2009 Bible Reading Plans

For those of you who might want to start reading through your Bible in 2009, Justin Taylor has a great post linking to many different kinds of reading plans. My favorite is the Through the Bible in a Year Plan, which my wife and I are doing (we started November 1st). Before that, I completed a straight through reading plan, but I would recommend a plan with both Old and New Testament everyday. The ESV Bible has a great list of different plans.

Anyway, I would encourage everyone to find the plan that works for you and stick with it this year. The rewards are plentiful, I promise.

Fred Thompson on the Economy

Former presidential candidate Fred Thompson with some good news about the economy. This should help reassure you that the government is handling things exactly how they should be.

My Top 5 Albums of 2008

Let me stress that this is my top albums from this year. I'm not saying they are technically the best (although I tend to think so), or that the majority of people would like them the best. These are just the albums that when I look back at the last year, stand out to me as the best. They're not in any particular order.

1. House of Heroes - The End is Not the End

This is simply one of the best albums from beginning to end I've heard in a long time. Straight up rock, amazing melodies, great musicianship. The diversity on the album is ridiculous. There are 15 songs (and 1 intro), and each sounds distinct. Great stuff.

Favorite tracks: If, In the Valley of the Dying Sun, Journey into Space Pt 1

2. Andrew Peterson - Resurrection Letters, Vol. 2

Andrew Peterson is hands down one of my favorite artists. He is extremely under-appreciated in the Christian music scene. He's been putting out amazing albums for years with very little acceptance by radio, but keeps the great music coming. This album is one of the most honest, beautiful albums to come out in a while. Lush melodies, honest, insightful lyrics always based in Scripture without being cliche.

Favorite tracks: Hossana, Hosea, The Good Confession

3. Lecrae - Rebel

I've become a fairly big fan of Christian Rap, especially Lecrae. This album is easily his best so far. His skill as a rapper is undeniable. But it's his ability to weave complex biblical ideas within tightly constructed songs that sets him apart. He's honest, which makes his songs easy to relate to (even for a suburban white guy like me). But he's also knowledgeable about scripture, so the songs are saturated with it.

Favorite Tracks: Rebel Intro, Don't Waste Your Life, Desperate, Fall Back

4. Na Band - Looked Upon

Discovered this album when we went to the New Attitude Conference this year. They led the worship throughout the conference and were incredible. These songs are basically songs from old dead guys (like Isaac Watts, among others) set to sort of stripped down indie rock tracks. The result is great, varied worship for those of us that want something different than the traditional worship band sound.

Favorite tracks: God Over All, What A Savior, All I Have is Christ

5. Run Kid Run - Love At the Core

If you like your rock music full of great melodies, upbeat harmonies, and generally feel-good music, you'll like Run Kid Run. Their style is somewhat similar to Fall Out Boy, but they definitely have a sound of their own. Think FOB meets Relient K meets Hawk Nelson. Then, you'll be in the neighborhood of their sound. What they do have in common with Relient K is lyrics that will surprise you with their depth. This CD hasn't gotten old for me yet, and always seems to bring my mood back up.

Favorite tracks: Rescue Me, Captives Come Home, Love at the Core, Freedom

Honorable Mention:

Jimmy Needham - Not Without Love

Upbeat, lyrically-based music similar in style to a Jason Mraz mixed with John Mayer if they read the Bible.

Chasen - Shine Through the Stars

Solid rock music laced with beautiful melodies, introspective, yet God-centered lyrics, and great vocals.

Sovereign Grace Music - Psalms

Sovereign Grace Music continues to put out one great album after another. This project takes different Psalms and put these themes to music. Another solid effort from Bob Kauflin and friends.

Beware of the Doghouse

Hopefully you didn't end up here after Christmas...



You can also see a high quality version.

How Many Paths to Heaven?

Al Mohler comments on the new report from Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. From the report:

A majority of all American Christians (52%) think that at least some non-Christian faiths can lead to eternal life. Indeed, among Christians who believe many religions can lead to eternal life, 80% name at least one non-Christian faith that can do so...

...The new survey asks those who say many religions can lead to eternal life whether or not they think a series of specific religions (including Judaism, Islam and Hinduism) can lead to eternal life, as well as whether they think atheists or people who have no religious faith can achieve eternal life. The findings confirm that most people who say many religions can lead to eternal life take the view that even non-Christian faiths can lead to eternal salvation. Indeed, among Christians who say that many religions can lead to eternal life (65% of all Christians), the vast majority (80%) cite an example of at least one non-Christian religion that can lead to salvation, and fully six-in-ten (61%) name two or more non-Christian religions. Even among white evangelical Protestants, nearly three-quarters (72%) of those who say many religions can lead to eternal life name at least one non-Christian religion that can lead to salvation.

The poll also finds that roughly one-third of Americans (30%) believe that whether one achieves eternal life is determined by what a person believes, with nearly as many (29%) saying eternal life depends on one’s actions. One-in-ten Americans say the key to obtaining eternal life lies in a combination of belief and actions. The remaining one-third of the public says that something else is the key to eternal life, they don’t know what leads to eternal life or they don’t believe in eternal life.

Mohler:

As I told USA Today, this report reveals that a good number of those who attend evangelical churches either misunderstand or repudiate the Gospel. The New Testament reveals not only that Jesus claimed to be the only way to the Father [see John 14:6] but also that the Gospel of Christ is the only message that saves [see Romans 10]. This claim has been central to evangelical conviction -- at least until now.

I am confident that much of this confusion can be traced to the superficiality that marks far too many evangelical pulpits. The disappearance of doctrinal understanding and evangelical demonstration can be traced directly to the decline in expository preaching and doctrinal instruction. A loss of evangelistic and missionary commitment can be fully expected as a direct result of this confusion or repudiation of the Gospel.

This new survey should be received with great concern. Will it awaken today's generation of evangelicals to the catastrophe before our eyes?

Disney Dedicates Park to Seth

Apparently word of Seth's birth made it all the way to Disney World, where they decided it was so important that they are making some changes around the park to celebrate...



Thanks JT for the link to create this.

