I invaded enemy territory this week. As a lifelong and passionate fan of the greatest sports franchise in the history of sports (need I name the Yankees?), I've always considered Boston a swirling vortex of evil. But my son moved there two years ago and we cashed in our frequent flier miles and booked three seats from Omaha to Boston's Logan airport. After a rather roundabout trip (four flights instead of two) we landed in Boston Monday night. First, my son took us on a tour of the MIT Media Lab (a playground for people with astronomical IQs) where he has worked and studied the last two … [Read more...] about What Does This Say about Me?
Trevin Wax’s Important Baptist Press Article
Baptist Press has recently published an article by Trevin Wax entitled, "Being Southern Baptist among & for Evangelicals." Southern Baptists are in an identity crisis right now, trying to decide what it means to be a Southern Baptist. At the risk of oversimplifying, there are traditionalists who think that the key is to look back at the cultural, theological and ecclesiological identity that identified Southern Baptists and work to restore that identity. Brad Whitt has articulated the traditionalist viewpoint very well. Then there are the "reformationists" who believe the SBC needs … [Read more...] about Trevin Wax’s Important Baptist Press Article
Does My Waistline Undermine My Message?
This post was originally published at sbcIMPACT on January 14, 2009. Since then, I have had some health problems and can no longer call myself "the best conditioned morbidly obese man in America" - plus that sumo guy did that marathon a couple of weeks ago anyway. But I am approaching this from a self-control perspective and trying to do something about the problem. All you young guys, remember this: it's a LOT easier to keep the weight off than to take it off. Hope you enjoy this! Everywhere I go I carry with me a public testimony to my failed struggle with self-control. I am more than … [Read more...] about Does My Waistline Undermine My Message?
Don’t Let the Jerks Get You Down
There are some books that I have never read, but that I think qualify for all-time brilliant title awards. My favorite is, "Normal is Just a Setting on Your Dryer." Gotta love that. Captain John Trimmer blessed us with a tome entitled, "How to Avoid Big Ships" - a problem that each of us face on a daily basis. Sgt. Rick Pelicano authored, "Bombproof Your Horse." In these days, everyone needs to be concerned about horse-terrorism issues, don't we? The "Huh?" award goes to Brian Piddick's "How to Write a How to Write Book." P.L.H. McSweeny addressed one of life's great challenges in, … [Read more...] about Don’t Let the Jerks Get You Down
American Idol, Simon, Encouragement and Ministry
Okay, I'm going to make some deductions from assumptions here. If you don't agree with my assumptions you obviously will not agree with my deductions, but here goes anyway. I'm an American Idol fan. It was not always so, but when my daughter hit her teenage years she began to demand more control of the remote and suddenly we were an American Idol family. I've always loved the audition programs when people we wouldn't let sing a solo at church are shocked that they are turned down by the judges. But since the advent of the DVR era, I have watched every episode of the last three … [Read more...] about American Idol, Simon, Encouragement and Ministry
Living for Heaven’s Amen
I was a communications major in college, but in my small Baptist school that meant that I was part of the theater department. In my junior year I got my first big part in a musical - Arvide Abernathy in Guys and Dolls. I was 19 years old and had to play an old man. I just wasn't getting it - I couldn't find the soul of the character. One day, during rehearsal, the director said some words that stung me deeply. "Dave, you sound like you are reading a phone book." Now, I am not sure all that is encompassed in that statement, but I am pretty sure of one thing, it is not a compliment. The … [Read more...] about Living for Heaven’s Amen
The Crisis of Conference Christians (by Mark Driscoll) WOW!
You can find the article here, at the Resurgence blog. Driscoll speaks of the phenomenon of "Conference Christians" who go from spiritual mountaintop to spiritual mountaintop at the various inspirational conferences one can attend. Humorous and powerful - Driscoll's specialties. Well worth reading. You might also check out SBC Today's "Top Blog Posts of the Week" with links to some very good articles that have been out there that you might have missed. … [Read more...] about The Crisis of Conference Christians (by Mark Driscoll) WOW!
On the Other Hand…
Ergun Caner had a pretty funny series of tweets today about the expected but unfulfilled apocalypse. erguncaner Ergun Mehmet Caner Wow, heaven is beautiful. Sorry this took so long. Should've known ATT has no service in heaven. Hell has 4 bars tho- 46 minutes ago erguncaner Ergun Mehmet Caner WAIT! Where'd everybody go? Oh man...now I gotta fight Nicolae Carpathia... 1 hour ago erguncaner Ergun Mehmet Caner Today at 6pm, we need a whole bunch of you to go outside and BLOW A TRUMPET really loud. Atheists will … [Read more...] about On the Other Hand…
Reflections on the Impending Apocalypse
The day has arrived in which Harold Camping will be shown to be a prophet of God or revealed as the false prophet most of us think he is. I just did a short sermon at our Upward Soccer end-of-season celebration and I joked a little about it. And some of you read the post I put up here two weeks ago today about this. But now, I'm sick of it. I'm tired of hearing about Harold Camping and I'm tired of joking about it. Most of all, I am tired of the cause this has given the scoffers to scoff. So, here are my thoughts about this thing right now. 1) I don't believe Harold Camping. He … [Read more...] about Reflections on the Impending Apocalypse
The Church: Why?
Another gem from Igniter Media. … [Read more...] about The Church: Why?