There Is A Gay Guy In Our Basement

The New Attitude blog reports:

We want to hear your stories about how you’ve tried to take the gospel to people around you (and send you a book in return) so we thought we’d share a story ourselves. This is the story of Sarah Young, a girl in our church whose family shared the gospel with someone in a compelling way. Sarah’s family is a great example of sharing the gospel through both words and actions.
_________

I remember the first time I saw him at orientation and my first conversation with him. I knew I was going to meet some very different types of students at art school, and Todd certainly was. He was amazingly outgoing, fun and bounced off the walls where ever he went. He was a fun friend to have, but I was unsure about how to witness to him because he was openly gay and I didn’t know how he would react to the gospel.

I got to know him well and Todd knew that we were Christians who went to church every week. Todd would mention how many “Christians” he encountered in the past would condemn him for being gay, telling him he was going to hell and not associating with him. My friend Jeff Martin and I just tried to do everything we could to show Todd that we cared for him by constantly inviting him to our houses. He had a lot of car trouble so, more often than not, I would pick him up from his house and drive him to and from our school 45 minutes away.

One day I got a call from Todd, who was extremely upset. Todd’s family situation was always shaky but now, Todd said, his father told him that he didn’t want anything to do with him at all anymore. His dad told Todd that he was taking away his car back and that he would stop paying for school. Not only this, but Todd’s landlord informed him that he needed to be out of his room in a few weeks. Todd was a mess and I thought it interesting that he thought to call me first. I calmed him down and told him that we (meaning my family, the Martin family, and other friends) would be his family now.

Todd ended up moving into my house and sleeping on the couch in the basement. He guessed it would only be for a few weeks, but Todd ended up living with us from the end of July to the beginning of November.

People were surprised that Todd was living with us. One of my sister’s friends asked “You have a gay guy living in your basement?!” She replied, “Yeah, doesn’t everybody?” During this time, my parents, sisters, and friends treated him like our brother. We would drive him to and from work and the metro and invite him to Art Night at the Martin’s.

My dad especially was a living example of our Savoir to Todd. He bought Todd Nicotine patches when he wanted to quit smoking. He re-ordered and paid for Todd’s refill of contacts multiple times. He bought books on Christian views on homosexuality to be better informed on how to talk to Todd. He printed off articles from biblical journals on contentment and anxiety and gave them to Todd to read, and weekly my dad would meet with Todd to talk about the things he read. My dad had the discernment to slowly teach Todd the biblical principals so that when the right time came my dad would explain that Todd was a sinner in need of a Savior.

One Friday night, Todd came home early (very unusual for him) complaining of a really bad stomachache. Todd was sure that it was the pizza he ate earlier that day. But when he wasn’t getting any better, writhing in pain on the couch, my dad took Todd to the hospital. Eventually we learned Todd needed his appendix out ASAP. My dad stayed with Todd to make sure everything was okay and to read him scripture. When we went to pick Todd up from the hospital days later, we brought him balloons and let him know we were praying for him. I know that Todd believes in God and the gospel, but don’t know if he has turned completely to the Savior.

Before Todd moved to Washington state with him mom, he told us, with tears streaming down his face that he will always count us as his family. He told my dad that that he was more a father to him than his biological father ever was. We’d been the first group of Christians who had welcomed him and not shunned him. During those few months the example of my father, family, and friends will always be a reminder and a picture of Christ’s love.

I Say "Amen" To This

Andy from ThinkChristian.net reports:

IV Press’ Addenda & Errata blog has a post up calling writers and readers alike to stop and think before applying the labels “liberal” or “conservative” to theological positions and observations. It’s not that those labels are always inappropriate—rather that they make it too easy for us to lazily categorize views as one or the other without thinking them through.

The post restricts itself to the sphere of theological books and publishing, but I think the point stands if we apply it more broadly too. Given that most Christians I’ve met, from hardcore fundamentalists to lofty progressives, fall somewhere along the broad spectrum between theological conservatism and liberalism, it seems a shame that we all tend to lump people and positions into one of the two opposite camps. I bet most theological “conservatives” have at least one or two beliefs that lean towards the liberal end of the spectrum, and vice versa—how can we represent such a person’s worldview if the only words we use are “liberal” or “conservative”?

Social Restoration

Greg Gilbert and Jonathan Leeman discuss the role of churches in social restoration.

J.D. Greear gives his take here.

This very important stuff for us to be thinking through.

**Update**
Michael Mckinley weighs in here with some good thoughts.

Coldplay - Record #4

Coldplay talks to RollingStone about their new record. It sounds very interesting. Read the article here.

(HT: Relevant)

White Men Can Jump

One of the nastiest dunks ever. What ever happened to the short shorts? We need to bring those back. Tom Chambers is the guy's name, for all of you who missed the NBA in the 80's and 90's.



(HT: Jer)

AIDS and The Bush Administration

Bush rarely gets any good press these days. Here is some:

The Bush administration recorded one of the most successful achievements yesterday when a major anti-AIDS project was approved by house leaders from both parties and the White House.

They agreed on a bill that would triple the funding for the Bush administration’ s global AIDS program, which could be called the largest foreign aid initiative meant to combat a single disease in the US history.

Uh... Are you serious?

And the award for the stupidest news story of the day goes to this article from the USA Today: Spanking may lead to sexual problems later.

