Boot Camp

I've been watching the Acts 29 boot camp live this week. Mark Driscoll has had some great things to say on prioritizing some sins above others, in the past. Today, he talked again about some Christianly "acceptable" sins, like gluttony. Gotta love the Boot Camps, you get gold like this from Driscoll:

"Drunkenness kills alot of people. . . gravy is killing baptists. . . different people get drunk on different things"

(smile)

Carmelo

I'll probably blog about this more as the season begins in the NBA. But, I"m going to make a prediction:

Carmelo is playing in Denver this year. He may opt out after the season, or he may get traded in February at the deadline, if he won't commit to the team.

But, he's not getting traded before the season starts. Most of this has been hype. The only thing we know for sure is that Carmelo doesn't want to be in Denver for 3 more years. He's happy to play this year out. And, with the collective bargaining agreement expiring. . who knows how much he will be able to get paid next year. . . or if there will even be a "next year" for the NBA.

So, he's playing in Denver this year. . buckle up.


(if Carmelo is traded in the next few days. . this post never happened, and I knew it all along)

Two Challenging Posts

There's been two really challenging posts these last few days. The first post is about church attendance. As a worship pastor I really resonate with the Pastor's concern here. . . and the way that everything and anything gains priority over attending church. He does a really good job at avoiding legalism, while still remaining challenging. Don't be defensive as you read this, I"m sure some young moms are sick more than twice, I'm sure some folks have challenging work situations. . . .But, let this one stew for a bit. . .

Pastor Dave Bruskas:

. . . . . . But this means prioritizing worship (both private and public) in my life like Mary then planning for it to happen like Martha.

I think this has huge implications for us as a community. I have noticed recently many of our members inconsistently attend worship gatherings. There are good reasons to miss worship such as sickness and planned travel. So without creating legalistic rules, but with the hope of giving you a guideline for evaluation, let’s give some definition to “consistently”.

I think with a generous vacation plan to include 4 weeks a year and the healthy individual to be contagiously sick 2 Sundays per year, this would mean attending 46 out of 52 Sundays. Or missing one Sunday every other month. Please know that if your work causes you to miss worship from 9AM until 7PM Sunday, you really should consider finding another job that will allow you to be a part of community.

I would encourage you to discuss this in your Community Groups. Please don’t use this as a rigid rule to govern your life or to judge others. Rather, use it as a tool to expose how often you miss Sunday worship. If you find you aren’t “consistently” participating in public worship, then ask yourself “why?”. Then allow others to share what they see as you evaluate together with the intent to grow. . . . . . . .

#2. This post is something that every youth pastor has wanted to scream at the top of his lungs. As a parent, I found it very convicting and challenging. Use the sarcasm in this post to look at some of the ways we can prioritize loving Jesus right out of our kids' lives. It's really long, so I'll give a link. . . Here. And I"ll copy the post: Go Marko!

open letter to parents of teens

SEPTEMBER 22, 2010

a youth ministry friend pointed out this amazing blog post, by scott linscott (didn’t his parents realize he already had a “scott” in his last name?). he writes as a parent of young adults. this is what so many of us youth workers have wanted to say to (some) parents over the years; and scott says it so well. with his permission, i’ll post it in its entirety here:
————-

The church in America is puzzled. Young adults are leaving in droves. Magazines, books and blogs are wagging the finger of blame to point out who is responsible. Some say it is a failure of youth ministry, some point to church budgets and some nail the blame on outdated, unhip worship services. We parents are shocked that our kids just really aren’t all that into Jesus.

When I look for someone to blame I head into the restroom and look into a mirror. Yupp, there he is. I blame him. That parent looking back at me is where I have to start.

If you’re a parent, I’m might tick you off in this post. But, hear me out. I think that we, as parents are guilty of some things that make it easy for our kids to put faith low on their priority list.

Keys to Making Your Kids Apathetic About Faith

1) Put academic pursuits above faith-building activities. Encourage your child to put everything else aside for academic gain. Afterall, when they are 24 and not interested in faith and following Christ, you’ll still be thrilled that they got an A in pre-calculus, right? Instead of teaching them balance, teach them that all else comes second to academics. Quick … who graduated in the top 5 of your high school class? Unless you were one of them, I bet you have no idea. I don’t.

2) Chase the gold ball first and foremost. Afterall, your child is a star. Drive 400 miles so your child can play hockey but refuse to take them to a home group bible study because it’s 20 minutes away.

