Observe July 4th in Church?

Bob Kauflin with a helpful post on this topic. He writes:

In brief, since God’s kingdom is not of this world (Jn. 18:36), we don’t feel any obligation to draw attention to, highlight, or celebrate civil holidays as part of our Sunday gatherings. There are a number of reasons. Our country doesn’t set the agenda and priorities for the meetings of the church – God’s Word does. Also, one country’s celebration may confront another country’s values. For instance you won’t find many Christians in Britain excited about Independence Day. Finally, we gather on Sundays to remember the covenant God has made with us, celebrate the redemption He has provided through His Son, and to encourage one another to live lives worthy of the Gospel. The values celebrated by a particular public holiday may not always line up with those goals.

However, that doesn’t mean we need to completely ignore civil holidays. I asked our resident theologian and my good friend Jeff Purswell for his thoughts, and he wrote:

“If [civil holidays] loom large in the mind of my congregation, I don’t want to draw more attention to it by ignoring it—rather, such occasions become opportunities to help people think Biblically about them and to place them in their proper theological context (e.g., on July 4th: “We’re most grateful for the freedom we have as a nation this day. We’re completely undeserving, and most in the world don’t experience this common grace. However, it should remind us of a greater freedom we have. . .”).”

Jeff comments at the end of the post:

“[Civil holidays] can be real expressions of common grace that enable us to rest, celebrate, and even to do so with a common frame of reference with non-believers. Therefore, I don’t want to be a dour, angry, graceless, ungrateful spiritual snob (e.g., “The 4th of July means NOTHING!!!! This country is under God’s judgment!!! The secular humanists have stolen this nation from the Christian vision of our founding fathers!!!!”).”

Read the whole thing.

Best National Anthem

Happy 4th of July to all those taking your Vitamin Z.

I wanted to give you a little gift today. Just a little somethin' from me to you.

Ever heard Carl Lewis sing the National Anthem? Yes, that Carl Lewis. Track star. Tons of gold medals. I'm sure you remember him.

He might have gotten in a little over his head on this one I think. Granted, the National Anthem is one of the hardest songs to sing, probably ever. If you don't start in the right key, it will be all over for you in a hurry. My hunch is that's what happened here. Seems as though he was a good sport about it.

Just listen. It will bless you.

A Missional 4th of July

Along with Halloween, the 4th of July can be a great time to get to know your neighbors. Most people spend some time outside blowing up things and watching a mini pyro display. Why not choose to be in the front instead of the backyard? Instead of gathering with all your friends exclusively, why not try and make new ones for the sake of the gospel? Or better yet, have your Christian friends over and then all hang out outside in order to demonstrate to your neighbors what Christian community looks like and then seek to incorporate them in.


One of my favorite (not really) 4th of July memories:

One time in high school, I was screwing around with some firecrackers and one went off in my hand. Not cool. My thumb was numb for awhile. I was with a buddy who thought it was ridculiously funny. I didn't. I thought my piano playing days were over. Don't melt your face or blow off your fingers tomorrow night.

Some Frivolous Friday Humor

This is made me laugh out loud.

Biggest Pastoral Mistakes

Another good post from Darryl Dash. I just subscribed to his blog. You might want to as well:

Today I’m posting the biggest mistakes I’ve made as a pastor. On Tuesday I’m going to post what I’ve learned that’s helped me in dealing with some of these mistakes.

Here, in no particular order, are some of my biggest mistakes:

Trendiness – In The Art of Pastoring, David Hansen said that he could trace the progress of the different fads and movements as he looked at his predecessor’s library. It’s easy as pastor to be latching on to new trends in the hope that they will provide what’s lacking within the church. I regret it.

Impatience – I tried to take the long view, but I can recall one occasion in which I grew tired of the process and lashed out at people. Moses did this twice in 40 years with greater cause, and he was punished severely. I regret being impatient.

Shallowness – Pastoring requires theological thinking and reading. There were times that I let the demands of ministry stop me from engaging much below the level of practice.

Isolation – I’m really enjoying leading in community, but for a long time, I tended to keep the struggles of leadership and life to myself. That cost everyone.

Hang Out With People From Different Tribes

I’ve come to realize that it’s really hard not to become part of some kind of subculture. The problem is that many of the clichés become accurate. I’ve noticed lately that it takes someone else to point out my own tribe, because I sometimes don’t even recognize the quirks of my particular group. I don’t mind being idiosyncratic as much as I mind being oblivious.

