Don't forget that 2.22 is meeting in the Activity Center on Friday evenings at 6:30pm!
*More pictures coming soon, when Aaron can remember the 2.22 Flickr account password!
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Join us for 2.22 on Friday Nights!
*More pictures coming soon, when Aaron can remember the 2.22 Flickr account password!
Thursday, May 25, 2006
down with the dc Talk
One of Jeff Crott's claims to fame is that he attended the same school with homeboys Toby McKeehan, Kevin Max Smith and Michael Tait - better known as dc Talk. I think they were even considering bringing Crotts on as a fourth member of the Talk, but they couldn't sell the concept of "Surfer Rap" to the record labels. That, and the fact that Crotts can't dance.
Just after I became a Christian, their album "Free At Last" came out & it was the first Christian album I ever bought (it was either that or Smitty's 10 year album, I can't remember). So I've been down with the dc Talk for quite some time now.
Well, looks like they have a new album coming out - but hang on, don't get excited and start tearin' down the walls - it's just another one of those 10-year-anniversary-tribute-albums performed by various Gotee Artists. They did something similar before, but it was just a re-release with a few bells & whistles- oh, and a bonus documentary/movie that was supposed to be released in the theatres, but for some reason - perhaps they were busy as a school boy makin' an "A" - it was never finished, so they decided to slap the unedited film on a dvd and sell it for the same price as a fully edited movie (I bought it).
I know it's normal for bands - dc Talk no exception - to do "Greatest Hits" albums. In fact, I snatched theirs up quick, fast in a hurry (their re-mix of "Say The Word" has got to be one of the best re-mixes I've ever heard). But another 10 year anniversary tribute to another old album? You'd almost think two things:
1) It's just a marketing tool to make some more money. But hey, you know that they're down wit the flow in the know on the go like a pro not for show 'cause they ain't in the biz for the dough or the me or the ray, all the dough's gotta stay 'cause they can't, no they can't, take it home anyway.
So it couldn't be that.
2) They don't have anything better for a new album. Even if DJ's don't play it.
I don't know...I really don't suspect either. After all, since their "temporary" breakup, Toby & Tait have had successful solo albums. Oh - and
All speculations aside, from what I've heard so far, it sounds pretty good.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Careful Little Links
Be careful little eyes what you see.In a recent article, Al Mohler remembers the Darwinian display at the London Zoo almost a year ago.
Be careful little ears what you hear.
Justin Taylor introduces us to some new arrangements of some old hymns. Good Stuff.
Be careful little mouth what you say.
Phil Johnson offers his insight on using vulgar and profane language.
Friday, May 19, 2006
More on Modesty
Once again, our very own Todd Murray is gaining popularity with his thoughts about modesty at the wedding ceremony. But what's more important than Todd's "fame & fortune" :o) is that the message of modesty is being further discussed among Christians.Al Mohler, president of Southern Seminary, recently did a radio program on this very topic, and referred to Todd's admonition to brides about wedding day attire. You can read his current blog here, where you'll find links to the radio program, which you can download for free.
Nancy Leigh DeMoss has several wonderful resources on modesty for women, that you can find here. I'd encourage all of our ladies to either purchase the cd's or listen online to any of Nancy's series on modesty. She addresses the heart attitude of modesty first, then discusses (without being legalistic) issues of appropriate clothing. Great stuff!
And don't forget the Mahaney girls have been blogging about this already. Read it here.
Now, anytime anyone address the issue of modesty among women, there can be a tendency to think that women are the only problem. Well, without repeating what any of the speakers above have probably already said, let me just make these few points:
- Guys and girls are equally responsible in this area.
- Guys have the responsibility to avert their eyes and control their minds.
- Girls have an equal responsibility to avoid wearing and acting in ways that are tempting to men.
- It's as "simple" as that - no one (male or female) should do anything that would cause a fellow believer (male or femail) to stumble. Cf. Romans 14; 1 Corinthians 8; 10:23-33; Philippians 2:1-4)
Perhaps this short quote from Richard Baxter (quoted by Nancy Leigh DeMoss in "The Look") says it best:
“And though it be their sin and vanity that is the cause [of lust], it is nevertheless your sin to be the unnecessary occasion…You must not lay a stumbling-block in their way, nor blow up the fire of their lust…You must walk among sinful persons as you would do with a candle among straw or gunpowder; or else you may see the flame which you did not foresee, when it is too late to quench it.”
*If this still seems like an one-sided attack against women, I'll be fair and post some resources for the guys soon. :o)
Monday, May 08, 2006
Soaked in Blood and Singed with Fire
I received the following email from a dear brother:
I had the blessed privilege of attending the “Together for the Gospel” conference a week ago with others in our church. It was God-besotted, Christ-uplifting, and H.S. infused. I wanted to share with you some of John Piper’s message (all of the speakers were well-prepared and worth quoting, but Piper always has a way of waking me out of my consumerism mentality).
My prayer is that you are sitting under the kind of preaching that he is calling for and then living in light of it, or that you are that type of preacher yourself. The cross of Christ and the lake of fire; and we want a flippant, therapeutic, stand-up comic in our pulpit? God help us.
He included the following excerpt:
Preaching as Expository Exultation for the Glory of God
John Piper
Together for the Gospel Conference
Louisville, Kentucky
April 27, 2006
God did not ordain the cross of Christ or create the lake of fire3 in order to communicate the insignificance of belittling his glory. The death of the Son of God and the damnation of unrepentant human beings are the loudest shouts under heaven that God is infinitely holy, and sin is infinitely offensive, and wrath is infinitely just, and grace is infinitely precious, and our brief life—and the life of every person in your church and in your community—leads to everlasting joy or everlasting suffering. If our preaching does not carry the weight of these things to our people, what will? Veggie Tales? (Not in a million years) Radio? Television? Discussion groups? Emergent conversations?
