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Sunday, December 30, 2007

Song of the Week: Peter Mayer's "One More Circle"

A wish for your new year. Here's "One More Circle" from Peter Mayer's Million Year Mind (iTunes):

We have been weighed down by sadness like a stone
And we have yearned, we have yearned
And we have sometimes felt so utterly alone
While we turn, while we turn

And we’ve been stricken by the wonder of it all
Stricken dumb, stricken dumb
And we have sometimes felt so faint we want to fall
Overcome--

But all in all
I’d say this year in flight together has been fun
What say we make one more circle around the sun?

We have raised our fists in anger and we’ve tried
To work it out, work it out
That we need each other, we cannot deny
There is no doubt, there is no doubt

So let us weave another dream in outer space
While we’re turning, while we’re turning
On this planet home that holds our human race
We still are learning--

But all in all
I’d say this year in flight together has fun
What say we make one more circle around the sun?

I’d say this year in flight together has been a good, good one
What say we make one more circle
One more circle
One more circle around the sun?
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The player for the featured "Song of the Week" can be found on the upper right corner of the weblog for one week.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas from the Goodman Clan!

Merry Christmas from the Goodman Clan!

Song of the Week, Part 2: Cliff and Danielle Young's "Silver Starlight"

Merry Christmas! Throughout the month of December, the "Song of the Week" feature of this weblog has taken you around the candles of the Advent Wreath.

The first candle was to remember the hope of the prophecies of Christ's coming. The second candle was to remember the faith and obedience through which the prophecies were fulfilled. The the third candle was lit to remember the invitation that was extended--and accepted--the first Christmas. The fourth candle was to be mindful of seekers drawn to the meaning of Christmas.

The fifth, and last, candle is in the middle. The Christ Candle. It's lit on Christmas day to remind us that God's promised and prophesied Messiah has come.

Today's song is sung by Cliff and Danielle Young from Caedmon's Call. "Silver Starlight" comes from a compilation album called Come Let Us Adore Him (iTunes).

The wait is over!
All the saints and angels with one voice
Sing to Jesus
Let every heart in heaven and earth rejoice

Silver starlight on his face
Wonderful mysterious child
Born into this time and place
God and sinners reconciled

Christ the Savior
Called Emmanuel as prophesied
God is with us
Let every trusting soul be satisfied

Silver starlight on his face
Wonderful mysterious child
Night of glory, dawn of grace
God and sinners reconciled

O come let us adore him
O come let us adore him

The wait is over!
All the saints and angels with one voice
Sing to Jesus
Let every heart in heaven and earth rejoice

Silver starlight on his face
God and sinners reconciled
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Do you have some favorite Christmas music? Join the conversation I started last year at Operation Christmas Shoes! The player for the featured "Song of the Week" can be found on the upper right corner of the weblog for one week.

Monday, December 24, 2007

Links to Your World, CHRISTMAS EDITION

"Links to Your World" is a feature of this weblog that shows up every Tuesday. I'm posting it on Monday this week. Check back tomorrow for the last song in our "Song of the Week" Advent series.

You gotta see this (HT: Danielle). A "12 Days of Christmas" like you've never heard (in Internet Explorer, click once to activate and click again to play):



Mars to Glow this Christmas Eve.

A WW2 Vet remembers a wartime Christmas.

Just in Time for Christmas: Wrap Art: How to wrap presents creatively,using fragments of paper and miscellaneous items from around your house.

This woman is accused of stabbing her husband with a kitchen knife because he opened his Christmas present early.

Found: This man and his kids got lost in the snowy wilderness while looking for a Christmas tree.

Down in the Dark: If the 'holiday blues' linger longer than a couple weeks, it might be something more serious.

Have you read the previous posts since last Tuesday? They include the "Song of the Week" (A new series on Advent continues with "The Huron Carol" by Bruce Cockburn), photos of my first wedding ceremony 25 years ago, overcoming Christmas craziness, recommended Christmas music, and Part Three in a leadership series on the cure for cultural intimidation.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Song of the Week, Part 1: Bruce Cockburn's "The Huron Carol"

Throughout the month of December, the "Song of the Week" feature of this weblog is taking you around the candles of the Advent Wreath.

The first candle was to remember the hope of the prophecies of Christ's coming. The second candle was to remember the faith and obedience through which the prophecies were fulfilled. The the third candle was lit to remember the invitation that was extended--and accepted--the first Christmas.

Today we light the fourth candle. The fifth, and central, candle, is lit on Christmas Day. I will upload another song on that day to complete our Advent Wreath series on "Song of the Week."

The fourth candle is lit to keep us mindful of seekers drawn to the meaning of Christmas. Matthew's Gospel recalls the Magi from the East who came with gold, incense and myrrh to worship the new King. It's a fascinating account of seekers who acted on what little knowledge they had in order to find Christ that first Christmas. It's my prayer that every Advent season I'll be able to discuss Jesus with the wise men who still seek him.

