You guys and your 20-minute sermons! I’ve heard 20-minute sermons that bored me silly, and 60-minute sermons that didn’t bore me at all. Overall I tend to favor shorter sermons as being more likely to be fully remembered, but it ain’t a magic bullet.

Douglas: It’s all true, every word. The “mother Jesus” was mentioned at a meeting I attended Monday night, and is definitely a sticking point.

On the ECUSA: The other day I suggested that time might heal some of the more raw wounds from Convention, but what I didn’t take into account was this: Many orthodox folks had decided that 2006 was it. Either the ECUSA would fully embrace the Windsor report, or they would not. Anything short of dramatic repentance was simply unacceptable.

Since obviously the ECUSA has not repented one whit, but has rather engaged only in a series of delaying tactics intended to let the Anglican church catch up to the surrounding culture, that was it. This group of orthodox bishops and parishes needed no major trigger event, though several (the new presiding bishop, “mother Jesus,” and others) small and medium trigger events were supplied. Instead, the very lack of a trigger event was enough.

And so +Iker of Fort Worth read on the Convention floor about how his diocese have petitioned ++Rowan for alternate Episcopal oversight, and Christ Church Plano voted to leave the ECUSA, and various other actions are apparently in process around the country, and there is no smoking gun.

Just a strong odor of gunpowder and a pile of dead bodies.

Jason: I’d be much more comfortable with the idea of sitting down to watch a movie and then discussing the themes of the movie from a Christian perspective than I would using clips within a sermon. A clip depends on context, and showing a clip within a sermon means that a certain percentage of people are going to spend the rest of the service remembering the rest of the movie or wishing they could remember the rest of the movie, and miss the point entirely.

I believe that Mars Hill (Seattle) has a monthly Film & Theology night, and that seems about the best way to do something like that to me.

P.S. I had no idea that movie was out on DVD. I saw it years ago on a third- or fourth-generation VHS. I’m gonna have to rent it. And no prize necessary. :-)

Michael Buckley and Wired Magazine say stay away from Superman, but Harry Knowles says it’s finally the serious film it should have been all along.

Dr. Mohler on Baptists and Believer’s Baptism.

After reading Annie’s post, I’m officially requesting that I be allowed to move to the Crawford home. No offense intended, but I only get walked once a day around here, and it’s no way for a dog to live. Annie understands me. In fact, I think she’s the messiah. Rescue me!

Anybody remember this cereal?

“Pull up a stool.”

“A mountain of natural health.”

Don’t talk like that while I’m trying to eat my mini-wheats.

The fabulously beautiful planet Crawford is now so worried about the cumulative erosion by ten billion visiting web-tourists a year that any net imbalance between the number of times you eat and the number of times you excrete while in their home is surgically removed from your body weight when you leave: so every time you go to the lavatory there, it is vitally important to get a receipt.

I am loathe to even hint at a snicker at the expense of my kind hosts of just a couple of months ago, but that is one quotable post. I think this needs to find its way into a commercial somewhere:

I have inquired at the Bronx and London Zoos as to the daily bowel evacuations of primates. It is not once, twice, or three times, sir, but four. At the end of an average day, their cages are filled with a veritable mountain of natural health.—Dr. John Harvey Kellogg

Hi folks,

I’ve been frantically finishing my papers for class. I had to get them emailed today, which I did at 11:59 pm. I usually am running down to the wire, but I outdid myself tonight.

I don’t know if anyone missed me, but I won’t be so scarce. I’ve tried to keep up a bit by skimming some of the easier posts. Sorry, Joel.

I guess I need to get up to speed before I can say something productive, so let me just share that during a study break I flipped by TBN and saw Pat Boone wearing the brightest lime green jacket I have ever seen. If I had hi-def I probably would have gotten a seizure. I have been a fan of his ever since he got kicked off TBN for his heavy metal record, even if they did let him back on. No jn, seriously.

Hi Warren,

Where in west-central Illinois are you from? I grew up in Dunlap, north of Peoria.

