Archive for April, 2006
You may have noticed in my sidebar a section entitled “Help Us Both Earn” which features a laptop, a Mac mini, an iPod video and an iPod nano. These offers are legitimate and yes, they do work. Of course, the items are not technically free, you do have to do a bit for them. Here’s the deal: sign up, complete an offer (which could be anything from Boca Java, BMG, Blockbuster Online [this one seems to be the easiest] and others). Then, depending on the item, you recruit “x” number of people to sign up under you and also complete offers. Once their offers are complete, you receive the item. So why don’t you consider trying it for yourself and helping me in the process!
Help us both earn a laptop computer.
Help us both earn a Mac mini computer.
Help us both earn an iPod video.
Help us both earn an iPod nano.
Tim Challies offers “live blogging” from the Together For the Gospel conference where I am until Friday.
Well, I haven’t really gone fishing but I will be gone for the week attending the Together For the Gospel conference in Louisville and visiting friends. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to post from there or not, so with that ray of certainty, I may post more this week or I may not.
Growing up, my parents would watch the news program 60 Minutes nearly every week. For many years I was not quite old enough to grasp the ins and outs of the news coverage, and frankly, I was not all that interested. But I loved that warm old man who would come on at the end and talk about stamps or letting the dog out and draw out these wonderful life-lessons from everyday events.
One of the odd things about being a pastor is the continual hunt for sermon illustrations. While I don’t include an illustration in every sermon, they can be helpful, and it’s often the illustrations that will help people first to remember and then to internalize the content of a sermon.
Watching life with such an eye is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, you find yourself continually analyzing life’s events in view of God’s Word, wondering what theological truth picking up child toys can drive home. On the other hand, I sometimes find myself wondering if I don’t have a bad case of Rooney-itis, over-analyzing every event in search of the cutest story I can find to tug at the proverbial heart-strings.
I had just such a moment the other day thinking about one of my dogs, Baxter. Baxter is a Golden Retriever. For several years, my wife has wanted a Golden Retriever, so when we moved to Texas, from an apartment into a house, that was one of the first things on her mind. We bought Baxter as a puppy. He’s a great dog, but as you may know, Golden Retrievers can be large and a large puppy is not always the best addition to a home of two (now three) boys!
Our boys have a love/hate relationship with Baxter. They do love him, but he’s still very much in that puppy phase and being as large as he is, he often hurts the boys unintentionally. They don’t like going in the backyard to play because, in his excitement, he often knocks them over. So, as much as we loved Baxter, we made the decision that he just wasn’t the right fit for our family and we gave him to another family in the church who lives up the river.
Everything seemed fine. The new family loved Baxter and with no small children, his size wasn’t as much of an issue. Until five months later when Baxter showed up at our doorstep. My family and I pulled up in the driveway when who should come bounding up the road but Baxter! It seems that he found his way out of the new yard, he walked up the river, into our subdivision and to our doorstep, five months later!
We returned Baxter to the new family, thinking that he maybe he had just wandered a bit too far and happened upon our house. We didn’t think anything of it until he showed up the next day, and the next, and the next. For seven days in a row we returned Baxter and he returned himself to us! Finally, we realized that this was our dog whether we thought so or not; his loyalty won out.
Of course, the Rooney/sermon illustration of these events blares like a megaphone into our consciences. What a rebuke it is to us that a dog expresses more loyalty to owners who didn’t want him than we do for our Creator and Sustainer. Man’s lack of loyalty is often the focus Scriptural rebuke. Reminding us that Scripture is not necessarily “G” rated, God often refers to His people as “whores” (Exodus 34:15-16, Judges 2:17, Psalm 106:39, etc.).
In his song “Wedding Dress,” Derek Webb sings the painful lines “I am a whore I do confess, I put you on just like a wedding dress and I run down the aisle. I’m a prodigal with no way home and I put you on just like a ring of gold and I run down the aisle.”
Ultimately, the root of the problem is that our pride convinces us that satisfaction can be found outside of God and His plan. Has a greater lie ever been told? Oh that we would “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8). The key to overcoming our disloyalty is not to try harder to but “hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matthew 5:6) above all else, to pray for that divine discontent that will allow us to find our satisfaction only in God.
Scripture continually admonishes us to be content. Whether it be Paul reminding us that he had learned to be “content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities” (2 Corinthians 12:10) because he had learned to be content not matter what situation he was in (Philippians 4:11). Elsewhere, Paul reminds us that “there is great gain in godliness with contentment” (1 Timothy 6:6). Jesus commands that we consider the birds and the flowers and, seeing God’s good provision for them, stop worrying because God is good (Matthew 6:25-34). Contentment is built upon the idea that God and His provisions are sufficient.