Slideshow of Seth's Birth

If you haven't been over-exposed to Seth yet, check out this slideshow done by Laura Leppert Knabe of Leppert Photography in Loveland, OH. Amazing...

Thank you so much, Laura!

Click to view the slideshow on the Leppert Photo Blog.

Seth's First Week

A short little video of Seth's first week.

Song is "Away in a Manger (Instrumental)" by Decemberadio.

You can also watch it on YouTube.

Music Video of the Week

Andrew Peterson - "Family Man"

The Birth of My Son

Photos in the video by Laura Leppert Knabe of Leppert Photography.

Song is "Beautiful" by Shawn McDonald.

At the Hospital

Leah and I are at the hospital now. We came in at 6:00 AM this morning for Leah to be induced. Just waiting on the doctor now to give his orders on how he wants the induction to proceed. Fun stuff...it should happen today (or early tomorrow)!

The Spat Between the T4G Guys

You may have noticed that the Together for the Gospel blog hasn't been updated since April.

From the "About Us" page: "Together for the Gospel (T4G) began as a friendship between four pastors. These friends differed on a number of theological issues, like baptism and the charismatic gifts. But they were committed to standing together for the main thing—the gospel of Jesus Christ...The four long-time friends, Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, C. J. Mahaney, and Albert Mohler, also asked their friends Thabiti Anyabwile, John MacArthur, John Piper, and R. C. Sproul to join them for these conferences, since each of these men has been contributing so valuably to the church today.

Apparently, however, there was a falling out among these "friends." As Tim Challies points out, things got a little testy after the last T4G Conference when everyone went back to Al Mohler's place. A little D&D game gone bad and you end up with this...

So pretty well the guys avoid each other now. The T4G blog has gone silent, as has their World of Warcraft clan and the fantasy football league. I’m hoping they can work things out. T4G 2010 just won’t be the same if they won’t talk to one another.

If you know the personalities of any of these guys, you really have to read the whole article. It's hysterical.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Update: Interestingly, this just showed up on the Ligonier Ministries blog this afternoon...videos from the entire T4G Conference this year. Great resource here. Check it.

20 Books to Read in Your 20's

Justin Buzzard has a great list of recommended books to read in your 20's. Some great reads here. Looking through, I believe I've read 7 of the 20, so that only leaves me 13 more in the next 4 years. Anyway, check it out. You can also download a PDF of the file.

Christmas Decorations

Leah posted over on her blog with some pictures of our Christmas decorations. We went to get our tree on Saturday with my family and got the house all decorated (on the inside, at least) that night. Leah was all about documenting the process this year, so you can head over there to check out some of the pictures.

Who is Santa Christ?

Sinclair Ferguson on the ways in which we allow Christ to look like Santa Claus:

For another thing, we may denigrate our Lord with a Santa Claus Christology. How sadly common it is for the church to manufacture a Jesus who is a mirror refection of Santa Claus. He becomes Santa Christ.

Santa Christ is sometimes a Pelagian Jesus. Like Santa, he simply asks us whether we have been good. More exactly, since the assumption is that we are all naturally good, Santa Christ asks us whether we have been "good enough." So just as Christmas dinner is simply the better dinner we really deserve, Jesus becomes a kind of added bonus who makes a good life even better. He is not seen as the Savior of helpless sinners.

Or Santa Christ may be a Semi-Pelagian Jesus -- a slightly more sophisticated Jesus who, Santa-like, gives gifts to those who have already done the best they could! Thus, Jesus' hand, like Santa's sack, opens only when we can give an upper-percentile answer to the none-too-weighty probe, "Have you done your best this year?" The only difference from medieval theology here is that we do not use its Latin phraseology: facere quod in se est (to do what one is capable of doing on one's own, or, in common parlance, "Heaven helps those who help themselves").

Then again, Santa Christ may be a mystical Jesus, who, like Santa Claus, is important because of the good experiences we have when we think about him, irrespective of his historical reality. It doesn't really matter whether the story is true or not; the important thing is the spirit of Santa Christ. For that matter, while it would spoil things to tell the children this, everyone can make up his or her own Santa Christ. As long as we have the right spirit of Santa Christ, all is well.

But Jesus is not to be identified with Santa Claus; worldly thinking -- however much it employs Jesus-language--is not to be confused with biblical truth.

Read the whole article. Good reminder as we start the holiday season.

Michelle Obama and the Feminists

The Feminist movement has been very interesting to watch during the latest political season. They seem to want women to succeed, but only if that "success" exactly matches their definition. They weren't happy at all, for instance, when Sarah Palin, a pro-life supporter, rose to prominence. She didn't fit with what they want women to look like, so they lampooned her, despite the glaring fact that she is a successful woman.

Feminists are doing something similar now to Michelle Obama. She has made it clear that she will focus in large part on her role as a mother when her family enters the White House. This is commendable, and probably necessary for their two young girls.

Feminists, however, see things differently. As Al Mohler writes on his blog today, they are accusing her of "letting down the team" by wasting her very high level of education by choosing to put her children above her career. Fascinating.

Mohler writes:

Michelle Obama is, to say the least, well educated. To many feminists, all the gains for women represented by Michelle Obama's Princeton and Harvard education are wiped out by her intention to be, in effect, a stay-at-home mom. In their eyes, she has already let down her team...

...As the paper explains, "To the chagrin of Democratic feminists who had hoped she would become the first presidential spouse to manage an independent career at the White House, Michelle has declared herself “mom-in-chief” and apparently turned her back on the $300,000 salary she earned as a hospital administrator"...

...The entire controversy is illuminating. The eruption of the "mommy wars" is virtually inevitable whenever a woman in the public's eye makes a similar choice. Whether the words are used or not, the accusation is that such a woman is "letting down the team."

In that light, Michelle Obama's choice -- and her candor -- are truly encouraging. She has almost instantly served as a witness to the importance of motherhood and the honor of rearing children. In so doing, she served the nation -- as well as her children -- well...

...Many of us have had, now have, and will almost surely in the future have significant disagreements with Michelle Obama over issues of public policy and our basic vision for the nation. Nevertheless, with respect to her elevation of motherhood and the priority of children as an honored choice, she deserves our appreciation and support -- and our prayers.

