Our New Kids

We got the new kids on Saturday. Bug is the black goat and Slim is the white goat. The Almy Zoo continues to grow!

This is Slim and Robert hugging.

This is Bug!

This is Slim!

Sex in Church

Sex in church is becoming a hot topic these days. As many of you know, we at New Season are getting ready to complete a series of messages that has lifted up God's plan for sexual intimacy according to what is found in scripture. Our Making Love Last a Lifetime: Biblical Perspectives on Love, Marriage and Sex has been based on a series by the Rev. Adam Hamilton from the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection that he did at least a couple of years ago.

It seems that Granger Community Church in Indiana has taken seriously the need to talk about this issue that is spoken to in scripture and that consumes the minds of many Americans. They are doing a series entitled "Pure Sex". They have put up some billboards with just a web url for a landing page for persons to visit mylamesexlife.com. All this has engendered much controversy apparently and attacks from the so called purist Christians among us toward Granger. This has been picked up by Fox News and other media outlets. Perry Noble from New Spring Community Church has written a great post about it too.

Our friends at Salem Fields Community Church right here in Fredericksburg are getting into the act too with their own sex series.

It is always befuddling to me when Christians attack other Christians for seeking to faithfully engage a relevant topic in many people's life today. What if we spent all the time attacking trying to make faithful followers of Jesus Christ? And what kind of witness are we making when we attack each other? I know- the purity of the church must be defended! Good grief Charlie Brown!!

Trip to Maine

Many have been asking about Diana and mine's trip to Maine (I don't know if that is good English or not that is why I became a preacher). The trip was good. We left on Friday morning and returned Sunday evening. We went up to Maine to see my Godmother get married. I helped in the service by doing a reading and co-presiding with another pastor.

Here are some highlights.

We flew out of Baltimore. That was not too bad. The traffic during morning rush hour was not bad except for an accident near Woodbridge that had a lane blocked that we got caught up in for a few miles. I think people who cause an accident because of reckless driving should lose their license for a minimum of a year. Well, not really. But that is what you feel like when you are in it.

At BWI Airport they had these cool parking garages that have these green lights above each floor that tell you whether the floor is filled or if there are spots available. Then it tells you what row the available spots are in. Then each row has a green light if there are spots available in that row, and then there is a light above each parking spot so you can easily find spots and not be disappointed when there is a Volkswagen Beetle parked in what you thought was an open space.

We flew Southwest. It was O.K. but their boarding procedure is poop! I heard someone refer on the radio to Southwest as "a bad neighborhood in the air!" The flight was a little bumpy, a little late coming home but otherwise fine. I really do not like to fly.

Maine was cold as could be. They were just coming off a warm spell before they got this arctic blast. It was zero degrees one night. That is what we used to call as kids "booger freezing" weather. Anyone who has been in that kind of cold weather knows what I am talking about. Maine is always nice even in the winter, especially in the summer, and has a great pace of life.

We did not take the kids with us and began missing them by the time we got to Baltimore (the first time to leave for Maine!).

If last weekend was not exciting enough this weekend we are going to get our goats! I will post pictures later. And oh, the wedding was really great and beautiful and all that- the bride's dress was exquisite and all those other things we guys notice- yep it was all good.

Lessons from the Snow this Past Sunday

I used to love snow as a kid. What kid doesn't? But there are times I find myself hating snow these days- having to cancel stuff, adjust schedules, shovel, have people's snow from their roofs they were to lazy to clean fly onto my windshield.

We got a pretty good snow this past Saturday night into Sunday (though most of it's gone now with these sixty degree days!). What this weekend's snow did do was cause us to cancel and postpone some things at New Season. I was looking forward to bowling with the Young Adult small group but that got nixed. We had to cancel worship and also postpone the Grace Oughton Benefit Concert/ Prayer Service that many people had worked very hard on.

