Here are some video resources on community groups that are very thoughtful. This hip Brit avoids calling them “groups” and chooses instead, gospel communities, which do seem a bit different. They are more decentralized, not being primarily centered around a specific weekly /bi-monthly meeting.

While I would still emphasize the importance of a weekly meeting time (more of a both-and deal), I think his emphases on actually living out the gospel with one’s community group is a message we need to hear. We need to think in a more decentralized way.

One point he brings up is not to set up a gospel community by interest group such as a NASCAR group as a local mega-church in our area does (though I’m not condemning this creative method) or by relational affinity, but fairly strictly by location. This way, you actually have to live out and apply the gospel to those you would not ordinarily hang out with.

But since the goal is to spend time with, minister with, literally drop in on, serve alongside of, invite, etc…, it might be wise to aim for locale with a sensitivity toward affinity. Then again, if NASCAR gets folks together to really live out and apply the gospel in community and to their community, then go right ahead (although they really only turn left).

These videos are really worth watching and reflecting upon. And because he’s British, they are also easier to listen to, and of course, interspersed with subtle humor.

Here’s a list of books and articles “Dirty” D.A. Carson (nothing to do with his smell, everyone’s name who starts with the letter “D” gets that term of endearment added) has published lo these many years. They are free for download. I picked up a few.

I just picked up a book called Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands: People in need of change helping people in need of change. Unfortunately it is long and since I read slowly, it will take me some time to get through this bad boy. But already I’m a fan of it. Check out this quote:

People struggling with life in a fallen world often want explanations when what they really need is imagination. They want strategies, techniques, and principles because they simply want things to be better. But God offers much more. People need to look at their families, neighbors, friends, cities, jobs, history, and churches, and see the kingdom. They need imagination-the ability to see what is rel but unseen. This is what Paul fixed his gaze on (2 Cor 4). They need to look at a city and see the glorious company of the redeemed being gathered, amidst a brutal spiritual battle, to live in union with God. They need to look at their children and see a Redeemer pursuing their hearts for his own. They need to scan history and see God accomplishing His purpose.

If we look at our neighbors, neighborhoods, our schools, churches, cities and all we see is the aforementioned-and not a spiritual battle for the passion of the individual hearts as well as the collective culture-we’ll not join the work Jesus has already begun. It does indeed take some imagination to join the fight as well as to not grow weary. John Lenin’s material imagination of no heaven or hell leaves us with only the hope of selfish hearts trying to accomplish something of which there is no precedent or power.

Well despite the best efforts of the NBA to match up Kobe vs. Lebron James, the Orlando Magic will be playing the L.A. Lakers in the NBA finals. As soon as Game 6 ended the Cleveland Cavaliers season, this year’s MVP Lebron James vacated the court. He didn’t congratulate the better team, but instead just took off. He didn’t even speak to the media.

He claimed he was simply a competitive guy and didn’t want to shake hands with Olympic teammate Dwight Howard. He later sent him a congratulatory text message. Now that’s personal. Well, I think Tiger Woods is pretty competitive and he still shakes hands when he loses.

Learning how to fail obviously takes experience. Unfortunately, but obviously, that experience is the experience of actually failing! Sometimes it is quite good to lose.

Facebook can be quite helpful in catching up with folks. But it can also allow you to catch up with folks you may not need to be catching up with. Here’s an example of an NFL player who was catching up with an old female friend he probably shouldn’t have been catching up with (allegedly, according to his wife). Not pretty, the situation, that is, not the NFL lineman. I won’t comment on his beauty or lack of it.

Well, even if the Cleveland Indians took down the Rays for like the 14th straight time in Cleveland, the Orlando Magic were able to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in OT last evening. Of course Cavalier guard Mo Williams guaranteed victory.

First of all, guaranteeing victory is kind of like saying, “You are definitely having a boy.” You have a 50/50 shot at it, so if you are correct, that doesn’t say too much about your skills does it?

And 2nd of all, much like guessing the sex of the baby, you really have no control over what comes out. There are other factors at play like Dwight Howard making free throws or whether Lebron James get the foul call 90 % or 95% of the times he touches the ball.

You can’t guarantee something when you don’t have total control of the outcome. But Mr. Williams won’t be the last person to guarantee victory and be wrong, or people guarantee a boy and be right. It’s just that there are some things which cannot be guaranteed, and to guarantee them reduces your credibility even when you’re right.

I’ve seen several previews for the new horror thriller Drag Me to Hell. Now I shan’t be seeing this movie because it looks a bit too scary for my tastes. But I wasn’t too scared to read a few reviews. Here’s a review that really unearths something more scary and far more devastating than any of the computer generated images.

…..The tag line to the movie is “even good people go to hell,” not in America. In America, when we make a mistake and atone for it, we’re saved. Yes, we have to go through hell to clean up our mess, but we don’t stay there…not in America. All the characters in the movie seem to support this theory, but so what. They put up a valiant fight, and create a to do list for her that will chill you to the bone. As one character said, “You’ll be surprised at what you’ll do to keep from going to hell.” Christine fights diligently for her life; she’s a good person at heart that made a bad decision. Everybody makes mistakes. But I guess if you’ve got to make a bad decision make sure it doesn’t involve a person that can cast an evil curse on you and drag you kicking and screaming into hell.…

In the movie the main character can’t atone for her specific sin. Not even by confessing it. But I think the really scary part is the attitude espoused in this review: in America we don’t deserve to go to Hell, and we ourselves can atone for our own sins. Thus America doesn’t see its need for Jesus. That’s the really scary part and another motivation for evangelism.

Well, I’m learning a bit about certainty these days. My life for the past year has been anything but certain. And now our next step is to find some sort of apprenticeship to prepare us for a church plant some day. Where and when that will be is, well, uncertain.