Music Video of the Week

Jeremy Camp - "My Desire (Live Acoustic)"

Getting Christmas Trees

Messing around with my new video camera and editing software. Video from Thanksgiving Weekend at my parents' house getting Christmas trees.

Little Full...Lotta Sap.

Leah and I are heading to Indiana to spend some time with my family, and cut down our Christmas tree tomorrow. It's been a great tradition in my family for about 20 years or so, and combined with Thanksgiving, officially kicks off the Christmas season. I'll post some pictures once we have it this year, but in the meantime, to help kick off the Christmas season, a little taste of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Psalm 100

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

A Psalm for giving thanks.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!

3 Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

5 For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

Stephen Curry Held Scoreless

This is just strange. Stephen Curry, Davidson's star point guard who came into last night's game with Loyola (Md.) averaging 35 points a game, was held scoreless when Loyola's coach, Jimmy Patsos, decided to double-team him the entire game, no matter where he was on the court. Regardless of whether he had the ball or not, there were 2 defenders on him.

Curry, being a very intelligent kid, just went to the corner every possession and let his teammates play 4-on-3 for the entire game, which Davidson won 78-48. Loyola continued this ridiculous defense even down 30 points near the end of the game. Curry only took 3 shots, and the junior was held under double figures for only the 2nd time in his career.

You really have to wonder about Patsos' motivation for doing this. Did he really think his team had a better chance of winning 4-on-3 against a much better Davidson team?

This quote is pretty telling: “Anybody else ever hold him scoreless? I’m a history major. They’re going to remember that we held him scoreless or we lost by 30?”

So who cares about winning? Let's try to be remembered because we held a great player scoreless. A player who cared so little about his personal scoring average and accolades that he was willing to stand aside and let his teammates shine for a night without complaining.

I don't think anyone's even going to remember this coach's name. But I think quite a few people will remember that Curry, despite having a chance at winning national player of the year this year, despite carrying a 35 point-per-game average, didn't force things to try to keep those things in tact. He put winning first, something Loyola's coach clearly knows nothing about.

10 Tips to Read More and Read Better

Tim Challies has a helpful post for those who want to read more, but don't know how, or those who do read a lot, and want to read better.

His 10 tips:

• Read
• Read Widely
• Read Deliberately
• Read Interactively
• Read With Discernment
• Read Heavy Books
• Read Light Books
• Read New Books
• Read Old Books
• Read What Your Heroes Read

See these points fleshed out on Challies' blog.

Obama's Interview with Cathleen Falsani

This came out last week, but I didn't get around to linking it until today. Back in 2004 (!), when he was running for the Senate (!), Barack Obama sat down with Cathleen Falsani of the Chicago Sun Times to do an interview about his faith. It is very interesting to read.

He's much less guarded (obviously) than he was while running for president, so he actually answers her questions, even when he knows he really doesn't have a great answer for her. You pretty much just get to see the real Obama as it relates to his faith, not the one who was so worried about what he'd say he said "um" every other word while he chose his words carefully. He's just being himself here.

I'm going to avoid any real analysis of what he says. You can see some samples (which I tend to agree with) over at B2W. Other than that, I'll let you be the judge.

Among some of his more interesting (to me, at least) comments:

• "So, I'm rooted in the Christian tradition. I believe that there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people. That there are values that transcend race or culture, that move us forward, and there's an obligation for all of us individually as well as collectively to take responsibility to make those values lived."

• "I retain from my childhood and my experiences growing up a suspicion of dogma. And I'm not somebody who is always comfortable with language that implies I've got a monopoly on the truth, or that my faith is automatically transferable to others. I'm a big believer in tolerance. I think that religion at it's best comes with a big dose of doubt. I'm suspicious of too much certainty in the pursuit of understanding just because I think people are limited in their understanding."
  

• "Jesus is an historical figure for me, and he's also a bridge between God and man, in the Christian faith, and one that I think is powerful precisely because he serves as that means of us reaching something higher. And he's also a wonderful teacher. I think it's important for all of us, of whatever faith, to have teachers in the flesh and also teachers in history."
  

• "Well, my pastor [Jeremiah Wright] is certainly someone who I have an enormous amount of respect for. I have a number of friends who are ministers. Reverend Meeks is a close friend and colleague of mine in the state Senate. Father Michael Pfleger is a dear friend, and somebody I interact with closely."
  

• "I find it hard to believe that my God would consign four-fifths of the world to hell. I can't imagine that my God would allow some little Hindu kid in India who never interacts with the Christian faith to somehow burn for all eternity. That's just not part of my religious makeup."

• "Part of the reason I think it's always difficult for public figures to talk about this is that the nature of politics is that you want to have everybody like you and project the best possible traits onto you. Oftentimes that's by being as vague as possible, or appealing to the lowest common denominators. The more specific and detailed you are on issues as personal and fundamental as your faith, the more potentially dangerous it is."

• "What I believe in is that if I live my life as well as I can, that I will be rewarded. I don't presume to have knowledge of what happens after I die. But I feel very strongly that whether the reward is in the here and now or in the hereafter, the aligning myself to my faith and my values is a good thing."

• "[Sin is] being out of alignment with my values..In the same way that if I'm true to myself and my faith that that is its own reward, when I'm not true to it, it's its own punishment."

• "I think Gandhi is a great example of a profoundly spiritual man who acted and risked everything on behalf of those values but never slipped into intolerance or dogma. He seemed to always maintain an air of doubt about him."