I Resonate With This

If we entertain people, our church will grow. If we lead in worship, our church may shrink until it is composed of a group of people who want to worship. Then the church has a chance to grow based on the precedent of worship. The church that worships will have many visitors who never come back, and a few who cannot stay away.

- David Hansen, The Art of Pastoring

The tough part about this is that we might not know who is being entertained and who is actually worshiping. Only God completely knows the hearts of our people and of our worship leaders. If our worship leaders are attempting to lead well with undistracting excellence then our people may or may not be entertained. God only knows and most likely there might be some grey area residing in our sinful hearts. Let's fight to see through cool music to the God who provides our salvation in Jesus.

(HT: Jared)

More on Reason For God

Writing for the STR blog, Melinda posts some good excerpts from Tim Keller's new book, Reason for God. Check it out here.

Look at this...

Are we really going to say that it should be legal to kill this? Just look at it. Look at it long and hard.

When people say they are pro-choice ask them what they are choosing to do. Make them say it. It won't come out of their mouths very easily. This should tell us something.

Scot Klusendorf has a great approach to discussing the pro-life issue here. He centers his position around the acyromyn SLED. I have found this very helpful:

Size: True, embryos are smaller than newborns and adults, but why is that relevant? Do we really want to say that large people are more human than small ones? Men are generally larger than women, but that doesn’t mean that they deserve more rights. Size doesn’t equal value.

Level of development: True, embryos and fetuses are less developed than you and I. But again, why is this relevant? Four year-old girls are less developed than 14 year-old ones. Should older children have more rights than their younger siblings? Some people say that self-awareness makes one human. But if that is true, newborns do not qualify as valuable human beings. Six-week old infants lack the immediate capacity for performing human mental functions, as do the reversibly comatose, the sleeping, and those with Alzheimer’s Disease.

Environment: Where you are has no bearing on who you are. Does your value change when you cross the street or roll over in bed? If not, how can a journey of eight inches down the birth-canal suddenly change the essential nature of the unborn from non-human to human? If the unborn are not already human, merely changing their location can’t make them valuable.

Degree of Dependency: If viability makes us human, then all those who depend on insulin or kidney medication are not valuable and we may kill them. Conjoined twins who share blood type and bodily systems also have no right to life.

In short, it’s far more reasonable to argue that although humans differ immensely with respect to talents, accomplishments, and degrees of development, they are nonetheless equal because they share a common human nature.

P.S. - Can we please stop using the statement, "You can't legislate morality."? Sure we can, we do it all the time. Ever heard of a traffic ticket? Can the law change your heart? Never. So we need both, external laws (this is the role of the government, to restrain evil, check out Romans 13) and internal heart change. Internal heart change is God's job, through God's people, the church. Abortion = evil, thus the job of the government is to stop it through external laws. External and internal. We need both.

(HT: MTR)

My Wife Wants To Get This Shirt

Come Back More of a Man

Jeff Robinson, writing for The Gender Blog, has a good reflection on a recent American Idol incident and how it relates to Biblical gender. Check it out here.

Welch on Worry

C.J. Mahaney has a great post here dealing with Ed Welch's recent book, Running Scared: Fear, Worry, and the God of Rest. C.J.'s closing thoughts:

Pastors, whether you are preparing to teach a series on fear or worry or preparing to counsel those for whom fear and worry is a besetting sin, this book will make a difference in your soul, your preaching, and your counseling for the glory of God.

Surprised by Hope

T-Wax has a great review of N.T. Wright's book, "Surprised by Hope". It sounds like a book I need to pick up. Here is how he concludes:

Surprised by Hope will be one of Wright’s most widely-read books. Though readers should proceed with caution regarding some of Wright’s proposals, the wheat in this book far outweighs the chaff.

Why Blog?

When asked if blogs are valuable at all, Dr. Carl Trueman says:

Few strengths. It’s all too anarchic. I think fun and information sharing are the best it can do. Weaknesses: feeds narcissism; allows any old nutcase to present themselves as a serious player in theological and ecclesiastical discussion.

Certainly Dr. Carl has a point here. Blogging often can and does feed pride. Do I frequent my hit counter too often? Sadly, the answer probably is, "yes". The blog can be a meter of fluctuating self-worth as you observe who is linking to you and who and how many people come to your blog. This is can be a serious form of addictive self-idolatry and needs to be fought at all costs. I have found that taking a blog fast is a good means to fight this sin of pride through blogging. It can be a serious time waster as well. Often I feel the nag in my soul that I am missing out on something important if I don't frequent my Google Reader enough. This sense of urgency can be addictive and I can feel the need to "check in" too much.

Let me say this as well by way of caution. If you find that you read more blogs than good books, that is most likely a problem. For the most part, good books have been tested by time, publishers, editors and years of research and thinking. Most blogs have not. As Carl says above, "any other nut-job can get a blog". Though there certainly are nut-jobs that write books, there are way more of them that have blogs simply because it is so much easier to acquire a blog. Keep this in mind as you read blogs.

Hopefully with these dangers in full view, here is why I blog:

1. Practice writing. Writing is a skill just like anything else. The more you do the better you get. The ability to formulate ideas and thoughts in a concise and understandable way is a foundational facet of our civilization that I seek to improve in. The truth is though I don't have that many great things to say (if ever), so I usually point to great things that others have said. But when I do choose write my own thoughts I find that this a valuable process to hone the skill of writing.