2b) Buy into the “select,” “elite,” “premier” titles for leagues that play outside of the school season and take pride in your kid wearing the label. Hey now, he’s an All-Star! No one would pay $1000 for their kid to join, “Bunch-of-kids-paying-to-play Team.” But, “Elite?!?” Boy, howdy! That’s the big time!

2c) Believe the school coach who tells you that your kid won’t play if he doesn’t play in the offseason. The truth is, if your kid really is a star, he could go to Disney for the first week of the season and come back and start for his school team. The determined coach might make him sit a whole game to teach him a lesson. But, trust me, if Julie can shoot the rock for 20 points a game, she’s in the lineup. I remember a stellar soccer athlete who played with my son in high school. Chris missed the entire preseason because of winning a national baseball championship. With no workouts, no double sessions, his first day back with the soccer team, he started and scored two goals. Several hard-working “premier” players sat on the bench and watched him do it. (Chris never played soccer outside the school season but was a perpetual district all-star selection.) The hard reality is, if your kid is not a star, an average of 3 new stars a year will play varsity as freshmen. That means there’s always 12 kids who are the top prospects. Swallow hard and encourage your kid to improve but be careful what you sacrifice to make him a star at little Podunk High here in Maine.

2d) By the way, just because your kid got a letter inviting him to attend a baseball camp in West Virginia does not mean he is being recruited. You’ll know when recruiting happens. Coaches start calling as regularly as telemarketers, they send your kid handwritten notes and they often bypass you to talk to your kid. A letter with a printed label from an athletic department is not recruitment. When a coach shows up to watch your kid play and then talks to you and your kid, that’s recruiting.

3) Teach your kid that the dollar is almighty. I see it all the time. Faith activities fly out the window when students say, “I’d like to, but I have to work.” Parents think jobs teach responsibility when, in reality, most students are merely accumulating wealth to buy the things they want. Our kids learn that faith activities should be put aside for the “responsibility” of holding a job. They will never again get to spend 100% of their paychecks on the stuff they want.

3b) Make them pay outright for faith activities like youth retreats and faith community activities while you support their sports, music, drama and endeavors with checks for camps and “select” groups and e8pensive equipment. This sends a loud and clear message of what you really want to see them involved in and what you value most. Complain loudly about how expensive a three-day youth event is but then don’t bat an eye when you pay four times that for a three-day sports camp.

4) Refuse to acknowledge that the primary motivating force in kids’ lives is relationship. Connections with others is what drives kids to be involved. It’s the reason that peer pressure is such a big deal in adolescence. Sending kids to bible classes and lectures is almost entirely ineffective apart from relationship and friendships that help them process what they learn. As kids share faith experiences like retreats, mission trips and student ministry fun, they build common bonds with one another that work as a glue to Christian community. In fact, a strong argument can be made that faith is designed to be lived in community with other believers. By doing all you can to keep your kids from experiencing the bonds of love in a Christian community, you help insure that they can easily walk away without feeling like they are missing anything. Kids build friendships with the kids they spend time with.

5) Model apathy in your own life. If following Jesus is only about sitting in a church service once a week and going to meetings, young adults opt out. Teenagers and young adults are looking for things that are worth their time. Authentic, genuine, relevant relationships where people are growing in relationship with Jesus is appealing. Meaningless duty and ritual holds no attraction.

There are no guarantees that your children will follow Christ even if you have a vibrant, purposeful relationship with Him. But, on the other hand, if we, as parents do not do all we can to help our children develop meaningful relationships in Jesus, we miss a major opportunity to lead them and show them the path worth walking.

I want my kids to see that their dad follows Jesus with everything. I want them to know that my greatest hope for them is that they follow Him too.

Mt. 6:33 Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. (The Message)

On a personal note: I know the struggle. My wife and I have lived the struggle firsthand. My son was recruited by a few D1 NCAA schools for baseball and opted instead to attend a small D3 school. My daughter was recruited to play field hockey by a couple D2 programs and ended up playing D3 when the scholarship offer was not enough to make her top school affordable. Both played in “premier” leagues. Both got A’s in high school though we often told them not to stress out too much over it. Both are in honor societies in college and my son now has offers from UNC, Univ. of Wisconsin, Johns Hopkins and Weil Cornell for a Phd in Pharmacology. Neither ever missed a youth group retreat, conference or mission trip because of their sports or academic commitments. Both missed a game or two to attend faith-based activities. Both missed school for family vacations. Both held down part-time jobs in high school and learned to give employers advance notice for upcoming retreats. My son often changed into his baseball uniform at church to arrive in the third inning of Sunday games. Robin and I did all we could to make sure they connected in student ministry even when it meant driving straight from a tournament to a music festival at midnight so that they would not miss out. It was that important to us. My youngest, a culinary student, lost a restaurant job because he went on a mission trip. That’s fine. Thankfully, all 3 have strong faith walks today. That is due only to God’s grace. But, I do believe that our efforts and example helped them long for a community-based faith.

