It's OK to be Covetous...

...as long as it's about spiritual things, right?

The folks up at HBC-Rockford are sending a bunch of people up to Minneapolis for this fall's Desiring God Conference September 29th - October 1st. Besides John Piper, speakers include Mark Driscoll, Tim Keller, Voddie Baucham, D.A. Carson, and David Wells. I won't be able to go. Sad. I'll be getting ready for MICU... and I'm freaking out.

Taking a road-trip to go listen to some of my heroes magnify the glory of God sounds like the best way to possibly spend a weekend.

You should go.

What the L?

We got some mail yesterday for the old owner of our house. It was some Scientology literature, titled "Life after Ls." Yikes. Here's the beginning:

OT Power and the L Rundowns
What are the L Rundowns?
Word of the famous L Rundowns led to the worldwide demand for Flag services and this expansion precipitated the move to a land base in 1975. Today, 31 years later, the Ls are still the pinnacle of Flag auditing, bringing Scientologists from around the world to experience their OT power. These rundowns were born out of Ron's upper level research in the early 1970's.

Thanks for "clear"ing that up, guys. It says I can get 1 "Intensive" lasting 12-1/2 hours for only $12,100. At that price I can't afford not to take the plunge. After all,

"After finishing L 11, I feel like a lion, tiger, and bear all in one!"

Roar!

Stuff like this reminds me of 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12:

"Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness."

Movie Brief: Pirates of the Caribbean II

We went and saw Pirates last night. Most of it was entertaining. The action scenes were very well choreographed and executed. Johnny Depp was pretty funny again. The only problem that the move didn't make any sense (which seems to be a trend lately). There were several things I didn't understand:

1) Somehow Davy Jones and his crew have become half-men/half-sea-creatures.
2) For some reason, Captain Jack owes Davy his soul.
3) Davy's heart somehow ended up in some chest.

All of these were explained during the course of the movie, but you never could really understand what the characters were saying because of background noise, unlcear speech, etc. On the way home I told Katie that I felt like an old person: "What was going on? I'm confused! I couldn't hear what they were saying!"

Now, I'm willing to accept a little confusion and a lack of internal consistency in a summer blockbuster. (Would any explanation suffice for how someone became a half-man/half-squid after cutting out his own heart?) But the most irritating thing about this movie was that, after 150 minutes of swashbuckling, they dropped an ending which was supposed to feel like a cliffhanger, but instead just felt tacked-on and confusing. It was like they were 98% done with the film, then realized that they could probably milk the franchise for another couple-hundred million dollars with a third installment.

I was trying to think of comparison's last night as far as segues between installments. Back to the Future ended with a similar last-second cliffhanger opening the door for a sequel, but it also felt like the end of a chapter. Empire Strikes back was the same way, as were both of the Lord Of The Rings segues. The closest thing I could come up with was the transition between BttF 2 and 3. BttF 2 also represented the middle link of a three movie franchise and also couldn't stand on it's own plot-wise. The difference of course being that BttF 3 came out only a few short months after 2, thereby assuaging somewhat the mediocrity of the second movie.

In summation: PotC2 is entertaining in parts, tedious and confusing by the end.

Movie Review - Lady in the Water

I was going to call this post "Lady in the Water - an Apology." The movie has been getting some really bad reviews and I thought I'd chirp in. I won't rehash the plot, since I don't think I could if I tried. Katie and I went to see this movie last weekend. Let me just say up front:
1) This movie didn't make any sense.
2) Dwarf, Hobbit, Elf, etc. seem to have caught on and are here to stay. "Narf" probably won't stick.
3) I don't think Asian mythology uses words like "Narf."
4) I liked in anyway.
This movie is based on bedtime stories M. Night Shyamalan told/tells his children. That's about as seriously as this movie is intended to be. If you take it as seriously as some critics seem to, you're going to be disappointed. If you don't, there are worse ways to spend $8. The acting is good. The plot doesn't make sense, but it's entertaining. The moral is vague, but positive. I'd say this movie is like waking up from a dream that felt meaningful and important and hopeful, even though you can't quite remember why. I like that feeling.

It was a quiet week in Morton, IL....

My friend Brian just sent me photos from the wedding of our friends Josh and Julie. It was in New Hampshire. I was disappointed that I couldn't go. It was actually the first night of my residency. Josh and I have been friends for a long time and I've always loved Julie. Curiously, I only see Julie at weddings.

I made sure to get the weekend of October 7th off to go to Adam & Ashley's wedding.

