Cheap Books

If you're interested in stocking up your John Piper collection, all books in the Desiring God Online Bookstore will be on sale for $5 June 27-28 only. Get some!

Ode to an Inconvenient Truitt

He was, after all, only visiting.

Haiku is the New Road Game

I am in Kentucky visiting friends and family. My wife and son flew. I drove. What better way to pass the last 350 miles of my 10-hour road trip than to bust out some haiku? Enjoy.

Ode to Haiku
This is better than
Iambic pentameter.
It is a haiku.

Cops
Dave Whitfield, I was
Pulled over by a cop while
Listening to you.

Okay, I told you
A lie, but I was afraid
It would become true.

After all, maybe
Ninety-five in a sixty-
Five is not so good.

An Inconvenient Truitt
Truitt, will you go
To Texas and leave us with
Just your empty cube?

Ode to a Windshield
Dear windshield, thank you
For saving me from like a
Hundred million bugs.

To My Unborn Childe
Mom sure is mad you
Kick her bladder so much, but
It's cool. Get here soon.

Trey McInnis
You were my best friend
In high school. Are you really
A Catholic priest?

Cursing Out Loud
I missed my exit
While writing down this stupid
Haiku poetry.

Wife
I love how your eyes
Show me the deep parts of your
soul. And also mine.

Six Hundred Three Miles
My wife took a plane
And I chose to drive a car.
Why why why why why?

Sister
You have a willing
Heart but you are afraid of
Something I can't see.

Paterfamilias
Mom and Dad, now I
Am a parent like you are.
Will I do as well?

To Allie
You are the only
Jewish person that I know
Who knows about Jews.

Sister Jak
You'll be a great kid,
I think. Your mom and dad are
Way cool. Wait and see.

To Caleb
I wish you could stay
In your world longer. My world
Is not quite as fun.

BPC
Your lens is so good.
I wish my kung fu was as
Good as your photos.

MSW
Maybe we will be
neighbors. I hope it is so.
Well, I think I do.

Kentucky
Kentucky, you are
Stereotypically
Just how I left you.

The Parenthood

As of 10:30 tonight, my boy Erik and his wife have a beautiful new daughter. Welcome to the 'hood, Diddy.

Christ Killa

Now this is just plain silly. A digital video artist in L.A. has put together an installation-piece-slash-video-game called Christ Killa.

"Described as the ultimate arbitration between politics and Christianity, 'Christ Killa' is a video game linked to video projectors and television monitors. A first person shooter in which the player shoots hordes of homicidal Jesus Christs, the game landscape is filled with Googled images of Christian propaganda posters, religious shrines such as St. Peter's in Rome, and clichéd representations of Christ who constantly mumbles messages of tolerance and compassion. The audience is invited to participate in the carnage by playing the video game and watching short videos of the game in action." [HT: Bully Pulpit News]

As part of the installation, participants with the most Christ kills won trophies.

Interestingly, the gallery that hosted the showing (Niche.LA) appears to have recieved "numerous anti-Muslim and anti-homosexual complaints, including a death threat" and have closed the show due to "safety reasons." (screenshot from the gallery homepage)

The Fetus is Squirming

William Saletan argues that the real challenge to the continued legalization of abortion is the ultrasound machine. From the Washington Post:

Abortion opponents are often caricatured as stupid creationists who just want to put women back in their place. Science and free inquiry are supposed to help them get over their "love affair with the fetus." But science hasn't cooperated. Ultrasound has exposed the life in the womb to those of us who didn't want to see what abortion kills. The fetus is squirming, and so are we.

Around the country, ultrasound bills are all the rage. Most of them require clinics to offer each woman an ultrasound view of her fetus. Mississippi enacted a law on March 22. Idaho followed on April 3. Georgia's legislature passed a bill a week ago; South Carolina's is about to do the same.

Critics complain that these bills seek to "bias," "coerce" and "guilt-trip" women. Come on. Women aren't too weak to face the truth. If you don't want to look at the video, you don't have to. But you should look at it, and so should the guy who got you pregnant, because the decision you're about to make is as grave as it gets.

Interestingly, from what I understand, Saletan is not pro-life.

