Why Vote If You Are Disillusioned?

This is a pretty good article by Piper giving reasons to vote even if you are disillusioned with the candidates.

However, I will say this is one of the few times I will disagree with Piper on something. And I take no pleasure in it. You see, I do not buy the "argument" or charge that President Bush is arrogant. I disagree with this assessment for a few reasons.

1. First, a personal one. I was recently called arrogant buy a group of men because of my steadfast confidence on an issue in the denomination I serve in. No reason was given save my demeanor, I "came across that way." Hogwash. I thought I was right and they thought they were right. So of course, I, the youngest in the room at 34 and in the minority was seen as the arrogant. So I no longer will trade in the marketplace of ideas with such accusations. They are pretty mush irrelevant and penny-anty.

2. Mush is said about Bush's swagger and confidence. The same kinds of things were said about Washington, Lincoln, Reagan, and Churchill. This is not to mention Luther, Calvin, et al. Men of prominence are almost always shot with this verbal projectile. It doesn't kill them it just colors them and diverts discussions and debates about reality which can actually be and must be reckoned with.

3. My guess is Bush is much more humble than most can imagine. Or should I say, unsure of himself. My guess is he is the very opposite of myself. I am terrible and come across awkward in small groups and and in private conversation. I then over-compensate and treat the situatio as if I am talking to a big group. You see, in private casual conversation I stutter terribly. But I never do when I am in teaching mode. Never. So, guess which I prefer? I prefer situations where I am in charge and instructing people.

4. Arrogance makes demands and Bush does so much pleading it is hard for me to call him arrogant.

5. Why call Bush arrogant when his detractors are Pelosi, Kennedy (Mary Jo Kepechne has no comment), Kerry, Chavez, Michael Moore and the rest of the liberal cultural elites? Arrogance manifests itself in the policies of liberals who think they should raise your taxes because they know better how to spend your money. It is also manifest in partial birth abortion and gay marriage ammendments. To talk about demeanor and swagger is misguided if well-meaning.

To be honest, I love Piper so much more than Bush that I cannot stand disagreeing with him on this issue. But I feel compelled. Feel free to call me arrogant.

Laid Up

Well, I have not been blogging for a few days. The reason? I have been literally laid up for about 2 weeks. My physical therapist thinks I have a herniated disk which I think is putting some crazy pressure on my sciatic nerve. Walking has literally been a pain in the butt...and my entire left leg.

The good news is I am much better. My mobility is better abd the pain level has been reduced significantly through therapy and some good old-fashioned bed rest. However, I will still have an MRI on Monday...a first for me.

The irony is I once was blind but now I see.

No. Really.

Someone from my church donated lasik eye surgery to me. So I now see 20/20. No contacts. No glasses. It is probably the closest this side of the Jordan I will be to experiencing a miracle of biblical proportions. I am so grateful for what it is done for me physically and how it has given me new insight on the miracles of the Bible. More on that in a later post.

Also, I need to point out what a wonderful woman my wife is. She has pretty much taken care of the whole family. She has been at our bec-and-call (sic?) for days even though she has also been under the weather. Man, is she great and it is a pleasure to see more of her greatness the longer we live together and love together.

Hopefully more posts next week...

Our Princess

Third Day in Jackson

To be honest, I had no idea when I planned to take my Sr. High students to Jackson to see Third Day in concert that I would enjoy it as much as I did. As a matter of fact I really expected to be disappointed. Having seen a lot of bands in concert in my short 35 years, I was prepared to be colored unimpressed. After all, I saw them back in the late 90's and while I enjoyed some of the show, I felt as if they were trying to justify what they did with an altar call and a sermon. And I hate the bait and switch. But the show I went to on Sunday night was nothing like it.

The show was phenomenal. The only other concert I could compare it to is U2 in St. Louis in November of '01. And this one might have been better for me but more on that later. Every facet of this show was great: the sound, lights, effects, intimacy with crowd, song choice...everything was enjoyable. Oh yeah and it was loud.

