State of the Pulpit - Mark Driscoll on Joel Osteen

Mark Driscoll is on a roll lately. At the Convergent Conference last month, he pretty much "called out" Brian McLaren, Rob Bell, and Doug Pagitt on their faulty theology.

Last week, at his own church, he treated the congregation to 3.5 minutes of Joel Osteen, and then spent 5 minutes critiquing the clip.

LifeChurch.tv Wellington

Church Field Trip #16

It was only a matter of time before we made it up to the Wellington campus of LifeChurch.tv. They hold their services in a high school auditorium, but don't be fooled, because it was tricked out. This is actually a pre-existing congregation that has been in Wellington for 16 years. Last February, they decided to become a campus of Lifechurch.tv "before someone else in South Florida beat them to it," according to the campus pastor, Larry Mayer.

We arrived about 15 minutes early and milled about in the lobby. At least 4 different people engaged us in genuine conversation. Larry recognized new faces and introduced himself. He then spent about 10 minutes before and also after the service talking to us about their transition, their vision, and their progress. I want to note that every person that spoke to me at this church asked me for my name. For this reason alone, I could have left satisfied. THIS IS HUGE!

This church is currently running two services with almost 500 in attendance. While we were out in the lobby talking, I noticed that the band was already playing inside the amphitheater. Pastor Larry told us that the band plays cover-songs during the pre-service time, so we went inside. Upon entry the band was "blasting" out Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden. At 11 am. That will wake you up for sure.

This was the loudest worship experience we've had. The band tore the roof off of that place. If you were in that crowd and you weren't worshipping and jamming to the music, you didn't have a pulse. I think that I've now determined, after visiting 15 churches, that I am personally not a fan of the "praise team." The "praise team" usually consists of 3 or 4 singers (usually pretty women) singing "parts." I've been to a lot of rock concerts in my life, at least 100, and the phenomenon of the "praise team" seems to be exclusive to the church world. I realize that this is just a personal preference on my part, but I just seem to be more into the worship when I'm not looking at a bunch of pretty girls standing up there without instruments.

When the band finished playing four songs, I wanted them to play four more, but they immediately moved into the teaching by Craig Groeschel via satellite. This was my second experience with live teaching being fed in via video. The first was Flamingo Road Church Sawgrass. Now I don't want to compare these two satellite experiences directly, but it is practically inevitable. The experience at FRC Sawgrass was satisfactory, but LifeChurch.tv are not only the authors, but quite possibly the masters of this new form of church experience.

Craig has mastered this form of teaching. At least 70% of time, he was looking directly into the cameras. They seamlessly switched the feed to whichever camera he happened to be looking at. They kept the shot tight on Craig so that he filled most of the three large screens in our auditorium. Craig addressed the campuses directly and intentionally. And, like the music, the audio feed was loud. All of these elements combined to successfully give the impression that Craig was actually in the room. They nailed it. This success was especially evident when he prodded the audience to participate by reading portions of Bible verses aloud. The entire audience participated just like he was in the room with us.

Since I'm devoting so much of this post to the overall experience, I'm not going to go into depth on the content of Groeschel's teaching. It was theologically sound. It was moving. It was convicting. And he delivered the Gospel in a clear and convicting manner. They just started a series called "Supernatural." You can watch the teaching on their website if you'd like. The teaching time for LifeChurch.tv usually runs about 30-35 minutes on the dot. During his teaching, they inserted at least 4 different video vignettes. We found this to be both unique and refreshing. The video capabilities of this church are off the chain. Rather than put together a 30 second video and tack it onto the beginning or end of the sermon, as many churches do, they actually produced 4 videos of varying lengths, 30 seconds to 4 minutes, and interspersed them throughout the teaching time.

At the close of the service, Pastor Craig led us in at least 5 minutes of prayer time. With my eyes closed and an ethereal music floating through the room, I was at last convinced that Craig was indeed in the room with us. I think that may be the longest period of time that I've spent in prayer in a church, another first. Want one more unique trademark of this church? They had the Communion elements available during the entire service at the side of the auditorium, for those who wanted to partake of them. I think I like that.