I tell you, men, stop reading Fide-o and James White, and read Annie’s blog. Posts like this address many of the problems in the BHT at a level we generally won’t admit is relevant. For example, here’s just a single sentence I think could help many of you to be less contentious and cranky:

You should have as many exit episodes as you have joyful times of entrance.

As an English teacher, I want to say that rarely has the language been employed so well. You go girl….uh sorry….well…

Michael: “I would use clips in teaching or evangelistic presentations like OBI chapel, but if I were in an actual worship service I wouldnt use one. And I agree. Speak for 20 minutes.”

Or, show the clip, then speak for 15. 8-)

I think I’d have a hard time sitting through a 40 minute sermon, unless the speaker was really good. It would remind me too much of college. Stick with the short, gospel proclaiming, applicable sermon on Sunday, and save the details for a pastor’s Bible study some other time in the week.

Cyberbrethren is a great blog for all things Lutheran, especially beautiful photographs. These two posters are coming out in the fall, and I want the second one immediately. Beautiful and historically unique. There’s a nice picture of Josh’s favorite Lutheran and his church on the site today.

David Crowder Band’s new CD is an iTunes exclusive. First time I’ve seen a Christian band as an iTunes exclusive before (but that doesn’t mean that they are the first).

MOD: A Collision is a magnificent record. Clay loves it. If Clay loves Christian music, something is good. B Collision is acoustic versions of the same songs. Mainly buy it because a certain pyro used a pic of Crowder to make fun of the emerging church.

AUTHOR: Yeah, B Collision is the exclusive.  I didn’t realize that A came out last year.  Tells you how much I pay attention.

I would use clips in teaching or evangelistic presentations like OBI chapel, but if I were in an actual worship service I wouldn’t use one. And I agree. Speak for 20 minutes.

Phillip, you don’t have the title, but you nailed it. The movie is called Circle of Iron (aka The Silent Flute.) Carradine played four characters, and his buddy Jeff Cooper was the main character.

My loving bride recently bought me the newly released DVD for my birthday to replace a worn out tape. (As much as she dislikes the film, that’s saying something.) It’s a horrible movie, but a guilty pleasure.

As for the promised prize, I’m sure you’re getting warm fuzzies right now from all that unending respect. 8-) Other than that, you’ll have to let me know if there’s anything you like that may be found at a large, alternative, Christian music festival.

Michael, I appreciate the quick reply. I also see your point. If someone is just preaching a feel-good non-gospel message based on a movie clip, I’m right there with the chorus of people crying “throw it out!” I have to confess that I’ve also been guilty of using clips more because I liked them than whether or not they made a scriptural point. (I’d also chalk it up to inexperience, but that would just be whining on my part.)

Still, I don’t mind using them if they serve the scripture I’m discussing. (as opposed to tring to dig up scripture to fit the movie – another thing I’ve been guilty of)

I agree with you that scripture is a saving story. It is so much a saving story that when I first began to speak or preach, I didn’t realize that I everything I spoke about eventually ended up at the gospel. Today, I do so intentionally.

It is hard to use video clips well in a sermon, and I’m the last person who will claim to be good at it, but when it works, it really works. Of course when it fails, you may as well let some self-help guru run your church.

I’m not sure if/when I’ll use them again, especially since my reading and our current alt. worship service are drifting toward a mix of simple-church/early-church/Celtic/Anglican/missional ideas. Instead, I’d rather just get a bunch of people together outside of worship and show a movie, then sit around and talk about it, letting any gospel connections come out in the course of the discussion.

Jason: Was it that weird David Carradine martial-arts thing? I can’t remember the name, sorry, and I’m probably way off anyway. I just can’t remember where else I’ve seen Roddy McDowall and Christopher Lee together in a movie with odd dialog like that.

Jason: This is a tough subject. I will give you a brief answer.

I supervise between 10-15 regular chapel preachers. There are probably 3 or 4 of us who could use a clip and still use scripture. The rest have already stated to me- plainly- that they would like to preach FROM THE FILMS, with scripture as the supporting text.

We’ve had a number of outside groups come in and use clips. Scripture vanished. One guy preached 4 messages- prepacakaged btw- from Remember the Titians. Only one even referred to a text.

