If you’re among the crowd who’s viewing habits are changing from television to the internet (as ours has) you might find Ars Technica’s review of the new Hulu app interesting.

Tim Challies writes “Here is a round-up of search terms that, if you search for them, are going to lead you into trouble. ‘Some of the riskiest searches on the Internet currently have to do with finding items for free, or looking for work that can be done from home, according to a new report from McAfee.’” (via Tim Challies’s blog)

Justin Taylor notes the new preaching book “Why Johnny Can’t Preach” by T. David Gordon

I love the reading of God’s word publicly in the assembly and in small groups and I wonder if we are losing the art of publicly reading it. In fact I actually took a class on reading the Bible aloud at seminary and it changed the way I view the subject. Justin Taylor discusses an article about the lost art of reading aloud from the New York Times. Hopefully this isn’t something we ever lose in the Lord’s church.

John MacArthur disagrees that the divorce rate among Christians is the same as that of non-Christians. After reading his explanation, I tend to agree. (via Tim Challies’s blog)

Tags: Jots

Have we found a friend in the Hollywood wasteland? Reading today’s Lonewolf Diary got me thinking that someone, somewhere out there in tinseltown might actually like us Christians. I don’t follow many Hollywood blogs but this one was passed to me by a friend and it was an intriguing read. Here is a man who actually, publicly wrote that Hollywood’s fascination with destroying Christianity must end! Now I’m not sure of Steven Crowder’s spiritual affiliation but I have to say that it was nice of him to step up to the plate to “defend” us, even if he did so in his very sarcastic way. Why hasn’t anyone else done the same, especially those who bear the name of Jesus? Why haven’t we marched, protested, agonized, boycotted, and condemned Hollywood’s treatment of us? For one, those in Hollywood who relentlessly beat the drum of persecution are a passing vapor, a mist that appears today and is gone tomorrow. (I’m talking about their careers...) They will stand before Jesus to answer the one question he demands of them, “who did you say I am?” But here is the bottom line, boycotting Hollywood or rioting to change the cultural perception of Christians is not our job and it would be fool-hardy to be distracted by it. Our job is to preach Jesus and plant churches that change lives and cultures. Jesus told us two very important things:

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” Matthew 28:18-19

and

“I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” John 17:14-18

Thanks Steven for your support, we’ll take it from here.

Tags: Culture

If you’re an investor looking for a depressing story, here’s one that’ll make you even sadder. The Consumerist is reporting about a group of elementary school kids that apparently beat the socks off of most major Wall Street investors. *Sigh* (Original story via The Consumerist)

Those of us renting don’t often get much praise (usually the opposite) from homeowners but at least one renter ran the numbers and came up with a different take on the renting vs. buying debate. (via The Consumerist)

A brilliant comic take on Neil Postman’s first chapter of “Amusing Ourselves to Death.” If you never read the book you can find it here:

Tags: Jots

They warned that it would happen... the dreaded “R” word rejection and yesterday it did. I had a very interesting conversation with a congregation that we had approached about considering us for financial support and it did not go well. That isn’t to say the conversation wasn’t pleasant or informative, it was. However, as pleasant as it was the outcome was the same, rejected. This wasn’t one of the soft pillowy “maybe later” or “not right now.” This was a full on, big fat, no-recourse, NO. During our support raising training we were warned about this and having gone through support raising before for Ireland were accustomed to it, but to have the line cut so quickly and so thoroughly was, I must admit, a bit shocking. No one likes to be rejected; there are even websites that challenge you to “deal with” rejection, and deal with it we must. However, being rejected is never easy, especially when your heart and soul are wrapped up in a passion for the ministry you’re seeking support for.

Having time to think about yesterday’s answer has allowed me to dissect the conversation and hopefully help others with rejection when raising support.

• Rejection is an important part of the process. Receiving rejection along the way allows us to grow stronger by testing our convictions about our work. If we were never tested through the support raising phase then we might enter our ministry underprepared for dealing with rejection in ministry. Naïvety in this area can kill your zeal which is why understanding and allowing for rejection now matures and prepares you for the realities of ministry later.
  
