Annual Conference

Once a year Methodist people in Virginia come together for what is called the Annual Conference. Annual Conference is a meeting of clergy and laity from churches across Virginia that is filled with worship, business meetings, and great opportunities to catch up with old friends you sometimes do not see but once a year. John Wesley said that Christian conferencing was a means of grace like prayer, fasting, scripture reading and communion.

The Conference actually started last night. Steve Kropp and I made our way to Hampton. Soon as we got here we already ran into the trouble. Our hotel reservations were not reserved as the good people at the Ramada said when they went to charge my card that it had been rejected!! So, they cancelled our reservations. No call or nothing- they just decided I guess to leave us in a lurch.

No matter, because we got a much better hotel with the same rate a little bit futher away and this place actually has an exercise room. So there.

Last night was the memorial service. It is always inspiring to celerbate the lives of those who have touched so many lives themselves. The Rev. Young Jin Cho gave the message and talked about servant hood and moving from maintenance to mission. And, he had some good jokes too.

Pray for Steve and I. We need it.

Shame on WaWA

Shame on WaWa.

Let me break it down. We decided to do a servant evangelism ministry (handing out free coffee and papers at our local WaWa) so our ministry assistant Dorothy called WaWa headquarters and got the details about what we would need to do to get permission. They faxed out a form and their policies and it did not seem like it was going to be a problem after reading their policies.

I got the form filled out and took it over to the manager- or who I thought was the manager- they seemed kind of in disarray at their store and largely treated me as a disturbance. When I gave them the form they had no idea what I was talking about and looked at me like I had three heads. Apparently no one has ever done this or even solicted outside the store (we were giving away free stuff we were even going to buy from them!).

They said they would have to check on it. That was fair enough. I didn't hear anything for a few days and called over there. "We will pass on your message to the manager" they said.

Then late Friday I get a call from the manager:

Manager: You cannot do what you want to do here. I brought your request to our district meeting and my district manager denied it.

Me: Uh, O.K. How come it was denied?

Manager: It was denied. (Apparently at a lost really and just repeating).

Me: Do you know why it was denied?

Manager: Um, my District Manager said she had to get better control of what is going on outside her stores.

Me: Alrighty then.

Now, if that was not the lamest load of fecal matter I had heard in a long time I do not know what is. You know I completely understand a business determining who can do things outside the store. But don't put out policies that appear to make it permissible and then deny requests for some enigmatic reason. I know someone handing out coffee and newspapers to share God's love in a practical way would have been such a nuisance and necessitated getting better control of what is going on outside your stores!

I decided I did not want the headache of fighting against these people and the rest of their bureaucracy. I'll just go to Food Lion or Wal-Mart.

In the end, what did WaWa gain?- a post in the blogosphere decrying their poor choices and the fact that they basically blew off a good customer who will tell others of the incident. How is that for customer evangelism.! I guess we won't partner with them to do our gas giveaway event. When is Sheetz coming to town- not soon enough!!

Shame on WaWa!

The Truth About the Bible Part 1- DaVinci Code Discourse

Here is the podcast for the third message in the "Da Vinci Code Discourse" series.

To listen now, click on the podcast icon below.

The Truth about the Bible Part 1

Message
Is the Bible just a bunch of fables? Did the church repress "other" gospels? How did we get our New Testament in the form we have it. These are some of the questions we examine in this message. If the Bible conatins all things necessary for salvation and is the guide for what we believe and how we live our life then we should know how we got it. Come explore!

Series
This message is from the series "The Da Vinci Code Discourse". While the Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction, author Dan Brown blurs lines between fiction and truth and makes broad claims that strike at the heart of Christianity. We will look at some of the issues the book raises in an effort to discover what people who follow Christ beleive and why we believe it. We hold that Christianity is not a call to bury our heads in the sand or check our brains in at the door but to engage and redeem such cultural phenomenas as the Da Vinci Code.

Subscribe to this podcast via Apple iTunes by following this link.

Get Apple iTunes for PC or Mac here.

Poison Ivy

For the past couple of weeks I have been battling poison ivy. I never had poison ivy until I moved to my new house which has trees with poison ivy vines that are bigger than my leg. I got it last summer pretty mildly, and then some this winter but a couple of weeks ago I got it pretty bad so that it spread all over my body. For those who have had it you know how it goes- the more you itch the worse it gets. Calamine lotion and Benadryl help for a time but they do not treat.

This past Monday I went to the doctor and got a shot and a steriod (not the Barry Bonds kind) and my symptoms have thankfully abated.

