Wednesday, October 31, 2007

No Good Reason to Get Married

We were having a good conversation with some cohabiting single friends of ours recently, and it reminded me of this video. As usual, any video from lifechurch.tv is fun and entertaining.

Why should you bother to get married, anyways?


Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Pastoral Cribs - Ed Young Jr. @ Fellowship Church

This is a trip. It is fun to see how the other half lives.


Monday, October 29, 2007

No Good Reason To Go To Church

Shaun Groves wrote an article called, No Good Reason to Go to Church. It was thought-provoking, to say the least.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Calvary Chapel Jupiter

Church Field Trip #17

The drive to get to Calvary Chapel Jupiter took about an hour. They meet at Jupiter High School, but they are presently building a church in Jupiter Farms which they will move into sometime in the spring of 2008. We parked our vehicle and then embarked on what seemed like a 1/4 mile winding journey through the school campus until we finally found the auditorium. Sometimes, in order to have a worship service, you do what you have to do. Because of this long walk, we received about 8 standard greetings from all of the greeters who were stationed along the way. Their attendance runs at about 500.

According to the Worship Pastor, Jeff Thompson, this week's worship was stripped down and acoustic. Though stripped down, it was still pretty high-energy. I don't know quite how to explain it, but sometimes I have fun during worship because the atmosphere is "helping me along" (Church by the Glades and Lifechurch.tv come to mind.) At other times, that sense of worship seems to come from somewhere inside of me with a sense of it being more raw (CC Jupiter and Oasis church come to mind.) I wouldn't say that either of these worship experiences is better than the other, just different. Jeff promised that next week, they would be back to their usual "plugged in" experience which also includes a DJ. Big props on using a DJ, Jeff. As I've mentioned before, the heavy participation by the audience during worship at CCJ was a big influence on my worship experience.

Pastor Dan Plourde founded the church 10 years ago. A few years back, he determined that his church of upper class homeschoolers had become too comfortable in their own Christian culture bubble, and they were no longer reaching the unchurched community. So he decided to change their atmosphere by bringing in Jeff with a fresh take on worship.

Plourde puts a high priority on expository preaching. So much so that the slogan for the church written on all of their materials is: Chapter by Chapter...Verse by Verse. Presently, Plourde is working his way through the Book of Genesis. Specifically, he taught through Genesis 41, the story of Joseph's rise to power.

He began the teaching by asking the congregation this question: "How many of you here are believers? If you are a believer, please raise your hand. This message today is for you: You should be absolutely convinced, as Joseph was, that God is with you." It is ironic, how often we have attended these churches only to find that the message was solely intended for the church family and not the unchurched who might be visiting.

He went on to say that this was "the great promise of the Bible: That God is always with us." To illustrate this, he referenced Isaiah 41:10, Hebrews 13:5-6, and Matthew 28:20.

Pastor Dan was convinced that the story of Joseph had special meaning for this congregation in particular, because they are a congregation that is "blessed when it comes to the corporate ladder." "Many of us in this room would be considered the rising stars of the business world, much like Joseph." "There are CEO's here, you've done very well, you're very successful. "This congregation could be considered well-off." "So this might be the most appropriate teaching for this congregation - Joseph's rise to power."

Mid-way through the teaching, he related a story about a motivational/infomercial speaker, Stephen K. Scott, who ended his series of motivational tapes by telling the listener that he was a Christian. The motivational speaker said that "he wouldn't be doing his job, if he didn't tell people the Gospel of Jesus." Unfortunately, Pastor Dan's only mention of Jesus at all was in this quote of the motivational speaker. And the quote itself was almost self-condemning of Pastor Dan's own failure to tell those congregants whose hands were not raised anything at all about Jesus.