It’s why I am appreciating my friends who are not part of my subculture. I need to make a point of having lunch with them and enduring their gentle mocking when they see the quirks of my tribe, just as I’ll gently mock them right back.

- Darryl Dash, from his post, Save Me From My Subculture.

Are Violent Video Games Adequately Preparing Children For The Apocalypse?

Some humor here from The Onion.


(HT: Amy)

Blow Up The Bubble

Dietrich Bonhoeffer from"Life Together" quotes Luther:

"The Kingdom is to be in the midst of your enemies. And he who will not suffer this does not want to be of the Kingdom of Christ; he wants to be among friends, to sit among roses and lilies, not with the bad people but the devout people. O you blasphemers and betrayers of Christ! If Christ had done what you are doing who would ever have been spared?" (Martin Luther)

(HT: Carlos)

Technology Could Help Save Lives of Babies

Stunning new technology allows parents to hold a life-size model of their unborn child. Read about it here.

Thinking Theologically About The Movie "Public Enemies"

ThinkChristian.net:

Celebrating criminals as heroes has been a longstanding Hollywood tradition, from 1931’s “The Public Enemy,” in which James Cagney played a Prohibition-era bootlegger, to the recent “Public Enemies,” starring Johnny Depp as famed bank robber John Dillinger.

What struck me as I watched this play out yet again is that it’s a narrative tradition the Bible – one of our earliest narratives – avoids altogether. That’s curious, because the Bible is otherwise full of all sorts of seedy Hollywood elements – sex, violence and so forth. There are scoundrels aplenty in its pages, but most of their stories spend less time on the sordid details of their sins than on their hard-won redemption.

Read the rest.

The Band "Elbow" With Full Choir and Orchestra

There are few things that I can think of that would be cooler than doing what is performed here.

Mohler on Sanford

Al Mohler on the Gov. Sanford situation:

Put simply, Governor Sanford's most recent comments point to a worst-case scenario. His words make clear that his heart is still inclined toward his mistress, and not his wife. With tragic candor, the governor has spoken of trying to fall back in love with his wife. He refers to his mistress, not his wife, as his soul mate, and speaks wistfully of the affair as "a love story at the end of the day."

Governor Sanford may cite King David, and he may even suffer the illusion that his response is similar to that of Israel's King. Nevertheless, the difference is clear. David's adultery was mixed even with murder, but his own acknowledgment of sin came in a flood of contrition, remorse, broken heartedness, and humility. David acknowledged the reality of his sin, expressed his hatred of the sin, and became a model for us all of repentance. Governor Sanford, on the other hand, demonstrates the audacity to speak wistfully of his sin, longingly of his lover, and romantically of his descent into unfaithfulness.

Governor Sanford is no King David, and the people of South Carolina -- as well as the watching world -- now observe the sad spectacle of a man who, while admitting to wrongdoing, shows no genuine repentance. As the Christian church has long recognized, true repentance is reflected in the "detestation of sin." This is a far cry from what we've heard from Governor Sanford.

If the governor is really serious about demonstrating character to his four sons, he should resign his office and give himself unreservedly to his wife and family. He must show his sons -- and all who have eyes to see -- how a man is led by the grace and mercy of God to hate his sin, rather than to love it. Until then, the governor must be understood to indulge himself in wistfulness for his affair and in a desperate determination to maintain his office. His remaining days in office are like a Greek tragedy unfolding into farce. The whole picture is just unspeakably sad.

Getting Kids Ready for Church

Stuff Christians Like with a funny post about getting kids ready for church on a Sunday morning. He writes about his five steps:

For some reason, every kid on the planet is wired to go crazy on Sunday morning. They might have been beacons of joy and helpfulness and flexibility all week, but come Sunday morning they turn into slippery little spider monkeys who are determined to make you late to church.

So what's my secret? How did I become a ninja of Sunday School getting readiness?

Simple, I mastered these 5 steps:

1. The Pre-Game
You know Sunday is coming. It's been in the same spot on the calendar for as long as you’ve been alive, so don't act surprised when your head pops off that pillow and you think, "Oh no, I have to get the kids ready today." Pre-game the night before. Lay out bowls and clothes and shoes. Make sippy cups the night before. (I can't wait to retire the words "sippy cup" and "tinkle" from my vocabulary.) Prepare before the day actually arrives so that you're ready for the storm.

