to the ordinary

Excuses

As only the "Golden-Tongue" can, here is John Chrysostom's response to excuses by people for not showing up to worship. Ironic that in the 4th century the place was packed for Easter and Christmas. The excuse he is addressing here was "It is 'too hot' during the Constantinopolitan summers to attend worship":

...for such excuses are womanish: indeed even in their case who have softer bodies, and a weaker nature, such pretexts do not suffice for justification...I would remind them of the three children in the furnace and the flame, who when they saw the fire encircling them on all sides, enveloping their mouth and their eyes and even their breath, did not cease singing that sacred and mystical hymn to God, in company with the universe, but standing in cheerfulness than they who abide in some flowery field: and together with these three children I should think it proper to remind them also of the lions which were in Babylon, and of Daniel and the den: and not of this one only but also of another den, and the prophet emerging from these dens. I would conduct these persons who put forward heat as an excuse into the prison and exhibit Paul to them there, and Silas bound fast in the stocks, covered with bruises and wounds lacerated all over their body with a mass of stripes, yet singing praises to God at midnight and celebrating their holy fire, and the den, and amongst wild beasts, and mire, and in a prison and the stocks and amidst stripes and intolerable sufferings, never complained of any of these things but were continually uttering prayers and sacred songs with much energy and fervent zeal, whilst we who have not undergone any of their innumerable sufferings small or great, neglect our own salvation on account of a scorching sun and a little short lived heat and toil, and forsaking the assembly wander away, depraving ourselves by going to meetings which are thoroughly unwholesome?

From Life and Practice in the Early Church, Steve McKinion, ed.

Servicentrism

In the 16th century, Copernicus published his revolutionary view that the Earth was not the center of the universe, and that it in fact revolved around the sun. This is what we call Heliocentrism today. The impact this had on society as a whole and the church in particular cannot be understated. Denying the view that the Earth is the center of the universe was not just a slap to the ego, but was seen as a denial of Scripture. From Scripture, the Church argued, the Sun rises and sets. Additionally, when you step outside and look up, you see things in the atmosphere moving. Of course the earth is stationary and things are moving around it, people thought.

It seems as though the church as we know it is Service-centric...everything revolves around the service. Typically when discussing church planting and launching, what most people are referring to is a public worship service. Many church plant specialists emphasize the need for a staff that can pull-off a Sunday morning (or any other time) service well. People think that what it means to plant a church is to start a service and see how many people you can get. I listen to guys talk only in terms of the numbers in attendance at their services. Their goals consist of getting such-and-such number of people by this time, then such-and-such number by this time.

This isn't to downplay the importance of a worship service. The fact is we operate within a cultural context where we have to work with people's perceptions of church and take it from there. If an un-churched person wants to go to church, they don't call up all the Christians they know and ask them to come to their house. They attend a service somewhere. The principle evangelistic strategy of the church, however, has been to get all the lost people we can to come to church, or more aptly, attend a worship service.

Nothing inherently wrong with inviting your lost neighbor to worship. Paul addresses this in 1 Corinthians 14 when he deals with worship to say that the unbeliever, in the midst of people worshipping God, might say "Amen"--or, "Truly, Certainly". In other words, an unbeliever encounters the only God being worshipped and receives faith to say, "This is what it's all about. He is what it's all about." However, an invitation to the Sunday worship service is no valid excuse for neglecting an invitation to Christ.

Sitting up to take Notice

Last night's game was un-eventful through 3 1/2 quarters. It blew up from there! I was on my feet when Eli avoided 2 tacklers, amazingly breaking free to throw a bomb down field to Tyree, who caught the thing on his helmet!!

If you watched the pre-game show that began, oh, about 8 hours before the Super Bowl, the most eye-opening segment was a FOX commentary on statistical data generated from the game. Here's a couple of numbers for you to crunch:

• Revenue for everything involving the Super Bowl is approximately $9,500,000,000. That's right:  9.5 Billion Dollars.
• Antacid sales increase 40% the day after the game
• 150,000 people traveled to Arizona for the game. Their average salary is $200,000.
• The most expensive, face-value ticket you could purchase for the game was $900. Those tickets were being sold by scalpers for more than $20,000.
• 10,000,000 people in the U.S. watched the game in a bar.
• Album sales for most of the halftime performers increase about 50% the day after.
• 15% of all avocado sales are attributed to dip, used for nachos, during the game.

Roughly one-third of our country was watching the game last night. Whether churches came together for the game or for worship, contextualizing the Gospel for our culture is blatantly necessary when looking at what people are really worshipping--and for most of us, it ain't Jesus.

Lost

We're 25 minutes away from the LOST SEASON 4 premier. I'm more excited about it than the upcoming Super Bowl on Sunday. Two people in Starbucks this evening were throwing Lost Viewing Parties tonight. We're headed over to our neighbors for a little get-together of our own. Entire websites have been dedicated to theorizing the intricacies of Lost. The names of the characters is one notable feature that sticks out to me. Here are some of the philosophers names that have been used for the show's characters:

John Locke -- one episode was even entitled: Tabula Rasa

Desmond David Hume

Rousseau

I've not put a lot of thought into a philosophical bent that the show's writers may have and how that plays out, but it's noteworthy. The Dharma Initiative was a research project being conducted on the island that the survivors find themselves. Dharma is a term synonymous in both Buddhism and Hinduism. If you're watching tonight, you're in good company.

Due to the writer's strike in Hollywood, I heard that only 2 months worth of episodes have been written.

What's in a name?

Obviously a lot of time and thought goes into a name...at least we hope so. Our parents put some thought into it , unless your name is Opey or Roberta. We'll be moving from Wake Forest in a few months and are close to determining a name for the church plant. We want the name to communicate vision and purpose, and generally be something we own--equally grabbing us as we grab ahold of it.

