The Logic of Abortion

Scott Klusendorf wants to ask Hillary Clinton this great question:

Why is it okay for the woman in this story to kill her unborn child but if her boyfriend wants to do it, it's first-degree murder?

(HT: STR Blog)

Kill Her By Firing Squad!

This is really sad. All over a teddy bear. I know I don't really understand the Muslim mind in these matters; maybe it's just media hype focused on a small niche, but still deeply disturbing to me.

More on Rob's Tour...

My buddy Doug Wolter reports on his recent attendance at Rob Bell's "The God's Are Not Angry" tour. He writes:

As I got up from my seat, I was left with a bad taste in my mouth. In many ways, Rob told a great story with an exciting introduction and memorable conclusion. But as a storyteller, he left out the central problem of the story. In a word, he left out sin. He never even mentioned the word. How can one speak of Christ’s sacrifice for us without speaking about our sin problem? His whole tour is called the gods are not angry. That statement is true for the believer. God is no longer angry at us because he has done something for us in Christ. Christ has taken God’s anger and wrath against us on the cross and bore the punishment we deserve for our sin. Our response is to repent and believe. Rob’s response was to simple realize what God has done to bring peace and reconciliation for everyone. Rob’s message to the world is that this God is not angry with you. He loves you now because of Jesus. A half-gospel at best.

I have reported on this a bit in the past few weeks. You can read my two posts here and here.

Mohler and Brokaw Tonight

Al Mohler reports that he will be on NBC nightly news tonight. You can read about it here.

Nehemiah's Wall

Here is an interesting story about a recent archaeological discovery in Israel. Yahoo.com reports:

A wall mentioned in the Bible's Book of Nehemiah and long sought by archaeologists apparently has been found, an Israeli archaeologist says.

A team of archaeologists discovered the wall in Jerusalem's ancient City of David during a rescue attempt on a tower that was in danger of collapse, said Eilat Mazar, head of the Institute of Archaeology at the Shalem Center, a Jerusalem-based research and educational institute, and leader of the dig.

Artifacts including pottery shards and arrowheads found under the tower suggested that both the tower and the nearby wall are from the 5th century B.C., the time of Nehemiah, Mazar said this week. Scholars previously thought the wall dated to the Hasmonean period from about 142 B.C. to 37 B.C.

The findings suggest that the structure was actually part of the same city wall the Bible says Nehemiah rebuilt, Mazar said. The Book of Nehemiah gives a detailed description of construction of the walls, destroyed earlier by the Babylonians.

(HT: Relevant Mag)

Albums of 2007

Paste magazine posts their top 100 albums of 2007. Check it out here.

(HT: Nate)

Barkley and Bjork

You'll have to like basketball and music (I do) to think this is funny. Check it out:

SNL - Björk and Charles Barkley Sketch
Uploaded by nono_the_bean

(HT: Danger Chris)

Why Are We Fat?

And the "Captain Obvious" award of the day goes to this article.

Technology and Church Preferences

These days, people can get good teaching, wonderful music, and excellent writing, whether through iPods, TV, or online. They learn to shop around and pick and choose. Then they expect the same high quality in their local church. A generation ago, the average person learned to accept his home pastor and was faithful to his local church. But now, people's appetites for excellence have been heightened.

-Bryan Wilkerson is the senior pastor of Grace Chapel in Lexington, Massachusetts. Taken from "5 Kinds of Christians" in the Fall 2007 issue of Leadership Journal.

(HT: Out of UR)

Taylor's death a grim reminder for us all

It's clear that Jason Whitlock doesn't care what people think about him. That may or may not be a good thing, but based on what I have read from him in the last year, I generally tend to applaud what he says. He pulls no punches in his extremely provocative recent article dealing with the shooting death of Redskins safety, Sean Taylor, He writes:

There's a reason I call them the Black KKK. The pain, the fear and the destruction are all the same. Someone who loved Sean Taylor is crying right now. The life they knew has been destroyed, an 18-month-old baby lost her father, and, if you're a black man living in America, you've been reminded once again that your life is in constant jeopardy of violent death. The Black KKK claimed another victim, a high-profile professional football player with a checkered past this time. No, we don't know for certain the circumstances surrounding Taylor's death. I could very well be proven wrong for engaging in this sort of aggressive speculation. But it's no different than if you saw a fat man fall to the ground clutching his chest. You'd assume a heart attack, and you'd know, no matter the cause, the man needed to lose weight.

Read the whole thing here.

(HT: MTR)

What Prayer Is All About

(HT: SHLOG)

Christmas Books For Kids

My buddy Doug has a good post about his top 5 Christmas books for kids. Check out his list here.

Update of Willow Creek's Repenting and REVEAL

This info comes from a friend who used to work for Willow Creek for many years. It was forwarded to him as a letter from Steve Bell who is a VP in the Willow Creek Association.

I've attached for your information a clarifying statement we recently put together detailing the "facts about REVEAL." You may or may not be aware that in recent weeks some in the Christian blogging and media world have misrepresented the "ground-breaking" research findings the WCA published about the REVEAL survey back in August. Much of what's been said and is still floating around is based upon partial or incorrect information. Please read the attached to understand the overall situation as well as our perspective of reality.

Appreciate your on going partnership!

Steve Bell
Executive Vice President
Conferences & Events, Membership
Willow Creek Association
<>

THE FACTS ABOUT REVEAL

THE SITUATION:
The Willow Creek Association published a book called REVEAL in August 2007 about “ground-breaking” research findings regarding spiritual growth. These findings were based on survey results from seven churches and have now been confirmed through research with an additional two-dozen churches around the country, including two Canadian churches.

Some in the Christian blogging and media world point to these findings as evidence of a church model “flaw”/breakdown that applies exclusively to Willow Creek and/or the seeker movement inspired by Willow Creek thirty years ago.
This is not what the research shows.