And my students loved it. They not only had fun but some were moved. And I do not have a group of kids easy to move. For them most everything is fodder for humor only. They are cursed with a lack of seriousness. But they seriously enjoyed this show and expect it too yield some results for spiritual growth.

And you see this is what I did not expect. A concert? It was a concert but there was more to it than that. There was a whole of praying and talking about real life between songs. No sermons, just honest heartfelt and not canned talking.

And I needed to hear it too. I am far too intellectual for my own good. And my desire to be the smartest guy in the room impedes my need for simple expressions of faith in Jesus. it may not be cool to sing...

I want to sing a song for You, Lord
Lord, for You I want to sing a song
And I want to lift my voice to Heaven
And listen to the angels sing along

A song of Your faithfulness
A song of Your grace
And of Your loving kindness
To the glory of Your name
With everything that's in me,
Lord Listen to me say
I want to sing a song for You
I want to sing a son

I want to live my life for You, Lord
Lord, for You I want to live my life
And I want to praise the name of Jesus
And Pray above all things You're glorified

And I sing about Your mercy
And I sing about Your love
Your goodness, Lord
Your righteousnessI want to sing

And we'll sing holy, holy, holy
We'll sing holy, holy, holy
We'll shout holy, holy
Are You Lord almighty

...But it sure was "good" (Psalm 147:1).

Sorry About This Post...

As if I needed another reason to not like Timberland or his music; we now get this...

"Justin Timberlake's single 'SexyBack' makes men feel gay.

Hip-hop producer Timbaland, who duets with Justin on the worldwide hit, thinks the song can make a straight man question his sexuality."

Patty Griffin Sings Her Truth #2

If she did an album singing the alpabet...I would buy it.

"Shoot Me First"

Here is the story of the week if you ask me.

Since I work with High School students I am intensely interested anytime a teenager does the unexpected and the extraordinary. And this is extraordinary. I work with about 35 6th through 12th graders and I do not have one who would have even entertained such an idea. OK, maybe one. But he is the only one I can imagine acting heroically in any situation.

But this story highlights what I am after. I want students who believe "for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain." I want students so captured by the glory of Christ and so full of affection for the glory of God and so enthused with the gospel, courage coupled with love is natural.

Abortion in the News

This one is a story about Ms Magazine 'releasing its fall issue next week with a cover story titled "We Had Abortions," accompanied by the names of thousands of women nationwide who signed a petition making that declaration.'

The saddest moment os the AP story:

Tyffine Jones, 27, of Jackson, Miss., said she had no hesitation about signing _ although she lives in a state where restrictions on abortion are tough and all but one abortion clinic has been closed.

Jones said she got an abortion 10 years ago _ enduring harassment from protesters when she entered the clinic _ in order to finish high school. She went on to become the first member of her family to graduate from college, and hopes at some point to attend law school.

"I wanted to do something bigger with myself _ I didn't want to be stopped by anything," she said in a telephone interview.

Unbelievable.

"...they not only do them but give hearty approval to those who practice them."
- Romans 1:32


The second is this story. Money qoute..."Ultrasound images which show 12-week-old foetuses sucking their thumbs and walking in the womb are dangerously misleading, a group of scientists warned today."
The reason for all this talk of abortion is the high Court will be taking up partial birth abortion when it meets in the coming days.

Partial Birth Abortion = killing a baby before it full exits the birth canal.

Audio from The 2006 Desiring God National Conference

These are a must. You can download or listen through streaming. They are beyond good as they represent the clearset voices in the modern American church. The titles of the messages are as follows

David Wells: The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World

Justin Taylor, John Piper, Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll: A Conversation with the Pastors

Voddie Baucham: The Supremacy of Christ and Truth in a Postmodern World

Tim Keller: The Supremacy of Christ and the Gospel in a Postmodern World

Mark Driscoll: The Supremacy of Christ and the Church in a Postmodern World

Justin Taylor, Voddie Baucham, John Piper, D. A. Carson, David Wells: Speaker Panel

D. A. Carson: The Supremacy of Christ and Love in a Postmodern World

John Piper: The Supremacy of Christ and Joy in a Postmodern World

Lectures By Os Guinness From Veritas Forum

What an aamzing Find!!! thanks to JT over at Between Two Worlds. And yes he is directly related to the Guinness of Stout Beer fame.