Here's a humorous blog by Mark Driscoll about church names. One conclusive decision we've made is that it won't be Beulahland or Holy Ghost Tabernacle.

http://www.theresurgence.com/church_names

Mordecai's Gallow

Mordecai was a man. Uncompromising, determined, strong, loyal, and convicted. He refused to bow to Haman to the point of death. He told his cousin, the Queen, that if she didn't intercede on behalf of their people that she and her family would be judged as a result. He mourned and weeped with empathy when he found out his people would be annihilated. He refused royal clothes to cover him in the midst of his despair. He stood in confidence before the king and orchestrated the defiant stand of the Jews.

The movie 300 depicts the epic battle of Thermopylae in which the Persian King, Xerxes, fights the Spartan king, Leonidas in his invasion of Greece. Xerxes is King Ahasuerus from the book of Esther. Both the movie and Mordecai display a valiant picture of manhood. Some interesting winds are blowing through our society where gender neutrality is the norm, speaking of gender roles is considered sexist and oppressive, and fewer boys have examples of men to follow. The effects that the erosion of manhood has on the family and society are as deep as they are broad. A former professor told me that there would be more Proverbs 31 women when there were more Psalm 1 men:

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

Dying on Hills

In September I attended a conference in which Ed Stetzer (Southern Baptist Missiologist in Residence, http://blogs.lifeway.com/blog/edstetzer/) stated that what makes a person Southern Baptist is their doctrinal convictions. As a Southern Baptist (whether most members know it or not), you believe in the autonomy of the church, the priesthood of the believer, the substitutionary, atoning death of Christ, the 3 persons-1 God of the Trinity, believers--not infant--baptism, and a host of other great doctrines that are distinctive among denominations.

It is very easy to begin fighting over things pertaining to cultural, methodological, or traditional defaults without realizing these dividing lines may not be driven by theology or biblical mandate. As people deeply study God's word, historical theology, and the development of the church from the first century on, distinctives are inevitable and understandable. Although we should not be quick to jump in bed with everyone who comes along, partnering across denominational lines could and should occur where the Bible is held as the highest authority, Christ is exalted and loved through faith and obedience, and the Gospel is preached.

Among many other issues we face that are sometimes difficult to navigate, most of us must come to terms with personal tendencies toward competitiveness and jealousy. Regardless the convictional stance we take on issues that don't condemn us to hell, we must deal with sinful pride that just may.

Killing Stephen

We are a sensible and sensitive people who operate on many levels according to comfort and popular vote. Pop-preachers in a pop-culture proclaim feel-good messages to audiences swayed by marketing, free child care, and the ploy that all their wants will be met. Everything from trips, music, services, better coffee and pastries, parking attendants, and assigned greeters (who just might ignore you a day later in the grocery store) are all part of the overall experience touted as doing church with relevance and excellence. There is little that distinguishes the church and Best Buy, except Best Buy does it better.

A famous preacher a long time ago said that if he wasn't run out of town he didn't do the Gospel justice. The Gospel is good news in that the bad news of how screwed up we are precedes it. There can't be good news unless bad news comes first. To me the irony is that in hopes of getting and keeping an audience, we do what in the long run blurs any distinction and pushes people away.

What makes the church distinct is not what we can do to keep up with our culture by drawing more people (even if it's in the name of: getting them there so we can then preach to them) using the same methods as any decent retailer. What makes us distinct is we are alive to God through faith in Jesus. We're now in right standing--righteous before him (in spite of how we prostituted ourselves out to other lovers) because of Jesus. We're not pushing a product to help people feel better about themselves. Jesus is not a performance-enhancer--pulsating in our veins to help us talk a little better or cheat a little less. Desperate people, in a desperate situation, facing a desperate eternity need to be raised from the dead.

Stephen was ultimately killed because of what he preached--the temple and the law are obsolete. The people's rejection of Stephen was their rejection of Christ. Stephen's message has great relevance for us--a people who love our temples and are blind slaves to our customs. If he took the stage during the average worship service among the typical church this Sunday, I'm not so sure the backlash would be much different.

New Baby on the Eve of a New Year

At 9:21 this morning Addalyn Rachel Erps made her debut. She weighed in at 7lbs 10oz and was 20in long. She looks a lot like Ryleigh did and has a head full of dark hair. Mom and baby are doing well. Addalyn was breach, but Sarah had been scheduled for a C-section before we ever found that out.

If you've ever had a breached baby, you know that they have those little legs that fly up to their ears as soon as you unwrap them. Swaddling her is like setting a mouse trap.

Check out pictures on this site under:  ADDALYN'S ARENA

Legacy

It's said that the church (western, American) does not have martyrs anymore, only superstars. Over the past week I performed a funeral for an 18 yr old boy killed in a car wreck, watched I Am Legend (again), and spent Christmas with my family in WV. The 3 events in conjuction have made me think more about the legacy we leave for those who'll come behind us.

I want my daughters to see Christ in me and know they have a dad who will respond through faith in Christ--even if it doesn't make sense, is not the comfortable thing to do, and invovles significant cost. I wrestle more now between making conscious, sometimes fleshly, decisions about how best to provide for my family and trusting God's provision. This wrestling is compounded with another baby on the horizon. I don't want my children to ever say of me that they thought I compromised. If they rarely get what they want because we're simply not in that position, the greatest thing they can know is that God meets their needs and is the Provider of their life. I want people who may gather in a room to discuss my life when it's come to an end to speak foremost about joy and passion for Jesus and the Gospel that characterized my life.