I'm gone for the week.

I will be at CIY this week in Milligan, Tennessee. I'll blog about it when I get back. Peace.

The Holistic Gospel

Robert Douglas has a phenomonal and insightful lecture from a Lincoln Christian College Seminary Lectureship called, "God's Politics, Good News, and Globilization."

It really covered many thoughts I have been questioning lately about a more holistic gospel and what that means practically in our churches. I highly recommend that you listen to this lecture. If you would like it, let me know and i'll email it to you. I respect what he had to say very much and it excited me about the possibilities of what God's dream could be on earth!

The Wrath of God

I listened to Mark Driscoll’s message on the doctrine of propitiation today while I was at Starbucks. I’m still not sure how I feel about everything especially all his, “God hates you” statements. He gave plenty of verses but I’m not sure of the context exactly so I’m hesitant to jump on board. I'd like to study that idea a little further before I would cash in my chips with that. He talks about how many people think "God loves me but just hates my sin", but if sin lives inside of us and is part of who we are then God hates us as well. Any thoughts on that? Obviously there is a side of God that is angry but I have yet to understand fully God's anger. I need to read more Scripture about it. Just as a Father would only get angry with his son if he really loved his son, God gets angry with us out of love. The idea that Mark presents that "God hates us" does however make Jesus dying on the cross more powerful with that idea in mind however, that God would die to save the people he hated because of their sin.

One of the things that struck me most in this message was what he said about God’s wrath in its passive form and what that looks like in a person’s life. This is tricky territory and I am always hesitant to proclaim something as God’s wrath seeing that i'm not a prophet (unlike some people who are self-proclaimed prophets like Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell who love to proclaim God’s wrath and get some kind of demented joy out of it). But he talked about Romans 1:18, 24, and 26 about God’s wrath being that “He gave them over to their sin”. Driscoll said, “When God lets you do whatever the hell you want, you’re in serious trouble because God has given up on you. He is not trying to save you, He is not trying to fix you, He has let you go so you can sin and then He can pour out His wrath”.

Some people will say, “My life is great, my sex life is amazing, I’m rich, I’ve got everything I need, I must be blessed, God must be okay with what I’m doing”. But if God leaves you alone to do whatever you want without hindrance-that is the wrath of God. Scripture says that God disciplines those He loves. And it’s so ironic that prosperity preachers teach that if people have faith they will get everything they want and will be blessed in every way and life will be perfect and happy and on and on. That goes so much against what Jesus said, or what Paul said, or the experiences of those who were with Jesus. If that happens, you may want to reevaluate things. Not that life isn’t ever good, or that you can’t go through spells of prosperity in the material sense. That doesn’t necessarily mean that something is wrong. But if you are doing something habitually that you know God doesn’t approve of and life is still perfect, you might want to evaluate what you’re doing.

For example Mark said that if you are out “whoring around” (he's not one to be sensitive, sometimes to a fault) but everything in your life is still perfect, it is not that God is blessing or condoning what you are doing but has given you over to your sin and given up on you and now you await God’s wrath. That is pretty frightening when you think about it. I think a lot of people view a good life as evidence of God's blessing when it might just be that God is letting you go. I can think of times in my own life where I actively choosing my own way over Gods where things in my life were great. I was succeeding in my career, I was financially stable, and life was awesome. And I realize now that God had given me over to my sin and pretty much said, “You have chosen sin over me and now you can have it”. Thankfully there is such a thing as repentance and forgiveness or I would be screwed.

My longest post ever....

It amazes me the twists and turns Christianity and more specifically Christology has taken over the centuries.