Other news: It's a boy! Katie and I found out yesterday that we're having a boy. I've said that I want to have at least one of each gender, but I admitted to Katie the other night that I was secretly hoping for a boy. It turned out that she'd been secretly hoping for a girl. My parents had been openly hoping for a girl. As the US was being placed on Katies abdomen, I suddenly stopped caring about the gender, but was really just hoping and praying that there would be nothing wrong with the wee babe. As far as the name, there's a little uncertainty, but currently we're leaning towards Hazen Henry Tuck III, a.k.a. "Trey."



Hmmm... maybe we should go with something a little more wholesome, like "Hank."



Or maybe just "Hazen."

Which reminds me: my brother Andy was originally named after my mom's dad, John. When my mom told him, he said something grumpy like, "I don't care, it's your kid, name him whatever you want." So she changed his name to Andrew Jacob. Hilarious.

David Brainerd's Striving to Enter the Narrow Gate

I just finished reading The Life and Diary of David Brainerd for the fourth time. It was better than I remembered. I thought I'd type out a few highlights from his conversion experience.

The puritan forefathers excelled in (and maybe even obsessed over) self-examination. In our day, any young person who grows up in a Christian family, makes a credible profession of faith and does not make a habit of gross sin is rarely challenged to question the reality of their own new birth. One can in fact have no spritual light and yet be a member in good-standing at most evangelical churches. Indeed there may be enough manipulative pressure exerted to get people to "repeat this prayer after me" that little-to-no emphasis is placed on genuine piety.

This was not so in Brainerd's day. He grew up on a diet of justified-by-faith-alone, you-must-be-born-again, and the-natural-man-cannot-please-God. He knew there was a great difference between outward profession and genuine piety, and that the latter is what must be aimed at in ourselves and in those to whom we minister.

From living in this environment of intense self-examination and genuine piety, Brainerd recognized the importance of seeking "what must I do to be saved?" Here is a taste from his journal of what life was like before the scales fell from his eyes (written at the age of 22):

My manner of life was now exceeding regular and full of religion; for I read my Bible more that twice through in less than a year, spent much time every day in prayer and other secret duries, gave great attention to the Word preached, and endeavored to my utmost to retain it.

Though hundreds of time I renounced all pretenses of any worth in my duties, as I thought, even while performing them, and often confessed to God that I deserved nothing for the very best of them but eternal condemnation; yet still I had a secret hope of recommending myself to God by my religous duties.

...I flattered myself that it was no so very difficult [to enter the narrow gate], and hoped I should by diligence and watchfulness soon gain the point.

I daily longed for greater conviction of sin.

And though my distress was sometimes thus great, yet I greatly dreaded the loss of conviction, and returning back to a state of carnal security, and to my former insensibility of impending wrath; which made me exceeding exact in by behavior lest I should stifle the motions of God's Holy Spirit.

Here's one that deserves to be quoted at length (italics mine):

The many disappointments [with my efforts to be born-again], great distresses and perplexity I met with, put me into a most horrible frame of contesting with the Almighty; with an inward vehemence and virulence finding fault with His ways of dealing with mankind. I found great fault with the imputation of Adam's sin to his posterity; and my wicked heart often wished for some other way of salvation than by Jesus Christ. Being like the troubled sea, my thoughts confused, I used to contrive to escape the wrath of God by some other means. I had strange projects, full of atheism, contriving to disappoint God's designs and decrees concerning me, or to escape His notice, and hide myself from Him.
But when, upon relection, I saw these projects were vain and would not serve me, and that I could contrive nothing for my own relief; this would throw my mind into the most horrid frame, to wish there was no God, or to wish there were some other God that could control Him. These thoughts and desires were the secret inclination of my heart, frequently acting before I was aware. But, alas! they were mine, although I was afrighted when I came to reflect on them. When I considered, it distressed me to think that my heart was so full of enmity against God; and it made me tremble, lest His vengeance should suddenly fall upon me.

...my heart rose against God as dealing hardly with me.

...the corruption of my heart was especially irritated at the following things: 1. The strictness of the divine law....I thought if it extended only to my outward actions and behaviors I could bear with it; but I found it condemned me for my evil thoughts and sins of my heart, which I could not possibly prevent.... 2. Another thing was, that faith alone was the condition of salvation;...I found faith was the sovereign gift of God, that I could not get it as of myself, and could not oblige God to bestow it upon me by any of my performances (Eph 2:1-8)...I could not bear that all I had done should stand for mere nothing, who... had, as I thought, done much more that many others who had obtained mercy... 3. I could not find out what faith was;... 4. I found a great inward opposition [to] the sovereignty of God.

