The Baptist Identity

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Tomorrow I leave with Joe Thorn for the Baptist Identity Conference at Union University in Jackson, TN.  I have just come out of a deep trance and learned what will happen over the next few days of my life.  Many of the things I learned are understandable only to SBC'rs, and I apologize for that.  Here are the top 10 most noteworthy things I learned during my trance (or at least the top 10 that I am willing to talk about publicly).

10. While dining with Tim Ellsworth this week (a rabid St. Louis Cardinals' fan) I will reveal to Tim that Albert Pujols will be banned from baseball for gambling and never make it into the Hall of Fame.

9. Paige Patterson will finally clear his throat and we will learn he sounds like Pavarotti.  Or is it Barry Gibb?

8. On Friday I will develop a mean case of the runs which will lead to no less than 12 bathroom trips.  I will develop this problem at 10:27am precisely. 

7. I will get to see Joe Thorn change into and out of his thong...again...and repeatedly.  Trust me, this is not good news.

6. George Bush will deliver a videotaped address to the conference, to everyone's surprise but me and my readers.  His topic?  "Barak Obama, the Antichrist."

5. Ed Stetzer will reveal that Joe Thorn is the greatest blogger since Al Gore invented the Internet.

4. My kids will obey my wife.

3. I will finally allow Joe Thorn to see me in my thong.  This will draw us even closer as friends, so close that for the rest of our lives we will always be mistaken for each other despite the fact that he looks like Sloth on The Goonies.

2. Tom Ascol will reveal, in private conversations only, that he never has been a Calvinist.  He only said so because he thought that meant someone who loved Calvin & Hobbes.

1. As is already revealed, my friend Greg Thornbury will speak on "The 'Angry Young Men' of the SBC."  But instead of pointing out angry bloggers and young pastors as everyone expects, he will point the finger directly at himself and reveal that he has been secretly angry for years at the SBC and is leaving the ministry to spend more time with his family.  Soon after resigning from Union University he will become an Associate Pastor of Brian McLaren's church and finally publish his life's work, "One More Word Following the Word That Was Last Written and/or Spoken Previously."

Music Monday (on Tuesday)

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Sorry or no Music Monday post yesterday.  Here's a peace offering.

My wife and I watched The Last Kiss a few days back, starring Zach Braff.  I thought Garden State was brilliant and he was involved at all levels on that film.  Braff's only role in TLK, as far as I can tell, is his acting role.  He was good, but the story wasn't appealing to me.  Even though, Braff in more serious roles is a million times better than Braff in Scrubs.  That show just isn't funny to me. 

When Braff is in a movie you can usually find good music therein.  Who can argue with the amazing Garden State Soundtrack?  It appears The Last Kiss Soundtrack (Amos Lee, Ray LaMontagne, Athlete, Snow Patrol, etc) is also very good, though the music didn't seem as forward as it was in Garden State.

One song has haunted me.  It's Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek."  I'm not much of a Heap fan, but this song may convert me.

Here's the video and lyrics (via) of the song.  Enjoy.  (Also see Live at Indie 103.1)

Where are we? What the hell is going on?
The dust has only just begun to form,
Crop circles in the carpet, sinking, feeling.
Spin me round again and rub my eyes.
This can't be happening.
When busy streets a mess with people
would stop to hold their heads heavy.

Hide and seek.
Trains and sewing machines.
All those years they were here first.

Oily marks appear on walls
Where pleasure moments hung before.
The takeover, the sweeping insensitivity of this
still life.

Hide and seek.
Trains and sewing machines. (Oh, you won't catch me around here)
Blood and tears,
They were here first.

Mmm, what you say?
Mm, that you only meant well? Well, of course you did.
Mmm, what you say?
Mm, that it's all for the best? Ah of course it is.
Mmm, what you say?
Mm, that it's just what we need? And you decided this.
Mmm what you say?
What did she say?

Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth.
Mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cut-outs.
Speak no feeling, no I dont believe you.
You don't care a bit. You don't care a bit.

Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth.
Mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cut-outs.
Speak no feeling, no I don't believe you.
You don't care a bit. You don't care a bit.

You don't care a bit.
You don't care a bit.
You don't care a bit.
You don't care a bit.
You don't care a bit.

McCoy Van Donations

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I shared a couple of days ago that we have received about $5,000 toward a van through many generous folks over the internet.  Now our church members have added to that number.  The grand total at this point is $11,895.68, including PayPal, checks in the mail, & cash.  The total number of gifts is over 100! 

God does wonderful things through his people.

Scot McKnight at NOBTS

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Scot McKnight is speaking at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary tomorrow.  At 8am on the atonement (Student Center), at noon on the emerging church (cafeteria), and at 3pm on the sociology of conversion (in the Leavell Center).  If you are in the area you should check this out.  Scot is a good guy and an important Christian voice in our culture.

Website Issues

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Geez, yesterday was a nightmare with this blog.  It was down all day and I did nothing that could have caused it.  I was emailing both Typepad and GoDaddy (for domain issues) about it and they were both pointing the finger at the other one.  Ugh.  Finally at 1:30am this morning the GoDaddy people were able to do something to fix it, though I'm still not convinced it was their problem in the first place. 