• Rejection solidifies our convictions and refines our trust in Jesus. How much do you trust Jesus? Do you honestly believe he’s called you to your work? Working through and dealing with rejection forces you to ask the tough questions about your faith and your trust in the Lord’s direction in your life. Luke referred to Paul’s conversion 3 times in the book of Acts which means Paul must have talked about it a lot. This was in the midst of terrible seasons of rejection coupled with beatings which leads me to believe that Paul was absolutely certain of his calling to keep going. Are you?
  
• Rejection refines our belief in our chosen location. Receiving a rejection based on the location of your chosen work can be a real confidence shaker. It is tempting to think that you must have picked the most obscure place on the planet when everyone seems to be going in a different direction. Have no fear, God has given you a passion for your location because he wants to begin an amazing work there. If he’s called you to that place as a worker, he’ll supply others to be senders.
  
• Rejection from some makes acceptance from others that much sweeter. Always hearing yes will ruin anyone. Hearing a “no” every once in a while makes the “yeses” you’ve worn your knees out about all the more gratifying. This is not permission to revel in your misery as a glutton for punishment, it’s simply an acknowledgement that rejection can be used by God for his glory and our maturity.
  
• Rejection is a reminder to remain humble in support raising. There is a tendency among missionaries and church planters to believe that their work is more important than everyone else’s. I know this because I have to remind myself that this is not always the case. Being rejected by a mission-minded congregation is a reminder to us that there are other ministries that may be more important than our own and to rejoice in what God is doing through them. (This does not apply to those churches doing nothing)
  
• Rejection is an opportunity used by God to make us more like Jesus. It is not easy writing or believing some of these things. I know that what we’re doing is important (and I’m sure you feel the same way about your work), however I also can see that with rejection comes an opportunity for God to make us more like Christ. It is an opportunity to become more humble, more patient, more thankful, more focused, and more zealous for good works. It opened my eyes to see how rejection is a part of God’s plan for ministers and how he uses it to conform us to his will. It also serves as a marker in the road that one day, after I have planted and grown I too might be approached for support and have to make a hard decision. As one who will have experienced both triumph and defeat in raising support I will be able to sympathize with that ministry couple all the more and may
• be the last one needed to say “yes, it would be an honor to support you.”

Tags: Support

So God cares about culture which is why he corrects culture when it has ventured away from his design. We’ve already seen what God doesn’t want, what does his word say about what he does want from culture? The second half of Ephesians 2 tells us:

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Out of the ashes of sinful culture because of Jesus, Paul says, comes a redeemed culture formed and fashioned into the type of culture that God desired all along. It is a culture where people who lived estranged from one another are made one, where people actually get along, enjoy each other’s company, have a common purpose, where what they produce by design and intent is holy and good instead of sinful and ugly. What do we call this new culture? The ekklesia or the church. It is the medium where God (re)creates in Jesus what we ruined through sin.

So why is it important to plant churches? Because God wants to redeem culture and seeks to do that through his body, the church.

If you’re following my train of thought then you should see where this is going. It is high time we put more focus, more resources, more emphasis on planting in “Western” culture because this is where global influential culture is produced. It’s like trying to save a town from the flood of a broken dam; if money, resources and man power are sent in to put down sand bags and no one is sent to deal with the break in the dam wall its a waste of time. It’s not a bad thing to have been sending missionaries, planting churches, and teaching Jesus in the cultures of the East or in South America. It’s not bad that there has been a focus on the 10-40 window where 8 in 10 of the worlds poor live, because in all of these places people need Jesus. However, have you ever seen pictures of people in the East? Usually they are wearing designs from the west, they are listening to “western” music, watching “western” television, emulating “western” *ahem* stars. For much of the past 50+ years the focus has been on putting spiritual sand bags around the neighborhood but very few have been sent to repair the hole in the dam wall. The flood of debased, wicked culture from the West, being consumed in the East must be addressed. That means taking a hard look at the efforts being made to preach Jesus and plant New Testament churches in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe. This is one of the reasons why we are a part of KontaktMission, because of their commitment to the cause of Jesus, planting churches where culture is produced and where it needs redemption. It is important that we seek to redeem the producers of culture...

