Jack Bauer Facts

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I love the TV show "24."  Love it.  My wife and I watch it every week without fail.  So I had to steal these "Jack Bauer facts" from Jonathan Herron and share them with you.  Great stuff.

* Jack Bauer's calendar goes from March 31st to April 2nd; no one fools Jack Bauer.

* If everyone on 24 followed Jack's instructions, it would be called 12.

* If you wake up in the morning, it's because Jack Bauer spared your life.

* Superman wears Jack Bauer pajamas.

* There have been no terrorist attacks in the United States since Jack Bauer appeared on television.

* When someone asks Jack Bauer how his day is going, Jack replies, "Previously on 24..."

* Jack Bauer doesn't speak any foreign languages, but he can make any foreigner speak English in a matter of minutes.

* When Google doesn't know the answer, it asks Jack Bauer for help.

Driscoll Apology

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Remember the whole Mark Driscoll and Brian McLaren exchange a while back?  Remember how Driscoll took shots at McLaren and Doug Pagitt?  Driscoll now apologizes.

A godly friend once asked me an important question: “What do you wantto be known for?” I responded that solid theology and effective church planting were the things that I cared most about and wanted to be known for. He kindly said that my reputation was growing as a guy with good theology, a bad temper, and a foul mouth. This is not what I want to be known for. And after listening to the concerns of the board members of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network that I lead, and of some of the elders and deacons at Mars Hill Church that I pastor, I have come to see that my comments were sinful and in poor taste. Therefore, I am publicly asking for forgiveness from both Brian and Doug because I was wrong for attacking them personally and I was wrong for the way in which I confronted positions with which I still disagree. I also ask forgiveness from those who were justifiably offended at the way I chose to address the disagreement. I pray that you will accept this posting as a genuine act of repentance for my sin.

Healthy Habits

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StottI've started a new habit.  Every week I spend most of my time on sermon prep on Friday and Saturday.  On Saturday evening, when my preparations are done, I'm reading for an hour on the Gospel, the Cross, or the life and work of Jesus.  I find as I finish my preparation it really helps me to focus on the point of every biblical passage, the Gospel.

I'm starting by rereading John Stott's The Cross of Christ, which I read in seminary and loved.

Gospel & Gospel Messengers

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It's 1:02am and once again I'm up late because God has been working on me.  This is getting to be a habit.  I'm going through a lot of soul searching these last few months and especially these last few weeks.  I regularly feel compelled to read Scripture, and not just like having a 'quiet time,' but really searching and meditating beyond my normal reading.  I'm also praying differently.  I'm listening more.  I'm waiting more.  I'm quiet more.  I don't say any of that to say I'm doing something great spiritually.  I've found that the more I'm quiet and listen, the more I sense my own pride and sin and cluttered mind and life. 

Most of my thoughts and meditations have been on the Gospel.  And the more I meditate on the Gospel (in full, or in part) the more I realize how much of the Gospel I miss in Scripture for my idolatry over principles.  I can't explain this idea well yet, and please don't push me on it, but I'm growing more convinced that the pragmatics we teach and try to live are less about Scripture and more feeding our need to accomplish our own sanctification.

Now I'm not denying that the Scriptures are thoroughly practical.  They certainly are.  But it's so easy to make the practical seem exciting and the Gospel to seem too basic and elementary.  It's easier to feel the excitement of the mission more than the excitement of hearing again the Gospel that calls us to mission.

Anyway, that's what my mind has been chewing on.  A HUGE help in this meditation has been the sermons of Tim Keller.  Yeah, I know, I talk about Keller a lot.  But if there is anything I can say with certainty about Keller, it's this: when I hear Keller I hear the Gospel and not Keller.  And whatever issue he is dealing with, he is always dealing primarily with the Gospel. 

Yeah, I know this seems elementary.  But I always find my way to preach sermons that include the Gospel rather than being the Gospel.  When I hear sermons I tend to try to extract practicals rather than know Jesus.  It's an enticing trap.

