From the Station Manager – #1
Back in ’99, as a senior at Cedarville, I produced a regular spot called “From the Station Manager” on our student station U99.5FM. While cleaning out the soon-to-be-nursery I found the production book for the spots. Here is the series… _______________________________________ Have you ever been in a situation that, apart from a miracle of God, [...]
The Ten Commandments
courtesy of boing boing… In this video, Stephen Colbert nails Georgia Representative Lynn Westmoreland, a Congressman who’s co-sponsored a bill to require the display of the Ten Commandments in the House of Reps and the Senate. After bantering with Westmoreland for a couple minutes, Colbert says, “What are the Ten Commandments?” Stephen Colbert: What are [...]
Hard to be Humble – UPDATE
Well, the song came off spectacularly in Service, if I do say so myself. I dressed in blue jeans, a blue checked shirt, and an off-white sport coat… then I picked up my black Stetson and brough it along too. A 7:00am rehearsal call was WAY early, but I knew I needed the practice. Brush-up [...]
FYI
For the near future, you must be a member to comment here. I am sorry for the hassle, but you know… we are all giving up ease-of-use and privacy on the web in order to avoid the constant barrage of SPAM. It’s either this, or no commenting at all. NOTE: Sign up to comment in [...]
The Living Christmas Tree is Dead?
Anthony over at AnthonyCoppedge.com thinks so… and he may be right. Let’s all pray that he is! Check out the post here. Anthony has been a friend for a long time and I am proud to recommend his blog as well as his services. He is as real as they come, like it or leave [...]
An Anatomy of Megachurches
An Anatomy of Megachurches | The new look for places of worship. By Witold Rybczynski Slate Online. Article. “Megachurch”?like “McMansion” or “big-box store”?is a disdainful put-down. And like many put-downs it is not particularly accurate; very large churches have been around for a long time. Think Hagia Sophia, the Gothic cathedrals, or that Vatican megabasilica, [...]
“Completing the Work”
This article, written by Dallas Theological Seminary President Emeritus Dr. Donald K. Campbell, was recently written to DTS graduates and alumni in the Seminary’s Connection publication for alumni. I find that his words, though, are applicable to many of us in our own lives and ministries… not just us DTS grads. 1. I urge you [...]
“Getting Religion”
There is a void of good faith-based writing in modern Christendom. There is seemingly no end to the shallow drivel that magazines and publishers church out at alarming rates. We want a quick fix: chicken soup for our souls, as it were. Christian authors rarely make me think anymore. Rarely do they wrestle with really tough questions. Rarely are they honest and open about their own spiritual struggles. There are notable exceptions like Philip Yancey, Rob Bell, and others.
This week I ran across an article in the New York Times Magazine from Mark Lilla. Mark challenged me. He rocked my moorings a bit and made me think about what it means to be Christian in today’s society. “A half-century ago, an American Christian seeking assistance could have turned to the popularizing works of serious religious thinkers … but intellectual figures like these have disappeared from the American landscape and have been replaced by half-educated evangelical gurus who either publish vacant, cheery self-help books or are politically motivated. If an evangelical wants to satisfy his taste for truth today, it’s strictly self-service.”
But he also made me cry, “For seven years of my adolescence and early adulthood, I was an evangelical. Mine was not the white-bread Christianity of Billy Graham, though I used to watch his crusades on television and admired him. And it had nothing to do with the climate-controlled devotion of today’s mega-churches. It was a 70′s thing: my faith was passionate, a little bit frightening, demanding in a Kierkegaardian way, fueled by music, Scripture, glossolalia, faith-healings, revivals, fellowship, sin and rumors of sin…It was also peripatetic.”
Written around the setting of New York’s Billy Graham crusade, Mark tells of his journey toward religion as well as his path away from it. I do not think that he ever truly met Christ, but the tale of his journey is well worth the time you will spend reading it. And more importantly, the things that keep him away from the Church today are valid criticisms.