It seems every generation wants to make Jesus’ words a little more about themselves and forget the historical context in which it was spoken and written. When you read Matthew 25 or Mark 13 or for that matter, the whole book of Revelation what do you think? You automatically think that these texts are about us, about our day or the future (no help from the awful theology of the Left Behind series) even though in the historical context Jesus was talking about the destruction of the Temple and the downfall of Jerusalem. We talk about who the beast will be, who the dragon is, who the “Anti-Christ” is (an idea never mentioned in Scripture by the way). And the problem is, we already know who all of those people were because they were people that were leading Rome and persecuting Christians. The early Christians were suffering at the hands of Rome and certainly couldn’t write a book that said, “Caesar is a false Lord, he is going to face destruction.” They would certainly of died for that, but they can say, “the beast will face God’s justice.”

We’ve made Jesus’ whole apocalyptic speeches about some future day when Jesus would “come down from the sky” and take us to a far away heaven even though it says in Scripture that we will be resurrected and live on a redeemed, new earth. And we talk of how people are going to go to a fiery hell for eternity if they did not believe the right things even though Jesus said that if you don’t follow the way of the Kingdom which is grace, peace, forgiveness, etc. then you will have to reap the consequences for your actions. In that day it would have been the Jewish people waiting for the Messiah to come and lead them in a battle over Rome where they would be free from the Roman rule and could reestablish Jerusalem. Jesus said that you can fight by the sword but there are going to be consequences which there were in the destruction of the Temple and of Jerusalem as they knew it. This is what N.T. Wright would call faith divorced from history.

How did we go from Jesus’ message to the Jewish community about living in the Kingdom of God to a message directly addressed to us about our individual, personal salvation in where we get to escape hell and go to heaven to live on clouds and play with harps? How did that happen to the message of Jesus as he said that the Kingdom of God is here, now and if you are not living in the Kingdom of God then you will face the natural consequences of not living with forgiveness, grace, etc.? It seems that over the last few centuries Christians have really taken some liberties with the message of Jesus. For what purpose? For power? Because of fear? For crowd control?

In the tradition I grew up in the whole point of Christianity was that you accept Jesus Christ in your heart as your personal Lord and Savior so you can have eternal life in heaven and avoid hell. And now that you are saved, it is time to go get others saved so they can avoid hell. And then for the rest of your life as you wait it out, you try to be as good as you can, attend as much church as possible, be involved in Bible studies, have a bumper sticker that lets others know your boss is a Jewish carpenter. Now that is not worst thing in the world, but it’s not even close to the whole message of Jesus. Jesus Christ obviously died so that we could have forgiveness of sins but individualism certainly has taken its toll on this message. Sunday after Sunday, youth group after youth group goes by where people are guilted into accepting Jesus out of fear of eternal hell. Is that really a good reason to take up Jesus’ challenge to follow him?

I think it’s time to start preaching the whole message of Jesus. Inviting people and welcoming people into the Kingdom of God, not through manipulation, or pulpit pounding, or guilt but through love, forgiveness, and the excitement of being part of something one earth that is greater than yourself. As N.T. Wright said well, “The Kingdom of God is not a place where God rules but the fact that God rules.

Shoot, I will just let N.T. Wright sum this up:

“Many have traditionally read Jesus’ saying about judgment either in terms of the postmortem condemnation of unbelievers or of the eventual destruction of the space-time world. The first-century context of the language in question, however, indicates otherwise. Jesus was warning his contemporaries that if they did not follow his way, the way of peace and forgiveness, the way of the cross, the way of being the light of the world, and if they persisted in their determination to fight a desperate holy war against Rome, then Rome would destroy them, city, temple, and all, and that this would be, not an unhappy accident showing that YHWH had simply forgotten to defend them, but the sign and the means of YHWH’s judgment against his rebellious people.

Jesus was a first-century Jewish prophet announcing the kingdom of God, believing that this kingdom was inaugurated with his own work, summoning others to join him in his kingdom movement, and warning of dire consequences for the nation, for Jerusalem, and for the temple, if his summons was ignored.”

Ok, N.T. Wright just said all of what I was trying to say in two paragraphs. I’m thankful for his scholarship.

