Peachiosity

My two youngest boys and I have an unhealthy love for the new Lipton Peach Iced Tea commercial. Enjoy!

Beersplosion

If you haven't seen someone sing and break glass before, this is pretty cool. It's cool even if you have seen it! Jim Cornelison sings the National Anthem at every Chicago Blackhawks game, one of the most rousing Anthems around. Here he is singing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame," starting at just the right point to show the power of his voice. Awesome.

Dear Twinkie...Nothing Gold Can Stay

Thanks Ponyboy...

The Legend of the Tootsie Pop Indian

I got a Tootsie Pop tonight from Halloween candy and the wrapper had the Indian shooting an arrow at a star on it. Most of you probably remember something about that as a kid. I looked it up and the history is interesting (via)...

Claim: A Tootsie Pop wrapper with a picture of an Indian shooting an arrow at a star on it can be redeemed with Tootsie Roll Industries for a free bag of candy.

FALSE
Origins: The rumor that Tootsie Pop wrappers featuring an Indian can be redeemed for free candy has dogged the Tootsie Roll company since shortly after the introduction of the chewy-centered lollipops in 1931. Although Tootsie Pops has never held any kind of promotion involving the collection or redemption of their wrappers, the "Indian wrapper" rumor has persisted for over sixty years. The story probably got its start because of the prevalence of contests and prizes connected with the packaging of children's products in the era when Tootsie Pops were first marketed. The slightly different packaging of each Tootsie Pop (about 30% of the wrappers include the Indian figure) could easily lead to tales about certain wrappers being "special." (Similar rumors about various brands of candy bars have circulated for decades as well.)

Tootsie Roll Industries has received a steady stream of letters from consumers attempting to redeem their
Indian wrappers since the 1930s (nearly all of the letter writers expect free Tootsie Pops in return), and they now process about 150 letters per week. The company originally sent special letters expressing their regret to prize-seekers, then in 1982 they created their "Legend of the Indian Wrapper" to accompany those letters "with the hope that children's liking for a good story would help to assuage their disappointment." (Some individual store managers took it upon themselves to redeem Indian-bearing wrappers for free Tootsie Pops, but the exchange was not sanctioned by the Tootsie Roll company itself.)

Lots-o-Links 2.9.12

Mark Beeson on community & mission...

Church is not an event; it's a community. Mission is not an event; it's a lifestyle. 

Tim Chester on meals, discipleship, & mission...

People often complain that they lack time for mission. But we all have to eat. Three meals a day, seven days a week. That’s twenty-one opportunities for mission and community without adding anything to your schedule. You could meet up with another Christian for breakfast on the way to work—read the Bible together, offer accountability, pray for one another. You could meet up with colleagues at lunchtime. ...chat to the person across the table from you in the cafeteria. You could invite your neighbors over for a meal. Better still, invite them over with another family from church. That way you get to do mission and community at the same time; plus your unbelieving neighbors will get to see the way the gospel impacts our relationships as Christians (John 13:34–35; 17:20–21). You could invite someone who lives alone to share your family meal and follow it with board games, giving your children an opportunity to serve others through their welcome. 

Mike Wilkersen at Resurgence on Journal of Biblical Counseling's return...

Yesterday, CCEF announced the JBC's return in a new online format, with the new issue freely viewable now.

Tim Keller on NYC ban of churches renting schools for worship gatherings...

I am grieved that New York City is planning to take the unwise step of removing 68 churches from the spaces that they rent in public schools. It is my conviction that those churches housed in schools are invaluable assets to the neighborhoods that they serve. 

Seth McBee on multiplying disciples...

You must regularly talk about multiplication and train the next group for its certainty. It must always be on your lips and prayers, and always on your people’s lips and prayers. If it’s not, then it will be very difficult when it happens–like kicking out your unsuspecting child and telling them it’s healthy.

Lots-o-Links 1.21.2011

I'm reading Joe Thorn's new book, Note To Self, right now. Go pre-order it. I'm really liking it. Helpful for my soul.

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals: III/IV is $3.99 today. (21 tracks)

My family is headed tonight to the Crossway Books premier book reception and art exhibition for the publication of the FOUR HOLY GOSPELS (leather or cloth), featuring paintings by the renowned artist Makoto Fujimura. Check out some of it. More in a mini-documentary...