2. A place to document my thoughts. Oftentimes I don't know how I feel about an issue until I actually articulate it in a way that someone else could read and understand (as I am doing right now). It forces me to think specifically and concretely about something as opposed to just have this amorphous blob of thinking about an issue rolling around in my brain. In terms of documentation, I also have a blog all about my kids that tracks their development. It functions like a baby book but better because I can upload pictures, videos and write out quickly and easily things that they said or did that we'll want to remember in 20 years. For certain, grandparents who live hundreds of miles away greatly value this blogging.

3. A place to document other people's thoughts that I want to share with others. This can be a form of indirect community encouragement as I communicate things that I deem valuable or insightful.

4. A place to document other people's thoughts that I can easily access to in the future. For example, I often find in preparing for a teaching that I have to do at church my mind will quickly revert back to something I posted a long time ago. Maybe it was something on humility by C.J. Mahaney. All I have to do is type his name into my blog's search engine and I will have it. This has proved very useful for me as my blog size continues to increase. The longer I blog, the more information I amass, but it doesn't take up massive amounts of shelf space in my office.

5. A context for community. Certainly this kind of "community" is limited and superficial, but it is community none the less. Many of my friends from college who I would not keep in touch with otherwise, have blogs that I read and comment on and vice versa. I have also met many people through blogs that I would not have otherwise met and have benefited from the cyber-relationship that takes place via email and comments sections.

6. Entertainment. Entertainment should be low on the priority list, but it's still on the list.

So these are my reasons. Are there dangers? Certainly, but for now, I feel as though the benefits outweigh the costs. Fellow bloggers, what would you add to this list and what other dangers do you recognize?

Misdiagnosis

Did you all hear about this? Yet another reason to be pro-life.

(HT: Dan Phillips)

What is the Good News We are Supposed to be Spreading?

Here is what I understand the good news to be: the good news is that the one and only God, who is holy, made us in his image to know him. But we sinned and cut ourselves off from him. In his great love, God became a man in Jesus, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross, thus fulfilling the law himself and taking on himself the punishment for the sins of all those who would ever turn and trust in him. He rose again from the dead, showing that God accepted Christ’s sacrifice and that God’s wrath against us had been exhausted. He now calls us to repent of our sins and to trust in Christ alone for our forgiveness. If we repent of our sins and trust in Christ, we are born again into a new life, an eternal life with God. Now that is good news.

-Mark Dever, The Gospel and Personal Evangelism

I don't want to ever grow weary of knowing and believing these truths. May we cherish the gospel together today.

(HT: T-Wax)

Sex and Idolatry

I just starting listening to Mark Driscoll's latest sermon series where they asked people to submit questions that they wanted Mark to answer. They picked the top 10 questions and I am currently listening to this one:

Is sexual sin really the issue, or does it go deeper? "How should Christian men and women go about breaking free from the bondage of sexual sin?" is the fifth question posed to Pastor Mark Driscoll, as he continues preaching in Religion Saves and 9 Other Misconceptions.

Mark's approach in this message is very powerful. As we live in a culture that is continuing to work itself up into an increasingly intense sex-crazed frenzy, I would commend this message from Mark as of utmost importance.

You can find it here as an iTunes podcast.

CT on Matthew West

Christianity Today interviews my former boss, Matthew West. It's a good read if you are not familiar with his trials in recent months.

The Mystery of Prayer

Prayers cause things to happen that wouldn't happen if you didn't pray. I wonder if there's any Calvinists out there squirming. Listen to this: When James 4:2 says, "You do not have because you do not askt," that does not mean "You'd have anyway even if you didn't ask because I gotta plan." The verse doesn't mean the opposite of what it says. It says you have not because you ask not. That means prayer causes things to happen that wouldn't happen if you wouldn't pray. This is why this is a staggeringly glorious privilege . . . If you do not avail yourself of the privilege of bringing to pass events in the universe that would not take place if you didn't pray, you are acting like a colossal fool.

- John Piper, in the audio for the sermon Pray Like This: Hallowed Be Your Name (text version here)

(HT: Jared)

Huck on SNL

Victory and Defeat

It might be good if we stopped using the terms ‘victory’ and ‘defeat’ to describe our progress in holiness. Rather we should use the terms ‘obedience’ and ‘disobedience.’ When I say I am defeated by some sin, I am unconsciously slipping out from under my responsibility. I am saying something outside of me has defeated me. But when I say I am disobedient, that places the responsibility for my sin squarely on me. We may, in fact, be defeated, but the reason we are defeated is because we have chosen to disobey.

-Jerry Bridges, The Pursuit of Holiness, pp. 80-81

(HT: Ray Fowler)

Resurgence - Text and Context Conference

(HT: Crimson Window)

Why Pro-Life Presidents Matter

In light of the brewing discussion a few posts down concerning Obama and abortion, I thought I would point to this helpful post from Joe Carter entitled, Why Pro-Life Presidents Matter.

(HT: JT)

Meet Moses

This is what sacrificial living is all about. Shaun Groves reports on his new relationship with Moses from Uganda.

How Do Your Kids Play?

Here is a helpful post for parents (like me) who have small kids.

(HT: Owen)

Baseball Steroids and Personal Confession

CJ Mahaney with a very important post having to do with how baseball and steroids connects to our personal sanctification through confession. He writes:

When I have sinned against someone, a sincere confession is required. A confession that is sincere and pleasing to God will be specific and brief. I have learned to be suspicious of my confession if it’s general and lengthy. A sincere confession of sin should be specific (“I was arrogant and angry when I made that statement; will you please forgive me for sinning against you in this way?”) and brief (this shouldn’t take long). When I find myself adding an explanation to my confession, I’m not asking forgiveness but instead appealing for understanding.