I write all of this on the verge of going to C.I.Y. in Milligan (anyone else?). I am thankful for C.I.Y and what they have meant to many students over the years but I am also hesitant because I know what is coming. I am assured to hear some emotion driven and guilt filled messages about how all of the students need to accept Jesus into their hearts and then go back to their schools, get other people to accept Jesus into their hearts and then wait it out until they can die and go to heaven. That upsets me. I hope that it will be different this year, that someone will preach the kingdom of God and the exciting news that God lives and God rules and that we can be a part of that dream.

More Injustice at the Political Level.

Congress Gets Another Raise, Minimum Wage Stays the Same.

Check out this story, this will make you happy.

Once again, this just leaves you feeling more and more helpless to do anything. Another reminder that there is no such a thing as democracy at a real level. We can choose which crook "represents" us but when they're all corrupted by money, what does that matter?

That may seem pessimistic but why shouldn't I be?

Thank God It's Over!

Finally, after two straight months (ridiculous) the NBA Playoffs have come to a close! I can go on with my life. There were some great games this year and I enjoyed watching the playoffs up until this series. The referees were just SO bad it makes it hard to take the results of the games seriously. You already know this, but take for example Game 5. Dwayne Wade commits an over-the-back, shoves off of an offensive player and then gets a call from a referee from half-court with a foul that didn't take place to decide the game with 1.9 seconds left. That makes sense. Isn't their a common sense rule that referees put away their whistle at the end of the game? That's the way I've always seen it. You don't end the game on a whistle, that's just wrong.

Tonight Dallas played poorly, no question about it. But what about that last foul that was called on Nowitzki when Dwayne Wade drove down and threw a forearm at Dirk's chest almost knocking him over? That was another classic call. These referees are just horrible. I honestly don't understand it. And these are supposed to be the best!

I'm honestly believe the refs are paid to keep the games close, always try to draw the series out (because that makes the most money for everyone!), and usually has the home team winning. They have decided so many games this playoff series, it's ridiculous. I'm not sure I really want to watch the NBA playoffs after this year even though the games were entertaining, it just doesn't seem fair. After several games this year I honestly thought I was watching professional wrestling.

Anytime a player shoots as many free throws as the other team you know it's not being officiated fairly. The NBA seriously needs to reevaluate their referees and make some changes in the off-season. I think the NBA will continue to lose fans if this continues.

Thank God for college basketball. More exciting atmosphere, better games, more passion, and players not yet corrupted by money. It's hard to beat!

Sangria

Kelli and I both love good Sangria. It's such a refreshing drink. Our favorite Sangria place was on the corner of 11th and 1st ave right next to my old apartment in NYC and it was called Xunta. No idea what that means but had amazing Sangria. So right away our standards are pretty high. We don't expect a lot, just some sweet wine with a bunch of fruit in it. That's all.

A few Sundays ago, we went out to eat at a spanish restaurant to be unnamed because we had a few gift certificates there and Kelli ordered a Sangria. When they brought it to the table I thought the fruit looked strangely familiar and it was a few moments later that it struck us. It was Fruit Cocktail, straight out of the can! That's right, Dole Fruit Cocktail from a can!!!! In the Sangria! Can you believe that??? They didn't even have time to cut up a few pieces of fresh fruit? They open a can and dump it in! I still can't get over that one. I know this is random but definitely blogworthy.

The Secret Message of Jesus

From the first time I read a Brian McLaren book (A New Kind of Christian) I knew that he understood something that I did not at the time: the Kingdom of God on earth. I had been baptized into the idea that the whole purpose of Jesus coming to Earth and dying on the cross was to save me and several others from an eternity in hell and that one day after this torturous life was over I would get to go home with God in a fluffy heaven period.

As I grew up however I started to get a little tired of just waiting around to die and innevitably started asking the question, "well, what do I do in the meantime?" Unfortunately, I think I missed the fact that the "meantime" was what Jesus was talking about when he said that the kingdom of God is among us, right here and right now.