He pointed out that he would be available to speak to visitors at the connections table outside in the courtyard (reminiscent of the Ten Minute Party at Calvary Fellowship). I like this because it sends the message that the pastor places a priority on meeting new people. We were given a gift bag with a variety of informational pamphlets, including a doctrinal belief statement. It also included a sermon CD entitled "The Gospel" and a small booklet by Josh McDowell, More than a Carpenter. One of our group asked the pastor how many hands were not raised when he asked the believers to raise their hands. He explained that, "on a typical Sunday, probably 20% of the congregation would indicate that they are not believers. And another 20% probably think that they are even though they are most likely not."

Follow-up: Jeff, the worship leader, asked us to join him for lunch. In 16 church visits, this would be a first. We accepted, ate BBQ, and talked for almost two hours. It was an enlightening conversation.
Follow-up: We received a hand-written note from the "Calvary Jupiter Staff" including an invitation to their Newcomers Night.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Heretics

A beloved friend of mine has become engrossed with a couple of sites that fancy themselves "Heretic Hunters". I waded through these sites and compiled a list of these heretics. After seeing many of the names on the list, I went ahead and added my own name to the list just to be on the safe side. We'll see if I lose any sleep over it. Feel free to submit your own name if you'd like me to add you to the list. The sites are Lighthouse Trails and Apprising Ministries, but I like to call them Load of Crap 1 and Load of Crap 2. The list includes, not only individuals, but also organizations and denominations as well that are labeled as heretical.

It's a bit long, but here's the list of heretics (recognize anyone?):

Alpha Course
Rick Warren
Awana
Bruce Wilkinson
Youth Specialties
Brennan Manning
Rob Bell
The Pope
Catholicism
Brian Mclaren
Dan Kimball
Tony Jones
Erwin McManus
Mark Driscoll
Zondervan
Doug Pagitt
Bill Hybels
Moody Bible Institute
Eugene Peterson
Bob Coy
David Crowder
Billy Graham
Mennonites
Beth Moore
Max Lucado
Donald Miller
Tony Campolo
Campus Crusade
Michael W. Smith
Newsboys
Jeremy Camp
Delirious
Phil Keagy
Rich Mullins
Baylor University
J.K. Rowling
Tim Lahaye
Chuck Swindoll
David Jeremiah
Kay Arthur
World Vision
Leonard Sweet
Phillip Yancey
Josh McDowell
Luis Palua
Greg Laurie
NavPress
Intervarsity
Christianity Today
Relevant Magazine
Lutherans
Episcopalians
American Baptists
Presbyterians
Methodists
Women of Faith
Oprah Winfrey
Emerging Church Movement
Emergent Church Village
Joel Osteen
T.D. Jakes
Ed Young Jr.
Southern Baptist Convention
Lifeway Stores
Mother Theresa
Quakers
TBN
Bono of U2
N.T. Wright
“Christ-Followers”
Rick Mckinley
Craig Groeschel
Andy Stanley
Mark Beeson
Lew Graff
Chris G.
Ryan C.
Matt E.
Matt B.
Fred U.
Shane B.



Wednesday, October 24, 2007

The 4-Hour Workweek

I heard Tim Ferris, the 29 year old author, give an interview on Paul and Young Ron recently and my interest was piqued. Surprisingly, this book was really great! I don't usually go for "business/self-help/travel/get-rich/time management" books, but this one had many redeeming qualities. There are quite a few useful tidbits that I will take away from this book, not the least of which is speed-reading.

That said, I should also point out that Ferris and I don't always see eye to eye. My Christian, pastoral, family, dog-loving, South Florida lifestyle doesn't lend itself easily to the lifestyle that he prescribes in his book. Nonetheless, there were many small pieces of advice that he gives which I find to be invaluable, especially coming from a 29 year old vagabond.

