If you still don’t understand the emerging church, or tend to think it will be a brief, passing trend in church history, this video might help.  Everytime you hear the word “jazz” just replace it with “christian belief” in your mind.  Sit through the first (unnecessary) 40 seconds of introduction and you may just find this helpful.  Not a perfect correlation, but there are some very neat parallels.

I will be the one to tuck my child into bed.  I will be the one to teach her to ride a bike for the first time.  I will pack their lunch for school.  I will pray with him before meals, and when he is scared, and on many other sorts of occasions.  When she practices her most enchanting hobbies, spending free time in a way that most pleases her, I will be the one next to her.

I will be the one that celebrates these moments with them.  I will be there whispering in their ear that they are loved by me, and loved even more by God in Jesus.  What could be more powerful a safeguard than that?

1. People-watching, though often amusing, only tells others your own life is not very interesting.  And we wouldn’t want that.
2. Playing your own music through an iPod loud enough to drown out the other noise may cause serious hearing damage.
3. Wane yourself off extra sugar and unnecessary condiments for your drink—this is a sign of maturity.
4. Don’t build yourself an office with 3 tables for your study session.  There is a thing called the public library, you know.
5. If you become a “regular,” it’s only polite to introduce yourself and learn the names of you baristas.
6. Don’t ask sketchy people to watch your stuff as you use the restroom.  Scan the room for people that look trustworthy.
7. Make the move from iced, whipped drinks to lattes or cappuccinos to straight espresso.  There’s a whole other world you’re missing out on.

Read Coffee House Etiquette – Part 1.

What else?

Relational Intelligence: The Disproportionate Investor – Erwin McManus

Talk on 2 Timothy 2:1-7
-You can only know what you have embraced.  You become what you give away to others.
-Invest in people who aren’t trying to define boundaries but find opportunities.
-On character vs. achievement: We want the indulgences of a general with the responsibilities of a civilian.
-Invest in those who understand there needs to be an integration of character and achievement.
-People with good stories and successful ministries are those who refuse to be victims.
-The wrong intention: When I know everything you know and everything I know I will be more powerful than you.

Community of Jesus – Timothy Keller

Talk on Luke 6:12-36; The Beatitudes as a reversal of values

-Four worldly values: power, comfort, success, recognition
-Four kingdom values: weakness, sacrifice, grief, exclusion
-Michael Wilcock: “Prize what the world calls pitiable, and suspect what the world considers desirable.”  At this point Keller humorously asks “Who wants to join?”
-Christian ethic: Draining yourself of ill will towards people, especially enemies.
-To those who have been burned by the Church: Remember the church is not made up of natural friends, it is made up of natural enemies.  The Christian community is not bound together by any other commonality.  The church is therefore a band of natural enemies who love one another for Jesus’ sake.  Be patient while relationships are transformed.

Sexuality and Christian Hope – Timothy Keller

-Sex is not self gratification or self expression, it is radical self-donation.
-To give yourself to someone so deeply that it results in personal transformation and completion.
-Never have physical oneness without whole life oneness.
-Never get physically vulnerable without becoming vulnerable in your whole life.

Culture – Timothy Keller

-Cultural activity is arranging raw material for the flourishing of human beings.  Christians do this for the glory of God.
-On missions: To charge Christianity with colonial and imperial prostitution is to declare that Christianity belongs only to one culture.  Jesus Christ belongs to Africa, Asia, as much as it does the West.
-Lamin Sanneh, African Scholar who teaches at Yale, wrote Whose Religion is Christianity and comments:
Secularism’s scoffing of “African superstition” is cultural totalitarianism … Jesus did not mock their [Africa's] respect for the sacred … [so] they beat their sacred drums for him until the stars skipped and danced in the skies.
-View Keller’s notes on this sermon here.  Extremely insightful.

Pray for the people of Haiti*

Almighty God, our Father, Creator of Heaven and Earth, Mighty Fortress, You are our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Though the Earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging we will not fear for you have entered into and overcome human suffering in the suffering of your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. We join in the prayers of your people all over the World, interceding in agreement, pleading for your merciful intervention for the sake of your people in Haiti. We believe there is a river whose streams make glad the City of God, and we pray this river of mercy to flow through the streets of Port Au Prince.

In your mercy, by your Spirit, through your people and in the name of your son Jesus, would you:

bless the poor, comfort the mourners, rescue the orphans, protect the widows, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, raise the dead, renew the hope, repair the ruins, restore the land, release miracles, send workers, compel relief, and cause Salvation to spring up through the brokenness of the ground as a witness to your compassionate Glory.

Please hear our prayers. Make us into your mercy and show yourself mighty to save.

We agree in these prayers in the Name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.

*Reliance on Psalm 46

Blog it, tweet it, email it.