I found myself on Saturday morning under the threat of such winter storm warnings increasingly irritated that it had to snow. But then God woke me up and said "hey pal the world doesn't revolve around you and your plans and you have no control over this."

Realizing this and being humbled by God, I had a much better time dealing with the snow and got to spend some time with my family. Isn't the wonders of God's grace spectacular!! I am so thankful he can even use snow to teach, humble, smack down, melt, and mold us.

Godcasting Update

Some of you may notice that the godcasts come in spurts. I just wanted to let you know a couple of reasons for that.

1. We are not exactly using the greatest equipment. We basically hook up Steve's computer to an out on our sound board. Sometimes that works great, other times it doesn't.

2. Because it is coming through our soundboard and through my microphone, the microphone has to be working right. It was not this past week so you all will have to read about "God's Plan for Sexual Intimacy" instead of hearing about it.

3. The site we use to host our audio- ourmedia.com - is sometimes a little quirky. For example, I have had the darndest time uploading my message from 1/22/06 "After the Honeymoon is Over".

4. Lastly, sometimes it is just human error. We forget to hit the record button or Robert pours juicy-juice all over the CD we have burned with the message.

I share this with you not to make excuses but just to let you know. We thank you for your patience and we will seek a more excellent way in the future.

Please know you can always find the text of the Sunday messages and the accompanying study guide at the New Season website under Messages and Study Guides.

The Habits of An Unhealthy Marriage

Here is the podcast for the fourth message in the series The Habits of an Unhealthy Marriage from the series "Making Love Last a Life Time".

To listen now, click on the podcast icon below.

The Habits of an Unhealthy Marriage (Length 23:38)

Message
Just as doctors give us warning signs to help us idenitfy an impending heart attack, so too marriages display warning signs, unhealthy habits, when they are hurting. Things like a spirit of disrespect, poor handling of money, and infidelity and dishonesty serve as warning signs that a marriage needs work.

Series
This message is from the series "Making Love Last a Lifetime." The series is based on a series first done by the Rev. Adam Hamilton at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. The series examines issues that help to strengthen marriages and relationships.

Multiplication

A couple of weeks ago I finished up Tommy Barnett's book Multiplication: Unlock the Biblical Factors to Multiply Your Effectiveness in Ministry and Business. Barnett is the pastor of Phoenix First Assembly of God, one of America's largest churches with over 15,000 in attendance. He helped cofound the Los Angeles Dream Center.

Below are some quotes in italics that I thought were good. My comments follow.

Multiplication started when we committed ourselves to prayer and seeking God.
I pray daily that the Lord of the Harvest will send workers.
Like al things we need to begin on our knees in prayer. We often get it backward. We tell God we have decided to do something and ask him to bless it.

What keeps me going when I don’t feel like preaching is the call.
I’ve been chosen by Jesus Christ. I’ve been set aside, sanctified and anointed by the Anointed One.
Whether you are in ministry, business, or work at home taking care of children it is your call that will get you up each day and keep you going even when things are going badly.

When I am asked, “When is a church big enough?” my reply is, “When everyone in our society has accepted Christ.
I got a variation of this question the other day- "Do you want to build a mega-church?" No, I want God to build the church he wants here as big or as small as he wants. He has told me that my job is to help others to come and experience his love and salvation and equip other people to do the same. We will stop "trying" to grow when every knee has bowed and every tongue confessed Jesus Christ as Lord.

The negative and critical pew sitters need to repent or go elsewhere.
All I can say is Amen.

Christians may differ in their theology about the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
But regardless of our theology, all believers need to be filled with the Holy Spirit- continually, regularly and daily.
This is a good example of focusing on the essentials instead of the non-essentials.

Remember- God is an organized God.
Jesus organized his disciples to feed 5,000.
This just warms my Methodist heart and might even do a little something for my frozen chosen friends the Presbyterians who love order too.

One enemy of the church is called average.
Enough said!

