More evidence of the empty tomb

Martin, I'm so proud of the path you're on! I will never forget that Monday morning prayer meeting- you were about 5 hours old in the faith. And to think... about a year later you would stand up and say "yes" to stepping out in faith to plant the church in Iowa City. Your life speaks to the fact that Jesus is alive...

This is my God story - Martin from Veritas Church on Vimeo.

"This Hope" music video

Here's the first Adoleo music video. It was fun filming this in such a beautiful setting that encourages reflection on God's purposes. Nature has a way of displaying the glory of God.

Veritas and TSC Fall Kickoffs

Year two is underway! Here are some snapshots of what God is doing in our midst. In chronological order...

Veritas staff retreat.

Veritas service on Sunday.

Our study of Judges this month is stretching the limits of our teaching ability. This book is dark, yet its darkness points to the light of the gospel.

The nature of ministry in a transient town like Iowa City is saying good bye to people you come to love in a short time. Nathan rolled in to town the same time we did last fall, not knowing anything about Veritas. He ended up playing a critical role in planting the church, as he led one of our connection groups and became a friend and mentor to so many. He will be greatly missed.

This is our weekly reminder that we are not as strong as we think we are... Monday morning prayer at 7 am. "Prayer is that slender nerve that moves the muscle of omnipotence" - Martin Tupper

Last night before TSC started in our new venue, the Englert Theater

Jeff preaches to the audience of 202. The big difference between locations from this year and last is that in the bar we only had room to shrink. It was packed from the beginning. This year, there's room to grow! 300 more seats on floor and balcony

The Adoleo CDs came in this morning!!!! The website is up with the latest information. You can also find all the chord charts available for free under the "store" tab... www.adoleomusic.com

Psalm 40:5 is the only possible way to end this blog entry...

"Many O LORD, my God are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you. Were I to speak and tell of them they would be too many to declare."

SDG.

Adoleo... Released TODAY!

I don't usually resort to all CAPS (and exclamation point!). But I will today...

I'm proud to announce the release of Adoleo's first album, "This Hope."

Here's where you can purchase it:

Amazon (Click here) You can get the digital copy for $7.99

Itunes: $9.99

Kunaki (Click here) Order your hard copy for $10

We will also have them available tonight at Salt Company in Iowa City (Englert Theater, 8pm) or at Veritas on Sunday.

They will also be available on Thursday in Ames at the (free) Anthem/Phil Wickham concert, or at the Cornerstone Resource Center.

A Prayer (for the great grandchildren)

The timing of capturing Grandma Marge's prayer could not have been better as I was preparing to teach on Judges 1-2 at Veritas. Judges 2:10 is probably the saddest verse in the Bible... what is worse than the next generation missing God? I used this video as an example for what we hope to be about as a church. There are over 30,000 young people about to converge on Iowa City this week...

God, help us to make it difficult for them to escape your mercy. Give us this kind of passion to pass on authentic faith to all who are to come.

The Plague, Cousins, Advice

We had the plague hit our house a couple weeks ago. If you were to walk onto our back porch, you would be instantly attacked by these little specks you can see on the tape...

They almost completely covered our kids, looking like mud moving up their bodies, biting and embedding themselves in the skin. It was terrible. Under a magnifying glass they looked like baby ticks. But our doctor sent them in and an entomologist at Iowa State concluded that they were bird mites.

Lesson: Never let a bird's nest anywhere on or around your house.

After spraying and getting rid of the nest, the plague cleared right before we welcomed family visiting from the other side of the globe. First time together in 2 years!

The cousins loved meeting each other for the first time...

Makai wears his baseball glove at all times. It comes in handy for such a time as this...

The garden is ripe...

Our connection group went to help out a family in our group clean up from the wind storm that swept across central Iowa and hit their town with 130+ mph WINDS. It looked like a tornado hit Vinton...

What would a blog post be without evidence of kids sabotaging a perfectly good batch of banana bars? Imagine me looking down to see this and then yelling, "JETT??!!!!!!" We then go on to play out the scene from Genesis 3:9-12...

Who knows how long this headless star wars figure has been riding with us? Good thing we didn't rear end anyone. He would've been dead...

I mentioned before the challenge of where to find Rob Bell's new book at Barnes&Noble, but the truly formidable task was finding a home for it on my book shelf. I think I'm happy with my decision...

...Lodged between Idiot's Guide to World Religions and Jesus Under Fire. And yet not too far from church history, as a reminder of the nugget of wisdom my friend David Churchill bequeathed upon me the summer of '98...

"When I was a teenager, I never listened to anyone over 30. Now that I'm over 30, I don't listen to anyone under 300."

What I'm Reading and Watching

First of all, I'm trying to do more of the former and less of the latter... so I'm going to try to make this post sound like I'm doing a LOT of reading and very little TV watching- hardly any. Here's my best shot at it...

"The Online Looking Glass": Ross Douthat is my favorite editorialist. This article is prophetic, and something I have to think about all the time. Why do we feel the need to blog, post our thoughts and pictures online for the world to see? It can lead to the dark place of narcissism.

"Miami Heat Needs to Work on Their People Skills": I'm one of the "billions" that enjoyed watching the Heat lose Sunday night. But why? Mike Lopresti has a good take.

"The Reason for God": This is one of those books that I'm ashamed I haven't read yet. Speaking of prophetic, there's a reason God has put his favor all over Tim Keller's writings and ministry. He's worth hearing.

Team of Rivals: I'll be reading this book for awhile...

