McKnight on "Missional"

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Scot McKnight continues his good blogging with a post on being missional.

...it becomes clear that the purpose of the Church is not just a gatheringof Christians on Sunday "to be fed" and "to be warmed" and "to be blessed" but it is instead a time to worship and a time to plan how the community can participate in the work of God in its local neighborhood during the next week.

Top 10 Reasons I Love Mohler

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I thought it would be a good time to release...

The Top 10 Reasons I Love Al Mohler

10. He has assembled one of the strongest groups of scholars in the world at SBTS
9. He once wore a Veggie Tales shirt for his son and allowed his picture to be taken
8. He stays up until the wee hours reading, writing, studying, and preparing for ministry
7. He is personally discipling interns who are becoming world-class scholars
6. He is willing to go on TV with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
5. He once called me "Scott" when I was trying to impress a friend with my "relationship" with Mohler
4. His wife helped mine during a difficult time
3. He writes faster than I can read
2. His library is almost as large as the Library of Congress
1. He is one of the most courageous men I've ever met, enduring death threats and protests in order to turn SBTS around

Atheist Camp

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Al Mohler makes sure that Christians everywhere will gasp in unison as they hear that in Kentucky there is a camp for kids (7-18) who are nonbelievers.  From Mohler's post...

Here's more from the newspaper's report: Providing a haven for thechildren of nonbelievers is what Camp Quest is all about. As the camp's official T-shirt announces, it's a place that's "beyond belief." More precisely, it claims to be the first summer sleep-away camp in the country for atheist, agnostic and secular humanist children.

I'd like to add my voice and say "So what?"  There are unbelievers out there who are looking for a refuge from God.  Big shock.  Not news to me.

Or could they be trying to escape for a week or two from God's people?  Maybe they are sick of our continual scolding of the culture.  Maybe they are sick of us screaming at them without much grace.  Grace is not just a word in our "gospel presentations" about something God does.  It's also how we are to live in the world, with words and deeds seasoned with grace.  Maybe a little grace on our part would actually make many of these camp-goers thankful for our friendship and not feel the need to take refuge from us.

I'm afraid that plenty of pastors will print out Mohler's post and use it as an illustration of the way our nation is headed to hell.  I'm sure most Christians who read Mohler will sound a hearty "Amen!" and thank God that we aren't miserable sinners like these camp organizers and the parents who send their kids to such a hideous place.  I wish that we were beating our chest and focusing on our own sin instead so that camp-goers will experience grace and not condescension from our lips and blogs.  God help us to be like that.

Grilling in Wisconsin

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We were staying at this beautiful cabin on Lake Kegonsa, not terribly far from Madison, Wisconsin.  Beautiful log cabin, two stories, 3 bedrooms, and a very large wrap around deck.  On that deck is a gas grill which was perfect for grilling out some brats.  Or so we thought.

One morning we all went to the beach at Lake Kegonsa, and I decided to make our brats on the grill for lunch.  I lit the grill and noticed the flame was weak.  It was like an enormous candle flame, not a gas grill.  I figured I'd leave the brats on for a few minutes and if it doesn't heat up, cook them on the stove.

I closed the lid and went inside for a bit.  When I came back out, the entire grill was in flames.  The seemed to come from underneath, just above the gas tank.  I began thinking the whole thing would explode.  I grabbed a towel to try to turn the burner off, and the knob melted off into the towel.  I turned off what was left of the knob but the fire kept burning.  Molly found the fire extinguisher and gave it to me.  I let loose.  It took the entire can to put out the flames. 

But I could hear the gas still flowing.  So I had to grab more towels to keep my hand and arm from burning as I turned off the metal valve on the top of the gas tank.   Flames out, gas off, I could take a minute to breathe again.  I looked around and realized how fast that whole deck and wood cabin could have caught fire. 

So we decided we would rather go out to eat.  Short video telling the story here.

iPod Killing

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Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, apparently called the parents of a 15 year-old New Yorker killed for his iPod, tennis shoes and cell phone.  Jobs offered his condolences and offered to help in any way he could.  After the conversation the father of the boy talked to the New York Times...

We live in a world which is changing rapidly...We have the technology that can give us the iPod and everything else,but it's not all these things. We have to work on the minds and the hearts.

We're failing these kids. We're not loving them the way we're supposed to.

Emergent Evangelism

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Doug Baker, who recently wrote this article that I was quoted in, has written a new article in Baptist Press titled, "Emergent Evangelism: Evangelism by Consensus?"  Here's a piece...

The "emerging" conversation is more than ageneration gap in which the theology of former days (or lack of it) is being challenged by a wave of young ministers with cell phones, PDAs and e-mail via Blackberry. The tension is most evident in the perennial debate among evangelicals about how to "do" church. What should the church look like? How should the church of the 21st century worship and minister in a context of ever-increasing information, but diminishing wisdom? To what extent should tradition be jettisoned in favor of a "whatever works" strategy, and will such strategies reduce Christian evangelism to a mere technique?