[Full Article]

Driscoll on Daily Sex

After I saw Driscoll's video today (see previous post) I found this post from Internet Monk that gives a friendly critique on Driscoll's "style of maleness" and his particular assertion that men want to learn how they can have sex with their wives at least once a day. While I think that particular remark was not really the point of Driscoll's message, I.M. uses it as a launching pad to articulate a fear that many seem to have about Driscoll, namely that he may be presenting Christianity "primarily as a way to great maleness."

With Driscoll's emphatic - and often brutally brusque - call to male leadership in the church, I can see how many may not be able to see past this. Yet, his read on the culture is accurate, at least in my experience; both within the Church and without, we generally have men who are practically neutered and passive or irrelevantly hyper-masculine. I appreciate Driscoll's frankness regarding the issues with which he is passionate. I like that he walks a fine line between the overindulged secular culture and the oversheltered church culture. I like that he addresses sex in the context of Christianity (I laughed when he talked in the video about dudes "banging their girlfriends." Not because that is funny, but because the 2 times I have heard sex referred to by the pastors at my church, it is called "physical intimacy" - two very different approaches, methinks. I find it sad that most of us have learned way more about sex from wherehaveyou than from the church.)

I think, like myself and everyone I know, Driscoll falls at times into imbalance with the issues he pushes. But at the end of the day, I think this dude loves Jesus more than his issues.

If you know much of Driscoll or have comments regarding the video, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

A Good Soldier

Here is a link to Mark Driscoll's video "A Good Soldier" that he put together for a church planting conference. Bill Hybels apparently banned the video from the conference,* however, as Driscoll neglected to mention women church planters. The eight-minute clip is worth a look though. I like when he says Jesus is not a gay hippie in a dress.

[HT: Off the Wire]

*Addendum | In doing some more reading after I posted this, I realize that to say Hybels banned the video is misleading. Ben Arment, a pastor and church planter here in No. Va., was apparently at the conference and gives a less-dramatic account. Hybels apparently just made a very brief comment regarding the video, and the folks who sponsored the conference made the decision to pull the plug on passing them out.

The Sovereignty of God & the Virginia Tech Shootings

I invited my good friend Dave Doyle to speak to our young adults group last night regarding the sovereignty of God over tragedies like the Virginia Tech shootings. Dave was already scheduled to speak on the will of God, but graciously agreed to change his topic last-minute in light of the recent events at VT. Dave is not only one of my favorite people, but one of the smartest guys I know - he is a black belt theologian and an excellent pastor. His teaching was excellent and I have posted it below - click the green button to play it, or the link to download the mp3.

The Sovereignty of God in the Virginia Tech Shootings
by Pastor Dave Doyle


Dave Answers Some Questions

Why doesn't God just stop sin and evil in the world? Answer

If God created everything, did He create sin? Answer

What is the difference between God causing and allowing things to happen?
Answer

How can I really worship God in the midst of suffering? Answer

Virginia Tech Shootings

What does one do in the face of such tragedy as today's shootings at Virginia Tech? Several of our church staff spend much of the afternoon contacting parents who attend our church who have VT students enrolled. We praise God that this event - at least as far as we know up to this point - has not directly resulted in the death or injury of anyone within our church community. But certainly, this is far from true for at least thirty three families who are now dealing with the pain of great loss. Beyond that, there are countless individuals emotionally impacted by these shootings.

How should we respond? How can we best comfort the mourning and exalt Christ in the midst of such circumstances? How does one answer the questions that surely follow tragedies such as this?

I found the following list, originally published by John Piper after the Columbine shootings, encouraging as I seek to comfort others in such a time as this. I have copied Pastor John's main points below, as well as the link to his full article:

21 Ways to Minister to Those Who Are Suffering

(Scripture references to accompany each item on this list are available in the full article.)

1. Pray. Ask God for his help for you and for those you want to minister to. Ask him for wisdom and compassion and strength and a word fitly chosen. Ask that those who are suffering would look to God as their help and hope and healing and strength. Ask that he would make your mouth a fountain of life.

2. Feel and express empathy with those most hurt by this great evil and loss; weep with those who weep.

3. Feel and express compassion because of the tragic circumstances of so many loved ones and friends who have lost more than they could ever estimate.