More from Tim Challies

Here's an encouraging/discouraging piece on using sex to sell and how it's not working. But, it's not working for a very bad reason. . . .It seems that the porn industry has put itself out of business

HT: Tim Challies

Sex Isn't Selling

• Tim Challies
• 09/20/10
• 5

several months ago, rather on a whim, I subscribed to Canadian Businessmagazine. It was one of those deals where I’d only pay a couple of bucks for the first 6 months and then the price would increase to normal levels. And for the first time ever, I actually went for it. But it’s worked out well; it’s quite a good magazine and I’ve been enjoying it. The very first article of the very first issue I received gave me a great starting point for a chapter in my book. That alone made it worth it to me.

This month’s issue features an article titled “Sex Isn’t Selling.” Of course it’s long been one of the truisms of marketing—sex sells. But this article contends that, for the first time in recent memory, sex is no longer selling. Sex no longer accomplishes what it once did; sex no longer piles up the profits.

The focus of the article is pornography and its coming decline. It seems that pornography has been unable to adapt to the realities of Web 2.0, realities that dictate that everything must be free. Or nearly everything. Porn producers are saying that they have seen revenue fall 80% over the past three years; Playboy is bleeding money and laying off staff; actors who were once paid $2000 a scene are now being paid just half of that; revenue for major distributors has fallen 30% in just the last year.

Pornography’s woes can partly be blamed on the economy—when people are in danger of missing a mortgage payment or are out of work, splurging on porn can be a bit of a stretch. But even more so, pornography has been victimized by a cultural shift. “The characteristics that once made sexual content a valuable commodity—the inaccessibility, the taboo—have evaporated. Cable television now offers naked vampires (HBO’s True Blood), naked gladiators (Startz’sSpartacus) and naked polygamists (HBO’s Big Love).” Such a change has been rather swift; it wasn’t too long ago that a movie like Basic Instinct was considered shocking and edgy; today it would barely make a ripple. “In 1995, Calvin Klein faced an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department on allegations its advertisements constituted child pornography; now, American Apparel can barely draw press coverage by using actual porn stars in porny poses in its ads.” The dirtiness of what made porn enticing, the allure of it, is now gone, lost in the background of a sexualized, pornified culture. That’s not to say that people don’t want sex and porn anymore—just that they won’t pay for it and that it won’t compel them to spend money. It’s become a boring kind of addiction or obsession, not a particularly interesting or exciting one.

There is a third factor cutting into porn’s profits and it’s the simple reality of Web 2.0—people want everything to be free and if it’s not, they’ll simply take it. We have grown accustomed to hearing that pornography is a business that grosses $10 billion a year in the United States. Pornographers say this is ridiculous; some suggest the actual number could be less than $1 billion. Not only is pornography pirated in a huge way, but it has also been unable to make the leap to Web 2.0. “Porn has been at the forefront of every modern leap from VCRs to the Internet, but Web 2.0, dominated by these tube and file-sharing sites, is the first technology in a century that pornographers have failed to exploit.” The industry has been forced to react by giving away more content for free which necessarily cuts into profits. There’s an old saying on the Internet: if you paid for porn, you flunked the Internet. This is more true today than ever. The new reality on the Net is that if it’s not free, people will either ignore it or pirate it. But they won’t pay.

This article in Canadian Business suggests that the porn industry is not only in decline, but in danger of imminent death. Unless it finds a way of reinventing itself, and doing so soon, it will go into eclipse. The dollars and the cents of it dictate a decline.

This is a good thing, obviously. Of course pornography itself won’t go away entirely. It’s too compelling, too alluring to just disappear. But it seems that, as with so many other areas, it will go from the realm of the professional to the amateur, from the big industry to the cottage industry. Many of us will cheer to see the industry crumble and fall apart.

