Lord willing, I want to be an agent of change

I am working through Nate Larkin's book, Samson and the Pirate Monks: Calling Men to Authentic Brotherhood, and got this quote from a review of the book:

"In the course of its evolution, the church has managed to shed many of its original qualities. Two of these are the devotion to truth and the brotherhood of all men, which often appear to have been replaced by the devotion to keeping up appearances and competitive piety."

I'm not going to harp on what has been inserted into the church, because I could do that all day. I'd like to help bring back the original qualities, especially the brotherhood of all men. I need it.

Quotes to read every few weeks

Daniel Spoto, in speaking of Francis of Assisi - "Stories of saints too often describe them as essentially perfect, always pious, suffering without complaint, ever clear about their commitment and destiny. How much more credible and moving are the accounts of those who endured struggles to remain true to their beliefs. Whatever one takes it to mean, saintliness is not a position one attains or state of life one achieves, the way one is called a doctor after receiving a medical certificate. However we chose to discuss it, holiness is certainly a lifelong process, and genuine saints probably never think about it. Their energies are directed toward God, not toward a consideration of their own merits or excellence. Most of all, their lives proclaim to the world the existence of a reality that transcends it."

Be safe.

Funny Sign
Originally uploaded by tenioman

Ugh. Just Ugh.

You can see more at Ed Stetzer's photoblogging of a Christian Retail Convention. Some of it's funny, almost all of it is sad.

UPDATE: I'm trying to figure out the "Premium Christian" moniker. Does that mean that they also sell plain "Christian" sunglasses? Just wondering.

Yes, I did.

I bought my daughter a Star Wars shirt.

A photo of mine was used by the government!

I'm not one to toot my horn, but this made me feel really good.
I was contacted via Flickr by someone from the US Green Building Council in Louisiana. They wanted to know if a picture I had taken of a swamp in South Carolina to use as a header for their website! I told them yes as long as they would credit me. They agreed and now my picture is part of their site!

Go here to see the site (picture on top, name on the bottom). You can then go here to see my Flickr stream. The original picture (they cropped it) is here.

Worship wars, 19th century style

Dan Kimball posts some excellent examples of how the church has always opposed change in it's music. You can click to his 2 articles (and some good comments) here and here. Here's a few snippets:

Charles Finney in 1835 wrote that there were still in his day "many churches who would not tolerate an organ. They would not be half so much excited to be told that sinners are going to hell as to be told that there is going to be an organ in the meeting house."

How about this letter:

"I am no music scholar, but I feel I know appropriate church music when I hear it. Last Sunday's new hymn - if you can call it that - sounded like a sentimental love ballad one would expect to hear crooned in a saloon. If you insist on exposing us to rubbish like this - in God's house! - don't be surprised if many of the faithful look for a new place to worship. The hymns we grew up with are all we need."

This letter was written in 1863 and the song they were concerned about was the hymn "Just As I Am".

While this got some laughs out of me and a few others I read it to, it was strangely encouraging to me that change in our methods and styles have always been a struggle, but thankfully change comes. Granted, I never want to lose proper orthodoxy, I am glad that the dissenting voice above didn't have their way. Think about it: Could you imagine a Billy Graham crusade WITHOUT "Just As I Am?" I couldn't.

Choice reading of the day

I wonder if this is the reason I don't read as deeply as I used to...

Click on "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" to read a fascinating take on the Internet and the way we process information.

Thank God for my wife

Trying to wrap my head around Lakeland

I am trying to wrap my head around the Lakeland Revival. Let me first say that I have been to Brownsville twice ('98 and '02), and I have done alot of reading, watching, and listening to things going on in Lakeland because in my position I have alot of people asking me what I think about it and some are asking for help in discerning things they are seeing on Godtv and Youtube.

The truth is, I'm not ready to answer that yet. I would like to slowly, SLOWLY walk through some things I have read and get to a decision.

I would like to present portions of a post on a COG forum by Buck Marshall, a COG pastor and a ministry colleague of mine in college. It's one of the best summaries on a criticism of Lakeland yet. If you link to the full article, there's alot more.

Todd Bentley was completely foreign to me. I had NEVER heard of him before and had absolutely no opinion of him whatever. So….I watched. There were several things that struck me as problematic.

1. There was a lack of Biblical foundation but rather the experiential was exalted.

2. The demonstrative reaction to prayer was vaunted while the sick went unhealed.

3. There seemed to be a focus on Todd Bentley as though he was the force behind what God did.

First, Todd’s teachings border on heresy. He speaks of trips to the third heaven in a fashion that can only be described as New Age. It in fact mirrors that of those who practice out of body experiences, astral projection, and channeling. It does not follow along the lines of other experiences such as John’s in Revelation. Further, he makes claims of the Paul/Abraham co-authorship of Hebrews as revelation from his own “trips” to the third heaven. I find that completely untrustworthy. He focuses on Angels in such a manner that would make any Biblical angel rebuke him for attributing to them what only belongs to God. He prays to them instead of God. That is not merely extra-biblical like say, “gold teeth filling” but is absolutely UN-biblical! The messages he has preached are so un-sound in doctrine and Biblical theology it makes one wonder how he began preaching in the first place. He even claims to have been possessed with 25 demons AFTER he was a believer and operating in the prophetic! This is simply impossible according to scripture. There are many passages to debunk that assertion but look no further than 1 Cor. 10. So, with no sound doctrine to offer and erroneous teachings at best and heretical theology at worst I began to really pay attention to this minister.