Even after weighing the benefits, it’s hard to know when to make the switch and how fast.  Should all of our purchases be digital from now on?  Micah J. Jelinek, Library Administrator at Moody Theological Seminary-Michigan, helped weigh in on this issue as it relates to theology and biblical studies:

If it were me, I would weigh my costs. If I can get a full commentary set through Logos for $500 or a hard copy for $1500, I’d get the copy with Logos. They provide full sets of commentaries at a significantly reduced cost (ex. Logos has the Word Biblical Commentary Series and many others available as add-ons). So, if you get the right package you can search a number of your commentaries/lexicons/etc. all at once through Logos, plus everything is backed up online and it’s also available on your iPhone. Logos doesn’t have every commentary, so that’s where I’d invest money into hard copies. It’s a major transition, but I think having everything searchable and right at your fingertips is a major time saver.

On the future of theological libraries and texts: I don’t think that theological texts will be going all digital for at least 10-15 (or more) years. Even then, because our field of study is (1) under funded, and (2) dependent on older texts, I don’t believe theological libraries will go completely digital or rely completely on a digital database with access to full text books. I think there will always be a place for hard copies of books in academia. Libraries may move to have more online and digital access to books, but hard copies will likely be necessary for reference at the very least.

I would also be hesitant to move to a completely digital collection right now, because Google, Amazon and others are currently competing to claim supremacy in the eBook domain. So, in the same way that there have been transitional periods for video format in VHS vs Betamax or VHS to DVD, I think that we’re in a transitional time for digital literature. The Kindle will likely be obsolete in a couple of years anyway and there is no guarantee that the formatting will remain the same. So for now I’m waiting to see what happens and I’m backing up the eBooks I do have with PDF copies.

After saying all of that, I’m still a purist. For me nothing will ever replace a hard bound book, so I’ll continue to collect hard copies, but to keep up with technology I will also be investing in software like Logos and adding some commentary series’ to my collection that way.

At this time, it seems that buying used books is still profitable, especially if you haven’t invested in a device like Kindle or iPad. And let’s not forget that you can borrow out or give away hardcopies without infringing copyright laws.  Still, purchasing digital volumes through software like Logos seems appropriate at this point in the industry. It will save you time and money.  In conclusion, we are in a time of transition and you will probably have to consider which way to go on an individual basis. Hopefully this helps you make informed decisions.

Read an article from http://boston.com about this phenomenon as it relates to Harvard’s libraries here.

GO TO THE NEWS, DON’T LET IT COME TO YOU.

Cutting out the distraction of social media and advertising becomes so much easier when you act like a master!  Facebook targets users with ads based on information you provide in your profile.  Pandora also seems to target listeners with ads based on musical preferences (not confirmed).  RSS feeds bring the news you follow into your application every day.  Twitter lets you get updates from followers on your mobile phone.

One of the easy ways to cut off distractions is to disallow as many of these media strategies as possible!  Keep information on your social media sites low.  Don’t have your mobile updates setting turned on for Twitter.  Don’t use a RSS reader; go to the particular sites/blogs when you need to.

The news is trying to get to you, advertisers are trying to get to you.  Be in control of what happens before your eyes, or else you’ll find yourself going down rabbit holes you didn’t have to go down.  This way, you’ll have more time for worship, discipleship, community, evangelism, service, mission, etc.  Media, like many other things, is a great servant but a terrible master to have.  I hope you happened upon this article intentionally, and I hope it helps accomplish disengagement from all unnecessary distractions as you pursue your life-calling.

As you excitedly rush to cash in on your gift card, don’t make the mistake of entering this foreign world without the proper manners. Below are some simple rules of etiquette that may save you some embarrassment and help garnish your reputation:

1. It’s fashionable to not take longer than 3 seconds to decide what “your drink will be.”
2. Realize some places have charming ways of saying “small, medium, large”. Memorize them quickly, and don’t confuse the terms between different shops!
3. Ask your barista (server) to clarify drink variations. Most of them are friendly.
4. Hang your coat over your chair to cover the crack those low-rider jeans might reveal.
5. If you absolutely must rearrange furniture, pick it UP, don’t drag it across the floor.
6. Don’t use a chair to hold your book-bag or briefcase if the place is crowded. This is a sure way to annoy people.

The above may help you avoid awkward social situations as you ease your way into the coffee shop scene. Get used to them—they’re useful for meeting people, whether it be for work or for pleasure. Am I missing anything?

And so happens on the scene a reporter from CBC News–that’s Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for those less familiar with Canadian media.  As I listened to the news hour Monday I caught a brief report a Canadian had from the Auto Show.  The way he presented the information left quite the impression of the American auto industry trajectory; a bad impression.  He painted a picture of gloom, disparity, and it left me wondering if he had even managed to kick around some tumble weeds at Cobo Hall.  I hope that this be a simple exercise in demonstrating that facts do not speak for themselves.  The way something is reported can have impacting effects on how a historical event is perceived.