And yet it’s not all good. What struck me as I read this article is this: I’m glad that the porn industry is struggling. I’m glad that they are going through particularly difficult times and I’m glad that people are beginning to forecast the end of the status quo. And yet I see as well that it is all happening for the wrong reasons. Pornography is suffering because of reasons related to morality, and yet it is a lower rather than a higher morality that is making the difference. It’s not that as a culture we are objecting to pornography on the grounds that it objectifies women or hardens the hearts of men. Rather, the culture has decided that it won’t pay for what it consumes and that it will take whatever it desires. And even worse, the culture has become so hardened to what used to be shocking, that no allure remains. “Sexual content has gone from scandalous to stale. It’s become the background noise of the culture.” Against the backdrop of all the smut around us, the mainstreaming of what used to be shocking, few consumers can muster outrage at much of anything.

In other words, pornography has succeeded so well that it has forced itself into decline. It has made sex so pervasive that it has become boring, so omnipresent that it no longer entices. It has no one but itself to blame.

Don't believe those who would manipulate with fear. . .

Wow. Here's some perspective. . .

(HT: His Peace Upon Us)

HT: VitaminZ

The Danger

I thought this post sums up well the danger as we enter another political season (did the last one ever stop?). My opinion is that too much hope, passion, and expectations are being placed on our government. Paul Ireland says it better:

I thought this was an insightful comment left here on the blog from Paul Ireland—worth highlighting:

In the whole discussion about Mormonism, I think we’re missing a big part of what is going on with Glenn Beck. The problem is not simply Mormonism. The problem is idolatry.

People who follow Glenn Beck may not become Mormon and reject the Trinity, but they will likely follow his Americolatry—his worship of our nation. His view of life rises and falls on the state of our country. Christians I know who follow Beck quickly get pulled into his idolatrous fervor that declares that our nation can be our savior.

Both the left and the right subscribe to this Americolatry. If our government does X, Y, and Z, then we will be joyful, satisfied, safe, and complete. Then we will live in heaven. But if the other guys get their way, it’ll be hell. In that equation, God is no longer our joy, our comfort, our satisfaction, our all. If God is brought into the conversation at all, it is to use God as a means for our own idolatrous ends. This kind of idolatry is very alluring and dangerous for Christians.

HT: JT

Truer words were never spoken. . . .

Here's a great quote from Reggie Bush on some of the problems with College Football (or, really, the problem with the recruiting/money/gifts/ rules in college football):

I"ll quibble with his defnition of "crumbs", and I"m not sure his solution would work entirely. . .but he describes the situation accurately and honestly.

"You're still a kid, but you're still asked to make adult decisions," Bush said, alluding to a handful of college teams -- including North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina -- dealing with probes into whether their players had improper contact with agents.

"Whatever the NCAA has, whatever programs they have, aren't working and it needs to be changed. If it's not changed, it's going to continue and it hasn't stopped yet," Bush said. "It's going to continue year after year after year and you're going to see kids be ineligible. You're going to see great athletes missing their junior and senior year and seasons because the system doesn't work.

"Obviously something has to be changed. You've got universities making millions of dollars off these kids and they don't get paid. The majority of college athletes who come in on scholarship come in [with] nothing. That's where you have a problem. You're making all this money off these kids and you're giving them crumbs and then you're surrounding these kids with money and telling them not to touch it," he said.

The State of Things

When I read this quote from Marilynne Robinson, I laughed out loud because it is so true.

You want evidence for the depravity of man. . . check out history.

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

So human life is full of the potential manifest in the gifts God has given us, and full of our inevitable falling short. This is a very dynamic understanding of the self. I find no difficulty in accepting both of its terms as true. Pressed for evidence, I would point to the history of civilization and the present state of the world

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

--Marilynne Robinson

Religious Freedom

Here's a great editorial from CT on Muslim/Christian relations, the Mosque, and the pastor with the awesome mustache, etc. . .

It's worth your time.

Some Thoughts on Suffering. . . .

It's an interesting day here in Boulder County. . . .The fires seem to be getting under control, folks are remembering 9/11, and my buddy just had his car backed into by a stranger (who took the time to ring the doorbell and let them know what happened, exchange numbers. . .etc).

What do all of these have in common? In America. . . . . these are all ways folks have "suffered" recently, in various degrees, of course.

I remember 9/11 well. I was living in New Jersey. . I remember watching the Today show, (which I rarely do) that morning for some reason. Providence was crawling around as a 14-month-old, and Jody was sleeping. Matt Lauer got cut off during an interview about drapes/food or something, they went to commercial, and when they returned they showed the first tower on fire. While we were watching, the 2nd tower was hit. It was a chilling day to be alive and watching t.v.

I remember the bombers flying around overhead that day, as they secured the airspace over the tri-state area. I remember the smell some 3 weeks later, as I was up in North Jersey. I remember the terribly sad stories of folks who lost their loved ones.

