Best of 2006

Relevant Magazine posts their best in Movies, Music and TV for 2006. You can read about it here.

Movies:
1)United 93
2) Marie Antoinette
3) The Departed
4) The Queen
5) Half Nelson
6) L’Enfant
7) The Proposition
8) Old Joy 9) Sophie Scholl: The Final Days
10) Manderlay

Music:
1) Cat Power, The Greatest
2) Ron Sexsmith, Time Being
3) Neko Case, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
4) Sufjan Stevens, The Avalanche
5) Joanna Newsom, Ys
6) Beirut, Gulag Orkestar
7) Josh Ritter, The Animal Years
8) Camera Obscura, Let’s Get Out of This Country
9) Half-handed Cloud, Halos and Lassos
10) The Dears, Gang of Losers

TV:
1) Friday Night Lights
2) Arrested Development finale (February 10)
3) The month of March on CBS
4) Alec Baldwin on 30 Rock
5) Britney Spears interview with Matt Lauer on Dateline (June 13)
6) Season 2 finale on Lost (May 24)
7) Amy Poehler’s Nancy Grace on SNL
8) Luciano Pavarotti on the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony (February 10)
9) HBO’s Tsunami: The Aftermath (miniseries)
10) Natalie Portman’s angry “digital short” rap on SNL (March 4)

iTunes Greatest Hits Collections

iTunes is currently offering some greatest hits collections for $7.99. I have already greatly surpassed by iTunes budget for the month (don't tell my wife...she doesn't read my blog) but a couple of these (my "must have's" would be Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Tears for Fears, Queen and Journey) are a must for any music lover. I may be forced into purchasing them. Don't tell Kim or Dave Ramsey...

Oh Gravity!

Switchfoot's new record has been released. I don't have it yet, but I hear that it's really good. You can find it here.

Here is a review from ChristianityToday.com.

I just got done listening through to all the 30 second clips on iTunes and I can definitely say that this record will soon be in my possession. Seems much stronger than their last release and a very close second to "The Beautiful Letdown".

Review of "When the Darkness Will Not Lift"

Tall Skinny Kiwi has a great review of John Piper's new book, When the Darkness Will Not Lift. He says,

I started it with a hot bath and finished when the water temperature had turned a pleasant warm. Its short and concise and almost not big enough to be a book. But then, who wants to read lots of waffly stories when one is depressed??? And who wants to hand an encyclopedia to a friend who probably does not like to read and will never finish the dang book anyway?

The book is an excellent read and is not a time waster. John Piper shows why he is a perennial favorite across the spectrum of the evangelical world and one of the most referenced pastor/writers in the blogosphere [40+ mentions a day] . .. despite not having his own blog.

Selling Jesus

Internet Monk has posted an interesting essay on Christian consumerism and marketing. I think it might be a bit black and white for my tastes, but I think it's worth the read. He says,

Get yourself and your families out of this mess. Look at what’s happening and say NO to it. Pastors: Talk to your people about books worth reading. Get your sermons from the Bible, not some marketer. Critique the fads. Most of all, present the savior and the call to follow him. Tell Lifeway to take their next marketing ploy to the shredder. Resist the remaking of the Christian faith into buying stuff, wearing stuff, going to stuff, doing programs and spending money. Remake your Christian experience this year into something that’s not just another fad. Get angry if you need to, or just quietly say “I’m not part of this anymore.” Get off the train and walk. Wave at the sheep on their way to the next sheep convention to get a sheep shirt and a bag of sheep books.

Leaving The Church

Brant Hansen at Letters from Kamp Krusty has been writing lately about his decision to leave his local church and start a new home church of sorts. I have appreciated his honesty as he has chronicled his framework of thought concerning his decision to leave. You can read his post here which I think shows some of his best writing on why his is doing what he is doing.

I as read what he has written I would boil it down to this: He is leaving because the church is full of people who are sinners. Church leaders have made dumb decisions and our current form is full of trapping that have gotten us way off course. I'm sure he would qualify this statement much more thoroughly, but at it's essence I believe that is what is boils down to. Thus the question for him becomes, since we are all sinners, doesn't it follow that the new form of "house church" that he has chosen to embrace will soon fall to the same fate of sin infected people trying to figure out how to do church best? Sin is the issue. It is something that we have to constantly rage against and declare war on, but this side of heaven it is something that will never be defeated in whole.

Is there somehow an assumption on his part that one can create a certain type of church utopia? There are certain people you are going to go on vacation with and there are certain people you are not going to go on vacation with, just like there are certain churches where you fit in and certain churches where you will not. I get this. But is there a type of form idolotry going on here? If we all could just choose to follow this certain type of church form, namely, informal house meetings, then we would all be better off? I'm not saying that this is what he is saying, but I am just wondering if it is the case. If the answer is yes, then I would say that the focus is wrong, form is never the issue. People are always the issue and people will always be sinners this side of heaven. We don't have a church problem, we have a sin-infected people problem. People make up the church, forms of church don't make the church. Thank you Jesus for the gospel.

