More Listening Groups

Listening groups continue on at Pecan Grove Baptist. As I’ve shared previously, I’m attempting to get a feel for the where the church is by dialoguing with the major groups in the church. I’ve met with several of the Sunday school classes and had four open sessions where anyone could attend. Last night (for three hours!) I met with the staff for the first time and got their take on the current state of the church. I had several questions to ask them, but I quickly discerned that my job was simply to listen. I had the impression that no one had asked them for their thoughts on the direction of the church for awhile and they were full of thoughts and impressions. They had also not had a staff meeting in several months, so they were also sharing with one another the recent frustrations that they had seen in the church.

I’m having a few more meetings to finish out the listening phase of the IIM. I’ve got one meeting with a key member who has left the church. My purpose is not to convince him to come back, but rather to talk to him about the circumstances surrounding the recent conflict the church’s life.

I also think it’s important to have the view of a few outsiders. With that in mind, I’m also going to sit down with the other main Baptist pastor in town and get his thoughts on Pecan Grove. For another outsider’s perspective, I will be meeting with the Director of Missions for the association to discuss the church. Finally, I have contacted the former pastor and he has agreed to spend some time with me to help me gain additional insight into his eight years of ministry at Pecan Grove.

Several positive things have come out of these conversations and the stories I’m hearing are remarkable consistent. One reason I think that the church is essentially in good shape is that every group has agreed on what the primary problems are. The interesting part will come next as we start to turn our attention to solutions.

God Doesn't like Puns

Bart Ehrman is a scholar in the field of Textual Criticism at Duke University. Unlike most academics, he has a compelling life story. He was raised in a conservative home and attended Moody Bible Institute and Wheaton College. He then went to Princeton to study under the great Bruce Metzger. Through his studies of textual criticism, he began to seriously reconsider his faith. He has now decided that his views on textual criticism have made it impossible to continue believing in the historicity of the words of Jesus as portrayed in the Gospels. He is a gifted writer and possesses a quality rare among academics, the ability to write for a popular audience.

His most recent work is entitled Jesus, Interrupted and argues that the New Testament writings that we have are not representative of what Jesus actually said. For an academic review of his works (seriously challenging Ehrman’s conclusions) see Ben Witherington’s evaluation here and here. For a more popular review (and more witty) see Steve Colbert here:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Bart Ehrman
colbertnation.com
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Experiencing the Spirit

I haven't had a chance to review this book, but here is the most recent work by Henry Blackaby

The first Christians “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6) shaking the gates of hell even in the face of severe persecution. The result: People all around “were filled with wonder and amazement” (Acts 3:10).Why don't Christians today have the same impact?

God’s Holy Spirit is ready to answer that for us in an awesome way, as Henry Blackaby and his son Mel Blackaby make clear in Experiencing the Spirit. You’ll see how the proof of the Spirit’s presence is our awareness of God’s personal assignments for us, plus our supernatural enablement to carry out those assignments. You’ll find essential clarification on the difference between natural talents and spiritual gifts. You’ll explore the dynamics of being filled with the Spirit through intimate relationship with Him, committed obedience, and radical departure from sin.

Instead of considering what you can do for God with your abilities and talents, you’ll be encouraged here to seek what God wants to do through you supernaturally by His Spirit, empowering you beyond your personal competence and capacities. Release the Holy Spirit’s work at the very core of your experience of the Christian life.

Drop me an email if you would like a copy.

Time Out!

Today's post concerns sabbatical leaves and is over at SBC Impact!, a real blog.

Film Montage

I've shared before my affinity for the medium of film. Here's the best film montage I know. It is called 100 Years of Film and I saw this on TCM several years ago. It has recently popped up on YouTube (as all things eventually do). Enjoy!




And after 100 years, few images are as haunting as the initial shot from Edison's Kinetoscope.
(For a cheat sheet, see the list of films here.)

Best Friends

I was helping my brother-in-law Sully install some new venetian blinds this weekend. We were hard at work, measuring, drilling, and hanging, when his six year old daughter Grace walked into the room clutching a piece of paper.

“Daddy, I have a list of my bestest friends.”

“Mmmm-hmmm” Sully responded through lips pursed closed around a pair of screws.

She read carefully: “Here are my best friends: God, Jesus, Mommy, Daddy, Scooter, Skeeter, and Squealer.”

“Run that by me again, Pea?” Sully said, never taking his eyes off the window.

I said: “God, Jesus, Mommy, Daddy, Scooter, Skeeter, Squealer!” Grace replied with some degree of aggravation. Then she stomped out of the room.

As she left, Sully turned to me and said “Isn’t that just like a good Southern Baptist, leaving the Holy Spirit off a list of your best friends.”

Conduct

For just the second time this semester, Squealer is on the verge of getting straight A’s in conduct for a week of class. Every day the kids in his kindergarten get a grade for behavior. Squealer demolishes spelling tests, crushes his math work, and blitzes his geography. But conduct is his kryptonite and an ongoing challenge. He has a list of five rules for class behavior and can recite them when prompted. He struggles the most with the rules “Control yourself” and “Be quiet at appropriate times.” Every time they violate one of the rules, they drop a letter grade.

To try to encourage good behavior, we’ve decided that a week’s worth of A’s gets him a present, a dollar, and a trip to Baskin Robbin’s Ice Cream. But we’ve only had to pay out once this school year, and it remains an elusive goal. So we gave him an extra encouraging hug this morning before he got on his bus and reminded him of what’s on the line. He nodded soberly. He knows what’s at stake today.

So Kadie and I will busy ourselves with our daily routines, but keep one eye on the clock looking forward to when he gets home on the bus.


All creation waits in expectation.

Engaging God's World: a (brief) Review

Cornelius Plantinga is the president of Calvin Theological Seminary and a systematic theologian. His work Engaging God’s World: A Christian Vision of Faith, Learning, and Living was suggested to me by Mister Ginger a few weeks ago. I recommend it most highly.

Plantinga divides his work into five sections: Longing and Hope, Creation, the Fall, Redemption, and Vocation in the Kingdom of God. His work details the Gospel narrative and how it interacts with the life of the mind. Plantinga is that rare theologian who can in language that actual people can understand. He carefully offers a well reasoned world view that sees the world as it truly is: made good, yet fallen. This keeps him between the twin falsities of pantheism (Creation is God) and Gnosticism (Creation is Evil). This book is an excellent work for college students (or anyone else) with curious minds about this world that God has created.

The Christian Life and Academics

I’m preparing an address to a Christian group on campus tomorrow evening. The topic given to me was Academics as a form of Worship. I think the direction I will take is that education is a necessary and vital part of Discipleship. I would appreciate any feedback.

Matthew 22:37 -“ Jesus said unto him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your MIND.”

Why should a Christian engage in education?

1. Creation bears the testimony of its Maker. Learning about this world carries out our responsibility to be good stewards of it.

2. Studying the writings of atheists like Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud provide a pugnacious and pungent critique of Christianity. And we need to take seriously critiques against our faith. In general, the Christian community does a poor job of looking critically at ourselves.

3. The Bible teaches us that it is not only acceptable, but necessary to ask God the question “WHY?” Habakkuk, Job, Jeremiah, the Psalmist, and even Jesus didn't hesitate to ask God why. Neither should we. (But that doesn't mean we'll get an answer. We might get something better.)



These are the barebones of the lecture. Any thoughts?