Another Big Thank You + Free Christmas Program

I want to say another very big thank you to those of you who contributed in any way toward the “Vintage Jesus” curriculum project. The materials and study guides are excellent and we have enough to use in the Bible department and our campus ministry program. Your generosity has been wonderful. Thanks to all of you for every gift, large and small.

And another thanks to those of you who have encouraged me with gifts from my wish list. It’s been such a difficult year, and your thoughtfulness in a tremendous lift to my spirits.

God’s blessings and peace to all of you.

On another topic, if you are looking for a simple Christmas program for your church with drama and easy to plug in musical ideas, my wife Denise has a free program on her website you may want to check out.

The Frank Viola Project (And Why You Should Take It Seriously)

UPDATE: Ben Witherington has done a multi-part in-depth review of Reimagining Church. 1, 2 3 4. Frank Viola’s response part 1 and part 2.

OK. I cheated. I maybe kindof promised a review, but after reading the books, I decided I didn’t want to join the debate. I wanted to say something else, namely this: Agree or disagree, Viola is doing what evangelicals are too cowardly to do these days, and what we’re doing instead is killing us. Consider Viola’s project a friendly kick in the pants to get your Bibles, your church history, your theology and your missional great commission in order.

Sometimes, I think we evangelicals talk way too much about the wrong things and far too little about more important things.

I hardly ever- ever- find myself in a conversation about what is the Gospel. Or what Jesus would be teaching us about the kingdom today. Or how to meaningfully repent of our entanglement in various American idolatries. These conversations just don’t happen around me (and I am surrounded by evangelical Christians.)

But the church? Oh yeah, we talk about church all the time. Preachers. Sermons. Music. “Worship.” Music. Programs. Buildings, Budgets. Music. Why we changed churches again. What we like. What we don’t like. How great such and such a church is. What our church needs to start doing. Why this group at our church is wrong, or bad, or stubborn. Why a particular worship leader gets it right. Why we need a new whatever.Continue reading “The Frank Viola Project (And Why You Should Take It Seriously)”

Recommendation: The (Lutheran) Treasury of Daily Prayer

For the past several days I’ve been browsing a pre-publication copy of a new product from Concordia Press called The Treasury of Daily Prayer.

I have to admit that I’ve never been particularly excited about any book called “Treasury.” It’s a title I’d be reluctant to use for any serious resource. So aside from that extremely minor point of personal taste, I want to use every superlative possible to tell my readers that Concordia has produced the most comprehensive, well edited, plainly explained and thoroughly impressive resource for liturgical daily prayer I’ve ever encountered.

If you want a resource for personal or small group liturgical prayer, with abundant options, complete explanation of the Christian year, scripture passages printed out, readings from Church fathers included and much more, your search is permanently over. The Treasury of Daily Prayer surpasses any resource I’ve seen.Continue reading “Recommendation: The (Lutheran) Treasury of Daily Prayer”

iMonk 101: The Original…The One…The Only….Wretched Urgency

Back by popular demand, the iMonk essay that should have sold a thousand t-shirts by now: Wretched Urgency.

When I think of people beating themselves up with guilt and beating other people up with a guilt-inducing God, I always think of this essay and the stupefying discovery that the New Testament isn’t trying to turn us into hamsters on an evangelistic, church growth wheel. If you are one of those people who find me shocking, go get a coke and be shocked. I wrote this in 2001.

Read: The Original “Wretched Urgency.”

And smile while you do it.

Isaiah Six Reviews The Baptist Hymnal 2008

I am very interested in hymnals as the best conservators of a broad, deep and diverse selection of worship music for the church today. A good hymnal is a post-evangelical’s friend.

The Baptist Hymnal (also called The Worship Hymnal) 2008 has been reviewed at Isaiah Six and if you are interested in worship music check this out. This hymnal project is the first to begin to use the abilities of the internet to expand both the content of the hymnal and the online resources to use along with it.

I’ve been looking at my copy for a couple of weeks, and I am thoroughly impressed.

Check out the review and acquire a copy.

Don’t Give Up On Grace

Lots of times, there’s something I want to write about, but it’s just too close to the real world where I live and work, so I have to find a way to not put something out here that’s going to get me in more trouble than I’ve already been in over this blog.

But seriously, I need to say this: You have to trust the Gospel to do what it says it promises to do.Continue reading “Don’t Give Up On Grace”

“It Seems the Joy of the Lord Isn’t Your Strength” (An iMonk 101 Post)

Yes, that’s one of the comments I’ve received via e-mail regarding the official iMonk photograph.

(And- at least in my experience- it’s always a woman. Why is that? Does maternal instinct want to see baby smile?)

I’ve been fighting this battle for quite some time, and I don’t plan to give up. It’s a small thing, but it’s all about what it means to be a human being and what it means to be a Christian.Continue reading ““It Seems the Joy of the Lord Isn’t Your Strength” (An iMonk 101 Post)”

The Church Membership Question: Interview with Dr. Nathan Finn

It’s a genuine honor to have Dr. Nathan Finn, Assistant Professor of Church History at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, as my guest today at InternetMonk.com. Dr. Finn is one of the new academic voices in SBC life speaking strongly for a renewal of serious church membership among Southern Baptists.

Dr. Finn has an A.A. from Waycross College, a B.A. from Brewton-Parker College, and the M.Div. and Ph.D from Southeastern Seminary. He has been teaching at Southeastern since 2006.

His areas of interest include Baptist Studies, American Religious History, Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism and the History of Missions. Dr. Finn’s recent podcast at the Insight blog should be of real interest to IM readers as well.

Dr. Finn has distinguished himself as not only one of the clearest thinkers on the current SBC landscape, but as someone who understands the importance of the blogosphere. He’s a superb writer, and one of the few people in the establishment to be unafraid to have critical engagement with contemporary SBC life.

I want to tell the IM audience that I am more excited about this interview than almost any I’ve conducted. Dr. Finn’s answers on the historical background of the demise of church membership in the SBC and especially his comments on child baptism in our convention are absolutely pure gold.Continue reading “The Church Membership Question: Interview with Dr. Nathan Finn”

A Response to “From Wheaton To Rome” at Jesus Creed

Scot Mcknight has a new book out called Finding Faith, Losing Faith: Stories of Conversion and Apostasy. It’s an interesting discussion of the reasons people deconvert and convert, both in and out of their own traditions. The chapters cover conversion to unbelief, from Judaism to Christianity, from Rome to evangelicalism and from evangelicalism to Rome.

This is an academic discussion, with insights from sociology and studies of converts. No judgments. Just insights and descriptions of what researchers have learned in “conversion theory.” There’s valuable information here that will help us all be more aware and thoughtful toward one another as we face the very frequent reality of conversion.

Scot asked me if I would read and do a “response” post at Jesus Creed on one of the chapters. Want to guess which one?Continue reading “A Response to “From Wheaton To Rome” at Jesus Creed”