Jesus never said that he had come that we might just survive.
Rather he came that we might have abundant life. Jn. 10:10.
Jesus doesn't promise a house in the suburbs, a beautiful wife, 2.5 kids and a good 401K. He calls us to take up our cross and follow him, to lose our life is to gain it. By doing these things we discover abundant life.

Making friends with chaos- no record exists of anyone walking on water without a storm, some wind and a lot of rain.
This has been so true when it comes to church planting. It is true for any ministry setting. Make friends with chaos recognizing that God brought forth creation out of chaos.

Podcasting is Wesleyan!

Mark Batterson, lead pastor of National Community Church, has this great post. It is an excerpt from an article he wrote. It makes the connection between field preaching in the Wesleyan revival and podcasting day. I think Mark's background is that he is AG (Assembly of God). It is great to see someone apppreciate Mr. Wesley!! Below is part of the post. Read the whole thing here.

Carpe Digital
I have a growing conviction: the Church should be in the business of redeeming technology and using it to serve God's purposes.

Isn't that what Johann Gutenberg did? He redeemed the printing press and used it to get more Bibles into more hands. Why not redeem the iPod and turn it into a high-tech tool for e-vangelism or digital discipleship? The message is sacred, but the medium isn't. The church needs to use any and every medium at its disposal to share the gospel with as many people as possible. It's a stewardship issue. We're far too analogical in our approach to ministry. We've got to carpe digital.

Who said preachers have to preach from behind a pulpit and parishioners have to listen while seated on wooden pews?

In 1728, John Wesley was ordained into the Anglican priesthood. It was assumed that preaching would take place behind a pulpit inside the four walls of a church sanctuary. The hierarchy within the Church of England considered preaching outdoors a violation of canon law. John Wesley broke the law and broke the mold.

Wesley wasn't trying to be different for difference sake. His unorthodox methodology of "field preaching" and "circuit riding" led to disenfranchisement and death threats. Wesley even admitted in 1772: "To this day, field preaching is a cross to me." So why did Wesley take his preaching offsite? In his own words: "I look upon the world as my parish."

Maybe we've quarantined the gospel within the four walls of church buildings long enough?Wesley preached his first outdoor sermon on April 2, 1739. Over the next fifty years, Wesley preached more than 40,000 sermons; traveled 250,000 miles on horseback; and saw 150,000 people convert to Christ.

What does that have to do with podcasting?Podcasting is field preaching. Podcasting is circuit riding at the speed of light. Without having to saddle up, digital technology enables any preacher to travel 250,000 miles and preach 40,000 sermons with the click of a mouse!I'll be the first person to say that podcasting is a poor substitute for church. But it's a great supplement.Here's a sobering fact for those of us who are part of the preaching clan: 95% of what we say is forgotten within three days! But retention rates are more than doubled if we hear or read something twice. That's why I email a written version of my weekend messages to several thousand subscribers. That weekly evotional enables NCCers to read what they've heard. It's a double dose of every message. Podcasting has the same effect. We encourage double dipping at NCC!

Tomlin/ Redman Concert

Some of us from New Season went on Saturday to the Hylton Memorial Chapel to take in the Indescribable Tour featuring Chris Tomlin with Matt Redman and Louie Giglio.

I have to say that it was a great experience though I had to sit next to this guy who was off key the whole night and throwing me off. I think his name was Steve and he leads some band for one of those off the wall churches. You know the kind I am talking about.

What was so great about the evening? It was great to see so many Christ followers excited about their God and Savior and their faith. Their was a great energy in the room and the Holy Spirit was moving through the music in powerful ways. Both Christ Tomlin and Matt Redman were great worship leaders. And it was worship! That is what was also so great about it. It was a worshipful atmosphere. It wasn't "hey look at me I am Mr. Christian Rock Star Man." Instead the music was interspersed with prayer, scripture and a whole sense of "this is not about us." That made the music event that much more wonderful.

They did have the words to the song projected which was really great and the background images were phenomenal. We at New Season use moving backgrounds but these guys not only used moving backgrounds but the moving backgrounds switched in the midst of a song instead of just having one background per song.