All this reminds me of how sin is like posion ivy. It is vicious. It is virulent. The more you scratch it (give in to it) the worse it gets. When it comes to sin though we have to go to the Great Physician who heals our sin and restores our soul. I may get posion ivy again and I know I will sin again but thankfully there is a cure for each!

Breakout Churches

I have finsihed Breakout Churches by Thom Rainer and would recommend it. Rainer and his team did their homeowrk in this book. The book does not look at the successful mega churches but churches that have been successful, declined, and successful again. Part of the criteria for the churches selected was that the same pastor had to be there for both the decline and the breakthrough. Here are some particularly interesting tidbits from the book.

It is a sin to be good if God calls us to be great.
We always must seek a reasonable human excellence when doing ministry.

Positive outside influences- breakout leaders had an insatiable appetite to learn and a persistent drive to improve- outside counsel, conferences, books, consultations etc.
There is no excuse in these information days to not have these positive outside influences. This speaks well for the need for a coach as well especially when planting a church.

In the chapter "The Who What Simal-track" Rainer writes about the importance of getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats, and then figuring out where to drive the bus.
This is easier said than done but so necessary. This job is so much harder in an established church. You know, where the treasurer has been the treasurer for eighty years and still types out her reports.

Mission is a general statement of any church’s purpose.
Vision refers to God’s specific plan for a specific church at a specific time in its history.
Jim Griffith says mission and vision are overrated. I am beginning to agree. We all have the same mission. All mission statements say something about making disciples of Chrsit, fully devoted followers etc. I am starting to be believe that vision finds us more than we find it.

In the majority of comparison churches in the study, merchants within a half mile radius of the church couldn’t tell us where the church was located.
The church was irrelevant to the community.
This would be interesting to try. Go and ask the merchants near your church if they can tell you where your church is and what they know about it.

Everything we did revolved around those who were not there yet.
This is the lens through which we must view all decisions so that those far from God might become close to God and glory be brought to God.

Builders of great churches made as much use of stop doing lists than to do lists.
The "Stop Doing" list- great idea. Mine is getting long.

Da Vinci Code Discourse- The Real Jesus

Here is the podcast for the second message in the "Da Vinci Code Discourse" series.To listen now, click on the podcast icon below.

The Real Jesus

Message
Was Jesus more than just a good man or a mighty prophet or some political activist who had children with one of his followers? This message shines the light of truth on who Jesus was and is- fully God and fully man.

Series
This message is from the series "The Da Vinci Code Discourse". While the Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction, author Dan Brown blurs lines between fiction and truth and makes broad claims that strike at the heart of Christianity. We will look at some of the issues the book raises in an effort to discover what people who follow Christ beleive and why we believe it. We hold that Christianity is not a call to bury our heads in the sand or check our brains in at the door but to engage and redeem such cultural phenomenas as the Da Vinci Code.

Get Apple iTunes for PC or Mac here.Subscribe to this podcast via Apple iTunes by following this link.

Get Apple iTunes for PC or Mac here.

Da Vinci Code Discourse- What's all the Hype About?

Here is the podcast for the first message in the "Da Vinci Code Discourse" series.

To listen now, click on the podcast icon below.

What's All the Hype About

Message
It has been at the top of the NY Times Bestseller list for months. It was recently released as a major motion picture. What is all the hype about the Da Vinci Code? Why should people who follow Christ care? Whether a fully devoted follower of Christ or someone seeking answers come "seek the truth" as we examine the claims of the Da Vinci Code.

Series
This message is from the series "The Da Vinci Code Discourse". While the Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction, author Dan Brown blurs lines between fiction and truth and makes broad claims that strike at the heart of Christianity. We will look at some of the issues the book raises in an effort to discover what people who follow Christ beleive and why we believe it. We hold that Christianity is not a call to bury our heads in the sand or check our brains in at the door but to engage and redeem such cultural phenomenas as the Da Vinci Code.

Subscribe to this podcast via Apple iTunes by following this link.

Get Apple iTunes for PC or Mac here.

Da Vinci Code Q & A

As we go through the Da Vinci Code Discourse message series attendees are invited to write questions for submission. Those questions are below.

What great questions people had! Many of them were well thought out and deep!! I want to let you know that I tried to answer the questions to the best of my ability. I do not have all the answers. I do not know it all (of course most of you already knew that I just wanted to remind you again!). In some cases I have directed you to websites to check out. While to the best of my knowledge these sites are fairly reputable as to the information contained, always remember that the web is a double edged sword. Always keep in mind who wrote what you are looking at and what their background is when you read. Again, thanks everyone for the questions. I look forward to our journey together as we explore what we believe and why through this message series.