God planned for his Son to be crucified (Revelation 13:8; 2 Timothy 1:9) and for hell to be terrible (Matthew 25:41) so that we would have the clearest witnesses possible to what is at stake when we preach. What gives preaching its seriousness is that the mantle of the preacher is soaked with the blood of Jesus and singed with fire of hell. That’s the mantle that turns mere talkers into preachers. Yet tragically some of the most prominent evangelical voices today diminish the horror of the cross and the horror of hell—the one stripped of its power to bear our punishment, and the other demythologized into self-dehumanization and the social miseries of this world.4
Oh that the rising generations would see that the world is not overrun with a sense of seriousness about God. There is no surplus in the church of a sense of God’s glory. There is no excess of earnestness in the church about heaven and hell and sin and salvation. And therefore the joy of many Christians is paper thin. By the millions people are amusing themselves to death with DVDs, and 107-inch TV screens, and games on their cell phones, and slapstick worship, while the spokesmen of a massive world religion write letters to the West in major publications saying, “The first thing we are calling you to is Islam . . . It is the religion of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil with the hand, tongue and heart. It is the religion of jihad in the way of Allah so that Allah’s Word and religion reign Supreme.”5 And then these spokesmen publicly bless suicide bombers who blow up children in front of Falafel shops and call it the way to paradise. This is the world in which we preach.
And yet incomprehensibly, in this Christ-diminishing, soul-destroying age, books and seminars and divinity schools and church growth specialists are bent on saying to young pastors, “Lighten up.” “Get funny.” “Do something amusing.” To this I ask, Where is the spirit of Jesus? “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25). “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell” (Matthew 5:29). “Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead” (Matthew 8:22). “Whoever would be first among you must be slave of all” (Mark 10:44). “Fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). “Some of you they will put to death . . . But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives” (Luke 21:16-19).
Would the church growth counsel to Jesus be, “Lighten up, Jesus. Do something amusing.” And to the young pastor: “Whatever you do, young pastor, don’t be like the Jesus of the Gospels. Lighten up.” From my perspective, which feels very close to eternity these days, that message to pastors sounds increasingly insane.
You can read the entire sermon here.
Purchase audio from the conference here.
Get a play-by-play recap of the conference here.
I had the blessed privilege of attending the “Together for the Gospel” conference a week ago with others in our church. It was God-besotted, Christ-uplifting, and H.S. infused. I wanted to share with you some of John Piper’s message (all of the speakers were well-prepared and worth quoting, but Piper always has a way of waking me out of my consumerism mentality).
My prayer is that you are sitting under the kind of preaching that he is calling for and then living in light of it, or that you are that type of preacher yourself. The cross of Christ and the lake of fire; and we want a flippant, therapeutic, stand-up comic in our pulpit? God help us.
He included the following excerpt:
Preaching as Expository Exultation for the Glory of God
John Piper
Together for the Gospel Conference
Louisville, Kentucky
April 27, 2006
God did not ordain the cross of Christ or create the lake of fire3 in order to communicate the insignificance of belittling his glory. The death of the Son of God and the damnation of unrepentant human beings are the loudest shouts under heaven that God is infinitely holy, and sin is infinitely offensive, and wrath is infinitely just, and grace is infinitely precious, and our brief life—and the life of every person in your church and in your community—leads to everlasting joy or everlasting suffering. If our preaching does not carry the weight of these things to our people, what will? Veggie Tales? (Not in a million years) Radio? Television? Discussion groups? Emergent conversations?
God planned for his Son to be crucified (Revelation 13:8; 2 Timothy 1:9) and for hell to be terrible (Matthew 25:41) so that we would have the clearest witnesses possible to what is at stake when we preach. What gives preaching its seriousness is that the mantle of the preacher is soaked with the blood of Jesus and singed with fire of hell. That’s the mantle that turns mere talkers into preachers. Yet tragically some of the most prominent evangelical voices today diminish the horror of the cross and the horror of hell—the one stripped of its power to bear our punishment, and the other demythologized into self-dehumanization and the social miseries of this world.4
Oh that the rising generations would see that the world is not overrun with a sense of seriousness about God. There is no surplus in the church of a sense of God’s glory. There is no excess of earnestness in the church about heaven and hell and sin and salvation. And therefore the joy of many Christians is paper thin. By the millions people are amusing themselves to death with DVDs, and 107-inch TV screens, and games on their cell phones, and slapstick worship, while the spokesmen of a massive world religion write letters to the West in major publications saying, “The first thing we are calling you to is Islam . . . It is the religion of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil with the hand, tongue and heart. It is the religion of jihad in the way of Allah so that Allah’s Word and religion reign Supreme.”5 And then these spokesmen publicly bless suicide bombers who blow up children in front of Falafel shops and call it the way to paradise. This is the world in which we preach.
And yet incomprehensibly, in this Christ-diminishing, soul-destroying age, books and seminars and divinity schools and church growth specialists are bent on saying to young pastors, “Lighten up.” “Get funny.” “Do something amusing.” To this I ask, Where is the spirit of Jesus? “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25). “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell” (Matthew 5:29). “Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead” (Matthew 8:22). “Whoever would be first among you must be slave of all” (Mark 10:44). “Fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). “Some of you they will put to death . . . But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives” (Luke 21:16-19).
Would the church growth counsel to Jesus be, “Lighten up, Jesus. Do something amusing.” And to the young pastor: “Whatever you do, young pastor, don’t be like the Jesus of the Gospels. Lighten up.” From my perspective, which feels very close to eternity these days, that message to pastors sounds increasingly insane.
You can read the entire sermon here.
Purchase audio from the conference here.
Get a play-by-play recap of the conference here.
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