What’s With the Super Bowl Haters?

February 8th, 2010 § 7

super_bowl_xLivOK, I really don’t get the way some in the Christian blog world are rallying around (against) the Super Bowl this year. I’ve ran across a number of blogs that have either been focused on over-spiritualizing the Super Bowl event or sports in general over the past week.

I can (sort of) understand where they are coming from in the sense that if idolized the game can take away from God–of course we could do the same thing with Antiques Road Show if we wanted to. After all, we have the capacity to turn everything into an idol. But we don’t do that for Antiques Road Show because it’s not such a powerful cultural event.

But I have to admit I find Ray Ortlund’s post a little mystifying this morning:

The Super Bowl is not just another NFL game. It has become an intensified concentration of vulgarity and ego, with enough athletics in the game and cleverness in the commercials to trick me into watching. It’s simply not what I’m living for.

That was my last Super Bowl.

Mike Pohlman thinks that Pastor Ortlund “may be on to something” with this post. I agree. He’s certainly on to something, but I’m not so sure that it’s something we should be onto.

Listen, I get it if you don’t like the Super Bowl. There’s certainly things about the event that are distasteful. But don’t be a hater for Christ’s sake (pun intended).

This kind of post villianizing the Super Bowl doesn’t seem to accomplish anything other than stir controversy, make Christians yet again look like joy-kills, and pit people who simply enjoy football and don’t mind having a good time watching the Super Bowl against more “spiritual” people who place the Super Bowl as some sort of event that diminishes Christ, and the Christian for watching it. “It’s simply not what I’m living for.”

To me this seems like a better idea: Let’s redeem the Super Bowl. Let’s get our neighbors together to watch the game. Let’s host parties at our house. Let’s expose people to Christian community that stops talking about what they’re not living for and instead starts talking about what they are living for.

Let’s not revert to being people known for what we’re against. We spent decades doing that, and it hasn’t served us or Christ very well.

So, what do you think? Am I over reacting here? Even worse, am I completely wrong?

Show and Tell: Links of the Week for 1/31/10

February 7th, 2010 § 0

A collection of links from my weekly Internet travels:

Seth Godin on “Modern Procrastination“.

Great post by Timmy Brister on Obama and the privatization of religion through technology. Yes, they’re related.

The Guardian book blog asks, “Who Stole Our Reading Time?”

How much do you think an e-book should cost?

Calvin and Hobbes creator, Bill Watterson, does his first interview in 15 years.

The Verge Missional Community Conference was over the weekend. You can get some recaps at my friend, Brent Thomas’ blog here and here and here

Your iPhone can now be your personal assistant.

I love my Kindle. Here’s a good article on 7 ways Amazon.com can make it better.

Timmy Brister muses on dysfunctional Calvinism. Great pithy post.

Brian Clark asks, “Does SEO Copywriting Still Matter?”

The top 10 literary agent query letter mistakes.

Seeing Jesus Like a Child

February 5th, 2010 § 5

IMG_1315I’ve got to tell you, my heart nearly broke last night.

As a family, we’ve been reading through, The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name, with my four-year old son, Liam. If you’re shopping for a children’s Bible, this one has my highest recommendation.

Needless to say, Liam has had some interesting questions as we’ve gone through the stories. It’s been fun working through the stories and seeing my son process everything. During this time, Liam has genuinely started expressing more and more love for Jesus. He’s been talking about him, saying how much he loves Jesus, and even making up songs randomly about Jesus. This is such an awesome thing for me to see as a dad.

Because of this, I haven’t been looking forward to reading the story of the crucifixion. Knowing my son, I didn’t want to see him saddened by the death of someone he loved. I didn’t want to see him despair. In our society, we try so hard to protect our children from the brutal realities of the world–and as a product of our culture, it was hard for me to share the story with Liam. But I knew I had too.

As we snuggled in and began reading, I could tell it was already tough for my little buddy. His face was downcast, and his usually busy body was still. Finally, as we got to the last part where Jesus is taunted to save himself, Liam exclaimed excitedly, “Yeah! He’s going to get down from the cross!”

He even jumped up and down with joy.

But then I had to go on. I had to tell the story that Jesus didn’t get down. He stayed on the cross. And he died. For me and for you.

Liam knows the ending. He knows that Jesus is alive today. We even discussed it. And you know what, Jesus’ disciples knew this too. Yet, just as with the disciples, my son’s grief at seeing Jesus die–even knowing intellectually that he would raise again–was real and it was palatable.

It has been a long time since the story of the crucifixion brought tears to my eyes. I’d heard it so many times before. But last night, seeing it again as a fresh and painful story through Liam’s eyes, I once again was tearful.

I think we could all benefit from seeing Jesus through a child’s eyes. And I can’t wait to see the resurrection through Liam’s eyes tonight.

Get Caught Up on the Justification Debate

February 5th, 2010 § 0

I just can’t seem to get away from N.T. Wright this week.

If you’ve bounced around the Christian blogosphere you’ve probably at least heard about the justification debate between some prominent reformed theologians and N.T. Wright. This debate went fairly public when John Piper publicly responded to Wright’s book, What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity?, with his book, The Future of Justification: A Response to N. T. Wright. Wright has most recently responded with his newest book, Justification: God’s Plan & Paul’s Vision.

Rest assured the debate is not over, and is probably just heating up. That being said, I should preface that this is a single issue debate and that Wright is not only respected in these circles for his work on a number of other issues, he is also considered an authority. There’s no denying Wright is an important, well-thought of, and orthodox brother in Christ with much to add to the fabric of Christian thought.