You won’t find a happy ending here… but you will find a well written story of a true struggle of personal faith.
the Death of Creativity
I am quickly becoming convinced that as a society we are losing our collective imagination. I blog rather frequently on the disconnect that happens when we immerse ourselves ourselves in technology. I often wonder how creative I would be if I did not sit in front of a screen (tv, computer, or otherwise) for the [...]
New Desires?
I have to admit, it seems as though God has been awakening new desires in me as of late. The Willow Leadership Summit is being hosted here this week and I had the opportunity to hear Bill Hybels speak this morning. And though I’ve heard Hybels many times in the past, this time was a [...]
Peter Jennings is dead…
… dead as a doornail. Tonight, we’ve seen the end of the big three… the Big Three networks and definitely the end of the Big Three broadcast news shows, as we knew them. Within a year we’ve lost three anchors that held their posts for decades. —————– Peter Jennings never received the respect he deserved. [...]
Cult of Personality
Only recently have I become aware of this term, though I’ve seen it’s destructive nature played out many times over the course of my involvement in ministries through the years… A cult of personality, or rather a personality cult, is a term describing the adulation of a single living leader. The person is many times [...]
Writing
OK, I’m considering getting into writing a bit, for publication. It’s definitely a dream to publish a book… but something which I seem to have little time to pursue and even less ability to decide on a creative topic. So for those who know me, and even those who don’t, I’m asking for brainstorming on [...]
History of the Blog: Part Two
For over two years this weblog has held its own against the winds of change sweeping across the blogosphere. DESIGN 101: Form follows Function I still maintain that the old blog was more than adequate… but like so many who’ve gone before me, I wanted more… no, needed more. I hoped I’d never leave Blogger.com [...]
Randomshirts.com
::Randomshirts.com | Home of the $10 Tee::I am SO getting this T-Shirt… and a few others.
July 3rd is looming
Sunday is looming close on the horizon and I’m coming down from a long cold and a hard week. Needless to say, the sermon isn’t ready yet… but I’ve got the topic and direction, even the title, which is the hardest part as far as I’m concerned.Thanks to a single sentence in a Warren Wiersbe [...]
Passionate Preaching
Rob Bell, Pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, MI, is becoming something of a legend among modern preachers… and it’s a bit odd because, well, he’s so different from all of the other ‘great preachers’ in the world. In fact, Rob is not much of a preacher, but is one of the best [...]
Creative Idea :: Romans 7
“Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin?”–Romans 7:24This is one of my favorite passages in Scripture. A few years ago my ole’ roomy Geoff helped me out in a video version of verses 15-24. It was for a Seminary class. In it, to [...]
Creative Ideas :: the Prodigal
If you’re looking for a great, contemporary, and relevant song to match with the age-old story of the Prodigal Son, check out Coldplay‘s song: Clocks. We wove it through with text of from Luke 15.
Reports
Saw this post over at Churchmarketingsucks.com and it reminded me of what a great church I get to be a part of: “What would happen if every Monday morning there was a quick report on the radio about the weekend church wrap up? Highlights from churches around the area of people’s lives being changed, kids [...]
July 3rd
I’ve been asked to speak in Sunday Services on July 3rd. I’m really excited about it, and also a bit nervous. Maybe I always will be when I speak, especially on Sundays. Sundays are the big leagues and no pastor (especially ours) takes them for granted.Perhaps a bit of my emotion with this particular message [...]
Predestination / Freewill – Pt.1
Tomorrow morning my Pastor is dealing with what will probably be, for him, one of the toughest messages he’s ever preached: Predestination vs. Freewill.That’s huge, especially for a seeker-targeted church.I am interested to see what he has to say, even though I pretty much already know the direction he’s going in (an advantage to being [...]
Eddie Albert Passes
I’m not sure where actor Eddie Albert will spend the afterlife… though I do hope I’ll see him again…I post this because, well, he and his show holds a special place in my heart. Dad always loved it, and my love for it was renewed when TVLand brought it back last year. It got me [...]
Communion
The lights dimmed, the Pastor moved to the floor, and the tradition that has endured in all churches through all ages began. I’d experienced it countless times before… but tonight, it was, different.I grew up in church; been going all my life.The Lord’s Supper, as we typically called it, always happened in the same way. [...]