"Mere Christianity": This won't be the last time I talk about reading and (currently) listening to this book by C.S. Lewis. Next to the Bible, this is my most frequented book. Writing about it is my way of prodding you to take and read, not throwing out the excuse "I read it once back in college."

"Revelation: God Wins" (itunes podcast or website): Speaking of what I'm listening to... My partner's bro, Bob Thune Jr., just finished rocking this series on Revelation. People ask about my view on Revelation and end times... Bob articulates them in his journey through Revelation with his church, Coram Deo. Revelation is cyclical, allegorical, and as much about the past (the cross) as the future. As GK Chesterton said, "And though St. John saw many strange monsters in his vision, he saw no creature so wild as one of his own commentators." God won, and he will win. God wins. We were going to teach through this at Veritas this fall, but I think we're headed for Luke's two books this fall and spring...

Samuel and the Epistles: I'm reading the ESV in a year. I'm not loving the ESV, mostly because it doesn't follow the most natural lingual paths. On the other hand, it's more literal translation colors in certain parts of the text. For example, this morning in Colossians 2:18 the ESV uses "asceticism" where the NIV uses "false humility." An argument could be made for either word choice, but I hadn't heard "asceticism" used before in that passage and it seemed to help me understand what Paul was conveying. Next year I think I'm going to give the Holman translation a shot.

Joshua 6 and related commentaries: I'm preaching on the fall of Jericho this week at Veritas. Last week Jeff took one for the team, taking on the issue of circumcision in Joshua 5.

Now to the candy section of life- what I've been watching:

I just subscribed to FreddeGredde's youtube channel thanks to Todd Wallace's twitter post.

Ryan Seiler's "Greener" music video

Sarah Palin's explanation of Paul Revere. That's just plain sad; enough to end someone's political career.

I recorded the Republican debate last night but I'm not sure if I'll get around to watching it. I'm a little jaded when it comes to politics right now, but I know I should be informed and prayerful for our leaders and country.

Truth be told, the reason for less tv watching is seasonal. NBA finals are over, who cares about baseball until late September?, and we have a 3 month lull until kickoff of college/NFL football.

For now, I'll get back to pretending I like to read more than watch tv...

Adoleo

It's official.

The new name for the former "Anthem Iowa City" band is "Adoleo", Latin for "I worship"

Adoleo: To magnify; hence, in sacrificial language, to which this word chiefly belongs, to honor, to worship, or to offer in worship, to sacrifice, burn

"Adoleo" reflects our desire to produce worship music that's connected to and flows out of our local church here in Iowa City. We use Latin phrases as a reminder that we are joining the Ancients in our pursuit of truth (Veritas) and writing music (Adoleo) that rightly glorifies God. As Bach said, "Music's only purpose should be the glory of God and the recreation of the human spirit." (click here for Bach article)

Names are important not only because they are a statement of who you are, but who you are becoming. We are so prone to pride and the pursuit of fame and fortune- it's in us. And yet, it seems that we are joining a growing movement of song writers in the church (not just our church, but globally) who believe there has to be another way of making music that exalts Christ, not people. It's got to be about something bigger than fame and fortune... something that will far outlast this life, namely Jesus and his Church. Therefore "Adoleo" cautions us to be and become humble followers who exist to worship Jesus Christ and inspire hope in his followers.

"Adoleo" will also remind us that life is an act of worship. The word has the idea of offering burnt sacrifices. Paul takes the Old Testament concept of "sacrifice" and explains how that should look for us, on the other side of the cross. Romans 12:1, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your rational service to God." The "no duh" of life is to live every moment of it for God. So "Adoleo" is not just a style of music, it's a way of life. Every moment is a burnt offering for Christ. As our people listen to the music, we hope that they will not just hear melodies, but precious promises that become a way of life.

Adoleo is in the studio recording as we speak. The sound is going to be raw, slightly more acoustic driven than what you've heard on previous Anthem albums (indie-ish), at times a bit lyrically unconventional yet authentic (typical of Anthem i.e. "To Hear You"), a touch of banjo, soulful ballads, and a few tasty mainstream melodies. Overall the lining is a little darker in the clouds, yet filled with hope and joy. "This Hope", the probable album title, will be released sometime in August/September.

Until then I'll chide Clint and James to get us all something to listen to. I'll post it when I get it.

If you have some ideas for the album design, send them to me.

There's also a rumor that Anthem in Ames has some plans for another album- we can't wait for that... live album?

Thanks, Mary Ann for the tip on the name.

Words

This year my blog has been mostly neglected. Here's the pathetic stat... 12 posts in the last 5 months.

For the first time in a LONG time I felt like I had some "creative" space. No visitors, nice back porch weather with a perfectly placed breeze, and a thought provoking book (Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln) are the ingredients that led to this epiphany...

I love ideas, and I love the words needed to communicate them.

In fact, that's what inspired the metropuritan blog a few years ago. I started blogging to sharpen my writing skills, share excerpts of my life, and hopefully bring a little encouragement to others on the journey. I'm sure there was a little narcissism mixed in. Me and everyone else with a blog, FB and Twitter account.

As I read on this utopian day, some phrases jumped out at me, renewing my desire to read and write more...