You're probably getting the idea. There does end up being a payoff to all this struggle though, and it's a payoff that some people are still talking about. The dawn was coming:

Now I saw there was no necessary connection between my prayers and the bestowment of divine mercy;... and this because they were not performed from any love or regard to God. I saw that I had been heaping up my devotions before God,... and indeed really thinking sometimes that I was aiming at the glory of God; whereas I never once truly intended it, but only my own happiness.

(I don't think this means that David Brainderd would be anti-Christian Hedonism. Christian Hedonism is always a pursuit of pleasure in God, and is therefore actually is an aiming at the glory of God)

I saw that as I had never done anything for God, I had no claim on anything from Him but perdition, on accound of my hypocrisy and mockery. Oh, how different did my duties now appear from what they used to do! I used to charge them with sin and imperfection; but this was only on account of the wanderings and vain thoguhts attending them... But when I saw evidently that I had regard to nothing but self-interest, then they appeared a vile mockery of God, self-worship, and a continual course of lies

(what a great internalization of Isaiah 64:6 "all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment"!)
And now God says, "let there be light!"

... as I was walking in a dark thick grove, unspeakable glory seemed to open to the view and apprehension of my soul. I do not mean any external brightness, for I saw no such thing... but it was a new inward apprehension or view that I had of God, such as I never had before, nor anything which had the least resemblance of it.
I stood still, wondered and admired! I knew that I never had seen before anying comparable to it for excellency and beauty; it was widely different from any conceptions that ever I had of God... I had no particular apprehension of any one Person in the Trinity... but it appeared to be divine glory. My soul rejoiced with joy unspeakable to see such a God, such a glorious Divine Being; and I was inwardly pleased and satisfied that He should be God over all for ever and ever. My soul was so captivated and delighted with the excellency, loveliness, greatness, and other perfections of God, that I was even swallowed up in Him. At least to that degree that I had no thought (as I can remember) at first, about my own salvation and scarce reflected there was such a creature as I...I felt myself in a new world... I wondered that all the world did not see and comply with this way of salvation, entirely by the righteousness of Christ.

This all took place when he was 21 years old, and it launched him upon a remarkable life of service. Hopefully I'll get to type some more highlights of his further adventures.

The Eagle Has Landed

Well, Katie and I are in Peoria and are starting to feel settled. We closed on our house is lovely Morton, IL on June 2nd. Big thanks to my Dad, my MIL, Andy Gilbert, Charles Jackson, and Adam Eng for the help moving. We spent the next few days frantically unpacking, organizing, and blowing lots of money.

That Sunday we went down to Naples, FL with Brian and Aimme Bement and Jeff and Sarah Thompson. We rented a nice little condo with its own pool. Naples was wicked hot and there weren't that many people around since it's off-peak season. Our group was made up of people from the whole spectrum of "People who need to be doing something all day every day on vacation" to "People who just like slothing about doing nothing while on vacation." Brian is far on the activities side (Clipboard of Fun), while I'm on the slothing about side (Please roll me every few hours). Everyone else was scattered in between. I think that the vacation was overall a mix of both. I got to read all of To Kill a Mockingbird and a lot of David Brainerd's Journal, two of my favorite books. I lost half my body weight in sweat one morning when I went running. I went golfing with Brian and Jeff one day. I bought 6 golf balls before the round, figuring that, since I was a little rusty, I might lose a few. Little did I know that there was out-of-bounds and/or significant water hazards on EVERY SINGLE HOLE. Plus I was a little rustier than I thought. I shot 120, which wasn't all that horrendous considering I lost 10 balls. At least I didn't get bit by a gator.

Another day, while Brian and Jeff were golfing, I escorted the ladies on a nature tour of the everglades, including a fanboat ride. My Mom told me the fanboats were a waste of time/money, but we enjoyed it.

Here we are on our fanboat. The top two people on the left are some Brits who were with us:
Here's a Manitee we saw on the fanboat ride:
Before the fanboat ride, we went up to a little nature observation area and saw some gators:

This was the coolest thing we saw that day. It's hard to see in the picture, but it's a dead & bloated gator upside down being eaten by a buzzard while floating down the canal:
Believe it or not, that was not the nature hightlight of the trip. On our last full day, we rented some kayaks just north of Marco Island. After paddling about for about an hour, we decided to start heading back. Just as Katie and I were heading out from a little beach, I heard Katie say "Jay, is that a .... AH! It's a Dolphin it's a Dolphin!" Actually it was three Dolphins. They let us get real close and were swimming around/underneath us. I was freaking out. We followed them for a while, and then caught up with our fellow humans who had also happened on a group of dolphins. I tried to jump in and swim with them. I wish I'd had my snorkle. Here are some pics:

Afterwards we had some lunch. Mmmm Gator nuggets!