4. Take time and touch, if you can, and give tender care to the wounded in body and soul.

5. Hold out the promise that God will sustain and help those who cast themselves on him for mercy and trust in his grace. He will strengthen you for the impossible days ahead in spite of all darkness.

6. Affirm that Jesus Christ tasted hostility from men and knew what it was to be unjustly tortured and abandoned, and to endure overwhelming loss, and then be killed, so that he is now a sympathetic mediator for us with God.

7. Declare that this murder was a great evil, and that God's wrath is greatly kindled by the wanton destruction of human life created in his image.

8. Acknowledge that God has permitted a great outbreak of sin against his revealed will, and that we do not know all the reasons why he would permit such a thing now, when it was in his power to stop it.

9. Express the truth that Satan is a massive reality in the universe that conspires with our own sin and flesh and the world to hurt people and to move people to hurt others, but stress that Satan is within and under the control of God.

10. Express that these terrorists rebelled against the revealed will of God and did not love God or trust him or find in God their refuge and strength and treasure, but scorned his ways and his Person.

11. Since rebellion against God was at the root of this act of murder, let us all fear such rebellion in our own hearts, and turn from it, and embrace the grace of God in Christ, and renounce the very impulses that caused this tragedy.

12. Point the living to the momentous issues of sin and repentance in our own hearts and the urgent need to get right with God through his merciful provision of forgiveness in Christ, so that a worse fate than death will not overtake us.

13. Remember that even those who trust in Christ may be cut down like these thousands who were in New York and Washington, but that does not mean they have been abandoned by God or not loved by God even in those agonizing hours of suffering. God's love conquers even through calamity.

14. Mingle heart-wrenching weeping with unbreakable confidence in the goodness and sovereignty of God who rules over and through the sin and the plans of rebellious people.

15. Trust God for his ability to do the humanly impossible, and bring you through this nightmare and, in some inscrutable way, bring good out of it.

16. Explain, when the time is right, and they have the wherewithal to think clearly that one of the mysteries of God's greatness is that he ordains that some things come to pass which he forbids and disapproves of.

17. Express your personal cherishing of the sovereignty of God as the ground of all your hope as you face the human impossibilities of life. The very fulfillment of the New Covenant promises of our salvation and preservation hang on God's sovereignty over rebellious human wills.

18. Count God your only lasting treasure, because he is the only sure and stable thing in the universe.

19. Remind everyone that to live is Christ and to die is gain.

20. Pray that God would incline their hearts to his word, open their eyes to his wonders, unite their hearts to fear him, and satisfy them with his love.

21. At the right time sound the trumpet that all this good news is meant by God to free us for radical, sacrificial service for the salvation of men and the glory of Christ. Help them see that one message of all this misery is to show us that life is short and fragile and followed by eternity, and small, man-centered ambitions are tragic.

[HT: GCX, DGblog]

If No One Hears

Yesterday, I read a very interesting article in the Washington Post about Joshua Bell, who is an internationally acclaimed violin virtuoso. By "acclaimed," I mean he is indisputably one of the best classical musicians in the world. This year, he was the recipient of the Avery Fischer prize as the best classical musician in the U.S. (an award so prestigious, apparently, that one has not been awarded in three years.) This guy earns roughly $1000 a minute playing packed-out concert halls. He is just that good.

Back in January, the Post arranged for Bell to play during the busy morning at the L'Enfant Plaza stop on the D.C. Metro "as an experiment in context, perception and priorities -- as well as an unblinking assessment of public taste: In a banal setting at an inconvenient time, would beauty transcend?" Bell donned jeans and a baseball cap, put a couple dollar bills in the violin case at his feet and played for about an hour as commuters went their busy ways.

Playing his $3.5million violin (handcrafted in 1713 by Antonio Stradivari himself), Bell played classic masterpieces "that have endured for centuries on their brilliance alone, soaring music befitting the grandeur of cathedrals and concert halls." Of the nearly 1,100 people who passed him as he played that hour, a few stopped to listen for a bit, twenty tossed some change his way, but most were so wrapped in up their commute they ignored him completely (I'm sure I would have done the same - talk about pearls before swine...) Interestingly enough, only one person out of over a thousand recognized him.

