A week or two ago I heard an amazing rescue story. I really love rescue stories, particularly when folks are rescued from the sea. But land rescues/survival stories are still pretty cool.

A 76 year old woman had been lost in the woods while hunting (which probably goes to show they should stick to driving in the left lane for their sense of excitement!), and the main search party had been called off after 10 days. Her daughters had already finished planning her memorial service when she was found. Talk about emotional roller coaster.

The interesting thing about her discovery was in the how: ravens. Ravens were circling overhead, and the rescue party simply followed those ravens. God is sovereign (in control) over all of the earth and everything in it. This time he used ravens, but He is free to use whatever means He deems fit.

Seeing God use these ravens reminds me that He is still involved in our every day affairs. And to quote Gandalf, “You were meant to find the ring, and that is a comforting thought indeed.”

If you want to check out the article, click here.

You may or may not have heard of some loose entity known as the “emerging” or “emergent church.” Mark Driscoll, pastor of a mega-church in Seattle called Mars Hill, gave a lecture at Southeastern Seminary on the main three streams of thought out there in this non-denominational lumping. At one time he was connected with some folks as part of this “emerging” whatever-you-want-to-call it. So he speaks as a former ‘insider’ and does so quite honestly, and difficultly, since some of the men are/were his friends and he knows their families and vice versa. This would no doubt be a difficult lecture to give.

In case you don’t feel like listening to the hour long lecture (but it goes quick because he is absolutely hilarious), I’ll briefly summarize some of his main three divisions, of which only one he really refers to as “emergent.”

1.) “Cool/hip churches.” These are churches which are completely evangelical, and are willing to consider different ways of ministering to a totally different audience than we had 50 years ago. As far as methods and what each church looks like-that will be different-but they may look a little different than your church (possibly). However, they are distinctly Evangelical and do not compromise the gospel. Such names in this stream include Donald Miller, Dan Kimball. However, they probably don’t fit into “emerging church” status.

2.) “Emergent Village”-These are churches who in seeking to win the lost, have really, in Driscoll’s opinion, lost touch with the true gospel. He calls them “revisionists”-wondering what God really meant when He said stuff about homosexuality, gender differences, and atonement/symbol of the cross. Reaction to scripture is not obedience, but dialog and conversation. Such names include Brian McClaren, Rob Bell (Velvet Elvis) and Doug Pagett. Unfortunately some of their professed influences include John Dominic Crossan (a dude from the Jesus seminar-denies Jesus’ resurrection), Marcus Borg (panentheist-no creator/creature distinction), and Ken Wilbur (wrote A brief history of everything-a Buddhist intrepretation).

Some of McClaren’s books are A Generous Orthodoxy and A New Kind of Christian (which won the Christian book award several years ago). NPR’s religion editor calls him the “new Martin Luther.” Winsome and relational, he has a strong following.

However Driscoll questions whether or not these churches are actually growing. They’ve compromised to reach people, but they really aren’t doing that.

3.) Calvinist stream-These are young, reformed (at least in regards to salvation)
pastors who see an importance in a return to expositional (verse-by-verse) preaching, usually an hour long, elders, more charismatic in worship, and have more of a connection to the historical church. They agree culture has changed, and need to think of new methods to reach the lost. Such include having night services as well (Seattle has more dogs than kids, but many singles), hosting secular concerts in a building they purchased, and more relational evangelism-specifically hospitality.

Pastors include Driscoll, CJ Maheney, Sovereign Grace folk, Matt Chandler, Acts 29 Church planting network.

They tend to be younger but are willing and to sit under older men and be taught by John Piper, D.A. Carson, Tim Keller, and J.I. Packer. Those are names I trust.

Driscoll closed his lecture with some questions that folks in his camp are asking: Why are so many people into video game “World of War Craft” or Ultimate Fighting (the demographic which is least churched 18-34). Paul looked at the idols at Mars Hill and saw what they believed. His goal is to have people take a peak into these cultures and see what’s going on-then they will know how to minister to them. To be biblically faithful and culturally fruitful.

