Tuesdays on the blog mean that I get to share links to things that I have found interesting and thought provoking over the previous week with all of you. To help make sense of all that I have read, I have grouped these links by the following categories: Church and Ministry Thought & Practice; Cross-Sector Collaboration; Leadership Thought & Practice; Millennials; Neighbor Love; and Stewardship. I hope you enjoy these links!

Church and Ministry Thought & Practice
Are you preaching or planning worship for this week? If so, check out friend and professor Rev. Dr. Karoline Lewis‘ thoughts about, “Caring for the Kingdom of Heaven.” Also, spend some time with these stewardship thoughts and ideas to keep in mind if following the revised common or narrative lectionaries.

Now that we are in October, it’s time to plan your Reformation worship services (if you haven’t already). To help, the Lutheran World Federation has released an “Order of Worship for Reformation Sunday 2017.” Check it out, and see if it might be useful to use or adapt for your context or faith community.

Table Grace, a ministry that is part of the Nebraska Synod in Omaha, was recently profiled by Dateline NBC. Check out this great story of ministry in action.

In another awesome story of ministry in action, check out this story featuring a number of my friends in Western Washington, about how “Cyclists raise $13,000 for refugee and immigrant resettlement” in Living Lutheran. 

Cross-Sector Collaboration
My brother Thomas Francis-Siburg reflected on collaborative work and a particular example and experience in, “Community-Focused Betterment: Windhoek, Namibia,” over on the Collaboration Ministries blog.

Also at Collaboration Ministries, my dad David Siburg reflected some in his latest blog ponderings on Ubuntu and organizational capacity development, among other related topics.

Leadership Thought & Practice
Elizabeth Preza writes and shares about leadership in action, in “‘Get out!’: Lt. General rains hell on Air Force Academy after racist messages were left on black cadets’ rooms.” If only we all confronted the evils of racism as directly as this.

Eric Torrence wrote and shared about, “Preventing Panic: How to fight against a feeding frenzy,” including important insights for life and leadership, over at Thin Difference.

Lolly Daskal offered some other insights for life and leadership, highlighting, “12 Ways Successful People Get More Done than the Rest of Us.” Ways include: they create structured to-do lists; they know they don’t have to reinvent the wheel; they break down goals into realistic smaller tasks; they eliminate distractions and stay focused; they look ahead; they invest in their own growth; and they help as many people as they can. Check out the whole list.

Millennials
Jessica Thiefels at Thin Difference shared about “How to Write Your First Business Budget,” good advice for Millennials and everyone really.

Friend and Executive Director/CEO of the Ecumenical Stewardship Center, Marcia Shetler, wrote about “New Rules for Financial Planning,” for Millennials but helpful for everyone really on the COMPASS blog.

Neighbor Love
As I suspect many of you did, I woke up Monday morning to the horrible news out of Las Vegas. In light of this, I agree wholeheartedly with Adam Gopnik’s take, that “In the Wake of the Las Vegas shooting, there can be no truce with the second amendment.” What do you think?

Dale Hansen, a Vietnam veteran and a sportscaster in Dallas, recently gave a powerful and emotional take on President Trump, the Dallas Cowboys and recent protests in the NFL.

Lutheran pastor and blogger Angela Denker was recently interviewed on the “Kneeling Controversy” by CBC News in Canada.

George Clooney recently wrote and shared this “Prayer for Our Country.”

Rev. Lydia Hernandez-Marcial wrote about Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria, the response and needs after it, and hope for rebuilding and recovery afterwards in, “Closed for Remodeling.” Please give this a read and some serious reflection.

In news from Saudi Arabia, it was announced last week that the country of Saudi Arabia now, “Agrees to let women drive.”

My wife Allison shared this story with me by Ashley Hoffman about one school librarian and the First Lady Melania Trump, and a book initiative that may (or may not) have gone awry. What do you think?

Stewardship
Are you preaching this week? If so, here are some stewardship ideas and thoughts to keep in mind, if preaching on the texts from the revised common or narrative lectionaries.

This past weekend I had the joy of preaching on stewardship at Salem Lutheran in Fontanelle, Nebraska. The sermon took up the themes from the revised common lectionary readings, entitled, “‘Turn, then, and live’- an invitation to abundant life & our response to God’s Work & Word.”

The Presbyterian Outlook shared some “Lessons from the Stewardship Kaleidoscope conference: Stewardship as pastoral care,” including friend Adam Copeland.

Adam also shared a look at “Stewarding our Finances,” by David King, and moving and important thoughts on “Stewardship of Life at its End,” by Rev. Dr. Mary Hinkle Shore.

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That will conclude this week’s edition of the links. I hope you have enjoyed them! If you have any ideas for future editions, or types of articles or links you would like to see, please let me know. Thank you for reading and being a part of the conversation. Blessings on your week! -TS

Image Credits: The Links.