I’ve yet to dive completely into the debate. I’m currently reading What Saint Paul Really Said, and find it interesting so far. If you want to get caught up on the state of this debate, this month’s Tabletalk Magazine, published by R.C. Sproul’s ministry organization, is dedicating its entire issue to the topic. You can read some of the issue here:

What N.T. Wright Really Said

That’s all for now. If any of you are more versed on this controversy, I’d love to get your perspective in the comments section.

N.T. Wright on Adam and Eve

February 4th, 2010 § 2

I thought I’d post up another clip of N.T. Wright. This one has to do with how he views the creation accounts. I grew up in a literalist tradition, but I am now less concerned with whether the account is literal (six days of creation) or not,and have since moved to viewing the creation account as less a literal account and more focused on expressing aspects of the character of the Creator God and the creation, as Wright touches on here. I especially appreciate Wright’s insights into how God created the world as a place for his dwelling. This sheds such a wonderful light on this passage in Revelation:

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (21:3-4).

This passage is in reference to the New Heaven and New Earth, and taken in light of what Wright is talking about is referencing God’s restoration and, even improvement, of his tabernacle–Earth–where he will once again dwell among his people. Beautiful thought, no?

So, I’m curious, where do you all stand on this? What are thoughts on Wright’s words here? Do you believe there is a direct connection between your creation theology and your eschatology?

Go To Hell

February 2nd, 2010 § 3

So, we’ve been having a lively discussion on N.T. Wright’s views on hell lately on this blog. Semi-related, CBS rejected a Super Bowl ad for a new EA video game, Dante’s Inferno, because it had the tag line, “Go To Hell”. I don’t think it adds anything to our conversation, but I’ve got to say, as a lit nerd, this game looks pretty sweet.

The Missional Church…Simple

February 1st, 2010 § 0

Great video on the Missional Church mentality. Thanks to Drew Goodmanson for sharing it on Twitter.

Cavorting with Publicans and Sinners

February 1st, 2010 § 4

busy bar

I spend a lot of time in bars. I like bars. I like the people and the beer. I like hanging out with my friends and having a good time.

As a pastor, I’m also highly aware of my need to be a good witness. For some pastors, that means they avoid bars and “unseemly” places. I don’t see that as a good strategy. And this week was proof positive for me on that.

A couple great things happened in the bars this week.

First, I met with my friend and fellow A29 pastor, Brent Thomas, at Lis Doon Varna in Peoria. The topic was The City and how it might help his church. We then moved on to what God was doing in our churches. It was a great time of talking about Jesus and what he was doing in the Valley–all over a couple pints.

Towards the end of our conversation, I remember distinctly saying, “I just want to see people’s lives transformed by Jesus,” when a girl who was sitting at the bar across the room asked, “Are you guys talking about religion?”

Well, I got what I asked for. Long story short, this young woman came over to sit with Brent and I, broke down in tears, admitted her need for Jesus, and promised she’d be at Brent’s church this weekend. It was an awesome and humbling moment to be in the middle of a bar, holding hands, and praying with this broken and hurting woman.

Second, members from our worship team at Praxis Church are in a band called Maple Ash. They played a show last night at Rogue Bar in Scottsdale–and they rocked. Here’s a clip from the show shot by Justin Garbinski’s (the drummer) wife, Audra:

It was awesome to see tons of young people from our church packed into this little dive bar to listen to the band. We did little things, like tip well. The owners know Maple Ash is from Praxis. All of this is part of Garth’s (our worship director and front man for Maple Ash) vision to have his music teams out doing professional as well as church music to engage the culture.

Some would accuse us of cavorting with publicans and sinners. But I’m pretty sure we’re in good company for doing so.

[Photo by acnatta]

Show and Tell: Links of the Week for 1/24/10

January 31st, 2010 § 1

Three lessons your children can learn if you’re a freelancer.

The Pope is encouraging all priests to utilize web 2.0 for the glory of God.

My friend and local A29 pastor, Brent Thomas, is getting some much deserved attention on his posts regarding the growing rift between some reformed folks and the missional camp. First he was retweeted by Matt Chandler, and now Ed Stetzer is talking about him and his blog posts.

Tyler Braun writes on the importance of worship lyrics. He gets it right, for sure.

J.D. Salinger died this week. Here’s a couple interesting pieces on him in The Gaurdian and Fast Company.

Tim Keller on why Redeemer went multi-site.

My friend Bill Streger re-launched his blog, and it looks great. Check it out. And while you’re at it, read his post on the difference between church planting and church revitalization.

7 Great Ways for Extroverts to Increase Their Writing Productivity. I really needed this article.

N.T. Wright on Hell

January 30th, 2010 § 16

An interesting post over at Out of Ur in a series on Heaven and Hell. Here, New Testament scholar, N.T. Wright, talks about hell.

One poignant quip in the comments section:

“It’s a shame that Jesus didn’t have N.T. Wright around 2000 years ago to help Him express what He really meant about hell.
Then Jesus wouldn’t have had to grope around and use figures of speech like weeping and gnashing of teeth, unquenchable fire, torment in flame, broad and narrow ways, judgement and the like when apparently He really meant to talk about people declining to be part of God’s new creation.”

I’m not going to pretend I’m an expert on the intricacies of the doctrines of heaven and hell, but I have a hard time reconciling Wright’s (seemingly) watered down version of hell with my own readings of the scriptures.

What do you think: Is this because of my culturally western-stained mind (as Wright would claim), or because Wright’s account bypass the scriptures for a more philosophical explanation?

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