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.

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."

youtube

This article in usatoday fascinates me... Read it here. Yesterday I spent some time at the skatepark. I often wonder why, considering the only shredding I'm doing these days is my finger... (Don't worry Veritas softball team, I'm hoping I'll be good to go for tonight):

All the talk with the locals here at the Iowa City skatepark revolved around youtube drama. So I thought the timing of this youtube article was interesting. Everyone in the world with a computer, camera, and internet connection has access to this "gold rush".

Some quotes...

"Interacting with your audience through video is unquestionably a new dimension for TV as we know it, and people are inventing new content formats all the time...YouTube has democratized the concept of the professional"

"What [consumers] do care about, however, is being entertained, and in that sense we're in a new Gold Rush era..."

I wonder what this means for the church. Here are a few common responses...

1. Fortress... by creating our own subculture. Because we all know God needs his own "tube" and social networking site.

2. Withdraw... by cutting the internet cable

3. Engage... by being the most innovative and creative in a way that reflects God.

What does #3 look like? I'm not sure. Ideas?

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.

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.

Santa Claus is coming to town

Here are some thoughts from Bruce on Santa...

And some even better thoughts from Driscoll...

http://blog.marshillchurch.org/2010/12/13/what-we-tell-our-kids-about-santa-pastor-mark-for-the-washington-post/

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.

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!

"This is why"

Cool follow up on Marko's blog about our time from his perspective... http://whyismarko.com/2010/encouraging-an-old-youth-pastors-heart/

I think all of us in ministry need moments like this. Our job is so intangible, and it's cool to have "this is why" moments on our journey.

Have you been that "moment" for someone? It may be a good time to write a thank you letter to someone who's pastored-mentored-invested in-taught-parented you well.

Imago Dei

Today I was driving down a fairly busy four lane highway, when a driver a few cars ahead of me decided to randomly slam on his brakes. The next car quickly responded with brakes and swerving.

I had to make a quick choice... rear end the car in front of me at a high speed or risk it- hitting the brakes and swerving into the left lane, hoping for an opening in that lane.

I swerved, barely missing the car in front of me.

As I passed the stopped cars to my right, I saw the reason for the mayhem...

A Dog.

Are you kidding me? For the love of humanity- hit the animal!

Whatever you do, don't get yourself and others killed trying to avoid... a dog. Nobody wants to be responsible for hitting Max the Retriever, but nobody really wants to be responsible for saving a dog and killing a human. They teach that in driver's ed. Back in high school, a kid in Omaha was paralyzed when he swerved to miss a squirrel.

I drove by the madness on the road, then I recalled a conversation with my philosophy professor back in the day.

I was talking to him about the moral argument for God's existence, which I consider the most intuitive (i.e. It's naturally obvious) of the classical arguments. I asked him if he thought there would be a moral obligation in the following scenario: A house is on fire and you can save the baby or the dog. Are you morally obligated to save the baby? If so, where does this sense of "ought" come from? Is it mere preference and/or socialization, or moral obligation based on something outside of us. And something in us.

It made me think of the aforementioned scenario on the highway.

If a child were to wander out onto the highway, there would be an obligation to brake, swerve or whatever to avoid the child. But not in the case of a dog, cat, deer, raccoon, or bird (btw: two of my coolest roadkill- a hawk and coyote).

The difference, of course, is that we we're made in the "imago dei"... image of God. His fingerprint is on us. We have souls. We are eternal beings, and although we have some things in common with animals, a dog will never watch a sunset in awe of its Maker. A dog cannot lift its paws in worship or sing a hymn of praise. It cannot repent and surrender its will.

Nor can it blog about its experience of almost getting killed on the road.

All said and done- I'm glad the dog is still alive. But I'm more glad that I'm still alive.

Cue Pearl Jam.

Jeff Thune's blog

So my friend and partner in ministry just started a blog: http://witnessthecorridor.blogspot.com/

I commend it to you- it's already been cracking me up. I was especially enjoying the 80's post.

Add us to the list of reckless bloggers that will probably be posting things to the world that we shouldn't (probably me more than Jeff- he's already told me about some restraint he's had).

Stay tuned.

Fellow artists, listen up

"Someone once asked Somerset Maugham if he wrote on a schedule or only when struck by inspiration.

'I write only when inspiration strikes,' he replied. 'Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o'clock sharp.'

That's a pro... by performing the mundane physical act of sitting down and starting to work, he set in motion a mysterious but infallible sequence of events that would produce inspiration, as surely as if the goddess had synchronized her watch with his. He knew if he built it, she would come."

- The War of Art, p. 64 by Steven Pressfield

Now, Ryan and Bobby, if you get your albums out, I'll finish my books. Deal?

Church Planting Axioms

Here are some principles I've been thinking about. Some of them I'm sure I've ripped off other people. I gave credit where I think it's due.