Music Video of the Week

Lecrae - "Don't Waste Your Life"



Lyrics (Pulled these from another website. Might not be exactly right, but they're close):

Verse 1:
I know a lot of people that scared they gone die
couple of em thinking they'll be livin in the sky
while I'm here livin man I gotta ask why, what am here for I gotta figure out
waste my life no I gotta make it count
if Christ is real then what am I gonna do about
everything in Luke 12:15 down to 21
you really gotta go and check it out
Paul said if Christ ain't resurrected then we wastin' our lives
well that implies that our life's built around Jesus being alive
everyday I'm living tryna show the world why
Christ is more than everything you'll ever try
better than pretty women and sinning and living to get a minute of any women and men that you admire
it aint no lie
We created for Him
outta the dust he made us for Him
Elects us and he saves us for Him
Jesus comes and he raises for Him
Magnify the Father why bother with something lesser
he made us so we could bless Him and to the world we confess him
resurrects him
so I know I got life
matter fact better man I know I got Christ
if you don't' see His ways in my days and nights
you can hit my brakes you can stop my lights
man I lost my rights
lost my life
forget the money cars and toss that ice
the cost is Christ
and they could never offer me anything on the planet that'll cost that price.

Verse 2:
Armed and dangerous
So the devil jus can't hang wid us
Christian youth them a stand wid us
Livin' n driven/ given a vision/ fullfillin the commission he handed us
London to Los Angeles
Da rap evangelist
Ma daddy wouldn't abandon us
"I gotta back pack fulla tracts plus I keep a Johnny Mac"
So are you ready to jam with us
So lets go, gimme the word an lets go
Persecution lets go
Tribulation lets go
Across the nation lets go
Procrastination lets go
Hung on the cross in the cold
Died for da young and the old
Can't say you never know
Heaven knows
How many souls are going to hell or to heaven so we gotta go in and get em

Verse 3:
Suffer
Yeah do it for Christ if you trying to figure what to do with your life
if you make a lot of money hope you doing it right because the money is Gods you better steward it right
stay focused if you aint got no ride
your life aint wrapped up in what you drive
the clothes you wear the job you work
the color your skin naw you Christian first
people living life for a job/ make a lil money start living for a car
get em a house a wife kids and a dog
when they retire they living high on the hog
but guess what they didn't ever really live at all
to live is Christ yeah and that's Paul I recall
to die is gain so for Christ we give it all
he's the treasure you'll never find in the mall
See your money your singleness marriage talent yo time
they were loaned to you to show the world that Christ is Divine
that's why it's Christ in my rhymes
That's why it's Christ all the time/
see my whole world is built around him He's the life in our lives
I refused to waste my life
he's too true ta chase that ice
heres my gifts and time cause I'm constantly trying to be used to praise the Christ
If he's truly raised to life
then this news should change your life
and by his grace you can put your faith in place that rules the days and nights.

The Pleasure of Completed Tasks

Got this from C.J. Mahaney's blog today:

No unwelcome tasks become any the less unwelcome by putting them off till tomorrow. It is only when they are behind us and done, that we begin to find that there is a sweetness to be tasted afterwards, and that the remembrance of unwelcome duties unhesitatingly done is welcome and pleasant. Accomplished, they are full of blessing, and there is a smile on their faces as they leave us. Undone, they stand threatening and disturbing our tranquility, and hindering our communion with God. If there be lying before you any bit of work from which you shrink, go straight up to it, and do it at once. The only way to get rid of it is to do it.

-Alexander MacLaren (1826–1910), Scottish preacher

Romney on the Detroit Auto Bailout

Mitt Romney, who is very familiar with the American auto business, has a great op-ed piece on the potential Detroit Auto Bailout package being discussed in Washington. He outlines some specifics about the steps he believes these automakers need to make, and presents a good argument for letting the free-market economy force changes into these companies.

He says:

If General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed.

Without that bailout, Detroit will need to drastically restructure itself. With it, the automakers will stay the course — the suicidal course of declining market shares, insurmountable labor and retiree burdens, technology atrophy, product inferiority and never-ending job losses. Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check.

I love cars, American cars. I was born in Detroit, the son of an auto chief executive. In 1954, my dad, George Romney, was tapped to run American Motors when its president suddenly died. The company itself was on life support — banks were threatening to deal it a death blow. The stock collapsed. I watched Dad work to turn the company around — and years later at business school, they were still talking about it...

...[D]on’t ask Washington to give shareholders and bondholders a free pass — they bet on management and they lost.

The American auto industry is vital to our national interest as an employer and as a hub for manufacturing. A managed bankruptcy may be the only path to the fundamental restructuring the industry needs. It would permit the companies to shed excess labor, pension and real estate costs. The federal government should provide guarantees for post-bankruptcy financing and assure car buyers that their warranties are not at risk.

In a managed bankruptcy, the federal government would propel newly competitive and viable automakers, rather than seal their fate with a bailout check.

Read the whole article.

Dodson on Contextualization

Jonathan Dodson over at the Resurgence has another great post, this one on Contextualization. He uses the examples of Gregory the Great (540-604) and Augustine of Canterbury to show how to transform culture by contextualizing Christian principles in church planting. The missiology of Gregory can be broken down in 3 facets:

1. Adaptation - Adopting a cultural form for Christian purposes.

2. Gradualism - Implementing Christian ideals slowly, recognizing that individuals are undergoing an entire worldview shift.

3. Exchange - Creating an entirely new cultural form in exchange for an existing idolatrous one.

See these ideas fleshed out a little more at the Resurgence.

Fighting FOCA - Sign the Petition

Justin Taylor points out that there is a petition against the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), the first piece of legislation that will be signed if Barack Obama keeps his promise to Planned Parenthood (you can view the video here).

From the petition site:

The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) would eliminate every restriction on abortion nationwide.

• FOCA will do away with state laws on parental involvement, on partial birth abortion, and on all other protections.
• FOCA will compel taxpayer funding of abortions.
• FOCA will force faith-based hospitals and healthcare facilities to perform abortions.

Barack Obama believes this legislation will "end the abortion wars." To him, "ending the abortion wars" means eradicating every state and federal law on abortion — laws that the majority of Americans support.

Please consider signing this petition. You can view the Act in question in both the Senate and the House (thanks spud). We need to fight against this. Read the act. Read what it's going to do. Fight it.

The Abbreviated Jesus

iMonk has a great post on what he calls the "abbreviated Jesus." Does this sound familiar in your experiences with many Christians?

I’m beginning to get the feeling that when people say Jesus, I can’t trust the abbreviation.