McLaren's works in the vein and with recognition of Dallas Willard (who I can still only read one page at a time) have helped me to understand that idea much clearer in theory and in practice and The Secret Message of Jesus is no different.

Many of the ideas in this book have been ideas present in his previous works but communicated in a new light and with different language. That is not a negative thing-in fact even though I didn't gleam a lot of new insights on the Kingdom of God (not because i'm very smart, but becuase I have read about this before) I have been inspired to live in the way of Jesus more wholistically and that has made this book worth it. I have been given a challenge and an inspiration for what the Kingdom of God could look like on earth and how it can be communicated in the same inspiring way that Jesus communicated it to his followers.

For instance as (a) the dream of God; (b) the revolution of God; (c) the party of God; (d) the network of God. I love to think about the Kingdom in these terms and it has gotten me excited for future church planting opportunities. There are many valuable ideas that will inspire you and your vision of the "meantime" . I would highly recommend reading this.

One of my favorite ideas that McLaren covered was why Jesus was so cloudy in communicating with people. Why wasn't he more clear if this was such an important message for the salvation of souls??? I have always wondered that myself. Here is how McLaren poses it:

“What could possibly be the benefit of Jesus’ hiddenness, intrigue, lack of clarity, metaphor, and answering questions with questions? Why risk being misunderstood-or not understood at all? If the message is so important, why hide it in evocative rather than technical language?”

The fact that Jesus communicates this way really makes me question my own style of communication. Jesus never gives a five step plan to living a stress-free life but he manages to talk about anxiety in a way that captures the mind and heart through stories and parables. I could give more examples but I don't really need to, you get the point.

By the way, thanks to my pal Drew Moser for sending me a free copy! I've been wanting to read it forever but of course it's impossible to get at the library and i have no money for books anymore.

Forgiveness Vs. Justice 2

Here is some thought from Brian Mclaren's book "The Secret Message of Jesus" on the subject of justice/forgiveness that we talked about a few days ago. Thought this was helpful. It's easy to always look at the U.S. as the good guy, but as McLaren says below, the same evil is at work within this country as it is in Iraq.

Martin Luther King Jr.
“Through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can’t murder murder.
Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can’t establish truth.
Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can’t murder hate.
Darkness cannot put out darkness. Only light can do that.”

“Every warring nation emphasizes the evil of its enemy; few resist the temptation to minimize their own evil. Fewer still realize that the same evils are at work in both “them” and “us,” and therefore pose a common universal enemy-and it is this universal enemy that the kingdom of God fights with its weapons “not of this world.” Pg. 156

Friend or Foe?

Who do you trust in an all out fantasy baseball battle? What happens when the commissioner goes corrupt and has been known to accept bribes to approve trades and better his own team at the same time? What happens when there is a commish with ultimate power and no accountability who doesn't even comply to the standard two day waiting period on trades?

After an epic 24 hour battle on the Yahoo fantasy baseball message boards, sheer chaos has been unleashed on the Big League Chew division of Yahoo.
This all started with this trade between the commish and Chuck Norris' team.


6/16 T. Jones (Det - P)
Trade "my pitchers suck"

for

6/16 A. BurnettDL (Tor - P)
Trade Feel the Roundhouse my pitchers suck



Team "COUP D'ETAT" (whatever the hell that means, what is this a French league?) started the protest with the message: "I'm alerting the league to a potential trade going through. Todd Jones, possibly the worst reliever in the game today, and certainly the worst CL, for AJ Burnett. I don't care if Burnett is on the DL or not, Jones isn't worth Seth McClung. I've sent my protest to the "commissioner" but wanted to make this public. What a joke. Please join me and prevent this, what can only be described as a con. I’m not sure what Voll said or did to convince this man that Todd Jones has any value what so ever, but it must be prevented. Vote No on TJ for AJ!"

Team "Thatsahelavaidea Temp (not to be confused with Thatsahelavateam)" chimed in with his wisdom "Beware of trading for pitchers with a team named "my pitchers suck". Good call.