2. Sell it to your kids
One of your biggest jobs as a parent is to play the role of studio audience or laugh track. In the same way that a studio audience will laugh on cue to let viewers at home know it's time to find a particular scene in a show funny, your job is to back up whatever your husband or wife says with raucous enthusiasm. Here's what it looks like in my house:

My wife: "L.E. and McRae, aren't you excited about Sunday School?"
Me (Immediately after she says that): "Yay Sunday School! You'll get to see all your friends and have goldfish and make a craft. Yay!"

Before they have a chance to even think about putting up a wall of resistance I piggyback what my wife has said, adding details, amping up the excitement, laughing on cue if that's what the moment requires.

3. Hustle them to the bathroom like a SWAT team.
I can't prove this, but I think my children have entered into a silent pact with each other to see who can use the bathroom the least amount of times in any given week. Roughly 72% of my creativity/energy at home is expended trying to convince them to use the bathroom. So, to avoid this "no bathroom liberation front" my wife and I try to shuffle our kids to the bathroom as soon as they wake up. Before they can give each other a secret handshake or a head nod and remind each other "viva la revolucion" we've grabbed them right out of bed like a SWAT team and marched them into the bathroom.

4. Distract them with stories.
It took me years to learn this, but if I want to get my kids to do anything, and this is for those rare times when they are refusing to instantly follow my Godly, fatherly advice as the leader of the house, I'll tell them a story. It usually involves an animal. And the plot unfolds as they acquiesce to what I need them to do. For instance, "And do you know what your grandfather did with that bullfrog when he brought it home? Go ahead and take another bite of Cheerios and I'll tell you."

5. Use a series of aerobic moves to get them dressed.
Is it lying if you tell your kids that you want to see how high they can raise their hands in the air just so that you can slip a dress over their head? Is it lying if you made getting on tights a jumping contest in which you bounce them on the couch as high as you can all the while pulling the tights up? Is it lying if you make putting on shoes a fun race? I hope not, because otherwise, I'm a wicked huge liar.

Good Quote

“Perhaps Christians are leaving the church because it isn’t tolerant and open-minded. But perhaps the church-leavers have their own intolerance too—intolerant of tradition, intolerant of authority, intolerant of imperfection except their own. Are you open-minded enough to give the church a chance—a chance for the church to be the church, not a coffee shop, not a mall, not a variety show, not Chuck E. Cheese, not a U2 concert, not a nature walk, but a wonderfully ordinary, blood-bought, Spirit-driven church with pastors, sermons, budgets, hymns, bad carpet and worse coffee?”

-Church: Love It, Don’t Leave It - On Faith at washingtonpost.com

(HT: ADIAPHORA)

Gibbs Gets Grilled

Awkward and funny.



(HT: Jer)

John Piper Is Twitteriffic!

“Boasting is the response of pride to success. Self-pity is the response of pride to failure.”

-John Piper, from his Twitter account

(HT: Andy Naselli)

Risk and Reward

Marketing guru Seth Godin has an interesting post about what he calls risk/reward confusion. He writes:

It's easy to to adopt the policy of avoiding risk at all costs, that whenever possible, the products you launch or the engagements you have should be flawless and without downside.

Here's the problem: in most endeavors, a small increase in risk can double the reward. It's the second doubling of reward that brings serious risk with it. But the first leap is relatively painless.

In the chart above, notice that going from point A to point B brings almost no incremental risk. It might feel scary, but rationally, it's not. Doubling reward again from B to C, though, brings significant incremental risk. It's this second doubling that gets you through the Dip, that leads to a breakthrough, that makes you remarkable.

But I'm not even talking about that. I'm just hoping you'll warm up by making the tiny leap of avoiding all risk. Riskless is hardly worth your effort.

Though we probably don't need to take our cues from the business world, I think this all the more should be true of Christians who should be able to take huge risks for God because we believe in a sovereign God who doesn't.