After the service, I asked Pastor Larry if LifeChurch.tv had any plans for more campuses in South Florida. He answered, "Orlando would probably be next because we already have a LifeGroup (their version of a small group) up there with 45 people." You see, LifeChurch.tv has stumbled onto another interesting phenomenon with their groundbreaking version of church. They've found that people are using their materials (which are freely available online) and their streaming video of worship and teaching to essentially hold their own versions of the church wherever they live. So, in essence, LifeChurch.tv already has a presence in Orlando, they just have to fill in the blanks. Wow.

If there was a curve, I do believe that this church just set it. Good thing there isn't one.

Follow-up: We received a personally written email from Pastor Mayer on Monday morning.

A Month of Sundays

A newspaper in Seattle sent 31 writers to 31 houses of worship in one weekend. This article, A Month of Sundays, is a keeper. Let's face it, when I am doing my church field trips, I am looking to worship God in the church that I am visiting. Not so with these reporters. And it gives them a unique perspective on the 31 houses of worship that they visit.

A Month of Sundays

For those of you who are easily offended, (we need to talk sometime), I should warn you that 5 out of the 31 writers have potty-mouths.

No Perfect People Allowed

Church by the Glades is doing a series called, No Perfect People Allowed. Pastor Dave uses a phrase that describes the makeup of the church as people who were and are "messed up, shacked up, and jacked up."

Too often, people outside of the church see it being made up of a bunch of moral police, pharisees if you will, who are proudly addicted to their own morality and their attempts to look like good people. And too often, they are exactly right. There are too many of those people inside the church. If you are lucky, you can find a church that is full of people who are continually confessing their addiction to morality and the appearances of godliness, instead looking to transform their hearts and lives from the inside out.

Either out of sheer laziness or just plain flippancy, I find myself being drawn toward the light of transparent authenticity. Translation: I like to just be myself. I also find that this comes quite naturally. But I think that this transparent authenticity is a struggle for many who are trying to follow Jesus. Inevitably, the church breeds those who would strive for the appearance of perfection. And it also breeds conformity, and not the good kind.

There are certain issues that I like to hear preachers address and this would be one of them. Often, people love Jesus and they mean well, but they just don't see their own addiction to the appearances of morality. They like to quote the Bible verses that best serve their purposes and then proceed to chuck those verses at everyone else. Rather than a topic for a four-week series, I'd love to walk into a church where these words hung permanently above the entrance, No Perfect People Allowed.

Dumb and Dumber

Lately, I have involved myself on two different forums of conversation in which I find myself caught in the middle. One forum is populated by conservative, legalistic "watchdogs" who enjoy decrying anything and everything that is foreign to them as heresy. By my mere mention of them with this description, they will undoubtedly label me a heretic as well. Any bets on whether I'll lose any sleep over it?

On the other hand, I've found myself involved in another forum with a bunch of post-modern "question everything" smart-alacks who have a snide retort for anything and everything. I find their commitment to the mentality which requires one to throw common sense out the window absolutely astounding. I've actually been struck speechless on more than one occasion by their comments.

If you put these two groups of individuals together in a room, they might very well bear arms and kill each other. If I could only be so lucky. I find it interesting that both of these groups of supposed Jesus-followers irritate me equally. I'm amazed at the ease with which those who declare allegiance to Jesus can declare hostility on each other.

It really doesn't matter which of them is Dumb, and which of them is Dumber. I find them to be equally stupid.

And concerning my "being caught in the middle". If someone quotes me the Bible verse about being "lukewarm", you might as well include your home address, because I will come over and kick your teeth in.

Church Field Trip Evolution

I had a certain purpose and vision in mind when I began the Church Field Trips. That purpose and vision is in the process of evolving due to outside influence.

• There seems to be genuine interest in hearing about these "Church Worship Experiences". Let's face it, half of us already attend a church regularly and don't get much opportunity to experience other churches. And the other half of us don't want to go to church at all, period. (I will say that if you find yourself in this second group, you could check out the "Internet campuses" for Flamingo Road Church, and Lifechurch.tv for at least a visual experience, albeit somewhat removed.)

• Some people have requested that we visit "churches" that are not Jesus-centered and Bible-based. I.E., Hindu, Jehovah's Witness, Mormon, Universalist, etc. I will admit that the jury is still out on that one, and I'd appreciate input.