"[Lincoln] read and thoroughly read his books whilst we played. Hence he was above us and became our guide and leader." (a childhood friend's recollection of Lincoln) p. 49

"Books became his academy, his college. The printed word united his mind with the great minds of generations past...It was through literature that he was able to transcend his surroundings. He read and reread the Bible and Aesop's Fables so many times that years later he could recite whole passages and entire stories from memory... With remarkable energy and tenacity he quarried the thoughts and ideas that he wanted to remember...once he obtained paper, he would rewrite it and keep it in a scrapbook so that it could be memorized. Words thus became precious to him, never...to be lightly or indiscriminately used." (p. 51-52)

In Lincoln's own words, in some advice to a law student, he said, "Get the books and read and study them...The books, and your capacity for understanding them, are just the same in all places...Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, is more important than any other thing." (p. 54)

Well, hopefully I've found enough inspiration to churn out a few more than 2.4 blog posts per month for the rest of 2011.

In other news related to "words"...

I got my tweeterfeed updated and therefore these blog posts will be synced to my FB and Twitter (not sure why it ever stopped...). I had to tell the world on FB about this important news and nearly hit "send" when I noticed the "w" missing from "twitterfeed". As a pastor, I could've been fired for a status update with "ti..." Nevermind.

Another word debacle came when Ava kept leaving the "r" out when she was telling me about this new book she was reading, "Little Britches". She had no idea what she was saying, and I was left wondering what kind of books Leatha had put on the kids' summer reading plan.

Speaking of bad words...I'm determined that my kids hear every bad word in the book from my mouth before they hear it on the playground. That's another blog entry for another day...

For now, I'm resolved to get back to the basics... reading and writing.

Errrr...wait a minute... the NBA finals start tomorrow. Shoot. Go Mavs.

It was- IS- worth it

Before we came to Iowa City, people would say, "If you go and only one person comes to know Jesus because of it... it would be worth it." I know that's a nice Christian thing to say, but I thought, "If only one person comes to Jesus... we should stay in Ames!"

But as Lance Allgood watched his friend Nick get baptized, he told me later, "If it was just for Nick, it WAS worth it!"

Below you can watch Nick's (and 6 other) baptism. But by God's grace he is not the only one...

Baptisms - May 1, 2011 from Veritas Church on Vimeo.

Some people from Veritas helped us host a graduation party for Jarryd Cole on Saturday. He's persevered through so much during his time at Iowa (3 coaching changes and multiple injuries). This past year God has done some cool things in his life, and it was fun to celebrate his strong finish to a great career at Iowa.

Once again, we say with gratitude and awe... Soli Deo Gloria

The Psalm Project and Anthem

I have to commend the Psalm Project blog to you, especially to all of you aspiring songwriters and artists out there. Here's a little background.

In 2006, I started this event called "Anthem." My vision was simple: young people gathering for a night of extended worship and prayer. Nothing revolutionary. But my hope was that through this God would draw out the talent in our youth and college ministries, causing students to aspire to write and create music for God's glory. I was a frustrated youth pastor, who often watched the most gifted musicians sit in the back and scoff at our worship team, who basically just covered the Big 3 (Crowder, Tomlin, United...). The mockers in the back were so eager to throw their instruments and voices in the mud of idolatry.

There's obviously nothing wrong with using mainstream songs for corporate worship, but I wanted to create our own worship culture. I thought we might get more buy in from students. What would it be like for kids, teenagers and college students to grow up dreaming of writing Anthem songs? Not for fame or career, but as an overflow of their passion for Jesus Christ and personal time spent with Him.

Anthem has recently multiplied- the movement in Ames is still strong (April 29th, 8pm at Cornerstone auditorium), but we've also started an Anthem team in Iowa City. Some amazing young talent has quickly emerged here- so much that we're recording an album this May! But one of the highlights from the last Anthem for me was during our prayer time before practice...

Here's where the Psalm Project ties into this Anthem rant

One of our new female vocalists and songwriters, Brianna Goodman, shared about being at the very first Anthem back in the Fall of 2006. She recalled being more into athletics at the time, with no thought of ever being a musician. Well, God has lit her heart on fire for Christ, and has given her the gift to express it. People like me (who don't have the writing gift) are so glad when God inspires gifted people! We get to use their songs to inspire our own worship.

That's why the Psalm Project gets me stoked and a little choked up (though I'm sure not as much as her mom, dad, and aunt :)... many of you know the Goodmans and Erin Burmeister).

Well, here's the link for Bri and Lauren's Psalm Project blog, with some YouTubes embedded. I'm sure you'll hear a song or two on the new Anthem album...

Just a quick P.S.... many of those scoffers in the back row of youth group have since given their lives to Christ. Alex Register plays electric in the Anthem (Ames) band. And others have come to help us plant Veritas in Iowa City (Jamie, Jack). Thanks Travis Pierce- it's never in vain 1 Cor. 15:58. SDG.

What the...

Hell.

It's a huge topic of discussion right now thanks to Rob Bell's new book Love Wins. I immersed myself in the topic this week as I prepared for a message on hell to our college students. We had already had this topic on the schedule long before Bell's book, so the timing was good for me to re-engage the issue.

First things first... with all the sections to choose from, I had a hard time finding the book at Barnes & Noble.

I scoured all of those sections and apparently they couldn't decide because they had it on a special shelf toward the front of the store.

It's hard to summarize my thoughts on the book and the controversy that has come because of it. I'm not mad, I don't want to burn anyone at the stake (or the book)... but I am deeply troubled.

What troubles me?

First and foremost... I'm grieved by my own sin. I'm gripped by the reality that it's self-righteousness that Jesus frequently condemns- hypocrites who are glad to call out others on things they fail to do themselves. Like "love God and others" for starters. These were the "conservatives" of their day. Right in so many ways, but wrong in the thing that mattered most. I am not beyond any of that.