Here are several quotes based on partial or incorrect information:
World magazine; November 10, 2007
“‘We made a mistake’. Bill Hybels…on a study that showed the Willow Creek model had not produced spiritually mature Christians.”
Bob Burney, Townhall; October 30, 2007
“The report reveals that what they’ve been doing for these many years and what they’ve taught millions of others to do is not producing solid disciples of Jesus Christ…Numbers, yes, but not disciples….”
H.B. London, The Pastor’s Weekly Briefing; November 9, 2007
“Hybels goes on to say ‘If you simply want a crowd, the “seeker sensitive” model produces results. If you want solid, sincere, mature followers of Christ, it’s a bust.”
Bill Hybels did not say this. Focus on the Family is printing a retraction.

FOUR FACTS ABOUT REVEAL:

REVEAL’s findings go well beyond Willow Creek and the “seeker” church movement.
o REVEAL’s findings are based on thirty churches besides Willow, chosen specifically to reflect a diversity of church models. We’ve surveyed traditional Sunday school model churches, missions-focused churches, mainline denominations, African-American churches and churches representing a wide range of geographies, sizes and styles. In all thirty churches, we’ve found the six segments of REVEAL’s spiritual continuum, including the Stalled and Dissatisfied segments.
§ REVEAL is currently surveying five hundred churches, including more than a dozen denominations and English-speaking international churches. Early results from the first 200 demonstrate REVEAL’s segments exist across multiple church model/style/size alternatives.
§ 40% of these 500 churches do not describe themselves as “seeker-focused” or “seeker-friendly”.

REVEAL’s findings show that Christ-followers are being developed at Willow Creek and all other surveyed churches.
The two most spiritually mature segments, called the “Close to Christ” and the “Christ-Centered” groups, account for over 40% of the total thirty church sample. To date the spiritual profiles of those churches show a range of 30% to 60% for these two segments.
The controversy is:
REVEAL discovered a Dissatisfied segment that fell out of the two most spiritually advanced segments noted above. They are sold-out Christ followers, but are disappointed in their church. The Dissatisfied segment averaged 9% over the thirty churches, ranging from 3% to 14%.
The bloggers and media point to this Dissatisfied group as proof that the “seeker” movement does not grow up disciples of Christ. The fact is this Dissatisfied group exists in every church we’ve surveyed, including the 200 churches currently in process.

Willow Creek’s Senior Pastor Bill Hybels said, “We made a mistake.”
o Bill acknowledged that Willow did not appreciate the undercurrent of dissatisfaction expressed by some of our strongest Christ-followers. Nor did we appreciate the Kingdom impact of training and encouraging all Christ-followers to devote themselves to a daily discipline of personal spiritual practices.
o But taking corrective action is not a new experience for Willow Creek. We’ve made a number of course corrections over the years – like adding a mid-week service in the ‘80s and building a small group ministry in the ‘90s. We’ve always been a church in motion and REVEAL is another example of Willow being open to God’s design for this local church.

Willow Creek will use REVEAL’s findings to take its mission to redeem people far from God to a whole new level.
o Bill would say that Willow is not simply seeker-focused. We are seeker-obsessed. The power of REVEAL’s insights for our seeker strategy is the evangelistic strength uncovered in the more mature segments. If we can serve them better, the evangelistic potential is enormous, based on REVEAL’s findings.

Need more time and money?

Shaun Groves has an interesting post here called How To Get Twenty-Four Hours And Fifty Dollars And More. Might be a great thing to consider for more sacrificial living. Give up something for a sake of someone else's good.

10%?

ThinkChristian.net has posted an interesting piece on tithing called, Questioning Ten Percent.

I know this blog is turning into the John Mayer tribute blog, but...

Get a free John Mayer video from iTunes by clicking here. It is to a song called Say that I posted about a few days back. It's from the soundtrack of a movie starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman called The Bucket List. From the looks of the video it looks like a very interesting movie.

Here is a synopsis of the movie:

Corprate billionaire Edward Cole and working class mechanic Carter Chambers have nothing in common except for their terminal illnesses. While sharing a hospital room together, they decide to leave it and do all the things they have ever wanted to do before they die according to their bucket list. In the process, both of them heal each other, become unlikely friends, and ultimately find the joy in life.

(HT: S. Scrapbook)

The Blasphemous Teddy Bear

I am thankful for the separation of church and state. This is crazy.

How Much Do You Spend On Food In A Week?

Simply Missional has an interesting pictorial contrasting the answer to this question from different countries of the world. Are we over spending? What if we ate a little less and gave a bit more away to those around us in need?


(HT: Think Christian)

Election and Free Will

Tim Challies posts a good review of Dr. Robert Peterson's new book, Election and Free Will. He writes:

If Election and Free Will is indicative of the quality we can expect in the “Explorations in Biblical Theology” series, I look forward to reading the forthcoming volumes. This book fulfilled the goals set for it. Winsome and accessible, based on the Bible and consistent with Reformed theology, it will make for good reading for anyone who has struggled with these doctrines or who wishes to understand them better. I am glad to recommend it.

You can purchase the book here.

BTW - I am currently taking Dr. Peterson's class through the ACCESS program at Covenant Seminary called, Spirit, Church and Last Things. You can find the lectures and notes here if you are interested.

A Kind Marriage, A Kind Calvinism

Abraham Piper writes a very helpful and honest post on the DGM blog about his marriage and how it relates to Calvinists that some people percieve as being, "self-righteous, condescending, arrogant, unfriendly, argumentative, and even stingy." He sums up by saying:

In my marriage, it doesn't matter whether I'm thankful if I don't seem like it. And in the church, it doesn't matter whether we have the fruits of the Spirit if no one can tell.

It won't be easy to change the pejorative stereotype that clings to Calvinism, but we can start by admitting that it is accurate far too often. Then we can make sure we are manifestly not self-righteous, condescending, arrogant, unfriendly, or argumentative. Also, you can count on us to buy dinner or coffee sometimes.