It seems odd then that there is a Beatitude for discontentment. After all, aren’t we to strive for contentment in all circumstances, recognizing God’s good, providing and directing hand? Yes we are, and we must never take our eyes off of Him and that is exactly the point of Matthew 5:6 which reminds us “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
J.R. Miller, in his wonderful book of devotions “Come Ye Apart: Daily Readings in the Life of Christ” remarks “We know that peace is promised to the Christian, and peace is calm repose and satisfied restulness. The words ‘hunger and thirst’ appear to suggest experiences incompatible with rest and peace.” But when we begin to meditate on the words in context, we begin to see that “hunger and thirst” are signs of health rather than of want.
In the physical life, we recognize that a loss of appetite typically indicates an illness of some sort. So it is with the mind; a hungry mind is a healthy mind. When one becomes satisfied with intellectual attainment, he stops growing. Miller says “The same is true in spiritual life. If we become satisfied with our faith and love and obedience, and our communion with God, and our consecration to Christ, we have ceased to grow.”
There is indeed such a thing as “divine discontent” that, rather than saying God is not sufficient, says exactly the opposite, God alone is the fountain of pure joy from which we long to drink deeply, for nothing else will satisfy. Yet, there are many professing Christians who are starving their souls in the midst of abundance because they have no spiritual hunger. Miller warns “There is nothing for which we should pray more earnestly and more importunately than for spiritual longing and desire.”
Do you pray for the desire to pray? Do you pray for the desire to read? I know that far too often, I do not and as a result, far too often, I do not “hunger and thirst for righteousness.” But notice, it is not those who believe themselves to be satisfied who truly are. Rather, it is those who know that there is more to be had, those who “hunger and thirst” who will be satisfied at the end.
May we never grow content in our weakness. May we never grow complacent in our mediocrity. It is those who have truly tasted and seen that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8) who will truly “hunger and thirst” for more of Him and His righteousness. May we pray for that divine discontent which drives us deeper into the joy of God’s glory every day and in every way.
You may have noticed in my sidebar a section entitled “Help Us Both Earn” which features a laptop, a Mac mini, an iPod video and an iPod nano. These offers are legitimate and yes, they do work. Of course, the items are not technically free, nothing is. You simply sign up, complete an offer (which could be anything from Boca Java, BMG, Blockbuster Online [this one seems to be the easiest] and others). Then, depending on the item, you recruit “x” number of people to sign up under you and also complete offers. Once their offers are complete, you receive the item. So why don’t you consider trying it for yourself and helping me in the process!
Help us both earn a laptop computer.
Help us both earn a Mac mini computer.
Help us both earn an iPod video.
Help us both earn an iPod nano.
Francis Schaeffer wrote in his short piece “Art & The Bible” that “The Christian is the one whose imagination should fly beyond the stars.� To that end, every Friday I feature poetry (and sometimes music). Though the poetry might not always be by Christians, I want to challenge Christians to think about art and expand our horizons and our understanding of the Gospel. Also to that end, I try to link to other people highlighting art on Fridays. Joe Thorn, Alex Forrest, Steve McCoy and Timmy usually post great photographs, so please pay them a visit.
Today’s poetry draws more from the mainstream, popular-level poetry. Rod McKuen is perhaps the best-selling poet of all time. Wikipedia notes, “McKuen�s commercial success is unparalleled in the field of modern poetry. His poetic works have been translated into a dozen languages and sold over 65 million copies.” Today’s selections come from 1967’s Listen to the Warm and 1954’s Stanyan Street and Other Sorrows.
McKuen wrote songs for Glenn Yarbough and Frank Sinatra among others. His style is typically very straightforward, drawing heavily on the themes of longing and alone-ness (not always the same as loneliness), often employing clever wordplay. It is accessible, which means that it immediately connects with some while falling a bit short for others. He was perhaps my first introduction to the idea of the relationship that could exist between poetry and life, and for that he will always hold a special place on my shelf, even if his style has been outgrown.
But before we get to the poetry, I’d like to offer two tracks for download from the now
defunct band The Tundra Survey. Allmusic describes the music as “Sad and gentle atmospheric tunes are delivered by a lineup of viola, cello, flute/xylophone, electric guitar, and electric bass.” Falling roughly within the “chamber pop” genre, not out of place being compared to Rachel’s or even Godspeed You Black Emperor! or te Boxhead Ensemble. These two tracks are made available on the band’s website which is still in operation though the band called it quits several years ago.
- Download “Leaning Over Fault Lines” (direct download).
- Download “The Edge of Winter Transforming” (direct download).
And now on to the poetry. First is “The World I Used to Know” from the collection Listen To The Warm followed by “Apartment 4E” from Stanyan Street and Other Sorrows.
The World I Used To Know
Someday some old familiar rain
will come along and know my name.