I’m getting the feeling that we’re talking about a kind of “mini-Jesus.” A diluted, declawed, demoted savior who is a symbolic representation for a kind of anemic, watered-down, unBiblical, culturally acceptable Jesus...

...I’m not sure this abbreviated Jesus believes in hell.

He seems considerably more flexible on sexual matters than one would believe reading the Bible.

Living together before marriage? The abbreviated Jesus seems to have not issued a statement on that one.

I actually think the abbreviated Jesus doesn’t like to be bothered with issues of morality, character or behavior. He’s mostly interested in larger political and cultural issues, or your experience at your local church, or how you’re doing in your relationships.

The abbreviated Jesus has quite a bit in common with contemporary “life coaches,” talk show hosts, political apologists, faith-based advocates, teachers of “principles,” community organizers and family values lobbyists.

The people who talk about the abbreviated Jesus don’t seem to know much about the Bible. Not at all.

Unfortunately, the culture in America is very encouraging of this view of Jesus. Everything is very comfortable, people are supposed to be "tolerant" of everything except the truth. The abbreviated Jesus fits very nicely into this setting.

That's not who we follow.


This is who we follow:

I want to know Jesus. The untamed, old school, offensive, mysterious, demanding, awe-inspiring, transformational, life altering, crucified, risen, ascended, revolutionary Jesus.

Spell it out: He’s the creator. The mediator. The fulfiller and establisher of the law. His the passover lamb. He’s the head of the church. He’s the heart and key to Holy Scripture. He’s the meal on the table. He’s life in the living water. He pours out the Holy Spirit. He’s the rider on the white horse. He’s the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He’s the eternal God.

He doesn’t need my explantations, endorsements or euphemisms. He isn’t reading my note cards and nodding. He doesn’t tolerate my sin. He’s the life of God for the sin of the world. He’s righteousness, sanctification and holiness. He’s the Kingdom bringer, the executor of judgement, the one who is worthy to open the scroll and read the books. He’s the light of heaven and the conquerer of hell, death, sin and the grave.

He’s the one in whom all history, poetry, story and theology come together into the great I AM. He’s the mystery and the Word that reveals God to all persons. He’s the Gospel itself, the meaning of every message and the open door of God’s mercy.

You can’t abbreviate him.

You fall at his feet and worship. You get up and follow. You die and he raises you on the last day.

That’s Jesus, and I’ve got a feeling a lot of people really don’t have a clue.

Twittering

So in my attempt to be really cool and join in every internet fad...I joined Twitter yesterday. Think Facebook status updates on speed. Basically just a running conversation with others where you constantly answer the question, "What are you doing?" Who needs privacy, right? Anyway, if you want to "follow" my Twitter updates, you can go here. I also added a widget on the right of my blog.

How Should Christians Engage Culture?

Jonathan Dodson over at the Resurgence has 6 Ways to Engage Culture:

1. Engage culture prayerfully.

2. Engage culture carefully.

3. Engage culture biblically-theologically.

4. Engage culture redemptively.

5. Engage culture humbly.

6. Engage culture selectively.

His summary of these 6 ideas:

When engaging culture prayerfully, we depend on the wisdom that comes from the Spirit who searches out all cultures, who can enable us to recognize and rejoice in what is true, beautiful, and good, and reject or redeem what is false, ugly, and immoral. As a result, engaging culture can become an act of communion with God. Relying on the wisdom of the Spirit will also mean careful investigation of cultural issues, being critical of our own biases while maintaining an open ear to the arguments of others. However, we're not left to navigate the turbulent waters of our culture with only prayer and reason. God has given us his Word, a divine and authoritative Text from which we can glean wisdom and theological principles to engage culture.

When wrestling with issues, we must be careful to bring questions, not assumptions, from our culture to the Word, following a pattern of Text-Theology-Culture. This biblical-theological engagement with culture should always lead to redemptive action, restoring what is ugly and immoral from our position as accepted children of God, citizens of Zion. In turn, we can engage culture humbly and selectively, recognizing our limitations and rejoicing in our unique opportunities to engage the world around us.

Finally, try to practice these six ways of engaging culture not just as an individual but in community. To put a spin on Rufus Wainwright's words: Only when the Church in this country becomes obsessed with glorifying God in all things will we critically and redemptively engage our culture on all kinds of subjects.

Read the whole article.

Music Video of the Week

Disciple - "Game On" (300 Version - someone put the song to clips from the movie 300 - viewer discretion advised...)

Can We Question God?

Al Mohler:

Is it legitimate for a believer to question God? Yes and no. Even the Apostle Paul admitted to being perplexed [2 Corinthians 4:8], but by his own affirmation he was not crushed. We have no right to question the steadfast love of God for us, however, because this insinuates that God is either unable nor unwilling to keep his word. As the Bible reveals, He is neither unable or unwilling. He is ever faithful, even as his ways are "past finding out" [Romans 11:33].

One day, we will be beyond asking any questions about God's ways. Until then, it may help to remember that even the Apostle Paul was sometimes perplexed. Perplexed, that is, but not unfaithful.

Read the whole article.

Testing My New Flip Mino Video Camera

So with my son about to be born very soon, Leah and I decided to purchase a video camera to document things in his first few years. We finally decided on a Flip Mino, a very small camera designed to be convenient and easy to upload to the internet to share with people. Since those were my two main criteria, it fit. The video quality is not amazing, but considering the size of the camera (basically the size of an iPod), it's quite impressive. Also, it has built-in software to edit videos together.

Here's a quick example I made from video of my nephew, Baron. Just took a couple clips, clicked a few options, and it produced this:




Here's another quick example of video of Leah and our dog, Lilly:

Learning About Part of the Curse

Leah and I attended an all-day childbirth class at the hospital where we plan to have Leah deliver when the baby decides to show up. 9:00 am to 5:30 pm on a Saturday is a long time to hear about birth-related things, but we learned a lot and I'm glad we did it.