The article itself is fascinating - but equally interesting was Off The Wire's insight that this is "An Exquisite Picture of the Gospel." Bell was playing next to vending machines where folks would line up to buy lottery tickets, even during their busy commutes. Wireman observes:

As the article says, lotto tickets are hot items in the metro area. People spending their money on a chance to win a million or two, while a chance in a lifetime plays right before them. Hundreds of people walk by without even hearing a note. It is quite astounding.

One person recognized him and knew the worth of what she was hearing. One.

On Suffering

"It is a strange and terrible perversion of the gospel to say that since Jesus suffered for me, therefore I don't have to suffer—I can be comfortable and prosperous. The stumbling block of the cross is removed if we say he became homeless that I might have the finest of houses. He was rejected by men that I might be admired among men. He lived in poverty that I might live in luxury. He endured suffering that I might enjoy ease. Jesus taught just the opposite: "If any man would come after me, let him take up his cross daily and follow me." If we suffer with him, we shall be glorified with him (Romans 8:17). Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps (1 Peter 2:21)." - From Into Thy Hands I Commit My Spirit, a Good Friday meditation by John Piper.

Seven Songs

Allie tagged me on Seven Songs I Have Been Enjoying This Week. This is good timing, for (as you may have noticed) I am a little short on material lately.

Long Distance Call by Phoenix: If Kings of Leon were on tranquilizers, from Paris, and yet somehow spoke better English, you'd probably have something like Phoenix.

The 80's by Denison Witmer: That melancholy little tune makes me want to wear my Reebok Pumps, watch Ghostbusters, and whip out a slap bracelet or two (which I am pretty sure I left in my Trapper Keeper). Things were simpler then.

Personal Jesus by Depreche Mode: Pick up the reciever - I'll make you a believer.

A New Law by Derek Webb: I haven't taken this song off my play list since I first heard it. Don't teach me about politics and government/Just tell me who to vote for/Don't teach me about truth and beauty/Just label my music/Don't teach me how to live like a free man/Just give me a new law/Don't teach me about moderation and liberty/I prefer a shot of grape juice/And don't teach me about loving my enemies/Don't teach me how to listen to the Spirit/Just give me a new law/I don't want to know if the answers aren't easy

Easy by Dave Whitfield: You don't know Dave, but he knows you. And he knows you will dig this catchy little tune. You can scroll around in his MySpace player to ch-ch-ch-check it out. This kid could go somewhere if he'd just take my advice and use more cowbell.

Time (The Revelator) by Gillian Welch: Classic Gillian right here. Oh mercy yes.

How to Save a Life by The Fray: Say it with me; "O-V-E-R-P-L-A-Y-E-D." I knew you could do it. Anyway, it's true, and I admit it. But I'm not tired of it yet. Yet.

Monsters by Band of Horses: Band of Horses is a new find for me. In fact, I heard them for the first time this very morning. I like this song mucho. I am really just a sucker for a good banjo lick.

That is eight songs. This is why I will never be an accountant.
You're it: Graham, Matt, Will, and Diddy.

The Athiest's My Nightmare

I found two things today that make me embarrassed to be associated with certain aspects of Christian culture. Permit me, friends, a brief rant on said dos cosas:

1.) The first is a "Christian video sharing website" called GodTube. There have been points in history where the Church lead society (in a good way) in innovation and trend-setting ideas. Now we just follow it. Nigh everywhere, apparently. Okay, maybe GodTube is not that big of a thing to get worked up about, but I think it is symptomatic of the Christians' tendency to pull out of society and make our own exclusive clubs on the fringes. When I was in college, there was a particular Christian organization that had its own building on campus all to itself. I was involved with a different organization, and I remarked one day to a friend that I wished we had our own building too. I thought his answer profound: "The thing about building walls is that people tend to stay behind them."

2.) The second thing I found was a particular video on the aforementioned website. It is the only time in my life I have ever heard the sentence "Behold - the atheist's nightmare!" immediately followed by "Now, if you study a well-made banana..." As if this dynamite wordplay weren't enough, you get some questionable ...um... visual aid, as well. Worst. Apologetic. Ever.

My rant is over.