If my so-called confession extends beyond a very specific (acknowledgement of sin) sentence or two, then I am most likely excusing my sin, and requesting understanding for my sin, rather than sincerely asking forgiveness because of my sin. So I have learned to be suspicious of any confession of sin that is lengthy. Genuine conviction of sin is evidenced by a sincere, specific, and brief confession of sin, without any reference to circumstances or the participation of anyone else. When I sin, I am responsible for my sin, and the cause of my sin is always within my heart and never lies outside my heart.

Often after I sin, and even after I confess my sin—most importantly to God to receive the forgiveness I need from him for my sin through the death of his Son for my many sins—I experience a conflict in my soul about the confessing, when necessary, to the appropriate individuals. And whenever there is this conflict in my soul about specifically confessing my sin, I am aware that pride is actively at work in my soul, opposing the confession and seeking to persuade me that it wouldn’t be wise or even necessary for me to confess. But I have learned to ignore this noise from my arrogant heart, and instead weaken this noise by specifically confessing my sin to the appropriate individual as quickly as possible.

When I do confess, first and foremost to God and then (where and when appropriate) to others, I want my confession to be sincere and specific. I want my confession to express genuine sorrow and gratefulness to God for the mercy I experience because of the substitutionary sacrifice of his Son for my sins on the cross.

And when I confess my sin to others and ask their forgiveness when I have sinned against them, I don’t want my confession to resemble the press conference of a high-profile athlete, characterized by evasive language and the refusal to be specific. Instead, I hope my confession of sin is the sincere and specific confession of one genuinely convicted of his sin, sorrowful about his sin, and amazed at the grace of God provided for the forgiveness of sin.

(HT: JT)

Why not stay where the harvest is ripe and the workers are few?

Bill Walsh reports on the DGM blog:

Today in Johannesburg, South Africa, I had lunch with Pastor Tim Cantrell of Honeyridge Baptist Church. Tim and his wife Michelle are from California and have taken up residence here, committing themselves to the ministry of this church. Yesterday an associate here in the region gave me a copy of a short article that Michelle wrote last year. I was touched by the description of their calling to minister in this country:

I could faithfully serve Christ and the gospel in another country. But I wouldn't expect to reap the same amount of fruit as in a desperate place like Africa: “God chose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him.” (James 2:5). People here see their need for the Great Physician. People are suffering. We have the cure that they are asking for. The gospel (a biblical worldview) is the ultimate cure for AIDS and poverty and crime. In more western countries, people are deceptively self-sufficient and hardened to the gospel. Why not stay where the harvest is ripe and the workers are few?

Read the full article (PDF).

Owen on Obama and Abortion

Owen Strachan writes:

I think that many Christians are drawn, as many people are, to Obama by virtue of his youth, his eloquence, his "coolness", his purportedly fresh-thinking manner. I can understand some of this interest, though I am not as charmed by Obama as some. I am concerned, though, when I hear that fellow Christians are not simply impressed by Obama but won over by him. That is to say, I am distressed when I hear that Obama is gaining support among conservative Christians. Remember that Obama is pro-choice, and not just pro-choice, but ardently so. (See here for more on this matter.) On a matter like abortion, we are not being small-minded when we prioritize it. We are being logical. Matters of life-and-death must take priority in our political philosophy. However much we may be charmed by a candidate's native gifts or his perceived ability to unite people, we must evaluate him by his positions, and his positions on the most important matters must take intellectual precedence. It is no bad thing to want a candidate who cares for the environment or the poor--we would hope for such candidates!--but it is only biblical to first and foremost desire a candidate who will actively work to stop the slaughter of millions of babies.

Live Jazz in ABQ

For all those interested, the Zach Nielsen Trio will be performing at Brickyard Pizza on Central (right across from UNM) this Saturday night from 8-10pm. Come and chill and enjoy some great music and great food. Should be a good time. Click here for directions.

Zach Nielsen - Fender Rhodes
Colin Duble - Upright Bass
Rick "Straight Outta" Compton - Drums

Searching and Finding

American spirituality has glorified ’searching’ for spiritual meaning but de-emphasized ‘finding.’ In other words, it is good to be looking for spirituality, but it is intolerant to actually believe you have found a right faith.

- Ed Stetzer, quoted in Kane County Chronicle

(HT: Joe Thorn)

Someone Should Have Advised Against This

Hillary 4U&Me


(HT: Brody)

What DO we contribute?

Last night I taught the third week of our membership class here at Desert Springs Church in Albuquerque. As the third and final week of our survey of Creation, Fall, Redemption and Consummation, we talked about the Church age and the consummation of all things in Revelation 21 and 22. In talking about the church I drove home the point that the church is primarily a community of people called of God to spread his glory broader and deeper in our communities and to all the ends of the earth. We are to be ministers of restoration as God seeks to use us to actualize his kingdom reign "on earth as it is in heaven".

When I was at Covenant Seminary in January for a week long module class, Dr. Greg Perry asked us a very pointed question related to this that I passed along to my class last night. Dr. Perry framed it like this:

Churches don't pay property taxes. We don't contribute financially to our community. So then, here is the million dollar question: What do we do we contribute to the community?