We got home late Saturday night and drove to Rockford to pick up Rinkle, who was with my parents. We had a great time in Naples with our friends.

My orientation started that Wednesday and concluded just this past Friday. During orientation Katie and I also worked on house stuff. Ashleigh came for a visit last Monday. My first shift was the "night float" shift from 7 p.m. until 9 a.m. Sunday morning. It was a long night and my brain felt like mush by the time I collapsed in bed for 8 hours on Sunday. Plus people kept calling me doctor all night.

Morton is a town of about 11,000 and is about 12 minutes on the interstate from the hospital where I work. It's famous for the annual Pumpkin Days. I hope to run in the 10k this year.

Well, I better get back to my 4th of July celebration. I look forward to watching the hot dog eating contest.

Movie Review : United 93

I went to see United 93 this afternoon with Adam. Katie told me she doesn't want to see it, but she's downtown for work all weekend so I thought this was a good time to go.

General Impressions

Acting: The acting was fantastic. Very underspoken. The early scenes featured people having the same chit-chat that anyone else has on a normal Tuesday morning, and we see them each in their element - the passengers, the pilots and stewardesses, the military, the air traffic controllers, the FAA. Everyone was simply going about their daily business before a roller coaster of fear, confusion, despair, anger, and hope. The only people who know something strange is afoot are the audience and the terrorists. The actors portraying the terrorists were also excellent - their anxiety, zeal, and bloodlust was brought out in their proper proportions. These weren't caricatures, they were human (more below).

Point of View: I was nervous that the film would paint the terrorists as simply misguided, or, worse, actually be sypathetic to their cause. Happily, this is not the case. Although their deeds were monstrous, they were portrayed humanely - the "lead" terrorist calls his wife(?) and tells her that he loves her in a genuinely touching moment and the same man shows enough anxiety before they spring into action that you hope he's going to chicken out. They seemed apprehensive, but showed little-to-no self doubt. However, their humanity does not create sympathy, it does the opposite. There is a stark contrast between what a human being is - a creature designed to glorify God by enjoying him forever - and what these men actually do. This movie brings out, as Ralph Venning would call it, the sinfulness of sin and the evil of evil. And not sin or evil in an abstract, philosophical sense; more like sin and evil when the rubber meets the road. If we saw these terrorists as misguided youth or feeble-minded and brainwashed or stark-raving mad, we could call them something else. Instead, they are cold, calculated, and doing the will of Allah. In short, these men are portrayed for exactly what they were - murderers. I felt the pleasure of justice served as two of them were getting beat to a pulp with a fire extinguisher. I'm not sure this is an appropriate or righteous emotion for me to have, but it probably isn't far from what the passengers felt - and don't judge me it, I'm still processing.
One of the great things about this movie is that it doesn't give you the perspective from any of the other flights. None of the characters know exactly what is going on. You feel the confusion of the air traffic controllers, the FAA, and the military. You even recognize the disappointment of the terrorists when it's announced that their flight is delayed - are they going to be airborne in time to participate in the debauchery? At one point, all the FAA knows is that a flight has disappeared over Manhattan. You can feel the devasation when they turn on CNN (like most of us did) and connect the dots between all the strange events taking place on their radars and what had actually happened.
Also, I thought they might portray our government officials as a bunch of incompetent boobs. Again, this was not the case. Although there were a few groan-inducing "Dilbert" moments, they were usually systemic errors instead of individual incompetence. We simply weren't prepared for this, but it's not hard to see why. The officials in this movie are portrayed humanely - like the terrorists - but we empathize with them. What seems so clear in hindsight was a mass of confusion and darkness in the actual moment. I can excuse their errors, because I'm not sure anyone else would have done better.

Music: there was no background music at all for the first half of the film, and then it was used very sparingly thereafter. It took me about 15 minutes to realize that there was no musical track telling me how I should feel or who were the heroes and villains or when the drama was going to start. This was another contributing factor to why the movie felt so real. My life doesn't have a sound-track. Does yours?

Sound: great use of surround sound. Several times during the movie I turned around because I thought the people around me were talking, only to realize that it was "other" passengers on the plane. This was another contributing factor to the sensation that you were right there with them.

Winds of Shakespearean Tragedy: There were a couple of small moments that gave you a twinge of hope, but there was always a forboding sense of doom. We know how this story is going to turn out. We see a college rugby player almost miss the flight - we groan as he barely makes it. We here one stewardess saying she's going to change her schedule so she can see her kids more - we know she's seen them for the last time. We see that other flights have been taken hostage before United 93 even gets off the ground - oh no, they take off anyway. We see the pilots receive a message to lock the door and watch out for takeovers - but they think somethings screwy and by the time they confirm - it's too late. We see the passengers heroically charge the cockpit, but can't gain control of the plane before it crashes.