Was Mary Magdalene a prostitute or was that false information?
That is false information. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. We know from the Bible that she was healed of seven demons, that she followed Jesus, was present at his crucifixion and became the first evangelist to tell others that the tomb was empty. But, she was not a prostitute though that would make for a great story of redemption. So where did this idea come from? There are many Marys mentioned in the New Testament. Mary Magdalene became confused with Mary the spiritually "in tune" sister of Martha and another woman named Mary who was described as a sinner in Luke’s Gospel (Luke 7:36-45). Sometime in the sixth century Pope Gregory in a sermon made the claim that these three Marys were the same person thus lumping Mary Magdalene with the woman thought to be a prostitute in Luke 7. In 1969 the Catholic Church corrected this misinterpretation. For more info go here.

Why does making Jesus divine at the Council of Nicea “keep women down” as you mentioned in your sermon?
The reaffirmation of Jesus’ divinity at the Council of Nicea did not in fact “keep women down.” The claim by Dan Brown in the Da Vinci Code and by others who espouse a high view of the sacred feminine is that the church at the Council of Nicea affirmed Jesus’ divinity so that it would be less plausible that Jesus would have been the husband or lover of Mary Magdalene and thus lessen Mary’s true influence and the so called secret that she was the Holy Grail. For those who hold the theory that Mary is the Holy Grail and the mother of Jesus’ descendents this was seen as an attack on the sacred feminine.

Was worshipping women (goddess worship, the sacred feminine) ever practiced? If so, specifically when and why was this practice stopped?
Goddess worship has a long history that predates Christianity. The lines between goddess worship and the celebration of the sacred feminine are blurry. A definition of sacred feminine might be: The veneration in the person of the goddess, who is the Isis of Egypt, and who is embodied by priestesses in sacred rituals. Those who believe that Mary Magdalene is the Holy Grail believe that Mary Magdalene was herself a priestess who embodied the Sacred Feminine. This practice continues today mostly in non-western areas of the world and in cultures that are pantheistic in nature (have more than one god). Even within the Christian Church there would be some who are proponents of the Sacred Feminine and would still call themselves Christians.

Does faith need to be proven?
The Bible defines faith as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) While faith in and of itself cannot be proven, it is necessary to know and be able to articulate why you have the faith you have. The Apostle Peter wrote that we should always be ready to give an account of our faith. “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” 1 Peter 3:15. And then from Paul’s letter to the Colossians, “Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” Colossians 4:5-6. While we do not have to prove faith we do have to contend for the faith. Here is a link to a message board discussion you may be interested in.

The Koran was written within 20 years of Muhammad’s death and had to be approved by many people before publication. What took Christians so long to get the word out?
The selection of books that would ultimately make up the New Testament (sometimes referred to as the New Testament canon) were not approved by one person but were only agreed upon at the Synod of Hippo in 393 A.D. It happened over a period of years. Unlike the Koran, the Bible and particularly the New Testament was the witness and collection of many different eyewitnesses, historians and writers. The Koran, on the other hand, is based solely upon what one person (Muhammad) saw and heard. Unlike the Christian New Testament the Koran has less literary variety. In the New Testament one will find narrative prose, parable, poetry/hymns, letters, and a history. The Koran on the other hand is a collection of prose and poetry thus allowing for an easier compilation. Lastly, while the writing of the New Testament appears in the first century in very much an oral culture where important teachings and stories were passed down verbally, the Koran was written in the 7th century.

What about those missing years of Jesus’ life? Why wasn’t his whole life important enough to be written about if he is the savior of the world?
The only record of Jesus’ life before his public ministry began, apart from the birth narratives, is a story in Luke about Jesus conversing with the religious leaders/scholars in the temple after his parents had left the Passover Festival. Luke 2:41-52 It has been speculated by some that Jesus learned the trade of carpentry from his father during this time though there is no direct corroboration of this in the scripture. Though we have little about Jesus’ boyhood in scripture this should not surprise us for a couple of reasons. One reason has to do with God’s timing. Jesus began his public ministry at thirty years old when the appointed time had come. The Gospels present a clear time line of events controlled by God. Secondly, we must understand that the Bible was not written as a history book like we would have for a 10th grade ancient history class. It was a religious text that for the most part used story to convey meaning. The purpose of the scripture was not to convey dry facts or every detail or provide a step by step timeline. To expect the Bible to do such is to impose upon the text a modern day assumption of how we gauge the validity and veracity of texts.