When I announced I had the projector, our preachers were lining up with the moralistic movie clips they wanted to use.

In another angle, our school has a rule that students cannot watch movies higher than PG without permission from the administration. Of course, I’ve had many groups immediately want to use Matrix, etc. This raises issues for our administriation (not really for me) of hypocrisy.

I’ve been through this with preaching from CCM lyrics as well. Many of my preachers- and they come from all backgrounds- will preach from anything other than scripture. They believe scripture is boring, and movies/music are interesting. Since we are dealing with pagan teenagers, they are probably right.

I have no problem with the use of clips as illustrations, though it is an awful lot of trouble to make a point. I am not impressed with what it does to preaching. The fellow who is coming to do my next Spiritual Emphasis Week is skilled at this, and keeps the message in the Bible, with clips as illustrations.

I believe most preachers in most situations will preach the clips, and the Biblical Gospel will not be heard.

Scripture is the saving story. Scripture doesn’t illustrate films. Films and art may shed light on the Gospel, but getting that relationship right is hard. People in church need to hear lots and lots of scripture, in context, with Christ at the center. This fascination with making church into the theater and a verse here and there to Christianize it is not what we need.

I am passionately committed to having students experience preaching FROM the Bible, and going from here remembering Biblical preaching, not films or entertainment.

Michael, I gather from your most recent podcast that you aren’t a big fan of movie clips in sermons, but do you, or does the rest of the pub for that matter, ever consider using them? I don’t use them in our current format, since we’re a lot more low key, but there was a time when we used them almost every week. I would add, though, that when we did use them, it was never at the expense of the scripture that we were using. If anything, it would take away from the time any of us spent talking. That wasn’t all bad, though, since it forced us to spend more time on applying the scripture to life and less time slogging through grammer. (The movie clip always functioned as an analogy to the application of the Bible passage.)

Ever since I was a part of that ministry, I look for sermon analogies in almost every movie I watch.

I was thinking of movies with monkeys in them.

1) Planet of the Apes
2) Outbreak
3) Monkey Shines

Matthew, the other Jason B got my quote from Road House so fast that I knew I’d have to pick a hard one if I ever asked again. In this case, my own strange mind recalled the movie that made me confuse Joel. It’s hard, so I’ll drop another hint if anyone wants to take a stab at it. The idea for the story came from Bruce Lee.

(BTW, which three movies were you thinking about?)

Sorry, Joel. I knew the connection to the quote was a little “out there,” but it was the first thing that came to mind. I zeroed in on this sentence:

When one misses the point of these prophetic critiques (i.e., according to wisdom in ones own sight, as carte-blanche authorization to condemn fellow believers who arent being/doing/saying/thinking what one is permitted to be/do/say/think), one has prepared oneself for even deeper self-deception, even to the point of malevolent desires towards ones perceived opponents.

If I’m still so far off the mark that you’re looking at me funny, that’s ok. I go off on strange tangents once in a while. I’ll reread your post and the link later when my responsibilities for a network aren’t distracting me.

As for the quote, it’s not Ghandi. The movie I’m thinking of isn’t near that good. The budget was quite poor, but as a hint, Roddy McDowall, Eli Wallach, and Christopher Lee all had bit parts.

I’ve never bought the argument that they are not appropriate because someone might see you cut someone off in traffic and thus bring the name of Christ into disrepute.

It’s more like not appropriate…

Then there’s the folks who will gladly honk and give you the finger as they cut you off, with the “Jesus fish” on their trunk and a “When the trumpet sounds I’m outta here!” bumper sticker on their bumper.

Jason, I did Google it because I had no clue and no intention of taking a guess to make myself look smart unless it was one of the three movies I was thinking of.

Boy, was I wrong.

If you had thrown the movie title up there, I still would have had no clue because until today I had no idea that movie had ever been made.

If I’m getting you wrong, please enlighten me.

Jason, I can honestly say, and with no little pleasure mind you, that I cannot for the life of me see the connection you’re making. I know it kind of ruins the moment to ask for more data, but it is I who am in need of enlightenment, Master Blair.
This is probably stoopid, but I would guess Gandhi.