And then silence.

Overall, a fantastic film. This movie is unique and fits into no genre. I have nothing to compare it to. The shocked silence of the audience as the credits came up reminded me of Schindler's List, but the style of the two movie is completely different. This is a powerful, painful, engrossing movie. It deserves the great reviews it's getting, and if it doesn't get nominated for best picture then we'll know we've entered a brokeback age.

A few more random thoughts:

I am glad that my wife wasn't there, and I won't be taking her to see it.

Adam ordered a large popcorn and hardly touched it.

In this period of time we exist - when the kingdom of God has not yet been consumated and humanity is still racked by sin, disease, war, starvation, etc. - there are basically two gifts given to us by which the depravity of man is restrained. One is the church - the salt of the earth. The church's job is to bear witness to the lordship of Christ over all mankind and offer the gift of salvation through repentance and faith. This has two effects - the Holy Spirit works with and through the church to regenerate some in spiritual rebirth and to retrain others through the pricking of conscious. Well, the Muslim world decided a long time ago to follow a false prophet and get rid of the church. These men were depraved, and they probably had no salt or light in their lives. Just the blind leading the blind.
The other gift is government. The government's job is to punish evil, and maintain good order such that righteousness is rewarded. We've created other jobs for government - educating our children, taking care of our elderly, protecting the environment, forcing evil gas-companies to reduce their profits, and (soon) paying for everyone's healthcare. Although education, healthcare, and protecting the environment are good things; it's really a matter of priorities. We have become way to bent out of shape about secondary issues in government. The primary issues should be maintenance of order, upholding fair dealings, and the punishment of evil. Anything else is a distraction.

Concerning the memorial for the United 93 victims (and murderers): the idea of using a grove of maple trees in the shape of a crescent (a common Islamic symbol which also happens to face Mecca and would turn blood-red in the fall) is about the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Also, they'll be using translucent blocks to commemorate each of the victims - including the 4 terrorists.

Islam - religion of peace? Hah!

Psalm 90:12

So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Ecclesiastes 9:12

For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them.

Luke 13:1-5

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Three Bucks a Gallon

Who's more to blame for high gas prices: "greedy" oil executives or our elected officials?

Neil Cavuto weighs in:

After all, oil companies' profit works out to nine cents a gallon. Taxes total more like 40 cents a gallon.

This drive back-and-forth to Peoria today for a home inspection is really going to hurt.

Chernobyl and Wormwood

Today is the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident in the old USSR. In the midst of the $3.00/gallon murmurrings, I sometimes hear people really fired up about nuclear energy. Nuclear accidents are just one reason why nuclear energy probably isn't a great idea. Another reason is waste disposal. Our government thinks dumping nuclear waste near Yucca Mountain in Nevada where it will render the are unihabitable for thousands of years is a great idea. Other people think it's not such a hot idea. I am by no means an expert, nor did I want to use the 20th anniversary to display my ignorance of energy policy in an uniformed editorial.

What I really wanted was an excuse to link to one of my favorite stories of all time: Ghost-town by the Kid of Speed. It's an eerie account of her motorcycle trip through the area affected by the fallout. It takes a while to read, but it's worth it.

This does point to one possible solution to our current Iran-seeking-nuclear-capabilities problem: Maybe we won't have to bomb them because they'll blow themselves up.

Playing with Fire...

Sometimes I don't like Ann Coulter's editorials (usually more for her tone than the substance of her arguments). But I thought this one was good. Especially the beginning:

However the Duke lacrosse rape case turns out, one lesson that absolutely will not be learned is this: You can severely reduce your chances of having a false accusation of rape leveled against you if you don't hire strange women to come to your house and take their clothes off for money.

Also, you can severely reduce your chances of being raped if you do not go to strange men's houses and take your clothes off for money.

There are a few other fairly obvious solutions to situations like this that no one seems to want to talk about: 1) Stripping and hiring strippers should be illegal, 2) Hiring strippers should be against the code of conduct for Duke students, and 3) People shouldn't have drunken parties and hire strippers.

At least we're getting one thing right: if you live in under a government or go to a school that tolerates drunkeness and stripping, rape is still wrong. Wow. How progressive.

Easter Services Cancelled

I think the church is on to something by cancelling services everytime a holiday falls on a Sunday. I'm glad to see that the trend lives on. I mean seriously. The resurrection was like 2000 years ago.

