Peterson: Eat This Book

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Eat_this_bookEugene Peterson's follow up to Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places is called Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading and is due out at the end of December.  Very cool.  This is the second book in a five book series Peterson is planning on spiritual theology.

I am one of a handful of guys who are "mega-blogging" Christ Plays at Jesus Creed.  It should be starting soon and I will post on it when it does.

(HT: Prodigal Kiwi)

When Sin Doesn't Make the Papers

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Every week I deliver a biblical and counter-cultural message to our congregation, often challenging the ways of our world, the problem of insurmountable sinfulness in humanity and in each of our hearts, and pointing to God who became flesh as the answer and end of all our searches for meaning and escape from the consequences of our sin.

But I only make it into the local paper when a 1 inch hole pops through a water main on our street causing nearly no real problems or issues.

Trip to North Park

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Scot McKnight (Jesus Creed) invited me to come this Monday to North Park University (Chicago), where he is a professor, to hear Dr. Donald Hagner lecture and then eat dinner with them as well as some NPU professors. 

Img_1856_600I showed up a little early for an absolutely riveting discussion on divorce (link shows short video) between Scot, Don, and Kermit Zarley (a former pro golfer who has funded the lecture series).  Then Dr. Hagner delivered part one of his lecture series on "A Positive Theology of Judaism from the New Testament."  Interesting and provocative.  Learn more about the lecture series here, and here's Scot's short post on it.

It was an enjoyable day: I learned some new things, met some good people, and ate some great Italian food at Via Veneto.

Challies Interviews Derek Webb

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Tim Challies has interviewed Derek Webb about his new CD, Mockingbird (which sounds very good), his thoughts on social justice, favorite books, and more.  Interview: Part 1 & Part 2.

From Part 1...

It's like once you come down the aisle responding to the call for salvation - you come down the aisle and you pray the prayer and as you're walking out they give you your little gift bag. And your little gift bag is all of your politics and sexuality and culture and art and all wrapped up, it's all been thought out for you. Just take your gift bag and you're going to be fine. And we just can't be people who are satisfied with that. That is completely oversimplifying issues that are very difficult and very detailed and are very nuanced. We must have a more meaningful discussion about these issues in the church because you simply cannot be as predictable as we have become as the Western church. You cannot be that predictable and follow Jesus. You cannot! Jesus was not predictable in his politics. I do think Jesus makes quite a few very political statements, but he was in no way predictable. There were moments where he might have looked very conservative as we might try to put our terms and categories on him today and look back, but there are also moments where he looked like a flaming liberal. There is nothing we can do about it. If your concern is in following Jesus and that is what you really want to do, as opposed to following some kind of subcultural caricature of a political idea, you're going to have to be willing to follow him back and forth and back and forth. You're going to have to be willing to have people, even in the church, call you a liberal, which can be very derogatory when used by these people. I think the more we align ourselves with political parties in the church the more it makes it impossible to follow Jesus.

From Part 2...

I think that one book that has been tremendously helpful to me is a book by this guy Steve Turner, it's called Imagine. Steve Turner's a guy who studied at L'Abri under Francis Schaeffer, and he wrote this book. It's probably the most thorough and biblical and liberating treatment of how a Christian might engage in the arts. It is one of those books that will take the roof off the house. I read it every couple of years just to remind myself of what's true because when it comes to the arts the church has really mixed up ideas about what the role of art is in culture and especially church culture. So that book really has blown my mind a number of times and I think that should be required reading for anybody.

Harry Potter Playlist

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Harry Potter, er, Daniel Radcliffe (who plays Harry on screen) has a 'celebrity playlist' up at iTunes.  I thought it would be interesting to see what he picked.  I liked the list, but I found a few of his explanations of the songs curious.  Notice the interesting mix of meanings.

FYI for non-iTunes users, they usually have the celebrity pick 10-15 songs and describe something about what they like about each song. 

