Amy and I had an opportunity to share the gospel with a fellow passenger on our way home from Atlanta last Thursday. Since lightning struck the tower and caused a fire, we didn’t go anywhere for 2 hours after boarding. The woman sitting next to us was very loquacious and brought up some topics that made it easy for a gospel transition.

Two things that stood out from our time sitting at the terminal:

1.) If you hear another couple engaging in gospel conversation behind you, don’t turn around and interject, and proceed to give a canned gospel presentation of stuff you think may have been left out. One lady did that, and later our new friend joked that she felt we had “ganged up on her.” She joked, but she wasn’t entirely joking. Amy and I spent a lot of time-which we had plenty of-asking questions, listening, and responding at appropriate times. The best thing would have been for this lady to pray for us. We needed it.

2.) When in doubt, go for the Prodigal Son story. For a long time in our conversation, it felt like we just couldn’t get across to our friend that the gospel was something entirely different than any other religion. It wasn’t just the same religion or the same thing she believed with a different “label.” So following Keller’s example, I used that parable as a lens to view Christianity. It was so appropriate because Jesus told that parable when he confronted people who were confident in their own goodness. After the story, she began to see that the gospel was something entirely different. We worked so long just to get to the point where we could say, “There is a fundamental difference in what you and we are espousing.”

It was her goodness just as much as her badness that got in the way. It’s sad to me when people don’t realize how much they desperately need a Savior. But it’s also sad when that someone is me.

For the past 3 years, Hope Pres has hosted an art show for the community. Last year we added live music and it made quite a difference in not only the quality of the event: it kept folks there a lot longer. So this Friday May 1st and Saturday May 2nd from 7-10 pm, we’ll be making it 4 years in a row.

I’ve slightly tweaked the vision and purpose for the show over the years. The past two years our primary focus has been to:

1.) Bless the community by giving them a culturally enriching experience
2.) Bless the artists and musicians in the community by giving them a venue to sell and/or display their work

If you’re in the area, grab someone and come on out to support this free event. It’s worth the price of admission, and you can grab some free Starbuck’s coffee as well.

For those that know or didn’t know, Amy and I just got back from the church planting assessment center. While it was intense, it was not nearly as tough as I had expected.

We received evaluation from 6 folks who know us well (each of us had 6 people fill out extensive evaluations on us, our ministry, our marriage, etc…) and went over these evaluations with the assessors. In addition, there were a number of assessors who had been on their 2nd or 3rd church plant, and were able to speak love and truth into our lives. Next, there were peer evaluations filled out by fellow candidates and their wives (6 couples in all). Finally we had to take personality profiles (Amy and I were on opposite ends of the spectrum, which is good) and extensive self evaluations. The latter were compared with evaluations filled out by those who know us, and we could see where we rated ourselves lower and higher than them (for the most part I was significantly lower). Hard to take at times, but incredibly helpful to see how one is perceived. Definitely worth the price of admission.

In addition, we were assessed on evangelism, leadership, preaching, teamwork, etc… The days were long, but nights were pretty relaxed as we hit up a Mexican restraunt every night for snacks and beverages.

On Thursday morning we received the recommendation of “Provisionally Qualified” to plant a church. So now we are in the process of seeking some sort of apprenticeship which will help prepare us to plant a church in the future. So that is a “what’s new” in the life of me, Amy, and crazy Connar.

I apologize for the Black and White picture of the group. For some reason, my printer/scanner was having flashbacks to the 50’s.

Here’s a good list of books monergism (click on “visit this link”) recommends as a resource in helping you grow in your faith, wherever you are in that journey. But it also can serve as a resource in discipling someone else toward a greater maturity in their faith. Both are the responsibilities of all believers in some way, shape, or form.

John Madden has officially retired from his broadcasting career to spend more time with his family. Funny how at 73 this realization finally came to him. Anyhow, Madden will best be known by me as the one broadcaster who will not travel by plane (only by a “tricked out” bus), as the Czar of the Telestrator, and as the Captain of the Obvious (he once circled Brett Favre’s mouth piece, and highlighted how he would take it out to talk, and then put it back before the play).

For me and many others, he was very hard to listen to because of his incredibly obvious comments (I know some who used to completely turn down TV volume and turn on the radio broadcast) and his “man-crush” on Brett Favre.