Second, and flowing naturally out of the first point, I'm in awe of what I've been saved FROM and saved TO. Darkness to Light. Hell to Heaven. Eternity without God to eternity with God. There's no way to understand or conceive of the horrors of hell or the bliss of heaven. The effect of immersing myself in this study can be summarized in the following: God has become very large, my view of my sin has grown proportionally, and grace has become... amazing.

My friend Alex says if you want your view of hell to pass as "biblical/orthodox", it must pass the "Scary Test." Any treatment of hell that is glib and void of horrors you may only encounter in a nightmare is probably too diluted. As one theologian says...

“Now, because no description can deal adequately with the gravity of God’s vengeance against the wicked, their torments and tortures are figuratively expressed to us by physical things, this is, by darkness, weeping, and gnashing of teeth, unquenchable fire, an undying worm gnawing at the heart. By such expressions the Holy Spirit certainly intended to confound all our senses with dread.”

If all of our senses are not "confounded with dread", we may need to re-think our view. This is why any discussion of hell is difficult to have. It's probably why we don't talk about it more. It seems only fitting to talk quietly and with tears about such a topic.

You can't imagine the weight I felt standing up in front of a bunch of 18-22 year olds to tell them about Matthew 25. As if the imagery in that passage were not enough, consider the wonder of the criteria that Jesus used to separate the sheep from the goats. Again, that's why I started with my first point.

Third, I think there's a greater discussion going on than our debate about hell. We contemporary bloggers and pastors and philosophers and theologians are continuing an ancient controversy over this one word... "certainty."

What exactly can I know for sure?

There's a whole history of Western thought that I don't have the time (or knowledge...) to go into. I have an interest in philosophy that began from studying it in college and therefore have just enough knowledge to be dangerous. So look out...

Rob Bell is a product of ... Gasp... Post Modern thinking.

And for that I thank him...kind of (he's good at asking questions, deconstructing assumed meaning and certainty about art, literature, philosophy, theology... anything). This is contrasted with the Modernist who thinks everything is as easy as putting the text, painting, _____ under the microscope of the scientific method and getting at the answer. With this approach, I can empirically rationalize everything.

Modernists tend to love logical argument (i.e. Proverbs, Romans) while Post Modernists prefer narrative (Samuel, Acts). Modernists think in terms of organizing variables (A+B=C) and dissecting sentences like a good mathematician, while Post Modernists prefer to ponder stories.

Engineering versus English majors.

PC v Mac.

All of this is of course, an oversimplification.

Post Modernists are experts at asking the Modernist, "Are you sure?"

So that's my basic assessment of Bell's book, and how I explain the flaws in his thinking. He's a guy, who based on his PM worldview, views the Bible as a story filled with metaphors and prose to be interpreted (and often deconstructed/reconstructed), not as a set of specific theological concepts to be argued. That's why it doesn't do a lot of good to argue over the specifics with him. You have your view of the story and he has his. That's why it's hard to pin him down on anything.

Bell is not sure of anything. All that's left is more questions about hell. And this is my problem.

And so the theological stream of "orthodoxy" expands and stagnates into the Dead Sea. How can we know what orthodoxy is? Who's in, who's out?

So here's a situation I alluded to in a previous post about a conversation I had with a PM pastor Doug Pagitt. And here's where it gets back to Rob Bell. When I was reading Love Wins, I felt like I was talking to Pagitt. It was a flashback. Every statement I made was followed with a question...

Mark: "The Apostle Paul tells us to watch our life and doctrine closely, because in so doing we will save not only ourselves, but our hearers as well (1 Tim. 4:16). I think you need to be very careful."

Doug: "How do you KNOW what Paul's exact doctrine was?"

Mark: "You can read it... starting with those 10 chapters to Timothy."

Doug: "What are you so certain of? There's a cultural context that Paul wrote in that you have no way of knowing. The same is true with Jesus. When he said he is the way the truth and the life, what exactly did he mean? There was a Hebrew understanding of this that may not mean what you think..." [btw, it's funny that Bell used Jn 14:6 in his book]

Mark: "Hmmm. I'm just saying, I think there is doctrine we can know and be certain about. I think it can be the difference between heaven and hell for us and the people we lead, just like Paul said."

Doug: "What exactly are those doctrines you're sure keep people in or out?"

Mark: [Something really profound]

Doug: [More questions provoking uncertainty]

My point here is that questions are good- they are welcomed. I'm glad Bell asked them. It got me thinking.

But these are not just innocent questions. This is a way of interpreting text and understanding epistemology (the study of how we know what we know) that's based more on a French philosopher's deconstructionism (Derrida) than anything. The reason I can say this with such confidence is that Pagitt told me Derrida heavily influenced his view of epistemology. My contention is that the same method Bell uses to deconstruct the traditional view of hell can also deconstruct his own view. I'm sure my pagan professors at the university are thoroughly enjoying Bell's book- and not for his intended purpose.

For example, Bell obviously carries a lot of baggage into this book. He must've had a traumatic upbringing in a fightin' fundy home, based on his caricatures of people who hold a literal view of hell. They hang bad art in their house, are boring, stuffy, judgmental, and think they have all the answers. They also picket abortion clinics and funerals of gay people. In light of that, I could interpret all of Bell through that lens. He's writing out of his own context of spiritual abuse. Therefore, his view that "love wins" is more Bell's wishful thinking for a different god than it is the reality of the Bible.

That's one way to approach Bell's book. It's not the way I'd like to see it, though.