So, in that vein, I highly recommend Tim Keller's sermon on Luke 10: Messengers.  I've listened to it a couple of times in the last few weeks, and it's one of the best examples I know of to show how to talk about something practical (our mission) while really just feeding us the Gospel.  Enjoy. 

Keller Resources Page

Blue Like the 9th Commandment

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Joe Thorn has pulled out his 9th Commandment trump card on some of the chatter about so-called "liberals."  Sounds like this has a few Blue Like Jazz reviewers names all over it.  Here's a teaser, but don't miss the whole thing...

Recently some men have been accused of being “liberal” theologians.Vague generalizations are being made, people are not quoted, sound argument is not made, but naked assertions and accusations are released in an effort to warn others to stay away. “That guy is a liberal in evangelical clothing!” My trouble is that in some cases these accusations amount to unrighteous distortions of the truth. And I have to say, I am grieved.

[...]

Am I the only one who’s going to say it? This is sin. Having a platform or a big mouth necessitates responsibility, clarity and charity. What I have seen lately is at best zeal without knowledge, or worse it is lying. Either way, it breaks the ninth and hurts the church.

[...]

The carelessness of it all amazes me. Watson explains that men who would never steal another’s goods don’t think twice about robbing a man of his reputation.

The Resurgence of Resurgence

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DriscollFrom Mark Driscoll...

The elders at Mars Hill Church, which I founded in 1996, have always been a big-hearted, kingdom-minded team of godly men who have given over 10 percent of our general budget to help church planters since our inception. Now, they have also agreed to give even more money to serve the greater church by launching The Resurgence ministry. This includes paying for the development of a massive website that will include thousands of free articles, audio and video podcasts, film reviews, music reviews, book reviews, and more. It also includes freeing up one of our elders, Gary Shavey, to serve as director of The Resurgence, and recently hiring Jon Krombein as the full-time content manager for the forthcoming website.

To kick The Resurgence off with a bang, we will launch the new website this spring, Zondervan will release my next book Confessions of a Reformission Rev.: Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church in early May, and we will be hosting the Reform & Resurge Conference 2006 at Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Below I’ll introduce each of the main speakers and give some reasons why you will not want to miss this event.

John Armstrong: Church in the City

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John Armstrong has a good post about his experience visiting City Church of San Francisco for a few days: "What is the Future of the Church in the City?"  Here's his final paragraph...

I will tell you plainly that I believeCity Church, under God’s grace and provision, has an incredible future. The way these pastors and people interact with the religious and civic leaders of this city, the way they continue to humbly learn and move toward a clearer missional vision, and the way they embrace and accept all people incarnationally, deeply impress me. If there is to be a strong and vibrant witness to Christ in the cities of America in the coming decades, especially among the rising young population that is flocking into many of our major cities, then I believe City Church San Francisco will be a major part of that kingdom growth. I look forward to seeing how God uses the friendships I enjoyed this weekend at City Church for the wider growth of Christ’s church in North America. This kind of weekend is what I live for in terms of my own call to ministry.

This explanation of the Gospel is from CCSF's site, and I've heard it from Tim Keller before...

The gospel is:

- you are more flawed and lost than you ever dared believe, yet
- you can be more accepted and loved than you ever dared hope at the same time, because Jesus Christ lived and died in your place.

Redeemer NYC: Getting Press

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Tim Keller's wife, Kathy, has an article in The Movement about "Missional Ministry in the Age of Media."  I think it's helpful.  I especially find this excerpt interesting...

Unwise use of publicity, interviews and relationship to the media.

As a result of a series of unpleasant experiences, Redeemer Presbyterian Church has forged the following media policy:

We do not provide interviews or participate in stories; we do not desire publicity that will raise our profile. This policy exists for these reasons:

1. Anything that raises Redeemer's profile pulls Christians out of their own churches to visit or join us. This is a bad neighbor policy; the City needs many different churches, not one big mega-church, something we are going to great pains to avoid becoming.