I know that I don't know his situation very well so I could totally be missing the point, but these are my initial reactions. I would encourage you to read his post and judge for yourself whether my question here is valid. I think we all would be well served to wrestle with the issues he raises.

Carson on Compatibilism

If you read this blog you know that I have been spending some time recently reading D.A. Carson’s book entitled, “How Long O Lord – Reflections on Suffering and Evil”. If you have not read it, I would highly recommend it. As Dr. Carson says many times in this work, being prepared before your day of calamity is a prudent decision, for your day of calamity will certainly come in one way or another. I find his treatment of the issues to be extremely practical and pastoral without skirting or minimizing the tougher theological knots that can be associated with these issues.

I have found chapter 10, “The Mystery of Providence” to be most helpful in terms of my own thinking and want to share some highlights with you here.

He starts by saying,

The issues to be dealt with in this chapter are sufficiently difficult and contentious that Christians often disagree over them. You must make up your own mind. My only suggestion is that as you make up your mind, you try to distinguish the biblical “givens” from the arguments often used to filter them.

The basic framework of this chapter is built around what Dr. Carson calls, compatibilism which he defines as follows: 1) God is absolutely sovereign but not in such a way as to minimize human freedom, and 2) that humans are completely morally responsible but not in such a way as to make God contingent upon them.

He then makes this important disclaimer,

I hasten to insist that this is not an imposition of a certain philosophical grid onto biblical texts. That both of these propositions are true is based on an inductive reading of countless texts in the Bible itself, as we shall see.

He then goes on to comment briefly on numerous Biblical texts that show compatibilism. They are: Genesis 50:19-20, Lev. 20:7-8, I Kings 8:46, Isaiah 10:5, John 6:37-40, Acts 18: 9-10, Phil 2:12-13, and Acts 4:23-31. This final text in Acts speaks of compatibilism in relation to the cross of Jesus. Carson says:

It only takes a moments reflection to show that, if the Christian gospel is true, this tension could not have been otherwise. If the initiative had been entirely with the conspirators, and God simply came in at the last minute to wrest triumph from the jaws of impending defeat, then the cross was not his plan, his purpose, the very reason why he had sent his Son into the world-and that is unthinkable. If on the other hand God was so orchestrating events that all the human agents were nonresponsible puppets, then it is foolishness to talk of conspiracy, or even of sin-in which case there is no sin for Christ to remove by his death, so why should be have to die? God was sovereignly at work in the death of Jesus; humans beings were evil in putting Jesus to death, even as they accomplished the Father’s will; and God himself was entirely good.

Christians who may deny compatibilism on front after front become compatibilists (knowing or otherwise) when they think about the cross. There is no alternative, except to deny the faith. And if we are prepared to be compatibilists when we think about the cross-that is, to accept both of the propositions I set out at the head of this chapter as true, as they are applied to the cross-it is only a very small step to understanding that compatibilism is taught or presupposed everywhere in the Bible.

I find that in almost every sphere of human life, those are the most advanced are usually the ones who go about their craft the most humbly. Those who are the most insecure are usually those who are appear the most proud and sure of themselves. With that in mind it was refreshing to read Dr. Carson (who in my opinion is one of the most brilliant thinkers of our day) sum up like this,

So I am driven to see not only that compatibilsim is itself taught in the Bible, but that it is tied to the very nature of God; and on the other hand, I am driven to see that my ignorance about many aspects of God's nature is precisely that same ignorance that instructs me not to follow the whims of many contemporary philosophers and deny that compatibilism is possible. The mystery of providence is in the first instance not located in debates about decrees, free will, the place of Satan, and the like. It is located in the doctrine of God.

Religious World History

Here is an interesting interactive map that will give you a brief history of religious world expansion in 90 seconds.

(HT: Relevintage)

Scary Pope

It is just me, or does this pic look very frightening to you in sort of a horror movie type way?

Best of 2006

Internet Monk shares his top ten websites of 2006.

Benn Hinn On The Loose!

The Pursuit of Happyness

Internet Monk has a great review of the new Will Smith movie, "The Pursuit of Happyness". Sounds like it will be a good one to check out.

Moral Ambiguity?

The modern mood enjoys novels and plays where the rights and wrongs get confused, where every decision is a mixture of right and wrong, truth and error, where heroes and antiheroes reverse their roles. Why this infatuation with ambiguity? It is regarded as more mature. Clear-cut answers are written off as immature. The pluralism of our age delights in moral ambiguity - but only as long as it costs nothing. Devotion to contemporary moral ambiguity is extraordinarily self-centered. It demands freedom from God so that it can do whatever it wants. But when the suffering starts, the same self-centered focus on MY world and MY interests, rather ironically, wants God to provide answers of sparkling clarity.

-D.A. Carson, from How Long O Lord - Reflections on Suffering and Evil, page 154.

Certainly we can't say that this is no moral ambiguity at all in the universe. I'm sure Dr. Carson would grant this, but where God has revealed his will in his Word we do well to seek the blessing of obedience.