A New Song You Might Want To Consider For Congregational Use

Christy Nockels, A Mighty Fortress (AmazonMP3 or )

Here are the lyrics:

Our God is, a consuming fire,
A burning holy Flame, with glory and freedom
Our God is, the only righteous judge,
Ruling over us with kindness and wisdom

We will keep our eyes on You
We will keep our eyes on You

A mighty fortress is our God
A sacred refuge is Your Name
Your Kingdom is unshakable
With You forever we will reign

Our God is, jealous for His own
None could comprehend, His love and His mercy
Our God is exalted on His throne
High above the heavens
Forever He’s worthy...

We will keep our eyes on You
We will keep our eyes on You

We will keep our eyes on You
We will keep our eyes on You
So we can set our hearts on You
Lord we will set our hearts on You!

Ok, I'm Officially On The Bandwagon Now

Many blogs I have been reading have been super hyper about this new record from Sojourn church. I have check out the samples on their Facebook page and I concur. It's great. Cool production, great melodies, sound theology, and very imaginative. The guitar solo on the first song is about enough to make me want to scoot my chair back from my desk and get my schwerve on in my office. It doesn't sound like a Christian record that was produced in Nashville and for some, that is a really good thing.

You can't download the MP3 anywhere yet, but you can order the CD from Sojourn. Check out the clips on the Facebook page or Myspace and when it comes out I'm sure I'll alert you.

Free Audio Book: Crazy Love by Francis Chan

Carlos Griego:

One of the best books I have read is Francis Chan's "Crazy Love". It is one of the first books I recommend to people who want to understand more about the Gospel and its' implications on a believer's life.

Christianaudio.com is for the month of July offering the Audiobook version for free. I cannot tell you how highly I recommend downloading this and listening to it.

Click Here to go download this Audiobook and also sign up for thier newsletter, as they offer a free audiobook every month and usually the books are really legit.

Click Here for more on "Crazy Love".

Another Perspective on "Calling"

J.D. Graeer:

So, let me say it clearly: I DON’T THINK YOU NEED TO BE ‘CALLED’ TO GO OVERSEAS. No more than I think you need to be “called” to live missionally wherever you are. I don’t think you have to wait until God spells out “Africa” in your Cheerios one morning. I think you, as a disciple, have to ask, “How can my talents best be used in God’s mission all over the world?” If the answer is that you can be part of an overseas community-building, Jesus-preaching project, don’t wait for a “calling”. Pack your bags.

Instead of “calling,” maybe what we should be looking for from God is GUIDANCE. Maybe our prayer should go like this: “God, you did not give your talents to me for me, simply to live where I want to live and make a ton of money to live luxuriously. My talents are yours—dedicated to doing all I can to extend the message of your Kingdom all over the world. Guide me in seeing where I can be most beneficial on earth.” If you’re not willing to pray that prayer and obey what God tells you out of it, then you’re not really a disciple of Jesus.

Read the rest.

Kevin DeYoung's new book, Just Do Something, speaks to this issue as well. I have found great freedom in recent days from thinking along these lines. I am not paralyzed anymore by waiting for God to write things in the sky for me (though he could if he wanted to, but rarely does). This is no excuse for being cavalier with decision-making, but the vast majority of us rarely will err on that side. Stay close to God's word and then act by faith!

On Reading To Your Kids (And Yourself!)

“A good vocabulary is not acquired by reading books written according to some notion of the vocabulary of one’s age-group. It comes from reading books above one."

- The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, cited in Roverandom, xvi.

This is why I love it when reading to my kids they often stop me to ask for definitions of words.

(HT: Ray Van Neste)

AmazonMP3 Daily Deal

AmazonMP3 is running a new 50 Records for $5 Each special for the month of July. Head over and check it out.

Here would be some of my recommendations:

Coldplay - Parachutes - (personally my favorite record of theirs)

Harry Connick Jr. - Blue Light, Red Light

The Verve - Forth

Ray Charles - Ray Sings, Basie Swings

Ideas Have Consequences and Words Do Too

Joe Carter:

When you stop to consider the differences between such phrases as “methods of procreation” and “reproductive technology” it begins to become clear why social conservatives are losing ground in the fight to preserve the concept of human dignity. Any attempt to argue that embryonic human life is deserving of a particular moral status is undercut when we are using such phrases as ‘blastocysts produced by the technological advances of in vitro fertilization.” The language of the factory and of human dignity is as incompatible as would be the interchangeability of machine and life. Such degradation of language only leads to linguistic confusion and muddy thinking.