Today's song is sung by Bruce Cockburn from one of my favorite holiday albums, Christmas (iTunes). It's traditionally called "The Huron Carol," the first Canadian Christmas carol. It was written in the 1600s by a Jesuit missionary to the Huron. Be sure to read the English translation that follows. Lyrics are from the Cockburn Project website:
Ehstehn yayau deh tsaun we yisus ahattonnia
O na wateh wado:kwi nonnwa 'ndasqua entai
ehnau sherskwa trivota nonnwa 'ndi yaun rashata
Iesus Ahattonnia, Ahattonnia, Iesus Ahattonnia

Ayoki onki hm-ashe eran yayeh raunnaun
yauntaun kanntatya hm-deh 'ndyaun sehnsatoa ronnyaun
Waria hnawakweh tond Yosehf sataunn haronnyaun
Iesus Ahattonnia, Ahattonnia, Iesus Ahattonnia

Asheh kaunnta horraskwa deh ha tirri gwames
Tishyaun ayau ha'ndeh ta aun hwa ashya a ha trreh
aundata:kwa Tishyaun yayaun yaun n-dehta
Iesus Ahattonnia, Ahattonnia, Iesus Ahattonnia

(instrumental)

Dau yishyeh sta atyaun errdautau 'ndi Yisus
avwa tateh dn-deh Tishyaun stanshi teya wennyau
aha yaunna torrehntehn yataun katsyaun skehnn
Iesus Ahattonnia, Ahattonnia, Iesus Ahattonnia

Eyeh kwata tehnaunnte aheh kwashyehn ayehn
kiyeh kwanaun aukwayaun dehtsaun we 'ndeh adeh
tarrya diskwann aunkwe yishyehr eya ke naun sta
Iesus Ahattonnia, Ahattonnia, Iesus Ahattonnia

TRANSLATION -- "Jesus, He is Born"

Have courage, you who are human beings:
Jesus, he is born
The okie spirit who enslaved us has fled
Don't listen to him for he corrupts
the spirits of our thoughts
Jesus, he is born

The okie spirits who live in the sky
are coming with a message
They're coming to say, "Rejoice!
Mary has given birth. Rejoice!"
Jesus, he is born

Three men of great authority
have left for the place of his birth
Tiscient, the star appearing over the horizon
leads them there
That star will walk first
on the path to guide them
Jesus, he is born

The star stopped not far
from where Jesus was born
Having found the place it said,
"Come this way"
Jesus, he is born

As they entered and saw Jesus
they praised his name
They oiled his scalp many times,
anointing his head
with the oil of the sunflower
Jesus, he is born

They say, "Let us place his name
in a position of honour
Let us act reverently towards him
for he comes to show us mercy
It is the will of the spirits
that you love us, Jesus,
and we wish that we may be adopted
into your family
Jesus, he is born.
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Do you have some favorite Christmas music? Join the conversation I started last year at Operation Christmas Shoes! The player for this song can be found on the upper right corner of the weblog until Christmas Day, when it be changed to play the last song of this Advent Wreath series.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Handbell Hero

Bored with Guitar Hero already? Try Handbell Hero this holiday (HT: Neatorama)--

Thursday, December 20, 2007

LeaderLines: "Intimidated by the Culture, Part Three"

In these latest editions of LeaderLines, I’ve been thinking about a recent conversation with a missionary couple. They were talking about believers in another part of the world, a place that has become quite secular.

“The believers in our part of the world just don’t interact much with their non-believing neighbors,” the couple said. “The culture has become increasingly secular and more sophisticated in their objections to Christian faith. Over time, people have just become intimidated by their culture.”

That phrase captured my attention: “intimidated by their culture.” Around the world and in our own town, churches lose their effectiveness in a community when they feel threatened by it. How can we lose our fear of engaging the city God has placed us in? Three things will help:

  • Build True Friendships
We’ve looked at the first two suggestions in the last two editions of LeaderLines. Today let’s commit to building no-strings-attached friendships with those around us.

John Stackhouse described too many believers when he wrote about a woman named Lois in his book, Humble Apologetics (pages 132-133):

An earnest Christian woman once spoke up at a prayer meeting of the small Chicago church to which I once belonged. She worked as a clerk in the university bookstore, and had done so for years. As a lifelong church member - indeed, as a lifelong Southern Baptist - she was convinced that she ought to be speaking about the gospel to her workmates. But she confessed at this meeting to her complete frustration. She never had opportunity, she said, to speak a single word of spiritual truth to her fellow clerks, and she didn't know what to do.

After expressions of sympathy were offered by members of the group, somone finally asked her a direct and pertinent question: "Lois, how many of the clerks would you say are friends of yours?"

Lois looked a bit stunned. The conversation had taken an unexpected turn, a turn that seemed to strike her as irrelevant. "Well, none of them. . . . ."

The questioner gently persisted. "How often do you have your breaks with them, go for coffee or lunch with them?"

