Fundamentalism and the Emerging Church

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Fundamentalism is really losing the war, and I think it is in part responsible for the rise of what we know as the more liberal end of the emerging church.  Because a lot of what is fueling the left end of the emerging church is fatigue with hardcore fundamentalism that throws rocks at culture.  But culture is the house that people live in, and it just seems really mean to keep throwing rocks at somebody's house.

Mark Driscoll in the Sept 2007 Christianity Today, "Pastor Provocateur"

Just Another Chiari Update

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Dsc_004020070830Just wanted to quickly update you on what life looks like several weeks after Molly's surgery. 

The three biggest problems right now are...

1. Molly can't lift much of anything.  Still under 5 lbs right now.  That's to keep from ripping her neck muscles apart.  Once we were out to eat and she was stranded at the counter with a tray full of food and drinks that was too heavy.  The kids and I were like, "Where's Mom?"  I went looking and found m'lady looking in need of rescue.  Fortunately I have muscles to spare!
2. You know how you will go to bed and just start to drift off to sleep and then jolt yourself awake?  Molly still has a little of that.  That's really the only remaining symptom, and it's so insignificant we usually don't even talk about it.
3. Molly is just dying to start working out more, but can't do much yet.  She is walking on the treadmill and that's about it. 

Yeah, after an awful summer and long post-surgery recovery life is pretty much back to normal.  We took a train trip into Chicago yesterday with the kids and she did great.  We don't assume there will never be any Chiari related stuff in our lives again.  We know that symptoms could come back someday.  That keeps us on our toes and thankful for the time that things are great, like now. 

By the way, the best question we get asked is, "So, what did you guys do this summer?"  Love that, because we will unload the story on people and enjoy their disbelief.  It's quite the conversation starter.  It also stops conversations.  Like when someone is whining about their silly problems and I drop the Chiari-bomb all over them.  They suddenly have nothing to say about their lives. :)

I have a short list of things I'd like to reflect on now that we have some distance from the symptoms and surgery.  I'll try to get them written sometime soon.  And the next appointment with the surgeon is in mid-October. 

Gun Scare at My Hometown High School

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Schoollockdown_2A church member alerted me today that there was a gun scare at Pontiac Township High School, the school I graduated from in 1991.  They found 6 guns and arrested 3, and no one was hurt.  The photo is found with the USA Today article.  I believe, though I can't be sure, the dude on the right is John Cox who graduated in '91 as well.

From the Pantagraph link below, quoting my brother...

“The police departments, school district and the students worked together to make this work,” Mayor Scott McCoy said. “Where this started was with an observant student who brought it to the attention of someone that needed to know. There are a lot of heroes here but there is one major hero and that is the student who stood up and did what he or she had to do to make sure that their fellow students and classmates were safe.

“There is a student right there that I can’t wait to meet,” said McCoy, who also commended police and school districts for working together.

“What we have today is something very minor to what could have obviously happened,” he said. “This is due to the due diligence of the police departments and school districts working together with this Code Red.

“The city is safe, school is safe, and all of our students are safe, and that is a direct statement to how well our police department had done and how they reacted to the situation.”

CBS Chicago
USA Today
Pantagraph (Bloomington/Normal paper)

Coming Keller Book

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Thanks to Michael Keller we now know that the new Tim Keller book has found it's final name: The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism.  Michael also provides us the Table of Contents.

Introduction – All doubts are leaps of faith

PART 1 - The Leap of Doubt

1. There can't be just one true religion

2. A good God could not allow suffering

3. Christianity is a straitjacket

4. The church is responsible for so much injustice

5. A loving God would not send people to hell

6. Science has disproved Christianity

7. You can't take the Bible literally

Intermission

PART 2 - The Grounds for Faith

8. The clues of God

9. The knowledge of God

10. The problem of sin

11. Religion and the gospel

12. The (true) story of the cross

13. The reality of the resurrection

14. The Dance of God

Epilogue - Where do we go from here?

Music Monday 8.27.07

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CordMusic I'm looking into...

White Rabbits: REALLY diggin' what I've heard so far.  Try out their White Rabbits MySpace songs or download their Daytrotter Session, 4 great tracks.  Need more?  Letterman...

Nina Nastasia: Heard her on some podcast, I think.  Lovely acoustic music.  Nina Nastasia MySpace.