Just a few observations from the day:

• They should not show actual birth footage right before and right after lunch. It's rough...
• I hate birth-related words beginning with the letter "E" (this would include Epidurals, Episiotomys, etc.).
• Apparently, I'm rather queasy about some things.
• These classes are great for knowing what to expect...they're also great for freaking out the dads.
• I've been very proud of how Leah has handled pregnancy, but I have new respect for what she will be going through during the birth.
• I'm glad they gave us something for Leah to squeeze during labor (other than my hand).
• They said we should actually have our bags already packed by the end of this week. Are we seriously almost there already?!
• I'm now even more mad at Eve...Genesis 3:16 is a slight understatement in my opinion.
  
• I'm very glad that I'm a man.

Music Video of the Week

Day of Fire - "Cornerstone" (Not their video - someone made it with clips from "The Passion of the Christ" in it.) I really like the song, though, and thought I'd share.

Some Thoughts on Matthew 5:29-30

I'm currently reading through my Bible again over the next year with my wife. We purchased ESV Study Bibles when they came out, and Justin Buzzard posted a good reading plan around the same time , so we decided to do it together. As part of that, we read Matthew 5:29-30 the other night. Just thought I would start posting about things the Lord reveals to me during my reading over the next year.

29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

There's an interesting tension in this passage that I never actually noticed before, but which has become very applicable to me recently. The context here is lust, but Christ is clearly saying that it is better to completely remove yourself from any circumstances where you may sin rather than end up in hell. The imagery is violent and compels us to understand the seriousness with which we should take our sin. Nothing is more precious than God and nothing can be put before Him.

How far should this be applied, though? If you're like me, you're prone to sin in almost all situations, and we're obviously not called to remove ourselves from the world ("be in the world, but not of it"). We cannot remove all temptation, so where do we draw the line and say, "I cannot handle this situation, so rather than continue to sin, I will remove myself from it completely"?

I'll give an example from my own life, which actually spurred these thoughts. I love sports. When I played basketball in high school and college, it was for all intents and purposes my god. I took it very seriously, and it caused many of the bad aspects of my personality to come out. Although I have, by God's grace, improved in this area, I am still prone to the sins of pride and anger when competing. I've taken steps to try to prepare myself before playing through prayer and fasting, have asked people to help hold me accountable, and I have many times where I can compete in a godly way. But there are other times where my sin defeats me within this context. It's frustrating and I definitely understand what Paul means in Romans 7:21-24.

This has led to some questions for me. Is this a "hand" or "eye" that needs to be removed? Should I continue to fight sin in this area, or flee from it? I would rather give up something I love (like basketball) than bring God shame because of my actions. I'm just not sure what that balance looks like. Just some interesting questions that my reading has provoked lately. Any thoughts are appreciated.

Have Your Way

This song has been very meaningful to me lately. Just thought I'd share.

From Andrew Peterson's Resurrection Letters - Volume II (external link to iTunes):

"Have Your Way"

Father, hear me now when I am humbled
I fear that I will soon forget
Now I have no strength to stand and stumble
I have no wish to leave you yet

O Holy Father, hear me now
When flesh is strong and spirit weak
Please break my back if I won’t bow
Won’t you have your way with me

Father, hear me now when I am humbled
When I am bent with holy shame
All the lies that I believed have crumbled
The blood of Christ my only plea

I cannot trust my own designs
My heart is prone to disobey
So listen, Lord, while there is time
Chain me fast if I won’t stay
Take my life and have your way

Please hear me, Lord, this blessed hour
When sin has loosed its hold on me
Thy mercy is a mighty tower
So why should I not trust in thee?
Father, have your way with me

Piper's Kid on Obama

Abraham Piper over at 22 Words has been (shamelessly) using his absolutely adorable son, Orison, on his blog. (Just kidding...My son will be all over this blog once he arrives.) Anyway, just had to share these 2 awesome clips of him:

The Magnitude of the Moment



Go Rock Obama!

Obama's Election Night Speech

Living Soli Deo Gloria Under Obama

Eric Redmond, in a guest post on Justin Taylor's blog:

My Duty to Christ and the King

The question for me at this time is this: Can I continue to live Soli Deo Gloria under a President whose moral judgment already is questionable before he takes the oath of office? Yes I can, for I can be obedient to Scripture, praying for the one in authority (I Tim. 2:1-8), honoring the one in authority (1 Pet. 2:13-18), submitting to the one in authority (Rom. 13:1-7; Tit. 3:1), and seeking righteousness for the entire citizenry (Prov. 14:34). These I will seek to do by grace. I will "honor the good appointment of God."

Moreover, I can follow the admonition and example of Calvin, who, in the quote above, preached that believers should impute to themselves the ills of government and recognize the common grace given to mankind through human governing authorities. For example, in our day, it is not the governmental regulation that slaughters the innocent; it is the people who chose to end the lives of their children, and the willing executioners who kill for the sake of the monetary gain afforded by the abortion industry. The government only allows this sin to receive legal permission and protection. Nevertheless, that same government provides many laws that allow me to worship in freedom, preach the Gospel freely, vote in an election, and write blog posts like this one without fear of censorship or death. I readily can recognize the retention of "some kind of just government" under President Obama's rule.

Read the whole post (it's worth it).

Al Mohler on Our New President

From his blog:

[Obama's Election] is a hallmark moment in history for all Americans -- not just for those who voted for Sen. Obama. As a nation, we will never think of ourselves the same way again. Americans rich and poor, black and white, old and young, will look to an African-American man and know him as President of the United States. The President. The only President. The elected President. Our President.

Every American should be moved by the sight of young African-Americans who -- for the first time -- now believe that they have a purchase in American democracy. Old men and old women, grandsons and granddaughters of slaves and slaveholders, will look to an African-American as President...

...Beyond this, we must commit ourselves to pray for this new President, for his wife and family, for his administration, and for the nation. We are commanded to pray for rulers, and this new President faces challenges that are not only daunting but potentially disastrous. May God grant him wisdom. He and his family will face new challenges and the pressures of this office. May God protect them, give them joy in their family life, and hold them close together.

We must pray that God will protect this nation even as the new President settles into his role as Commander in Chief, and that God will grant peace as he leads the nation through times of trial and international conflict and tension.