Again, Lois looked a bit blank. "I always take my breaks by myself to have coffee and read my Bible. And I usually take my lunch in the park across the street on my own."

The rest of the group then tried to help Lois see that with no friends or even cordial acquaintances among her workmates, she would literally have no natural opportunity to speak of spiritual things in the course of ringing in sales in a bookstore. Furthermore, if she were to broach the subject, her surprised colleagues might . . . simply deflect her well-meant initiative as irrelevant, since it is unlikely that Lois would know any of them well enough to speak to a zone of genuine need in their lives.

Lois doubtless came across at the bookstore as a decent, responsible coworker. And that consistent morality is not to be despised. But without sharing more of her life with her workmates, her message simply would either never emerge, or would likely not emerge in a way that would be understood and received.
I wish I could say that Lois was unique, but you know that’s not the case. If you aren’t sharing your life with others, you aren’t going to get too many opportunities to share your gospel with others.

In 1 Thessalonians 2:8, Paul wrote, “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.”

Paul said he and his companions were delighted to share two things--not one thing but two things--with the Philippians: The gospel and their lives.

Paul said he shared the gospel with them. He wanted them to know Jesus, to know Jesus’ forgiveness and guidance and power for living. But Paul said he shared not only the gospel with them but also his life. The Greek word there literally means, “soul.” In other words, he shared his very self: his time, his energy, his heart. He was enthusiastically connected with them.

A lot of us have heard sermons, Sunday School lessons, and workshop talks on sharing the gospel. But the missing ingredient that keeps us from being effective is friendship. The second step in Hillcrest’s “INVITE Evangelism Strategy” is, “Nurture authentic relationships with others.” Mark Mittleberg of Willow Creek Church calls it the “Barbeque First Principle.” If you’re getting to know someone, you should probably invite them to a barbeque in your backyard before you invite them to church. In other words, socialize, be real, and develop a no-strings-attached friendship with those around you.

Are you intimidated by the culture around you--a culture that’s more and more remote from the Christian consensus of the past? Church members will have to overcome that fear if we’re going to be effective missionaries. Here’s how to overcome it: Get a firm grasp on what you believe, identify what is honorable about the culture, and develop solid relationships with those around you.
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Each Thursday I post my article from "LeaderLines," an e-newsletter for church leaders read by over 300 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "LeaderLines," sign up here.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Twenty-Five Years Ago . . .

Out of the blue I got an e-mail from someone I haven't seen in 25 years. Heather wanted me to know that my first wedding ceremony "stuck" as she and Gene just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. In the pic below, we're standing at Gene's home church, Travis Baptist Church, my first church as a 21-year-old Baylor student. Travis is a rural community forty minutes outside of Waco, between Rosebud and Lott. Population at the time, 300: Sa-LUTE! I'm the kid with the geeky glasses:


And a pic of Diane at the piano bench. The church only hired me because she came with the deal (grin):


Thanks for the pics, Heather and Gene! I'm glad my first wedding ceremony "held" and I'm honored you looked me up for your 25th!

Winning Ways: “Christmas Craziness”

“Preparing for a large Christmas Eve family gathering, I had been giving out orders like a drill sergeant,” Catherine Halverson wrote in Reader’s Digest.

“Pick up your things! Don't get your clothes dirty! Put away those toys!”

“My four-year old daughter had been underfoot, so I sent her to the next room to play with our wooden Nativity set. As I scurried around setting the table I overheard her make-believe conversation in an all-too-familiar tone of voice: ‘I don't care who you are, get those camels out of my living room!’”

Can you identify? We love the season, of course, but all the demands can make us a little crazy. A report from the U.S. Census Bureau reveals how amped-up things get at Christmastime. For example, the U.S. Postal Service expects to deliver 20 billion pieces of mail between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. Monday of this week was predicted to be the busiest mailing day with more than 275 million pieces of mail passing through the system versus the normal 82 million.

For most of us, December is filled with parties to attend, baking to complete, cards to send, presents to buy, and people to see. But in the midst of it all, don’t lose the heart of the season (Luke 2:8-18):

There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. . . .”

The shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
We’ll help you keep your focus on the Christ of Christmas! Join us for worship at 9:30am or 10:45am this Sunday, December 23. And don’t forget our Christmas Eve service at 6:00pm. Merry Christmas!
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Each Wednesday I post my article from "Winning Ways," an e-newsletter that goes out to over 880 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "Winning Ways," sign up here.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Snow Angels

I've built up a collection of Christmas music by buying one Christmas CD a year for the last 20 years (a post about my Christmas music here). This year I've been listening to Over the Rhine's Snow Angels for free here and finally bought it as my annual Christmas CD--well, as an iTunes download. I already have their Trumpet Child project from 2007 and will feature at least one of the songs from it on future Song-of-the-Week posts.