This, to me, was one of the true "suffering" moments in our nation recently. See, we spend so much money on insurance and failsafe backups, etc. . . That when we "lose" most things these days, they get replaced.

In the Boulder fires, many folks lost precious things that can't be replaced, of course. That's tough to handle. But, from our fire last year, and others I've spoken to. . . in some ways it's a freeing thing to be able to "start over", get to re-decorate, get to stay in a nice hotel for a while, get to eat out. You miss home, of course. But, the "suffering" is not devastating.

That brings me to my buddy. We were discussing his car last night, and he had a good quote, he said that "suffering" like this is annoying, but not devastating.

That's a pretty good description, I would say. We spend so much money insuring ourselves that tragedies won't be devastating. This is such a huge privilege in our country. In Ethiopia, if the Boulder fires happen, a bunch of people are homeless, without food, and without any recourse to reclaim the stuff of their lives.

On 9/11 none of that mattered. We saw that true loss is losing those closest to us, . . and losing our sense of security that we spend so much money to ensure. I'm grateful to live in a country where we can maintain a certain level of security, but it was a helpful correction on that terrible day to remember that nothing is guaranteed, and not everything can be bought.

To those who are in the midst of putting their lives back together in Boulder, I pray God's peace for you, and logistical ease in navigating the "annoying" process of dealing with adjusters, and various entities. I pray you find peace dealing with the things that you cannot replace. I also hope we find a level of gratitude that we live in a place like this where we can replace alot of stuff.

As we remember 9/11, let's be grateful for where we live, but remember that there are no guarantees, and live courageously and adventurously as we remember:

Psalm 118:6-7 (New International Version)

⁶ The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?

⁷ The LORD is with me; he is my helper.
I will look in triumph on my enemies.

And to my buddy who got his car dinged. . . I'm glad insurance is doing what they were paid to do. Enjoy the new body job on your car.

The Hymn of the Legalist

HT: Bob Kauflin

Don't sing this song this weekend. . . or ever.

The Hymn of the Legalist

Written by Stephen Altrogge

Topics: The Gospel

Jesus Paid It Some

I hear the Savior say,
“You’re not doing enough;
Work your fingers to the bone,
I will save those who are tough.”

Jesus paid it some
I will do the rest
Sin had left a crimson stain
Now I will give my best

For now indeed I’ll try
To earn your love and grace
I’ll add the works I have
To complete the price you paid.

REFRAIN

And when before the throne
I’ll give my deeds to you,
I’ll hope I’ve done enough
To make you let me through.

REFRAIN (3x just to be sure)

Anatomy of a Great Road Song

Disclaimer: This post will be long. . .and will broach upon a level of musical geekery that I don't often show. I went to school for music, took voice from an evil genius, and took 4 years of ear training, which turned me into a musical analysis robot. Thus, when I listen to songs, I'm hearing these kinds of things. . . . Thanks to the UNO music staff and mom and dad for money well spent! Careful, don't let me ruin any of your favorite songs:

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

The windows are down, the breeze is blowing, and the radios get turned up. There's nothing like a good road song. This summer, in my travels, I noticed a few common themes that are (maybe) part of what makes a road song "great". Most of these had heavy rotation for the Brittons in the summer of '10. Buckle up:

What makes a good road song?

1) Good use of ascending bass lines and the "IV major 7 (add 9)" chord.

Both of these characteristics give the sense of motion and journey to a song (not journey as in "don't stop believin", journey as in "trip"). A few examples:

"Red Dirt Road" Brooks and Dunn

Do you hear the chord on "tore it all to pieces" in the chorus? How about "just for high achievers"? That's the IV major 7 (add 9) chord. The vocal melody and harmony is dancing around the 7 and the 9 as well. I just hear "journey" and "nostalgia" when I hear that chord.

When the song hits the post chorus: "I've learned, I've come to know", that's a bass walk up starting at the ii(2) chord. Good times.

Other things that make this song a great road song: Some awesome Hammond Organ work. It's there throughout, very tastefully. . . but especially after the last chorus. . .nice.

Other great road songs that use these techniques: "Wasted" Carrie Underwood; "End of the Innocence" Don Henley/Bruce Hornsby; "Absolute" The Fray (great IV chord here)

2) Lyrical Painting

Rich Mullins, "Land of my Sojourn"

(nice political commentary from Rich at the beginning)

And this road she is a woman

She was made from a rib
Cut from the sides of these mountains

Umm, yeah, I don't even know what to say about that except no one writes like Rich, and that is an unbelievable lyric.