But you would expect some things to to be certain. That you could simply assume that they will come to pass exactly as you would think they would should come to pass. But few things are really certain enough that we can simply assume them (outside death and taxes).

I experienced a few of those “certainties” this weekend. First of all, the Orlando Magic take a 2 point lead in game 2 with one second left only to see Lebron James make a last second 3 pointer. Last night the Rays took a 10-0 lead and then a 6 run lead into the 9th inning only to give up 7 runs and blow the game 11-10.

The condo where we stayed in Boca Grande this weekend was owned by someone who recently died from cancer only 2 weeks after being diagnosed. One might assume he’d have plenty of time to enjoy his 400,000 dollar condo. But you just can’t assume anything. Well, you can, but you’re probably aware of the aphorism which accompanies the idea of assuming.

Yet I don’t think we need to go hyper-existential and assume we can only know ourselves. We can be certain of the end of the story (Rev 21-22), certain of forgiveness (Col 1:14), certain that he who started the work in us will be faithful to complete it (Phil 1:6), certain that the outcome is of the Lord (115:3), and certain that we are to seek His Kingdom and we’ll be provided for (Matt 6:33).

Now this is not an exhaustive list of certainties but it is enough to trust the Lord of all certainty. This knowledge should keep us humble, but help us struggle against materialism (which was hard for me in a place so nice as Boca Grande), anxiety, and despair.

Micheal Vick is now set up to finish the remainder of his sentence for dog fighting on home confinement. He is allowed to go to church and doctor’s visits and the like until latter July, when he’ll be totally free.

Supposedly he has paid his debt to society (whoever “society” is-the truth is I nor you actually ever get a vote) and he soon can come get back “into society,” supposedly having paid that debt.

Of course his most likely source of income may still not be a possibility for him. Until the commissioner of the NFL sees real remorse for his crime, he has the right to prolong or preclude his return.

On the other side of the fence you have the crazy PETA people (People for the Ethnic Treatment of Animals-they make sure Siamese cats get the same treatment as the American shorthairs) who will never be satisfied that justice has been served. They will display this by showing up at the appropriate NFL team’s “front door” and picketing. Of that you can be sure.

I think they want him to atone for and pay for his “sin,” but what exactly atonement looks like-a life of slave labor, torture or death I don’t know. Those years in prison and ensuing bankruptcy haven’t yet atoned for his sin as they may have in “society’s eyes.”

It is very important to distinguish repentance and atonement. No sort of sorrow or regret or good deeds can atone for sin in God’s eyes. That’s one of the reasons Jesus died and rose. Only Jesus can atone for and make sufficient payment to forgive our sins.

Repentance then is the sorrowful turning away-though imperfectly-from sinful actions and thoughts based on the freedom and power to do so provided by Christ’s atonement. I’m now starting to read Repentance by Jack Miller so I’ll have a better definition soon!

Yesterday I heard a great expression regarding repentance. Someone asked a man, “Is he repentant?” The wise man answered, “I don’t know, ask me in a few years.” It may take years for repentance to be demonstrated to the point where an offended party may say, “Yep, he or she definitely is repentant.” The NFL commissioner will obviously have less time to determine this.

We’ll see how what becomes of Vick. I’m more curious about his profession of faith than his football career. Tony Dungy has met with Vick to discuss both. I’m definitely pulling for him on the faith end; the football end….well I’ll see if he ends up in the Bucs division or not.

But it is nevertheless incredibly important that the offended party (obviously PETA is offended because dogs can’t voice their disgust as clearly as this organization), or those responsible for the offended party, make sure to recognize the difference. Otherwise repentance becomes penance, which is useless and horribly offensive to Jesus.

I was listening to perhaps the greatest interviewer of all time (Jim Rome) yesterday interview perhaps my favorite guest of all time (at least on Rome’s show), Michael Franzese. He was promoting his most recent book as well as answering all kinds of questions. If you ever hear that Rome is interviewing Franzese, it is always worth a listen, no matter how much you may dislike the polarizing Rome.

Michael Franzese is a former mob boss turned informant, who did time in prison, and eventually came to faith in Christ. He does have a place in the sports talk world because of his involvement in sports gambling. I had the pleasure of meeting him at the National Outreach Convention last year in San Diego after he gave his testimony. Anyhow, he had some neat things to say, and I’ll recount three of them.

1.) Rome admitted Franzese did some pretty bad things and posed some questions, “How do you sleep at night? Do you feel guilty? Do you try to make things right to atone for them?” Francese admitted that the things he has done still bother him some times, but that he could rest assure he was forgiven by God completely. He admitted that no one can atone for his or her past wrongs. It was awesome to hear that and be reminded God can and does forgive rotten sinners like you. And me too.

2.) Rome asked him what he thought about Michael Jordan’s father’s mysterious rest stop murder and Jordan’s concomitant retirement (the first of three) from the NBA. Many have speculated Jordan was told to retire because of some gambling issues and that his father was murdered because of his involvement in this dangerous world of high stakes gambling. Francese had no proof to offer, but fully believed both his father’s murder and forced retirement were directly connected to Jordan’s admitted gambling problem. I knew there was a reason I couldn’t stand Micheal Jordan when I was younger…..

3.) Someone called up the show and attributed his desire to graduate from college as a direct result of one of Franzese’s speeches at Pepperdine University. He asked him some pointers on how to interview more effectively. Franzese gave out his personal email, a gmail account nonetheless, and told the young man to email him with some more specifics. He promised to get back with him. Franzese gets hundreds of emails after every stint on Rome’s show and personally responds to each one. Now that’s my kind of guy.

It was encouraging to hear a well respected Christian attempt to bring Christ’s reign to all of life.