Humanity at it Again

I just got out of a Medical Grand Rounds Lecture. The topic - Embryonic Stem Cell Research. Based on the questions afterwards, you got the impression that half the people thought that it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. The other half were totally disgusted. The thrust of the talk was that none of us really know what the nature of the embryo is, therefore we ought to go ahead use embryonic stem cells for research.

Excuse me?

So, to borrow an illustration from Mike Adams, if I were out hunting and I saw a bush shaking off in the distance, and I'm not sure if it's a deer or another hunter, I should just go ahead and shoot.

Other points of the talk:
Scientists are capable of making nuanced philosophical distinctions between universal moral laws and subjective religous sentiment.
Religous conservatives are idiots who oppose everything good for mankind.
If you oppose embryonic stem-cell research, you must be a religous conservative.
Religion is irrelevant to ethics.
They are using embryonic stem cells in Europe, and we should do whatever they do, because Europe has been nothing short of a city on a hill for thousands of years.

When the speaker was done, the moderator got up and said something like, "Let's be honest, this is just a bunch of rationalization for doing something that everyone here is uncomfortable with." Couldn't have said it better myself.

Church in Search of Webmaster

The importance of context.

Luke 4:5-8

5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’”

(HT: Justin Taylor)

UPDATE: The church has removed the offending quote. In the banner it quoted Luke 4:7 underneath the church name. See the Justin Taylor post for the full story.

A Sorry State of Affairs

I'm always interested when I see people critical of a church based on one impression. I too would hate a church that didn't use the Bible, but this guys blog post demonstrates someone hopelessly caught up in dogmatic analysis of churches.

For example, his lone impression of Harvest Bible Chapel, which he bashes for not using the bible, is based on a one-time attendence of the Good Friday service. First, you can never base any church's standard liturgy or lack their of on a holiday service. That would be the equivalent of basing your view of a church on the Christmas cantata. "They sing too much... didn't use the Bible." Hogwash... it's called special events. Go on a typical Sunday morning and then report back to me. Second, the lack of a "Bible thumping" sermon on a special event is not indicative of an anti-Bible stance. This point is an expansion of the previous point and no less obvious.

And small groups are bad because they make little cell churches.... :)

There is room for analysis of churches, but it's based on their doctrine and not personal opinions on church methodology. I've attended churches of all sizes from 20 to 8000 and God uses each of them and none of them are perfect.

backpewmusings - What does 'Bible Church' mean anymore?

The People Have Spoken

This pretty much says it all, doesn't it?

These people should have been deported or arrested within 24 hours. Only a twisted idea of freedom of speech protects public support of murder and mass-destruction.

Let the courts decide if Jesus really did exist????

Interesting story I came across today.

An athiest claims that the assertion that Jesus Christ existed is fraud - and he's going to court to prove it!

Osama bin Laden's message to the American People

Hey guys...did you catch this on the news yesterday? Osama bin Laden came out with another message to the American people.

What a crazy situation. If we stay there and keep fighting, he vows to "patiently and steadfastly" obliterate us. If we withdraw and "give up", we let evil prevail.

I am a little disturbed after reading the whole transcript of what he said. I mean best case scenario is that he's bluffing, right? After reading this...I really don't think he is:

My message to you is about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and how to end them. I did not intend to speak to you about this because this issue has already been decided. Only metal breaks metal, and our situation, thank God, is only getting better and better, while your situation is the opposite of that.

But I plan to speak about the repeated errors your President Bush has committed in comments on the results of your polls that show an overwhelming majority of you want the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. But he (Bush) has opposed this wish and said that withdrawing troops sends the wrong message to opponents, that it is better to fight them (bin Laden's followers) on their land than their fighting us (Americans) on our land.

I can reply to these errors by saying that war in Iraq is raging with no let-up, and operations in Afghanistan are escalating in our favor, thank God, and Pentagon figures show the number of your dead and wounded is increasing not to mention the massive material losses, the destruction of the soldiers' morale there and the rise in cases of suicide among them. So you can imagine the state of psychological breakdown that afflicts a soldier as he gathers the remains of his colleagues after they stepped on land mines that tore them apart. After this situation the soldier is caught between two hard options. He either refuses to leave his military camp on patrols and is therefore dogged by ruthless punishments enacted by the Vietnam Butcher (U.S. army) or he gets destroyed by the mines. This puts him under psychological pressure, fear and humiliation while his nation is ignorant of that (what is going on). The soldier has no solution except to commit suicide. That is a strong message to you, written by his soul, blood and pain, to save what can be saved from this hell. The solution is in your hands if you care about them (the soldiers).