[...]

Never has the need been more critical for the Gospel to be powerfully preached by the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. How that is done is largely settled in Holy Scripture. The public reading of the Bible, the corporate prayer of the church, the singing of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to one another, the ordinances of Christian baptism and the Lord’s Supper, the offering of confession and thanksgiving to God are all elements of public worship which are explicitly revealed in Scripture. Is it not strange that almost every modern theory of “emerging” churches disregard many of these direct commands in favor of more “evangelistic” and “relevant” methods? No amount of technology or innovation can ever eclipse or manipulate the clear biblical teaching that evangelism is not simply a matter of form, but of substance.

The Gospel is powerfully effective to save to the uttermost those who have faith in Jesus Christ. For the Gospel is not something men made up by consensus. The plan of salvation is not the accumulation and production of man’s thoughts, but the direct revelation of God. As such, it is to be preached, not amended according to demographics, and boldly declared, not adjusted for the sensitivities of modern audiences.

Please read the article and let me know if I'm missing something.  Is Doug saying emergent evangelism is form without substance?  Is it technology and not truth?  Is it whatever works and mere technique?  Am I totally missing something?  If I'm not, then I think this is a very skewed understanding of the emerging church.  Hey Doug, I know you stop by now and again.  Feel free to jump in bro, and let me know if I get your right or not.

TdF: Team Time Trial

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Now that we are home I was able to catch the Tour de France on OLN.  I watched the fourth stage today which is the team time trial.  All nine riders for a team leave at the same time and race together, taking turns "pulling" (out front) and "drafting" (riding behind each other). 

It was an exciting stage.  Lance Armstrong and team Discovery Channel (formerly U.S. Postal) were the second to last team to start the race.  As they crossed the line they were in first place, but the pace of the final team (CSC) who was still on the course was faster as they tried to defend the race leader who is an American on their team. 

But Discovery Channel was too strong and CSC finished 2 seconds behind.  Lance has now taken over the maillot jaune (french for yellow jersey), which is worn by the race leader.  I wouldn't be surprised if Lance loses it over the next few days as the sprinters win some very flat stages, but he will likely regain it in the mountains sometime after this Saturday.

If you can't catch the TdF on TV, then keep up at Sportsline.com where they have updates every few minutes of the race.  Also check out The Paceline.

Back to Work

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Our vacation is over and it's time to get back to work.  I don't know how any pastor can actually take time off, or any Christian for that matter.  I know we get time away, but The Church should be such a part of our heartbeat that there is no way to truly take time away. 

I'll put it this way: We got time away from my local body and the responsibilities there, but that actually drove us to think of THE Church around the world.  I'll just bet that the thoughts we had during our vacation will color our family for the rest of our lives.  Just wait and see.

Vacation, Marriage, Ministry

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In a couple of days I'll have my laptop online so I can get a few vacation pics up.  I also have several things I want to write on, but for now I wanted to write something quick.

This vacation has been pretty relaxing, and the benefits are many.  Among other things, my wife and I have had a lot of time to remember how to dream about ministry together.  There is no one in the world like her and the ministry I do as a pastor is blessed in remarkable ways by her.  She sharpens my thoughts, encourages me to remember our calling, and wants me to do what God made me to do...whatever the cost.  Such a great sanctification God is working in me through my bride. 

Many good things can come through a vacation, including getting away from the routine stuff of life.  But the things I needed to get away from the most were the things that distracted me from my beautiful and encouraging wife, and I thank God for her.

Tim Ellsworth

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Tim_ellsworth_1Tim Ellsworth, sports writer at Baptist Press (really the sports guru at Baptist Press Sports), has informed me that he has a new blog up.  I'm going to be reading it.  He will be talking plenty of sports, but hits other issues as well.

Tim, I'm looking forward to seeing if you say anything about the Tour de France, one of my favorite sporting events.  Go Lance!  And be kind to the perpetually mediocre Cubs and you and I will get along fine.

Take Note

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Scott Slayton is going to talk a little emerging church over at Scattered and Covered.  He's a buddy from seminary who is both funny and thoughtful.  His first post links to me, and it's nice to see someone who wouldn't say they are ec to be so generous from step one of the conversation.  You also might want to check out some of his posts reflecting on the Southern Baptist Convention.  Good stuff.

Joe Thorn had the pleasure of peeing next to John Elway today just to get me his autograph at Chili's.  I hope the autograph isn't written in urine.  I'm an Elway fan since our time living in Denver a few years back.  Our church out there was close enough to Mile High Stadium to park people on gameday.