What the reporter chose to emphasize was the huge contrast between the Auto Show now and what it used to be several years ago.  He talked about how barely a year ago both Chrysler and General Motors–two of the world’s formerly largest car companies–filed bankruptcy in 2009.  He added detail about how both companies are slow to recover.  Chrysler is entirely absent from this year’s show since it is still working on car designs since its recovery.  GM isn’t too far ahead–they barely have a few car models scattered around the convention hall, and even those are modest exhibits of small, fuel-efficient cars.  I mean, who cares about those type of cars, right?  You’d think a Canadian would be a little more sympathetic to this idea!  The impression I was left with was a sad one.  Not only did it paint a picture of gloom about Detroit’s auto industry, but it made the Auto Show the last thing on my list that I would want to visit in the next couple of weeks.  In a sense, this shouldn’t surprise us since the culture of our friends to north teaches them that they should relish the idea of big corporations failing.  Or maybe they just suffer from a little bit of an inferiority complex.

Now imagine this: another reporter attends the exact same show.  And in the ABC News slot they begin by talking about how though GM and Chrysler tanked last year they are on their way to recovery, heading back to the drawing boards to think through designs more pragmatically from now on.  They may even begin by reporting that GM has actually begun hiring again.  Then they shift to what’s actually being exhibited at the Auto Show, highlighting several interesting brands or makes that are making a splash with viewers.  Next, they focus on how GM is jumping in right by focusing on fuel-efficient models–something today’s consumers are looking for.  So with a positive tone she admits that while considerably smaller than before, the 2010 Auto Show is still worth seeing, especially as an exciting glimpse into how the American auto industry is recovering from the effects of the poor economy.

In a way, I resent CBC’s take on this event.  It seemed like a drive-by critique shrouded in ridicule.  But the point is this: facts don’t speak for themselves for those who weren’t around to witness an event.  The reporter, writer, historian brings their interpretive lens to every story they cover.  Though both CBC and ABC may not have reported anything contradictory, it almost seemed like they were talking about two different phenomenon.  They may have different underlying purposes in reporting, but that does not mean the events they are reporting on are not historical. Consider how this might apply to our historical investigation of the Resurrection, the life of Jesus, and the early church.   Understand that the New Testament authors did have an agenda (see John 20:30-31; Luke 1:1-4), but that does not mean the events which they investigated and reported on did not happen.  Consider this as you read the varying New Testament accounts.

2010 North American International Auto Show

As I drew near to Kitchener the road was hit with a blizzard-like experience.  It’s as if the weather waited patiently all the way from Sarnia and past London just so that it could give me all its worth as I entered Kitchener.  Traffic slowed from 64 mph to about 35 on one of Canada’s largest highways.  That’s 100/56 kilometers for those reading from beyond the border.  The roads were bad and I became nervous.  But the good Lord carried me through to my final destination.  My cousin advised me that getting “winter tires” (from Canadian Tire, maybe?) would be a wise decision on my part.  I was wondering what was wrong with all of the cars that were missing their rims/hubcaps!  Apparently, people invest in winter tires for better traction, and not having the mechanic transfer the rims saves money.

So I payed many visits to friends and family. Fondue parties and the like.  I was impressed that Canadians haven’t lost their enthusiasm for Ketchup Chips!  You read right.  Canada makes this mouth-watering flavor of chips, and it’s still a house-party favorite.  My friends had their fingers all over the chip bowl, and then proceeded to lick their fingers once they had their full share (or was that just me?).

On Sunday night I spoke at a church.  I talked about Christmas and the Incarnation.  God totally came through (not that he ever doesn’t) and put me in the zone as I preached.  But, for some reason I totally botched the devotional I did with their praise band before the service.  No one had anything to share before we went in prayer, so I offered.  I was so nervous before these folk that once used to be my church family that the ideas just weren’t coming out of my mouth right.  Thankfully, they were full of grace, and even better- God doesn’t work based on how good we perform.  The worship was great.

Canadians are so lawful.  When speed limits change on highways, they actually brake to slow down…exactly where the signs are posted.  Americans, at best, release the gas pedal just enough to slow them down a mile or so down the road.  This is good on behalf of Canadians.  The general slower-pace was such a nice break for me.  Next time I’ll know that brake lights don’t mean they see a police officer with radar up ahead, they mean the speed is changing.

I met a guy named Gabriel who went to Bible College in Portland.  He’s gifted, and he’s making inroads into people’s lives over there.  I pray that God opens doors for him to minister full time.

On my way back home the currency exchange drive-thru was closed as the border.  This was such an inconvenience.  I had to actually get out of my car and walk inside.  Just teasing- there weren’t many people so the the exchange was fast, professional, and almost personal!  Oh, and, I left the keys in the ignition while I was inside.  Canadians are nice and don’t steal as much.  I trusted that my car would still be there when I return.

Don’t take my word for it.  Visit Canada, and share your personal ruminations!