Brook Hills College – Blog

  1. RSS is a must….

    April 28, 2011 by Britten Taylor

    If you have ever enjoyed reading a blog in the history of bloggery…then RSS feed is for you. It will revolutionize your life. Alright, maybe not revolutionize, but definitely improve the quality of your life!

    So this post is an effort to improve the quality of your life. I am going to give you a step by step on how to set up an RSS.

    What is RSS?

    RSS is simply technology that allows you to subscribe to any number of websites (blogs in this case) which will then allow you to read the content without having to go to the individual site each time. There is nothing more frustrating that going to a blog umpteen times only to see there are no new posts…or the opposite, going to the blog to see the blogger has updated it 27 times since you were there last. So, RSS is pretty much a Real Simple System of not having to go to websites to see if any thing has been added.  (I just made up that acronym for RSS)

    Google Reader

    Enter Google Reader. Yes, there are a few bazillion other feed readers, but Google is pretty much the best. Google Reader is free, easy to use, and pretty much the most popular due to the first two reasons.

    You might not want to stop reading here…this is about to get real good.

    Set up is easy…

    Go and Create a Google Account (or sign in if you already have one)

    Go to Google Reader and make sure you are signed in.

    Adding a subscription is easier…

    +Take a deep breath

    +Select “Add a Subscription” top left corner of Google Reader Page

    +Type or Paste URL of your many blogs you desire to read.

    A few BH:College Ministry blog suggestions include….

    (just copy/paste these urls into “Add a Subscription” and hit Add)

    +Brook Hills College Ministry Blog- http://www.brookhillscollege.org/

    +David Platt’s Resource Ministry Blog- http://www.disciplemakingintl.org/blog/

    +One stop shop for Christian Bloggery (ie, Justin Taylor)- http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/

    +Two Words…John Piper- http://www.desiringgod.org/blog

    +A ton of posts on needed topics- http://theresurgence.com/

    +Can you be a college student and not subscribe to this one? http://268generation.com/blog/

    +I call this one the “Let’s stop delaying adulthood Blog”- http://www.therebelution.com/blog/

    +A man this smart and this faithful to the Gospel must be read- http://www.albertmohler.com/

    Blogs for all the Christian Ladies…

    +My wife’s blog (Brook Taylor) is a must- http://toomanybs.blogspot.com/

    +Ladies, follow Carolyn Mahaney as she follows Christ- http://www.girltalkhome.com/blog

    +Some seriously good stuff for the ladies- http://solofemininity.blogs.com/posts/

    +One of my wife’s personal favs- http://www.goingbeyond.com/blog

    What do I do if I am on a website and I desire to subscribe…

    +Click on the Orange Icon for RSS (see big logo above)

    +Select Google Reader as the reader you want to subscribe with

    +You are good to go…it should start showing up in your feeder

    Now that you are subscribed to some goodness, simply go to Google Reader and all the posts from different blogs you have subscribed to will be fed directly to your Google Readers.  As you click on the individual posts it will automatically mark it as read.

    Now. Go forth. And be edified by the blogger world.

    Final Note of Caution:

    **If you find yourself on Google Reader more than in the Bible…you need to repent and consider your ways!

     

     

    Category: College LifeTags: , , , | Comments (0)

  2. It is Finished – [Official Video] by Matt Papa

    by Britten Taylor

    I am always encouraged and spurred on by the Gospel saturated lyrics of Matt Papa. This song, It is Finished, is no different.

     

    Category: Gospel Comments (0)

  3. Not So Secret Church

    April 23, 2011 by Ashley Chesnut

    Last night, over 50,000 people participated in Secret Church as Dr. Platt preached on “Crucifixion, Salvation, and the Glory of God” and as we gathered to pray for the persecuted church in India.

    I know that I still have much to process from what I heard last night, but I do want to remind us all, myself included, that Secret Church is not about attending an event or about simply absorbing more knowledge of the Word. The front page of the Secret Church Study Guide states, “The objective of Secret Church is for you to pass along what you learn in these gatherings to others, so that you can make disciples of Christ in all nations for God’s glory.”

    In his concluding remarks last night, Dr. Platt emphasized the doctrine of global mission, which is “God saves His people for the spread of His glory to all peoples.” As a Christian, you have been saved for a purpose.

    How can we hear what God’s Word says about salvation and not pass it on to others? How can we not be overwhelmed by God’s mercy and grace and compelled to spread His glory to all peoples? God alone is worthy of your affections, and He deserves your obedience.

    So what will you and I do with what we have heard?

    Category: MissionTags: , , , , | Comments (0)

  4. The Good in Good Friday

    April 22, 2011 by Ashley Chesnut

    I had a moment this past week where God totally blew my mind once again with how infinitely wise and wonderful He is.

    The night before Jesus died, He celebrated the Passover meal with the Twelve. For Israelites, this is a time when they remember how, when they were slaves in Egypt, the angel of the Lord passed over anyone who had the lamb’s blood on their doorpost. The blood of this lamb ensured that the firstborn in that home would be delivered from death. And it was this event that led to the Israelites’ release from bondage in Egypt.