Did Jesus have any children?
No. There is no credible, verifiable or substantial evidence that Jesus had children. The claim of Dan Brown in the Da Vinci Code is that Jesus had a child with Mary Magdalene and that Mary and the child fled after Jesus’ crucifixion. The contention is that the blood line continues today.

Is this your idea to address the subject matter or is it a requirement by the UMC (United Methodist Church)?
This was my idea to address the issues of faith brought to the surface by the Da Vinci Code. I usually plan the message series at New Season months in advance after prayerful consideration always allowing for exceptions because of unplanned events or the leading of the Holy Spirit in planned series or messages. The subject matter of messages (sermons) is never dictated by the United Methodist Church but is left up to local pastors in the local church.

Why even address or devote worship time if the UMC (United Methodist Church) position is “the book is a work of fiction.” Are we truly worried about believers will change their minds? Any “hype” about Christian beliefs should be welcome. It will open doors to share the truth.
One of the values we have at New Season is that we would know why we do the things we do and why we believe the things we do. I believe that it is important for all followers of Christ to know about who Jesus is. Likewise it is important to know if the Bible, which is the rule and norm for our faith and life, is reliable. And if we claim it is reliable then why do we make such a claim. I would hold that those are issues that are appropriate to address and devote worship time to. After all, we should know the best we humanly can the one we worship and know about this book we read out of every Sunday. The United Methodist Church does not have an official position on the Da Vinci Code. In fact, the only group that can make official statements for the United Methodist Church is what is called the General Conference which meets every four years and is composed of persons elected to attend the Conference from across the world. The worry is not that believers might change their mind in light of the Da Vinci Code, though that would be a shame, but that believers and those curious would have reliable evidence from many sources instead of just accepting the claims of the book and movie which blur the lines between historical fact and fiction. I agree 100% that the “hype” should be viewed as a positive thing and as an opportunity to share truth. I strongly support redeeming the “hype” for the purpose of sharing faith and truth to the glory of Christ. Good questions!!

The Koran states that it’s preposterous that God would have any use for a son. Can it be that millions of people (Muslim, Jews, etc.) would not also be loved unconditionally by God? Why is it that Christians are the only group allowed “entrance” into heaven? So…God’s original “chosen people,” the Jews, will be left behind unless they believe in Jesus? How can God have changed his mind in the New Testament?
Wow!! What great questions that we could spend hours discussing. I will do my best in this short space and in this forum to address some of these. First, God does love all people unconditionally. Whether they choose to accept that grace is another story. As to the Koran, I would suggest that God does not have any use for a son but we do: that it was through his son that God moved in salvation history to reconcile the world to himself. In the end, as a follower of Christ, I respect the Koran as a religious writing for Muslims but I do not view it as authoritative for my faith and life- though I recognize for others it is authoritative or at least considered one among many texts of authority. The question of salvation for those outside the Christian faith is one that many Christians struggle with- including myself. In our modern and enlightened politically correct world we will do all that is possible not to exclude or even have the appearance that we are excluding people. However, we must be informed by things other than the latest fads of cultural expectation. Know that people in the church are not of one mind when it comes to this question. In my view, the way one answers this question is not an essential to the faith. In other words, you and I can disagree about whether “Jesus is the only way” and still both leave as followers of Christ. Having said that, I am happy that in the end salvation decisions are made by God and not me- phew! However, from my tainted, sinful, fallible and limited knowledge and understanding of scripture, tradition experience and reason I believe that Jesus Christ is the one and only way to eternal life. See John 14:6 among others. I have trouble accepting that God would empty himself out of heaven, take the form of a man and subject himself to being fully human, be spit upon, cursed, beaten and mocked, hung on a cross to die if there were all these alternative ways. The multi-way view also troubles me as an evangelist. How can I proclaim the necessity of turning one’s life over to Christ, accepting his love, and living for him if he is just one of many ways? Shall I say that he is just “one” of the ways and the best way for me so I think you should go this way too? There is a ton more that could be said to describe both views. As to the question of the Jewish people as God’s chosen people I do not think that it is God who changed his mind as much as his people rejecting the continuing unfolding of his love and grace in the person of Jesus Christ. I invite people to read what Paul had to say about this issue in Romans chapters ten and eleven. This particular question of Jewish inclusion in the new covenant is one I am still resolving in my mind and continue to wrestle with in the scripture and through prayer.