Paying attention to those who disagree with us and taking them seriously, even if we're pretty sure we'll still disagree, is part of what it means to be in the body of Christ. It's humbling; it sanctifies. It will make us better husbands and wives. It will make us better Christians, and maybe even better Calvinists.

ELCA and Homosexual Clergy

The church that I was raised in, The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) is currently entrenched in a debate about the ordination of openly homosexual clergy. John Armstrong, writing for The Resurgence blog has some wise words for the for ELCA in reference to this controversy.

He also has some good words of caution for those who would oppose it (not saying that we should affirm it) as well as for who would affirm homosexual clergy.

He sums up by saying:

I fear biblical and traditional Lutherans will lose this battle in the long run. Meanwhile there is life in many Lutheran churches. That life will not go away overnight, even in the midst of this present battle. What does the future hold? I do not know. I tend to think that you will see further erosion on the national level, more cut-backs financially, and greater restlessness among members and clergy. Welcome to the mainline.

But I also believe the next generation is already showing that it will not be as willing to entertain moral relativism as the boomer generation was before them. The next generation is far less churched, far less knowledgeable about the teaching of the Bible, and far more willing to learn what Scripture teaches and to stand for a Christian gospel that calls for real transformation. They do not want the world's agenda, and they are willing to take a tough position with an equal tenderness and graciousness. This might be the real hope in the end.

The principle is biblically universal. It is rooted in Christ and his death.

Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies it produces many seeds.
John 12:24

Many wonderful Lutherans are now being called upon to live this principle out. The question I have for more conservative churches, and those of you in them who are thankfully not unclear about how sexual ethics are to be properly linked with the message of the gospel as moral transformation, is simple: "Where will God take you to die before he produces a new missional harvest that will glorify his Son in your fellowship as you seek to respond to this ever-hardening North American soil?" We must all die in some way, the only question is how and when.

Ultimate Cheesy Ballad List

Find the list here. Don't stop believin' Steve. Oh yeah... I almost forgot: I am totally diggin' the leopard vest, cut offs thing that you are working here.

(HT: Relevant Mag)

Kimball With Some Reflections on Hell

Dan Kimball with a thoughtful post on the painful doctrine of hell:

...we don't want to focus on hell and punishment as something we dwell on, but at the same time we must not ever forget it. It seems easy for churches and Christians to forget or because it is uncomfortable not talk about it or teach on it. We can so easily just get busy in our Christian-world, we don't really take serioulsy praying for those who are outside the church and Christian world. But it is easy to forget, beacuse we don't hear hell talked about too much. It is actually odd it isn't talked about as it is in the teachings of Jesus and in the New Testament just as much, or if not more, than other things we seem to regularly teach about. But then on the other extreme, those who do talk about it, seem to be consumed with it in an unhealthy way - preaching on it all the time, using it as a weapon, the signs about hell you see on street corners sort of a thing - and I don't want to go the other extreme where in some circles hell is something talked about so much - the beauty of the holistic gospel is lost in the extreme focus on hell and punishment.

Read the whole thing here.

More John Mayer Stuff

I know I have been posting a lot on John Mayer lately. I can't promise anything, but this is probably the last one for awhile. John shows up on Alicia Keys' latest record on a very cool song called, Lesson Learned. You can find it here on iTunes.

More on Rob Bell's Latest Tour

I posted earlier this week on Rob Bell's latest tour. Writing for the Out of Ur blog, Chad Hall reports on his experience at the tour stop in Raleigh, NC. He sums up his experience by saying:

I’m not ready to canonize Rob Bell, nor am I ready to fire up the Driscollian flame thrower and burn him a heretic. I chalk up my questions and concerns to the fact that no sermon – even a 90-minute one delivered with incredible veracity – can cover everything.

Cinderella Man

What Church Should I Work In?

Mark Dever quotes the wisdom of Bob Kauflin from his forthcoming book, Worship Matters. Bob writes:

"I know worship pastors who wouldn't be in their present church unless they were being paid. That's not good. Salary shouldn't be the primary means of determining where we serve. And you shouldn't work at a church you wouldn't attend."

A New Kind of Musicianship

From the French version of American Idol:


(HT: Joshua Harris)

Top 5 Favorite Christmas Records

Since it's the day after Thanksgiving and most of you are already into the Christmas spirit (we got snow in Albuquerque yesterday!), I thought it would be appropriate to list my top 5 favorite Christmas records.

#5:
Harry Connick Jr - When My Heart Finds Christmas (iTunes)

This record has some classic Harry C. arrangements with his usual big band flare that will put you in the Christmas mood. My favorites are Ave Maria, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, and I Pray on Christmas.



#4:
Michael W. Smith - Christmas


This record was released like 20 years ago, but still has an enduring quality to this day. He leaves the power pop behind on this one and leans toward more of a classical feel which I think he pulls off amazingly well (even though I don't know jack about classical music). He has since released two other Christmas records which I think you could safely steer clear of, but this one is great and a must have. It features the now Christmas classic, All is Well.

#3:
Amy Grant - Home for Christmas

I wanted to keep this one off, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. It's just a great record. You can't deny it.






#2:
Vince Guaraldi Trio - A Charlie Brown Christmas

What is more festive than Charlie Brown Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas specials? For me this music just brings up all those Christmas warm fuzzies that I like to make fun of, but deep down really like.



#1:
Kevin Max - O Holy Night

I know, I know...You are thinking "Wasn't he in the group DC Talk?" Yes he was, but this music is as far from DC Talk as you can get. It lands squarely in contemporary classical and jazz and does it quite well. Kevin Max, in my humble (but correct :)) opinion, is one of the greatest singers on the face of the planet and match that with these amazing arrangements of Christmas classics and you can't go wrong.

After Thanksgiving Shopping Sales!