Spurgeon on the Incarnation

Infinite, and an infant. Eternal, and yet born of a woman. Almighty, and yet hanging on a woman's breast. Supporting a universe, and yet needing to be carried in a mother's arms. King of angels, and yet the reputed son of Joseph. Heir of all things, and yet the carpenter's despised son.

-Charles Spurgeon

(HT: Joshua Harris)

Broken Worship

Pastor Scotty Smith has some good thoughts on "broken worship". He says:

Are you a "true worshiper" or someone who simply likes "great worship?"

Is it God you worship or the experience of worship that you worship? How can you know the difference? When it comes to worship, do you have a consuming passion (a need to be fulfilled) or one consummate passion (a commitment to be poured out for the glory of Jesus)? Has worship become merely the musical/liturgical equivalent of your favorite ice cream, cut of meat, or Starbuck's coffee?

What your particular "broken cistens," your idols--the things and people that you rely on for life, fulfillment, and salvation? Your wallet? Boyfriend? Children? Computer? Refrigerator? Self-righteousness? Wounds? Ministry? Athletic prowess? Parents' approval? Sexual addition? Drugs?

Come to Jesus today, like the Samaritan woman and those who believed her story. Where else is there to go? "The Spirit and her Bride say, 'Come.' And let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price" (Revelation 22:17).

Mohler on "After Jesus"

Big Al comments on the CNN special that I drew your attention to a few posts below.

12 Trends in Christianity from 2006

Barna.org just issued a report on the 12 most significant religious findings from 2006.

A Praying Mantis and The Proverbial Harlot

Our teaching pastor, Ryan Kelly, just passed this along to the guys on staff. It is well worth your read:

What Annie Dillard says of the Female Praying Mantis:

“…the female [praying mantis] will mate with and devour up to seven males, whether she has laid her egg cases or not. The mating rites of mantises are well known: a chemical produced in the head of he male insect says, in effect, ‘No, don’t go near her, you fool, she’ll eat you alive.’ At the same time a chemical in his abdomen says, ‘Yes, by all means, now and forever yes.’

“While the male is making up what passes for his mind, the female tips the balance in her favor by eating his head. He mounts her. Fabre describes the mating, which sometimes lasts for six hours, as follows: “The male, absorbed in the performance of his vital functions, holds the female in a tight embrace. But the wretch has no head; he has no neck; he has hardly a body. The other, with her muzzle turned over her shoulder continues very placidly to gnaw what remains of the gentle swain. And, all the time, that masculine stump, holding on firmly, goes on with the business! … I have seen it done with my own eyes and have not yet recovered from my astonishment.”

[Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (1974), pp. 57-58]

What Proverbs says of the Harlot:

Proverbs 6:25-28 - Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes, 26 for the harlot reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life. 27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? 28 Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched?

Proverbs 7:21-23 - With persuasive words she led him astray; she seduced him with her smooth talk. 22 All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose 23 till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life.

Proverbs 7:26-27 - Many are the victims she has brought down; her slain are a mighty throng. 27 Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death.

(HT: Fire and Knowledge)

The Holiday Sweater

If you are bored in your cubicle, then you might want to spend sometime at this site to burn down some of those monotonous minutes.

Carson on "Victorious Living"

Every time I turn on TBN (yes I have watched it in the past) it seems there is some dude on there yelling at me about my potential. "Success theology" is what I call it. All you have to do is have huge faith and victory will be yours! I believe greatly that we are "more than conquerers" in Jesus but not in the way that these guys talk about it. The context of that verse in Romans 8 show us that Paul was not talking about worldly success, but ability to "conquer" those who seek to destroy the body through persecution but then can do nothing else. Conquering means that we are victorious beyond this life and our true reward can never be taken away. In short, I believe that Jesus leads us to be successful, but not in the way they define it.

Speaking of this sort of "success theology", after giving some extended positive comments about his ministry, D.A. Carson notes this in reference to John Wimber, a former leader in the Vineyard Movement:

He has tried to establish a theology of healing and power encounter without a theology of suffering; he has a theology of victory without an adequate theology of the cross; he has a theology of life without proper reflection on the place of death. He sees the triumph of the kingdom when sickness is overthrown, and cannot see the triumph of the kingdom when people are transformed in the midst of sickness. He discusses God's power, but rarely wrestles with God's predilection for displaying his power in the context of continuing weakness. He encourages triumphant faith, but does not establish a broad enough grid to show that triumphant faith may be exactly what is displayed where there is raw perseverance in the face of incredible suffering. He rightly sees that sin and suffering are intrinsically evil, but he nowhere thinks through how a sovereign God in some way stands behind them, even on occasion using them as instruments of needed discipline. In short Wimber's framework is not big enough.

From, How Long O Lord? - Reflections on Suffering and Evil, pages 110,111.

The Church You Know

Funny parodies of NBC's, "The More You Know" commercials entitled, "The Church You Know" can be found here.