The husband-wife team known as Over the Rhine intrigues me. What lyrics--and what a voice to carry them to the ear! Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist write lines of Christian hope in the midst of heartbreak, of (*ahem*) steamy passion for each other, of cynical disappointment in those with influence, and of the hard work to forgive and accept.

For example, on "Here it Is," Detweiler writes of continuing commitment to a relationship that hasn't always been perfect (their own?). Wow--

Somewhere down the road
We’ll lift up our glass
And toast the moment
And moments past
The heartbreak and laughter
The joy and the tears
The scary beauty
Of what’s right here
You can read all the lyrics here while you listen to the music here. Pay special attention to the lullaby, "White Horse," as well as the pacifist wish of "Little Town," the prayer called "New Redemption Song," and the romantic torch-song "Snowed in with You." Well, okay, just listen to 'em all and I bet you've found your next Christmas CD, too.

Links to Your World, Tuesday December 18

Six Steps to Better Focus at Work or School
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Make-A-Flake is a neat little website that lets you make your own digital snowflakes based on a pattern that you "cut" using a pair of virtual scissors! Link (HT: Neatorama).
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The House just passed a resolution honoring Christian citizens this Christmas season. What’s news, however, is that seven of the eight who opposed it supported earlier resolutions honoring Muslims during Ramadan and Hindus during their festival of lights. Hey, I really think the resolutions are a grandstanding waste of tax-paid time, but this is annoying. One Seattle legislator said his vote against the resolution honoring Christians was to protest Bush’s veto of a health care bill. Huh? What does a vote against honoring Christian citizens have to do with a protest against a health care veto? Imagine the howls if a few legislators (let's make them, say, Republican) voted for pro-Christian and pro-Jewish resolutions and then turned around to vote against a resolution honoring the Islamic faith of American citizens.
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Room at the Inn: Travelodge, determined to help make amends for that "no room at the inn" business back in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago, is offering free Christmas accommodations to married British couples named Mary and Joseph. Travelodge said that starting Christmas Eve and lasting until Twelfth Night, Jan. 5, couples matching its criteria will get a one-night stay on the house.
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In the article, “Mental Reserves Keep Brains Agile,” I was surprised to find how prevalent Alzheimer’s and related ailments were as the brain ages, and yet encouraged at how “mental reserves” enables people to cope with this.
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Christmas Card Arrives 93 Years Late
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Attention students: Why lack of sleep leads to lack of memory.
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From Popular Mechanics: 25 Skills Every Man Should Know
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Church attendance drops in the college years, but spiritual hunger increases.
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Lots of old radio shows are available for mp3 downloads at Old Radio Fun, and some are free.
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I’ve visited with Jim Gatliff about his new effort to revitalize Texas churches, and I think he’s on to something. All about the Ezekiel Project.
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Have you read the previous posts since last Tuesday? They include the "Song of the Week" (A new series on Advent continues with "Little Drummer Boy" by Jars of Clay), Steven Furtick's rant about whiny church members, help from Lee Strobel for answering doubts about Christmas like the ones raised in the Statesman's op-ed piece Saturday, Part Two in a leadership series on the cure for cultural intimidation, and worship wonderings.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Monday Rant

Wow. How many of us pastors have wanted to say this to our "I'm-not-being-fed" contingent (and we all have that contingent). Here's Steven Furtick of Elevation Church:

Proverbs 26:15
The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
He is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.


What a great picture of nominal, noncommittal church attendees! We all know that one of top 3 reasons people leave churches is the (infamous) claim:“I wasn’t getting fed there.”

Maybe you weren’t.

Or maybe the church set the table, presented the bread of life, and you were too stinking lazy to bring it back to your mouth, chew it, swallow, and digest it, like a big boy.

You know, I don’t mind helping my 2 year old eat his Easy Mac. But if he can’t pick up a fork and bring the food to his mouth by age 20, we have a problem.

Churches are filled with those who have known Christ for decades, and still need a bib, a high chair, and want Daddy to do “open wide, here comes the airplane” tricks with the fork before shoving it into their mouths.

I try to serve up the Word, hot and fresh every single Sunday. But if you refuse to apply it, study your Bible and pray some during the week, join a small group and dig deeper with others…If you refuse to bring it back to your mouth, I can’t help you.

Get your own fork, and learn to feed yourself. Stop burying your hand in the dish and spitting out every thing that doesn’t give you a spiritual sugar high. Eat some vegetables. Serve. Pray. Practically apply the Bible to your life.

And I’ll keep cooking…

The Case for Christmas

The Statesman ran an op-ed piece by James Dee on Saturday called, “The Christmas Story Didn’t Happen.” Since Dee is a retired classics professor, not a Biblical scholar or historian, he depends on a book by a single--and disputed--New Testament professor as sufficient proof that the accounts of Jesus’ birth in Matthew and Luke aren’t reliable.