"Gouge Away" (Track 7): "Biblical imagery, half whispered vocals and an incredible chorus..."

"Me Ves y Sufres" (Track 8): "An incredibly sad song. To me it sounds like it's about someone who, because of their own actions, has no hope of happiness."

"What I'm Looking For" (Track 9): "A song that seems to me, to be saying, 'Hey, there may not be a meaning to life. So let's all just enjoy living it.' A good attitude to have."

Complementarians Complimented

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I love this.  Al Mohler and Mark Dever stand in line to get Maureen Dowd to sign her new book. 

It's not every day that you get to meet the leading feminist columnist for The New York Times. Ms. Dowd did not disappoint. She was clever, winsome, and glad to sign a copy of her new book, Are Men Necessary? When Sexes Collide. The book is important in several aspects, and I will publish a review in an upcoming commentary.

Ms. Dowd, whose caustic wit ranks with Dorothy Parker, demonstrated her sense of humor in signing her books. After I introduced myself, she wrote a message right under the title question: Are Men Necessary?. She wrote to me: You are! For Dr. Dever she wrote: Absolutely!

Well, it's not every day that two complementarian evangelical men get their existence affirmed by Maureen Dowd. It's true -- these are strange times.

God Electrocutes EC Pastors?

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I wish I could say I didn't expect this, but I did.  Someone has claimed the death of Kyle Lake is God's message to the EC: "God Sends Shocking Message to the Emerging Church."  Does God electrocute Emerging Church pastors? 

Bob Hyatt is bordering on livid, and writes a short post with his email response to the author.

Maybe God's message is, 'Stop baptizing people.'  Sheesh.  Every pastor or theologian who dies young will have their reputation and that of their "movement" Ananias and Sapphira'd.  What about Jonathan Edwards, for crying out loud?  You can't have your cake and eat it too.

Oh, and one more thing, I think if God is going to kill someone, He is going to make sure we know that He did it.  He will not share His glory with electricity or a microphone.

Cultural Exegesis: Hell Yeah

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I heard this song for the first time today.  It's beautiful and invigorating.  I wish I could provide the song for you to listen to. 

I figured it might make for interesting discussion on cultural exegesis.  The lyrics are easy to understand and they capture a certain segment of our culture very well.  I left the artist's name off on purpose, so don't give it away.  What generation is the artist/author?  What is the "gospel" to him?

"Hell Yeah"

If you're thinking that my life
is a hoot and a holler
from the start of the day
to the dark of the night
and that it's ringing like a bell
that you only wanna follow
gotta trust me when I say
I'm just trying to get it right

Still I think about myself
As a lucky old dreamer
And if you're asking me to tell
Is it worth what I paid?
You're going to hear me say:

Hell Yeah It Is
And I say it loud
I loved it all
and I'm not too proud
I freed my soul
Just let it fly

Hell Yeah this crazy life around me
It confuses and confounds me
But it's all the life I've got Until I die
Hell yeah It Is

If you're asking for my time
Isn't much left to give you
Been around a good long while
So I gotta say it fast
Time is all we'll ever need
But it's gotta have a meaning
You be careful how it's spent
cause it isn't going to last

I hear you wondering out loud
Are you ever going to make it
Will you ever work it out
Will you ever take a chance
and Just believe you can

Hell Yeah You Will
You're going to be okay
You might get lost
But then you'll find a way
Don't go alone
Can't be afraid

Hell Yeah this life is here and it's made for living
and loves a gift that's made for giving
you Give it all away and have it still
And Hell yeah you will

I've been living on a boat
with a lot of people staring
with my feet on shaky ground
and my head up in the sky
But it's where I want to be
It's a life that's made for caring
Gotta a song to pass the day
And a girl to share the night

So if they ask you when I'm gone
was it everything he wanted
And when he had to travel on
did he know he'd be missed?
You can tell them this:

Hell yeah he did
He saw it all
He walked the line
Never had to crawl
He cried a bit
But not for long Hell Yeah he found the life that he was after
Filled it up with love and laughter
Finally gotta it right and made it fit
Hell Yeah He Did
Hell Yeah He Did
Hell Yeah He Did

Goodies

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Alright, I have pimp a couple of goodies.