Beside the guy who couldn't sing next to me there were a couple of other downers. While the Hylton Memorial Chapel is pretty great the lack of restrooms and water fountains was noticeable. Also, the seating was such that it was level so for a vertically challenged person like me it was hard to see the song lyrics if someone's oversized melon was in your way. All that was minor stuff. I would have liked to have seen more Matt Redman but it was after all a Chris Tomlin WITH Matt Redman concert.

Overall, a great experience. Great worship! Great concert! Very glad I went!

Grace

Some of you may have heard Grace's story. At nineteen months old, Grace Oughton was diagnosed with a rapidly progressing cancer called Neuroblastoma. Grace’s rare form of cancer requires her to travel to a specialty center where she is currently undergoing chemotherapy and other aggressive treatments at Children’s Hospital – Boston and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Jimmy Fund Clinic.
A group of friends and family members established the Grace Oughton Cancer Foundation to support the family and health care needs of Grace. This foundation is a charity under the umbrella of the National Heritage Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization.

Grace is the young daughter of Alec and Crystal Oughton, a loving couple who are dedicated to their community. Alec is a career firefighter and paramedic. Crystal is a registered nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, St Mary’s Hospital in Richmond. Grace also has a 3 year old brother, Landon.

To make a donation to the Grace Oughton Foundation click here. To visit Grace's site and learn more click here.

New Season Church will be holding a Benefit Concert/ Prayer Service for Grace and family on Sunday February 12th at 6:00 p.m. at the Massaponax High School. Admission is free and a special love offering to benefit the Grace Oughton Foundation will be received. Please spread the word.

What Women Wish Men Knew About Women

Here is the podcast for the first message in the series "Making Love Last a Life Time".

To listen now, click on the podcast icon below.


What Women Wish Men Knew About Women (Length 19:14)

Message
Women in a survey were asked what they needed to feel loved by their husbands. They responded with answers that can be grouped into the four A's. Affection, Attentiveness, Active involvement in the Home, and Appreciation. When husbands carry out the four A's that help women feel loved they put deposits into the accounts of their wife's love banks.

Series
This message is from the series "Making Love Last a Lifetime." The series is based on a series first done by the Rev. Adam Hamilton at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. The series examines issues that help to strengthen marriages and relationships.

Raising Ebenezer

Gary Parret, associate professor of educational ministries and worship at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, has an article over at Christianity Today bemoaning the changing of hymns for the sake of making them understandable for the vast majority of church goers. Read the article here. Parret adds an interesting voice to the debate and forces those of us who do "update" language in hymns to give an account.

Using the hymn "Come Thou Fount" as an example Parret writes, "I seize every opportunity to publicly lament modern revisions of that beloved hymn, "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing," written by Robert Robinson in 1758. The revisions all seem to agree on deleting "Ebenezer" from the hymn's second verse, which begins, "Here I raise mine Ebenezer." Some of the "improvements" offered through the years include: "Hitherto thy love has blest me," "Here by grace your love has brought me," and "Here I raise to thee an altar."

Parret makes three points about changing the wording of hymns.

1. He protests first on artistic grounds. The hymn writer knew what he/she wanted to write who are we to change it.

2. Second, the revisions are, at best, inconsistent attempts to be culturally relevant. He suggests that the revisions are done haphazardly and inconsistently.

3. Third, he protests on biblical grounds. By changing a word like "ebenezer" we are robbing people of biblical literacy.

Let me react in turn.

1. As to the protest on artistic grounds I would suggest that the hymn writer's intent was not to once and forever have an indelible hymn. I would think the hymn writer's intent was to help people experience God. If that means changing a word or two to make in more understandable for persons and thus help them to be transformed by the grace of God I think they could probably give a rat's you know what. We will have to ask them in the "sweet bye and bye" (notice I didn't change the words of that wonderful hymn)- translation- we will have to ask them in heaven.