I'd rather sift the good and avoid the evil. (1 Thess. 5:21). Which is why I used the following key...

I think certainty is possible and (of course) encouraged in the Bible. And if you're certain about things, it doesn't mean you're a Pharisee. It doesn't mean you lack love. Jesus warned us about wolves. The Apostles John, Peter, Paul and Mary (sorry I couldn't resist...) all repeated this warning, often calling them out by name.

"Well, are you sure you should be calling Rob Bell out because of his view of hell? Does this make him a false teacher prepared for destruction?" (2 Peter 2)

I'm not sure.

I'm uncertain.

There are good things to be uncertain about...

Thankfully- for all of us- I'm not God. I think judging someone's eternal destiny is something we should be cautious about (duh). It's God, not Mark, that will judge the peoples with equity- for right-ness and fair-ness are the legs that hold up his throne (Ps. 9, 97)

But I will call out this teaching for the flock I lead- and encourage them not to listen to Bell. I wasn't compelled to change our doctrinal statement (check www.veritasiowacity.com)- in fact I'm more resolved to cling to it. I think he asks some good questions, but I think on the whole premise of his book (that love will eventually win everyone... even post-mortem) he is wrong.

I'm certain of that.

"Pretty certain?

A lot certain?

Kind of certain?

Medium certain?

Certain most of the time?

Everyone who doesn't agree with you is going to hell forever certain?"

But I don't think Rob thinks I should be.

Reflections on Success

Today we're doing a staff day away... Cedar Rapids, Iowa baby. Funny we should leave the cultured Iowa City for industrial CR, but I've always found a change of scenery to help create some sacred space.

This morning is devoted to time alone with God. If there's anything I want for myself, my family, Veritas church and its leadership in 2011- it's simply this- MORE GOD!

So here I sit in a cove at Barnes & Noble, processing the story of Joseph (esp. Gen. 39).

As I read the story, I was thinking about the statement "The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man (v2)... the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had (v5)... he was there in prison. But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor (v20b-21)... the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed (v23)."

I happen to be in eye-shot of the "Self-Improvement" section, and my eyes caught the title, "Success is not an Accident" by Tommy Newberry. It claims, "This is without a doubt the single most important lesson you must learn, and really understand, if you want to develop your full potential and achieve all the success you were designed to enjoy!"

Really?

The most important lesson?

Every self help book contains a trace of truth and common grace. I'm sure this book is no exception. But as I think about Joseph, and my life, what do I think about "success"?

Everyone wants to be successful. (Especially church planters?) Joseph was successful throughout his life. But he still sat beaten up in multiple dungeons and prisons for years. His success was not attributed to his great decision making. Poor decisions AND good decisions both landed him in various pits, namely bragging to his brothers about his dreams and fleeing sexual immorality, respectively.

So is it our choices that brings success?

When I look at my life, any good that has come from it, I can only conclude one thing: "Grace!" Grace, the beautiful unmerited favor from heaven's bright King pouring down upon me. This is what keeps me leaning toward Calvinism. God, not me, always comes first.

Mr. Newberry, I ended up here because of my great decision making ability?

Even if you've ascended to the top of the world, could you say, "I did it" ?

Really?

As for me- More God in 2011!

More, God!

"But God, being rich in mercy... made us alive (by grace)... and raised us up... and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Eph. 2:4-6

More of that undeserved favor upon my life, upon my wife, kids, church!

You, Lord, will determine what success means, along with when and how it comes.

"But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ has apportioned it." (Eph. 4:7)

Veritas God Story- The Hills

This is one of the many reasons we declare "great is thy faithfulness" as we look back on this year of church planting craziness.

The Hill Family - How God has been with us from Veritas Church on Vimeo.

Bible Translations

As a new church, we are thinking through which Bible translation to use in our preaching. Some of what has brought on this discussion is that Cornerstone is also wrestling with this. One of the great minds on the Cornerstone elder team (sorry, Jeff, in this case I'm referring to Alex...) wrote some great thoughts on the topic. You can read his series of blog posts: click here

OR, you can just read a summary of all the posts put together...

Bible translations part 1

My last blog talked about getting a couple of new Bibles for Christmas even though I already have a bunch. The three reasons were that sometimes they wear out, sometimes a particular translation helps with a particular function, and sometimes it is just a matter of convenience. So in the next few blogs I am going to do a tour of the Bibles we have around since people are often interested in what the differences are.

Let me start with the big picture. I think of a translation as being like a map of the world in the sense that the world is in three dimensions but maps are in two dimensions. That is why all maps are a distortion of reality. Some make Greenland look as a large as South America, others make the countries at the equator look bigger than they actually are. Now we can either get frustrated by the fact that our maps are not perfect or we can be happy that we have lots of maps available that are perfectly adequate for what we need to do. The distortion on your map is not the reason you missed a turn or got lost the last time you went driving.

Bible translations, at the most basic, have to choose between trying to translate the original Hebrew or Greek word with a single English word each time so as to be as literal as possible or trying to capture the thought the author was trying to express and expressing it as clearly as possible in contemporary English. Both involve some distortion of the original. But the bottom line is that all of the translations I will talk about are, on the whole, good translations. As long as you are able to understand the language a major translation is using, it will be adequate for clearly communicating the main themes of the Bible. What they all have in common is far more important than the differences among them. Sometimes with “translation wars” we emphasize what makes our translation better to the point where minor differences are overshadowing the common truth that they all proclaim. When we get to heaven and are rewarded by our Father, I don’t think “nice translation choice” will be in the top 10 for any of us. Far more important is really believing the gospel and orienting our lives in gratitude to obey what we understand. Our mistakes in applying the Bible often have far more to do with the way we read it than with the translation.