Team Tominthebox News Network (Christian satire) has posted some pretty interesting after Thanksgiving shopping specials. I think would be good for all of us to consider purchasing at least one.

What To Do About Big Church

Our church has been dealing with what to do with the space problems that we currently are experiencing. He is an interesting post from JD Greear where he mingles some thoughts with John Piper to answer the question, "Is the Multi-Campus Church Concept Biblical?" I don't think we are going to go this route, but it made me think through the issue a bit more...

New John Mayer Releases

John Mayer just released a new version of Continuum. It includes from great live tracks from his latest tour. I just bought them and they are very very tight. Some great energy and new twists from the live show. You can find them here.


You can also now find on iTunes the release of a song called "Say" that I think he wrote for a movie soundtrack or something. It's a pretty cool song too. You can find it here.

I've said it before, but John is the rare kind of talent that we'll be talking about 50 years from now. If you are not down, you need to be. Check it out.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Piper on NPR on Suffering

My buddy Justin used to work very closely with John Piper and got the chance to observe him in various contexts of ministry. One of the things that I remember Justin saying repeatedly was that he always thought Pastor Piper was at his best when he was in an informal Q and A time. He said that he always seemed to be so carefully nuanced in the way he answered questions and never seemed taken off guard, but always ready with a Biblical and wise response.

I have never felt this to be more true than in listening to Pastor Piper answer questions from an interviewer on NPR in response to the Tsunami. This took place a few years back, but could not be any less practical as tragedy is a mark of our existence.

In my judgment, the benefits of this interview are twofold:

1. Listen to how he interacts straightforwardly and humbly with an interviewer who I assume is an unbeliever. He is also communicating to many that he knows are unbelievers listening on the radio. His approach here should be the norm.

2. The theology that he presents here in response to the overwhelming tragedy of the tsunami is precious beyond words. He comes at it from various angles, all of which unfold a Biblical vision that I hope we all could share.

I commend this to you highly as it applies far beyond the horrible circumstances of the tsunami from a few years back.

You can listen to or download this interview here.

Words that Feed

How is your vocabulary? If it's good you could help feed hungry people. Check it out at www.freerice.com.

This is very powerful...

(HT: Life Together)

This Guy Is Crazy Talented

How to handle a coddled generation

I just finished listening to the most recent 60 Minutes podcast where the third story indirectly deals with one of my posts from earlier last week about adultolescents. They run an interesting story about the "millenniums," those born between 1980 and 1996. My post was more of an ecclesiological commentary and this one is more of a sociological one but to think that they don't correspond would be naive.

The main thrust of this story is to show how the cultural landscape is changing. Young people today have been coddled due to the unparalleled prosperity that they have been raised in. This leads to always thinking that things should come easy for them and they success should be the norm. If it is not, then something must be wrong with someone or something else, but to take personal responsibility would be out of the question.
Another symptom is seen the endless search for the perfect job. Career change in the generation is the norm. They make a case for them being endlessly discontent because they have been raised to know that options are plentiful. Something better is always around the corner.

This is the generation that will soon dominate our culture in America. It might be good for churches to be informed and to think through how the gospel intersects with the marks of this generation.

Check it out, it's a very interesting story.

Find the podcast here. It starts about 30 minutes in I think. You can watch it online as well here.

Jon Foreman Solo EPs

Jon Foreman from Switchfoot is going to be releasing multiple solo EP's in the upcoming year. They will correspond with fall, winter, spring and summer. You can read more about it at www.jonforeman.com. It's look really cool.

If Only Michael Jordan Was A Christian...

Why is it that we constantly parade Christian athletes, media personalities, and pop singers? Why should we think that their opinions or their experiences of grace are of any more significance than those of any other believer? When we tell outsiders about people in our church, do we instantly think of the despised and the lowly who have become Christians, or do we love to impress people with the important of the men and women who have become Christians? Modern Western evangelicalism is deeply infected with the virus of triumphalism and the resulting illness destroys humility, minimizes grace, and offers far too much homage to the money and influence and "wisdom" of our day.

- D.A. Carson, from The Cross and Christian Ministry - Leadership Lessons from 1st Corinthians, p. 29.

Is God Angry?

Here is an interesting report on Rob Bell's latest tour called, "The Gods Aren't Angry Tour". I like what he is doing here. Sounds creative and engaging. He certainly is a gifted orator. After you read the article ask yourself this question: Is God angry you with? I would have to say yes and no. It depends on if you are a Christian or not. I don't think the fact that God is love and loves all people should be presented at the exclusion of his anger and hatred toward sin. Does God love you? Yes. But if you are not a Christian and been united with Christ and his righteousness on your behalf then God is still angry with you and your sin. Unless you are a universalist, how do you get around this? Seems as though God's anger is one of the starting points of the Gospel. Does the Gospel even make sense without an understanding of God's anger? To be fair and clear, I am not saying that this is what Rob is presenting. I have not heard him speak on this tour, but the way it is presented in this article makes it sure seem like he is setting up this dichotomy.

**Update** - Here are some interesting reflections from Justin Buzzard written after he attended this tour.

(HT: Nate Downey)

They Will Eventually Eat Their Own Young

Trevin Wax (the coolest name in the blogsphere) writes well on "The Fundamentalist Survival Mechanism":

A movement that receives its identity from protesting is likely to prolong its survival by finding smaller and more insignificant things to protest.

He continues..

I am convinced that much of our in-house squabbling over theological matters and our smug “pat-ourselves-on-the-back” attitude that says, Thank God I’m not like the egalitarians, the Emergents, the liturgical, the Arminians, the charismatics and the Catholics is actually a subconscious attempt to exaggerate the distinctions that provide us a reason for existing. We think of this exaggeration as a survival mechanism, but actually, it will kill our effectiveness.