Sketches for Albinos: Found this stuff a long time ago and forgot about it.  Found a Sketches for Albinos MySpace link somewhere and listened again.  Really interesting and worth checking out.  Iceland represents.

Marissa Nadler: First heard Nadler on the Stereogum tribute to OK Computer (still available for free download!).  Then maybe again through a podcast.  Semi-haunting, good stuff.  Marissa Nadler MySpace.

In light of last week's post on my Okkervil River crush, I feel it's appropriate to keep sharing the love with a link to Pitchfork's Okkervil River interview.  Plus, HearYa Indie Music Blog deconstructs Okkervil's song "Plus Ones."  Nice work on a good, fun song.

Rohrmayer: 3 x 5 Rule Ideas

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I've been sharing links to Gary Rohrmayer's helpful posts on Engaging in More Spiritual Conversations.  His newest addition provides "Ideas for Practicing the 3 x 5 Rule."  From the post...

The 3 by 5 rule is simple:  A leader seeks to find 5 contacts a day or35 a week until they get 3 meetings or sit downs to either share the gospel or the vision of the church.  A contact is securing a person's name and contact information (a business card, phone number or email.) A sit down is a follow up appointment with one of the contacts you have generated.

The primary question generated by this rule is "How do you find 35 contacts a week?" There are three sources of contacts we will look at today. 1) Follow-up Contacts 2) Networking Contacts and 3) Cold Calling Contacts.

Read more...

"Engaging in More Spiritual Conversations" (Part 1, 2, 3, & 3x5 Ideas)

Derek Webb Interview

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Webb_2I really enjoyed Said at Southern's two-part podcast interview with Derek Webb (one, two) and encourage you to give it a listen.

One thing I love about Webb is his musical and creative progress, as well as his theological progress over the years from the gospel to the implications of the gospel.  His Caedmon's and early solo writing is more gospel and his current stuff is more implications.  This is how we all should progress, right?  Some think that an album like Mockingbird shows gospel changes in Webb, but I think that's a steaming pile.  His second interview shows that his thinking on the gospel hasn't changed except that he has actually tried to work out the implications of the gospel. 

I also love the discussion on labels (they ask him several very good questions) and how hard Webb tries to avoid them and why.  Even as the first half of this interview drew fire from the more reformed crowd, Webb proves himself more humble and more thoughtful and more generous than that crowd in the second interview (which was obviously recorded at the same time as the first and before he knew the response). 

Some don't like Webb for his thoughts on politics, or friendship with Don Miller or Jim Wallis, but these interviews show that Webb is one of the most thoughtful, helpful, dynamic, engaging and self-aware artists out there.  He personifies what it means to be able to hold tight to truth and theology while still listening to other voices. 

Congrats to Tony and the Said at Southern folk.  It was not only a good interview, but it challenged me to think about the gospel, faithfulness, music, and more.  And I love the fact that this interview is done by a website that includes the name of Southern Seminary even as the interview brought fire on Webb from SBTS alumni.  Funny...and sad.

Music Monday 8.20.07

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Oh the joy of music!  I've been bathing myself in some spectacular music lately.  It's my pleasure to share this stuff with you.

Okkervil

Okkervil River (MySpace) might be the world's greatest band (I worded that carefully so as not to overstate my position). 

After ignoring the buzz I finally decided to find them.  I couldn't find their stuff in any stores.  Then they suddenly appeared in my hand, at the checkout, in my car, on my computer and then in my iPod.  I listened.  I haven't stopped listening.  This is brilliant stuff.

Blacksheep Something odd and wonderful happened on my first run through Black Sheep Boy (MetaCritic).  I actually found myself skipping to the next song NOT because I didn't like what I was listening to, but because it was so compelling I had to find out where/if they ran out of amazing tracks.  I have little doubt this album will be something that endures.  It reminds me of some Wilco and Radiohead experimentation, in a reserved way. 