If you have friends or neighbors asking questions about the reliability of the New Testament stories, pick up a copy of Lee Strobel’s The Case for Christmas. Here are some video clips from a talk Strobel gave on the subject (about 5 minutes each). The former journalist for the Chicago Tribune refers to what he calls the “three E’s” that point to the reliability of the New Testament:
Eyewitnesses

Early Recorded Accounts

Earmarks of Authenticity

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Song of the Week: Jars of Clay's "Little Drummer Boy"

In yesterday's Statesman, Eileen Flynn recalled the Advent Wreath ceremony her parents led in her girlhood:

As a little girl, I probably didn't fully appreciate the spiritual significance. But my family's Advent ceremony at least provided a gentle admonition of "It's not Christmas yet. First you must prepare."
Throughout the month of December, the "Song of the Week" feature of this weblog will take you around the candles of the Advent Wreath. The first candle is to remember the hope of the prophecies of Christ's coming. The second candle is to remember the faith and obedience through which the prophecies were fulfilled.

This Sunday, the third candle is lit to remember the invitation that was extended--and accepted--the first Christmas. The Gospel of Luke tells us that angels invited the lowliest of commoners--shepherds. It's a story that reminds us that no matter who you are, God invites you to share in the gift of his Son.

"The Little Drummer Boy" is a fictional account of one of those shepherds. The words and music were composed by Katherine K. Davis, Henry Onorati and Harry Simeone in 1958. It endures in numerous covers, reminding us to respond to God's invitation by bringing our best to him, no matter how simple our best may be.

The rendition on this week's "Song of the Week" is by the Contemporary Christian Music uber-band, Jars of Clay. It was originally released as an EP in 1995 (iTunes):

Come they told me, pa rum pum pum pum
A new born King to see, pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pum pum pum
To lay before the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

So to honor Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
When we come.

Little Baby, pa rum pum pum pum
I am a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring, pa rum pum pum pum
That's fit to give the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

Shall I play for you, pa rum pum pum pum,
On my drum?

Mary nodded, pa rum pum pum pum
The ox and lamb kept time, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my drum for Him, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my best for Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

Then He smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum.
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Do you have some favorite Christmas music? Join the conversation I started last year at Operation Christmas Shoes! The player for the featured "Song of the Week" can be found on the upper right corner of the weblog for one week.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

LeaderLines: “Intimidated by the Culture, Part Two”

It’s hard to reach a culture you don’t love. You’ll make an impact in those who live and work around you only when you feel grateful to be a part of their community.

It’s the second step in overcoming cultural intimidation.

Last week I mentioned a conversation with a missionary couple that got me to thinking about our own mission field. “The believers in our part of the world just don’t interact much with their non-believing neighbors,” the couple said. “The culture has become increasingly secular and more sophisticated in their objections to Christian faith. Over time, people have just become intimidated by their culture.”

That phrase captured my attention: “intimidated by their culture.” Around the world and in our own town, churches lose their effectiveness in a community when they feel threatened by it. How can we lose our fear of engaging the city God has placed us in? Three things will help:

In last week’s edition of LeaderLines, we looked at the importance of knowing what you believe. In this week’s edition, let’s think about loving what is honorable in our culture.

When you consider your community, if the only things you can think about are the things that need reforming, you won’t make much of an impact. Obviously, we have to address sin and its consequences, but we we’ll be more effective if we’re seen as part of the cultural family when talking about what needs fixing. Outreach requires a visceral appreciation for the culture, a sense of deep gratitude that you have the good fortune to be situated among the neighbors and coworkers that you have.

Think of it this way: You don’t serve as an Army chaplain if you have no interest in the military culture and no appreciation for what drives the men and women in uniform. You don’t become a foreign missionary if you don’t want to eat the food and sing the songs and align with the day-to-day rhythms of the people to whom you are sent. Likewise, Hillcrest can only reach a community we’re a part of.

The missiologist Andrew Walls said, "Christ took flesh and was made man in a particular time and place, family, nationality, tradition and customs and sanctified them, while still being for all men in every time and place. Wherever he is taken by the people of any day, time and place, he sanctifies that culture--he is living in it."

As Paul reached out to the Athenians at Mars Hill (Acts 17), he obviously felt he could share the gospel without denigrating what was important to his audience. He noted the artistic work of their statues and their poetry, and commended them for the innate religious longings that such art demonstrated.

The artistic projects of our culture express those same longings: just open your eyes and ears to the spiritual questions raised in popular songs, books, films, and TV shows. Like Paul, you can use these things as conversation starters. But only if, like Paul, you’re actually familiar with them. A frequent comment from guests to Hillcrest is how they like our references to the books, films, and music of contemporary culture.

Recently, my heart was captured by a line in the book of Revelation. In 21:24-26, we read that as people of all the nations come into the City of the Lamb at the end of time they will “bring into it the glory and honor of the nations” (ESV).

“The glory and honor of the nations.” The word “nations” is ethnon, from which we get the word “ethnic.” Each ethnicity, each people-group, will stream into the Holy City at the end of time bringing whatever is splendid and impressive and noteworthy about their own culture.