    There was a discrepancy between Judean Jews and Galilean Jews as to whether a day was from sunrise to sunrise or sunset to sunset, which affected when they celebrated Passover. As a result, Jesus and His disciples ate this meal on Thursday, which means that they would have killed the Passover Lamb on Thursday beginning around 3pm. However, the Judean Jews celebrated the Passover meal on Friday. And when did Jesus die on the cross? Friday.

    Luke 23:44-46 states, “It was now about the sixth hour, and there darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!’ And having said this, he breathed his last.”

    The ninth hour, when Jesus died, was 3pm. Jesus, the Ultimate Passover Lamb, died at the same time that the Judean Jews would have been slaughtering the Passover lambs for their Passover meal! God, in His infinite wisdom, orchestrated even the time that Jesus would die so that it would align with the death of the Passover lambs!

    As a result of Christ’s death, we too can be passed over. His blood pays the debt of our sin (Rm. 3:21-26; 6:23), and if we confess Him as Lord, believe in Him, and repent, we too can be released from our slavery to sin and spend eternity with Him.

    Hallelujah! What a Savior!

    Category: GospelTags: , | Comments (1)

  5. College/Young Singles Worship Gathering

    April 20, 2011 by Ashley Chesnut

    Our last College/Young Singles Worship Gathering of the semester will be next Wednesday, April 27th, at 8pm in the Student Building here at Brook Hills.

    Andrew Whitehead and Britten Taylor will be tag-teaming our message as we finish out this year’s theme of disciple-making.

    Come and invite your friends as we dive into Philippians 3!

    Check out our Facebook event page at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=213854088641181

    Category: College Life, UncategorizedTags: , | Comments (0)

  6. Brook Hills College Ministry Team

    April 15, 2011 by Ashley Chesnut

    Recently there has been a few additions to the College Ministry Team here at The Church at Brook Hills. So in light of the changes and due to the fact that so many people just want a face to put with those pesky emails that come to your inbox, we want to introduce our expanding team.

    Please let us know if we can help you connect to a disciple-making small group, answer questions, etc. You can email us at college@brookhills.org

    College Minister: Britten Taylor

    Britten is our fearless leader here in the College Ministry, casting vision for this ministry, discipling our college guys small group leaders, and keeping us all on track.   He’s married to Brook, and they have three boys with another baby due in a couple of weeks!

    Connect with him on Facebook and Twitter.

    College Girls’ Small Group Coordinator: Stephanie Fain

    Stephanie is our College Girls’ Small Group Coordinator, which involves equipping our college girl small group leaders and mentors and maintaining communication and accountability with our girls’ small groups. She’s married to Wes and is a frequent customer at O’Henry’s Coffee.

    Connect with her on Facebook and Twitter

    College Ministry Assistant: Ashley Chesnut

    Ashley is the College Ministry Assistant who handles communication with college students and the administrative details of the college ministry. She is a seminary student at Beeson Divinity School who loves discipling college girls and drinking chai lattes.

    Connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.

    College Intern: Austin Baker

    Austin is the College Ministry Intern, and he’s a jack of all trades who disciples our college guys and small group leaders and has cool hair. Austin is a seminary student at Beeson Divinity School and is married to Christine Baker.

    Connect with him on Facebook and Twitter.

    Stay connected with our College Ministry through…

    Facebook: www.facebook.com/brookhillscollege

    Twitter: www.twitter.com/BH_College

    Category: ChurchTags: | Comments (0)

  7. The Great Announcement

    April 12, 2011 by Britten Taylor

    From The Gospel Commission by Michael Horton (pg. 21)

    The Great Commission actually begins with the great announcement. Before there can be a mission, there has to be a message. Behind the sending of the church lies the Father’s sending of his Son and Spirit. Before we go, we must stop and hear – really hear- what has happened that we are to take to the world. The evangel comes before evangelism. We must hear this gospel not just at first, for our own conversion, but every moment of our lives if the Great Commission is to be a joyful delight rather than an intolerable burden with an impossible goal. Hear it again, with all of the supporting evidence of Christ’s incarnation, life, death, and resurrection: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18).

    Category: Mission, Uncategorized Comments (1)

  8. Insights Into Disciple-Making – Part 4

    April 8, 2011 by Ashley Chesnut

    This series of blog posts is written by Ashley Chesnut. She serves as a Disciple-Making Small Group Leader in the College Ministry at Brook Hills and is in her 3rd year at Beeson Divinity School pursuing a Master of  Divinity.

    The gospel is meant to be relayed. In a relay race, the runner must pass the baton to the next person in order to complete the race successfully, and likewise, we are to be passing what we know on to others and not waiting until we have a seminary degree or a year of small group under our belt before we do so.

    How do we do this? In this blog series, we’ve discussed how discipleship happens best in the context of relationships, but what do we do in those relationships to relay what we know?

    In John 17:8, Jesus prayed, “For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.”