I watched a 48 Hours Mystery special (as usual) this week. In every story, it looks like a perfect family from the outside until they dig up something like porn, infidelity, drugs, or other illicit activity. And when they have Christian families, often all or some of the above have been included.

However this time, I found an interesting/wonderful/bewildering display of grace. Thanks CBS.

On the outside the family looked as though it were an all American Christian family in Sugar Land Texas. But I think 3 out of 4 actually lived out the part quite well.

Unfortunately, the oldest son, repeatedly arranged to have his family killed. His 3rd attempt was successful, and his doting mother and younger brother (who looked up to him) were killed that night. His father survived his wounds and forgave him immediately. How?

I know its not easy, but God has granted me the grace to forgive. I know my son and wife are in heaven, and I want the same for my son (who obviously didn’t believe at that point).

You bet that forgiveness only came from God. So the father pleaded for life in prison. His pleas fell on deaf ears. Texas kill that joker after some time. Could you forgive your son whom you loved, and yet spurned that love? After all, he claimed the only people he ever hated, were his family members! Repeatedly trying to kill them? He said he never felt loved or accepted by them.

I can’t verify or deny those claims, but it sure looked as if the mother and father cherished their son. And it would seem to show in the father’s willingness to forgive him! I don’t know what I would do, but if my son killed my wife and other child, would I forgive him that quickly? Would I seek the death penalty for him? Hard questions to answer. I know for sure God’s grace would allow me to forgive, but how long would it take? Long time I think. As far as the death penalty goes, wow, I don’t know.

Last night while watching the Colts dismantle the Jaguars, Amy and I heard a sustained honking/”car-alarmish” sound. As I turned the corner around the back of my house, I first felt a little fear: I’ve seen too many movies where if the person just didn’t round the corner out of curiosity, he would haven not been killed.

But I had to take my chances, after all, this was real life. I noticed some lighting reflected on the side of my neighbor’s house. So I expected something bright. Well I got it.

There was the large, jacked up, pimped out, technicolored dream Oldsmo-Buick with tall flames spewing forth. Because the car was so high, the trees almost caught the blaze. Eventually fire trucks came out and doused the flames.

Apparently yesterday, very early in the morning, someone was shot inside that house. The victim described it as a home invasion, but the cops questioned the veracity of this account. Regardless, the car fire all but proves that something else was going on. But we’ll leave that to the authorities, and I’ll try not to connect the dots.

This ought to shed some light into the differences of men/women, or perhaps just Amy and myself. I was concerned primarily about property values: what would this do to an already unsellable neighborhood?

Amy was concerned about safety: is the area safe? Are we more likely to get hurt in this neighborhood? We talked about it for a little bit and concluded with this.

Car fires actually do happen in all kinds of neighborhoods (my parents’ a few weeks ago/my friend’s a year ago), as do break-ins and home invasions. On the 48 Hour Mystery specials, all the murders take place in upper class neighborhoods.

In the end, we can’t protect ourselves sufficiently to prevent any worry or ‘concern.’ But God can protect us sufficiently, wherever we are. We believe, or at least try our hardest to believe in a Sovereign God who doesn’t succumb to circumstances, statistics, or trends.

“Our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.” Psalm 115:3

He will protect us in the end and bring us safely into His heavenly Kingdom no matter what (II Tim 4:18). I’m just glad Amy and I can see He is “our God (meaning He is in covenant relationship with us).” That should provide sufficient security, and help out my concerns about property values!

If you’d like to read the Bradenton Herald Article about this event, click here!

While reading Mark Driscoll’s book The Radical Reformission: I came across one of the better explanations/illustrations of why we have 4 different (but true and reliable) gospel accounts.

First of all (not in the book), regardless of how similar or different the gospel accounts look, there will ALWAYS be a problem for skeptics. The fact that the synoptic gospels are so similar is actually known as the “synoptic problem.” How did they get so similar? Well obviously they just copied each other-such is the argument. So for them to be even more similar would could actually make them less believable!