Makoto Fujimura - The Art of "The Four Holy Gospels" from Crossway on Vimeo

Before visiting the exhibition we are eating at the new Wheaton Chick fil-A and perusing books at Richard Owen Roberts Booksellers. We are leaving early as I'm going to try to meet with Mr. Roberts for a bit. He is a well-known speaker, writer, and editor specifically on the issue of revival, which is what I'm preaching on. He was also interim pastor of the church I currently pastor and I have received good advice during sit-downs with him before. So I'm going to look for books on revival and speak to an expert on the subject. It's going to be a great night!

Oh, and if you haven't seen my post on John MacArthur's uncharitable response to Darrin Patrick's excellent book, Church Planter, you should go check it out.

Know Your City - Remember the Poor

When I moved to Woodstock I made an effort to get to know the city that I've come to love and serve. I still do. My basic approach is to keep up on local news through our papers and such, to spend time enjoying my city (eat the food, sit in the café, go to a concert or a high school football game), talk to businessmen and women, shop locally, read on city and county and region demographics, ask people questions about what good in the city and where the needs are, and so on.

I've come to see this isn't enough.

A couple of weeks ago a new video game store opened in town. My boys wanted to check it out. As we were there my daughter and I popped in to the Dollar General store. As I opened the door to enter I felt uncomfortable. I was uncomfortable because I realized most of my friends probably wouldn't be caught dead in there. And neither would I. That's where "poor people" shop. 

I have a real fear that missional pastors and churches aren't doing much better than the institutional, traditional church. That approaches to knowing our city like mine are missing a key element, remembering the poor. 

• Luke 4 - Jesus quotes Isaiah and fulfills these words, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor."
• Galatians 2:10 - Paul is told to "remember the poor," likely a reference to poor Christians in Jerusalem.
• James 2:2 - James warns against giving the better seats to the rich and letting the poor sit on the floor.

One of the most convicting to me...

• Luke 14:12-14 - When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.

If we're being honest I think we have to admit that when we go to take the gospel to a city we too often take it among the rich (or richer). 

I mentioned the local farmers market and Paul in the marketplace in a recent post. They aren't the same. I love our local farmers market, but it's not where those with less money can shop. It's for those with more. The marketplace of Paul's day was for everyone. In our day we are, more or less, financially segregated. Let's remedy the fact that we usually live along the lines of our financial status and really get to know our city.

So it's important to know your city in terms of the flow of commerce and places to eat and politics and news, etc. But I think we need to do better to know our city by also hanging with and living among those with less. A few ideas...

<>You probably shop at stores that are nice and clean and big and has a big selection and has fashion you like. Find out where people with less money shop for groceries, clothes, etc. Where do single moms shop? Where do most people with food stamps shop? Now, shop there for the next couple of months.

<>You hang at the café in order to meet your neighbors. Good. Now realize how many people in your city can't afford it. Or realize how many won't get their coffee there because they don't "fit in." Where do they hang? What do they do instead? Can you hang there? If not, why not? Is it pride? Fear?

<>A lot of people don't have or can't afford a washer/dryer. Spend the next month doing laundry for your family at a laundromat. Don't just go to the cleanest & newest one. Go to the one nearest to public housing. Go when traffic is high and get to know those neighbors.

What do you think?

Slow Down

It's days like today that make me think I need to slow down and chill out more often. It's good for you, you know?

Lots-o-Links 6.2.09

Brief Molly Update: All is very well with Molly and her Chiari issues. Sleeping is pretty much completely normal. She is taking no meds, works out regularly, volunteers in the schools, etc. Life is pretty much back to normal. We are so thankful to God for His mercy and her health. For a while we thought there may be no more days like this. 

John Piper: The Pastor as Scholar

Resurgence: Re:Train (Resurgence Training Center) launches & Re:Sound (Resurgence Music) launching soon. Re:Bound (Resurgence Basketball Association, also known as The RBA) and Re:Lative (Resurgence Genealogy Project) still in the works.

John Frame: Questions to Ask a Film

Daniel Block: Gideon's Fleece

Jonathan Dodson: Confessions of a Failing Disciple

SBTS Towers: 3 Questions with Tim Keller

Art of Manliness: The Art of Summer Grilling

Lots-o-Links 3.31.09

Molly Update: Molly is very, very tired.  Every day she sleeps about the right amount of time and feels like lying down for the rest of the day. She can't nap well and never feels refreshed or energized. It's very frustrating for her. I regularly walk in the house or walk upstairs from my office and find her on the couch or in the bed. Her attitude is in the right place but her body just won't keep step. Calls to the neurologist and medication adjustments continue.

Links...

Curator: An American Beer Garden. If wishing made it so.