So nice to have the site back up, especially since I will be blogging this week from the Baptist Identity Conference at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee.

Pro Bowl & Talking With Your Kids

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I was watching some of the Pro Bowl with my sports fanatic 6 year old son, Elijah.  He asks so many questions during sporting events that I often miss the on-air discussions with the "experts."  Yeah, I know talking with my kid is way better than listening to Greg Gumbel, but sometimes I really want to hear what they are saying.

After tonight, I will never question the priority of listening to my son.  Somewhere around question/comment #1,724 he noticed that a guy on the Redskins was playing where Brian Urlacher would play.  I missed the first half of his comment as I was coming out of my game-mode zombie state and switching to loving-dad-mode, but he said something like, "Dad, did you notice that a guy from the Rednecks is playing where Urlacher plays?"

Where in the heck has he heard of rednecks?  I think he has listened to too many Mark Driscoll sermons.

Man, I love my kids.

Use These Links

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Here are a few links for you...

Tom Ascol (of Founders Ministries) discusses the post-denominational time we live in and some research from SBC's Lifeway.  Ascol proves again to be an important voice both in and out of the SBC.

The Internet Monk gives 5 reasons he doesn't use the word "inerrancy." He then spends an entire post using the word "inerrancy!"  :)

Kent over at ChurchRelevance.com gives 8 steps to mind mapping.  Here's an fun free resource.

The autism rate is now about 1 in 150.  Yikes.  My 8 year old is autistic, for anyone who didn't know already.

I met Drew Goodmanson last year at the Reform & Resurge Conference in Seattle.  Really good guy.  I've had his blog on my sidebar for a while, but I just wanted to emphasize that Drew is doing some great blogging lately.  Make him one of your "must reads." 

Al Hsu continues some great posts on ministry in suburbia, including this post on the hiddenness of poverty in suburbia.

Joe has been taking some great photos lately, like this one.

When Needs Arise

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UPDATE: Post updated below in bold.

I mentioned a few days ago that God has done some amazing things for our family.  Here's a brief recap of what's happened. 

A few weeks back I took my car to the shop with overheating problems.  Our mechanic described how the car was basically beyond its life and we better move on.  It's way more complicated than just overheating, in other words.  That was a bummer to hear, but we still had our van.

Well, two days later we took the van in for an oil change.  The oil change turned into the mechanic telling my wife that in the near future one of the wheels would suddenly decide to take off in another direction while driving down the road.  We were told the cost would be very significant and that it wouldn't make sense in a car with various other problems beyond steering.  She called me crying, not knowing what to do.

So we learned in a 2-3 day period that both cars were at the end of their lives.  With a combined total of nearly 400,000 miles between them, it made sense.

What didn't make sense was that we have no money for a car, very little money for car payments, and so on.  We knew we could keep driving the van in town at least, but the car would soon be shelved. 

Within a few days of hearing about our need Joe Thorn decided to put something up on his blog about it.  Then Marty Duren emailed me about it and I gave him some info.  I thought he was asking for personal reasons, but then he put it on his blog with a request people might give at least $5.  Tim Ellsworth followed.  A few more bloggers put up some variation of Marty's post with the same request.  I wish I could name all the blogs, but there are probably some I haven't seen and don't want to leave anyone out. 

It was a humbling experience to have several bloggers looking out for us and trying to get some help on behalf of my family.  A few people gave some over the next few days and it was such a blessing.  Then it started piling up.  We got a number of PayPal donations and a ton of cards in the church mailbox, more than 20 a day for a few days in a row.

As of today (though we are still getting something every day) we have somewhere near $4,000 that has been given to us.  (UPDATE: We just got word that another church is giving, add $1,200 more!  So the total should be a bit over $5,000.)  How amazing is that?  Some who gave are friends, some I have never met or heard of.  We've received donation letters from pastors, theologians, missiologists and missionaries, seminary profs, college profs, denominational executives, state and local baptist association leaders, churches, non-SBC ministers, laypeople, and a few anonymous folks (one named "Justa Christian").  We've gotten cards from three locations outside the U.S.: Ireland, Hong Kong, and Texas.  We've received checks and cash, as low as $5 and as high as $1,000.  We received a photo of a kid with 5-6 Matchbox cars lined up, willing to donate one to our family.  One family gave a check and then had a few added dollars from their child.  One person wrote that they read about the need on a website they didn't like much, but since they like to give they figured they would help us.  I'm guessing the site is Ellsworth's, you know, because he is a Cardinals fan and all.  The stories are endless. 

Often the blogosphere gets ripped for any number of reasons.  There are valid reasons for much of the critique.  But this is an example of using blogs for something amazing.  We've been greatly blessed.

We have so far only collected the stuff that's come in and are about to put it into our account and figure out what kind of vehicle we can get.  The time is short since our "service engine soon" light just came on in our only running car!  Haha.  We aren't sure what we are going to get yet since some money is still coming in, but soemthing will happen soon and we will let you all know.