So with all that as a disclaimer, there really are differences. Airline pilots use different maps than the ones in your car atlas because for the task at hand they need to minimize a particular type of distortion. In the next post I will start breaking down our inventory and the functions the different translations have.

Bible Translations, NIV and RSV
The translation I have used most is the NIV. I grew up with it, so it is familiar and it is the most commonly used one in evangelical circles so when I teach or preach it is the least distracting for the most people. People who use other translations even though the preaching is from the NIV are generally people who like comparing translations anyway. I am not sure if it is the “best” translation. Sometimes things become the standard because they are in the right place at the right time. In the 1970s there was a strong demand for a more readable translation then the King James which was written in the early 17th century and was not based on the earliest original manuscripts. Then once people get attached to something it is hard to change. Most of the scripture I have memorized is in the NIV and that is one of the main reasons for being reluctant to change. The NIV is somewhere in the middle of the translation continuum between being ultra-literal and being a mere paraphrase. It flows well for reading aloud and silently and generally does a very good job of capturing the author’s point.

The only stretch where I was not primarily an NIV person was in college and grad school. I wanted a more literal translation but thought the New American Standard Bible (NASB) was too stilted for every day use. I also wanted a study bible. So I ended up using the Revised Standard Version which was the most common alternative to the King James before the NIV came out. At the time I also remember wondering whether the NIV was “biased” in that evangelicals translated it in such a way to cover up “problem” passages. When I moved to Iowa I switched back to the NIV. It is easier to read and memorize and easier to teach from. I also decided my fears were overblown. I almost never use my duct tape repaired RSV study bible anymore but keep it around for sentimental reasons and because when I went to Zambia I was trying to take easy to read translations.

More literal Bible translations

The biggest weaknesses of the NIV come from the fact that it is not as literal. Sometimes I think that it interprets things wrongly. I don’t, for example, like “sin nature” as a translation of a Greek word that means “flesh” in Romans 6-8. I understand why they did it. They didn’t want people to think God hates bodies or that we should hate our bodies. But in the process they make it hard to see how much “body talk” is going on in those chapters. Paul talks about bodies, flesh, and “members” (body parts) constantly. I discussed this in a talk I did for Salt Company in November. Sometimes there is a repeated word or phrase that an author uses and if the word is translated several different ways you won’t notice it as much. The word “walk” in Ephesians is a key word that the NIV translates “live a life.” Thus “walk in love” becomes “live a life of love” and so on. “Live a life” is a more natural way of saying it in contemporary English, but sometimes that phrasing seems forced and so the NIV picks another one. All of this is why when I am teaching a passage I try to look at one or more literal translations.

For a long time my main Bible for this purpose was the New American Standard Bible, which is as literal as they come. I still think it is a very good one for that purpose. When Anastasia does “Precept” studies, she uses our NASB. But there are a few other options now that I like as well. The two new Bibles I got for Christmas were the English Standard Version (ESV) Study Bible and a $5 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB). I got the ESV because 1) My current study bible is falling apart 2) A number of people at my church are using it now and so I wanted to be more familiar with it and 3) there is some logic to having a more literal translation when I am in “study” mode. I am going to be teaching a course this semester on the Old Testament and am planning to go through the ESV Study Bible to check it out as I do so. I had a paperback copy of the HCSB but I gave it away in Zambia. I like it because it feels like someone took the NIV as a baseline and then make it a little more literal. “Flesh” is “flesh” and “walk” is “walk.” It also has extensive notes on alternate translations of verses. Thi s is the translation I used for teaching Romans 7 last semester because it was literal enough to get the points across but still as readable as possible. I picked the ESV over it for the study bible not so much because the translation is better but more because it looked like the notes, maps, etc. for the ESV were better.

Less literal Bible translations

You reap what you sow. Even in Iowa, no one actually talks about reaping and sowing. They talk about planting and harvesting. It is sometimes hard for those of us who have been hearing the Bible for a long time to notice ways in which the language is very different from how we talk now. The less literal translations give themselves even more freedom to understand what the author was trying to say and say it the way we would now. Compare the beginning of Hebrews 8:1 “The point of what we are saying is this” (NIV) with “Here is the main point” (NLT). Honestly, I think the NLT is better here even though the NIV is closer to the original Greek. Free translations are best when you are simply listening to the Bible rather than doing close study of a particular passage. Every night before bed, I read to Anastasia from the Bible and the NLT has become our preferred translation for that. Sometimes the NLT will even throw in a little detail that is not in the text because it is something that would have been obvious to the original audience. Several of these examples were given to me by my father in law who also likes this translation. There are some other good ones as well. I gave away my Contemporary English Version (CEV) which is similar and has worked on getting the cadence and word order right for oral reading. Right now the difference between them isn’t enough for me to justify going out and buying another one. I think I also gave away my copies of The Message. It is one of the most interesting but has the disadvantage that it was all done by one person and is very free . Think of it as Eugene Peterson’s commentary on the Bible with no explanation for why he understands the passages the way he does. That said, it is very good. If there are parts of the Bible that are hard for you to understand and so you never read them, it might be worth trying again with one of these translations. I still have both the CEV and The Message for the New Testament as part of a parallel Bible I will talk about later.