But of course there are some differences, and these differences are often used by some to discount their reliability (perhaps even the same people). However, the differences actually prove that there were numbers of different eye witness accounts; not just one who was the main ‘lead.’

Driscoll provides a solid illustration here. Imagine the different gospel writers to be 4 different news sources. CBS, NBC, ABC news affiliates correspond to Matthew, Mark, and Luke. But then you have different news sources with more unique perspectives, think of CNN or Fox News. This would represent John’s gospel.

News always comes from a biased perspective (regardless of what Fox News thinks), and so the writers presented their accounts, including, and excluding certain details (based upon their Holy Spirit inspired purposes)-you can’t record everything. That which is included is intentional; the same goes for that which is excluded.

So we need not be worried about the gospels being too similar or too different. They are just as God intended them to be. Arguments one way or another ought not to dissuade us. Only by God granting faith can they be accepted as true and reliable; but it is also good to be able to express the evidences when evidences do exist-both to ourselves and others.

While I was out fishing today with a friend from church, I had a run in with some large sea animals. I was paddling in from deeper water while trolling a jig behind me. All of a sudden a large swirl/splash/gush of water suddenly erupts less than a foot from the left side of my kayak. Then an explosion on my right, then left….

My heart beat like a hunted rabbit. The explosions continued for about 5 seconds as I yelled out in sheer terror. The kayak rocked back and forth; it was as though I were being depth charged.

After everything calmed down, I signaled to my friend that I was OK. But about 15 minutes later, it happened again. One explosion, then another, and another. I had escaped the onslaught once again.

The second time was not nearly as frightening because I knew what was happening. I paddled directly in front of a pod of large manatees, just before the 2nd set of explosions. So I just held on for dear life, hoping they wouldn’t tip my kayak over (they’ve been known to do it.)

But it was far less scary, now that I knew it wasn’t a bunch of sharks or over-friendly porpoises. That did make a difference. Knowing exactly what I was facing changed everything. The next time I face those explosions, my heart shall be better prepared.

Unknown things scare me more than anything. But I guess I have to take comfort in realizing that while they are unknown to me, they are not unknown to God.

I probably should have said something positive before I gave my critique of Pastor Joel. So really this should be Part I, but as it is it’s, Part III. Just think of the Star Wars movies, and how the more recent one’s are technically, Star Wars I-III. So its the same type of thing; they just made a lot more money, and had a slightly larger following. Anyhow, I did find some things commendable with Joel Osteen and his CBS interview. Here they are.

1.) On his broadcasts, he doesn’t regularly ask for money from the viewers. He admitted that broadcasts obviously cost money, but still has not become one of those TV preachers/speakers/evangelists/whatever-you-call-them who is always saying, “Now go to the phones. Just make that payment, or buy this prayer blanket, and ‘sow that seed,’ and all kinds of good stuff will happen to you.” You don’t get that with Pastor Joel, at least that I could tell. I didn’t get the feeling he is a charlatan. What you see is what you get.

2.) When asked about some of the lives he’s affected, he began weeping, overwhelmed that God would use him to help people. And it would seem there is a genuine desire to help people, not simply benefit from them.

3.) Finally, he did admit that suffering was part of life, and God helps you amidst the suffering. Though prosperity (healthy, wealthy, and wise) is thrust to the forefront, he did at least mention suffering, and said, “We do talk about that as well.”

4.) At the conclusion of his normal broadcast (at least the one’s I’ve seen) he does instruct people to find a church near them. A lot of people listen to Pastor Joel, so hopefully they listen to him and find a bible believing church with which to connect.

Finding something commendable can be hard sometimes, but I do believe it is necessary. Paul did this both with non Christians (Acts 17) and with Christians. Look at what Paul writes to the church at Corinth (I Cor 1:4-5) which was divisive, often drunk, adulterous, and arrogant

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge–

Destructing is easy (and important as well-I Cor 10:5), but constructing and building up can be much harder. And it is just as biblical.