I’m a fan of Mark Roberts, whose web site is probably one of the best anywhere. He’s on this Al Mohler program, about 12 minutes in, talking about the future of the PCUSA.

Joel, as I’m trying to get a handle on your thoughts about Merold Westphal’s article, I’m going to offer my own take on it in the form of a movie quote. It’s an obscure movie quote, and it’s zen philosophy. If I’m getting you wrong, please enlighten me. When I read your post, it’s the first thing that came to mind. It may be a little odd, in which case I apologize in advance.

“The way of the monkey is to play the fool. While you laugh at his antics, he bites you from behind. Unmask his ego, and you expose a coward disguised as a monkey.”

(BTW: The first person in this pub who gets that movie quote without Googling it gets my unending respect, and maybe a real prize.)

Financial spokesman for the Christian Right?

Jim, whenever someone tells you they wish they were young again, send them to that story. They will be suddenly greatful for their aging state.

Can there be many teenage boys who do not recognise themselves in that Onion article? And things must be even more dire today than it was when I was a teen, what with half dressed girls at school (I attended an all-boys HS) and the hardest porn just a click away. I would not want to be a teenage boy today.

I’m glad to see WORLD do this story. The cynical manipulation of millions of Christians via direct mail, talk radio and lining up pastors to deliver their congregations needs to be told. Characters like Ralph Reed, a zealot whose sheen has now been completely removed and replaced by cynical greed, should be exposed for what they are: operatives with the bottom line in mind.

This is the world in which Dobson is most comfortable. God help us that these are the people who direct millions of Christians in how to think and what to do.

You Were Warned:Offensive Content

The Onion isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and this link probably isn’t work or kid safe for most viewers, but I have to tell you, this is about the funniest thing I’ve ever read.

Well, let’s not be too hasty, there, Mr. Lightfoot. I think liturgical reforms that Benedict envisions will be met with howls of protest here in America. In some respects, they’ve become good generic pragmatist evangelicals since V2:

At my parish, the children’s mass and the “teen mass” are probably the most popular. I’ve never stepped foot in the children’s mass, but I did go to the “teen mass.”

The “teen mass” lasts about a half-hour. There’s a “rock band” up on the altar and they massacre old classic rock songs. For example, I once saw some teenager fumble through Led Zeppelin’s “Over the Hills and Far Away.” This poor kid murdered the song. Now the song does have a pretty melody, so I guess you could “reflect” on Christ while listening to some awful guitar player after receiving Communion. But for me, Led Zeppelin reminds me of high school keg parties and my past life of debauchery and decadence.

So I’m not necessarily thinking about Christ when some kid is pulverizing old Led Zeppelin songs on his cheap electric guitar.

The teen mass features kids showing up in the latest fashion trends and so on. If I was a lecherous old man, I’d go just to look at the girls. It’s no place for me.

But hey—at least the kids are going. What for? Who knows? They’re there, aren’t they?

That’s enough out of me.

I may not be able to stop laughing for hours…

“There’s lots of dreadful guitar music that is a stumbling block to people who want to come back to church — that dreadful ‘I want to have a beer with Jesus’ music,” she (“Leading Melbourne Catholic singer and songwriter Juliette Hughes”) said.

I think that Ms. Hughes did a great job of defining “Stumbling Block”.

I am about as anti-Jesus-junk as they come.  I don’t wear witness-wear, use Jesus pencils, wear WWJD bracelets or eat bible-bars as snacks.  But I’ve never had a problem with the fish.  I understand that for most of us, the symbol isn’t used under the same circumstances as when it was first used, but I always considered it to be a fairly low key and tasteful acknowledgement of someone’s faith.
The fish DOESN’T mean that the owner is a Young Earth Creationist, a calvinist, arminian, RCC or Baptist, just that the owner considers themselves a Christian and doesn’t mind other people knowing that.  I’ve never bought the argument that they are not appropriate because someone might see you cut someone off in traffic and thus bring the name of Christ into disrepute.

The fish wars, however, are moronic.

BTW:  Welcome Warren!

The Nihilism of Soccer? Conservative Intellectuals turn upon Europe’s game and see a Seinfeldian Metaphor.