Team "No Name Yet" who really just needs to get a friggin name already since it's almost the all-star break concurred with "Coup D'whatever" saying, "i agree on the NO vote for the trade. it's a bunch of malarchy."

"I've never seen Fantasy Baseball tear apart a friendship like this. It's a shame" says part-time fantasy baseball player known as "Feel the Roundhouse" He adds, "But who cares, I'm going to finish in last anyway, I didn't even know that pitchers had an inning limit!"

What will happen when all of this is over? It's hard to say but one thing is for sure. A picture like this will never again be snapped.


Tyler and John's Friendship
RIP 1999-2006

Today's Questions

• Why does nearly every female on Myspace have to have at least one pseudo-seductive picture in their profile?

• Why do people feel a need to let others know when they put new pics of themselves up?

• Why does everyone fall for the "You can track who views your profile" routine every single stinking time?

• How neurotic do you have to be to want to continually know who's been looking at your profile?

• Have you ever read one person's bulletin where they post answers to a 600 question survey?

• Who are these people filling out 6 surveys a day and posting them thinking other people care?

• Has there ever been a time where people have been more self-involved than right now?

• Are 60% of the people on myspace child predators?

• Why am I still on Myspace?

• Am I too cynical?

Here's a positive

Obviously it's easy to talk about the failures and mistakes of President Bush as there have been many in the previous years but here is something positive. You rarely hear positive news but at least it's something. This is a good move for our environment. I'm excited to hear a Republican take an interest in the environment that we've been given the mandate to take care of by our Creator. Normally the Democrats are a little more likely to understand that mandate.

(Before anyone attacks me, I make that comment as neither a Republican or a Democrat. I would also make a statement like, "Great news to hear a Democratic care about the family) But of course both are kind of silly, generalistic, most likely untrue statements. Why am I critiquing myself here before anyone else has had a chance to?

I don't know.

Check out the story HERE.

Thanks to my lovely wife Kelli for sharing the story with me!

Forgiveness Vs. Justice

We talked about this idea briefly last night in our Bible study and it's a tension that really bothers me. I can't figure it out. As followers of Christ we are called to forgive people who have wronged us even if they don't deserve it yet some whole-heartidly believe in the death penalty citing "an eye for an eye" and determining that they deserve death because they killed. Some os us cheer and celebrate because a man in Iraq that is associated with a terrorist organization is killed. A position that has already been refilled and will always be refilled. I'm not sure there is much to celebrate politically, but even less so as a follower of Jesus. But at the same time it is good to know that there is one less person on earth that will ruthlessly kill innocent people. Where's the balance?

Do we as humans have a role to play in justice? Is justice solely God's domain? Or has he called us to be a part of instilling justice on the earth and on other humans? And if so, how does that correlate with what Jesus says about forgiving our enemies?

Any ideas?

I guess I need a good definition of justice. Many churches are talking about justice as a core value of their church. I think in their definition it about serving the poor and oppressed and taking measures to ensure that people are not trampled by the system which is a key aspect and is something that I want to be a part of but what about the other aspect of justice such as "bringing people who are guilty to justice" or punishment or self-protection? Obviously we can't just forgive everyone who murders someone and let them go, but is killing them really justice? I don't really know, it's confusing. It seems almost like this aspect of justice (being punishment for actions) and Jesus' call to forgiveness are adamantly opposed.

June is Jesus Month!

It's funny because I didn't plan this but I just realized everything I've been reading is about Jesus this month. Probably never a bad thing to have a refresher and rethink the very point of you entire existence. I get so caught up in the "Christian" religion sometimes that I forget that a religion is not why Jesus came. In pursuing this religion I am missing the point. So in that respect these books have helped to refocus my life on what is important: that being the person of Jesus and being obedient to the life and movement that he has called us to as a community.