The news of our brother mujahideen (holy warriors) is different from what the Pentagon publishes. They (the news of mujahideen) and what the media report is the truth of what is happening on the ground. And what deepens the doubt over the White House's information is the fact that it targets the media reporting the truth from the ground. And it has appeared lately, supported by documents, that the butcher of freedom in the world (Bush) had decided to bomb the headquarters of the Al-Jazeera in Qatar after bombing its offices in Kabul and Baghdad.

On another issue, jihad (holy war) is ongoing, thank God, despite all the oppressive measures adopted by the U.S Army and its agents (which is) to a point where there is no difference between this criminality and Saddam's criminality, as it has reached the degree of raping women and taking them as hostages instead of their husbands.

As for torturing men, they have used burning chemical acids and drills on their joints. And when they give up on (interrogating) them, they sometimes use the drills on their heads until they die. Read, if you will, the reports of the horrors in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo prisons.

And I say that, despite all the barbaric methods, they have not broken the fierceness of the resistance. The mujahideen, thank God, are increasing in number and strength -- so much so that reports point to the ultimate failure and defeat of the unlucky quartet of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz. Declaring this defeat is just a matter of time, depending partly on how much the American people know of the size of this tragedy. The sensible people realize that Bush does not have a plan to make his alleged victory in Iraq come true.

And if you compare the small number of dead on the day that Bush announced the end of major operations in that fake, ridiculous show aboard the aircraft carrier with the tenfold number of dead and wounded who were killed in the smaller operations, you would know the truth of what I say. This is that Bush and his administration do not have the will or the ability to get out of Iraq for their own private, suspect reasons.

And so to return to the issue, I say that results of polls please those who are sensible, and Bush's opposition to them is a mistake. The reality shows that the war against America and its allies has not been limited to Iraq as he (Bush) claims. Iraq has become a point of attraction and restorer of (our) energies. At the same time, the mujahideen (holy warriors), with God's grace, have managed repeatedly to penetrate all security measures adopted by the unjust allied countries. The proof of that is the explosions you have seen in the capitals of the European nations who are in this aggressive coalition. The delay in similar operations happening in America has not been because of failure to break through your security measures. The operations are under preparation and you will see them in your homes the minute they are through (with preparations), with God's permission.

Based on what has been said, this shows the errors of Bush's statement -- the one that slipped from him -- which is at the heart of polls calling for withdrawing the troops. It is better that we (Americans) don't fight Muslims on their lands and that they don't fight us on ours.

We don't mind offering you a long-term truce on fair conditions that we adhere to. We are a nation that God has forbidden to lie and cheat. So both sides can enjoy security and stability under this truce so we can build Iraq and Afghanistan, which have been destroyed in this war. There is no shame in this solution, which prevents the wasting of billions of dollars that have gone to those with influence and merchants of war in America who have supported Bush's election campaign with billions of dollars -- which lets us understand the insistence by Bush and his gang to carry on with war.

If you (Americans) are sincere in your desire for peace and security, we have answered you. And if Bush decides to carry on with his lies and oppression, then it would be useful for you to read the book "Rogue State," which states in its introduction: "If I were president, I would stop the attacks on the United States: First I would give an apology to all the widows and orphans and those who were tortured. Then I would announce that American interference in the nations of the world has ended once and for all."

Finally, I say that war will go either in our favor or yours. If it is the former, it means your loss and your shame forever, and it is headed in this course. If it is the latter, read history! We are people who do not stand for injustice and we will seek revenge all our lives. The nights and days will not pass without us taking vengeance like on Sept. 11, God permitting. Your minds will be troubled and your lives embittered. As for us, we have nothing to lose. A swimmer in the ocean does not fear the rain. You have occupied our lands, offended our honor and dignity and let out our blood and stolen our money and destroyed our houses and played with our security and we will give you the same treatment.

You have tried to prevent us from leading a dignified life, but you will not be able to prevent us from a dignified death. Failing to carry out jihad, which is called for in our religion, is a sin. The best death to us is under the shadows of swords. Don't let your strength and modern arms fool you. They win a few battles but lose the war. Patience and steadfastness are much better. We were patient in fighting the Soviet Union with simple weapons for 10 years and we bled their economy and now they are nothing.

In that there is a lesson for you.

A Fruitful Understanding

The College Ministry is getting ready to launch a study of Colossians next Sunday. Here are a few thoughts on verses 1:3-8.

Colossians 1:3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints,

I love these verses. Here we have Paul thanking God for the Colossians because they have great faith in Christ and love for all the saints. If I got the impression that those little kids in Sunday School or unbelieving family and friends and peers had developed "great faith in Christ" and "love for all the saints", I can only imagine how my heart would brim with gratitude. I've tasted a little of this. Because I've tasted it, I understand how Paul feels, but because I've only tasted a little I'm jealous.