2. As to inconsistency I do not think an argument that generalizes like this has much power. Has a study been done that shows churches that change words have done so inconsistently?

3. Professor Parret's third protest is kind of funny. I am sorry. But I am willing to bet in the churches that have sung "Come Thou Fount" over the last twenty years and among the parishioners that have sung the hymn, that I can count with all nine of my toes the number that know what in the world ebenezer means (even among people who have been in the church all their life). I am sure they ran home and got their concordance. Now I think an argument can be made that the worship leader might explain what it means for persons and therefore bring more meaning out of the hymn. I must confess that I went to seminary for three years, took two Old Testament courses and until a couple of years ago had no idea what was meant by "I raise my ebenezer." Then again, I didn't go to Gordon-Conwell.

Prayer of Confession

I like to teach the ACTS method for ordering prayer.

A- Adoration
C- Confession
T- Thanksgiving
S- Supplication

In order to keep my prayer life fresh I use different methods to offer my adoration of God or to confess my own, our church, and our communities sins. I came across this prayer of confession from Preaching Now. I found it in there email newsletter.
to subscribe go here.

From the words of a Puritan prayer:
I am deeply convinced of the evil and misery of a sinful state,of the vanity of creatures, but also of the sufficiency of Christ.
When thou wouldst guide me I control myself,
When thou wouldst be sovereign I rule myself.
When thou wouldst take care of me I suffice myself.
When I should depend on thy providings I supply myself,
When I should submit to thy providence I follow my will,
When I should study, love, honour, trust thee, I serve myself;
I fault and correct thy laws to suit myself,
Instead of thee I look to man's approbation,and am by nature an idolater.
Lord, it is my chief design to bring my heart back to thee.
Convince me that I cannot be my own god, or make myself happy,nor my own Christ to restore my joy,nor my own Spirit to teach, guide, and rule me . . . Then take me to the cross and leave me there. (from The Valley of Vision)

UnLearning Church

I just got through with Mike Slaughter's book UnLearning Church and it was as to be expected being from Mike Slaughter just great. Mike is the "Chief Dreamer" from Ginghamsburg church in Tipp City, Ohio. I recommend the book. Here are some quotes I thought were especially good.

"Peter did the impossible because he responded to the voice of Jesus instead of listening to the storms and the fears of others. Peter did not begin to experience problems until he began to pay attention to the raging water through his physical eyes." p. 25

"My wife and best friend, Carolyn, often reminds me that if God could speak through Balaam's ass (see Numbers 22:28-35), God can also speak through me." p. 27

"Christianity is anything but nice. It is extreme. There are no middles. Everywhere these people went, either revolutions or riots occurred. It was radical." p. 75

"Don't spend your life on something so small that you accomplish it out of your "can do"- and that you do it without God." p. 132

"Does your image or identity come from what you have? from what you do? or from Christ who you follow?" p. 189

Book of Daniel Controversy

Perhaps you have heard some rumblings about the new NBC sitcom Book of Daniel. Here is an article from our buddies at newsmax.com about the controversy. I must admit that seeing some of the preview caused me to raise an eyebrow. The show apparently will center on an Episcopalian priest who struggles with a little self-medication problem, and has a 23-year-old son who's gay, and a 16-year-old daughter who's caught dealing pot, and another son who's jumping on every high school girl he sees, and a wife who's very loving but also likes her martinis. Jesus makes occasional appearances to talk with Priest Daniel and usually flippantly dismisses the sin dramatized in the good priest's life and the life of his family.

Of course the AFA and others are up in arms. I have received a few emails from people about writing to NBC. There was a time when I too would be up in arms. But not anymore. I take the "plunder the Egyptians" track now. Lets use this putrid Hollywood show to start a dialogue with people about how Jesus would respond to such issues as those faced by Priest Daniel. Whether we like it or not, the Jesus portrayed in this show will be the view of Jesus that many people have. It will be the only one they get. Are we so inadequate as the church that we have to worry about a show that will more than likely be cancelled after one season? Are we as a church that impotent? Does the church have a responsibility to be spreading the Gospel instead of opposing t.v. shows? I am speaking of the church universal here.