What specifics books were left out of the Bible and why?
For a list of books that did not make the cut go here. There are a variety of reasons that books were not accepted. One main reason had to with their date of composition. Was the date early or late? The books of the New Testament were all fairly early. The books that did not make it were fairly late. Second, what did the books say? Some of the claims of the books are outlandish and do not agree with the general tenor of the whole collection of writings. For example, the Gospel of Mary, among other things claims that there is no sin. Many of the books rejected were works traced to a cultic group called Gnostics. The early Christian community dismissed the Gnostics, their theology, and their literature. The reasons books were rejected are much more nuanced than this but these are the main reasons.

What is the historical evidence to verify about the writers of the Bible? How do we know the Bible is the truth?
While there is some debate among Christian scholars as to when certain New Testament books were written, the debates center around issues of whether a book was written ten years earlier or later as opposed to centuries earlier or later. The Gospel of Mark is usually dated somewhere between 50-70 A.D, the other Gospels between 50-66 A.D. and the Gospel of John as the latest around 80-90 A.D. We know that Jesus died somewhere around 30 A.D. Therefore, it is very plausible that the writers of the Gospels were eyewitnesses or near eyewitnesses to the events and teachings of Jesus’ life. As to the veracity of the Bible I suggest you check out this link- they say it better and more concise than I ever could. Also be there in two weeks when we address the question in the message "The Truth about the Bible."

Are Dan Brown’s assertions/ claims the first time in history that these claims have been made?
No, Dan Brown is not the first to make these claims. The whole Holy Grail legend has a deep history going back to Joseph of Arimathea who used the chalice to capture some of Jesus’ blood as it fell from the cross. The quest to find the Holy Grail (whether the chalice itself or some other powerful items like the documents that the Da Vinci Code claim exist showing Mary as the Holy Grail and exposing the secret that she and Jesus had children) is what the legend of King Arthur, the Knights Templar, the Knights of the Round Table and countless movies are made of. Perhaps the most well known people to make the claims and assertions that Brown makes are Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, whose own 1982 work Holy Blood, Holy Grail made similar claims. Baigent and Leigh’s book was a scholarly look at the issue (not a novel) of which they have accused Brown of lifting large tracts of their research without permission for use in the Da Vinci Code. Creatively, Dan Brown names the character in the Da Vinci Code who is an expert on the Holy Grail Leigh Teabing- a code using the authors Leigh and Baigent’s last name.

Da Vinci Code Starting This Week

On May 19th the Da Vinci Code will be released in movie theaters. Based on the New York Times best seller by the same name the movie stars Tom Hanks and is directed by Ron Howard. The movie, like the book before it, will raise questions for both believers and non-believers.

While the Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction (it is on the NY Times Best Sellers List under fiction), Dan Brown does a convincing enough job of blurring historical fact and historical fiction. The book and movie makes some interesting claims about who Jesus is, the authority of the Bible and who Mary Magdalene is.

We have a value at New Season that we are called by Jesus to redeem culture for his glory. That will be our aim in our upcoming message series "The Da Vinci Code Discourse" that starts this Sunday. We firmly believe that God is always working to bring good out of what on the surface seems like difficult situations. I believe we have an opportunity to present the true Jesus because of the Da Vinci Code. While we always have this opportunity before us and should be taking advantage of it, through this book persons who would not even consider giving Jesus a second look will now.

Here are the messages we will be doing in the next few weeks at New Season. Don't miss them and bring a friend, relative, co-worker or neighbor to hear them with you.

May 21st What's All the Hype
May 28th The Real Jesus
June 4th The Truth about the Bible
June 11th Mary, Mary, Why You Buggin?

Open Communion

My posts have been few for a while. I was busy last week with a project that was part of my continuing studies. I had to write a twenty page paper for a class I was taking. The paper had to do with what is called open communion. Those of you at New Season know we practice a weekly communion and that we invite all who want to experience the presence of Christ to come and receive.

There is great debate among people in churches that hold the Lord's Supper in high regard like we do at New Season about who should be welcomed to come and receive communion and who should not. Open communion used to mean that people from different churches could go to each other's church and receive no questions asked. Today, the definition of open communion has expanded to mean not only that but also that unbaptized people can receive and even non-believers.

My paper examines these issues and arguments and argues for an open table where all are welcomed recognizing that this was a practice of Jesus and key to his ministry of hospitality with sinners and outcasts like you and me.

I invite you to read the paper here. It is a good read if you are interested in that type of issue or having trouble sleeping. As you will see writing is not my gift so all you English teachers do not need to hand me back a copy all marked in red!!

Podcasts I Listen To

I thought I would share with you the podcasts I currently subscribe to via Apple iTunes. The great thing is that they are all free. Another great thing is that I do not have to go visit some of these churches and spend money on airline tickets and hotels when I can get some of the best preaching and teaching out there with just a high speed connection. Yes, I know, there is nothing like the sense of community and value of being there. But, I will go this route for a time.

