New Books In The Mail

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Here's a smattering of new and notable books that are on my radar and on my shelf. 

Anything else good come out that you want to recommend? 

Sharon Van Etten - Are We There

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There isn't a chance that I would pass up the new Sharon Van Etten album, Are We There. Her previous albums, Tramp and Epic, are great. I don't even need to preview the new album in order to buy it, but I know some of you do. Just watch this video for "Afraid of Nothing" and I know you will do what's right and buy this album. Looks like Are We There is a few bucks cheaper this week as Amazon's "Album of the Week."

Cheap Kindle Books 5.23.14

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Love Me Like I'm Not Made Of Stone

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Lykke Li has made a breakup album full of power ballads. And it's nothing short of amazing. I've liked Lykke's music in the past, but never really became a big fan. That's all changed because of her new album, I Never Learn,* and the standout song for me, "Love Me Like I'm Not Made Of Stone." Here's the video, which is simple and remarkable. The lyrics are also posted below. If you go to this page you can listen to the song free and repeatedly while perusing the lyrics.

Listen to this song for what it is, and then also think about it in the context of how we love our neighbors. 

*Let me give you a hint. You can buy the album on CD for $0.50 cheaper than the download and still get the automatic download as you wait for the CD to show up. If that sounds like too much trouble, just download. I think you will love it.

Cheap Kindle Books 5.6.14

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Black Sox - World Series Footage

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This is, according to Deadspin, the only known surviving footage of the 1919 World Series that was thrown by the White Sox (Black Sox). This footage was "part of a cache of newsreels from the Canadian Yukon that were at one point used to fill in a swimming pool that was being converted into a hockey rink. The newsreels were discovered in 1978, and sat in an archive until this year, when a White Sox fan working on a documentary about the lost films stumbled on them. Good luck for him, and better luck for us." (via)

Pretty cool. Watch a piece of history.

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Hello, John Piper

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Unfortunately too many who view the world through social media lenses know John Piper more for his "Farewell, Rob Bell" comment more than most anything else. I've been blessed by Dr. Piper's ministry for years. First discovering him through Desiring God and then a mad scramble to read the rest of his key books (Let the Nations Be Glad, Future Grace). Then Bruce Ware let me borrow boxes of John Piper sermon tapes, which I devoured while at work during seminary years. 

I heard Piper speak at Southern Seminary where he called the seminary dangerous because it's beautiful and safe. I asked him about whether tax exempt status for churches caused us to not speak out more and he just said we need to be bold. I heard Piper speak at The Founders Conference in Birmingham where he spoke on mission and caused me to aspire to become a missionary to a Muslim country. I heard Piper speak on mission again at the International Mission Board gathering at Ridgecrest, NC where I asked him to sign his books for me during a youth event and asked if he felt odd signing books since it means he's a "celebrity." He said he doesn't seek it out but won't say no. We got to chat with Noel several times as during the conference as we dropped off our kids to the same place for childcare during the week-long event. She was dropping off Talitha. I've been to the Desiring God conference and the Desiring God Pastor's conference and got to sit at lunch with other young pastors and Dr. Piper and grill him on ministry, hot theological topics, and more. 

Nameless other Piper podcasts, books, pamphlets, lectures, and sermons have blessed me over the years. I often talk about my favorite-ever sermons as Piper sermons. I love "Running With The Witnesses" because I so easily fall in love with things that don't help me run the race. I have been influenced by Piper on theology, fasting, mission, ecclesiology, how to deal with theological disagreements, sin, suffering, and far too much to even try to list.

I say all this to say I get to go with a church friend to drive to hear John Piper speak on Jonathan Edwards today at Trinity International University in Deerfield, IL. So I've been thinking about how I got to this point, the point of spending several hours in one day to go hear one man speak. Am I so gripped by his celebrity? Am I just a fan-boy?

I've been around long enough to not see John Piper as a hero or a celebrity. I go to hear a wise and sinful man speak about another wise and sinful man who both know their sinfulness and need for grace. I go to hear a man who knows himself well enough to realize he must pursue pleasure in God because of his great propensity to pursue pleasure in anything else. I don't go to see someone who's popular, but someone who has poured his life into mine through various means and who is coming near. So I'm thankful I get to be poured into again. 

I thank God for many saints, near and far, famous and completely unknown, who I owe so much. One will be speaking on Edwards. One will be sitting with me listening to Piper. One I have known mostly through books and sermons over years and the other I've known for a short time and we meet together every week to discuss theology, Calvin's Institutes, family, and faith. I'm blessed by and thankful for both, and both play an important role in my life. God is merciful to provide us such great gifts. 

Saintseneca -- Dark Arc

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My new piece on Saintseneca and their album Dark Arc is up at Christ & Pop Culture: "Saintseneca's Dark Arc: Stripping Off The World's Varnish." Here's a blurb...

The entire album is a juxtaposition of style and substance. It’s subversive, kind of Banksy. I can’t help but think that this is similar to what the church should be doing in the midst of our consumer culture. We should be taking the shiny, happy things of this world and breaking them, showing they aren’t what we think they are. We should be stripping off the varnish, seeing through the luster. 

Go read my whole article, and please do go pick up Saintseneca: Dark Arc.

 

Bock on Hollywood, Movies & The Bible

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Very much enjoyed Darrell Bock's piece at TGC on Noah and movies on biblical stories, "Hollywood, Movies, & the Bible: Should We Rewind On How We View?" He asks some helpful questions and provides reasonable, thoughtful answers on engaging culture and art. This should be essential reading for pastors and theologians who want to talk about movies. Would help some of the constipated thinking going on. Here's a sample...

Should I expect people who do not believe the Bible to make movies that follow it? Might it be better to consider how people reading the Bible without the eyes of faith see it, listen to what they are saying, and then winsomely and critically engage where they are coming from?

You need to read the rest here.