Ultrasound and Abortion

T-Wax writes well here on the topic of presidential elections and abortion:

If Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama (and even John McCain) are truly serious about reducing the “tragedy” of abortion, why don’t they propose legislation requiring a woman to have an ultrasound before an abortion? After all, a woman should be informed about any medical procedure, especially one that may have emotional repercussions. An argument against the ultrasound law is ultimately an argument against science, against better medical advice, against the idea that a woman should be able to make a well-informed choice.

Let’s redirect some of the money that goes to paying abortions into paying for ultrasounds. We could substantially reduce abortions in no time, and without touching Roe vs. Wade. Then, President Clinton can indeed boast about resolutions that are more than “hot air.”

Will this happen? Not a chance. Eloquent words about the abortion “tragedy” translate into empty commitments to “choice.” Backed by the powerful abortion lobby, the pro-choice politicians are not advocating a well-informed woman’s right to choose. They are for restrictionless abortion.

We will not see ultrasound legislation because for many politicians, losing the support of the abortion lobby is a greater tragedy than the loss of another generation through the slaughtering of the unborn.

Read the whole thing.

A Good Question

JD Greear with an interesting post on the Resurgence blog asking this question: Should Evangelical Churches Be Involved in Community Ministry and if so, WHY?

I would love your thoughts on this one. I think I am in camp #1 that he describes.

Does Compassion Really Work? It Did For Prossy

Shaun Groves reports:

I asked you guys to e-mail me any questions you have about Compassion International. Christine did. She wrote:

One thing I have wondered is whether it is really working. Is it really breaking the cycle of poverty? Are there adults who were sponsored as a child still living in poverty? I sure hope not, but I’d really like to know the story of an adult that came through Compassion and lives a better life than the generations he/she came from.

The answer showed up the very next day at a hotel in Uganda. Prossy’s former sponsor read about our trip to Uganda and e-mailed Prossy telling her to go meet us (I’m still not understanding how she found out where we were exactly.) Prossy showed up at a hotel where we were having lunch, excited to meet a bunch of bloggers working with Compassion. For Prossy, she said, it was the next best thing to meeting her sponsor.

Having just read Christine’s e-mail, I asked Carlos to grab some video of me talking with Prossy about her experience as a sponsored child and her life now. Prossy is a mature Christian adult whose children will not need .Compassion International. That’s success. Here’s your answer, Christine.

From poverty to small business owner for $32 a month. Make the same kind of impact on a child. Become a sponsor. And then tell us about it.

I have additional idea... In addition to sponsoring a kids from Uganda, why not adopt one too? Talk about taking care of widows and orphans in their distress. I want to see a culture of adoption rise up in the American church. Kim and I going to begin this process this summer. More on this later.

Wells on Status of "Church"

David Wells composes an important post for church leaders on the 9marks blog. He writes:

A recent Barna report offers an interesting snapshot of the current mood.

Surveying those who are “Christian” by self-designation—which, we know, is not of much use as a category—Barna found that a majority of adults believe that there are six alternative ways to attend a conventional church service that are biblically acceptable:

• worship at home (89%),
• active in house church (75%),
• watching religious TV (69%),
• radio broadcast (68%),
• special ministry event (68%),
• and participating in a marketplace ministry (54%).

Assume for the moment that Barna’s numbers are correct and that they really do identify a prevailing mood. This mood will be in our churches. How are we going to respond to it? It seems to me that this has become a central question and we need to be careful that we are not caught fiddling while Rome—the reality of the Church—gets burned down. The problem, though, is that the consequences in our churches of increasingly vapid biblical teaching, personality-centered pastoring, invasive individualism, contempt for the past, and an egregiously non-theological kind of evangelicalism have now been accumulating for years. And this makes for easy-pluckings by anyone who seems to have a better idea or who offers more for less.

Dr. Lucas on Reason For God

Dr. Sean Michael Lucas (Church History prof at Covenant Seminary) reviews Tim Keller's The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. I like what he writes here:

Not only is this book more than a manual on apologetics, it is less. By that I mean, this strikes me as a book that is meant to be used, given away, and shared over coffee with unbelieving friends. This would be a great book for a small group of friends to begin to investigate Christianity, to give to an unbelieving relative who has asked you for reasons for your faith, to center an approach to evangelism around. The ideas will work their way into sermons. And so, it is less than most books on apologetics, which seem to be geared mostly to believers at a semi-academic level to prepare them in the most abstract way to reason--but not actually with real unbelievers.

Read the whole review.

Radiohead Tour

Radiohead just announced their new tour in the U.S. You know you all got the new CD for free, so you might as well support them and buy your $100 ticket and see one of the coolest shows you'll ever see in your lifetime. If I didn't have three kids (they are cooler than Radiohead) and completely been domesticated (it's a good thing though) I would be there. I'll live vicariously through all my 20something buddies.

Here are the dates:

May 5 - Cruzan Amphitheatre - West Palm Beach, Florida
May 6 - Ford Amphitheatre - Tampa, Florida
May 8 - Lakewood Amphitheatre - Atlanta, Georgia
May 9 - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre - Charlotte, North Carolina
May 11 - Nissan Pavilion at Stone Ridge - Bristow, Virginia
May 14 - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater - St Louis, Missouri
May 17 - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion - Houston, Texas
May 18 - Superpages.com Center - Dallas, Texas

Funny Money

And today's award for the dumbest criminal goes to.... this guy.