B16 says no pop music in mass.

Joel will be converting as soon as he reads this:

“Pope Benedict wants only ‘authentic’ sacred music in church services, which includes traditional choirs and Gregorian chant but not guitars or folk/popular-style choruses,” reports Australia’s The Age.

“Speaking after a concert in his honour in the Sistine Chapel at the weekend, the Pope said sacred music must take into account the tradition of the church, especially ‘sacred polyphony’.”

“The Pope also spoke about the recent attack on the faith through ridiculing car decals. “We must realize that the postmodern age has no shame when it comes to attacking the Holy things, and the TRex bumper sticker is yet another example of the decline of Western Civilization.””

We’re now waiting for the SBC morality police to step to the microphone and explain how it is that Guidestone- the SBC’s agency that invests all our retirement money, and an agency with about $75k of my asssets- has invested in a number of companies that appear to be paving the road to hell with alcohol, homosexuality and sex.

Oh what a tangled web we weave when we make ourselves the keepers of the other man’s conscience….and we haven’t checked our portfolio.

”....come up with and (sic) answer to this latest attack on the faith.”

Oh…you misunderstand, sir.

T. R.ex….

TR

By the way Christopher...deal with your own addictions before helping me with mine :0)

It works, Jim! One only has to exercise care in which sliver of an individual’s life one selects for denunciatory purposes. I’m more than happy to oblige and the officials can begin my file with the above.

Thanks to the research prowess of our friend Macht at Prosthesis, I am pleased to present you with some intriguing reading material:

i find it funny that a particular blogger “out there” is rubbed the wrong way with the dino-darwin-fish-eating-decal.  C’mon, it’s a decal.  If i were tacky enough to put decals on my car, i’d have it on there just for fun…as well as the old “Evil Inside” Intel Pentium mock-up decal.  They’d be next to my “Lighten up and have a beer” Jesus decal.  Am i wrong to be having so much pleasure at somebody getting ticked off because the “secular” world is acting, well, secular?
Speaking of Jesus and beer, i thought the bar here would like to know that last night i met with my pastor in a bar to discuss a small group.  Come to find out, his wife now works at the bar as a waitress…and he’s now in the Texas Hold ‘Em tournament.  Beyond that, the church is planning a beer tasting later this summer.  This has been the first church that i’ve been a part of which didn’t push its members to meet a 1351-point doctrinal stance and allowed diversity (as we learned last night that we don’t agree on everything).
Anyway, since we’re a bar/tavern and going to hell according to the SBC, a round of drinks are on me.

I’m rapidly learning some details of what I already knew generally—it ain’t easy to leave the ECUSA. Or, as they’re now called, the “EC.” I’m sure there’s a funny joke in there related to the Emergent Church, but I’m too tired to come up with it myself.

The Falls Church document is interesting, but it’s even harder for bishops, as I understand it. That is, a church has to work out the details with one bishop, while a bishop wanting to do something drastic has to worry about bring brought up on charges in the House of Bishops and so on. Normally that’s a good thing, but when Resurrection-deniers aren’t prosecuted and orthodox bishops are, well… we already know something is rotten in the ECUSA, that’s all.

In the midst of all of this, all I can do is pray and thank God for my pastor - and for Richard Campeau’s recommendation of him. While the ECUSA burns down around us, so to speak, we’re engaging in gospel mission.

And we’re good tippers. The folks at Chili’s love us, even though we’ve been showing up with almost 20 people lately. :)

Michael, the Dan Edelen post hits home for me. A big part of the story of my salvation comes from a guy who is good at the drive-by witness encounter. To be fair, I consider him a dear brother, and have supported him financially. He does lead Bible studies, preach, and run a very successful campus ministry at a secular state university. So if this is a little harsh, my apologies to him.

“Bob” (not his real name) ran a Bible study in our dorm. It was a typical evangelistic investigative study, looking at issues faces by college students, and presenting the life and person of Jesus Christ. Toward the end of the semester, Bob gave me some stuff to read. (Again, typical four laws material.) By that point, God had been working on me for that semester plus several months before. I had been looking into the Bible, and my ears were being pried open to hear the good news. I surrendered to Christ between semesters, but for Bob it came down to “the encounter” at the beginning of the next term. He and a friend came to my dorm room, explained the four laws, and pressed for a decision. I told them I already converted, and we prayed. But after that, there was no discipleship, no catechism, no invitation to church, and I floundered.