(HT: Kevin Cawley)

Tragic Story

Dr. Anthony Bradley reports on this horrible story of a young man who was abused by his parents and then murdered his mother. In light of the account, he makes the following suggestion that I found rather compelling (but not sure how I feel about yet):

Since pain is the meta-narrative for high school students today, I'm becoming more convinced that a church should not higher a youth pastor that does not have at least a counseling degree and has the authority with the other pastoral staff to rebuke bad parents.

I'm sure much could be said to qualify his statement here, but as least we get the point of what he is saying. Kids today are more troubled than ever and they need some sort of means by which to deal with it. May the church be the church that lays down it's lives for the broken and rejected. My suburban brain has a hard time coming to terms with this challenge at times. Praying for grace...

Transformers

When I was a kid playing with Transformers was quite the rage. When I heard they were coming out with a movie based on the same concept I thought, "That sounds pretty dumb". Then I saw the trailer. Wow. Looks pretty intense.

CNN and the Early Church

Here is cool website from CCN.com promoting a new show coming out on Dec 20th about early Christians.

Readware

For all you book dorks and CD collectors... You might want to check out this software for cataloging your library, especially if you loan a lot of them out.

All you need is the software and a barcode scanner, which you can buy very cheaply and easily on Ebay.

(HT: Scooter)

GFA Testimony

Here is an amazing story of conversion from Gospel for Asia:

The 105-year-old man stood before his fellow villagers. The people respected the elderly man and stood at rapt attention, waiting to hear what he had to say. As the words began to tumble out of his mouth, the people knew something was drastically different.

Read the rest here.

Keith Green Documentary

You can watch an interesting documentary on the life of Keith Green in a 7 part series from youtube.com. You can find it here.

Christmas Without You

Shaun Groves reports on a Christmas song that he wrote for The Backstreet Boys. Pretty funny story and even funnier song. I might have to use the song in our Christmas Eve service, only if I can bring back the headset microphone that I used in the late 90's.

Weirdest People On Earth

Here is a list of the worlds ten weirdest people. I know, I know, your neighbor that gets the mail in his underwear has to on the list... He is not. Check it out. Pretty wild stuff.

(HT: Evangelical Outpost)

NBA Commissioner Drops the Hammer!

Great to see David Stern handing out tough penalties for thug behavior in the NBA. In case you missed the brawl at the end of the Knicks/Nuggets game the other night, here it is:

The Worst in Christmas Marketing

This is just plain sick and wrong.

(HT: Kedron)

20 Days Without Your Computer

The thought of spending 20 days without my computer is about enough to make me vomit on myself. (That's a statement of hyperbole, for those of you wondering...) This guy actually did it and reported on it on it here. Pretty interesting. And all of us blog dorks better take heed!

Favorite quote:

Jack (his son) asks when the computer will be available again. "In a couple of weeks," I tell him. Instead of playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 and cruising skateboarding-magazine sites for video clips, he actually skateboards and reads.

(HT: The Smirking Assassin)

Great Questions

1. Ever wonder about those people who spend $2.00 apiece on those little bottles of Evian water? Try spelling Evian backwards: NAIVE

2. Isn't making a smoking section in a restaurant like making a peeing section in a swimming pool?

3. If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked, and dry cleaners depressed?

4. Do Lipton Tea employees take coffee breaks?

5. What hair color do they put on the driver's licenses of bald men?

(HT: Scooter)

Worship Mad Libs

As a kid, my sister and frequently passed the time on the long road trips in the bright yellow Mazda GLC doing Mad Libs. Remember those? If you are over 20 you probably do. Anyway someone as come up with an amazing way to write worship songs using Mad Libs. Sadly many songs actually sound like they were created this way. Check it out. Grace, face, in this place, more of you, less of me, rivers rushing, sing, king, shadow of your wings....etc, etc, etc.

(HT: Relevintage)

This May Be Interesting For You

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 19 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

How Long O Lord?

Suffering is as practical and throughly Biblical concept that any Christian can conceive of. This is because we worship a crucified savior (theological) and if on has lived for any extended time on this earth we know that suffering will come our way sooner or later (practical). As my Dad often reminds me, "None of us are getting out of here alive".

For a seminary class I am currently taking entitled, Sickness and Suffering, we are required to read D. A. Carson's book, "How Long O Lord - Reflections on Suffering and Evil". If you have not read it I strongly encourage you to purchase it and spend some focused time absorbing it's content. One of his initial points is that we are far better suited to endure in our darkest days when we are prepared theologically, than when the Lord's hand is heavy upon us and we scarcely can recall what the Bible says about suffering and evil.

One of the most striking sections for me to read was from chapter 5, entitled, The Suffering People of God. Toward the end, he turns to address the unique call of suffering upon the Christian leader. As I have recently stepped back into a position of leadership in the local church, his thought here were particularly sobering. I'll quote him at length as it is so rich:

What we find is that there is a theological tie between suffering and Christian leadership. In fact at least three connections are discernible. The first is not peculiar to the New Testament, but is common to both Testaments. It is simply a particular manifestation of what was discussed in the first section of this chapter: suffering tempers believers and is part of God's discipline. Whether we think of Moses' banishment for forty years to the back side of the desrt, or of Paul's exhortation to Timothy to endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, the assumption is the same: if God disciplines all his children, then the leaders of those children must not expect any less, and can frequently count on a litle more. Many a great preacher has suffered prolonged affliction, doubltess part of the Lord's merciful tempering of character. C. H. Spurgeon, for instance, in addition to various chronic ailments, fought deep bouts of depression all his life.