Tags: Planting

Mark Driscoll responds to Newsweek's Cover Story about "The End of Christian America"

Justin Taylor links to “Why Ida is not the missing link.” (Direct Link)

Ross Douthat has a great Op-Ed piece about Dan Brown’s new movie “Angels & Demons.” If you haven’t read the book but are planning to see the film read his column first. If you’ve already read “The DaVinci Code” you’ve already read “Angels & Demons.”

Is Honda doing the world a ‘favour?’

Tim Challies states on his A La Carte today:

It's Over. Evolution Wins

Or that's what we're now supposed to believe. "The search for a direct connection between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom has taken 200 years - but it was presented to the world today at a special news conference in New York. The discovery of the 95%-complete 'lemur monkey' - dubbed Ida - is described by experts as the 'eighth wonder of the world.'"

Why is it important to plant churches, especially in midst of “Western” culture? Because God cares about culture.

First off, we need to define culture. I am using the sociological definition for culture when I use the term. Simply put, culture is the thing produced when people of various walks of life come together to live out life together. There are several places in the Bible that describe the outcome of this type of coming together:

“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5

Continuing on in Genesis we read this story:

“Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” Genesis 11:1-4

Now, let me be clear for my artistic friends, not all culture that is produced is bad but there seems to be a tendency for sinful humans to produce sinful culture more often than not. If you’ve ever been inside a museum of modern art you will understand what I mean; where else can you witness in one room an artist’s painting so exquisite that it brings tears of joy and awe to your eyes and in another room a piece of trash so hideous that tears of shame well up and children run and hide? (Anyone seen that painting?) Because we are simultaneously made in the image of God and fallen because of our broken sinfulness we tend to produce both. Culture produced by humans is important to God and when they produce sinful culture they are accountable to him. In both stories from Genesis God poured out his wrath upon those sinful cultures which should demonstrate to us that God cares about culture and as Christians, we should too.

There is however a type of culture that God rejoices with gladness over...

Tags: Planting

Another great post from Dr. Ortlund on the sin of Gossip

The difference between TV & HDTV. Are you ready for the switch?

Ray Ortlund had a great post on the discerning the difference between “Conviction or Accusation?”

Truth for Life and Alistair Begg have released his entire study library for free. Click below for more information.


Apple releases Leopard 10.5.7. Get it here

Tags: Jots

So where do I begin? Blogging, or writing for that matter does not come easy to me. I’m told that I should have a lot to say, I think different. My father has always told me that I should be putting my thoughts down in writing and I have always told him that I wouldn’t write anything until I had something worthwhile to contribute. Just because I’m writing now doesn’t necessarily mean that anything has changed. One thing I am certain of however is that as we transition into a new place in life (Portuguese ministry) having something to say comes with the territory. I am expected to talk and I guess that’s alright. Jesus said in Matthew 10 to his disciples, “freely you have received, freely give.” He was opensource before such a thing even really existed! So giving back in the form of writing is something that I should have done sooner. Looking back on 3 years of ministry in Ireland and having nothing written down frustrates me a little so as we transition to our work in Portugal I want this time to be different.

Ministers living on support (when livelihoods depend on financial contributions) are often overly cautious with what they say and write in the open. There is always the potential of something being taken our of context or misunderstood which is why I am loathe to actually commit to this endeavor. But as Mary Poppins said, “If I must, I must” so here goes my best shot. What you can expect on this site is my honest candor about Christianity, doctrine, foreign missions, politics, ministry, the life of missionaries, technology, and how they all fit into a life lived outpoured. It won’t always be about us nor will it always be in words but it will be genuine.

The few of us who choose to live this way aren’t often heard and I would like to change that. Sometimes it is of our own making (fearing to upset a supporter) other times we are out-of-site, out-of-mind so we’re not asked. My goal that I have set before me is to share with you the inside scoop on being a missionary / church-planter / husband. It won’t always be pretty but it’ll get the job done. So now that I’ve officially begun...

Tags: Beginning