The embarrasing part, as I look back, is going out with a few friends and getting hammered, then running into another friend who I knew was a believer, and slurring out to him that I got saved. Thankfully, he’s a charitable brother. He knew I was a newbie, and praised God for my salvation. It took about nine months before another friend actually invited me to start going to church regularly with him.

So what’s the point of my ramble? Without God and a few well placed brothers to pull me into a church where I could be discipled, I’d likely be one of those anti-witnesses Dan describes. Of course, I now hang out here, so maybe I am doomed. (jn) ^_

I’m away from my computer for a few hours, and the whole Harry Potter world goes nuts over a few JKR quotes that are essentially the same things she’s said multiple times!  I wrote about it here.

Welcome, Warren.

Jim, that formula works pretty well. But, can there be a provision for seasonal buzzwords? For example, in many conversations where TRs and ECs are discussed, the word perspecuity is eventually brought up. It could be an easy tag on the end of the sentence:

“McLaren’s position on doctrine is not surprising, given that McLaren is Emergent. He obviously denies the perspecuity of scripture.”

Speaking of said buzzword, if perspecuity is supposed to mean something along the lines of “the plain meaning of,” why don’t they just say that? Eschew obfuscation and all that…

Is this is a big deal?  Or much ado about nothing?

Frankly I’m so underwhelmed by Bush at this point I can hardly be objective.

Dan Edelen with a must read post on one hit evangelism.

Spencer’s position on the Trinity isn’t surprising, given that he is a Reds fan.

Josh’s….....oh never mind.

On another note, my co-worker James Thompson is writing about the founding of our school.

The Falls Church in Falls Church, Va has published a 16 page book preparing the congregation to leave the ECUSA. (pdf file)

“Jim’s position on scripture is not surprising, given that Jim is a bartender at BHT.”

“Wright’s position on Paul is not surprising, given that Wright is an Anglican bishop.”

etc.

I’m thinking of building one of these.

Let:

A = any given theological doctrine
B = the person under attack in the original post
C = some formal relationship
D = some identifiably non-”reformed” institution (that is, not Westminster seminary, the OPC, etc.)

“B’s position on A is not surprising, given that B is C at D.”

That’s about the crappiest post I’ve ever read in my life.  Not the writing or the writer, but the news he had to convey.  Absolutely unacceptable.  Kudos to Mr. Randle for bringing it up.

I worked for about six months at Common Grounds in Lexington. All the people I worked with knew I was a Christian and knew I was in seminary.  Do you know how sick it made me feel for my non-Christian coworkers to get tipped poorly or with a tract?  Do you know how long it took many of them to actually warm up to me because I was a Christian, because I had to call those non-tippers my brothers and sisters in Christ?  It was disgusting.  There were folks who would sit in the smoking area (they used to have one), buy one cup of coffee for $1.29 and tip a whole dollar but when a group from Southland came in you’d be lucky to get a dollar total from about 6 people who ordered the most nit-picky drinks you could think of.

Embarassing.

The SBC in Greensboro made an impression on waitresses. Since my daughter is one- for now- this caught my eye: lots of tracts. Very little cash.

Travis…...Traaaaaaavis…...

My dad was a quasi-attorney so lawyer jokes kind of make me sad…I feel like they’re true. I do, however, have a couple of killer Yuppie jokes.

Michael: I always wanted to try a lavalier mic from a cordless setup…it seemed like it would be pretty convenient…that’s what we use when we videotape our trainings.

John H gives a good overview of the “Twin Peaks” of the liturgy.

Challies doesn’t care for Mouw’s Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport.

Barb gives a report on the OPC General Assembly.

I am trying to find a way to use a regular microphone on my Dell laptop. I have the proper plugs, but it won’t work. I’d like to find a microphone with a good, rich sound that works with either my G4 or my Dell. Any ideas?