Writing in first-person, Sheff traffics not in plots, but in predicaments full of concrete details and clever wordplay. On "Black", a man despairs to counsel and comfort his lover, who was abducted and possibly abused as a child. "April 12th, with nobody else around; you were outside the house...when he put you in the car," Sheff sings, capturing the character's boiling frustration and romantic abandon. Meanwhile, the band churns a bouncy pop energy, driven by Jonathan Meiburg's keyboards and Zachary Thomas's rubber-ball bass, which pushes and prods him along, intensifying the emotions even as it seems at tonal odds with the dark material. But, as the music makes clear, "Black" is a love song, a statement of determined devotion. (Pitchfork)

A Gothic thread runs through much of Black Sheep Boy, a lyrical fascination with blood and blades and the blackest of emotions. Anger and pain have rarely been so eloquently depicted. The appropriately named song Black has to be one of the catchiest songs ever written about abuse and revenge; Sheff yells: "And I tell you like before, that you should wreck his life the way that he wrecked yours." It's complex track, moving and powerful on a number of levels, full of impotent rage and a rare emotional intelligence. Like so much on this album it rewards repeated listens. (musicOMH)

With Black Sheep Boy, Okkervil River have made the kind of minor classic that will inspire obsessive-compulsive love affairs with the lucky people who stumble upon it. There’s not a single terrible  track, and the presence of a poignant, unifying storyline takes it more than just a step beyond the band’s peers: Black Sheep Boy dances circles around them. Dynamite, indeed. (Coke Machine Glow)

Black_sheep_appendix Please don't miss the Black Sheep Boy Appendix (EP) which is just as striking as a follow-up to BSB.

Okkervil_stage Their newest, The Stage Names (MetaCritic), doesn't hold the same feel as BSB, but it holds it's own.  These songs at first glance sound more upbeat and hopeful than BSB, but their lyrics tell other stories, sometimes painful stories.  It's has beauty in the contrast.

Ultimately, The Stage Names shows how a vastly talented "mid-level band" (Sheff's words) sees itself, but there's no bitterness here, just overwhelming self-doubt and perseverance. Despite its density (they fit worlds into just nine songs), the album remains exciting and accessible, albeit highly sobering. It's about the folly of popular music and its attendant lifestyles, but these songs are so good and so moving that they only give us stupid, stubborn hope. (Pitchfork)

And that, maybe, is the secret to why The Stage Names is so good. It's a layered piece of work, its joy on the surface, its bitter, complicated wit buried beneath. No effort is required to enjoy the album. You almost can't help but be swept away by its sheer exuberant force. Yet effort, if you wish to expend it, will pay off, as every listen reveals a new striking line, a skillfully placed flourish. (Dusted)

Wildly alive, majestic and by turns brooding and raucous—often within the same song—The Stage Names burns with all the loneliness and adventure of a never-ending road trip. It makes sense—Okkervil has been touring the country relentlessly for years, and in these nine compact songs, the journey’s raw, frayed edges come to the surface. Will Sheff’s voice keens with emotion and his utter lack of irony is refreshing—it’s nice to hear someone who’s not afraid to fully express how sad the world can be. (Filter)

I pointed to this great video for "For Real" (from Black Sheep Boy in last week's post...

In other news, you need more White Stripes. It's all good. Here's "Seven Nation Army" from Elephant and "Icky Thump" from Icky Thump.

Love The Besnard Lakes.  So good.  Here's "Agent 13" from Are the Dark Horse.

Lastly, let me leave you with a few interjections...

Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and Some Dudes

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Sam Storms' response to the whole baptism and the Lord's Supper thing that has been buzzing around online: "Piper, Grudem, Dever, et al, on Baptism, the Lord's Table, and Church Membership (just how "Together for the Gospel" are we?)"

I read the article this morning but with no direct link available (and some grocery shopping to do) I left it alone.  In the mean time Glenn Lucke wrote a great post and Abraham Piper quoted some Storms.

You need to read the whole Storm's article for context, but I agree with him and loved this paragraph...

My question...is this: How can we claim to be "together" or "united" for the sake of the gospel and turn away a brother or sister from the very expression and proclamation of that gospel that is so central to the life and testimony of the church? What does this prohibition say to the world around us? What must they think of our professed "togetherness" or "unity" when the elements of the Eucharist would be withheld from a brother such as Ligon Duncan?

Dan Cruver & Adoption

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I wanted to send a quick shout out about Dan Cruver of Eucatastrophe, who has recently started working with Carolina Hope Christian Adoption Agency.  I first got to know Dan about a year and a half ago.  He emailed me about some Keller stuff and we have kept up on each other's blogs ever since. 

My wife and I have considered adopting in the past, and we may revisit that idea again someday.  It's good to know guys like Dan are working to bring small "r" redemption to little ones around the world.  He writes on his blog...