It's kind of like the wonderful embrace of the Narnia movie by most Christians. It is said "oh we must take advantage of the popularity of the Narnia movie to bring people to Christ." Really? Do we really think that unbelievers are going to go see the Narnia movie and make the connection between a talking lion and Christ and all of the other wonderfully woven images and metaphors of the master C.S. Lewis and all of a sudden want to know more about Christ. Just like the Passion of the Christ was supposed to mark the revival of the church. Erhnt- survey says- wrong answer. I am with Dan Kimball on this and think that we have a better opportunity to reach unbelievers through the release in May of the Davinchi Code movie.

In the end we as the church must spend more time plundering the Egyptians instead of whining about the Egyptians!

It Is Still Christmas

Though in most cases the tress have been taken down, the lights put away and the bad gifts returned it is still Christmas.

Christmas officially starts on Christmas Eve and continues for twelve days until January 6th and ends in what is known as Epiphany. Epiphany marks the time when the wisemen came to see the baby Jesus. But for most of us, including Christians, Christmas ended a couple of days after December 25th. Why?

The answer has more to do with economics. As we all know Christmas used to start right after Thanksgiving. Now it starts right after Halloween. In the shopping world it ends a few days after Christmas after all the stores seek to woo you back in with after Christmas discounts.

If you are like me, by the time the real twelve days of Christmas rolls around you are pretty much sick of it all. We took our tree down around the first of the year. There is an old tradition whereby people didn't put there tree up until Christmas Eve and left it up until Epiphany. This might be one action we might take to remember to worship Christ the babe born in Bethlehem instead of Madison Avenue. That is something worth thinking about.

Shepherds- No More Same Old, Same Old

Here is the podcast from the second message in the Pardon the Interruption: Life Lessons from the Characters of the Chrhristmas Story series.

To listen now, click on the podcast icon below.


Shepherds- No More Same Old, Same Old (Length 17:56)

Message

Often times Christmas can become the same old, same old with the parties, the gift buying and the family traditions. This is O.K. except when when the same old, same old prevents us from seeing Christ in the season. This message shows that like the shepherds who were divinely interrupted and shook out of their same old, same old we too need to listen for God this Christmas season, do what God says, and worship Christ.

Series

This message is from the series "Pardon the Interruption: Life Lessons from the Characters of the Christmas Story." The characters in the Christmas story experience divine interruptions like the ones represented in the lives of Zechariah, the shepherds, Mary and Jesus. Are we open to God's interruptions in our lives or will it be Christmas as usual? During Christmas and at all times, God stands ready to interrupt our lives and fill them with his love as he did the characters of the Christmas story.

Fizzit Mama

One of the things I get in my inbox on a regular basis are writings and collections from the sermonfodderguy- Keith Todd. According to his signature "The Sermon Fodder list shares a daily dose of Christian humor and modern-day parables for personal enjoyment. Our material is often used as sermon illustration material by pastors and Sunday School Teachers."

You can check it out more thoroughly by visiting sermonfodder.com. The little vignette below was too good not to share. It is wonderful how a story or illustration like this can say in two minutes what some of us talking heads seek to convey in twenty minutes. I hope you take something away from what is below like I did.