Downloads From New Attitude

I just recently discovered this new website and it is chock full of resources. Here is a link to some mp3 downloads I would heartily recommend. The titles are:



The Truth:Rediscovering Humble Orthodoxy
By Joshua Harris

The Mission:Reaching the World Next Door
By Eric Simmons

Cultural Discernment from aBiblical Worldview
By Dr. Albert Mohler

Cultural Discernment from aBiblical Worldview
By Dr. Albert Mohler

Also, New Attitude is liveblogging the Desiring God National Conference with D. A. Carson, Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll and of course John Piper.

I Have Been Watching Two-A-Days

Well, this is my second highly critical post in a row of boob-tube programming. You will have to excuse me as we only recently procured cable services again. We usually do not have cable as it typically sucks out my braincells and keeps me from reading and interacting with my family.

Also this is my second post on television and it's intersection with football. This post regarding the MTV hit show, Two-A-Days is much more serious than the first. The first was simply frustrating and I have not given it much thought since posted. However, this is not the case with the present subject.

There are a few reasons why I have been watching Two-A-Days (here via the internet).

1. Most of the High School Students I work with are watching the show. It is and I quote, "better than Laguna Beach." SO, I was intrigued.

2. I am from Birmingham and my last address in God's country was in Hoover. Hoover is a suburb of Birmingham.

3. My nephew played on a couple of the state championship teams of Hoover High football and my niece was on the dance team. She will more than likely show up on the show if she has not already.

So needless to say my interest was piqued with sufficient reason for tuning in and suffering through more mindlessness.

Let me say up front the show has some qualities that make it genuinely entertaining. It has a few truly encouraging moments. There is not much ammunition given for those who would love to find reasons for berating the South. And the editing and music make for some intense game-time moments.

But that is about it...Really. Now that might be enough for my students (much to my chagrin) but it is not enough for me. The negatives overshadow the positives to the point of rendering the positives negligible.

So what is wrong with it?

Let me start with a few subtle things:

1. Since when do we suspend the rules of common decency and allow coaches to berate and degrade players in the name of motivation? The simple fact is these coaches come off as bullies growling and barking out obscene-laced insults: You're an embarrassment, dumbass, etc. No teacher would ever get away with this in the classroom. A DHS worker would be called to the scene if a parent spoke to a child this way. Hoover wins for certain and this is obviously the price the administration is willing to pay along with parents and players.

2. It is hard for me to believe that allowing a TV show to film throughout the day does not affect the culture of a school. Watching the show online has left me wondering how ho-hum the rest of school-life might be if you are a cheerleader or football player. And of course, the question must be asked if there will be residual affects for those not part of the cheerleading squad or the team. Maybe not...But celebrity has a way of separating itself from the common.

3. Speaking of celebrity...has it ever built character?

4. What kind of parent lets a TV camera pan across their teenage girl's body in a bikini? Not to mention the making out in the pool!?


Some of the above are heinous. Maybe not all of them. This final point is damning.

There is a theme running through the first four episodes and it is not the drama between Arrogant Alex and clueless Kristin. The theme is that for Hoover High and the city of Hoover, football is a religion. It is even stated by Alex, "Welcome to Hoover, Alabama...Where football is a religion and the players are celebrities." A cook at a local restaurant agrees. That should be an indictment not a cause celebre'.

Now that might be just innocent but ignorant use of jargon...except for the fact the team chaplain says and does far worse.