Add to the mix publishing houses, seminaries, pastors and teachers and conferences that spend most of their time and resources perpetuating the distinctives and it’s not hard to see how small the stuffy the room of fellowship with “like-minded” Christians can become.

Let me be clear on something. I do not believe we should do away with doctrinal distinctives. I am a Reformed-leaning, complementarian, Bible-driven minister who holds tightly to the fundamentals of the faith.

But I will not confuse second-order doctrinal distinctives with first-order doctrines. Once we journey down that road, we’ll eventually start confusing third-order doctrinal distinctives with first order doctrines, and we’ll wind up as isolated, irrelevant, and shrill as our independent friends.

(HT: MMI)

Good Music For A Good Workout

If you are like me and you love good music and exercise you might want to check out Trill Fitness. They have just released a new CD that is meant for working out which features remixes of songs from Sovereign Grace ministries. You can order the CD here.

John's Favorite Pop Songs That Are Out Right Now

John Mayer reports on what the thinks are the 5 best pop songs out right now. Since John is a musical genius I would recommend that music lovers check out what he says here. I think I tend to agree with his takes, especially in reference to Sara Barieilles and Justin Timberlake.

Piper Sermon Jam

Click here to download a new sermon jam of excerpts from a message John Piper preached on the "health and wealth" gospel. He gets loose. Check it out.

(HT: The Shepherd's Scrapbook)

How far removed am I from ministry idolatry?

At the moment, books are pouring off the presses telling us how to plan for success, how "vision" consists in clearly articulated "ministry goals," how the knowledge of detailed profiles of our communities constitutes the key to successful outreach. I am not for a moment suggesting that there is nothing to be learn from such studies. But after a while one may perhaps be excused for marveling how many churches were planted by Paul and Whitefield and Wesley and Stanway and Judson without enjoying these advantages. Of course all of us need to understand the people to whom we minister, and all of us can benefit from small doses of such literature. But massive doses sooner or later dilute the gospel. Ever so subtly, we start to think that success more critically depends on thoughtful sociological analysis than on the gospel; Barna becomes more important than the Bible. We depend on plans, programs, vision statements - but somewhere along the way we have succumbed to the temptation to displace the foolishness of the cross with the wisdom of strategic planning. Again, I insist, my position is not a thinly veiled plea for obscurantism, for seat-of-the-pants ministry that plans nothing. Rather, I fear that the cross, without ever being disowned, is constantly in danger of being dismissed from the central place it must enjoy, by relatively peripheral insights that take on far too much weight. Whenever the periphery is in danger of displacing the center, we are not far removed from idolatry.

-D.A. Carson, from The Cross and Christian Ministry - Leadership Lessons from 1st Corinthians, p. 26

Responsible Blogging

ThinkChristian.net points to an interesting article about blog rumors and gives an exhortation that would be good for most bloggers to keep in mind:

...it’s a good reminder that, despite the ease with which things can be quickly fact-checked online, it’s easy for rumors to take on a life of their own. When the subject is something more serious, like somebody’s theology or spiritual life, a little distortion could cause much more damage.

I saw this happen last week amist all the hype about Sen. Chuck Grassley's investigation of some prominent health-and-wealth churches. It was in reference to Joyce Meyer and some furniture that she supposedly purchased. You can read about it over at Phil Cooke's blog. I am no huge fan of Joyce's ministry, but this is unfortunate for her. I would have been very unhappy if this had happened to me. With the speed at which information is processed these days we have to be responsible with how we post.

Character

Brody Harper is the road manager for Phil Wickam. He and Phil just finished up a huge tour with The David Crowder band. In today's post he goes through everyone on the tour and says something meaningful about each one. What he wrote about David Crowder was especially important:

This guy blew me away on this tour. I had toured with him before when they opened for Third Day, but never got a chance to really know him. This tour he seemed to open up a little more and gained so much of my respect. Every idea this guy has is innovative and creative, but then there were times where he showed that he is an amazing servant as well. One thing that stuck out to me the most was the idea behind the tour. “Be the remedy”. David said every night from stage to a room full of people there to see him, “If you all lived the way you are singing tonight, this planet would be a different place”. A lot of us have heard that before, but David lived that way. Every day he would research what organizations were in the specific city that we were in and hand write an entire sheet of paper on how to get involved. Whether it be soup kitchens, homeless shelters, women’s shelters, Salvation Army shelters, then he would make copies of the paper and have people pass it out to everyone that came through the door. He was off the bus before most people and in on the stage setting up his own gear, helping out where it was needed.

Another thing that blew me away was with the bus stock (the groceries that were on the bus for the crew for after the show and off days). About once a week, after the show David and his wife Toni would go with a runner while everyone was tearing things down and go grocery shopping. Then when everyone else had finished and was winding down, they would show up at the bus with bags and bags of groceries that they had gone and bought for us. Sometimes specific things we had asked for, some things they knew we just liked. Then he would help unpack everything and help put it all away on our bus. For some reason this just seemed absurd to me. Here is a guy who is on the tour of his life. Headlining an almost completely sold out tour in some of the most amazing venues in the country and he is “the guy”. He is the guy the band is named after. He’s the guy the tour is named after and here he is making sure me and everyone else on our bus has enough macaroni and cheese, cereal and cookies.

Potentially the greatest political commercial of all time

After this commercial how could you not vote for this guy?



(HT: Ryesetter)

Savior: Celebrating the Mystery of God Become Man

I just got the latest Christmas CD from Sovereign Grace entitled, "Savior: Celebrating the Mystery of God Become Man" (buy it here and here on iTunes). I would highly recommend this new work. There are some great songs here that offer a fresh perspective musically and lyrically on a timeless celebration.

Listen to Bob Kauflin talk about this project:


Bloggers can get a free copy. Info about this can be found here.

New John Mayer

Click here to listen to to a brand new song from John Mayer.