Intellectually Credible & Existentially Satisfying

Here is an excellent lecture by Tim Keller on how Jesus Christ is "intellectually credible and existentially satisfying." That is to say, Jesus (and thus biblical Christianity) is rational and coherent, while at the same time relevant to the current needs of all people.

Free Mp3 Download

Down With Hymnns Organs Drums Rap

Last fall, I remember seeing a video of Curtis "Voice" Allen, an independent Christian rap artist, perform at John Piper's church. If you've ever been to Bethlehem Baptist, you know it is probably one of the last places you'd expect to hear rap. I remember thinking "good for Piper for stepping out of his norm."

As a result of his performance, however, Allen - and the rap genre as a whole - was harshly criticized in Christian blog circles as being "un-Christian."

Allen writes about his experience in dealing with that criticism and his humble response in An Emcee's Gentle Word.

Of Pigs, Puppies, and Political Correctness

An elementary school in England recently changed the name of its school play from "The Three Little Pigs" to "The Three Little Puppies" in an effort to be sensitive to Muslims, who are forbidden to eat pork.

Even though this is an isolated incident, it is certainly indicative of trend toward hyper-sensitive, all-inclusive political correctness that continues to emerge and express itself in absurd ways. I suspect we will continue to see more and more instances of this sort of idealism taken to extremes in our society, government, and churches.

Interestingly enough, the Muslim Council of Britain referred to the school's name-changing hiijink as "bizarre."

The contenders for next year's school play include The Ugly Duckling The Duckling That Was Judged on Its Personal Merits and Not on Its Physical Appearance (HT: James Finn Garner), The Princess & The Pauper The Equally-Able Non-Gender-Specific-But-Fashionably-Effeminate Individual & The Economically-Marginalized Individual With Deferred Success, or Snow White & The Seven Dwarves Lakeisha and the Shorties.

Unlove

"Unlove is deadly. It is a cancer. It may kill slowly but it always kills in the end. Let us fear it, fear to give room to it as we should fear to nurse a cobra. It is deadlier than any cobra. And just as one minute drop of the almost invisible cobra venom spreads swiftly all over the body of one into whom it has been injected, so one drop of the gall of unlove into my heart or yours, however unseen, has a terrible power of spreading all though our Family, for we are one body - we are parts of one another.

If unlove be discovered anywhere, stop everything and put it right, if possible at once."

- Amy Carmichael

Knowledge Without Love

People relate to God in different ways. Myself, I generally tend to relate to God through theological study. I love me some systematic theology, and I find great value in being able to articulate and teach doctrine. I have a distaste for doctrinal wishy-washiness, so I seek knowledge. The downside of knowledge, however - even biblical knowledge (maybe especially biblical knowledge) - is that knowledge can easily feed the flames of pride. I read the following this morning from Alexander Strauch's Leading With Love. In this section, Strauch is discussing 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:3. It was a good reminder for people like me:

"Paul... speaks of himself hypothetically as possessing the gift of prophecy in such full measure that he would know "all" mysteries and "all" knowledge. He would thus have the theological answers to all the mysteries of God that people crave to understand. He would be a walking, talking, encyclopedia of knowledge.

Some people love to display their intellect and theological superiority. They are proud of their learning and speaking ability. Such pride had become a serious problem at Corinth. Some people were arrogant because of their knowledge and puffed up with self-importance. They wanted recognition for their prophetic insights and superior wisdom, and they looked down on others with lesser knowledge and giftedness. As as result of their arrogant misuse of knowledge, they harmed the church body (1 Cor. 8).

Knowledge without love inflates the ego and deceives the mind. It can lead to intellectual snobbery, an attitude of mockery and making fun of others' views, a spirit of contempt for those with lesser knowledge, and a demeaning way of dealing with people who disagree. I know of a pastor who had a phenomenal knowledge of the Bible but who hurt many people with his doctrinal scrutiny and divided his own congregation repeatedly until there was no one left but himself. He had a big head but a little heart. His theology was as clear as ice and twice as cold. Such is the path of one who has knowledge without love."

Lord, keep my theology from being cold and unloving.

Altar Ego

You thought Left Behind: The Video Game was awesome? Check THIS out. Oh mercy...