15 syllable words, footnotes, and extensive bibliographies

Meet Greg... He is our youth pastor here at Desert Springs Church:


Greg just posted a great reflection on our group blog for all you theology nerds out there. I'll repost the whole thing here for you:

Last night my beautiful wife cooked some spaghetti pie for our neighbors, Kay and Kelly. They are a crazy fun couple, she being a OBGYN and he a crazy nascar belly shirt wearin’ bud drinking car-part man. We had a blast, talked long into the night, and enjoyed some quality wine.

One thing I noticed however, was the lack of 15 syllable words, footnotes, and extensive bibliographies. In fact, we didn’t even debate the issue of pre-temporal soteriology in the eschaton one time. Sad.

Not really, not sad at all. In fact, praise God. Praise God that we were able to have the simplest of all conversations about the simplest of truths, God has loved us at the great expense of Christ.

So, you know I’m not hating on jargon (nerd talk is still a personal passion), but let us remember that the call of the gospel is, in simple terms, for everyone, not just those card carrying covenantal calvinistic types like ourselves. We never have to dumb truth down, but that’s just the beauty of Christ’s truth being made alive by the spirit, even the most common expression has the power to save.

I was so convicted about how little I get out, love those who don’t know Christ, and have real conversations about aging grandparents, car parts, and hospital shoes. May those ordinary topics be used by us ordinary means as a way for God’s love and justice to be communicated clearly.

Perhaps, one of the most powerful apologetics is to presuppose God’s authority as you LISTEN.

Amen, Greg. Keep preachin' that one.

I think it's worth trying to find out other things about each other

Local6.com reports:

Relevant Church head pastor Paul Wirth said the 50 percent divorce rate was the catalyst for The 30-Day Sex Challenge. The church set up a Web site concerning the challenge, Local 6 reported. "And that's no different for people who attend church," Wirth said. "Sometimes life gets in the way. Our jobs get in the way." Oh, and the flip side of the challenge? No rolling in the sheets for the unwed. Church member Tim Jones and his fiancee agreed to take on the challenge, though he acknowledges it'll be a tough month. But he added: "I think it's worth trying to find out other things about each other."

Uh... That last sentence? Need I say more?

(HT: Centurion)

Those Dang Calvinists

Tominthebox News Network (satire) has a funny post about a recent publication from Asbury Theological Seminary. It's called: 72 Bible Verses that Simply Can’t Mean What They Say.

JW's

Despite the cartoon, here is a sad statistic.

10 Stupidest Leadership Mistakes

Tony Morgan outlines his 10 Stupidest Leadership Mistakes:

1. Hiring too fast and firing too slow.

2. Putting the projects before the people.

3. Trying to fix the problem rather than the process.

4. Delegating tasks instead of responsibility.

5. Assuming it's always black and white.

6. Not following my gut. (...or is that the Holy Spirit?)

7. Dwelling on the worst case scenario.

8. Waiting until there's a problem to provide feedback.

9. Staying busy.

10. Spending too much time on the details rather than the dreams.

Read the whole post for his explanations. There is much to learn here for those of us that lead people. I especially resonated with his explanation of #8. A culture of fear should not be allowed to exist, especially in the church!

"Americans believe... blah, blah, blah"

Who says those emergent guys are that bad? Well, maybe I do on some things, but this quote from Tony Jones' new book hits the nail on the head (except for the part about metanarratives) on why I hate American politics as we know it today:

There's a growing sense among emergents that the polarization in U.S. politics isn't real—it's a script written by the two political parties and the U.S. media. They wrote this script and they perpetuate it because they have the most to gain from its perpetuation. The unnuanced maps showing states as "red" or "blue" disregards the fact that in a red state, as many as 49 percent of the voters are blue, and vice versa.

But even more important, it ignores what we all know to be true: each one of us is a complex mélange of viewpoints and opinions, and very few of us line up with every plank in a party's platform. Being that postmodern Christians are acutely aware of micronarratives and justifiably incredulous toward metanarratives, they are particularly suspicious of the spokespersons of left and right who often begin their pufferies with "Americans believe . . ." But having two sides makes for good television; have six nuanced positions does not.

Confession

Last night I challenged our home group to a time of honest confession of sin. As we know, sin lives in the dark, thus the first step to restoration is bringing it out into the light. As James tells us to "confess our sins, one to another" we can see the sanctification is a corporate pursuit. We focused on Jeremiah 2:12, 13 which says:

12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
be shocked, be utterly desolate,
declares the Lord,
13 for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water.

I challenged our group to identify what our "broken cisterns" were and then confess them to God and the group. It was a fruitful time of honest confession and hopefully repentance. I believe this is a great discipline for all of us, "Hey, check me out, I am a Christian and I have it all together" types, of whom I am the chief. People don't want to know how perfect we are. They want to know how needy and surrendered to Jesus we are. Then we can all be quite at home at the foot of the cross.

He who is alone with his sin is utterly alone. …The pious fellowship permits no one to be a sinner. So, everybody must conceal his sin from himself and from the fellowship. We dare not be sinners. Many Christians are unthinkably horrified when a real sinner is suddenly discovered among the righteous. So we remain alone with our sin, living in lies and hypocrisy. The fact is that we are sinners!

--Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together.