Colossians 1:5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel,

Oh baby. Here we have the foundation. The fruit is the great faith and love for one another, but if we look down underneath the ground we see the root that's feeding the whole thing: hope laid up in heaven. Our hope is in heaven. Many things about my life have improved here on earth since I became a Christian, but it's only because of a supernatural hope. Minimize the otherworldliness our religion at your own peril. Living for a Pie in the Sky is dumb only if there's no pie and there's no sky. "If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied" (2 Cor 15:9).

Colossians 1:6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

This is not unique to Colossae, but indeed bears fruit everywhere. I see no reason why this process would work in 1st century Colossae but wouldn't work in 21st century northern Illinois. We may have all of the bells and whistles of modern life, but has human nature really changed since then? Has the gospel?
Also, if "hope laid up in heaven" is the foundation for the the great faith and love, then hearing and understanding the grace of God in truth must be the earth upon which the foundation lies. It's the "deeper magic" of Colossians 1. How can we have our hope in heaven if we don't know or understand the grace of God in truth?
And this is what a "faithful minister" does. He serves the church by laboring to proclaim the grace of God in Truth in the hope that it will be heard and understood leading to hope laid up in heaven leading to great faith in Christ and love for all the saints.

Learning->Understanding->Hope->Faith and Love.

The Old Testament for Today

I was watching an episode of scrubs a while ago. I'm not going to go through the whole plot, but at the end of the episode J.D. ends up being battered by a large crowd of people standing in a circle whipping tennis balls at him.

It set my wheels a'turnin'.

How about an Old Testament Sunday School lesson for the K-5th graders where, anytime someone misbehaves, we illustrate the way justice was administered in ancient Israel? We take the kid, put him in the middle, and just start pummeling him (let's be honest, it'll probably always be a him) with nerf balls or dodge balls or something. This way parents will be able to enjoy the service without the disruption of the little red numbers off to the side constantly pulling them away.

Note: I added "Purgatorio" to our measley little blog roll over here. It's one of my favorite sites. Also, though I'm not a regular reader of the JesusCreed blog, I think we need a permanent link to one of my all-time favorite internet exchanges (make sure to read the comments).

I'll Be Your David If You'll Be My Jonathan

Interesting hoedown going on about the revelation that the star of End of the Spear, Chad Allen, is a well-known homosexual activist. I'm not sure I care. After all, if a homosexual activist was comfortable with the script, you can bet this movie isn't exactly about thundering the word. Not only that, but I recently watched Beyond the Gates of Splendor, which was made by the same company and is the same story told as a documentary, and I'm pretty sure they managed to never actually mention Jesus Christ. I'd need to re-watch it to make sure. At any rate, the thrust of the movie was that the purpose of the missionaries was to bring the Aucas the good news: that is, the good news that God didn't want them to spear each other.

Nos Sobrii: No Way!

Triablogue: The Unregenerate and Gospel Art - Redux (Read this!)

Randy Brandt: Did They Fall on Their Own Spears?

Interesting Discussion

Pyromaniac has begun to post on Cessationism. Very interesting. I hope some worthy blogger takes up "the other side." I love a good conversation. I must be emergent.

Here's some previous posts that made the current discussion neccessary: Invasion of the evangelical soothsayers, Rubber prophecies, Prophecy revisited.

Another of My Favorite Quotes

Yet I should not take it at all amiss, to be called a Calvinist, for distinction’s sake, though I utterly disclaim a dependence on CALVIN, or believing the doctrines which I hold, because he believed and taught them and cannot justly be charged with believing in everything just as he taught.

From the preface of Edward's Freedom of the Will.

God would never do that... right?

Genesis 14:12-16

12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, "Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete."

I was blown away by this verse again the other day. Did God just say that one reason he is sending Abraham's offspring to Egypt for 400 years is because he wants the Amorites to fulfill their iniquities?

Fulfilled Prophecy...

...or the bold predictions of a cynic? You decide.

I told the guys at small group last night that some people are probably interpreting Ariel Sharon's stroke as retribution. Thanks, Pat.

UPDATE: I thought this suggestion from Centurion was a good one -

Please: retire. Let someone else make Christianity look stupid. You have done your bit. Let CBN pay you an emeritus salary and just go enjoy your golden years in obscurity.

Update...

I am a published writer!!!

It's my favorite time of the month....

It's time for the latest Lark News!

Also, Justin Taylor reminds me of one of my favorite quotes (I was just trying to remember where this came from the other day). It's from Chesterton's Orthodoxy.

…what we suffer from to-day is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert—himself. The part he doubts is exactly the part he ought not to doubt—the Divine Reason.