A Very Creative Video To Awaken The Mind

(HT: Zack Riesland)

Les Miserables

Last night I watched the most recent film rendition of Victor Hugo's classic, Les Miserables. What an amazing movie! I am sorry to say that I never read the book when I was in high school and so I didn't know anything about the story. There are actually two scenes in this movie that I might consider to be the most powerful analogies of the gospel that I have ever seen on film. I highly recommend you watching this timeless work. It features stellar performances by Liam Neeson, Uma Thurman, and Geoffrey Rush.

You can get it here at Netflix. You don't use Netflix? You need to start.
Read reviews here on Rotten Tomatoes.

C.J. on Real Leadership and Spiritual Growth

Yesterday I linked to a series of messages from a recent Sovereign Grace conference. I just finished listening to the Q and A with C.J. Mahaney and I HIGHLY recommend (can't emphasized strong enough) all fathers and husbands to download this one and make a priority to listen to it. You can download this specific talk by right clicking here and "save as".

Sovereign Grace Conference Messages

You can get all the messages from a recent Sovereign Grace conference for pastors by clicking here.

More on Real Community

Jared has a good post about experiencing Christian community. His four points are:

1. The value of "life together" must be cultivated corporately in the context of worship service teaching.

2. We have to recognize that for the most part, community is organic.

3. On the other hand, this is not to say that community cannot be intentional.

4. Further on intentionality: We've got to ditch the notion that small groups are living room Bible studies.

Click here to see how he fleshes them out.

This is what happens when you steal

Wack story of the day. This is another reason why I would never live in Florida.

Sara Groves

Here is a good interview with Christian artist Sara Groves. Her new record has a significant theme of social justice that would be good for us to consider.

Adultolescents

John Piper reports on “adultolescents” on the DGM blog. This is interesting stuff. Check it out.

Ministry Celebrities

Angie Ward with a good word on ministry celebrities:

Believe it or not, ministry celebrities do not hold mystical powers or keys to success. All of them stumbled repeatedly in their journeys, and continue to struggle with the temptations common to every man and woman, except that now, they also have to deal with the trappings of celebrity and cult followings. Each was assigned by God to till the soil in one corner of the Kingdom and faithfully invest the talents entrusted to him or her. Are we doing the same? Or are we so busy mining tips for success in the latest book by our favorite author that we ignore our own calling?

Who do you follow? Is it Paul, or Apollos, or some other megachurch pastor or missional prophet? This may come as a surprise, but I believe that it is actually much easier to imitate your hero than to be yourself: to claim your own identity and calling; to wrestle with your own brokenness; and to struggle minute-by-minute with God to figure out what is the best way to lead in your context.

For just one season, forget the celebrities. Get in touch with God's unique design for your life and ministry.

Read the whole thing here.

Real Community

You most likely are reading this post (and I post it) as we are strapped to our computers in technological isolation. Is that a bad thing? Maybe, maybe not. As you ponder, consider this good word from Dan Edelen.

What would happen if instead of reaching for the iPod, we make music ourselves? And what if we make it in community, getting together with others to play and sing? Just hanging out together and jammingSuch a move makes us less dependent on consuming and more dependent on each other. Not only this, but we encourage others to use their gifts. We provide an example to the young and to each other. The musical talents we share uplift the community that forms around our music.

When we keep community in mind, we form relationships that build networks of dependency that shatter our self-reliance and return us to God’s ideal interaction. He walked with Adam in the garden because He is a relational God. How then do we approach all of life with this mindset?

Why do our families eat alone? What if the rarity was to eat just by ourselves? Should we not have others eating in our homes on a regular basis? Wasn’t this one of the unusual hallmarks of the early Church? I believe we Christians must start opening our homes on a regular basis so that few of our meals are eaten just with our own nuclear family. What better way to talk with others about what God is doing in our lives than in this kind of atmosphere?

How would this kind of thinking change our culture?

Valkyrie

This looks like a movie that we could actually attend and not boycott. But then again Tom Cruise is pretty wack...

Check it out. Looks great.

Quick! Hide the women and children! The Golden Compass is coming soon!!!

You have probably heard by now (you haven't? You aren't steeped in Christian culture like me? You need to get with the program) about the movie, The Golden Compass and all the hype it is receiving or going to receive as it's release draws nearer. Just a quick recap:

The author of this book (that is being turned into a film staring Nicole Kidman and others) is a committed atheist and hated C.S. Lewis' Narnia series as it pointed to the gospel and wanted to give kids a "better" alternative of atheism. Read more about the hype here.

He is out to get your kids! Quick, lock them up! We need to boycott this movie with huge signs and raging, fist pounding chants! If we are not careful, pretty soon they'll be voting for Hillary Clinton and reading Harry Potter books!!

Blah, Blah, Blah...

Everyone just needs to calm down and unbunch the undies. I know we can be a bit defensive about someone attacking our beloved C.S. and his timeless work for children, but to quote Job Bluth, "Come ON!!!!!"

I get the impression that Satan's strategy is rarely a full-frontal attack such as this. He is a twister ("Did God really say?") not a debater. He lives in the shadows and I believe subtlety is usually his method.

Am I worried about this new book infiltrating the brains of my three little ones?

Not really.

Here is what I am more concerned with:

1. I am more concerned with the subtle, soul crushing attacks of materialism in our culture that leads my kids at the ages of 5 and 3 to already tell me almost daily what possessions they want to acquire.

2. I am more concerned with the ease and comfort that we live in that may anesthetize them to a need for the gospel.

3. I am more concerned with the reality that they are daily exposed to a Dad that loves them desperately yet regularly falls short of perfection. I pray they will learn to look to Jesus when I fail them.

They might see this movie once and forget it but these are the things my kids are exposed to daily! This movie will come and go just like The DaVinci Code and The Last Temptation of Christ did but the cultural air they breathe is not going away anytime soon. I would be more concerned about this than The Golden Compass. Don't get too worked up about this one people. We have bigger fish to fry spiritually speaking.