We are, of course, aware of the inherent power—particularly the political power—of words. For decades, both sides of the culture war over have abortion have attempted to ensure that their preferred terms— pro-life, abortion rights, etc.—seep into the media’s vernacular. While they are certainly overvalued, these words still retain their political usefulness as the struggle over their usages attest. But we cannot stop there. The preservation of human dignity requires us to fight for the hearts and souls of our fellow man and in order to do so, we must first reclaim the linguistic high ground. As the Southern conservative Richard Weaver famously expressed, ideas have consequences. If we are to have a significant impact on our culture we would do well to recognize that words have consequences too.

This is why it is always very important when having a discussion about abortion with someone who is pro-choice to have them articulate for you exactly what abortion is and does. They won't want to name it. Does this not demonstrate a problem?

(HT: Jill Stanek)

A Discussion About Musical Preferences

Over at the Boundless blog there is an interesting conversation going on about musical preferences, styles, and what constitutes "good" music. Ted Slater's blog post initiated the discussion. He writes:

I had a conversation with someone earlier this week who was condemning the music of today's Christian artists because it's "loud" and "rhythmic" and "extreme." Such music, because it may provoke a physical response, he dismissed as "sexual." His judgment reminded me of Michal, King David's wife, who mocked her husband for the "vulgar" way he was "leaping and dancing before the LORD." God's judgment against her? Barrenness.

I'm learning not to be so quick to write something off as ungodly simply because it's not my preference. After all, the Lord's ways are not like my ways. And where Scripture doesn't express a clear judgment, perhaps I should be slow to express mine. At least in the realm of music.

Read the rest and check out the comments.

If you want to read my take on some of these issues you might want to read this series I did a few months back in reference to the book, "Can We Rock The Gospel?".

Getting Ready for the Pump & Run

In 11 days, when we are back in Iowa visiting family, I am going to participate in a race called, The Pump & Run. In this race you bench press your weight as many times as you can and then run a 5K (women bench 70% of their weight).

I did this race 5 years ago and had a great time. I worked hard at my training and did relatively well. This year I want to beat my marks from 5 years ago. This is proving to be quite a daunting challenge, but I am almost there.

Things I am learning:

1. I am not 18 anymore.

2. Running at 5,000 ft here in Albuquerque is tough. I never seem to get in shape. (Since the race will be at about 500 feet, this should prove to be a blessing).

3. My body needs more rest that I want to admit.

4. Having good shoes is a must, especially when you are old, crusty and brittle like me.

5. I hate spending $100 on good shoes. Necessary evil.

6. I am way more prone to injury than I used to be.

7. I have a hard time admitting that I can't do things like I used to when I was 18.

8. Running a fast 5K basically is an exercise in how much pain you can tolerate. I hate pain.

9. I find myself wondering where the point is in my life when it won't matter how hard I train, you can't keep up with former standards. I can't admit that I am there yet.

10. Seeing a theme of me needing to admit things to myself? Yeah, me too. Working at getting over it.

11. I am thankful that God gives the sustaining ability to do anything physical at all, let alone exercise.

12. The reality that I am not 18 anymore is a good reminder that one day I'll be (God willing) 73 and wishing I could go back to the physical abilities of being 33.

13. One day, physical degradation will not be a concern. I long for and look forward to that day.

Civility and Tolerance

"The right to believe anything is freedom of conscience; but the idea that anything anyone believes is right is just plain nonsense. Civility means I engage with them persuasively, but civility does not mean a false tolerance where anything goes."

- Os Guinness, The Case for Civility

(HT: STR.org)

How To Start And Orphan Ministry In Your Church

Dan Cruver highlight a very helpful article from Saddleback Church on starting local church orphan ministries. Check it out.

After we made our proposal here at the church where I work, many of you asked me how we went about it. If any of you out there are still interested in pursuing this at your local church just let me know if there is any way I can help. The above link would be a great place to start as well.

AmazonMP3 Daily Deal

New record from Moby

Wait For Me
by Moby

Price:

$3.99

Religion Saves And Nine Other Misconceptions

Mark Driscoll's new book, Religion Saves: And Nine Other Misconceptions, is now avaliable for order.

To see the sermons that this book was based on, and download a free chapter, click here.

I listened to most of these and found them to be very profitable.