.929-05:00Executing Past our FailuresHi friends, Thanks for your continued ministry, service, and leadership in small groups and through our church. I have a question for you: Is violence a health-hazard? Deborah Prothrow-Stith thought it was. Deborah was a nurse who found herself sewing up a combatant late one night at the ER of Brigham Women's Hospitalin Boston. The combatant, not yet 20 years old, Aaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15531686.post-18192536453038063602011-02-22T15:18:00.001-05:002011-02-22T15:18:08.236-05:00CorrectionThat is actually "The Rage Against God" by Peter Hitchens. Be careful when you give the wrong book title, too, apparently. Peace, AaronAaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15531686.post-82007433994277683612011-02-22T15:16:00.001-05:002011-02-22T15:16:57.612-05:00The Power of InfluenceHello friends! I am currently reading "The Rage Against Atheism" by Peter Hitchens. Peter is the brother of noted atheist Christopher Hitchens. One sentence stuck out to me: "Those who write where many read, and speak where many listen, had best be careful what they say." Hitchens was cautioning people in the position of influence. Friends, each of you influence Aaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15531686.post-66823615468102994652011-02-15T16:31:00.001-05:002011-02-15T16:31:20.778-05:00The Spirit's in the DetailsHello, friends! I love new ideas, big dreams, and visions. I love seeing ideas, dreams, and visions come to reality. I love being able to look back and know that God's will started as a seed-thought and grew into a Kingdom project. However, there are little things that get in the way of ideas, dreams, and visions becoming reality. More like a million little things.&Aaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15531686.post-32913222298883943762011-01-18T19:10:00.007-05:002011-01-18T20:40:08.208-05:00Family: Then, Now, and ForevermoreIt goes without saying (but I say it anyway) that our culture is very different from the first century AD. One of the important differences concerns family. While in our culture a family can be fragmented--living separately and growing further apart geographically--a household (which included more than blood relatives) in the first century was generally together: they were those connected to Aaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15531686.post-14854467982394384682011-01-12T11:55:00.002-05:002011-01-12T12:12:58.073-05:00Injustice and IdolatryI like Andy Crouch. His thought resonates with me, encourages me, and gives me hope for new roles and projects of the local church. I recently heard a lecture from him on Culture Making in which he discussed the issue of idolatry and injustice. Crouch points at the connection between idolatry and social issues in so many of the prophets. The reason this is the case, he says, is because Aaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15531686.post-41563150555677682262010-06-16T14:39:00.003-04:002010-06-16T14:58:54.944-04:00Babel and PentecostI preached on Pentecost a few weeks ago. One aspect of Pentecost that I didn't explore was its contrast with Babel (Genesis 11:1-19). Many commentators have made this observation before, so it is not new. At Babel, there is confused speech; at Pentecost the variety of speech is still present, but the variety of languages are understood. The Good News is understood in the languages of all the Aaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15531686.post-35625425445918109982010-02-19T10:21:00.003-05:002010-02-19T10:28:17.022-05:00Words and DiscipleshipI sometimes catch myself saying, "There is nothing do." But this really isn't the case. For Jesus, there was always something to do. In fact, there was so much to do that his challenge was not finding something to do, but finding space to rest. If there really was "nothing to do," then there would be no one sick, no one lonely, no one hurting, etc. (Anyone with a tender heart can see why Aaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15531686.post-87728346410958261252009-11-02T12:01:00.003-05:002009-11-02T12:09:46.028-05:00Molding Money"Money, most common of temporal things, involves uncommon and eternal consequences. Even though it may be done quite unconsciously, money molds people--in the process of getting it, of savings it, of using it, of giving it, of accounting for it. Depending upon how it is handled, it proves a blessing or a curse to its possessor; either the person becomes master of the money, or the money becomesAaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15531686.post-85560772786971781042009-10-01T12:20:00.001-04:002009-10-01T12:22:24.870-04:00The Necessary Relevance and Irrelevance of the church and the churchThe Necessary Relevance and Irrelevance of the church:I am reading Bryan Stone’s book, “Evangelism After Christendom” which offers an approach to evangelism after the Modernity. Part of this means a rejection of the church’s desire to be relevant to its culture. Instead, part of the church’s faithful witness to culture is by being different. Yet this goes against the practice of most churches Aaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15531686.post-56014265364619149152009-07-10T09:50:00.004-04:002009-07-10T10:38:16.288-04:00Reflection: Justification by N.T. WrightJustification: God's Plan and Paul's Vision is N.T. Wright's response to John Piper's The Future of Justification. It is a thorough, dense if somewhat brief explanation of Wright's take on Justification and why Piper is wrong. I am not qualified to review this book's content and engage critically with it. It is simply out of my league. It is, however, vintage Wright: Readable, dense, and Aaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15531686.post-76783087933899097262009-06-03T13:18:00.005-04:002009-06-04T13:15:02.328-04:00Review: Solomon Among the PostmodernsSAP is Peter Leithart's attempt to see Solomonic wisdom among postmodern philosophers, but also to take a Solomonic "stance" against their conclusions. The outcome is a bit of a challenging read, but one worth the effort. I say challenging because Leithart is one of those writers who expects you to jump into the conversation he wants to have, rather than introducing you to one already taking Aaron Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02299034713765681549noreply@blogger.com1