The devil visited a lawyer’s office and made him an offer. “I can arrange some things for you, ” the devil said. “I’ll increase your income five-fold. Your partners will love you; your clients will respect you; you’ll have four months of vacation each year and live to be a hundred. All I require in return is that your wife’s soul, your children’s souls, and their children’s souls rot in hell for eternity.”

The lawyer thought for a moment. “What’s the catch?” he asked.

Since Challies bought the Discerning Reader domain, does this mean that he now owes me the $49 and change that was never refunded to me under the old DR regime?

I’ll take a personal check.  :-)

I am like Wyman, as I have been sorta absent from posting.  Anyway, today is my 24th anniversary. Beth and I have not been able to plan any getaway, as my uncle was sick and in the hospital from Memorial weekend until last Wed. (the day he passed away).  The funeral service was Saturday.  My uncle is my father’s only sibling, and my uncle was widowed and had no children. We lost my father 23 years ago, so my two brothers and I are my uncle’s only kin. 

Interesting note—the funeral was conducted by a Primitive Baptist minister, who BTW is 80 yrs. old.  I was raised PB, but now am SBC’er.

Michael, thanks for holding my chair in the rear of the tavern. 

 I have an interesting anecdote about my Uncle Byron and attorneys, but will share it at a later date.

 Warren, we will try to go easy on lawyer jokes. 

Warren, glad you’re here…did Michael tell you about Rule 63bm, Subsection 2p? (on an internal list of rules) It reads (and I quote): “Attorneys who become Fellows are required to provide pro bono legal services to all brother Fellows as requested.”

InternetMonk Radio Podcast 2. Opening music dedicated to Bill Mackinnon.

Well, it is a great privilege to join a band of such high and low repute; I am not worthy.

As has been noted, I am a member of ECUSA a/k/a The Episcopal Church, where Phillip and I enjoy mystical, sweet communion. How did I get here? Well, I was cruising along in the late-90s as a cage-phase RB in Kentucky when I stumbled over the rock of offense of John Piper. It has been a slow but steady tumble into healthier thinking ever since.

I am a big-firm lawyer in Dallas. I am Chancellor of Trinity Episcopal Church. (If I was not sure what that meant until now, I suspect will learn in spades in the next two weeks.) As of last night, I am the founder of a new Anglican movement for the replacement of the traditional three-legged stool with a new one consisting of the bible, Driscoll, and Wright. As of sometime in the last month, I am a paedobaptist (for the second time, after twice being a credobaptist). I am a later Calvinist, i.e., like Calvin, I will get around to it eventually. Depending on the time of day, I am either too conservative or libertarian to be a Republican. I am 32 and as single as a $1 bill. I am originally from west-central Illinois. I spent some time enjoying the SBC conservative resurgence at SBTS in Louisville. My law degree is from the University of Michigan.

If I could be anybody, who would it be? Myself, only much, much better.

Well, I am ready for that tall Shiner now.

Since Warren hasn’t posted yet, Josh has clearly been given advance warning about him, since he knows he’s a Calvinist. I smell conspiracy!

Michael, why do you continue to listen to the watchbloggers?  It’s like giving in to a kid who is throwing a temper-tantrum.  As one of them states, “Don’t feed the trolls.”  Jesus Christ Superstar is a great film (as is The Last Temptation), but it’s no better (or worse) than The Passion.  They’re hollywood movies made to appeal to just enough “Christianity” to get a particular segment into the theatres.  Nothing more.  If anyone expects any of these movies to either (1) replace their own “evangelism” efforts, (2) preach the Gospel, or (3) remain perfectly consistent with a particular translation/view of the texts, they are sadly mistaken.  But, back to my main point: don’t listen to the watchdogs who have everything right.  By talking about them in this bar, we might as well be at their church having grape juice.  Now, take this bottle of red wine and drink it half of it for lunch, half of it for dinner (like a good French Christian ^_).

Josh wrote:

Just what we need. Another freakin’ Calvinist.

For the uninitiated, that’s Josh saying “welcome!” ;)

Welcome, Warren. Here’s a big emerging/evangelical hug for ya.