1. You name it, we don't do it (Andy Stanley?)

Here's our program- connection grps. Doing life in community. Which leads to our second axiom...

2. Ministry is relationships (Brent Thomas?)

This will keep us from becoming a Christian country club. My second greatest fear is that I will neglect my responsibilities as a pastor in favor of becoming the activities coordinator on the titanic...Rearranging chairs and planning parties on a sinkng church

3. Let the theologians shape the content, let the artists determine the color

Fluorescent lights, drop ceilings, and white walls won't do.

4. No one starts a ministry unless someone starts a ministry (Stanley?)

Person: "Hey, Mark, have you ever thought of..."

Me: "That sounds like a great idea, and a great ministry for you to lead..."

5. What to do when we don't know what to do...2 Chronicles 20:12

Most of the time we won't know what to do

6. Beware of de-churched people with an agenda

If you're leaving your church because they didn't share your conviction about end times, breast-feeding, homeschooling, Calvinism, children's curriculum, or politics... you make me nervous. But if you have a desire to serve and be a part of what God is doing, you're wanted! Or, if you've never been to church or are giving church one more shot...come check it out! Who knows, we may be one more reason you decided to stay home and watch football or you might meet Jesus.

7. Speak English

Here are some non-English phrases we may try to avoid:
"if you want to go to heaven, accept Jesus into your heart"
"we trust you've had a wonderful week in the Lord as you've walked in the promises"

8. Our primary strategy for helping people meet Jesus: be normal

9. 18-29 year olds may not pay the bills, but they will change the world... Don't tolerate their mess, harness it

10. Be a local church with a global vision (Cstone Ames)

Our hope is that somehow Malawian orphans and unreached Hazara will be touched by Jesus.

11. The more risk and change averse we become, the older we are becoming. Old things die.

12. The wisdom of Solomon + Inaccurate facts = Fool's decision (Larry Osborne)

That's all for now. Maybe you have some advice, or an axiom you'd like to add to the list. Thanks ahead of time.

Where have we been?

Great question. The last month has been a blur with our move to Iowa City. Pictures tell a thousand words, so I'll go with that. But first, the timeline...

May 1/2- Commissioned at our last official Cornerstone services. Spoke on "Worship"

May 3-25- Tying up loose ends from 15 years in Ames. Most "loose ends" didn't get tied. I can't even think about all the people we didn't get to hug and say "thanks and goodbye" to.

May 25- Left Ames for the last time. Officially closed on our house in Ames June 1.

May 25-June 2- Spent some time in Omaha

June 2-early September- At our temporary home until our house is finished. On with the pics..

Aug 25- TSC in IC kicks off

Sept 12- First church service in IC

Cleaning out my office brought back a lot of memories. This is late Grandpa Bill's (click here) copy of "Pursuit of God", which he quoted all the time. It's one of the few books I've read more than a few times. It's this "pursuit of God" (my pursuit of him and more importantly his pursuit of me) that has brought this wonderful craziness upon us... a move to Iowa City.

Above: Jeff and Ashley Thune, our new partners in ministry, lived with us for 2 weeks in May. We had a blast...what an awesome couple! We put Jett on the table and let them compete over who Jett would go to first. Jeff won in this case... I think the jar of honey had something to do with it.

Below: I was hunting for a ball in the grass- a common occurrence when I golf- when I almost stepped on this huge snake. I screamed like a little school girl. Jesse Reyes manned up on the snake and pulled it out of the grass. Then Jeff took over. Notice I'm behind Jeff, a safe distance from the serpent.

Above: Recording in Minneapolis for the new Anthem album, which is going to be awesome. It should be out in late August if all goes well. I'm very pleased with how it sounds so far.

Below: One challenge with moving was that our strategies for containing our 10 month old were becoming less effective. He's escaping and going head first into the lego bin. The problem is that he doesn't think ahead of time how he's going to get out (below)

Leatha has been building some furniture for our new house (click here for link to knock-off wood.com). Dad helped us take it to the next level on our new dining room table with his finish carpenter skills.

Above: Dad playing with Jett

Below: How fitting. The very last items in our house were 3 boxes of kleenex. Leaving Ames was like losing a loved one; lots of grieving in the last days.

But we had a good time with family in Omaha after leaving Ames. I wonder how much longer Beck will see both his great-grandma's, both in their early 90's. Grandma Rena on the left, Grandma Marge on the right.

Above: All the travel and moving has been exhausting.

Below: One of the pleasures in Omaha... skating with longtime friend Curt (middle) and my brother Steven. I'm lobbying Leatha for a skate ramp in our back yard at our new house.

Above: Kids sleeping at our temporary home

Below: This is the best picture we could come up with for our support letter. The thing we realize is that the bigger our family gets, the harder it is to get a good picture.

