Cheesy lawyer ads
Sun, Jun 22 2008 09:53 PM
| Discernment, Culture, Media
| Permalink
Do you get as tired of seeing these guys on TV hawking their “law services” to any of us who might remotely fall into an action class? This modern-day version of ambulance chasing gets under my skin. Consider this an open response to these hucksters.First of all: why would I hire you instead of calling someone I actually know (who is at least remotely connected to the field of law) and
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Not taking ourselves too seriously
Mon, Jun 16 2008 08:17 PM
| Music, Discernment, Church Life, Culture, Media, Funny
| Permalink
At the recommendation of my St. Louis friend Steve Hughes, I started watching Last Comic Standing on NBC this summer. Funny stuff-- I’ve always enjoyed stand-up comedy, and this is a fun reality show.On the first show, a pair came on that really hit on something good. They present themselves as a “Christian folk duo with a message” and (after looking them up on the web) I think they
So, I entered a drawing...
There's a contest (or drawing... is there a difference?) that I entered on another blog. The idea is this: this other blogger is giving away 20 sets of 18 CDs, apparently provided to her by WOW-- which is a group that produces compilation CDs of Christian music. (HT: Megan)Who knows if I'll win? But if I do, it'll be an interesting experiment. I haven't listened to very much "Christian" music for years.
Books for May 2008
Sun, Jun 1 2008 06:19 PM
| Theology, Reading, Discernment, Books, Ministry, Personal, Culture
| Permalink
The Work of the Pastor by William Still (re-read). This brief volume is a help, challenge, and rebuke for all of us. Still, who pastored a single flock in Scotland for 51 years, here presents the sum of the pastor's duties, distilling it down to the essence of shepherding and feeding the lambs on the Word of God. For such a short book, there is much to be found here, and it is one of those books I
Turning the race into a farce
Sat, May 31 2008 04:02 PM
| Discernment, Politics, Culture
| Permalink
If the Democratic National Committee (DNC) decides to seat some or all of the delegates from Florida and Michigan, it will simultaneously unite the party and turn itself into a political farce.If you haven't been following along, here's the backstory: in 2006, the DNC voted to limit the states the could hold primaries or caucuses before February 5th to Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina.
What's on TV?
Mon, May 26 2008 04:35 PM
| Discernment, Personal, Culture, Media
| Permalink
A few weeks ago, a blog I read had a post about turning off the TV. The gist of the post was highlighting the fact that Americans watch too much TV (an average of four hours a day, says this blog) and how watching less reclaims that time for other things (like, in this case, de-cluttering your home). Many commenters chimed in with vehement agreement, claiming that TV was "a waste of time" and that
Brief thoughts
Mon, May 19 2008 03:30 PM
| Faith Life, Discernment, Ministry, Politics, Personal, PCA, Culture, Links
| Permalink
Here are a few ideas that don't warrant a full post in themselves.C.S. Lewis' second Narnia book (Voyage of the Dawn Treader) has hit the theaters. Some have pointed out that there are some significant changes from the original story line (probably some spoilers in there for some of you). Some people think this is actually an improvement on the story line. Some feel the true meaning of the original
More thoughts on reading
A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about reading in response to a question from one of my blog-readers. A few more thoughts have occurred to me.On reading books:Keep a list for recommendations. Suggestions for good books to read come up all the time: from blogs, on the radio or TV news, in lectures, from friends. I've found it helpful to make a note of recommendations that I want to eventually follow
Election Fatigue
Thu, May 8 2008 09:01 AM
| Discernment, Politics, Culture
| Permalink
Another week, another round of a couple more primary elections.After Tuesday's primaries in North Carolina and Indiana, it became clear that Hilary Clinton could not win the primary even if the Michigan and Florida delegates were counted (because the numbers simply wouldn't amount to enough) and Barack Obama is going to be the Democratic candidate for President of the United States-- even though Clinton
Book Give-Away: a winner!
Back in March (!), I offered a free copy of Andrew Peterson's On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness as a part of the "blog tour" I was participating in. Entry in the drawing was simple: answer a question about how frequently you believe a congregation should celebrate the sacrament of communion, and why.There were five entries, and I'm pleased to (finally) announce the winner is:Megan Dunham!Congratulations
Essential non-obvious bands of the 80s
Fri, May 2 2008 07:29 PM
| Music, Discernment, Personal, Culture
| Permalink
Following up on my post from Tuesday, I got to thinking about bands that didn't have one stand-out album that defined them or a part of 80s music, and that also weren't obvious stand-out bands.Okay, apart from Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, The Police, U2, Fleetwood Mac, Michael Jackson (yes, admit it), Prince, and a few other HUGE bands, which ones were the real essential, non-obvious bands and/or artists?REO
When to read?