My imagination soars with that thought! When our Third Coast "tribe" walks in, what “glory and honor” from our culture will be presented as an offering to the Lamb? You won’t be threatened by a culture when you envision our community’s “glorious and honorable” cultural artifacts being brought as an acceptable offering to the Throne!
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Each Thursday I post my article from "LeaderLines," an e-newsletter for church leaders read by over 300 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "LeaderLines," sign up here.

JibJab Snowball Fight

Michael created a JibJab video of our family of four in a snowball fight. Cute. Click here to view.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Worship Wonderings

"Christmas may be the only time when people want to hear traditional music, no matter what age they are. Even kids who are totally into hard rock want to hear a few carols, which makes it easier to put together a service that pleases everybody. We try to do the same thing during Holy Week and Easter."

That’s Jeff Crandall, the 46-year-old worship pastor of High Desert Church.

The quote caught my attention because High Desert Church was featured in a New York Times piece for their “FM dial” approach to their worship services:

  • They offer what they call their "Classic" service for Baby Boomers and others who came of age during the "Jesus rock" explosion in the '60s and '70s. The service is built on an acoustic rock style along the lines of the Eagles.
  • Then there’s the "Harbor" service for people between the ages of 30 and 50. It features the kind of inspirational rock in the style of U2 and classic bands from the 1980s.
  • And then the "Seven" service cranks things up another notch with what the worship pastor described as a "dark" and "moody" mix of postmodern music for young adults under 30.
The Times piece adds: “The church also maintains even more bands for services at the junior high, high school and elementary school levels. Each band carefully calibrates its sound toward the pop culture disposition of the target age group.”

The megachurch reaches thousands in each of the carefully calibrated services.

The Times piece came out November 7, and I’ve been holding on to it, trying to figure out what to write about it. I’m trying to figure out: Is this good for outreach or bad for fellowship?

On the one hand, I acknowledge that a church’s choice of worship music (more particularly, it’s choice of instruments and instrumentation) is vital for connecting with the culture you want to reach. As the pastor at High Desert Church puts it, “When you start a church, you don't decide who you're going to reach and then pick a music style. You pick a music style, and that determines who's going to come." Rick Warren has said that the biggest mistake he made as a church planter was underestimating the importance of music. He found he had to more narrowly define the music style of his services in order to see real effectiveness in his outreach.

As I said, though, I’m trying to figure out if the Times piece on High Desert is an example of effective outreach or an indication of broken Christian fellowship.

It’s not just an academic question for me. Our church has two worship styles: what we’ve nicknamed the “Bold Blend” led by a praise band, and our “Smooth Blend” led by a robed choir and orchestra.

I like offering prospective guests the options, but I sometimes wonder if our congregation would be better off learning to worship under one roof using a skillful blend of elements from both services.

In an excellent Books and Culture piece, Mark Noll asks, “What explains the power of song so powerfully to shape, anchor, encourage, disturb, unite, divide, and distract Christian communities?”

Noll does an effective job pointing out how the “worship wars” is not a recent phenomenon: Christians have been dividing and uniting over music for a long time:

Long before the contemporary "worship wars" that have become such a central feature of both church formation and church division in North America, battles over song littered the historical landscape—from full-scale encounters in the Reformation era to major skirmishes in the early 18th century over introducing the hymns of Isaac Watts (who offered loose paraphrases of Scripture), then a bit later over the hymns of Charles Wesley and other notables of the evangelical awakenings (who mostly gave up paraphrasing in favor of biblically normed accounts of Christian experience), over the use of organs and choirs (much debated throughout the 19th century), over whether and where to sing the gospel songs of Fanny Crosby and Ira B. Sankey (much derided as dangerously sentimental), over how to regard the burst of hymn-writing attending the rise of Pentecostalism (ditto), and, most recently, over what to make of the Jesus People bringing rock-n-roll into the church.
Noll acknowledges the difficulty of learning to worship together, but he also points out that it's a worthy goal. He updates the poet’s call in Psalm 150:

"Praise him with syncopation and on the beat. Praise him with 5-tones (the Thai xylophone), 12-tones (most Western music), 24-tones (Arab music), and all scales in between. Praise him a cappella, with orchestra, and with drum set. Praise him with works of supernal intelligence and greatest simplification. Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Together."
So, would our congregation be better off learning to worship under one roof using a skillful blend of elements from both services? Maybe I shouldn’t post a question on this weblog until I’m ready to answer it, but that’s the matter I’m exploring at present.

Wer spricht mit mir ist mein Mitmensch;
wer singt mit mir ist mein Bruder.

“The one who speaks with me is my fellow human;
the one who sings with me is my brother”

Winning Ways: “O Little Town of Bethlehem”

Almost a third of people in the UK do not know the town of Christ’s birth, according to a recent survey.

The question was one of several questions about Bible knowledge. Eighty-five percent correctly identified what Christians celebrate on Easter (Christ’s resurrection). About three-fourths of the respondents knew that Adam was the first man in the Bible and almost as many could name the four gospels that begin the New Testament. Seventy percent correctly identified Jesus’ race (Jewish).