Also, you do not need a ipod to get podcasts. You can subscribe and listen to them if you download Apple iTunes. Of course, if you have an ipod you can lsiten to it in the car, while exercising or while waiting in the doctor's office.

Here is who I am listening to now.

Willow Creek's Defining Moments Podcast

Simply Strategic Show with Tim Stevens and Tony Morgan

Perry Noble from New Spring Church

Adam Hamilton from the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection

Erwin McManus at Mosaic

Alistair Begg's Truth for Life Broadcast

How to Pray

Here is the podcast for the second message in the series "Power Prayers".

To listen now, click on the podcast icon below.

How to Pray (Length 25:11)

Message
We have been told time and time again that we "ought to" pray. Hardly though have we ever been given instructions on how to pray. This message provides a basic outline for the ordering of one's prayer life using the ACTS method of prayer based on Jesus' prayer he taught the disciples to pray.

Series
This message is from the series "Power Prayers". Prayer still has power today. When we know what prayer is we are able to "believe again" in a God of goodness. When we know how to pray we can improve our prayer lives. And, we unleash the power of God in our lives and in the lives of others when we keep praying and are persistent in prayer.


Subscribe to this podcast via Apple iTunes by following this link.

Get Apple iTunes for PC or Mac here.

Gospel of Judas

The Gospel of Judas has been making waves in the media the last weeks and many have been wondering what it is all about. A good description of this so called Gospel of Judas can be found here in an article by Collin Hansen an associate editor of Christianity Today.

I want to make a couple of points that I think are pertinent when it comes to the issue of the Gospel of Judas as well as the best selling DaVinci Code book and upcoming movie.

The first point is that followers of Christ and the church have to deal with such things. Christianity is not a religion that asks followers to bury their heads in the sand and willingly drink the kool-aid. We are to study and offer a reasoned defense. Both the Gospel of Judas and the DaVinci Code, while interesting and good reads as fiction, are not Christian in their outlook or content. Instead of burning books or boycotting movie theaters or book stores, followers of Christ do better to use these opportunities to engage in a dialogue with not yet followers of Christ. By doing this we redeem culture. We plunder the Egyptians as it is said.

Second, when it comes to the Gospel of Judas we must not drink the kool-aid poured out for us by the secular media whose aim is largely to discredit Christianity in any way it can (notice when they want a quote from a Christian leader they always go straight to those paragons of mainstream Christian thought Gerry Falwell and Pat Robertson and goad them to stick their foot in their mouth). The media pundits (now religious scholars all) have done their best to portray the translation and release of the Gospel of Judas as some earth shattering discovery that somehow calls into question the veracity and reliability of the canonical Gospels. However, the Gospel of Judas is not the first book to not make it into what we call the Christian canon (the books that we accept as scripture that we have in our bible). For example, other Gospels such as the Gospel of James, The Infancy Gospel of Thomas and other extra-canonical books such as the Acts of Andrew or the Acts of Peter and Paul also did not make it into the canon. Why? Because of political pressure- no. Most books that did not make it into the canon were written much later than the books we have in our bible now, were not written by eyewitnesses, contained heretical teachings that portrayed Jesus as a magician or soothsayer, or did not agree with the overwhelming evidence presented by other period literature. The Gospel of Judas, not a Christian text but a Gnostic text, is both late in composition, not written by an eyewitness, contains heretical teaching, and does not agree with the other period literature like the four biblical Gospels.

Now all this does not sell newspapers or lure viewers and cannot be explained in :30 second sound bites. But it does lead me to my third point. That is, each year we are subjected both at Christmas and Easter to the “drive by” media’s renewed attention on Christianity. During Christmas you can find cover stories on the major news magazines wondering about the birth of Christ and whether it occurred as the Gospels say it does or whether Mary was raped by a Roman soldier. I go too far but you get the point. At Easter we have documentaries and 20/20 and Dateline specials about the events leading up to Jesus’ death and resurrection that call into question centuries of Christian teaching. Be on the look out next Christmas. We do well to examine the motives of such efforts.

In the end I invite you to discover for yourself and form your own opinions. Let those opinions be formed by an understanding of scripture, the teaching of 2000 years of church tradition, your own experience and your own reason. Use the opportunity to enter into discussions with persons you might not usually have such discussions with to the end that they might come to know the Christ who was betrayed by Judas for thirty pieces of silver. By the way, if Judas was Jesus’ friend and helper why did he commit suicide?