Please pray for us. There is not a mountain ahead of us with this church plant. It's a mountain range. We covet your prayers and support ("support" is the subtle way of saying "money").

Speaking of money, I hate writing this more than you hate reading it...

But if you are interested in giving to the church plant in Iowa City (we're still deciding on a name), click here. It's easy from there (after clicking "one time gift" or "recurring gift", put in the amount and scroll down for my name). Or if you want to go old school, just write a check out to Cornerstone Church with "Iowa City- Mark Arant" in the memo and send it to Cornerstone Church, 56829 U.S. Hwy 30, Ames, IA 50010.

I'm sure I'll be doing more blogging in the days to come. Stay tuned for the adventures that lie ahead.

Thank you, Dallas

In high school, I was told to read books like The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer and Knowing God by J.I. Packer and Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, and Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard.

Apparently my youth pastors shouldn't have been youth pastors (i.e. Ed, John...). There was probably more age appropriate books out there.

But as I read these books, I may not have gotten them, but I knew there was gold in them. So I kept digging.

To this day if I could only have one book next to the Bible, I'd pick Mere Christianity. That should be a post of its own. Related to that is why we should read a few books a lot rather than many books once.

But the Dallas Willard book really troubled me. I knew he was saying something profound that I really couldn't quite explain. Over the years Willard has become more popular, and people have sought to regurgitate him in more understandable ways. His thoughts on the kingdom are brilliant. When I finally "got" Willard, it was a Copernican revolution close to the scale of when I "got" what John Piper was saying about the glory of God.

Where is this going?

I came across a Willard article that could've saved me a lot of time. It's a cogent article on his thoughts on evangelism, discipleship, heaven/hell, pluralism, etc... Click here for the whole thing, or here are some sound bites...

On evangelism...

Much of evangelism today is rooted in a misunderstanding of salvation. People have been told they are Christians because they have confessed they believe that Jesus died for their sins, but the total package is presented in such a way that it leaves the general life untouched.

Biblically, salvation means deliverance; the question is, "Deliverance from what?" The common message is "deliverance from guilt." But the full concept of salvation in the New Testament isdeliverance from our present sins. Deliverance from sins comes from the new life of God’s Kingdom when we place our confidence in Jesus the person.

The problem is that we have been obsessed with this idea that the real issue is "making the cut" to get to heaven. We have taken the discipleship out of conversion.

I am uncomfortable with the distinction between evangelism and discipleship. What we call evangelism is often nothing more than soul-winning. Evangelism has come to mean getting people "across the line." It operates according to a model of providing goods and services that has nothing to do with Christlikeness.

The real question is, How do you do "evangelism-discipleship?" My short answer: You ravish people with the blessings of the Kingdom. You make them hungry for it. That’s why words are so important—we must be wordsmiths. You use words to ravish people with the beauty of the kingdom. It’s the beauty of the kingdom that Jesus said was causing people to climb over each other just to get in. People become excited like the pearl-purchaser—they will give everything to get in.

On discipleship...

My definition: A disciple is a person who has decided that the most important thing in their life is to learn how to do what Jesus said to do. A disciple is not a person who has things under control, or knows a lot of things. Disciples simply are people who are constantly revising their affairs to carry through on their decision to follow Jesus.

On pluralism...

If somebody says to me, "What name would you give by which I might be saved?" I’m not going to say, "Buddha." I’ll say Jesus. Someone may say to me, "I know a Buddhist who is going to heaven." I will say, "Good luck."...I always say, if you’ve got someone who honestly is better than Jesus, trust them. And if you don’t, trust him. By all means, don’t trust yourself, because you’re the one who’s got the problem.

March Madness and Other Randomness

I've been having a hard time keeping an eye on Jett when Leatha's been gone. Last week he rolled off the bed after I fell asleep. Two days ago he rolled down the stairs. Good thing for Psalm 121.

But I decided to declare war. There's no way he'll escape my sight now. Everyone's happy...

One of my greatest discipleship tools is what I call the "fantastic voyage." It basically involves getting in the car, finding a road I've never been on, and talking with the passengers about life, God, etc. It usually also involves some craziness.

Like trying to bust through a snow drift...

Signs of spring: Ava teaching Makai how to ride a bike. We're going to get some training wheels on that bad boy...
I was skating with Makai and we took a spill. Everything is soaking wet and muddy this time of year.
I was with some guys who decided to use the bill as an evangelistic tool. I actually had the audacity to ask the guy who was paying if he left a good tip. I was worried. My worries proved true. You've got to go at least 20% if you're going to throw down a tract. In my opinion, go 20 regardless.

Nothing says "Christian wack job" like...

65 degrees yesterday, which means the skatepark is thawed out!

The ipod was rockin' with the "speed of sound" (coldplay). I love spring.
Too bad it's snowing right now.