And then my shelter will be gone
and I’ll have to move along.
But till I do I’ll stay awhile
and track the hidden country of your smile.
Someday the man I used to be
wil come along and call on me.
And then because I’m just a man
you’ll find my feet are made of sand.
But till that time I’ll tell you lies
and chart the hidden boundaries of your eyes.
Someday the world I used to know
will come along and bid me go.
Then I’ll be leavin’ you behind
for lofe is just a state of mind.
But till that day I’ll be your man
and love away your troubles if I can.
Apartment 4E
The girl upstairs
is entertaining again,
I could set my clock
by the footfall on the stairs.I see her sometimes,
coming and going on the stairs
or going to the market.
Sometimes I hear her late at night
playing sad music
or walking overhead.
She smiles in the daytime,
but not at me.
Another week, more stuff from the internet.
Browse Rolling Stone’s list of “10 Bands to Watch.”
Watch the “Maybe Sparrow” video from Neko Case.
Read and read Dr. Mohler’s reflections on the “Pastor as Theologian.”
Read Christianity Today’s coverage of Chris Tomlin’s big wins at the GMA Awards.
Read as the Chicago Sun-Times discusses some of the recent additions to the Intonation and Pitchfork music festivals.
Read as Slate wonders “When Will the Pulitzer Prize in Music Get it Right?”
Read about the former Northern Kentucky University professor who tore down a pro-life display on campus, saying that “Pulling up the crosses was similar to citizens taking down Nazi displays on Fountain Square” (ht: Pearcey Report).
Read Justin Taylor’s “Second Thoughts on How to Respond to the Da Vinci Code Film.”
Read some of Tim Challies’ thoughts regarding the use of catechisms.
View Purgatorio’s photos of the “U2 Eucharist.”
If you’re a blogger attending the upcoming Together For the Gospel conference, consider also attending the Band of Bloggers gathering.
Read the Daily Vanguard’s profile of the elusive recluse artist known as Jandek.
Read Ann Coulter’s “Lie Down With Strippers, Wake Up With Pleas” in which she makes the insightful statement, “You can severely reduce your chances of having a false accusation of rape leveled against you if you don’t hire strange women to come to your house and take their clothes off for money.”
Read Larry Elder’s “Couric Dissed by Colleagues–For The Wrong Reasons,” in which he begs the question “how about a real concern about Couric — that of her liberalism.”
Look into my ears and see what I’ve been listening to.
please, Please PLEASE, help us both earn a free laptop, a free Mac Mini, a free iPod video or a free iPod Nano. Come on, help a brother out….I now only have until May 30.
Sign up for eMusic, expose yourself to a world of new music and help me get free downloads in the process!
Download original takes and unreleased songs from the Wrens’ 2003 album The Meadowlands.
Send a Bible to China through VoM’s “Bibles Unbound” program.
Read about the recent court decision banning hurtful T-shirts. At issue was a shirt that read “Homosexuality is shameful.” One has to wonder how long it will be before saying “Homosexuality is sin” will be illegal.
Read “F” by Joel Belz in which he wonders of our public schools ” What other institution can fail one-third of the time and survive?”
Read about the MA 2nd grade teacher who read her class a “gay marriage” book with backing from her administration.
Read Wade’s “God Wants Me To Have Bling!”
One of the things that I struggle with as a pastor is preaching. Well, let me clarify: I am growing to love the act of preaching and sermon preparation. But what I struggle with is “touching down” as I’ve heard it phrased (no, not football).
I love to read and study theology. When I originally went to seminary, the plan was to stay through for a Ph.D. and teach in the academic environment. But, somewhere along the line, God broke my heart for the Church and as professors would tell us that if we could picture ourselves doing anything other than full-time ministry and being content that we ought to, I began to realize that I couldn’t be content doing anything else.
But that academic leaning doesn’t always fare well in preaching. It certainly helps in sermon preparation, but not in delivery. The difficulty often comes in that part of the sermon’s role is teaching; it is to convey information and doctrine. However, that is not the only role of the sermon. I once sat under a pastor who said “If you think what I’m saying is over your heads, you’re ducking!” While I understand and even appreciate his sentiment, I’m not so sure that’s an entirely appropriate attitude for a sermon.
The tendency towards an academic approach is even more prevalent among the Reformed circles in which I often travel. If anything, it is more common to err on the side of an overly academic approach moreso than an overly emotional one. Being right often becomes the most important aspect of consideration, sometimes it is the only aspect. While I would not under-emphasize the importance of doctrine in the life of believers, I think that we ought to consider more than just whether or not it is right doctrine and challenges our people academically.