My responsibilities are (1) networking with pastors/churches, mission agencies, children’s homes, and other organizations to inform them of Carolina Hope’s established full-service adoption ministry; (2) speaking in churches, Bible study groups, and other venues to present adoption within the context of the larger story of redemption; and (3) writing content for Carolina Hope’s website and articles for publication. If you know of a ministry that might be interested in having me come to speak on orphan ministry in general and adoption in particular, please let me know.

I hope by mentioning Dan's ministry here that someone might be able to connect with his ministry.

Life and Ministry Management

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From Jim Wideman's Blog (1 & 2)...

10. ACCOUNT FOR YOUR TIME
How did you spend your day? Write it as you go & evaluate how you did at the end of the day. Now look for ways to improve and ask yourself, “What am I going to do about this tomorrow?”

9. PLAN YOUR TIME OFFENSIVELY
Act like your time belongs to you! Learn to say no to the things you don’t need to do.

8. KEEP YOUR PRIORITIES IN ORDER
Remember if you don’t have priorities you can’t keep them.

7. DELEGATE TO THE FAITHFUL
What are you doing someone else can do? What is it, that only you can do?

6. PLAN FOR INTERRUPTIONS
When everything is said & done, there is more said than done. Things don’t always happen how you plan them.

5. RESPOND RATHER THAN REACT TO A CRISIS.
There is more than one side to every story. I’ve found in church work there are about 36. Do your homework.  It’s okay to say, I’ll get back to you, I don’t know is a smart answer.

4. DON’T PROCRASTINATE
Do what you can do, don’t put it off.

3. GET SOME HELP
Make some calls, network, read a book, listen to a CD, get a mentor.  Don’t try to reinvent the wheel.

2. PLAN FOR GROWTH
Remember people follow people with a plan.  Have a plan for spiritual growth, organizational growth, and numerical growth.

1. PRAY
Things happen when we pray that don’t happen any other way.

(HT: CR)

Music Monday 8.13.07

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Headphones_2Burning up my iPod...

Can't stop listening to Tegan and Sara.  It's addictive.  I'm stuck.

Derek Webb's new one, The Ringing Bell, is really great.  I've loved all his stuff, but this one is by far his best art.  I return to it often.

At the request of too many, I started a free trial on emusic.  I picked up a live Over the Rhine album, the new Waterdeep album, and a couple of Linford Detweiler albums.  All good stuff.  The selection at emusic doesn't impress me.  Too bad.  Nice idea.

Discoveries...

E.S.T. or Esbjorn Svennson Trio.  This is great new jazz...

Okkervil River.  I've heard of these guys for some time, just never looked into all the buzz.  I should've...

I found Ashton Allen when his music was featured on a movie podcast.  I dig the sound.  Very Winterpills-ish.  What?  You don't know Winterpills?  Sinner.

My kids are digging Weird Al.

This is the green screen, Donny Osmond clip from "White and Nerdy" in full.  Pretty funny.

Go Outside -- Meteor Shower

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Going outside for the meteor shower tonight?  You should...

Themeteors in this shower all appear to emanate from the constellation Perseus. The best times to watch will be late night Aug. 12 through dawn Aug. 13.

"The August Perseids are among the strongest of the readily observed annual meteor showers, and at maximum activity nominally yield 90 or 100 meteors per hour," said Joe Rao, SPACE.com's Skywatching columnist. "However, observers with exceptional skies often record even larger numbers."

<...>

To see the show, one need only find a comfortable spot with a clear view of the northeast horizon, away from local lights. A dark rural location is best. Lie back on a blanket or lounge chair and scan the entire sky. In the late evening, starting around 9 p.m. local time, sharp-eyed observers might see "earthgrazing" meteors that skim the northeast horizon.

"Earthgrazers are long, slow and colorful," Cooke said. "They are among the most beautiful of meteors." But don't expect more than a handful in an hour, he said.

Later and during the overnight hours, the shooting stars will be higher in the sky as Perseus rises. Some skywatchers enjoy counting the number of meteors they see per minute, per hour or during a 15-minute interval and comparing notes.

So go outside, and listen to "Go Outside" from the Robbie Seay Band while you do.

Go outside
Praise the God who mapped the stars out in the sky
Gather round with those who love and sing
"He is our King!"

Go outside
Praise the God who mapped the stars out in the sky
Gather round with those who love and sing
"He is our King! He is our King!"

No one should be left out
No one should be left out
No one should be left out
No one should be left out

If you have air to breathe
Hear your call to sing