Misc. Bible translations and software

I haven’t discussed the King James in this series of blogs. I do use it sometimes, mainly for historical purposes. For my job I actually read a lot of 17th century English prose, which happens to be what the KJV is. So when I read works from that time that reference the Bible (and the generally did so a lot back then) the KJV is what they tend to quote. So oddly enough I use the KJV for work more often than for personal use. I can read that style of English fairly well, but it makes reading the Bible seem like work and the KJV is not based on the more recent manuscripts. Sometimes I use the Strong numbers that go with the KJV to look up a greek word using my Bible software.

The main Bible software program I have, Logos, I got probably 12 years ago for about $70 and it has been one of my best investments. I don’t know if Logos is the best value for the money or not, but it gives me the NIV, the old American Standard, and the KJV indexed to the greek and hebrew originals. I can search words and phrases and it has some other tools that I occasionally use. I sometimes use e-sword which has the ESV available for free and some other nice free downloads.

If I had known where things were going with Bible software, I would not have invested in some of the books I own. I have a NT word study, a couple of greek new testaments, a parallel greek-english NT, and a greek lexicon (dictionary). All of this I could have on a CD if I were willing to pay for it. Eventually I will probably break down and upgrade, by I keep assuming that some next generation software will come out so I am waiting.

I also have some parallel Bibles. One is a NT only that has 8 translations side by side (4 per page on facing pages). It has the New King James, the ESV, the HCSB, the NIV, the TNIV, the NLT, the New Century, and The Message. If I could replace the New Century with the NASB it would be perfect. There is also a parallel bible that is NASB, NIV, KJV, and NLT that I like. I don’t own it, but I have it checked out from Parks Library most of the time and it sits in my study room at the library. The big downside to it is how much it weighs, but I never have to carry it so that is not a problem. If you have an ISU card you can recall it if you would like to use it.

I think that is a good overview of the Bibles I use. Let me conclude this particular series by emphasizing something I said at the beginning, which is that what the translations have in common is far more important than the differences. With so many good translations around, the real question is how we respond to what we read.

Another "First Ever"... TSC IC Retreat

About 80 of us went to a hotel in Davenport for our first TSC Iowa City retreat. A ton of prayer and expectation went into this (if you were one of those people- God bless you!)- and God acted powerfully on our behalf.

Paul Sabino, who I consider a life friend and dear brother, was our speaker. Paul is one of the most gifted Bible teachers you will ever meet. But more than that, he is a servant, who not only poured out his life from the stage, but spent hours meeting one on one with students. All of this amidst one of his busiest seasons of ministry... thanks for serving us, Paul!

Paul spoke on the life of Joseph, and he challenged us to consider our brokenness and trials as a stewardship from God. Deep wounds mean deep healing. It was a weekend of confession, healing, and salvation.

A couple Chinese students gave their lives to Jesus, and there were a few others who are really considering taking the step of repentance and faith.

I asked Sharon if she was a follower of Jesus, "Yes, for one hour." She said, "I've tried all these years to trust myself. But I fail so often. I can't forgive. I fall short. How can I trust myself anymore?"
There are so many stories that wouldn't be appropriate to share here, but where God broke in to some very dark, demonic places to bring the light of Christ and his good news of salvation. Paul felt redirected from what he had originally planned to bring these messages from the life of Joseph, which were talks he had never given. It was obvious that God was in this. We can't be messengers of healing unless we are healed. It would be hard for a doctor with gangrene infested hands to do surgery on someone else.

The retreat ended with "How he loves", a song that summarizes our retreat...

"He is jealous for me. Love's like a hurricane, I am a tree, bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy. When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory and I realize just how beautiful you are and how great your affections are for me... "

I just ran into Frank here at the library, who was on the retreat. He said, "I can't stop thinking about how much God loves me."

I think we will point back to this retreat as a defining moment for our ministry. Thanks again to all of you who have been praying.

Jeff and I bolted back Sunday morning for our Veritas connection group kickoff. We were displaced from our usual meeting place, so we used it as an opportunity to get people connected in these smaller communities in people's homes. We had amazing brunch grub (this sweet pecan casserole was ridiculously good) and there were about 80 people in the groups.

This casserole is making me hungry. Especially since my stomach is telling me it's 12:30 not 11:30 (I still love "fall back" time). Off to Short's for the best burger in town...

The Library

Here's something I love about being in a university town: the library.

It's a humbling place. Five stories of this...

Google doesn't even know what this book is MADHYANDINASAKH... Vannah, I'd like to get a vowel please.
The Talmud of Babylonia... that's a lot of OT commentary. I wonder how many people have read every word of this.
I found it ironic that Calvin's commentary had the "BS" call number.

It's interesting how all of this knowledge affects people, either making them proud or humble. I suppose the knowledge isn't what "makes" us proud or humble, but rather exposes the condition of our souls.

Although Solomon is right, "Of making many books, there is no end, and much study wearies the body..." (Eccles. 12:11), the library is a place I need to frequent more often.

Anthem follow up thoughts

This isn't the usatoday Anthem reflection, filled with color photos and cool stories. It's more of the "deep thoughts" version...

If you had a room full of 1,200 students, listening with open hearts and attentive ears, what would you tell them?

"Faith is risk. And this is the kind of life God intends for you. It's the kind of life He applauds." That's basically what I said, and the one challenge I wanted young people to leave Anthem with.

It's easy to sing songs for 2 hours about having faith, trusting God, and giving Him our lives as an offering of worship. But as I thought about Hebrews 11, and what the "ancients were commended for", I felt led to take it there. I think it's safe to say that God is honored by men and women who step out, who die to dreams of success and live for dreams of sacrifice and risk. That's the gist of Hebrews 11.