We must pray that God would change President-Elect Obama's mind and heart on issues of our crucial concern. May God change his heart and open his eyes to see abortion as the murder of the innocent unborn, to see marriage as an institution to be defended, and to see a host of issues in a new light. We must pray this from this day until the day he leaves office. God is sovereign, after all.

Without doubt, we face hard days ahead. Realistically, we must expect to be frustrated and disappointed. We may find ourselves to be defeated and discouraged. We must keep ever in mind that it is God who raises up nations and pulls them down, and who judges both nations and rulers. We must not act or think as unbelievers, or as those who do not trust God.

America has chosen a President. President-Elect Barack Obama is that choice, and he faces a breathtaking array of challenges and choices in days ahead. This is the time for Christians to begin praying in earnest for our new President. There is no time to lose.

GO VOTE!

...and while you're at it, go to Abraham Piper's blog and cast your vote for who you want to lose the election. And then ponder your choice...

Also, Al Mohler shares his prayer for this election.

Finally, Mark Driscoll shares a great perspective on what this whole election process says about people and their need for a savior.

Justin Taylor on Piper and the Election

Justin Taylor responds to John Piper's video on the election (a couple days below) and subsequent blog post about gender, abortion, and the election.

In introducing the post:

In the following, I'm going to express some reluctant qualms about what Piper said in the initial video. Everything I say, however, should be understood beneath the banner of my enormous appreciation for Piper in countless ways. One of the things I learned during my time in Minneapolis with him is that he invites criticism and believes in the serious (and at times spirited!) exchange of arguments in the marketplace of ideas. I hope everyone will understand the spirit, then, with which I write these thoughts.

It's a great read and well worth the time.

Also, Piper posted another election-related post today. This is his prayer for the election:

Father in heaven, as we approach this election on Tuesday, I pray

1) that your people will vote,

2) and that they will vote with a sense of thankfulness for a democratic system that at least partially holds in check the folly and evil in all our hearts so that power which corrupts so readily is not given to one group or person too easily;

3) that we would know and live the meaning of

* being in the world, but not of it,
* doing politics as though not doing them,
* being on the earth, yet having our lives hidden with Christ in God,
* rendering to Caesar the things that are Caesars, and to God the things that are God’s;

4) that we would discern what truths and values should advance by being made law and which should advance only by the leavening of honest influence;

5) that your people would see what love and justice and far-seeing wisdom demand in regard to the issues of education, business and industry, health care, marriage and family, abortion, welfare, energy, government and taxes, military, terrorism, international relations, and every challenge that we will face in the years to come;

6) and above all, that we will treasure Jesus Christ, and tell everyone of his sovereignty and supremacy over all nations, and that long after America is a footnote to the future world, he will reign with his people from every tribe and tongue and nation.

Keep us faithful to Christ’s all important Word, and may we turn to it every day for light in these dark times.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

Music Video of the Week

Needtobreathe - "Washed By The Water (Live Acoustic)"
(I love at about 1:45 when the 4-part harmony really kicks in.)

John Piper on the 2008 Election

Happy Halloween!

Had to share this...

Documenting the Pregnancy

My wife, Leah, has done a great job of documenting things during her pregnancy on her blog. Being a photographer, she's very inclined to document everything through photos. Just wanted to point out some of the posts she has done:

• Some Maternity Pictures (done by her sister-in-law, Diana Simpson)

• Nursery - Part I

• Baby Shower

• Baby Gifts

• Nursery - Part II

Thanks, Leah, for doing such a good job of capturing these memories for us.

Mostly Pro-Life McCain vs. Completely Pro-Choice Obama

Randy Alcorn continues his blog campaign to crystalize the debate among pro-lifers as to what this election means. What would it truly mean to have Obama as the president of the United States? Why is it better to vote for McCain, who doesn't have a 100% pro-life voting record? What could McCain really do for the pro-life cause if elected anyway? Haven't other pro-life presidents failed to make any progress whatsoever for the cause? Isn't it better to vote for Obama if you like his other policies better since abortion is simply one issue?

These are just some of the questions Randy answers in his lengthy blog entry yesterday. It's a thoughtful piece, which seeks to honestly answer genuine concerns that pro-life voters have when trying to make their decision this year.

I particularly found this analogy helpful. In it, Randy explains why it's better to vote for mostly pro-life McCain instead of completely pro-choice Obama or not vote at all:

Suppose in the town you live in, there’s a lake where, for the last thirty-five years, children have been taken by parents to be drowned. Say that every day 100 children are brought to this lake.

As a town citizen, you are presented with two candidates for mayor. (You can vote for a third party, but clearly one of these two candidates will be elected.) One candidate publicly states that he believes the right thing is that the children not be brought to that lake. They should be allowed to live, except the one or two conceived by rape. By longstanding town law the 100 daily drownings are all legal, and the mayor can’t change the law. However, this mayoral candidate has publicly stated that the law should be changed, and he hopes to appoint judges who help that happen, so that 98 or 99 of the 100 children would live rather than die.

Now, the deaths of those one or two children conceived by rape should rightly disturb you. And if until now zero children had been killed at the lake, it would be evil to vote for a man willing for one or two to be legally drowned. But for thirty-five years, 100 children have been killed there each day. This man is trying to move the town in the right direction, even though he has stopped just short of a 100% reversal. No additional children will be killed if his position were in place, because those one or two children would have been killed anyway under existing law. But 98 or 99 a day would be rescued from the death they will face if his position isn’t put in place.

The other mayoral candidate believes that not one of those 100 children chosen for drowning by their parents should be rescued. He believes that the doctors holding them under the water should be allowed to do this. He is prochoice about the drowning of children. In the last twenty years there have been some limited prolife measures voted in by townspeople that have made it more difficult to drown children, saving some lives. But this candidate has promised to sign a bill that would remove all those restrictions. He would invalidate the requirement that doctors explain to parents what it means to drown a child. He would invalidate the law that requires grandparents to be notified if their children are going to drown their grandchildren.