Brenda's House

Shaun Groves with a moving video account of going to Brenda's house in Uganda:

God of this City

We did this song yesterday in church. I think it went over well. At least that is how I felt and what I heard from some assorted folks. It's not your typical "worship" song, but fits well into the exhortation category. You might want to consider it for your church as we seek to "wake up"
(as my teaching elder said yesterday) to what God's will is for the church.

You Supply The Caption

(Source)

2008 Dunk Contest

Click here to read about the dunk contest from the 2008 NBA all-star weekend. Sounds like it was one of the best ever. Be sure to watch the video. The winner, Dwight Howard, has one of the nastiest dunks I have ever seen.



And here for the 10 best dunks of all the dunk contests. You are going to need to add the candle blow out and the behind the hoop one from this year I think.

David Tyree: His Testimony and His Faith

Remember the amazing "squash the ball against my helmet" catch the David Tyree made in the Super Bowl? Here is an interesting article about David and his transformation since becoming a Christian.

(HT: Brandon Hoops)

Emery Wanted To Say Hi To You

Chuck Needs To Work On His Hermenutics

fake christians
Uploaded by luvnews

(HT: centuri0n)

Testify

Click here for some more amazing album covers. I wanna know where this guys finds this stuff.

Like Van Til, Only Better

That is Covenant Seminary Professor, Dr. Sean Michael Lucas’ view of Tim Keller’s new book . Here is what Dr. Lucas says:

I had to smile in recognition to the apologetic methodology–moving on to the unbeliever’s turf in order to show the inconsistencies of their own worldview and then demonstrating that only a Christian worldview can make sense of any thing. It was just like Van Til.

…Only without the confusing terminology. And a whole heap more readable. And winsome. And literate. And interesting. And, well, better. I’m looking forward to finishing the book over the weekend.

Click Here for Rest of Dr. Lucas’s view

(HT: Carlos)

Greg, the youth pastor as our church is a HUGE Van Til fan. Dorks out on the guy. He even has a "Cornelius Van Til is my homeboy" shirt that he had made. Anyway, our college pastor, Carlos, who I stole the above post from, thinks Keller is better. Here was Greg's response from our group blog. Only theology dorks will find this funny. I found it extremely funny:

That’s it Carlos, you bring Keller and I’ll bring the dutch…its on.

Then again, Keller would bring out his whole NY army of thugs, but then again, the dutch would bring all of Michigan.

Then again, Keller would bring Guliani…and the dutch would bring Bavinck (with Ben D to help translate) and it would be a stale mate.

Bottom line, read them both.

Spiritual Films

Jared Wilson reports on his top five spiritual films. I would have to add 3:10 to Yuma, then I would agree totally with these.

In no particular order:

1. Magnolia
Actually, this one is at #1 for a reason.

2. The Passion of the Christ
Duh.

3. Punch-Drunk Love
Like Mangolia, also by Paul Thomas Anderson and also deeply affecting (to me, anyway).

4. Hotel Rwanda

5. Changing Lanes
Gonna throw this one in, because it's a recent movie that's underseen and underrated and was therefore too quickly forgotten. It's got Ben Affleck and Samuel Jackson, but don't hold that against it.

Could also have thrown in Amistad, Les Miserables, About a Boy, Life is Beautiful, and The Truman Show. That last one in particular is one of my favorite movies ever, and the final scene with Truman reaching the end of the "world" and stepping through always gets me.

Jason Whitlock Weighs In On The Rocket

He writes:

By the time Rep. Henry Waxman (Democrat) closed the hearing, he felt compelled to offer McNamee an apology for the behavior and comments of some of his colleagues. America was owed an apology. This is how our government works.

A lobbyist, which Clemens was all last week, convinced a group of elected officials to play games with the truth. Wednesday was a public-relations battle between Clemens and McNamee. Clemens' lawyers banked on their star player's ability to woo a few political supporters, so that the hearing wouldn't be a one-sided examination of Clemens' half-baked explanations.

Clemens sold himself as a patriotic all-American family man who speaks to children about doing things the right way. He's a big strapping baseball icon with a beautiful blonde wife. He's America.

Interracial marriage

Anthony Bradley reports:

Over at World Magazine I posted an opinion noting that interracial marriages are good. I also highlighted the fact that Southern conservative Christians are among the most resistant to interracial marriages. I know a couple guys that got fired because they affirmed interracial marriages from the pulpit. Oops!

Here's the link.

Read the thread and you'll understand why conservative evangelicalism will never have many blacks. Lots of racist views (in the name of Jesus). There are too many churchy people who remain racist, supporting their positions in Scripture, and cowards who refuse do anything about it. There are 175 comments so far.

Many of the comments are so racist that the site manager had to warn people.

Also, I made mention of the fact that all this "racial reconciliation" talk is merely cosmetic and we won't see any real change until people start intermarrying. Do we need another conference about it?

So Good. So Funny.

This is my Valentine's Day gift for you:

A Great Idea for V-Day

ThinkChristian.net reports:

The Christian Persecution Blog has a wonderful take on Valentine’s Day:

This year as I was reflecting on the hustle and bustle of Valentine’s Day, I felt impressed to do something different. I decided to send letters of encouragement to our brothers and sisters around the world who are imprisoned for their faith. Can you imagine the difference the letters will make in showing these precious, courageous believers that we love them and have not forgotten about them and their sacrifice? This Valentine’s Day, I encourage you to join me and send letters of love to our brothers and sisters around the world. To get a list of believers in prison, go to www.prisoneralert.com and share your love with persecuted believers.

Anyone going to write one?

