March 2008
8 posts
Art Reform
In response to Abraham Piper’s question, Why do so few artists believe what I believe?
What I see in the church is a growing pragmatism toward things that “work” and away from expressions that glorify God but have no immediately discernible, quantitative value, and which may fall outside of the 4 or 5 songs we call “worship”, preceding the sermon. Also, I perceive (as a musician) a sense...
The Back of God
When Moses saw the back of God (Ex 33) it was God’s introduction to Moses…a validation of His trust in him to lead the Israelites. The end of Exodus 33 is God saying, “I know your name, now let me tell you mine: THE LORD.” but Moses couldn’t see the full glory of God, so we only saw His back…the full glory was terrifying and probably fatal. Interestingly, the...
Atonement
Heading into the Day of Atonement, I have been reflecting on my own sin: judgementalism, pride, selfishness, lust, envy, laziness…
It is awful and I am disgusted by it. It really bummed me out last night—and on top of it all, I had to pay $47 for a video I lost from the library :( I was just feeling the weight of it, and at that, not even the full weight. Only Jesus felt that.
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The Den of Robbers
When Jesus overturned the money changers’ tables, He said, “My House will be a house of prayer. You have made it a den of robbers!”
What would be the analogy today, when the temple resides in us? Is there anything He would overturn in me?
Do I carry the same passion for the purity of His house?
God, please create in me a pure heart, that I may worship You.
“Dad, why do monkeys have only hands and no feet at all?”
– Owen (from a dead sleep, upon being transferred to bed from the car after a long night)
Authority
I have written before about the authority of scripture and its absence from the Emergent Church movement. I want to clarify what I mean.
When I say “authority,” I am not talking about a single “correct” interpretation (because there are some issues that will never be locked down), but rather the direction in which meaning flows. Authority means that scripture has...
The Weight of Sin
I heard an interview with a call-girl on the radio today. She talked about her profession being “empowering” for women and an overall positive lifestyle (although she scoffed at the question of whether her son knew what she did). She is a PhD in Psychology and is writing a book about her experiences.
The conversation absolutely broke my heart…in two ways:
1. That someone...
The Conversation
We hear a lot about the idea of “the conversation” which seems to be a tenet of the Emergent Church (if they had such a thing as a tenet). Everything is open to discussion, debate, alternative interpretation, and it’s “the conversation” that’s the good part of that.
I heard a talk given by Doug Pagitt, pastor of Solomon’s Porch church and a gifted...