called to stand here

Matt Chandler has brain cancer. He is going through a harrowing sequence of symptom, diagnosis, surgery, chemo- and radiation therapy. He's doing this very publicly. He's a pastor of a church in Dallas , and continues, as he's granted strength, to teach there, and a couple of months ago at a conference . I recommend this video below as an amazing example of a theology of suffering followed by example of how to stand and pray with those in the midst of trial and affliction. God's kingdom advances when we do this right. Preparing Your Church for Suffering

Long ago, far away, the hope for a future included the hope for heaven. Nowadays the culture I live in looks for heaven only on earth, and the 'yearning for' in our souls is mostly a yearning for images and experiences. In earlier ages, there was a greater yearning for belief and ideals (Schudson, Michael. Advertising, The Uneasy Persuasion : Its Dubious Impact on American Society. 1984. New York: Basic Books, Inc., 209-233). Not that beliefs and ideals are dead in the culture. One of my sons is especially committed to an activist/anarchist community culture. But even there, the fascination (or obsession) with images and experiences is great. He works hard to contribute to the graphical presentation of the struggle. (Schudson has some really interesting things to day about socialist realist art.) My other sons are devoted to academia, and we might think there the culture would be like a star leading the pilgrim to ideas, if not ideals and beliefs. But today there was a report ...

Today I'm reading an article on John Sailhamer's view of creation —called "historic creationism" as opposed to the more familiar creationism. In his book, Genesis Unbound (1996, and out of print), he points out that the original Hebrew account describes creation in two separate bits: Genesis 1:1 as the creation of the cosmos over an indeterminate span of time and verses 2-31 describing the six days of preparing the land for man (Adam and Woman ) to occupy.* This invites us to view the creation of the universe in terms that don't require the contention between science and faith that is so familiar with creationism. In addition, it creates a framework that reveals some very interesting connections between the days of preparation (this is an interesting revelation: the days described in Gn 1:5, 1: 8, 1:11, etc., as the first day, the second day, etc., have typically been seen as days of creation rather than days of preparation; think about Jesus' statement, ...

I'm reading a book called Pure Heart: Restoration of the Heart Through the Beatitudes . The forming concept of the book is intriguing: that the Beatitudes offer healing and guidance in a couple of critical areas. First and foremost, our identity as children of God. Secondly, as children of imperfect parents. I'd always understood the spiritual aspect (as much as I could grasp such a far-reaching concept), but never the richness of the natural piece of this. As I have delved into this very personal teaching by Tom and Donna Cole, who both have come out of the homosexual lifestyle, I did a little study on this passage in Matthew 5. Lo and behold, Matthew Henry's Commentary sheds some very interesting light on this second principle. He points out that the Old Testament concludes with a curse in Malachi 4:6: He will convince parents to look after their children and children to look up to their parents. If they refuse, I'll come and put the land under a curse." (The Me...

In Genesis, the Lord God commands Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, "for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (2:17b). The serpent was all over that warning, telling the woman, "You will not surely die" (3:4). And the woman saw that the fruit was delightful. She ate it, handed some to Adam, and they didn't "die"; but their eyes were opened, just like the serpent promised. He's batting 2 for 3, it appears: they didn't "die," their eyes were opened, but now what about them becoming like God, knowing good and evil? I spent an hour with my nine-year-old on Genesis 2 and 3 this morning, and it is dawning on me that God's definition of die was completely different than the one the serpent presented to the woman. The temptation he offered her was based on a cunning deception, and his understanding of her desire to be deceived. Just like my nine-year-old sometimes doesn't want to believe the...

The conversations with Jasmine and Margy have been going on for months and months, but taking care of Pouncer and Lucy brought it all to a head: they wanted a dog... badly. And there were lots of good reasons for their argument. Jasmine would benefit from the added responsibility, companionship, and after the dog grows up, protection. A nine-year-old girl in today's world needs some protection if she's going to walk down a street, even a safe midwestern street. On my side, I pointed out all the downside challenges I could think of, knowing that one day each of them would wonder in her heart-of-hearts, "What was I thinking when I said I wanted a dog?!?" I made sure they heard my warnings, but the cry of their hearts was for a dog. Fast forward: adoption day for Esty, our new Brittany, was Thursday the 23rd. Nine weeks old, she's just getting into the gangling puppy stage. Margy and Jasmine were delighted with her. Before the sun had set, she had my heart, too. Jasm...

Mark Driscoll is a prophetic voice in the church today, and when he was asked to speak on his view of the church at Advance 09 early this month, it was a powerful message that should be widely heard. I offer it here for your edification. Blessings!