Great book

I just finished Kingdom Triangle today. I will be meeting with some fellow elders from our church on Wednesday to talk about it.

The first 140 pages were pretty typical Moreland- great stuff on the need to engage our minds and be more aware of what we believe and why. That will always be prophetic to me and my fellow Americans. We need to be a little less amused and um you know a little more smarter BTW- I need to quick finish this post so I can get to my free redbox movie- Spiderwick Chronicles.

But the last 60 pages are truly prophetic for the American church. I think I would consider these "must read"pages from Moreland, one of the great Christian thinkers of our time. Some highlights:

"However unwise, we Evangelicals are often too quick to dismiss healing, demonic deliverance, miracles, and prophetic words of knowledge and wisdom..."

"In imitation of Jesus' ministry, the church is invited to exercise the miraculous power of the Spirit in the service of the Kingdom."

[he addresses people and churches who are not as open to the supernatural signs, wonders and gifts of the N.T.....] "frequently you are too cautious and too concerned about 'being in control' to allow things to get messy and to take risks where you may look foolish if God's manifest presence does not show up. Too often, there is a rigid, controlling, fearful spirit among you. Too often, you are defensive and stuck in tradition for its own sake. There is too little power in your churches, too little extravagant worship in which your people pour out their hearts to God on Sunday. Too much of your church's accomplishments can be explained without there needing to be a God to explain them. Things are too predictable and too, well, American."

[to the charismatic bros/sisters] "You are too anti-intellectual. If I hear another Third Wave or Pentecostal/charismatic speaker say, 'God offends the mind to reveal the heart,' I think I'll scream... why don't we also hear you say that God offend the heart to reveal the mind? I fear this statement is often an excuse for intellectual laziness."

"Dallas Willard says that we should come to the point that we expect to see the miraculous outbreak of the Kingdom take place as an 'ordinary' part of our 'extraordinary' Christian lives."

Here are some important questions we will surely discuss on Wednesday:

"To what degree will we expect to see the Spirit work in miraculous ways?"
"To what degree should we encourage people to seek miraculous works today?"
"To what extent do we see church life in the N.T. as a pattern for us to imitate today?"
"How much 'space' will we provide during services for the miraculous work of the Spirit beyond just the teaching and singing?"

He has some great book recommendations, and I've got Convergence: Spiritual Journeys of a Charismatic Calvinist by Sam Storms on order.

Pastor Loses His License

...Almost...

We were enjoying a nice Sunday afternoon drive out on a peaceful rural highway (with a nice tailwind). We had just finished talking through the Sh'ma and were excited to pick some mulberries at my uncle's farm.

I'm sure it was more my foot than the tailwind that got our van up to 80 mph. But here's how I know I was going 80 without looking at my speedometer- a nice man in a uniform had been waiting all afternoon with a radar to clock our velocity.

He wasn't too impressed. Neither was Leatha. Or the kids.

Here are some things I learned from that nice gentleman with the flashing lights on his SUV...

1. He likes to hang out by the cemetery on the way into the small town of Cambridge, IA.
2. You can lose your license for 3 months if you're caught going over 25 mph (he had mercy and dropped it to 20 over)
3. If you don't have proof of insurance (our insurance card was 6 days expired), it can cost you $300 in a moving violation, or over $700 in an accident situation (again, he had mercy).
4. My idiocy only cost me $102- what a steal!
5. I am a sinner.
6. Mercy is priceless, but only lawbreakers treasure it.
7. I will be proactive in obeying the speed limit.

I'm sure there are more lessons.

My van is fast. Want to race?

Sh'ma

The Shema (Deut. 6:4-9) and the Lord's prayer (Matt. 6:9-13) have become central to my walk with Christ in the past year.

I'm going to try to memorize the Sh'ma in Hebrew with our family.

Click here for the Hebrew transliteration.

Blessed

Leatha took these pictures on our porch today...

Poetry

I love poetry, though I rarely read it, seldom write it, and hardly understand it.

More accurately, I've always wanted to want to enjoy poetry.

A few things have converged recently to stir this in me.

1. Cameron has been reading a lot, and he loves to read Mother Goose nursery rhymes. For Cameron, these rhymes seem to be unlocking a door that is opening the world of literature to him.

2. I've been working with our Anthem song writing team to write music. Song writing is poetry- and there's a big difference between tasty and trite.

3. I spent the day with a good friend who shared one of his poems with me. It's actually one of our church's founding pastors, Harold Nesbitt (now working in Kazakstan)...

You Can't Trust A Nigger With A Gun

The graves we dug in the pourin' rain
With enemy fire still a comin' down.
The mud so deep, feared I might be drowned
And laid 'side them who was done with pain.

And the thunder rolled,
And a baby cried,
And a soldier cried,
But I's feelin' bold.

Said: 'Yanks I'll shoot jus' cause they's down here.'
'Cept muskets waren't meant for colored men
Who's fit to dig but not to dig in-
To save our homes- all that we hold dear.

And the thunder rolled,
And a baby cried,
And a soldier cried,
But I's feelin' bold.

A gun I grabs from the Union dead;
'Twas loaded and cocked and good to fire.
I's aimed and fixin' to vent my ire
When bullets exploded in my head.

And the voice of a Reb who knew me said,
'You can't trust a nigger with a gun;
'For sure, he'll shoot his Massah and run.'

And the thunder rolled,
And a baby cried,
And a soldier cried,
And so's I died.

This is the progression- Your first thought might be something like mine, "What does this poem mean?"You re-read it and realize, "It obviously takes place during the civil war. A slave wants to help his master fight against the North. So he picks up the gun of a fallen Union soldier and begins to fight alongside the Confederate army. He was just joining the war when he was shot by a Confederate soldier who told him he wasn't fit to carry a gun."

Someone dies at the hand of a fellow countryman while fighting for the same cause. All because of skin color. You can feel the dissonance in the refrain, "And the thunder rolled..." In other words- it's not how the world should be. It's not right.

My mind fast forwards to modern America. I wonder if some people might not vote for Obama because of his skin color or middle name. An African American seeking to join the fight for his country- and is shot.

It's not a political poem. The author (or me) is not saying you should vote for Obama. But it raises these questions and makes me think.

The poem took me to another place, then helped me reflect on life. That's good poetry.

Summer Reading

Since most of the books I read are meant to keep my mind sharp and my heart deep, I need to consistently mix in fun reading to ensure I don't get too sharp or too deep. (Actually, I only know of a couple people for whom that would be a real concern.) I have a reading sweet tooth, if you will. Until the last couple days, I had been in a fun reading slump- not enough sugar in my reading diet. Too much St. Augustine's Confessions was causing me to suffer from sugar withdrawal.

Until I stumbled upon (thanks, Donnie!)...



Though it was about 400 pages (a lot considering 35 pages with pictures is a lot for me), it was a quick read (esp. the first half about SEAL training). It's definitely told by a soldier- filled with profane and descriptive language, which didn't seem to bother me considering the war context. I'm a turtle reader, but I managed to get it done in a couple days. I couldn't put it down after about page 200 (I skimmed the first half).

There are tear stains the last 30 pages of this book. The elation and emotion over his rescue (that's not a spoiler... "Lone Survivor" sort of gives away the ending...) stirred my heart. I immediately thought of what must happen in heaven when a sinner repents and the spiritually captive is set free. I need to rejoice with more emotion. And reflect more on my personal rescue story.

And there's the obvious reminder that courage and valor are virtues that need to be exalted.