Fighting Illini

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I know some people get offended over sports teams names and mascots that concern Native Americans.  And I want to show proper concern, which is difficult for a white American who grew up in Illinois, lived in the city of Pontiac, played on a Jr. High team named the "Warriors," went to a High School where the team was named the "Indians" and had a school newspaper called "The Chief," and rooted all my life for the UofI "Fighting Illini."

As someone named "McCoy," I hope the "Fighting Irish" will change their name.

Lifeway to Get Rainer

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Rainerthom_1If the trustees agree with the committee, then Dr. Thom Rainer will be the new Lifeway president.  ABP has broken the story through some leaked info, and it seems pretty solid.

Rainer, currently the Dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism, and Church Growth at Southern Seminary, has written a number of books and, I think, is bound to be a fantastic leader at Lifeway.  Honestly, I wasn't anticipating such a good pick.  Congrats to my Lifeway buddies.

Mark Driscoll - Emergent No

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(This post has been adjusted out of respect for Carla at E-No)  Carla over at Emergent No has emailed Mark Driscoll to ask a few questions.  He didn't really respond to the questions because he's busy, but he did say that some great things are on the way...

I've got a book coming out with Zondervan on thehistory of our church and our involvement in the emerging church, finishing a counterpoints type of book for Zondervan on emerging church theology with Dan Kimball, Karen Ward, Doug Pagitt, John Burke and myself that will hit the atonement, trinity, and scripture to be edited by Robert Webber. I have also compiled a team of very solid evangelical theologians who are largely younger for a new network that will be launching a web site with blogs, articles, mp3s, podcasting, national theology conferences across the country, and a line of theologically oriented books for missionally minded emerging leaders. So, I hope to make a contribution to the broader church in a big way very soon. You are free to post any of this you like on your site.

Man, I'm pumped.  Good stuff is on the way. 

Read the whole E-No post.

Revelation: Story & Instruction

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As I was listening to a Tim Keller sermon today he said something familiar in an unfamiliar way for me.

All other religions are basically instructions sprinkled with stories to illustrate.  But the Bible, Christianity, is basically a Story sprinked with instruction.

Mohler Disappointed with Frist

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At the risk of maxing out my bandwidth because of rabid commenters (kidding, sorta), I wanted to make available Al Mohler's blog post where he expresses that Senator Bill Frist's flip-flop on stem cell research is "very disappointing."  He also offers a number of helpful links on "coverage" and "responses" that make his post a helpful resource on this remarkable shift by Frist.

At one point in his speech he referred to human embryos as "nascenthuman life." Just how does he understand "nascent" in this context? How does this differ in ethical considerations from non-nascent human life? Senator Frist's shift is inconsistent and his new position is ethically untenable.

Sufjan: Terrifyingly Beautiful

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Sufjan_illinoisI cannot describe how terrifyingly beautiful Sufjan Stevens' song John Wayne Gacy, Jr. is. Jwg_clown_1 Gacy is the infamous Chicago serial killer. 

Pick up Sufjan's CD Illinois.  You won't be sorry.  And don't miss the last four lines of the song.

"John Wayne Gacy, Jr."

His father was a drinker
And his mother cried in bed
Folding John Wayne's T-shirts
When the swingset hit his head
The neighbors they adored him
For his humor and his conversation
Look underneath the house there
Find the few living things
Rotting fast in their sleep of the dead
Twenty-seven people, even more
They were boys with their cars, summer jobs
Oh my God

Are you one of them?

He dressed up like a clown for them
With his face paint white and red
And on his best behavior
In a dark room on the bed he kissed them all
He'd kill ten thousand people
With a sleight of his hand
Running far, running fast to the dead
He took of all their clothes for them
He put a cloth on their lips
Quiet hands, quiet kiss
On the mouth

And in my best behavior
I am really just like him
Look beneath the floorboards
For the secrets I have hid

New Dever Books

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Dever_deliberate_book_2Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist in D.C. and founder/leader of 9Marks, has twoDever_nt_book_1 books coming out in the fall.  The Deliberate Church: Building Your Ministry on the Gospel (with Paul Alexander) is coming out in September and The Message of the New Testament: Promises Kept is coming out in November.

I know no preacher who deals with larger passages and preaches whole books of the Bible in one sermon like Dever.  Much of my preaching and the preaching of my friends has been influenced by him.

He basically sees the Bible in four words: promises made, promises kept.  I think he has a great perspective on the message of the Bible and I'm very much looking forward to this book.  I think it will also be helpful to see more of his thoughts on the local church beyond his previous work, 9 Marks of a Healthy Church.

(HT: Jonathan Christman)

Residential SUV's

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Erich Bridges offers some helpful reminders of why bigger houses aren't always "better" in today's Baptist Press article.

Once you buy or build it, of course, you've gotto fill it with stuff, lest you occupy an empty castle -- and you'll need to park a nicer ride in the garage. Many evangelical Christians who can afford it (and some who can't) seem to be following this trend like sheep.

Alan Hirsch Podcasts

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Alan Hirsch, co-author of The Shaping of Things to Come (with Michael Frost) and National Director of Forge in Australia, has agreed to do some podcast blogging through interviews with Stephen Said. 

You can listen to the first podcast here or go to Stephen's site and access it there.  Very helpful, especially when thinking about missional-incarnational shifts needed in the SBC.  We are in a similar context as Forge is in Australia, as best I can tell, and need to hear his ideas.

By the way, Alan told me recently that he has a new book coming out in the spring (Brazos).  It is about the "missional DNA" in Jesus movements in history and translating those things to our 21st century context.

Robbie Seay Band

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RsbRe-release of Robbie Seay Band's "Better Days" is coming on August 16th.  Some of the most devotional and quietly passionate music I've experienced.

About the CD: "On one hand, the new album will include songs from the rsb indie better days such as 'we are free', 'eternal God', 'breathing air again', and 'you have stirred'. On the other hand, there will be brand new versions of 'better days'. 'faith of our fathers', and 'hallelujah God is near' produced by Jay Joyce (Patty Griffin, the Wallflowers). In addition, there will be 4 new songs + enhanced video."

I highly recommend it.

Deliberate Childlessness

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Al Mohler on willful childlessness.  He often causes a stir on this subject.  I'm more interested on the topic of when to have children, not whether.  But it's helpful, nonetheless.

The church must help this society regain itssanity on the gift of children. Willful barrenness and chosen childlessness must be named as moral rebellion. To demand that marriage means sex -- but not children -- is to defraud the creator of His joy and pleasure in seeing the saints raising His children. That is just the way it is. No kidding.

Space Shuttle Debris

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DebrisI had my kids watch the space shuttle takeoff today.  It was fun for them.  Then later the news started to talk about "debris" spotted on shuttle video during the launch.

All day something rubbed me the wrong way, and I'm not sure if I'm right on this or not.  But is "debris" the right word for spotting something falling off the shuttle or fuel tank or whatever?  I looked it up in dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster and neither gave a definition of "debris" that seemed to fit the context.  At best it's a piece of something that's been destroyed, not something that has one piece fall off.  Thoughts?

Pastor and Family

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New study on the effects of the pastorship on family life.

While eighty-eight percent of churchgoers oftenexpect pastors' families to be "better than" other families, six out of every ten ministers said their role as a pastor left them with insufficient time for their family, according to the study conducted by Ellison Research of Phoenix, Ariz. for LifeWay Christian Resources.