According to the Gospel of Matthew, Christ’s birth in the town of Bethlehem was in fulfillment of prophecy. We’re going to look at that prophecy from Micah this Sunday:

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.

The prophecy communicates the secret of true strength and security. You see, in Micah’s day, God’s people learned a bitter lesson about placing their ultimate trust in human means of security. Instead of depending on God, they trusted in their walls, their troops, and their unholy alliances with pagan nations. Soon, the southern kingdom of Judah became a cringing vassal state of Assyria.

But Micah made this promise to his people: One day God would save his people, but not through their walls, troops, and pacts. Instead, God would act in a tiny town through the birth of a tiny baby.

Have you discovered the source of true strength and security? We can learn it at Christmastime. The Christmas story is about an insignificant carpenter taking his fragile pregnant wife to his no-account hometown where she gave birth and put her child in a cattle trough for his first crib.

The Christmas story is a story about God’s strength displayed in human frailty. In fact, the more you read the Bible--and the more you experience God personally--the more you realize that’s the path God most often takes. My greatest strength can prove useless if I have not placed my trust in the Lord; my greatest weakness can become a source of power if my trust is found in God.

Join us for this important study this Sunday morning, December 16, at the 9:30am “Bold Blend” service or the 10:45am “Smooth Blend” service or listen online Monday (iTunes; website). And be sure to join us at 6:00pm this Sunday for our Festival of Christmas Music!

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Each Wednesday I post my article from "Winning Ways," an e-newsletter that goes out to over 880 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "Winning Ways," sign up here.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Links to Your World: Tuesday, December 11

Yikes! This organist couldn’t find the right keys to close out a performance of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah. I’m told all of the performers were volunteer amateurs--except for the paid professional organist:

Messiah Mess

World’s Most Unusual Christmas Trees

15 Foods that Actually Burn More Calories Than They Contain

This year's Heisman Winner is a home-schooled Baptist missionary kid (Sports Illustrated story; Baptist Press story).

These people are trying to develop the technology--and the nerve--to skydive without a parachute.

Wow: Soldier loses leg; wife enlists to take his place.

“Jesus is in This Car”: This is a must-see news report of a 92-year-old woman who witnesses to her would-be mugger:



(If the clip fails to play, watch it at this website.)

Police Protection for a Christian convert . . . in Britain. “I know the Koran says that anyone who goes away from Islam should be killed as an apostate,” the imam’s daughter said, “so in some ways my family [is] following the Koran.” Muslims in Britain who wish to convert to Christianity “are living in fear of their lives because of Islamic apostasy laws.” I repeat: in Britain. Is this the future of the “free world”?

This helpful website demonstrates how to pronounce words in the English language.

Unhappy? Self-Critical? Maybe You’re Just a Perfectionist.

Have you read the previous posts since last Tuesday? They include the "Song of the Week" (A new series on Advent continues with "Mary Did You Know?" by Kathy Mattea), what to think about a Mormon running for president, Part One in a leadership series on the cure for cultural intimidation, information about an important missions study, more resources for talking about The Golden Compass, and still more jonesin' for an overlooked generation.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Can't Quit Jonesin'

Sigh.

Two more exhibits of an overlooked generational cohort.

Exhibit A: The college course, "Talkin’ About My Parents Generation." USA Today reports on a college course to help kids understand their "boomer" parents. The course, according to the article, covers all those culturally-defining moments for Boomers: Father Knows Best, political demonstrations, Woodstock, the Vietnam war, hula hoops, The Graduate, and such.

These are the typical icons that were supposed to shape these college kids' parents in their coming-of-age years? Most of us parents who have a 20-year-old college student weren't old enough for any of these events to actually shape us.

One student from the class was quoted as saying that while most conversations with her parents used to be about her, now, it's often about them. "It's 'Hey, Dad, where were you in 1968?' It's not stuff I've ever talked about with my parents before."

I can just imagine if my college sophomore took this class and asked me about 1968.

"Ah yes," I'd say to him, a faraway look coming to my eye. "Second grade was a good year. I was usually chosen as captain of my kickball team."

C'mon. For most parents of today's college students, when we got old enough to buy our own music or make our own movie choices, we listened to BTO rather than the Beatles, and Star Wars shaped us more than The Graduate. Politically, it was Carter's "malaise" speech and not Nixon's Watergate-related resignation that more closely captures the mood of the times we knew in high school:

I want to talk to you right now about a fundamental threat to American democracy.... I do not refer to the outward strength of America, a nation that is at peace tonight everywhere in the world, with unmatched economic power and military might. The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation.
Cheery, huh? Those of us who came of age in the 70s can tell ya: our 1978 wasn't anything like the Boomers' 1968.

Even the title of the course--"Talkin' About My Parents Generation" misses the boat. That's a riff on the line from The Who song, "My Generation," released in 1964. I was 3.