• I've had requests from as far away as 80 miles from churches that would like us to visit their church and give a report on the experience.

Porn Sunday

I watched the Porn Sunday Simulcast on the Lifechurch.tv Internet campus. It was powerful. It's interesting that there were over 200 people signed in on the Internet campus and more than 60 of them responded at the end of the simulcast that they struggle with porn and that they want help. Also, more than 20 responded that they wanted to begin a relationship with Jesus. The message by Craig Gross was awesome.
And concerning one of the comments I received this week, Gross said that 1/3 of the people who struggle with pornography are women.



The promo video for their next series, Supernatural, was downright creepy. In a good way.

Bible Fight

Credit for this one goes to Shane. As a matter of fact, I can't word it any better than he did:

"There will be exactly one-half of you that will thank me for passing along this little nugget. And then there’s exactly one-half of you that will probably hate me for it.
What can I say… I walk the line. "

Here is the link to the game, Bible Fight.

XXX Church - #1 Christian Porn Site

It appears that I must clarify my relation to the site xxxchurch.com, or least I need to describe their nature and purpose so that my relationship with them becomes clear. As a couple people have commented, "What are you doing with a link to a porn site on your blog?"

xxxchurch is a site run by two pastors in an effort to educate people about the porn industry and its effect on our culture. They also have support for those trying to overcome their porn habits, as well as support for those actors/actresses who are trying to get out of the porn industry.

I don't really spend much time on their website, though I do use their X3 watch software (it's free.) I do listen to their podcast every week. Each week, they talk about what they're up to in their ministry: live debates with Ron Jeremy, handing out thousands of Jesus Loves Porn Stars Bibles at porn conventions, interviews with actors/actresses who have left the industry as well as those who are still in the industry, interviews with website operators in the industry, and interviews with pastors who are willing to be seen talking to xxxchurch - few and far between.

Everything that they do has a certain tongue-in-cheek sarcastic flare. This is primarily why the religious types don't like them. Need an example? Here's an excerpt from the site:

Men...Here are the facts:

1. We all love to look at nude women.

2. We have all looked at nude women.

3. We all know where we can find pictures of nude women.

By the way, this weekend is their National Porn Sunday. A day of awareness in the church about the porn problem. How many churches in south Florida are participating, you ask? None. Unless you count the Wellington campus of Lifechurch.tv, which is a big supporter of the ministry. I guess it really is one of the elephants in the pew after all.

Pub Theology

Rather than host our usual Dinner and Discussion at our home this week, we decided to take it on the road and inaugurate Pub Theology. We went to Ye Olde Falcon Pub in Davie. They let us use their now defunct cigar room, so it was actually quite conducive to our purposes. Ye Olde Falcon Pub has one of the best beer selections in town (33 taps and over 130 bottles) and they also have some killer authentic dishes like Shepard's pie, bangers and mash, and the Scottish meat pie. In the mood for some Pumpkin Ale? They had two different selections available. That is my kind of pub, though I went for the Anchor Steam, because I've already got some Shipyard Pumpkin Ale at home.



Exodus 40 - Leviticus 2

At the end of the book of Exodus, Moses inspects the completed work of the building of the tabernacle according to God's plans. Upon completion, God moves into the Tabernacle in the form of a cloud.

Leviticus begins with about 9 chapters dealing with the 5 different types of offerings as well as the sins which necessitate those offerings. We covered the burnt offering and the grain offering. Apparently, God does not like honey and yeast, but He does like olive oil and salt, go figure. Also, the business of the burnt offering is pretty nasty to our 21st century "cultured" tastes, unless we've been watching Bear Grylls kill animals with his bare hands. After reading only the first two chapters of Leviticus, I have only this to say: "Thank you Jesus for making yourself a once-for-all sacrifice in payment for our sins."

Our next Dinner and Discussion will be on October 14 at 6 pm. We will attempt cover Leviticus 3 through 9. The next bit of entertaining narrative reading begins in Chapter 10 when Aaron's sons get fried.

Interesting Trivia: The Broward Atheists meet at Ye Olde Falcon Pub every week.