Toffifay Toffifay (or Toffifee outside the U.S.) is the best candy in the history of the universe.  I've loved it since college.  My wife and I would leave my hometown and drive back to university, and at a convenience store along the way I would pick up 3-6 packs of Toffifay. And she got me some for my birthday too.  A good woman and Toffifay, yeah buddy.

Starbucks just sold me on their mint brownie.  Wow, that sucker is good.  I'm not big on sweet cakes and brownies, so that should tell you this must be pretty good.  I know my baristas pretty well, so I'm going to have to find ways to mooch extra samples in the weeks ahead. 

Sb_cup_cropSide bar: boycotters can visit Starbucks through Christmas because they now are using Christmas cups with no quotes.  I dunno though, there is a drawing of a guy and girl (click to enlarge).  They could be interpreted as getting ready to kiss under the mistletoe.  So you may still have a problem.  Is this picture showing the seeds of fornication?  Or has Starbucks turned against homosexuals who will now have to drink out of a cup that blatantly promotes opposite-sex relationships.  (C'mon, that was funny.)

Happy Birthday

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I turned 33 yesterday.  Happy birthday to me.  I didn't want to promote my own birthday, but I had to make public this birthday song offering from a couple of friends who live in Kentucky and emailed it to me.  It isn't "pretty," but, uh, I think it's heartfelt. lol

(p.s. - there's a hidden track)

Contextualization

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While at university, I was required to read Reaching a New Generation by Alan Roxburgh.  I've been skimming it again this week, especially where I have highlighted the book, and there's some good stuff in there. 

The contextualizing congregation must learn to "listen" and "see" where God is at work in the midst of secularism, pluralism and technological transformation.  This requires the evangelist, pastor or missionary to participate in the culture at an interactive level.  But it is not a relationship in which the Christian has something to give but nothing to receive--leaving the context changed but the Christian unchanged.  Contextualization requires a dynamic interaction in which both sides are changed through dialogue. (p 69)

Google Hits

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I'm always intrigued by the hits I get from people doing Google searches.  Not because they find my site by searching for weird things, though that happens, but because I get so many hits from Google.  I probably get well over 100 a day.

I also think it's curious to find out when I'm the #1 Google hit for something.  For example this post made me the #1 for "Kevin Ezell."  I'm the #1 hit for "David Gray Ain't No Love" because of this post.  This here post makes me the #1 hit for "SBTS alcohol."  And I'm the #1 Google hit for "Starbucks the way I see it" because of this post.

Interesting stuff.

The Pastor's Wife

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Wow.  Some of the blogs I read are far more profound than the books I read.  Today I was humbled and encouraged by Gary Lamb's post "Church Planting Wives."  This could be written about the wife of any pastor. 

And if you are not a pastor, church planter or pastor's wife, you still need to read this.  I want church members of all sorts to read this and realize the stuff going on in a pastor's home and marriage.  Here's the post.
_____

Today Ben (who has one of my favorite blogs) posted about the tears, burnout, and stress that the wives of church planters go through.

His exact words were:

Most Church Planter's wives are in tremendous pain. Tears streaming down their faces from the emotional, spiritual, and physical exhaustion of starting a new work.

I have seen this and I couldn't agree more.

However I feel that this is a result of us as church planters putting our wives in position's they should not be in. It is that plain and simple.

I am prepared to get BLASTED with this post that is why I have waited so long to post it but please realize that I am not trying to be a mean with what I am about to say but this is a huge problem and it needs to be fixed.

I am in my second church plant (and last), I have been in full-time ministry since I was 20 (I'm now 29) and I have to say DeAnna has never went through this or experienced it and it is because I made some choices early on in my ministry.