Listen free to the new Great Lake Swimmers album, Lost Channels, at Paste.

Seth Godin: Ignore Your Critics

Jonathan Dodson: Is beauty in the eye of the beholder?

Tim Chester: A review of Rob Bell's Everything is Spiritual

Donald Miller: Advice on writing from Stephen King. Unfortunately Miller spells it "Steven" which should be another piece of advice on writing. While we are on writing, what about cut and paste writing?

Kevin Gregg is the Cubs' closer, not Carlos Marmol. It's not as sexy to set up, but Marmol has been good at it.

Rapping flight attendant...

Lots-o-Links 11.12.08

Brief Molly Update: We are not going to Chicago tomorrow for Molly's spinal tap because of Elijah's ongoing sickness. Unsure whether the next step will be the spinal or second opinion. Stay tuned and thanks for praying. By the way, we will be looking into a handicapped tag for the van as navigating 1/2 a parking lot is quite a chore for her.  But we are grateful she is going to be able to start driving a little.

Looking forward to the ESV Study Bible going mobile soon. 

If you have no style or need something better, here are three steps to building your individual style. 

Learn to give and take criticism like a man.

Second Rate Snacks = Awesome.

Saralyn really likes Practical Theology for Women by Wendy Alsup.  We have copies (unless they are sold out) on our church book table.

Ed Stetzer: Simply Missional.

Tim Chester: Creating Communities of Grace.

McDonalds is Chick-fil-A North

You heard me.  McDonalds is Chick-fil-A for notherners who can't get Chick-fil-A's delectable chicken sandwich up here.  You should try the new Southern Style Chicken Sandwich at Micky D's, or the chicken biscuit in the morning.  It's not Chick-fil-A, but it's the closest thing we've got.   And it's pretty doggone good.

Lots-o-Links 3.21.08

I'm trying to make time to blog on the changes coming in my local church, and especially focus on some evangelism stuff I'm working to begin soon.  Sorry it's taking so long, but it's been a nutty last few weeks.  Maybe I'll blog on the nuttiness as well.  Might be therapeutic for me.

"Alcohol, Acts 29 and the Missouri Baptist Convention" is a bunch of information put out by some Missouri Baptists that has finally proven, without question, that some people will never get it because they spend all their time trying to get worked up over extra-biblical issues.  It's actually a very funny read for those of us who see how ridiculous it all is.

In Timothy Keller news, the Washington Post's Michael Gerson has a review of The Reason for God.  It's a good one.  USA Today quotes Keller, Driscoll and others on "Has the 'Notion of Sin' Been Lost?" (via Stet)

"Parks and squares aren't a luxury, but an essential feature of the urban infrastructure."

Bob Franquiz is looking to only work 4 hours a week.  I've perused the book, and it looks interesting enough.

Speaking of books, how about the 2008 Christianity Today Book Awards.  I picked up the "The Church/Pastoral Leadership" category winner The Call to Joy & Pain by Ajith Fernando at last year's Desiring God Conference.  I like Ajith's writings and the topic was intriguing.  It got buried in a stack of books, but is back on my "to read" shelf.

This looks VERY interesting to me: The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas With Pictures.

The top 80 church websites (because 80 is a nice round number). :)

Oh that more of us would do what they are doing in Austin for city-wide church planting.

It won't be Longfellow until National Poetry Month.  It's my Gioia to blog on poetry every April.  Keats your eyes open for more very soon.

Lots-o-Links 11.15.07

Me and a certain pastor friend are going to see this tomorrow.  I'm pumped! 

-Bob Hyatt is good reading, as usual.  80-20 and the Organic Church Part 1 and Part 2
-Harry Potter as "Shared Text"
-Seth Godin's "Unleashing Your Ideavirus" (Part 1 and Part 2) was an excellent and thought-provoking read.  It's not very new (2000), but it was good.  More Godin here.
-I really dig this creative photography of kids.
-Must reading for those mashing the Thanksgiving potatoes.

Brewing Battle

Christianity Today has a short article recapping the situation with Missouri Baptists: Brewing Battle.  Nothing terribly new or informative to those who have been keeping up, but concise with some helpful external links at the end for those needing to catch up.

The policy addresses an ongoing SBC debate. Baptistshave championed alcohol abstinence since the late 1800s, but a growing number want the SBC to reexamine the issue, said Timothy George, dean of Beeson Divinity School.

"There is growing discontent, people saying that we shouldn't be mandating things that aren't spoken clearly about in Scripture," George said. "It's hard to argue that the Bible requires total abstinence."