    Jesus imparted to His disciples what He had been given. In the three years that He spent with the Twelve, Jesus taught them with His words, but they also observed His passion for people, heard Him pray, and saw Him serve. He showed them what to do through what He did Himself.

    Show people what you do.

    One of the basic things I do with the girls in my small group is to teach them how to study Scripture for themselves, and after walking them through this, I show them the notebook that I use for my own quiet time. Now, my way of doing things is not the only way, but by showing them how I ask questions of Scripture, take notes on what a verse or a word means, or fit a verse into the surrounding context, I am giving them a concrete example of how they can study Scripture.

    Have you ever been in class when the teacher gave an assignment that you had no clue how to do and you just wished that they would give you an example to look at? Let’s give the people we’re discipling that example. Give them that example in how to study Scripture, how to pray, how to serve others, how to share their testimony, how to memorize Scripture, how to make godly decisions, etc.

    Don’t just tell. Show.

    Category: Mission, UncategorizedTags: , , | Comments (0)

  9. Necessary Ingredients of a Disciple-Making Small Group

    April 6, 2011 by Britten Taylor

    One critical component to successfully leading a disciple-making small group is to facilitate the weekly gathering times. In leading these times, it is vital to remember that the group leader is not a lecturer giving a monologue, nor a politician giving a stump speech.  There is going to be teaching involved, but I think it is good for a small group leader  to see themselves somewhat as an organizer.

    Now before some of you get worked up, let me further explain.

    Yes, one should always see themselves as a teacher of the Word when leading a disciple-making small group. Always. The leader should continually strive to teach the truth of God’s Word, week in and week out. And small groups should settle for nothing less.  Small Groups should gather to be encouraged, exhorted, and spurred on by His Word. So leading the group’s gathering with no teaching of the Word is like trying to eat a T-Bone steak with no teeth- there might be a lot of action, but there is never going to be a whole lot of results.

    However, in leading a weekly gathering of a small group there needs to be more than just a teaching time in the Word (though never less than that).  Think of it this way, there are some necessary “ingredients” that small group leaders should intentionally add into the group’s gathering. Those “ingredients”, in my humble opinion, are the core values embraced here at Brook Hills…

    • Biblical Proclamation (Acts 2:42)
    • Sacrificial Care (Acts 2:42)
    • Wholehearted Worship (Acts 2:42)
    • Desperate Prayer (Acts 2:42)
    • Exponential Multiplication (Acts 2:47)

    So, there is an obvious question for small group leaders…Is the group time in which you are responsible for being facilitated in such a way that these “ingredients” are evident in the gathering of your group?

    I am in no way implying that small group leaders are miserable failures if they don’t incorporate all of these at every gathering. Don’t measure success by one gathering, but by 10. Over the past 10 meetings, is the group: praising God for Who He is and what He has done (worship), serving one another in their needs (care), teaching and studying the Bible (proclamation), giving time to go to the Lord for those in the group and those the group is engaging with the gospel (prayer), and strategizing for how best to multiply the gospel (multiplication)?

    Can you cram all of these ingredients into 1.5 hours? Probably not.

    Should leaders be intentionally organizing the gathering of the groups in such a way that each of these are focused on throughout the month? I would highly recommend it.

    Category: Mission, UncategorizedTags: , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

  10. Insights into Disciple-Making – Part 3

    April 4, 2011 by Ashley Chesnut

    This series of blog posts is written by Ashley Chesnut. She serves as a Disciple-Making Small Group Leader in the College Ministry at Brook Hills and is in her 3rd year at Beeson Divinity School pursuing a Master of  Divinity.

    “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers,” -1 Thessalonians 1:2

    “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,” -Ephesians 1:16

    “I thank God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,” -Philippians 1:3-4

    “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,” -Colossians 1:9

    In his letters, Paul commonly tells the people of his prayers for them. We so often tell someone that we’re praying for them, but are we faithful in doing this?

    As a small group leader, I am responsible for shepherding the girls that God has placed in my path, but I am not being faithful if I am not constantly lifting them up before the Lord, if I am not on my knees interceding for them.

    Do you have a burden for the people you serve and lead? Are you compelled to fervently and consistently pray for them? Are you broken over their sins? Do you give thanks for how they are growing? Do you pray for them to have opportunities to witness and to build disciple-making relationships with others? Do you ask the Lord to give them understanding and insight and spiritual nourishment as they study Scripture? Do you plead on their behalf for them to be guarded against temptation?

    Do you ask them to share prayer requests with you and actually follow through in praying for them? Or is the only time you’re praying for them when you’re actually meeting with them?

    Our small groups and our disciple-making efforts should be saturated with prayer. Prayer should not be an after-thought but the central way that we serve those whom we are leading.

    Ask the Lord to give you insight into the situations of the people whom you disciple and the boldness to speak His truth into their lives. Seek His wisdom as you lead. And pray for a holy love and a burden for His people.

    Category: Mission, UncategorizedTags: , , , , | Comments (0)