1.) God did NOT call my wife to pastor this church. DeAnna is 100% behind what I do. She could not imagine doing anything else with our lives BUT I pastor and lead this church not her. There is no reason for her to feel the pressure or stress that comes along with doing what I do. She doesn't have to give me advice on every decision that the church makes. She is my wife not the other pastor of the church.

2.) She doesn't need to know every thing that happens. DeAnna and I talk a lot and we talk about the church a lot, however I do not tell her every thing. There are things she doesn't need to know because it will change the way she looks at situations, people, or events. If she knew what people have said to me or have done to me, it would cause her to get bitter and angry. She doesn't need to know every thing.

3.) She doesn't have to be at every thing. Being married to me is rough. :) Besides being married we have two wonderful children. They are a full time job. She attends what she wants too or what we feel would be good for her to be at but she does not attend every thing the church does. There is no need for that and all that does is burn your wife out. The church needs to know she has other responsibility then just them.

4.) I am VERY outspoken about complaining to my wife.  In our membership class and from the stage I have made it very clear that if you have a complaint about the church or me you better not go to my wife with it. That is what cowards do and we need to let our church know she is not the complaint department.

5.) She serves where she feels called. Early in my ministry I made my wife play the good pastor's wife. Not anymore. I only expect of her what I expect of every other member of Ridge Stone. She must serve somewhere. For the first 9 months she led our preschool ministry. When she was ready to quit and turn it over to someone else, she did. She now serves in there once a month and leads a bible study for mother's of preschoolers.

6.) I don't dump all my problems on her. The reason your wife hates ministry is because she sees and hears that it is tearing you apart. All she hears is the negative stuff and because of her love for you, it upsets her. She doesn't need that.

7.) I don't cheat on her with the ministry. Most pastors are having on an affair on their wife with the church they pastor. This might not be popular but I would let all of Canton die and go to hell before I allowed my wife to grow bitter and stressed in her feelings for God. I work a lot of hours. I leave the house at 5 in the morning and I usually am not home until about 6:00 p.m. but when I get home, it is time for her and the kids. I talk ministry all day, I don't want to or need to talk it with her.

8.)  She loves where we are at. If DeAnna wasn't happy, we would leave. She knows that. That is important to me. I have had several job offers lately that I didn't accept (I'm here until I die, I hope) but if I would have she would have killed me because she is happy here. That is important to me and she knows it.

9.) I don't put financial pressure on her. Church planting is hard and the pay stinks. Of course she lives by guidelines when it comes to spending but when things are tight I don't pressure her or make her feel guilty in this area. She has not worked since we have had kids and that has been fine. God called me to plant a church, God called her to be a mother.

10.) I date my mate. We make time for each other. No matter what is happening in our lives, we make time for each other. It might be sitting around the house after the kid are a sleep but we spend one on one time with each other no matter what. You need to make time for you wife. I tell my church all the time, "If you don't make time for your spouse, someone else will."

11.)  I made sure she felt called. We had a lot of discussions on this matter. Just as God called me here, He called her. She has a different role but she has the same call. That is so important. I know that I know this is where God would have us to be and part of that call is because she feels the same way.

12.) I protect her. Under NO circumstances will I allow someone at church to hurt her. You haven't see redneck until you see how I will react. I will not allow her to be attacked, I will not allow her to be taken advantage of, I will not allow her to be put in a bad position, etc. She knows that.

Church planter, listen to me. Your wife is the most important thing in your life. You have the duty to make sure she isn't feeling stressed, pressured, or bitter about church planting.

I meet with church planter's and their wives all the time and I am amazed at the ready to quit attitudes of most wives.

Ladies, know your role as well.  Remember God called you to be a help mate to your husband, not run the church.

I am so passionate about this topic. I could not do what I do without my wife. She is my anchor and I will do whatever it takes to keep her from feeling what most planter's wives feel.

You should do the same for your wife.