Secondly, there were many, many, many people who shouted, danced, and fell down but I didn’t see one miracle. I wanted to. I really wanted to. There are so many cameras there. There is so much attention focused on this thing. It is not like the Toronto or Brownsville revivals in scope. Those were an earlier time technologically. Now, this revival is taking advantage of live broadcasting not just on TV but on satellite networks, streaming live on the internet, posting clips on YouTube, podcasts and it is even available on your cell phone. So, I really wanted miracles to happen as a sign to unbelievers….but they didn’t. Oh, there were plenty who claimed to be healed but they were of the variety that could not be verified. So, Iet’s not doubt them. Let’s suppose that God is healing them through the ministry of this guy. So, when they wheeled the girl who had cerebral palsy onto the stage….I wanted to see her limbs begin to change. I wanted to see her gain proper motor function. Nothing happened. When the girl came onto the stage with a tumor that was literally HALF the size of her head….I wanted to see it shrink like the ones the other people claimed had. He told her it would happen later in her bed. That was convenient. WHY….we have the cameras ready….let’s see this healed and send it to every cell phone…every iphone….let His glory be on display and become the most downloaded video on YouTube since Star Wars Kid and the Numa Numa Guy. Now, I understand that not everyone gets healed and all the disclaimers we in the 21st century American church use to stop praying for the sick and not feel bad. And, I suppose that would not have been as big a deal if he hadn’t done what he did. He prayed for those two and then immediately instructed the cameras to get a shot of his stage. Many people on the other end of the stage had fallen down and were shaking on the floor. He said, “Look what God has done. Look at how my stage is messed up.” No, turn the camera back on these two girls who desperately need a touch from God and let’s not stop praying until they are healed! Let’s get all the millions of people watching on tv’s, cell phones and computers to start praying for these two people until they are healed! I can’t shake these people….I pray for them every time I think of them. I guess I want less show and more prayer. Not BAM!!! and fall down….but more focused, earnest, continuous prayer.

Thirdly, it just seemed to all be about him (Todd). His anointing, his stage, his ministry, his experiences, his opinion, and his support. I am really hungry to see revivalists and even a lot of Christian television ministers with less ego. Philippians talks of Jesus humbling, lowering, and emptying himself. It is not a position of weakness. Yet, those who stand in a place of leadership too many times do not follow his servanthood example.

So, I am disheartened by this revival. The fault lies not with the people who are going. It lies with the leaders. I have real questions about this minister. I will not go so far as denouncing him as a fake…I just think he has really bad theology and the church as a whole has done a very bad job of training him and/or holding him accountable. We can point fingers…but, we have a lot of that in the CoG as well. We have a lot of Pastor’s with really bad theology. They fill our pulpits every Sunday and no one writes one word about it. I think that is probably the greater problem.

The 3,000 mile oil change debunked?

Greencar.com has a article that will make Jiffy Lube mad. Real mad. Why? They say that in most cases, 3000 miles is too soon for an oil change. The article discusses how the development of synthetic oil and engine technology have made the normal change necessary at the 5,000 mile mark. Read more at the jump.

The 3,000 Mile Oil Change Myth

Think about this on a wallet level. The average oil change runs $25 or so. If you drive 25k a year and change diligently every 3000 miles, that comes to $208 a year in oil changes. But if you switch to every 5000 miles, that's only $125 a year. $83 a year difference.

The moral of the story is check your car manual. It will tell you what the manufacturer recommends, not what Joe at Wal-Mart thinks. Plus, if you can go at 5k, then that $83 you saved can go to get your tires rotated and balanced a few times, which not only extends tire life but keeps you under warranty (most tire warranties will void if they determine you haven't been getting regular rotations).

Things you should never forget

Vintage Brennan Manning

Pray for our chaplains

I ran across this on my daily blog walk..... please pray for our chaplains serving abroad as they serve our men and women in combat.

War's Stresses Takes Toll On Chaplains

Holy. Cow.

The Nashville Tennessean posted a potentially explosive article about the future state of the Southern Baptist Convention from outgoing President Frank Page, who was surprisingly elected in 2006. The actual article is here, but let me give you a few snippets:

"If we don't start paying attention to the realities … by the year 2030, we will be proud to have 20,000 rather than 44,000 Southern Baptist churches,'' Page said. Page believes the 16.2 million-member convention faces the same challenges that bedeviled other Protestant denominations — lower birthrates, aging demographics and a culture increasingly hostile to Christianity. In response, churches tend to circle the wagons and hang on for dear life.

Me again: So the SBC shrinks in half, not because it has no choice, but because the churches refuse to innovate and adapt? Wow.

Page: "You've got massive numbers," he said, "maybe not a majority but massive numbers of evangelical churches out there, yes, Southern Baptists also, who are small groups of older white people holding on till they die."

Me yet again: The article has a bit more on SBC politics. Being raised an "independent" Baptist, I've never been too connected to SBC life, but I was shocked to read that Page's election was the first time they've ever had to actually vote for a President- the convention has always been a rubber-stamp ceremony. This year, they have 6 up for the spot. The fact that the SBC is just now getting around to having real elections with real choices makes Page's predictions that much more startling. How far behind is the SBC?

The wife and I are strongly considering an SBC church for membership, and while I think the political intrigue of the SBC is not quite so important at the local level, I still like to learn about the cart I'm considering hitching up to. In some ways I hope Page is wrong-- but if the losses he predicts are just dead weight, than I'm inclined to say that I hope he is RIGHT.

Coming back

So yes, here I am. Oh, you huddled masses, I know how you have missed me so. The clamor for my blogging to return is so high that I cannot ignore it any longer. So without further adieu, I return....with a video.