We just wanted to end by saying thank you all so much!  You have all taught us a lot about generosity and meeting needs.  In God's providence I was teaching a series at our church on generosity just as we faced this situation and watched the money pour in.  I was able to use it as an illustration during that series.  God is good.

"The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work." (2 Cor 9:6-8)

Pray for Alistair Begg

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Please pray for Alistair Begg, one of my favorite preachers, who has prostate cancer.

During the week of January 22, after a series of tests and finally abiopsy, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Although this is not what I had hoped for, my doctors seem confident that this is very curable. We are presently discussing different treatment options.

Interestingly, we have just begun a new series of studies in James at Parkside Church. Immediately I have been entrusted with the privilege of not simply teaching, but in a particular way, living verses 2-4 of chapter one.

(HT: David Price)

Reading, Wanting & Teaching

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I'm reading several books right now including The Power of the Hour (Lakhani) and The Forgotten Ways (Hirsch).  The Forgotten Ways is a very interesting read so far.  My worship team and I are reading Pleasing God in our Worship, a booklet by Robert Godfrey.  Basic but good.  Bob Roberts' new book is out, Glocalization.  I've read his other book, Transformation, and liked it.  Looking forward to picking up this new one.  You should keep up with Bob's blog as well.

I also wanted to mention that a generous Amazon.com shopper sent me the New and Collected Poems (1931-2001) of Czeslaw Milosz.  Awesome!

I just finished preaching a series of sermons on generosity.  God's timing was amazing with this series and the events of my life.  I then preached Psalm 103 last Sunday, will be preaching on being a church without walls this coming Sunday and on the need for small groups on the 18th.  Then I start a series on the book of Daniel that should take us through to warmer weather (it's currently 1 degree with like a -10 wind chill).

In another study I do before worship on Sundays I just finished teaching through The Enemy Within (Lundgaard) and am now doing a straight-up practical series on The Organized Life.

I'll post soon on some really incredible things God has done for our family.  Look for it.

Music Monday 2.5.07

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Hey, hey, it's music Monday.  With the Bears loss I thought it would be fun to mention a few songs that let the depressed wallow in their depression (think Dwight Schrute listening to "Everybody Hurts" when Michael embraces the temp).  Some songs are good for the lyrics, others mainly for the title. 

Oh, and please leave your football comments on my other post.  This post is about music. :)

"What If I Stumble" by dc Talk
"Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica
"Kicking Television" by Wilco
"Sunday" by Sia
"(Nice Dream)" by Radiohead
"Captain of a Shipwreck" by Neil Diamond
"Numb" by Linkin Park
"Trampled Underfoot" by Led Zeppelin
"Hurt" by Johnny Cash
"Flood" by Jars of Clay
"Over and Out" by Foo Fighters

Super Bowl Prediction: Bears vs. Colts

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I decided to NOT make a prediction on the Super Bowl, though everyone already knows I believe the Bears will win.  But I can't restrain myself.  I...must...predict.  My mandatory "Da Bears" pick is Chicago 213, Colts 10.  But my slightly more realistic pick is Bears by 3: Bears 31, Colts 28. 

I believe the Bears will see a slow first half of offense and a mediocre first half of defense.  They will be down at halftime.  At the beginning of the second half the special teams and defense will come on in a huge way and make a few plays and stops.  There will be at least one second half touchdown by the defense.  The Bears will be up and Peyton will be Peyton, taking over the game.  He will lead them to one touchdown but on the second drive will give up an interception ending their Super Bowl hopes.  The MVP will be Mark Anderson, who will have a great game and put pressure on Manning beyond anyone's expectations but his own.

Okay, that was way too much info.  Go Bears!

Phriday is for Photos 2.2.07

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Mighty Mountain

Here's a picture I took of Mt. Rainer while on a plane.  I typically have no excuse for having no new photos.  This week my church got me a new laptop and I can't find my software to load on it.  So I can't download photos (and don't want to on my old laptop).  With that, I haven't even taken my camera out with me.  See, a better excuse.  Hold my feet to the fire to have some new pictures next week.

My Photography || Joe's Pic || Flickr Friday Photo

Incarnational vs Attractional Super Bowl

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The NFL has demanded a church not show the Super Bowl...

NFL officials spotted a promotion of Fall Creek Baptist Church's "SuperBowl Bash" on the church Web site last week and overnighted a letter to the pastor demanding the party be canceled, the church said.

[...]

Newland said his church won't break the law.

"It just frustrates me that most of the places where crowds are going to gather to watch this game are going to be places that are filled with alcohol and other things that are inappropriate for children," Newland said. "We tried to provide an alternative to that and were shut down."

Other Indiana churches said they are deciding whether they should go through with their Super Bowl party plans, given the NFL's stance.

My thoughts?  You can't love Jesus and the Colts, so either the church is a cult or they are misguided on their choice of football team. 

Seriously, how about telling the members to invite their lost neighbors into their homes for the game?  Or how about going to your lost neighbor's house if they invite you?