The second link turns on the fact that agggressive witness in an opposing world is likely to bring down peculiar pressures on those who lead the church in such witness. Under dictatorial regimes, pastors and evalngelists are the ones most frequently incarcerated and killed. To read Paul's list of suffering in 2 Cor. 11:23 reminds us of this point. According to tradition, eleven of the twelve apostles were martyred. Genuine Christian leaders do not lead from the rear.

The third link is more remarkable yet. The most mature Christian leaders want to absorb an additional share of sufferings so that their flocks may correspondingly be spared some suffering. In this, they imitate Christ. "I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's affliction, for the sake of his body, which is the church" (Col 1:24). Elsewhere Paul writes: "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abondoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for the Jesus' sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you"(2 Cor. 4:8-12).

Now the connections are clearer. The more the leaders are afflicted with weakness, suffering, perplexity, and persecution, the more it is eveident that their vitality is nothing other than the life of Jesus. This has enormously positive spiritual effects on the rest of the church. The leader 's death means the church's life. This is why the best Christian leadership cannot simply be appointed. It is forged by God himself in the fires of suffering, taught in the school of tears. There are not shortcuts. (pages 80,81)

Lutheran Advent Calendar

I was raised Lutheran, so I can poke fun.

(HT: The Riddleblog, The Anonymous Commenter, aka, Ryan Kelly)

"24" for Santa

If you are a fan of the show, "24", you will like this spoof of it for Christmas time.

Best Movies of 2006

Rollingstone.com reports on what they view to be the best movies of 2006.

What do I do when people are being censorious with me?

Mark Lauterbach says in part 4 of his series:

First, I have to begin with suspicion of my own heart. Why do I think I know myself better than they do? Why do I think I must vindicate myself? Why is their harsh jusgment so troubling to me when I have already stood before the bar of God and been declared righteous. If their harsh judgments are that troubling to me, then it says I am probably looking for my justification somewhere other than before God. Jesus lived under this reality -- he was always judged harshly. Yet, he walked in peace through it all because he lived to please God, not men. Their judgments of me are a gift to see how I can more fully rest in Christ!

Second, I have to deal with the temptation to judge them censoriously. How easy it is to think I am above censoriousness. I can censoriously judge those who judge me! I can refuse to associate with them. OK, there are certain types of Christians whom I will see in heaven, but I would rather never associate with on earth! My heart despises them. I see them as harsh and rigid and mean-spirited and critical. I can smell them all a mile away -- and all of what I have written so far tells me about my heart, not theirs!

Third, I think it is a discipline of grace to think non-censorious thoughts of my critics -- to pray for grace to increase in them -- to realize that were I from their background and experience and had faced their life, I would be more censorious than they! I need to deliberately make a list of their names and think about what I see of grace in them and even tell them! I need to serve them.

Fourth, when all that is done, there may be a place to speak into their lives. My impression is we must be very clever at this as my censorious heart is rooted in pride and pride means I do not think I have a sin problem here! I am blind. How do I help the blind to see? With wise words that skirt around their pride. This takes prayer and reflection and fasting! It also takes courage as censorious people are not very easy to get close to! It is sort of like hanging out with an auditor from the IRS.

I arrived to see a large python head peering out of the toilet bowl

I think I would lose my mind if this ever happened to me.

Godmen and Cuddley Jesus

Mary Angelita Ruiz writes in First Things about how both trends in evangelicalism (warm fuzzy Jesus and the opposite, Mean and Wild Jesus) are symptoms of a disease which is the need to create Jesus into who we want and need him to be. She says :

[The Godmen movement is] mockable—and yet all such movements are trying to react against the bad and seek the good. The Jesus Mean and Wild men are confronting a serious problem. Many Christians are frustrated by the Christianity presented to them: too polite, too sunny, too nice to help them in their struggles. GodMen uses the straight-talking, guns-blazing atmosphere of its meetings to help its participants deal with sexual temptation and sin.

The aim of meditating on Christ is to know him and love him—all of him: the judge, the spouse, the brother, the child, the friend, the king, the shepherd. The aim of imitating Christ is to become like him. There are no shortcuts. Slogans, self-help books, rallies, makeovers—these will not substitute for worship of Christ, not as we might like him to be, but as he is.

Read the whole thing here.

(HT: Think Christian)

Censorious Thoughts - Part 3

Mark Lauterbach says:

As a young man I was so proud that I saw nothing my elders did that was not worthy of criticism -- they were not biblical enough, radical enough, clear enough, firm enough. Or they were too clear, too certain, not faithful to the text, too dogmatic. There was not one area of church life I did not grasp so perfectly (after 3 years of study) that I could not pronounce on it! That is something worse than pride. The fact that I was far more aware of sin than of grace speaks of that pride.