Writing for Christianity Today, Mark Moring has a good take on this film as well.

Brooke Fraser

Ok, you seriously need to check this gal out. Some of the best "Christian" music (whatever that means) I have come across in along time. Actually, let me say it this way. Really there are very few artists in "Christian" music on a "Christian" label that I would actually buy a CD of (Delirious and Jason Morant, come to mind). Add this gal to the list.

Her voice is a cross between Sarah Mclaughlin and Christine Dente of Out of The Grey (old Christian band). This girl can flat out sing and the production and songs are great. As bad as this sounds, this record doesn't sound like a Christian record. It has a creative edge that is sadly missing from most Christian records these days. They will get there, but like 2-3 years from now. That is the norm. Enough of the rant...

My favorite songs would be (iTunes):

1. Shadowfeet
2. Love is Waiting
3. C.S. Lewis Song
4. Hosea's Wife
5. Hymn

On a different note, Brooke sang a great Cross-Centered song with Tim Hughes on his latest record that I really dig. It's called Clinging To the Cross. You can find it here (iTunes).

You can find her record here on Amazon.

Catholic Theology of The Sacraments

Interesting quote from Edmund Clowney in this book:

If the Spirit dwells in the church, is he confined to the church?

Hans Kung has reminded Roman Catholic theologians that the church does not already exist as an organized, hierarchical institution that the Spirit enters and empowers. Rather, the church is created by the Spirit, th author of life, who grants the gift of faith. Yet, as Kung also says, the Spirit is free to bind himself to the word and sacrament. Does the Spirit, then, bing himself to the church, where the means of grace are offered and dispensed? Kng answer that the spirit's binding of himself to the word and sacrament puts an obligation on us, not on him. He demands of us our unconditional faith. 'Neither word or sacrament work automatically; where there is no faith, they are not operative.' At this point, Kung has called into question the ex opere operato view of the sacraments, so central for the sacramental theology of the Roman Catholic Church. Certainly to tie saving grace to the sacramental administration of an organized and authorized priesthood is to create a dispensary in which grace becomes a commodity, rather than the sovereign working of the Lord.

Should I work in the church?

I was recently asked by a friend what one should consider before entering full time service in the church. I framed my response in the forms of questions to ask oneself. Here is what I said just off the top of my head:

1. Do you know your calling? (Does the body of Christ affirm what I am doing? Do I have joy in what I am doing? Am I physically able to do what I desire to do?)

2. Do I love people and have a desire to see them grow?

3. Do I have a desire to have relationships with lost people? If leaders don’t the people we lead never will.

4. Do I have enough experience in the church to know my gifts and what type of church I most likely will want to serve in?

5. Do I have a desire to grow in my knowledge and love for God’s word? Our churches rise and fall on the authority of God’s word. The Bible has to be central in all that we do, thus this implies that leaders actually know their Bibles. Do we have to know them exhaustively? Of course not, but we at least need to have a life direction that points toward growth in this area.

6. Have you come to terms with the seriousness of the Bible’s teaching concerning those who lead in the church? (Titus 1, 1 Tim 3, James 3:1)

Brant on The Church

Brant Hansen is an interesting cat. He is asking some good questions about the way church is typically done in America that you can listen to in this podcast. I would recommend it for your consideration. I don't think I agree with all this conclusions of how to deal with the problems, but at least I think it's important to think through the issues that he raises.

Faithfulness in Ministry

Instead of being directed by [visible] success, we should be directed by faithfulness. We should say, 'If the Lord doesn't like our product, we will change the product.' We shouldn't take the idea that if we don't have X number of conversions in our church, then we must be doing something wrong. I am glad Jeremiah didn't think that. And I am glad that Jesus Christ didn't think that. Let us remember that we are following the One who was crucified as a revolutionary.

-Mark Dever from this article. Church leaders, I would recommend that you read it.

We need to keep in mind that what some people regard as faithfulness is actually sin (like the people who hold up the "God hates fags" signs). Answering the question, "Faithfulness TO WHAT" is the key question to answer. If answered Biblically then we can say AMEN to Mark's quote here. Sometimes we are losing numbers in our church because we ARE doing something wrong and it needs to be addressed and changed. Just because you might be losing numbers doesn't mean that you are being faithful to God's desire for your church. I see Mark pushing back on an emphasis in many churches these days and I agree with him on that, but we just need to be careful we are not swinging the other way.

(HT: Church Matters)

Don't you know who I am?

Even when Jerry is prideful he is still funny. Watch him work over Larry King a bit.

What Would Jesus Buy?

From producer Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) and director Rob VanAlkemade, “What Would Jesus Buy?” examines the commercialization of Christmas in America while following Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir on a cross-country mission to save Christmas from the Shopocalypse (the end of humankind from consumerism, over-consumption and the fires of eternal debt.) The film also delves into issues such as the role sweatshops play in America’s mass consumerism and Big-Box Culture. From the humble beginnings of preaching at his portable pulpit on New York City subways, to having a congregation of thousands - Bill Talen (aka Rev. Billy) has become the leader of not just a church, but a national movement. Rev. Billy’s epic journey takes us to chilling exorcisms at Wal-Mart headquarters, to retail interventions at the Mall of America, and all the way to the Promised Land on Christmas Day. The Stop Shopping mission reminds us that even though we may be “hypnotized and consumerized,” we still have a chance to save ourselves this Christmas.

Watch the trailer here.

(HT: Relevant Mag)

The Art of Listening

Being a good listener is an art. I have found that the best leaders oftentimes are the best listeners. Said another way, every significant leader I have had in my life has also been a great listener. Listening is vital for conflict resolution in marriage as well as in any other social context. James says, "Be slow to speak, quick to listen..."

Here is a good article of application from Rick Warren on the art of listening.