Thu, May 1 2008 08:17 AM
| Reading, Discernment, Personal, Culture
| Permalink
In response to one of my book listings, a member asked me, "you're a busy guy-- when do you find time to read all that you do?"Fair question, and one that I've had to be creative in answering over the years. Here are some thoughts for folks who want to find more time to read, and/or read more effectively:Take it with you. I rarely leave my home or office without SOMETHING to read-- a book, a journal
Essential non-obvious 80s albums
Tue, Apr 29 2008 02:38 PM
| Music, Discernment, Personal, Culture
| Permalink
My friend (and fellow pastor) Russell Smith pointed me to a post at the Evangelical Outpost where Joe Carter is reminiscing about his favorite (non-obvious) 80s music. Since I love 80s music perhaps above all else except folk, I bit.Russell has a good addition to Joe's list (and those in the comments), though I disagree with him on a few points. Here are my picks for the essential non-obvious ones.The
"It's a gospel issue"
Mon, Apr 28 2008 02:28 PM
| Theology, Bible, Faith Life, Discernment, Ministry, Church Life
| Permalink
I was reading this article in Christianity Today about Jim Wallis, who is a leader among a Christians with a progressive political perspective, and I was struck by the fact that Ted Olsen (who interviewed Wallis) asserted that, for some, the issue of blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples is, in Olsen's words, "a gospel issue."It's not.Make no mistake: it IS an important issue. And it certainly is
What we should REALLY be concerned about...
Tue, Apr 22 2008 08:25 AM
| Discernment, Evangelism, Church Life, Politics, Culture
| Permalink
You've probably gotten an e-mail forwarded to you about it. If not, then maybe you've read what the pundits are saying about it. Or maybe-- just maybe-- you've been unfortunate enough to have an irresponsible church throw it in your face.What am I talking about? The suggestion-- or even the outright claim-- that Barack Obama is a Muslim, or a terrorist, or the Antichrist, just because of his name and
Why "Expelled"?
Mon, Apr 21 2008 01:07 PM
| Faith Life, Discernment, Evangelism, Church Life, Science Technology, Politics, Personal, Culture
| Permalink
I didn't see An Inconvenient Truth. It's not that I don't care about the environment; I'm even impressed with Al Gore's passion and presentation skills (had he honed these a few years earlier, he may have won the electoral vote!). I just don't care too much about sitting through a movie-length propaganda film from a point of view that I don't completely agree with.Likewise, I've never seen any of Michael
Re-thinking "poor-ness"
Wed, Apr 16 2008 03:04 PM
| Faith Life, Discernment, Ministry, Church Life, Stewardship, Culture, Community
| Permalink
Two ideas I've recently encountered that might get some discussion going about what it means to be "poor." First, Jeff White of New Song Community Church in New York city recently spoke at a conference called A Conversation on Denominational Renewal in St. Louis (click here to find audio for all of the talks from that conference). All of Jeff's talk was great (as were the rest of them), but one thing
Why we need "y'all"
Fri, Apr 11 2008 08:59 AM
| Discernment, Language, Personal, Culture
| Permalink
My friend John posted a quick rant about grammatical and semantic errors this morning, and it inspired me to do likewise.One of the things that I appreciate the most about Southern vernacular is that we have a pronoun for the second person, plural: "y'all". It's actually a contraction of "you all" and therefore the apostrophe properly goes after the "y", indicating that the letters lost in contraction
April Fools' Funnies
Tue, Apr 1 2008 03:45 PM
| Technology, Discernment, Culture, Funny
| Permalink
The technology world loves April Fools' day. Probably because so much of the "news" in technology lends itself to speculation (and let's face it, techies love to think about the "next big thing") the world of tech news loves to take advantage of this climate of anticipation and exploit it on April 1st. There's a freedom in this realm of culture that would probably cause a lot of trouble in other parts
Book give-away: On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson
Yesterday I offered a review of Andrew Peterson's new novel, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness. As I mentioned, Waterbrook Press generously provided me with an extra copy to give away here on the blog.So, here's the deal: I'll give the book away to one person (randomly selected) who comments here, in response to the following question...How often should a congregation celebrate the sacrament
Book review: On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness
Andrew Peterson, who has become one of my favorite singers and songwriters, has written a novel, called On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness. (No, that title isn't a typo.) By happy circumstance, I was selected to participate in a "blog tour" for the book, which means (among other things) that I was provided a pre-release copy of the book to review here.If you've heard Andrew Peterson's music, you
A book table!
Fri, Mar 14 2008 10:02 AM
| Reading, Faith Life, Discernment, Books, Ministry, Church Life, Culture
| Permalink
When I am attacked by gloomy thoughts, nothing helps me so much as running to my books. They quickly absorb me and banish the clouds from my mind.~~Michel de MontaigneAs you may have picked up, I love to read. More than that, I love books, and what they represent: accessibility to knowledge and understanding of subjects that are unknown or less known than we want them to be.Someone once said, "There
Finding fulfillment
Mon, Mar 3 2008 12:10 PM
| Theology, Faith Life, Discernment, Evangelism, Ministry, Church Life, Love
| Permalink
UPDATE: I reposted this with the video embedded-- some of the feedback I got was that clicked through to another page was causing trouble. (Thanks to Eden Worship Center in Topeka, Indiana for the video montage you see.)Tom Brady might be one of the greatest success stories of our day. (Okay, so he would be more of one if he had completed that perfect season a couple of weeks ago for his FOURTH Super
Books for February
Fri, Feb 29 2008 08:29 AM
| Theology, Reading, Discernment, Books, Ministry, Personal, Culture
| Permalink
Here's an overview of the books I finished in February, and my recommendations about them (including a ranking on a 1-to-10 scale).How Your Church Family Works by Peter L. Steinke: This is a great book, though the audience for it is something of a niche. It's really a book for Pastors and maybe church leaders; I could see a Session reading through it together, if the Pastor did a fair amount of additional
Is atonement even possible?