Would James (the writer of the book in the bible of the same name/Jesus’ brother) and Joel Osteen be, like, best friends, even BFF? I mean after all, neither really use the name of Jesus much if any (the name Jesus isn’t even found in the book of James at all). Joel uses it some.

They are are both extremely practical. Joel tries to get people to be better fathers, husbands, etc..(which is a good thing) and James tells people to act like fathers and husbands to those who have neither (1:27).

For both, faith is to be practically displayed in life. If you have faith, then you need to display it. If you have wisdom, show it by your good deeds (3:13).

But I do find several major distinctions. James reminds us that we aren’t guaranteed tomorrow (4:13). Those rich who oppress the poor will be judged (5:1-ff), and the material possessions do not last, in fact they are already fading (5:3). So James seems to not be in favor of the prosperity/ health and wealth gospel.

Next, while James never mentions Jesus by name, he certainly mentions Jesus’ words and person throughout his letter (borrowing from the Sermon on the Mount, as well as mentioning The Lord’s Return). So Jesus is still the basis and motivation for the practical expression of faith.

Christianity is distinct from other religions. The practical ‘doing’ and expression of one’s faith is based upon what Christ has already done for you. The motivation to be better fathers and husbands is based upon the work Christ has done on your behalf. And when Christ starts that work, he continues to perfect it in you (our practical expression and deeds) until He’s done.

But, if you leave this part out, you just have someone telling you to do the right thing, and then you can get favor with God and good stuff. Really cool stuff. But that is not Christianity.
One might wonder how acquainted Joel is with James. I think they should hang out some time, and get to know each other.

I love the DVR feature. I love to use it to record things on CBS, mostly the shows with some sort of time measurement like 48 hours Mystery, or 60 minutes.

Amy and I watched a segment of 60 minutes a few days ago that dealt with the popularity of mega preacher (I guess that’s what you call a preacher of a mega church) Joel Osteen. After all, he’s filling out basketball arenas and has a viewing audience of over 7 million.

Why is he so popular? Part of it deals with the fact that he really doesn’t deal with sin. Osteen said something to the effect of, “People already know how bad they are, I don’t need to beat them down.”

I often need to be reminded that I am that bad, that I desperately need the gospel. That makes me love Jesus a ton more, and live a lot more humbly than if I thought I were good. Believe me. Am I the only one that needs to hear the bad news, so that I can make sense and rejoice over the good news?

Another telling sign was when the reporter asked about his self help book, “There really is no mention of God or Jesus Christ in here. It could just be Dr. Phil or Oprah.”

The response was, “Well much of what they say is found in scripture.” Sure Oprah does great work in needy areas in Africa (good stuff too), but her be-true-to-yourself ethos is entirely anti-scriptural. Just watch her show. Amy fills me in.

There was another little clip where Osteen was signing books. A man comes up and says, “I’m a Jew, and my wife is a Roman Catholic, and we love listening to you.” That might make me a little concerned that Jesus, a huge stumbling block, might not be getting the ‘pub’ in your messages.

1 Corinthians 1:23 “….but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.”

I (as a preacher about 8-10 times a year) would be a little concerned if a Jew said that he loved my preaching and messages. It would certainly make me question whether I was actually preaching Christ and Him crucified or simply telling people to be good. Every religion tells people to be good. Christianity says you’ll never be good enough, Jesus has to be good in your place. And that offends. For some the message is sweet; for others the message stinks like a paper mill.

If you want to watch the special, click here

I’m glad that people are smarter than I am. When talking to a friend today, and explaining that I don’t like the fact that non-gmail people can’t comment on my blog, he mentioned that there could be a setting I simply needed to adjust (as opposed to getting a whole new site). I don’t know why I never thought of that. Well, I kind of do. I don’t think of those type things-things related to technology. Anyhow, you can now post comments, because I adjusted that setting. I trust you’ll do a good job. Just click on ‘comments.’ Thanks for your time. Peace.