Here are some links to get you on your way in discovering about the Gospel of Judas.

You Are God

Steve Kropp, our Celebration Team Leader at New Season, has just released a new single- You Are God. You can download this cool tune at Steve's website for just $ .99. Go here. You Are God is going to be our Song of the Month at New Season in May. The single was produced at New Season's sound engineer Matt Montoro's studio.

While at SteveKropp.com you can check out an article from the Culpeper Star Exponent about Steve and the new release.

Keep up the good work Steve.

Calling in Dead

You know it is one thing to fake your own death in order to get off work. But to fake your child's death and an illness to get off from work and then ask for memorial contributions to your family like the people in this stroy. Here is a great story for those who think that humanity is basically good and the nitwiited enlightenment philosophy that the world is getting better and better. Come soon Jesus!! Come quickly!!!

Check it out here.

Open Source

The term open source is usually applied to software and specifically code for software. In general, open source refers to any program whose source code is made available for use or modification as users or other developers see fit. (Historically, the makers of proprietary software have generally not made source code available.) Open source software is usually developed as a public collaboration and made freely available.

This term has (I am not the first) and will continue to be applied to the church as well. The idea is that churches make available "things that worked for us" or "resources" for other churches to use in order that they more effectively make disciples of Jesus Christ.

Here are a couple examples I found at Church Marketing Sucks:

LifeChurch.tv, a multi-location church with sites in Oklahoma, Texas and Arizona, is making their sermon series resources available to other churches for free. You can download video, layered graphics files and sermon outlines.

The Vine, the young adult service of Southeast Christian church in Louisville, Ky., has also made their sermon series resources available for free download. You can get videos, backgrounds and graphic files.

These two churches are to be commended. I know the trend has been to package resources in order to sell them to further benefit ministry- and that is fine. But how great it is to make such things "open source" too so that the greatest ideavirus ever- the Gospel of Jesus Christ- can spread virally throughout the world.

So thanks to LifeChurch.tv and Southeast Christian. Way to go. And please know that if there was anything anyone could ever possibly use from New Season Church to help make and empower radical followers of Jesus we are open source.

Church Goers Live Longer

Yet another reason to invite friends, relatives, neighbors and work associates to be at this Sunday's worship celebration experience and to be there yourself. Check out this article from livescience.com about how people who attend church on a regular basis live longer except of course if your pastor is Jim Jones or you belong to Heaven's Gate. Those guys skewed the numbers.

Gain All You Can, Save All You Can, Give All You Can

Here is the podcast for the third and final message in the series "Managing His Money".

To listen now, click on the podcast icon below.

Gain All You Can, Save All You Can, Give All You Can (Length 19:44)

Message
Most of us are good at gaining all we can, some are even good at saving all we can, but few of us are as good at giving all we can. As people who follow a generous God "who gave his only son" we find our example from and are called to such radical generosity for the sake of Christ's mission in the world.

Series
This message is from the series "Managing His Money" where we learn that all that we have is God's and it is on loan to us to use for his glory. God is a God that desires that all his children know financial freedom where they gain all they can, save all they can, and give all they can.

Slow Dance on the Inside

We did some teaching about Lent this past weekend and its meaning in the church. I came across this article in Relevant Magazine by Daniel So.

So reminds us that Lent is a time to slow down and recognize the rhythms in our lives when it comes to following Christ . Here is a quote:

"There is also a rhythm in our lives with God. Too often, in our desire to be passionate lovers of Christ, the rhythm of our lives sounds something like the over-adrenalized stomping of Riverdance. We busy ourselves making history, winning the campus for Christ, overturning tables and the like. Unfortunately, it doesn't take long for this non-stop commotion to come to a grinding halt."

Read this great article here.

Lessons from the Creation about Money

Here is the podcast for the second message in the series "Managing His Money".

To listen now, click on the podcast icon below.

Lessons from the Creation About Money (Length 23:07)

Message
God has wired us as human beings to create more than we consume. It is when we are producing more than we are consuming that we reflect the image of God in which we were created and can come to know the financial freedom that God wants all his children to know.

Series
This message is from the series "Managing His Money" where we learn that all that we have is God's and it is on loan to us to use for his glory. God is a God that desires that all his children know financial freedom where they gain all they can, save all they can, and give all they can.

Irresistible Evangelism

A few weeks ago I finished Irresistible Evangelism Natural Ways to Open Others to Jesus, by Steve Sjogren, Dave Ping, and Doug Pollock. This book continues to show that it is through relationship that persons come to know Christ. Through kindness, genuine love, and compassion the Holy Spirit can move in powerful ways to bring a person to faith. Sjogren is the person responsible for the popularity of servant evangelism as a method for reaching those far from God. Below are a few of the things that were especially striking in the book.