I have some pet peeves and these are areas of pride as well. I can smell fundamentalism from a hundred yards and when I do, all the critical faculties of my mind are stirred and I go after it tooth and nail. So I proudly critique the proud critques of others!

How unlike my Lord I am. First, he is omniscient so he has no need to conjecture. Second, he looked with hope on his disciples and saw what he was doing in them and would continue to do. How full of encouragement the NT is. The Gospel filter enables me to see others with hope for what God will do in their lives and with amazement at grace that is already present.

Minus The Bear

Most of you probably have not heard of Minus The Bear yet. You need to check them out.

1. Great vibey vocals (reminiscent of a cross between Ben Folds and Don Chaffer of Waterdeep)
2. Really cool guitar parts and tones
3. Very cool production and programming
4. Killer infectious grooves

I would classify this as arty pop. You won't hear it on the radio (that is probably a good thing) but I think it is still very accessible to those of you who still listen to Brittney. I just purchased their latest release "Menos El Oso" and I can't stop listening to it.

Gift Exchange

Today at the church where I work, we are having our Christmas gift exchange for the staff. In typical male fashion, I still don't have my present bought yet. In the past I have done all my Christmas shopping on the 23rd. Right after staff meeting I will be hitting the road...

In keeping with this theme if you are an iTunes user and have not seen the staff gift exchange from the The Office. You HAVE to check it out. One of the best episodes ever. You can get it here.

Before the Music Dies

I can already tell by watching the trailer that this movie is probably going to be my favorite movie of all time.

Someone Stole My Drugs!

Dumbest criminal ever:

WICHITA, Kan. - A Wichita man called 911 to report he was the victim of an armed robbery. The theft? A pound of marijuana worth about $1,100 that he had been trying to sell at his home.

The victim told police Thursday that a buyer had pulled out a sawed-off shotgun and stole the drugs.

Police brought in a drug-sniffing dog to the house and located more marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

The victim was booked into Sedgwick County jail on several charges, including possession with the intent to sell drug.

The thief has not been found.

(HT: Relevant Mag)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061212/ap_on_fe_st/stolen_drugs

MuteMath on Jimmy Kimmel Live

These guys are freaks. Unbelievable. They are currently posed for musical world domination.

Lauterbach on "coolness"

Mark asks a tough question...

Here is where I am applying this. How powerful a pull does my heart find in the elements of style and beauty? Why do I enjoy certain decor? Do I choose places to eat and cars to drive and interior design because it is a statement about me?

Read the whole post. It's great for us to think through.

Apocalypto

Read Christianity Todays's review of Mel Gibson's latest film, Apocalypto. The review concludes by saying:

Gibson, as usual, finds himself in the middle; he is a sadist who rubs our faces in cinematic violence, and he is also a masochist who figures the best way to deal with the violence he sees in the world is to accept it and absorb it somehow. But where The Passion gave his admirers an easy out—between Jesus taking the pain and his enemies inflicting it, we side with the pain-taking, no question—Apocalypto is harder to pin down. One man, who is clearly meant to be a role model of sorts, faces his own death with incredible resolve, betraying no emotion and barely any suffering. But Jaguar Paw must fight back, at least to save his family, so the film takes a few steps back to the revenge-seeking ways of Braveheart and other Gibson flicks.

It will be interesting to see what Christian movie buffs in particular make of this film. When The Passion came out, there was much speculation that Gibson had become "one of us," and there were many requests for Gibson to follow it up with a movie about the Maccabean revolt, Saint Francis, or any of a number of other biblical and religious subjects. Instead, with a budget rumoured to be over $70 million—much of it amassed from The Passion's profits—Gibson has made a bloody flick about death and social decay in a pagan culture, and he hints ever so obliquely that the world has not fared any better under we Christians. After watching Apocalypto, some people may find they cannot watch The Passion the way they used to.

Mohler on GodMen

Al Mohler pulls not punches in talking about the post directly below concerning GodMen. He says:

Christian manhood is not about beating chests and celebrating testosterone -- it is about showing up and doing what real Christian men do. Real manhood is demonstrated in the fulfillment of a man's assigned roles as husband, father, leader, servant, teacher, protector, and provider. Real manhood is in doing what men do, not endless talk about how great it is to be a man. Real Christian manhood is evident in taking up leadership in the home and in the church, not in crude and facile talk about Jesus using profanity when he called Herod "that fox."

In other words, real Christian men are those who have grown up to be men, not those who embarrass the church and confuse the Gospel with displays of adolescent misbehavior. Let's hope this movement grows up before it blows up.

Read the rest here.

GodMen

In light of my earlier post today on "Jesus is my Lover" I think this might be a bit of an over reaction. I don't know much about it but you can check out their website here.

My Favorite Christmas Records

"A Charlie Brown Christmas" - The Vince Guaraldi Trio
Holy Night - Kevin Max
Christmas - Michael W. Smith
When My Heart Finds Christmas - Harry Connick Jr.