The Secret Message of Jesus - Brian Mclaren
-just got this mailed to me yesterday from my generous friend Drew Moser. Thanks man! He has like 15 websites or something right now so I'll just direct you to this one so you can link to the others when you have time. Read a few chapters of Secret Message, very insightful as you would expect from Mclaren. Much simpler than his other books which is a plus for simple minds like myself! He really clarifies in a simple way what he is talking about. Only a great communicator can get such strong points across in such little space. I appreciate that. Reminds me of Buechnerr. More later after I finish the book. Also I would love to hear other thoughts on the book so post away.

The Challenge of Jesus - N.T. Wright
-haven't started yet but how can you go wrong with N.T.?

The Meaning of Jesus; Two Visions - N.T. Wright and Marcus Borg
-how do these guys remain friends??? I've read some Marcus Borg stuff in the past and have enjoyed it although I don't agree with much of his ideologies about who Jesus was and is. I do however appreciate his passion and his scholarship. N.T. Wright is a little closer to the conclusions I have come to, but much more in depth. I love to hear them talking things out. Gives you a great vision of each side and I'm glad they did this book together. If only more people from Orthodox Christian faith could dialogue with Jesus Seminarians (made that word up) and people of completely other faiths.

Jesus of Suburbia - Mike Erre
-phenomonal book which I talked about briefly in a previous post. Check it out!

And of course I'm reading through The Brother's Karamazov which I have really enjoyed. The length of the book is overwhelming but when you are enjoying something you don't want it to end anyway. Pride seems to be the big theme woven throughout the book. Really shows the destructive nature of pride. I don't know much about Russian history but I've heard that is a reoccuring theme in their history as well. Great book!

Also just realized that I probably need to start looking over some Greek stuff soon. I've got to test out of Greek at Western so I don't have to take it all over again. 80% will give me the credits which is awesome. The problem is, I don't really remember any Greek. I'm hoping it will come back to me as I start to see the materials. Three years of Greek and I can't remember jack. That's not good.

We're Moving to Portland, OR

I made the announcement this morning at church that we would be moving to Portland in a few months. We've had a great year in Tampa working with Journey and Impact and wouldn't have traded it for the world but we've known all along that this was a temporary stop along the way to something else. As most of you know we made a trip to the Northwest in March for vacation but really with the motive to see if that was the place that we wanted to be in the long term. Out of all the places we went Portland really stuck out to us as a phenomenal city with great potential and need for new churches and a place that we would love to live.

We're going to be leaving Tampa July 26th for Illinois where we will spend most of the month of August. Brad Prunty is getting married near Chicago, we're going to see our families and then fly out to do a wedding in Seattle and find a place to live in Portland and then once we're back in Illinois we'll start our drive out west. We've got all kinds of stops along the way. It will be a long but adventurous trip. We'll be...

-visiting Jerry, a friend of Kelli's in Leavenworth, KS.
-visiting with Mark Silvers, a friend in Cache, OK to talk about church planting.
-visiting with Doug, a new blog friend and his fiance in Fort Collins, CO.
-visiting all of the Mormons in Salt Lake City
-visiting Boise, ID for no apparent reason. Anyone know what's in Boise???
-Finally arriving in Portland on August 27th.

Why am I telling you all this? I have no idea. But I know there are some friends who still do not know this information and while we wish we could tell you all in person, it's a little difficult to arrange so I apologize for letting you know over the blog world.

So what are we doing in Portland?
-Kelli got the job as the business manager at the Salvation Army which is SWEET!
-I am going to Western Seminary
-we're going to be hanging out with The Evergreen Community to learn an organic way of planting a church and God willing will be planting a church in the coming years in Portland.

Needless to say, there are a lot of opportunities for us in Portland and this is the time in our lives to take off and start over so we jumped on the opportunity.

I can't say how faithful God has been in this whole thing. When Kelli was laid off from her job a few months ago we didn't even know how we would pay our bills not to mention the thousands of dollars it costs to move but God has provided every dime in very strange ways!