The main idea of the book is summed up in the concept of spiritual gardening:

Spiritual gardening- just as the right combination of sunlight, soil, and water causes seeds to grow, the proper combination of God's Spirit, with simple, consistent, loving actions will cause hearts to open for Jesus.

On the need to get the hell out of the church they write:

We must reshape our churches so they are no longer passive places where people Come and see. Instead we need active communities that equip and mobilize to go and be living examples of God's kindness.

When it comes to the important work of helping people far from God be connected with Christ we must use all the tools God has given us.

Need multi-pronged evangelism approach- servant evangelism is a great tool for accomplishing an essential part of evangelism that has been ignored for far too long.
It works well in combination with other tools- from Billy Graham's mission to Evangelism Explosion and the Alpha Course.

On the need to be persistent...

It takes between twelve and twenty Gospel touches for people to move from the beginning of the scale into genuine relationship with Christ.

An advantage to kindness is...

Genuine acts of kindness work no matter where people are in relationship to God, so they are always a great way to start the ball rolling.

The power of being good news in conjunction with proclaiming good news.

People might remember the words the words you say for a few hours, but they are likely to remember your acts of generosity for months, years, and in many cases, the rest of their lives.

A warning about talking heads.

Before we start preaching to pre-Christians heads, we must encounter people at the heart level.

Making Disciples not Members

The mission of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Christ called his followers in the Great Commission to "go and make disciples of all nations."

Unfortunately, it has come to pass that the church has become preoccupied with making members more than disciples. There is a difference between church membership and discipleship and it is the task of the local church to cooperate with the power of the Holy Spirit to facilitate this process of becoming and growing as a disciples in Jesus Christ. This was the topic of concern at a seminar I attended this past Tuesday put on by Four Seasons Ministry under the direction of D. Glen Langston and Franklin Gillis, Jr.

It was pointed out that the purpose of the church is not membership recruitment but introducing Christ to the seeker and equipping the faithful to be servant leaders so they can respond to Christ's call to meet human needs.

The challenge for the church is to help disciples identify their passion, connect those passions to a purpose, and turn that purpose into a ministry. As disciples grow they learn that they are to produce more than they consume and that is costs something to be committed to Christ. 1 Sam 24:24.

It seems that in order to fulfill Christ's Commission we need to make this paradigm shift or might we say recover this principle that are main business is making disciples not members. Maybe instead of reporting members in end of year reports we might report disciples which would be a more accurate indicator of vital ministry.

TVs in Mini-Vans

You have probably seen these TVs that fold down out of the ceiling in these mini-vans (and SUVs) that kids watch as their mom or dad dutifully drives them to soccer practice, ballet, or kids night at McDonald's.

I want to say first that I pledged a long time ago never to own a mini-van (the modern equivalent of the wood paneled station wagon with a backward seat in the rear!). Sorry to all you mini-van owners. I must admit to using the drop down dvd player on a recent trip to Massachusetts this past Christmas. We had rented an SUV for the ten hour trip that had one of those things. And I have to tell you there is nothing that can be prescribed that is more powerful than "Elmo the Wonder Drug"!

However, for me, I would not personally allow my child to watch one of those things just driving to the cleaners or across town. (I can hear the words of my mother in my ear- stop watching so much TV). But to each their own.

What all this does demonstrate is how much we have become such a visual culture. Sixty to ninety minutes of linear worship with one talking head up front is not creative enough for the greatest message God ever gave to humankind- the good news of Jesus Christ..

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.

Zechariah- Guess What I Am in Charge

Here is the podcast from the first message in the Pardon the Interruption series. To listen now, click on the podcast icon below.


Zechariah- Guess What I Am in Charge (Length 17:38)

Message
This message introduces the theme of the series- how God interrupts our lives to demonstrate his love, power and majesty. This week we looked at how God interrupted the life of Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, to show Zechariah who was really in charge and in the midst of doing so demonstrates His love to Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth. So too God interrupts our lives and teaches us that he is in control. When we learn that lesson it is a comfort.

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.

Christmas Lights

As it gets ready to snow here in Virginia and as we hurtle to Christmas I wanted to share with you this video that has been circulating on the blogosphere. You do well to have high speed for this one (does anyone but us who live in the country and are doomed with no cable/ dsl not have high speed anymore- go to high speed you will never go back!). Turn up your speakers. I thought I was doing well to get up a few lights this year but this is pretty amazing. Click here to see it.