The team chaplain (name withheld here but made public on the show) is also a student pastor at one of the largest churches in Birmingham, just a few footballs fields away from the High School. Everything he says is in the context of the prayer breakfast for the athletes and cheerleaders previous to school on the day of the game. And he says things that made my heart hurt. If anyone ever said what he does to my students, I would publicly disavow them. I would call every parent and write a letter. From rooftops I well yell, "NO."

"OK, but what does he say"? The following is a list of the most obviously heinous that cannot be written off as edited. I will analyze as I list them.

1. "Let them know they (the opposing team from out of state) have come to the state of Alabama where football is King." So, I know it is possible that he said this after a devotional he gave. But even if that is the case, how can any team chaplain and minister of the gospel want anyone to prove that football is King...anywhere. Shouldn't a team chaplain yearn and labor in prayer for football players, etc. to play as if Christ is King? If football is King in the state of Alabama, then should he not have said it as a rebuke. This is simply an encouragement for these young men and women to be idolaters. Perhaps he did not mean it that way. But this pastor is older than me and I am almost 35. He should have known better. What a tragedy.

2. After letting them know he will be reading from Luke 12:35ff., he says, "Tonight there's a thief coming, there's a thief coming at Wildcat Field and they're trying to take everything you worked for..." He says other things about how they should play but those might have been edited in. But the quote above was not edited. He said those exact words. Now this will only be seen for what it is if we look at the passage he reads to the students...

"Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."

So Jesus is saying that we ought to be ready for his return and as we do not know when a thief is coming to our house we will not know when he is coming. Jesus is comparing his stealth in returning to a thief.

The problem is the team chaplain for the Hoover Buccaneers proceeds to use this passage to say a thief is coming to take away victory from the Buccaneers. So not only is this bad hermeneutics but this is twisting theology to motivate footballs to "get up in their grill...stick it in their earhole and knock them off their feet." Listen, this is not just a slip of the tongue. This is not a semantic issue. This is bordering on blasphemy.

3. In the fourth episode, again during a prayer breakfast the team chaplain says, "Be a bold witness for the Buccaneers." And again let me say this was not edited. He might have also said, "Be a bold witness for Christ." Possible. Not likely though. A trend has already been set that leads me to believe he was truly concerned that the players not embarrass their community or school...he actually said such things in episode three.

Since I am a youth pastor, I take such things to heart and head. I have tried to examine myself to see if I have implicitly communicated such things. The fact of the matter is sports is a religion where I lived in Hoover and where I live now. there would be very little difference in my town if people once or twice a week walked out in the middle of a field and bowed to "the great maker of the ball that is thrown and kicked and hit and caught." Sports is a priority and their affection for Christ is a hobby.

"The Ballad of Big Mike"

This story about Michael Oher, the offensive tackle for the Ole Miss Rebels is enough to make even a Auburn fan cry.

Young, Restless, REFORMED

This is a very interesting article on the resurgence of Reformed pastors and pew-sitters in Baptist churches. Of course, that bastion of Calvinist sanity, John Piper is a major part of the article. I was very surprised that Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle was not part of the discussion. He is a Calvinist, a Baptist and very young. Oh yeah, he is the pastor of the largest church in Seattle, the most unchurched city in the country.

Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews

Last week, I finished trudging through the alternately entertaining and frustrating Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews. Entertaining because it is Bob Dylan we are talking about; enigmatic and engaging, forthright and unforgiving, liberal and conservative. Frustrating because there was far too much repetition. Let me repeat, there was too much repetition.

Three are three kinds of people in this world. There are those who hate Dylan for a myriad of reasons, the least of which is his voice. Some are still mad about Masters of War or With God on Our Side. But there are many, many of us who love his music. And there are two kinds of us who want every album even if our wallet forbids such a monumental task.

There are those of us who because of his talent and legend of mythic proportions take his statements as pronouncements as if from the highest of peaks – on the level of the Oracle of Delphi. He is not to be challenged since he is after all, Bob Dylan. I am not sure if such people think one day they will have an opportunity to be his friend or what.