What are yours?

Jesus is my Lover

Writing for Christianity Today, Agnieszka Tennant, writes an interesting article about our use of erotic language in describing our relationship to Jesus. She says:

I don't question the devotion of anyone who says she loves Christ intensely, whatever language she uses to express it.

But I have little patience for taking biblical metaphors too far and giving one's relationship with God an air of irreverent chumminess. Somehow, the scenario in which "his princess" shaves her legs for a date with Jesus seems to leave little room for fear of God.

And consider how unhelpful this misreading must be to single women who are hormonally awake. The cruel message they get is: If Jesus is really your husband, what's your problem? Be satisfied!

The Bible is replete with breathtaking metaphors that hint at God's love for us. Thank God, we don't always take them to illogical ends: I've never heard a preacher take the Good Shepherd image to mean that God raises his children to ultimately kill and eat them.

So, yes, in addition to being the Shepherd, the Bread of Life, and the Vine, Jesus is, poetically speaking, the Bridegroom. And we—the church—are his bride.
But that doesn't mean I'll be getting into my wedding gown anytime soon. Not that it would fit.

This past weekend we sang a song (iTunes) in church that has the line in it, "Jesus I am so in love with you." How do you feel about this? One side would say that this line is too close to something that I might say to my wife, thus it feels a bit uncomfortable speaking the same words to Jesus and that this just contributes to the feminization of evangelicalism. Another side might say that our language of deepest affection should be used in speaking to Jesus since the Psalmist "pants" for the living God and "yearns" for his presence. Personally, I think these sorts of issues are not black and white and as long our people are taught (all issues in the church are teaching issues) what the potential dangers could be, and why we are singing what we are singing, it is ok to use as long it is mixed with other types of songs that may be content driven. What say you?

(HT: Think Christian)

A Thoughtful Response

Dan Kimball responds here to a mass fund raising letter from a prominent radio preacher (John MacArthur) that went out to thousands as warning concerning the emerging church. He sums up his article by saying:

Please don't make a conclusion or talk about "the emerging church" based on reading or hearing about only one or two people and think the whole "emerging church" is all the same. Even the leaders you probably are critical of always are saying they don't represent everyone. None of represents everyone. But, please ask us questions, please visit our churches. Don't fall into believing urban legends or over-generalizations without checking them out. Please don't stereotype the emerging church anymore.

Oh Lord Jesus. Come quickly. What a mess we sin-tainted human beings create. Please forgive us all.

Lauterbach on Censorious Thoughts

Mark Lauterbach has some personally convicting comments here:

Censoriousness. That's a big word -- what does it mean? Edwards defines charity (love) as a "disposition to think the best of others" and censoriousness is " a disposition to think evil of others." It is in the specifics that I am struck with the pride of my own thoughts and heart and how often I am censorious.

But, before I get to specifics, let me deal with the objections of my own heart -- aren't we supposed to be discerning? aren't we supposed to be on our guard? Isn't looking for grace in others a danger -- might we drop our guard and end up caugt in sin or error?

Isn't God holy? Yes, but then I reflect on how my Lord critiques me and I think of Ps 130 -- if the Lord numbered our sins, who could stand? But he does not -- he is patient and selective and gentle with us.

Those are the questions I ask myself -- and let me give you my answers.

1. Discernment is as much about seeing grace as it is about seeing sin and error. Discernment is not "proof reading" -- i.e. finding the errors only. Discernment is judging between good and evil and that means we must be as familiar with seeing good as seeing evil.

2. If I am truly discerning I will see grace in others. And here is the test, is that where my thoughts go? After I leave a conversation, am I quick to question the motives or ideas of others? When I read a book am I quick to find fault? When I come home from worship and evaluate the morning, do I focus on what needs to be improved?

3. I need to listen to my thoughts to see where my heart is. If I see fault almost all the time, it is because I have a proud and self-righteous spirit about me. I am acting as judge and advice giver to all. Where do my thoughts go? This morning, I was stunned to record my critical thoughts of the previous day -- I was amazed that all through my day I was critiquing people -- their weight, their customer care, their communication, their clothing, their performance.

Here is one application from a few years ago:
A few years ago a friend suggested that I was probably much better at finding fault than at seeing grace --- and he wondered if my children were affected by that. The consideration of that brought me to spend an entire summer doing nothing but commending my children, by abstaining from all critique. Now, my kids are young adults and that is different than when they are being trained through discipline at younger ages. But, it was a huge exercise in faith for me.

My heart objected -- if all I do is point out grace, how will they grow? How will they see their sin? The root of that was a sense of my own indispensability for their sanctification. The fruit of that summer was a change in my relationship with them. I discovered that my critical spirit had been a temptation to them --to be defensive, resistant. They are responsible for their own sin, but I had created a context of fear of disclosure and lack of grace. I was responsible for that.

I am learning a little about how humility sees grace in others and does not think itself an expert in giving advice or making critiques. I have more to work on in my own heart than I have time for -- I do not need to spend a huge amount of time critiquing others. I should see grace in them and give thanks to God.