Tue, Feb 26 2008 07:56 PM
| Theology, Faith Life, Discernment, Evangelism, Ministry
| Permalink
This clip from NBC's E.R. perfectly illustrates the emptiness of believing in nothing much at all. In the end, the "hope" that comes from the warm, sweet, sentimental stuff of "whatever works for you" and "we're all just trying our best" is empty, shallow, and pretty hopeless. "Sometimes it's easier to feel guilty than forgiven" sounds great when the realities of eternity are distant and objective;
On reading, and books for January 2008
I love to read, and those who know me are aware that I read heavily: I regularly have multiple books that I'm reading concurrently, and I probably have averaged 50-75 books a year for the past decade and more. (I first realized that I had a higher-than-average tendency for reading when I set a personal goal to finish 25 books in a year my sophomore year in college and my friends and family finding
Why I am not an activist
Wed, Jan 30 2008 03:27 PM
| Discernment, Pastoral Ministry, Ministry, Politics, Personal, Community, Preaching
| Permalink
There are a lot of great causes that I think are important. Be they social causes, political movements, efforts for promotion of ideas, many people are involved in many things that give value to our culture and world. Some of them are things that, in another life, I would be willing to step into and personally assign my name to, either in support or in opposition.But I won't do it. Not now, and not
News round-up
Mon, Jan 28 2008 03:56 PM
| Faith Life, Discernment, Church Life, Personal, Culture, Community
| Permalink
Well, a lot happened recently, and even today. Here's a quick glimpse at what is going on...Memphis ranks #1 again this week. The Tigers continue their amazing season; will they ever lose? (Hickory Withe insiders say, "no.")Obama gains major ground in the Democratic primary. Whatever your political convictions, you have to admit that Barack Obama's campaign is building a head of steam that (for now,
Immigration and the baby boom
Fri, Jan 25 2008 12:52 PM
| Discernment, Politics, Culture, Community
| Permalink
Two of the big debates that resurface every time there's an election are immigration and Social Security. Everyone seems especially concerned that Social Security will face difficult sustainability concerns, particularly now that the "Baby Boomers" are reaching retirement age. There are figures and documentation that show how drastically the system has changed over the years-- the ratio of taxpayers
Podcasts I listen to
Tue, Jan 22 2008 04:40 PM
| Faith Life, Discernment, Personal, Preaching
| Permalink
Not long ago, Lou and I set up his iPod to download our church's sermon podcast automatically (which, by the way, is best done by following the instructions on the Media page). Around that same time, another good friend got an iPod and discovered podcasts, including NPR's excellent Speaking of Faith show. Both seemed interested in knowing other good podcasts to check out, so I wanted to offer this
More hands than I could ever shake...
Thu, Jan 3 2008 04:32 PM
| Faith Life, Discernment, Politics, Culture
| Permalink
"I reach into my pocket just so I can make some change, and I find more hands than I could ever shake..." ~John Gorka, "Campaign Trail"The Iowa Caucus is today-- which is a big deal, and it's not. It's a big deal because it signals the beginning of the Presidential Primary elections-- where the various parties select which nominee will represent the party in the general election. It's not a big
Electability and the 2008 Presidential race
Thu, Dec 20 2007 07:12 AM
| Faith Life, Discernment, Politics, Culture, Community
| Permalink
We're a long way from the 2008 presidential election-- indeed, we're still a good ways off from many primaries. Right now, it's anyone's guess who will emerge as the final set of candidates a little under a year from now. Based on the way things appear now, I wouldn't be surprised if something like Montgomery Brewster's "None of the Above" campaign could gain some serious momentum over the next 11
Stem cells and life issues
Fri, Dec 7 2007 02:13 PM
| Faith Life, Discernment, Science Technology, Culture
| Permalink
One of the issues that has confused Christians for nearly a decade is that of stem cell research. While many of us have heard the claims that "stem cell research will cure the world's diseases and afflictions," these claims are sometimes challenged, often unsubstantiated. And just as the issue was moving to the fore of public interest, the 9/11 terrorist attacks (rightly) took our attention off of
Thoughts on the Golden Compass
Wed, Dec 5 2007 11:17 AM
| Faith Life, Discernment, Movies, Culture
| Permalink
Philip Pullman's fantasy novel, The Golden Compass, has been made into a movie and is slated for release this weekend. This movie has created all sorts of hubbub in the Church, mainly because Pullman has been quite candid about his opposition to Christianity and to organized religion in general, and his novels (The Golden Compass is the first novel in the fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials) are sort