(I couldn't find the album cut of this song on youtube. . . .you really must get "Liturgy/Legacy". . .unreal)

You gotta have a lyric that takes you somewhere; takes you right into a place or a moment. Also lyrics that evoke nostalgia are crucial to the "Epic Road Moment" where time stands still and you forget about whatever is going on.

Other great road songs that use this technique: "So Small" Carrie Underwood; "The Color Green" Rich Mullins; "Miracle Drug" U2, "Cielo" Phil Whickam; "Running to Stand Still" U2

3) Chord Progressions that evoke travel, or space.

#41 Dave Matthews Band

The chord progression that is used throughout this song is: ii, iii, vi, V. That's a very unique progression. In fact, I've never heard it before. I'm sure other songs use it, but I don't know them. Something about this song makes you feel like you're going somewhere, or perhaps that you've been somewhere. Also, any song that has 6-7 minutes of violin/sax/guitar solo should be a great road song.

Other great road songs that use this technique: "Clocks" Coldplay, "Your Love" Tommy Walker, "In Your City" Phil Whickam, "End of the Innocence" Don Henley/Bruce Hornsby

5) Good use of dance-y piano, organ, and instrumental virtuosity

"End of the Innocence" Don Henley/Bruce Hornsby

Hard to argue with this song (it's in, like, all the categories). Most people associate guitars with road songs. . .but I think pianos might be more effective at times.

Other great road songs that use this technique: "Your Love" Tommy Walker, "Red Dirt Road" Brooks and Dunn, "Cause We've Ended as Lovers" Jeff Beck, "That's Just the Way it is" Bruce Hornsby, "Why I am" Dave Matthews Band

Also, if you want your face contorted, check out Tommy Walker's guitar solo on "Your Love". . . unreal.

Ok, I"ll stop for now. I may do more musical analysis posts in the future. . .we'll see.

Free Worship Leader Advice

A few things from the summer and recently while observing other worship leaders. . . . . .

If you don't know the song you are trying to lead, . . cut it, . . .and do a different song. By "know", I mean:

a) Do you know the chord changes and how to play the chords? (capos are encouraged and helpful)

b) Do you have a good enough knowledge of the words to lead the song? (more to come on this)

c) Can you sing the song? (i.e. is it in your range) if not, you could transpose perhaps? Can't transpose? cut the song. . .do a different song.

d) There is an artful way to lead songs with words that you don't have memorized. Have you thought about how to do that? Takes practice, young grasshopper.

e) If the words, or concept of "karaoke" have been uttered. . . cut the song. Pick a different song.

We all make mistakes. . I've made more than most. But, these are some good "before we even get started" questions. Better to have less impressive, or easier congregational singing, than trying to "pull something off" that won't help folks sing together.

Two good pieces on the Koran burning

Again, my maturity would want to post a sophomoric, 4 letter word filled, immature blog about this stupidity (as one blogger commented. . . assininity. . . I like that word).

But, instead, I will point you to two more mature pieces.

here

here

A quick side note: Terrorists flew planes into the towers. Yes, they were Muslims, but the great majority of Muslims are not terrorists. As Christians we have to be in favor of religious freedom for all. If we want to restrict the religious freedom of those with whom we disagree or of whom we are afraid, then who's freedom will be next? Fear leads to hatred, and as Yoda tells us, hatred leads to the dark side. I would ask anyone who claims to be a Christian to think about these things as we interact with the Mosque in Downtown NYC, and all manner of Muslim issues in the USA. We should not allow anyone to threaten anyone else, or be combative/violent in their practice. We should not skirt the laws of our land. . . . BUT. . . We should be for their right to practice their religion. We would like the same freedom, no?

(Abraham Piper has a very interesting take over at 22words. It's a little "un-sensative" so I"m not going to link to it. But, if you'd like another take. . google Abraham Piper. . . )

A Theology of Poverty

Wow.

Sorry to be the Web-links guy today. . . but this is a fantastic piece from Andrew Peterson. I'm the world's biggest Rich Mullins fan, and I, like many, had to come to grips with the fact that we're not all called to live like good ol' Rich.

Andrew rightly exposes the false gospel of poverty (and capitalism by the way) and has a better way forward on these issues.

After all, someone has to buy the burgers. :)

Worship Rant

This is gold, pure gold from Jeremy Pierce. Don't miss the subtle irony. You'll probably need to click on a couple of the links to do so.

loved it!

HT: JT