This is how my Father deals with me -- he does not name all my sins. That would undo me! He is so very gentle. And he offers far more encouragement than correction. I want my life to mirror the grace of God.

Athanasius on The Incarnation

When God the Almighty was making mankind through His own Word, He perceived that they, owing to the limitation of their nature, could not of themselves have any knowledge of their Artificer, the Incorporeal and Uncreated. He took pity on them, therefore, and did not leave them destitute of the knowledge of Himself, lest their very existence should prove purposeless. For of what use is existence to the creature if it cannot know its Maker? How could men be reasonable beings if they had no knowledge of the Word and Reason of the Father, through Whom they had received their being? They would be no better than the beasts, had they no knowledge save of earthly things; and why should God have made them at all, if He had not intended them to know Him? But, in fact, the good God has given them a share in His own Image, that is, in our Lord Jesus Christ, and has made even themselves after the same Image and Likeness. Why? Simply in order that through this gift of Godlikeness in themselves they may be able to perceive the Image Absolute, that is the Word Himself, and through Him to apprehend the Father; which knowledge of their Maker is for men the only really happy and blessed life.

-Athanasius

How The Church Should Be Run

Recently Alexander Strauch (author of Biblical Eldership) came to our church to give a weekend seminar on church leadership. If you lead anything in the church at any level or are half-way interested in ecclesiology, you don't want to miss these sessions.

You can find them here to listen or download:

Session one
Session two
Session three
Session four

Ancient Church Found

Archaeologists in Israel believe that they have found the remains of a Christian church that dates back to the 4th century.

You can read about it here.

More Nativity Reviews

Christianity Today reviews it here.

NT prof, Scot McKnight reviews it here.

Rotten Tomatoes has a ton of reviews here.

Tomlin in Time

Time Magazine writes about Chris Tomlin.

Augustine on the Incarnation

Man’s Maker was made man
that the Bread might be hungry,
the Fountain thirst,
the Light sleep,
the Way be tired from the journey;
that Strength might be made weak,
that Life might die.

-Augustine

(HT: Scooter)

You Can Own a Mac

I don't know if this is legit, but it sounds interesting...

Meeting of the Minds in Seattle

Recently Mark Driscoll has come under much heat for things he had said in reference to the Ted Haggard confession. In short, there were many people in Seattle and across the country who were very upset with him. A few days ago there was a meeting with Mark and some of these people in Seattle.

Here are Mark's reflections on the meeting.

Here are the reflections on the meeting from Rose Madrid-Swetman, one of his critics.

There is good here that we all can learn from.

How do you conceive "ministry"?

Michael Spencer says:

It concerns me that so many of these young people believe that ministry is talking about theology and being cheered on for believing the right things and having the right heroes. Paul writes that ministry that is blood, sweat and tears. He was dealing with the Corinthians, and yes, he wrote them letters full of good theology. But how often in Paul’s letters do we read about the part of ministry that has little to do with books or theological debate, and much to do with building relationships, setting an example, choosing the difficult way and nurturing the immature into new ways of living? concieve

What is Paul talking about in II Corinthians 6 when he says he is poor, unknown, sorrowful, afflicted, imprisoned and has nothing? He’s talking about ministry. Alongside the peace, joy and power of the Spirit were persecutions, beatings, desertions and difficulties.

John Piper repeatedly says that God isn’t glorified by the prosperity Gospel. Prosperity is glorified. God is glorified when the value of his son is demonstrated in our choice of Jesus instead of comfort. This isn’t just a message for the young person choosing missions in the Muslim world. It’s true about much of ministry anywhere. Even where the enemies of the Gospel are no more dangerous than the Women’s Studies professor at the local university picketing across the street and the adversity is nothing more than a few carping phone calls, the price and pain of ministry is still real. And the opportunity to glorify Jesus by being faithful in those difficulties is also real.

Read the whole post here.

Superhero in Training

"During the robbery, a ... boy snuck into his bedroom, dressed himself in a Power Ranger costume and armed himself with a plastic sword," police said. "The child then exited his room and approached the armed suspect, in an attempt to protect his family."

Read the whole story here.

(HT: Relevant Mag)

Biblical Epistimology

From Dan McCartney and Charles Clayton's book, Let the Reader Understand - A guide to interpreting and applying the Bible:

It must be acknowledged that human knowledge is always relative to the knower, and is always based on that human being's experience and presuppositions, but there is an important distinction between knowing an absolute truth and knowing a truth absolutely. Humans can know an absolute, transcendent truth if that truth is known by an absolute Person whose knowledge does not depend on experience, and if that absolute Person shares his knowledge with humans. It is a conviction or basic assumption of the biblical writers that such a Person does indeed exist, and that he has communicated truth in Scripture. Scripture writers assume that God is there, and that he has spoken. Thus, we may know absolute truth, albeit not absolutely; we may know it truly, even though only partially and imperfectly. The atheist or agnostic may cry "presupposition" at us, but we may point out that they are presupposing that God has NOT spoken. (page 14-15)