Lots-O-Links-n-Shtuff

Allelon - "a movement of missional leaders" -- They have a website which has a number of resources, but I'm really loving Alan Roxburgh's netcast (especially the audio podcast) the most.  There are things said that I don't like or agree with, but in general this is a great podcast for seeing the emerging missional church for what it is and what it claims to be in different locations.  The interview with Steve Taylor is really great.

Theology Unplugged (TUP) is a podcast by some Dallas Seminary profs.  They say, "The uniqueness of TUP is that we speak on theological issues of the day with clarity, honesty, and openness. TUP allows the listener to make informed judgments on the most important theological issues today."  Their seven part series on the emerging church is a great example of that.  I'm through the first three episodes and I'm pretty shocked at how well they do in trying to understand the emerging church.  Well worth hearing. (HT: Internet Monk Radio)

Peter Leithart finds ways of saying things that just make sense to me...

One of my recurring frustrations with recent debates in the Reformed world is a widespread failure of theological imagination. Too many seem to operate on the assumption that we have everything already figured out; we have all possible categories and positions ready to hand. All we need do is deploy these categories on whatever happens our way. It'll fit, Procrustes says.

Thus, it is seriously proposed that someone is either on the road to Rome or the Road to Geneva - with no possibility of a third (or fourth, or fifth) destination, with no possibility that there might be something in between (though in between is where much of the Christian world lives). And if I suggest that we Reformed might still have something to learn from the Bible about justification, then I must be Rabbinic or Roman Catholic - there simply is no other alternative.

The Evangelical Outpost (Joe Carter) wonders why Southern Baptists would create boundaries with alcohol that would exclude Jesus from leadership in the convention.  He asks, "Can we be more ethical than Jesus?"

Darryl Dash hears Tim Keller and blogs: Tim Keller on Spiritual Fruit and Ministry.

Desiring God Blog: 25 Ways to Help Kids Love to Read

Drew Goodmanson on Missional Eldership.

Miniature Earth -- "If the world's population were reduced to 100, it would look something like this..."

English 101 (we all make mistakes, but some of us make too many!)

Some Videos...

Children See, Children Do...

Doll Face...

Stop Motion Beatbox...

Acts 29: Clarification

Scott Thomas, Acts 29 Network Director, on the "Seven Misrepresentations of Acts 29."

Reasons Why I Hate Us 4

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch...

The Missouri Baptist Convention has toughened its alcohol policy forpeople who receive money from the organization to start new churches.

Individuals who help found new churches were already required to sign a statement agreeing to abide by the organization's policy on alcohol consumption. Some of the new language requires those who receive money from the convention to go a step further and "teach the strong Biblical warnings of the consumption of alcohol for all Christians."

[...]

Missouri Baptist Convention interim executive director, the Rev. David Tolliver, said he did not know what precipitated the need for a policy change, saying only that the new policy "reflects the position of most Missouri Baptists."

He said the Journey was not affected by the toughened policy, because its leaders simply borrowed money from the convention to buy a new church building. "This new policy has nothing to do with them," he said. "It won't affect them."

Smatterday

A smattering of shtuff...

Update on sabbatical last week.  I was greatly encouraged by Jonathan Edwards' Personal Narrative.  I also listened (again) Tim Keller's "Being the Church in Our Culture" and "Doing Justice" from the Reform & Resurge conference last year.  Every time I hear Keller I stop at some point and freak out by how good it is.

Melinda Penner on Luther's A Simple Way to Pray
Email yourself in the future
GOOD Magazine (Bright Orange, video)
Spider-Man 3 is coming
Comic Relief 2007
A great way to keep me from eating your egg salad

Reasons Why I Hate Us 3

Sorry to "hate us" so often (c'mon, that's a funny post title), but sometimes we demand it.

I received an email from my local association today saying that there are some scholarships available from the North American Mission Board (NAMB) for the Origins Conference in Pasadena, CA. Sounds like a lovely opportunity so I inquire, not knowing whether or not I could go in May. Hopeful.

Well now I know I CAN'T go. My schedule is wide open, partial scholarships are still available, but the Donger is disqualified. Wanna know why? Huh? KPOW! Here's part of the scholarship form...

This is almost laughable. Asking about private prayer languages and alcohol on scholarship forms for conferences? SBC'rs you better wake up. If we don't start putting the Bible before our rules we are in deep weeds.

By the way, Joe Thorn will be posting in the next day or two on the NAMB policy for church planters. This will be important to discuss.