2. If Redeemer becomes a “Christian tourist destination," our limited seating will be filled with those who already believe in Jesus, leaving no room for genuine seekers. We are already turning people away at one service, and seating is tight at others. Therefore, we do not want any publicity that would fill our seats with curious believers.

3. Redeemer would prefer that seekers come as the result of relationship (i.e., they are accompanying a friend who is then available to discuss things with them following the service.) To come into a church like Redeemer is not an easy thing, and although publicity might result in a few non-believer walk-ins, we would prefer there to be none at all.

4. Redeemer’s message is nuanced and non-political. We want to present the gospel and have people make up their minds about whether Jesus is God or not, rather than convincing them to espouse a point of view about this or that hot-button issue. Since this is somewhat different than the approach of some other evangelical churches, we don’t want to say or do anything that would give the impression that we fit into the storyline that the media currently has about evangelicals. This would tend to obscure and falsify our real message.

The problem is that while publicity alerts people who are trying to find a church like yours to your existence, it also alerts those who find your presence alarming. This can have an immediate negative effect on your rental arrangements (if your landlord does not wish to be identified with a church with your doctrinal commitments, or if he or she merely wishes to avoid a potentially controversial situation.) It can also affect the lease agreements of other churches in your area, which will suffer along with you if permission to rent in schools, for instance, is revoked.

Publicity also allows people to find you who are discontented with their own churches and who hope to find a church they can influence so that it suits their needs. These folks are a thorn in the side of any church planter trying to keep a clear vision of the Gospel before the world. And some people, of course, are just perennial malcontents, unable to be satisfied with any church, hopping from congregation to congregation, leaving a wake of destruction behind them.

Planned Tallest Building in the U.S.

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CalatravaThe nations new tallest building will be in Chicago.  This isn't new news, but the details are coming out and changes are being made.  Here's a great Tribune article on the residential twisting tower being planned by Zurich-based architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava.  The plan has been approved by the Chicago Plan Commission and it should be built by around 2010.  I believe the pic at the right is the pre-approved version and it will be slightly different, but not too much.

The design for the $550 million tower, which was breathtaking but hardly flawless when it was introduced last July, has taken some important steps forward, both in the sky and along the ground. Now here's the trend part of the story: If this tower and Jeanne Gang's sensuous Aqua high-rise both get built, Chicago will be running a clinic in the new aesthetic possibilities offered by skyscrapers that are places to live rather than work.

The Movement: Recommended Books

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March Madness: Illini Lose

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Anyone watch the Illini play Washington?  I cannot remember ever seeing such a lopsided game in terms of fouls called.  Unbelievable.  Still, the Illini could and should have won.  But I cannot help but express my disbelief that Illinois shot 2 free throws in the second half.  Washington lived at the line. 

I didn't believe Illinois would win it all.  I have them losing in the final four, and that was a big stretch even for my biased opinions.  But they will go home knowing that a somewhat fairly called game would have probably meant playing in the regionals.  I'm looking forward to seeing who (if anyone) will speak out about this terrible officiating.

March Madness: First Round

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First round I picked 25 right, so 7 were wrong.  Two of the 7 were 8/9 matchups.  I picked Southern IL U to beat W. Virginia, but that was just my alma mater talking.  I totally missed NW State over Iowa, Bradley over Kansas, and Montana over Nevada. 

I picked 5 upsets including George Mason (11) over Michigan State (6), Wisconsin-Milwaukee (11) over Oklahoma (6), Alabama (10) over Marquette (7), N.C State (10) over California (7), and Texas A&M (12) over Syracuse (5). 

If you look at the brackets, in each region I was completely right on the outer half of the brackets.  Interesting.  Tomorrow (Saturday) should bring some great games.