But I am of a different stripe. I am a fan of Dylan and my “fan-ness” keeps growing year after year. I only own about twelve albums of his so some would think I am not much of a fan. But there it is. However, I am quote willing to see inane and stupidity in everyone. And let’s face it, Dylan should be no exception. He has made some bizarre statements. And I am not one of those who will be sold on the idea that he was always trying to put off interviewers with dumb responses to dumb questions. He did this to be sure in the 60s but not so much in the 70’s and after.

The thing is, his interviews in the 60’s were at least interesting compared to some of the interviews in the 70’s. He was trying to be profound…I think. But usually he talks like some new-age guru discussing the color of the number nine and “disappearing through walls.” Renaldo & Clara is the subject de jour of these interviews…and man is it painful at some points.

But I really want to talk about the most bizarre and irresponsible thing he said in the whole book. This is from a 1986 interview with Rolling Stone. The interviewer is Toby Creswell.

TC: There's a lot of red-baiting going on again.

BD: That's been going on since the Fifties.

TC: The cold war seems to be coming back.

BD: I don't think it ever went away, you know. It just lays low for a while. People need something to hate, you've got to hate something. As soon as your old enough, people try to make you hate something or somebody. Blacks are a little easier, Communists you can't really see. The early Christians were like Communists. The Roman Empire treated the Early Christians the same way as the Western world treats the Communists.

TC: So it doesn't really change?

BD: No, things don't, it's just got a different name on it. There's always someone you're told you've got to step on so you can rise up a little higher.

Now, I understand what he is trying to say. But the only resemblance between the Christians in the Roman Empire and Cold War Communists is that some people did not like either of them. But the differences need to be pointed out. Christians in the Roman Empire were martyred or stepped on because they would not participate in the Emperor cult. Cold War communists were disliked because of their infiltration of the US Government and their influence over foreign and domestic policy coupled with their murderous reign throughout the Soviet Empire.

This bothers me so much because I am reading Mao by Chang and Halliday. You see, Mao, as a communist is responsible for the deaths of 70 million people…during peacetime. Add to that the more than 60 million killed in the short life of the Soviet Union. Comparing Christians and communists is like comparing God and Satan because they both have people that do not like them.

And so I am consistently amazed at how often Dylan gets reality right in his lyrics and then botches it in his interviews.

However, I do want to point to two things which were interesting because I am sure the interviewer felt the need to nod in agreement but probably found it impossible to understand…since Dylan said it. They are both from Rolling Stone which makes it them all the funnier.

The first is from an interview in July of ’86.

"Well, for me, there is no right and there is no left. There's truth and there's untruth, y'know? There's honesty and there's hypocrisy. Look in the Bible: you don't see nothing about right or left. I hate to keep beating people over the head with the Bible, but that's the only instrument I know, the only thing that stays true."

I would have loved to have seen the interviewer’s face…here is another from a Rolling Stone interview printed in December in of 2001 but the interview took place just a few weeks after the terrorist attacks.

RS: Do you have any hope for the situation we find ourselves in?

Dylan: I don’t really know what I could tell you. I don’t consider myself an educator or an explainer. You see what it is that I do, and that’s what I’ve always done. But it is time now for great men to come forward. With small men, no great thing can be accomplished at the moment. Those people in charge, I’m sure they’ve read Sun – Tzu, who wrote The Art of War in the sixth century. In there he says, “If you know the enemy and know youself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself and not your enemy, for every victory gained you will suffer a defeat.” And he goes on to say, “If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” Whoever’s in charge, I’m sure they would have read that. Things will have to change. And one of these things that will have to change: People will have to change their internal world.

Hah! Dylan the hawk?

I love it…Dylan favorably quoting Sun – Tzu.

Anyway, the book is a must read for Dylan fans. There is a lot of comedy and insight from him and otherwise. His dodging of questions he does not want to answer is always fun to read. You can sometimes feel the interviewer squirm. So whether you are the kind of fan who feels as if Dylan and you could be friends or you are like me and feel free to love his music, warts and all it is a great read. I actually think Dylan would like me more though…