Fizzit Mama

A friend of mine recently shared a little "parable in real life"that God sent her several years ago. When her son was quite small, he had a small stuffed gorilla that he wagged around with him everywhere -- and I do mean EVERYWHERE -- he went. She could sometimes sneak it away for a quick laundering during nap time, but Heaven help her if her son awoke before his friend "Rilla" was out of the dryer! As such '"loveys" will do, Rilla's seams gradually began to weaken and his stuffing began to leak. As she tells it, "Poor old Rilla was in desperate need of some corrective surgery, not to mention a stuffing transplant. One day, John waddled up to me and held up his battered, beloved Rilla and said, 'Mommy, Rilla's broked.' I explained that I would be happy to fix Rilla up -- a little new stuffing, some seam reinforcement, and he would be 'all better' again. John held Rilla out toward me, and said 'Fizzit, Mommy!' But, when I reached down to take the little gorilla in my hands, I found that it had a two-year-old firmly attached to it. As all parents know, a tug-of-war with a two-year-old is frequently a losing proposition, and is ALWAYS accompanied by loud cries and copious tears. Finally, in exasperation, I said, 'I can't fix it until you let go of it!!!' And just at that moment,the Spirit of God tapped me on the shoulder, as it were -- and I realized that God was waiting for me to let go of several things, too.

"This is one aspect of Christianity that I suspect will always be astruggle for many of us-- "tis not I, but Christ liveth in me". It's so hard for us to get out of his way and let him "fizzit" in his own good time, because we're living in the present moment and He is living in eternity. Waiting on the Lord, whether it is for healing, for understanding, or a much needed job, is not an easy task. But, I truly believe it is essential for all of us to be as patient with Him as He is with us.

Redeeming Technology

Mark Batterson over at evotional.com has shared the seven keys to kicking it up a notch that he presented a at a church planting conference recently. Here they are:

1) Create Culture
2) Cast Vision
3) Redeem Technology
4) Study Culture
5) Do Ministry out of Imagination
6) Be Yourself
7) Enjoy the Journey

I really like number three- redeeming technology. I think redeeming technology is so crucial for the church today. The church is charged with sharing the greatest message ever told- the good news of Jesus Christ. It makes sense that we would avail ourselves of every tool at our disposal to share that good news. This includes technology. Using technology to present the age old message of Jesus crucified, dead and risen is redeeming technology. It is like the cliche goes "the message stays the same, how we present the message changes." If we truly want to make and empower radical followers of Jesus Christ we must do so in a way that will connect with those we are trying to reach. I think Paul did that with the Athenian philosophers in Acts. Leonard Sweet once said something to the effect that in our churches we ask children to come for 45 minutes to an hour of Sunday school and we expect to hold their attention and capture their hearts with the greatest story ever told by using flannel graph characters when these kids know how to navigate the Internet and use interactive Cd-Roms by the time they are five. Hmm?

We always must remember why technology is used in the church. It is not because it is cool, or because the megachurch across the country is using it. We use technology in order to draw people closer to God so that they can experience the love of Christ in their hearts, be changed on the inside and go out to serve Christ. That is what redeeming technology is about.

Snow Rant

Caution you are about to enter a rant zone.

People- clean off your cars. I mean really!! With the snow this past week in Virginia the "I am to lazy" to clean the snow off my car monster has reared its ugly head. In case you couldn't tell this infuriates me. Clean the snow off your car!! What is so hard about that??

Oh, I know- you are in a rush to get to work. I know you left your brush in the garage right underneath the box of beach stuff you take every summer to the Outer Banks. No, I am sorry, you thought the heat in your car would melt it off before it turned into ice after being on there for three nights in a row of 20 degree temperatures. You thought it would be gone before it flew off the top of your Camry into someone else's windshield.

Unless you drive a tractor trailer, a big van (not an SUV) or are physically unable, there is just no excuse for leaving snow on your car. It's just lazy.

You see there is a theological issue here. If you are leaving snow on your car because you have to get to work earlier, because you are just too lazy to dig out the scraper or you just don't care then you are making yourself the center of the universe. Guess what? The Bible says time and time again it is not about you!! It is about having enough consideration (i.e. love thy neighbor) for other drivers out there doing their best to avoid black ice, other cars careening into them, and snowplows. They don't need snow from someone else's car blowing in their face or huge ice chunks flying off to hit their windshield. Enough.

Peace.