(HT: Doug)

Jazz and Pedagogy

Dr. Douglas Groothuis has a thoughtful essay dealing with the relationship between jazz and pedagogy. He writes:

I am a philosopher, a professor, and a jazz fan. In the midst of a philosophy class, I may wax enthusiastic about the transcendent qualities of a John Coltrane saxophone solo or the preternatural swing of drummer Buddy Rich. These comments are not merely idiosyncratic. They reflect a philosophy of pedagogy that is saturated in jazz sensibilities. The classroom should swing; students and their professor should spend time in the woodshed; the class will jam on philosophical themes deeply rooted in tradition, but be open to new chops.

It is difficult to fit jazz into a tight analytical definition in which necessary and sufficient conditions are stipulated. But jazz is known for at least three salient and laudatory features, all of which translate fruitfully into a philosophy of pedagogy.

Read the whole thing.

Genius

10 Reasons We Don't Do Altar Calls

Recently a comment card came to our staff asking why we don't ever do altar calls at Desert Springs Church. Our teaching pastor, Ryan Kelly, sent these 10 bullet points around to the staff for their consideration. I thought I would pass them along:

1. The altar call is simply and completely absent from the pages of the N.T.

2. The altar call is historically absent until the 19th century, and its use at that time (via Charles Finney) was directly based upon bad theology and a man-centered, manipulative methodology.

3. The altar call very easily confuses the physical act of “coming forward” with the spiritual act of “coming to Christ.” These two can happen simultaneously, but too often people believe that coming to Christ is going forward (and vice-versa).

4. The altar call can easily deceive people about the reality of their spiritual state and the biblical basis for assurance. The Bible never offers us assurance on the ground that we “went forward.”

5. The altar call partially replaces baptism as the means of public profession of faith.

6. The altar call can mislead us to think that salvation (or any official response to God’s Word) happens primarily on Sundays, only at the end of the service, and only “up front.”

7. The altar call can confuse people regarding “sacred” things and “sacred” places, as the name “altar call” suggests.

8. The altar call is not sensitive to our cautious and relational age where most people come to faith over a period of time and often with the interaction of a good friend.

9. The altar call is often seen as “the most important part of the service”, and this de-emphasizes the truly more important parts of corporate worship which God has prescribed (preaching, prayer, fellowship, singing).

10. God is glorified to powerfully bless the things He has prescribed (preaching, prayer, fellowship, singing), not the things we have invented. We should always be leery of adding to God’s prescriptions for His corporate worship.

Uh... Ok

Vinyl

Vinyl is on the rise. Read about it here.

The Way, The Truth and The Life

Ian Campbell on the irony of Jesus' statement of being, "The Way, The Truth and The Life":

This man says that he is the way; yet the paradox is that for him to be the way means going the way of the cross, and the way of betrayal and dereliction and pain. He says that he is the truth, and yet for him to be the truth means that the lie is in the ascendancy, as false witnesses rise to condemn him and the hour is given to the power of darkness. This man is the life, yet the irony is that for him to be the life for his people, the grain of wheat must fall into the ground and die. He can’t be the way for us unless he goes the way the Father has ordained for him. He can’t be the truth for us unless he meets the father of lies face to face and does business with God against the prince of darkness. He can’t be the life for us unless his body lies dead behind the closed door of a rich man’s grave.

Read the whole thing.

Pandora.com

If you love to find new music you have to check Pandora.com. I just started using it and can't get enough! Here is what it is all about:

When was the last time you fell in love with a new artist or song?

At Pandora, we have a single mission: To play music you'll love - and nothing else.

To understand just how we do this, and why we think we do it really, really well, you need to know about the Music Genome Project©.

Since we started back in 2000, we have been hard at work on the Music Genome Project. It's the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken. Together our team of fifty musician-analysts has been listening to music, one song at a time, studying and collecting literally hundreds of musical details on every song. It takes 20-30 minutes per song to capture all of the little details that give each recording its magical sound - melody, harmony, instrumentation, rhythm, vocals, lyrics ... and more - close to 400 attributes! We continue this work every day to keep up with the incredible flow of great new music coming from studios, stadiums and garages around the country.

With Pandora you can explore this vast trove of music to your heart's content. Just drop the name of one of your favorite songs or artists into Pandora and let the Genome Project go. It will quickly scan its entire world of analyzed music, almost a century of popular recordings - new and old, well known and completely obscure - to find songs with interesting musical similarities to your choice. Then sit back and enjoy as it creates a listening experience full of current and soon-to-be favorite songs for you.

You can create as many "stations" as you want. And you can even refine them. If it's not quite right you can tell it so and it will get better for you.

The Music Genome Project was founded by musicians and music-lovers. We believe in the value of music and have a profound respect for those who create it. We like all kinds of music, from the most obtuse bebop, to the most tripped-out drum n bass, to the simplest catchy pop tune. Our mission is to help you connect with the music YOU like.

We hope you enjoy the experience!

Not Cool

Charlie Hall and his band recently had a ton of their music gear stolen. They report on their website:

Stolen gear... : ( - 11/01/2007 It's true. We did have some gear stolen....a lot of it. All of Dustin's drums, Kendall and Charlie's guitar amps, Quint's bass amp and speaker cab, a keyboard stand and several thousand dollars worth of CD's. I haven't posted until now because we hadn't quite figured how we were going to handle any donations, but we're ready now. Thanks for all your offers already! Anyone that wants to help can send a check to:
Generation Productions
611 Broadway
Oklahoma City, OK 73102

In the subject line of the check please write "Gear Replacement". I will post a complete replacement cost of all the gear stolen in case anyone wants to know, but we're still gathering all of that, but it's somewhere in the neighborhood of $15,000 worth of equipment/resources. We've already received some donations and if we happen to receive anything over that amount we are donating the overage to the International Justice Mission <>. Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers. We appreciate the offers of help and are thankful for anything at all.