I got this email from a friend following Anthem. I think there are some great things to think about...

Hey Mark,

I was at connection group tonight...and we were talking about your definition of Faith as Risk. I can see where you are coming from; a demonstration of faith is when we put ourselves out into a situation that if God doesn't show up, we will suffer loss. That's the basic definition of risk, an action that could result in loss. But as we were talking about it, we came to realize that faith doesn't seem to be risk, but that faith is actually the antithesis of risk. Faith is the confidence that God will act on our behalf. Risk seems to be the acknowledgment that he may not. It appears that the more faith that we have in God the less risky things seem. Your move to Iowa City may have seemed risky but you trusted, had confidence, had faith, that God was going to come through. Therefore, there seems to be very little risk involved because you knew that God was with you. Perhaps it's just an issue of semantics. I don't think you said anything wrong at Anthem. You explained what you meant and it was very challenging and encouraging. But I'm curious, do you see the tension? What are your thoughts?

First of all, I love emails like this. It's not polemic or antagonistic, but genuinely thoughtful and gracious in tone. And I appreciate the discernment- that my words at Anthem were not mindlessly accepted.

Here's what I think: The paradox of faith is that faith is risk and yet not risk at all.

Reading the rest of Hebrews 11 there is the juxtaposition of 11:32-35a and 35b-38. The first group is full of victories and great exploits, while the second stories about brutal deaths and martyrdom. All pretty much in the same sentence.

The point of Hebrews 11 is this: faith means that you lay it all on the line, trusting that eternity is going to be way better than this refugee camp called life on earth. People filled with the kind of faith that gets commended live accordingly, unaffected by the consequences of their faith in action, whether good or bad. The only way to enter heaven safely is to die with eyes on the unseen.

So faith is risk because there are 2 kinds of stories that may be told about your life, "conquered kingdoms" OR "sawed in two." The risk is that following Jesus by faith may get you killed. It may not result in a mega-church or revival or Christian celebrity status. But it may mean all those things (I personally hope not the third. I don't think I have anything to worry about).

Most Americans have an aversion to suffering. Our gods are comfort and success, and we will do anything and everything to preserve those. Faith is stepping into the Unknown. Of course we take the step knowing he'll catch us. So in that sense faith is the antithesis of risk. In that way I suppose the greatest risk is to play it safe and do nothing at all. Hebrews 11 very well could've said, "Playing it safe is being unsure of things hoped for and uncertain of things not seen. This is what the enemies of God were punished for." But again, the faith-risk is that it's the Unknown for a reason- we don't know how he will catch us.

Finally, in light of our brothers and sisters around the world who have given up far more than us to spread the good news about Jesus, our move to Iowa City was a very small sacrifice. We moved from one form of comfort to another. But in our baby step of faith, we have seen God gladly come to our rescue. He has made our path easy, because he knows we are weak.

I think most Christians are bored. A life without risk usually leads to boredom.

So if you're bored with your faith, ask yourself the question, "What risks have I taken recently?" "What did I do last week that if God didn't show up, my plans were doomed to fail?" I have to ask myself these questions all the time. I don't want to be old and talking about how I once took a risk in my 30's.

Risk does not always mean moving to a new city or doing something stupid (i.e. standing up in the school cafeteria or work place and telling everyone they're hell bound). But it usually involves doing something that gives you that feeling in your stomach, "Oh crap, if God doesn't show up I'm in a bad way".

So this was the challenge at Anthem, and it has been fun having these followup discussions and conversations.

As soon as I get some pics I'll do the USAtoday post for those of you who just like pictures and aren't reading this right now.

A Recap of the First Veritas Service

We're quickly aging as a church. We'll be 3 weeks old this Sunday. But here's a look back at our kickoff on September 12...

First Veritas service recap from Veritas Church on Vimeo.

El Diablo: A Homeless Man

One way to describe our church is in the words of Bono, who describes himself as "a friend of the poor, and sometimes the rich."

It's hard to read the Bible and miss the fact that God has a special affection for the poor. Rhetorically, Politicians have a heart for the poor, but in reality their heart is with the rich. We know the temptation to give special attention to the rich (they have money and power), but we are striving to be a community whose ethos is to care for the poor (James 2, for example).

Recently, I've had an amazing opportunity to share with a guy from the streets of Chicago, who is here visiting his sister. In a recent conversation, he was very close to giving his life to Jesus. Please pray for Terrell.

But this morning I was reminded of another unfolding story in our community of love toward a homeless man, "El Diablo." I read this post this morning from James (I just wrote about James and James music- click here), and it about wrecked me.

Here's the story of Keith (aka "El Diablo"). Listen to the rap song they recorded and produced with Keith. It made me cry, as I listened to the slurred rant of a confused, proud and yet broken homeless guy: http://jamesfromames.wordpress.com/2010/09/16/999-red-balloons/

Here are some pics of El Diablo...

This was the first ever encounter with El Diablo last March, when he shared about his exploits as a cage fighter and gambler:

We asked him how he did at the casino, and as if to add an exclamation on how he rules the casino, he said, "I walked in with a twenty, and out with a hundy."

Our second Diablo sighting at the bank:

This picture was taken the first time we learned his real name, and why we were seeing him all the time: Keith is a homeless man.

Oh God, can you transform the mind and heart of a person with such unique mental, emotional, and spiritual struggles?

yes, Yes, YES!