Top 5 Songs To Sing To Your Wife On V-Day

Dave Barnes - More Than A Man
Duncan Sheik - For You
David Martin - Something In Your Eyes (Check out this link on David Martin. Interesting Stuff. I got to play in his band for a show in Hollywood one time. Good guy.)
Marc Cohn - True Companion
Willy Porter - Dishwater Blonde

A Song For Valentine's Day

Here is a link to the song I wrote for my wife almost ten years ago for our wedding day. This is a horrible recording because I just made a quick demo for my publisher when I had a pub deal in Nashville. Please excuse the weak vocals, but I think you might like the song. (If you want to hear some better recordings of my stuff from back in the day, click here)

iMonk Responds To White Horse Inn

iMonk has an interesting critique of the White Horse Inn guys concerning their most recent episode. It has to do with Law/Gospel in reference to the Sermon on the Mount. It's a good read, especially for anyone like me who was raised Lutheran.

We need to think carefully about this matter

“In an age increasingly suspicious of (linear) thought, there is much more respect for the ‘feeling’ of things — whether a film or a church service. It is disturbingly easy to plot surveys of people, especially young people, drifting from a church of excellent preaching and teaching to one with excellent music because, it is alleged, there is “better worship” there. But we need to think carefully about this matter.”

— D.A. Carson, Worship By The Book, c. 2002

(HT: SCC)

D-Brusk

City on a Hill's teaching elder Dave Bruskas taught a great message here at Desert Springs this past Sunday. I would strongly encourage you to download this sermon here.

(HT: Los)

36 Square Feet

Shaun Groves reports on his trip in Uganda for Compassion International:

How big is your bedroom? Mine’s about 12 x 15.

Your closet? Probably as big as a house.

Yesterday we broke into small groups of four and visited the homes of children cared for by Compassion International. Over the open sewers, through the market, down alleyways, until we reached this house for seven: A mother and her six children in 36 square feet.

Imagine a family living in your closet. A set of bunk beds to the right and a single bed to the left. Walls made of sticks and mud. Floors of dirt. Their attic is the top bunk. Their basement is the space under the bed. Their bathroom is the soil outside. Their kitchen is the alley. Their tooth brush holder is the space between door frame and mud wall.

Read the whole thing.

A Thought For Valentines Day

Love for one another is the primary, dynamic test of whether or not we have understood the gospel.

• Taken from Total Church by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis

(HT: Doug)

The Outcome of The Fall of Man

My boy Carlos made this video for the college group that he leads at our church called, The Well.

He writes:

Did the outcome of The Fall of man just affect man and God? Or did it affect everything, is that why the world is so messed up? Where is the hope in all of this mess we find ourselves in? Why are we well aware that things are not how they ought to be?

Here is a video I made for our college group, “The Well” last night. I went over the holistic nature of the fall, and the holistic nature of redemption that was foreshadowed and then seen in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God’s own son.

The Communicators Themselves

Bill Walsh writing for the DGM blog:

Recently I was challenged by this quote from the Lausanne Willowbank Report: Consultation on Gospel and Culture:

We believe that the principal key to persuasive Christian communication is to be found in the communicators themselves and what kind of people they are. It should go without saying that they need to be people of Christian faith, love, and holiness. That is, they must have a personal and growing experience of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, so that the image of Jesus Christ is ever more clearly seen in their character and attitudes.

Above all else we desire to see in them, and especially in ourselves, "the meekness and gentleness of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:1), in other words, the humble sensitivity of Christ's love….

First, there is the humility to acknowledge the problem which culture presents, and not to avoid or over-simplify it. As we have seen, different cultures have strongly influenced the biblical revelation, ourselves, and the people to whom we go. As a result, we have several personal limitations in communicating the gospel. For we are prisoners (consciously or unconsciously) of our own culture, and our grasp of the cultures both of the Bible and of the country in which we serve is very imperfect. It is the interaction between all these cultures which constitutes the problem of communication; it humbles all who wrestle with it.

Secondly, there is the humility to take the trouble to understand and appreciate the culture of those to whom we go. It is this desire which leads naturally into that true dialogue "whose purpose is to listen sensitively in order to understand." We repent of the ignorance which assumes that we have all the answers and that our only role is to teach. We have very much to learn. We repent also of judgmental attitudes. We know we should never condemn or despise another culture, but rather respect it. We advocate neither the arrogance which imposes our culture on others, nor the syncretism which mixes the gospel with cultural elements incompatible with it, but rather a humble sharing of the good news—made possible by the mutual respect of a genuine friendship.

Porn Producer Converted

Listen to this very moving story of a former porn producer that has become a Christian. ThinkChristian.net reports:

“Do you believe in transformation?” That’s the question being asked in this interview with former porn producer Donny Pauling. After a short introductory message by pastor Jake Larson of Arcade Baptist Church, Donny talks about his Christian upbringing, his reasons for rejecting Christianity and his active hatred for Christians, his involvement and life in the porn industry, and finally his spiritual transformation. It’s a riveting (and sometimes disturbing) testimony. There’s a shorter text version of the interview as well.

Pauling now works closely with the XXXChurch team, and writes periodically for a blog about the porn industry at the XXXChurch website. Much of his message focuses on the damage that porn does not just to porn consumers, but to the people working in the industry.

See also Pauling’s personal blog.

I listen to this on the way to work this morning. I recommend it highly. May we rejoice in God's work in this brother's life.