For all of those in Tampa, let me just say that I've had a blast in the last year with Impact and at Journey and with all the people I've met since I've been down here. Wouldn't have traded it for anything so thank you! We will miss you much.

a few new reviews....

on the beer blog. check it out.

David Dark

I have been wanting to read this for a while now. It's been on my Amazon wishlist forever but we haven't been able to afford anything as of late so I haven't read it until I recently discovered a genious little thing called the library! I think i'm going to start using it more. I don't have room for any more books. I'm tired of carrying them around. So in any case, I have only read the introduction of this book so far and I'm challenged in my thinking in a very real way. I normally don't recommend books after only reading the intro but this is VERY good and very timely. There are about 10 quotes from the intro that I could give you but this one was the most challenging to me personally so I thought I would share it. I love this dude. He's a high school English teacher, he's brilliant and he has a super-cool name.

“In my household, we were taught to pray especially for anyone with whom we found ourselves in passionate disagreement (notably for people in power) and to make every effort to be at peace in our relationships. But being at peace has never meant that there were some things we could never talk about or that disagreement had to end a conversation. You wouldn’t know it if you only listened to the shouting matches between pundits on television and radio, but it is still possible to like someone while noting something problematic in their choice of words. You can affirm many good qualities in another person, wish them well and pray for them, and still hope that they’ll never be (or will stop being) the president of these United States. We can disagree with someone’s speech and practice without being anti-them.”

Rogue Wave/The Stills

Last night a bunch of us including Rick, Jon, Natasha, Kelli and I went to see Rogue Wave and The Stills perform at The Orpheum. First of all, let me say that The Orpheum is tiny which is GREAT to see a show but on the other hand, it was about 600 degrees inside. I was swiping sweat off my face all night long, it was disgusting. The venues in NYC were small but I NEVER lost 30 pounds sweating. Unless it was someone awesome like Rogue Wave again I wouldn’t see a show there again. I would REALLY have to want to see someone to sweat that out again.

Rogue Wave – Awesome! I thought their set was great and their sound was incredible as well. I liked their first album Out of the Shadow but I loved last years release Descended Like Vultures. They played a mix off of both. “Publish My Love”, “California”, “Every Moment”, and “Love’s Lost Guarantee” were the highlights for me. I enjoyed Rogue Wave much more than The Stills last night which I will tell you about now. They were the redeeming factor of the evening.

The Stills – I saw them in New York at Bowery Ballroom after Logic Will Break Your Heart came out. Great album, decent performance although a little boring but I enjoyed it for the music and wouldn’t have changed a thing, definitely not the front man. But things have changed dramatically in the last few years as they have been recording Without Feathers including their musical style. I was caught a little off guard at this since I hadn’t really heard much of Without Feathers yet. But suddenly the post-punk Stills turned into Fountains of Wayne with their poppy O.C. sound and new electronic styling. When they played the old stuff I was happy, when they performed their new stuff I was annoyed and disappointed with the direction they are taking.

The major change that took place was Dave Hamelin being pulled out from behind the drums and made the front man! At first he was okay, but as the night wore on he got a little more annoying until finally at the end of the night I just didn’t like the guy and I don’t like his voice. What happened to the droning Tim Fletcher? When Tim Fletcher was singing it was awesome. He is clearly the quiet, mysterious rocker that put The Stills on the map. Tim Fletcher IS The Stills! But now they pulled this tool out from behind the kit and expect people to like him??? That’s not what brought people last night which was clear by the way the room cleared out half way through the show. Rick said it well last night when he said, “this band will be broken up by the end of the year.” Unfortunately The Stills that I loved have already broken up. The Stills were right when they sang “Changes Are No Good.” There’s only one solution to this problem if I am ever going to really like The Still again and it is this:

Doesn't this guy just look like a tool?