Here are some excerpts that really jumped out at me:

  • Tim "cheats the system" and becomes the Chinese National Champion in Kickboxing by pushing his opponents off of the platform for TKO's. In this illustration, he shows not only his genius, but also his complete lack of morals and respect for their sport.
  • Some of Tim's best stories are about other people. Like Jean-Marc, who was stranded in Ghana (West Africa) for four months surviving on a mush-like concoction of corn meal and spinach. "The most basic of foods and good friends proved to be the only real necessities, giving him the most life-affirming epiphany: The worst really isn't that bad. To enjoy life, you don't need fancy nonsense."
  • "I hope you're sitting down. I'm going to tell you something that upsets a lot of people. I never watch the news and I don't read the newspaper. I cultivate selective ignorance for my own good. I read the headlines through the newspaper machines and nothing more."
  • He teaches you how to read 200% faster in less than 10 minutes. I'm already somewhat of a speedreader, but this was the first time I'd seen anyone lay it out so simply and so quickly.
  • He identifies time wasters and shows you how to ease them out of your system: television, reading and watching the news, all non-fiction reading and most fiction reading, email, internet, etc. You see where this is going yet?
  • He tells great stories about the wonders of global outsourcing and currency exchanges. I won't go into detail here, but it is pretty crazy what can be done in our new global economy.
  • The criticism sandwich was a great illustration that I'd never heard before: first, you praise a person for something, then you deliver the criticism, and then close with a topic-shifting praise to exit the sensitive topic.
  • "I have quit three jobs and been fired from all the rest. Getting fired, despite sometimes coming as a surprise and leaving you scrambling to recover, is often a Godsend: Someone else makes the decision for you, and it's impossible to sit in the wrong job for the rest of your life. Most people aren't lucky enough to get fired and die a slow spiritual death over 30-40 years."
  • He tells the story of the rich, successful, Harvard M.B.A. American and the Mexican fisherman who "sleeps late, fishes a little, plays with his children, takes siestas with his wife, and strolls into the village every evening to sip wine and play guitar with his friends." Who is better off - the rich American or the well-rested fisherman?
  • "Whether you're aware of it or not, material possessions create indecision and distractions, consuming attention and making unfettered happiness a real chore. It is impossible to realize how distracting all this crap is until you get rid of it."
Unfortunately, if I take Tim's advice, I'll be spending a lot less time on the internet as well as a lot less time reading. (With the exception of my Bible, of course). We'll see.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Photos of our Gatherings

Our group of friends try to get together as often as possible. A few of us have been known to throw parties at our homes. Sometimes we go out to the bar, or we go bowling, play billiards or throw darts. And sometimes we just gather and hang out around a bonfire. For the past couple years, we've managed to have these gatherings at least once or twice a month.

We've grown to love each other, depend on each other, and we've met some great new people too. Depending on the circumstances, our numbers have ranged anywhere from 8 to 45 people. There is now a link on the right-hand side of this site which is labeled "Photos of our Gatherings". This link will continue to catalog some of the pictorial highlights from our gatherings.


Friday, October 19, 2007

Sex Sells

Oakleaf Church, in Cartersville Georgia, did a series last spring about Sex. Like many churches, they got this idea, as well as the promotional materials from Granger Church. So what makes Oakleaf stand out from the crowd?

How about the fact that the pastor recorded the calls that he recieved from angry community members and compiled them into an audio mix. For your listening pleasure, I present that mix here:

Oakleaf Voice Mails

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Among the People

"I honestly can’t remember the last time I went into a Starbucks and there wasn’t a pastor in there feeling good about himself because he was 'among the lost.' Nothing wrong with Starbucks and nothing wrong with hanging out there, but it does make me laugh that it is more filled with Christian workers than it is with disconnected people." - Gary Lamb



"Christians hang out at Starbucks…. disconnected people hang out in bars." -Chris Elrod


This must me why I prefer to pay four bucks for a pint of Guinness rather than a cup of coffee.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Ask Anything

Mark Driscoll (Mars Hill Church in Seattle) has launched a site called Ask Anything that allows you to ask him any question that may come to your mind. You can then vote on the questions that others have submitted to the site. On November 1, they will end the voting process. In January 2008, Driscoll will begin a 9 week teaching series addressing the top 9 questions from the site.

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