Nevertheless sports talk radio hosts and ESPN have spoken very highly of him, even expressing sadness in his retirement and how the next guy, Chris Collinsworth, will have big shoes to fill. The only thing I can really chalk all this respect up to is his character; no one could really hate the guy. I guess it shows that in our culture today, character is nearly as important as skill in one’s craft.

Here’s a reflection of some Passover/Holy Week opportunities that one woman found very beneficial to her soul. The strange thing is that she doesn’t really believe in the reality they portray. To define existentialism is like defining breakfast, but you can click here to read an entirely existentialist view of the Passover and Easter (I sometimes use existential meaning “experiential” because that is part of the pie, just not the WHOLE pie as in existentialism).

For this woman, it doesn’t matter that the events of the Exodus as celebrated in the Passover Seder or Jesus’ actual bodily resurrection didn’t actually occur. That doesn’t mean anything. What matters is that through these symbols, you feel some sort of connection to God, the spiritual world, or yourself. There is no ultimate reality, just your own personal experience.

I encourage you to read some of the comments. Sad, but typical to many.

I wrote an article for the Bradenton Herald last week. In it, I draw a comparison between the Church and the creative world with America and Soccer. I like the analogy, but the title itself might put you to sleep. Nevertheless I don’t think it will be a waste of 2 your minutes (which are always non-refundable). Click here to read it.

The article is supposed to whet appetites for our Coffeehouse/Art Show at Hope on Friday May 1st and Sat May 2nd from 7-10 pm. We really have some quality musicians and artists, and over 3/4 of them come from outside the Church as far as I can tell.

I tend to be fairly pragmatic, but this seems a bit over the top. I’m all for efficiency and use of technology to help assist in discipleship and evangelism because my Protestant forefathers used every bit of technology to do the same thing. But I wonder if this is really the way to go about it. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Before you read this, please understand that I’m not a Rick Warren hater or “angry blogger guy;” he’s done way more stuff for Jesus than I have. Yet this method of church growth just makes me wonder a bit. Click here to encounter a different methodology that certainly elicits some reflection.

Well my attempt at being a Communist, and moderating comments has come to an end. Several people had posted some fairly sharp things on my feeding sea gulls post. You can read them here. I’ve come to the conclusion that if you think feeding sea gulls at the beach is a good idea, and you think I’m an actually an “idiot,” I can live with that. So eat some freedom fries and the two of you who posted under the communist regime, God bless you.

Sadly a 22 year-old Angels pitcher named Nick Adenhart was killed along with a few others in an accident a few days ago. Standard DUI hit and run, where the guy was driving with a suspended license from a previous DUI incident. Does suspending licenses really stop such accidents from occurring? I don’t have any solutions, like caning or anything, but man it’s a shame.

One fill-in host for the Collin Cowherd (sports talk) show tried to stay positive about this sad incident. He said the only thing a “positive” person could take from this was simply to find your passion and do it everyday. Somehow this can provide fulfillment and overcome the uncertainty of life?

I guess what really bothered me the most, is not that he didn’t say, “Well I guess I should become a Christian because I never know the day or the hour I could be taken, and I will bow my knee to Jesus one day, either it will be as a heaven-bound believer or a hell-bound unbeliever.”

I guess what I really hoped for was a slightly less self-concerned, less self-absorbed question of what life is really about. I realize that people are incredibly existential (no ultimate reality, just your own existence) but I was hoping for at least a deeper existential question like “Are my passions really worth it? Have I missed something completely? Do my passions really fulfill me? Is fulfillment found in giving rather taking?”

I mean the dude from Into The Wild was not a Christian but he wrestles with quite deeper existential questions that do find answer in the gospel.

The fact that such shallow and self-centered conclusions are being reached amidst a confrontation with our own mortality ought to concern everyone. At some point, Christians really need to answer questions that are being asked ( if it’s security, eternal fears, fear of future, significance, feeling judged, etc…).

But there is also a place to ask questions that haven’t been raised as well. A confrontation with our own or other’s mortality may (I know this dude is not a representative for everyone, but I doubt he’s in the minority) not simply raise the same questions I think it used to raise. It may take Christians raising them to their friends.