If a sermon does not challenge people in their hearts and in their lives, I’m not so sure that it can rightly bear the name of sermon. It might be called teaching, but I’m beginning to be convinced that there is more to preaching than just teaching. It’s a pastor’s heart which drives preaching and that heart longs for the hearers to be moved in their souls and be moved to action. The pastor’s heart wants nothing more than for the hearers to bring the truth of the Gospel to bear on daily life, continually being transformed into His image until His glory in our lives becomes our chiefest joy. This is more than just teaching.
I once had a seminary professor say that he had taped a sign to the pulpit at the church where he preached. There, where no one in the congregation could see it was taped a paper that said in large letters “SO WHAT?” The point was that, once you give the congregation the theological truth, then what? Are you giving it them to simply give more knowledge? No, you expect it to have an impact on their lives, whether it be self-examination, repentance of a specific sin, or simply declaring fresh dependence on the Cross of Christ, you ought to want them to do something with it. This is when the sermon “touches down.”
It’s that moment when you bring the truth to bear on real, hurting and weary souls. It’s those days when the congregation leaves and says “He was preaching to me.” Though I’m not arguing for “unction” (as discussed here), there is a sense in which preaching is God’s work and preachers are simply the instrument. We can by no means minimize the intellectual portion of it; we must study, we must bury ourselves in the text; we must first be transformed by it before we can expect others to be, then we must pray that God brings our work from the head to touch down on the heart.
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One of the difficulties of dealing with theological (or any other) movements is the task of defining your terms. This is something that I learned growing up in Arizona where there is a large concentration of Mormons. It is possible to have a theological conversation with a Mormon and walk away thinking that there is agreement where there is not (or at least should not be). This is because both participants might be using the same terminology, but both parties are not using the same meaning.
I was recently asked about my thoughts concerning the “emerging church” to which I immediately replied “define the emerging church.” Many people use terms such as emerging and/or emergent as a catch-all umbrella, yet it becomes immediately apparent that even those under the umbrella don’t agree that they’re under the same umbrella. Ask four people to define “emergent” and you’ll receive five different answers.
Scot McKnight defines it as “a coversation about the future direction of the evangelical church in a postmodern world; it’s a reaction and a protest against traditional evangelical churches; and it’s a conversation focused less on theological niceties and more on ‘performing’ the gospel in a local setting.” That’s all fine, but now define “traditional evangelical churches.” You see the problem quickly that it’s a conversation, but no one is quite sure who’s in it and what its about.
We’ve seen this frustration in D.A. Carson’s book Becoming Conversant With the Emerging Church which focuses quite a bit on Brian McLaren, which apparently is simply to critique McLaren and little else. Phil Johnson tries to define the “movement/conversation/dialogue/nebulous fog” in four parts: 1) “a broad-based and growing assortment of similar or related movements that have flourished in the past half-decade–mostly on the fringe of the evangelical movement, (wait, please define “evangelical….”), 2) “Most congregations would describe themselves as missional, by which they mean they stress the importance of evangelistic outreach by involving themselves in the lives of unbelievers…”, 3) “a preference for ‘narrative theology’ as opposed to systematic doctrine,” and 4), they don’t often hold the idea of propositional truth in very high regard.”
Johnson does little to hide his frustration and anyone who’s tried to examine the movement at all shares in at least a bit of this frustration. At some point, mere “dialogue” is not enough. The church cannot accept McLaren’s “five year moratorium” on pronouncements because God’s Word calls for them. While I feel for those involved, Scripturally, homosexuality is only a difficult issue because we make it so; Scripture is clear even when we are not.
I will be the first to admit that the emergents have much to say that needs to be heard. They present a good emphasis on community which is essential to the life of the Church. This also comes out in the relational emphasis on evangelism. This leads into the “missional” aspect, which I do think is a much needed discussion. For far too long, too many churches have become complacent with the Gospel and we need to be shaken from our slumber.
However, the good is mixed with much bad, particularly the moves away from authority structures and propositional truth. The New Testament model of Church is not a “bottom up” model that some would like to think; it is one shepherds caring from the sheep. No right-minded shepherd would ask the sheep what they think of his decisions. He is there to protect them because they need protection. Elders are given to the Church as more than figureheards. Part of living the Christian life is learning to submit ourselves to authority, whatever it might be.
While I understand that not all emergents shy away from propositional truth, we would be naive to claim that it is not a large part of the movement and I would assert that we would also be naive to believe that Christianity exists without propositonal truth. Yes, doctrine has been misused, but there’s something people say about babies and bathwaters that seems appropriate here.
As a pastor, my plea is to those involved: please, seek clarity. Please say something. There is a doctrine known as the perspicuity of Scripture which teaches that it is clear, it is understandable, please don’t lose that, even if it does require propositional truth. I’m not opposed to dialogue (that’s part of why I write a blog), but at some point, the “conversation” must say something. I’m patiently awaiting that something.