Warren Dodson has gotten his keys today. We are a refuge for the ECUSA. Group hug.

I was wrong. This is the end.

Not “the end” as in “there will be no more ECUSA,” but when the largest Episcopal church by far (2000+ in average attendance) decides to leave the ECUSA, there will certainly be more churches that follow suit. What’s more, they’re hoping that the entire Diocese of Dallas leaves with them. That would be… interesting. More »« Less

Possibly the best manager tantrum ever made an appearance in Lexington last night. It’s on ESPN I’m sure. You gotta read this. It’s priceless. My favorite part is when he washed off home plate with a water bottle. UPDATE: Here’s the video.

Sweet Lou would be proud.

The Pittsburg Pirates, losers of 11 in a row, must now play the Tigers and the Whitesox. Somewhere, someone in Pittsburg needs to appease the gods of baseball. They are very angry.

On another note, it’s not worship, but Jesus Christ Superstar is one of my favorite pieces to show students in teaching about Jesus. Yes, it gets a lot wrong and isn’t the Biblical Jesus, but it gets a lot right, especially about the political situation and various responses to Jesus. And it rocks….and I can still play most of it.

I’m being called out as a hypocrite this morning. Since it’s being done by someone who doesn’t consider me a Christian at all, it’s a rather strange apellation. Just to clarify three points, two from one blog and one on another: More »« Less

Almost no one weriting today is as clear about the Gospel as N.T, Wright. Here’s an example:

In particular, the resurrection of Jesus was central to early Christianity, though you’d never know that, either, from Dan Brown or from the many other writers who perpetrate the modern myth in its various forms. And Jesus’ death was consequently interpreted, from extremely early in the Christian movement, as (a) the fulfillment of the Jewish scriptures, (b) the defeat of all rival spiritual powers, and© the means of forgiveness of sins. Early Christianity was not primarily a movement which showed, or taught, how one might live a better life; that came as the corollary of the main emphasis, which was that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had fulfilled his age-old purposes, had dealt with the powers of evil, and had launched his project of new creation upon the world. The early Christian gospel, which was then written up in the four canonical Gospels, was the good news, not that a new teaching about hidden wisdom had appeared, enabling those who tapped into it to improve the quality of their lives here or even hereafter, but that something had happened through which the evil which had infected the world had been overthrown and a new creation launched, and that all human beings were invited to become part of that project by becoming renewed themselves.

Going to try a new IM series on idolatries in evangelicalism, especially the SBC. Here’s the first one: With God On Our Side.

We’re behind on our fanboy dues. Time for a link. [pdf]

I say this with no JN at all. Josh is going to be a great pastor. At the very least the kind of pastor I really like. Those were excellent solutions.

This week’s Bible study is covering John 14:16ff. I deal quite a bit with the Trinity at the beginning of this one.

Let’s see.  The guy defends himself from people who aren’t attacking him.  He posts mega-volumes of stuff that few people will read.  His obsession with the BHT is so great that he brings it up out of nowhere in the middle of posts that have nothing to do with us.  And he criticizes us for not joining his crusade against some obscure group of atheist bloggers whose only readership probably consists of insecure Christians.  We need to get Frank to analyze this guy.

This post is brought to you by the color mauve, and the number 42,434.

that sometimes the seemingly insignificant things bother you?  I have taught adult Sunday School for over twenty years at my church, and something that I have dealt with for much of that time is just eating away at me lately.  We don’t have a room.  We meet in the sanctuary.  I sit in front of the front pew in a chair, facing the pews and expect the adults to sit up close and participate in the class.  They don’t.  At least not all of them.  I’ve kidded, pleaded, cajoled, to no avail.  When you ask people to sit more toward the front and they simply refuse, it’s pretty embarrassing.  They are literally spread out from the front pew to the back.  Occasionally lately, some latecomers actually sit in the back on the opposite side.  And they try to participate from where they are.  My own attitude towards this has gotten so bad that sometimes I can barely focus during the lesson.  It’s time for a break.  I tried to relinquish the class last year but relented.  This time it’s for real.  This is by no means the only, or even the most important reason for doing so, but it’s the straw.