The Almost Bar Fight – After the show some of us went over to New World Brewery and were sitting down talking when out of nowhere someone throws a pint glass in my direction and a part of it hit me and Kelli’s foot as it shattered around us. I was in shock for a few seconds wondering what happened. I looked around trying to see who threw it and it didn’t take too long to figure out who threw it at me. It was the guy who could barely sit down without falling off of his chair. I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone so drunk. One of the staff at New World and Jon’s friend Jeff came over to make sure nothing was going to happen and to clean up the mess. I was staring this guy down and asked, “Did you just throw that glass at me?” in the most threatening way I could. (Normally I’m not one to raise trouble but he did throw something in our direction plus I knew Jon had my back). Jeff tried to calm me down a little bit and this guy got up and staggered around apologizing in his drunk way about 20 times. It really only made me more angry, him doing this because it was kind of in a mocking way. If the bottle would have hit Kelli I would have pulverized this guy without thinking about it, but seeing that we had just gotten out of a Bible study before the concert about grace, I didn’t think it would be the best thing to do considering it only hit my foot.

“I think it’s time to leave” says Kelli. Jon instantly replied, “I think it’s time to start something.” Jon has been wanting to get in a bar fight his entire life so I think he looks for these opportunities. Heck, what I am talking about-I look for these opportunities. I think I’ve seen too many Chuck Norris movies. But this kind of fight wouldn’t really be satisfying anyway. As Jon said, he was so drunk you would almost feel bad after you beat him up. Maybe next time Jon, maybe next time. That is if Kelli lets me hang out with you anymore. It was definitely a blessing Kelli was there holding my arm or who knows what would have happened with Jon's encouragement!

Meow

Lioness in zoo kills man who invoked God

KIEV (Reuters) - A man shouting that God would keep him safe was mauled to death by a lioness in Kiev zoo after he crept into the animal's enclosure, a zoo official said on Monday.

"The man shouted 'God will save me, if he exists', lowered himself by a rope into the enclosure, took his shoes off and went up to the lions," the official said.

"A lioness went straight for him, knocked him down and severed his carotid artery."

The incident, Sunday evening when the zoo was packed with visitors, was the first of its kind at the attraction. Lions and tigers are kept in an "animal island" protected by thick concrete blocks.

You hate to laugh about something like this but geez! Reminds me of something that God once said about not testing Him or something. The Message version is, "Do not test the Lord your God or you will be eaten by a lion."

Jesus of Suburbia by Mike Erre

I just finished reading Jesus of Suburbia by Rock Harbor pastor Mike Erre so I could right the cover copy for TN. I wish I could give you some quotes from the book but I think that is probably highly against the rules since it doesn't come out until October. But I wanted to tell you about this book because it is PHENOMENAL! The book isn't so much a critique on suburban culture as it is about the false Jesus that American Christianity has created and worships every Sunday in thousands of churches as compared to the Jesus of Nazareth we find in the gospels. Very insightful. If you are a pastor, this is a MUST read. Click here to check it out and put it on your wishlist. Or you can just send me 5 dollars and I will send you the manuscript. Just kidding Mike or Thomas Nelson or anyone else who is looking for a reason to fire me! I would NEVER do that. But seriously, maybe for like 30 or something. On a serious note I'm not paid or solicited in any way to pump up this book, I'm telling you because I think it is an excellent read and very helpful as I think through ministry in our culture.

Things that make you go hmmmmm...

I've been wondering as of late why so many activities in the church are about learning something or studying or being taught. That seems very unlike anything Jesus told us to do as the church. Why is such a high percentage of what many churches do include sitting in a classroom taking classes on "discipleship" instead of doing what Jesus told us and actually being a disciple? That is hard for me to say because I love to learn and I love reading but it seems a little bit skewed.

Why do you think American Christianity is so caught up in learning as the basis for discipleship? Do you think studying theology is the most important aspect of discipleship? Does knowing our Bibles better or reading our Bibles more make us better disciples? I'd love to hear your thoughts.