In fact, this man has said of his own daughters, “If they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.” He would support their right to hire a doctor to drown their babies, his grandchildren, in the lake. And he promises the town’s legal drowning organization, which makes considerable money by drowning children, that he will only appoint town judges who are in favor of the legalized-child-drowning laws.

Now here is our moral dilemma. Our next mayor will either be the 98%-don’t-drown-the-children candidate OR the 100%-drown-all-children-whose-parents-don’t-want-them candidate.

We could write in someone who has no chance of winning. It would be a protest vote, showing we don’t totally agree with either candidate. However, if others who believe all babies deserve to live do this same thing, the result will be that the 98% prolife candidate can’t win, and the 0% prolife candidate will be our mayor.

If you vote for the candidate in favor of saving 98 babies, it could be argued that you would be voting for the lesser of evils, since killing one or two children is evil. But after all these years of child-killing, you see the opportunity—if the 98% prolife mayor takes office and makes those prolife court appointments, countless future children’s lives could be saved. It’s not certain, but it’s a real possibility. And what is certain is this: if the candidate in favor of legalized child-killing wins the election, due to his agreement to remove any of the town’s existing child-killing restrictions, more children will die who wouldn’t have if the other candidate takes office.

Read the whole post here.

Music Video of the Week

Andrew Peterson - "I've Got News (Live Acoustic)"

Andrew Peterson - Resurrection Letters Volume II

One of my favorite Christian artists, Andrew Peterson, released a new album this past Tuesday entitled "Resurrection Letters - Volume II." Andrew is one of those rare musicians whose lyrical ability takes you into his songs and holds you there, clinging to every word while he takes you on a journey through the story he tells. His ability to seamlessly weave theology with biblical stories with autobiographical statements is amazing.

It saddens me to know that his songs will never be played on Christian radio, because there are many people who need to hear these songs. I need to hear them. He has a heart for serving other through his music, and it has served me well.

Here's a part of his blog entry the other day:

I can't tell you how excited I am about this album. Tonight I downloaded the newest mixes of the 12 songs, put them in order, burned them to a disc and hopped in my car. It was midnight, and the roads that wound through the Tennessee hills were deserted. I prayed while I drove that these songs would make it to the ears that need to hear them, and it hit me today that I need to hear these songs as much as anyone.

Somebody said that you have to preach the gospel to yourself daily. I hope this album will help people to do just that: to remind themselves of the gravity of their sin and the glory of God's mercy, of the promise that Death is nothing to fear, that resurrection is a worthy hope.

Amazing stuff. Speaking of amazing, here are the lyrics to probably my favorite song on the album (tough to say, though, because there are many great ones). This is truth I needed to hear recently. Thank you Andrew. May God continue to bless your music.

Hosanna

I am tangled up in contradiction
I am strangled by my own two hands
I am hunted by the hounds of addiction
Hosanna

I have lied to everyone who trusts me
I have tried to fall when I could stand
I have only loved the ones who love me
Hosanna

Oh, Hosanna
See the long awaited king
Come to set his people free
Oh, Hosanna
Come and tear the temple down
Raise it up on holy ground
Hosanna

I have struggled to remove this raiment
Tried to hide every shimmering strand
I contend with these ghosts and these hosts of bright angels
Hosanna
I have cursed the man that you have made me
I have nursed the beast that bays for my blood
I have run from the one who would save me
Hosanna

Oh, Hosanna
See the long awaited king
Come to set his people free
Oh, Hosanna
Come and tear the temple down
Raise it up on holy ground
Hosanna

We cry for blood
We take your life
Hosanna
We cry for blood
We take your life
It is blood and it is life that you have given

You have crushed beneath your heel the vile serpent
You have carried to the grave the black stain
You have torn apart the temple's holy curtain
You have beaten death at death's own game
Hosanna

Hail the long awaited king
Come to set his people free (We cry)
Oh, Hosanna
Come and tear this temple down
Raise it up on holy ground
Oh, Hosanna
I will lift my voice and sing
You have come and washed me clean
Hosanna

Romans 1:19-23

From the ESV:

19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

1 Point Calvinism

Few issues can divide a group of Christians more powerfully than the Calvinism/Arminian debate. It has become such a divisive issue that many Christians won't even bring the subject up unless they know those who they're talking to will agree. This is sad, because the bible is not silent on these issues, so we shouldn't be either. A difference in tone and perspective can help, though. That's why I appreciated this explanation by J.I. Packer, which was pointed out by Scott Thomas at Acts 29:

"The very act of setting out Calvinistic soteriology [the doctrine of salvation] in the form of five distinct points (a number due, as we saw, merely to the fact that there were five Arminian points for the Synod of Dort to answer) tends to obscure the organic character of Calvinistic thought on this subject. For the five points, though separately stated, are inseparable. They hang together; you cannot reject one without rejecting them all, at least in the sense in which the Synod meant them. For to Calvinism there is really only one point to be made in the field of soteriology: the point that God saves sinners.

"God – the Triune Jehovah, Father, Son and Spirit; three Persons working together in sovereign wisdom, power and love to achieve the salvation of a chosen people, the Father electing, the Son fulfilling the Father’s will by redeeming, the Spirit executing the purpose of Father and Son by renewing.

"Saves – does everything, first to last, that is involved in bringing man from death in sin to life in glory: plans, achieves and communicates redemption, calls and keeps, justifies, sanctifies, glorifies.

"Sinners – men as God finds them, guilty, vile, helpless, powerless, unable to lift a finger to do God’s will or better their spiritual lot. God saves sinners – and the force of this confession may not be weakened by disrupting the unity of the work of the Trinity, or by dividing the achievement of salvation between God and man and making the decisive part man’s own, or by soft-pedalling the sinner’s inability so as to allow him to share the praise of his salvation with his Saviour. This is the one point of Calvinistic soteriology which the “five points” are concerned to establish and Arminianism in all its forms to deny: namely, that sinners do not save themselves in any sense at all, but that salvation, first and last, whole and entire, past, present and future, is of the Lord, to whom be glory for ever; amen."

J.I. Packer, “Introductory Essage,” in The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, by John Owen (London: Banner of Truth, 1959) 4-5.