Exhibit B: Robert Wuthnow's latest book. After the Baby Boomers: How Twenty- and Thirty-Somethings Are Shaping the Future of American Religion.

Now, I like Wuthnow's books and I'll probably end up reading his latest. It's good to get some help on persuading young adults to get connected to the faith and the life of a congregation.

But Wuthnow follows the common practice of lumping those of us in our 40s into the Boomer cohort (hence the title: you have Boomers, and then you have those in their 20s and 30s "after the Boomers"). Gee, I thought I had another 20 years or so before retirement, but apparently we're supposed to be already talking about what life will be like now that "my" generation is leaving the scene--you know, the Boomers.

Whoever decided that the "Boomers" label covered everyone born between 1946 and 1964?

It leaves me jonesin', jonesin' I tell ya.

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Song of the Week: Kathy Mattea's "Mary Did You Know?"

Throughout the month of December, the "Song of the Week" feature of this weblog will take you around the candles of the Advent Wreath. The first candle lit last week was to remember the hope of the prophecies of Christ's coming. The second candle we light is to remember the faith and obedience through which the prophecies were fulfilled.

The song, "Mary Did You Know?" gives us a chance to reflect on the faithful obedience of Mary, who was both bearer and disciple of God's son. Mark Lowry is best known a Christian comedian, but this haunting song, co-written by Buddy Greene, will likely be his lasting legacy.

The rendition below is from Kathy Mattea's 1993 Christmas project, Good News (iTunes). That project, and her 2003 work, Joy for Christmas Day (iTunes), are two of the most thoughtful reflections on the Incarnation that I've heard:

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has come to make you new?
This Child that you delivered
Will soon deliver you.

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will calm the storm with His hand?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has walked where angels trod?
When you've kissed your little Baby
You kissed the face of God.

The blind will see.
The deaf will hear.
The dead will live again.
The lame will leap.
The dumb will speak
The praises of The Lamb.

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will one day rule the nations?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
The sleeping Child you're holding
Is the Great "I Am."

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Do you have some favorite Christmas music? Join the conversation I started last year at Operation Christmas Shoes! The player for the featured "Song of the Week" can be found on the upper right corner of the weblog for one week.

Friday, December 07, 2007

Krauthammer's Error on the Mormon Question

Charles Krauthammer's latest opinion piece criticizes Mike Huckabee for trying to have it both ways. Huckabee, Krauthammer says, is exploiting the negative reaction a significant minority has about Mitt Romney's Mormonism while also trying to stay above the bigotry:

Huckabee has been asked about this view that Mormonism is a cult. He dodges and dances. “If I’m invited to be the president of a theological school, that’ll be a perfectly appropriate question,” he says, “but to be the president of the United States, I don’t know that that’s going to be the most important issue that I’ll be facing when I’m sworn in.”

Hmmm. So it is an issue, Huckabee avers. But not a very important one. And he’s not going to pronounce upon it. Nice straddle.
Now, Krauthammer does have a point in his piece about the Huck ad that pronounces him a "Christian leader." I'm not a big fan of that ad either. But Krauthammer is wrong to see Huckabee's answer as a "dodge" and a "straddle" to the question of whether Mormonism is a cult. The Arkansas governor's answer is exactly what Christians ought to think of the whole issue of a Mormon who's running for president. As believers, we consider the question of whether Mormonism is Christian as "perfectly appropriate," but as citizens voting for a president we should consider the question irrelevant. Voters are electing a "Commander-in-chief," not a "pastor in chief." I could vote for Romney, but he's not a Christian as defined by the Bible.

Thursday, December 06, 2007

LeaderLines: “The Cure for Cultural Intimidation, Part One”

Recently I visited with a missionary couple over coffee. “The believers in our part of the world just don’t interact much with their non-believing neighbors,” the man said. “The culture has become increasingly secular and more sophisticated in their objections to Christian faith. Over time, people have just become intimidated by their culture.”

That phrase captured my attention: “intimidated by their culture.” The missionary was speaking about another part of the world, but he could have been speaking about believers in Austin. While the Christian worldview and values still have a strong influence over many places in Texas (and the South, for that matter), the same can’t be said of Austin, our “Seattle of the Southwest.” And over time, many city-center congregations have become “bunkers” instead of “beach-heads.” A bunker is a defensive position for soldiers to huddle in while their location is being shelled; a beach-head is a point from which military advancements can be made.

How can we lose our fear of engaging the city God has placed us in? Three things will help:

  • Know What You Believe
  • Love What Is Honorable About Our Culture
  • Build True Friendships
We’ll look at each of those challenges across the remaining 3 editions for this year’s LeaderLines. Let’s look at the first point this week: Know what you believe.

I’m convinced that many Christians don’t want to get into respectful conversations about their faith because they’re afraid that they won’t have answers for the objections that someone may raise. Too many believers prefer to huddle together with the shrinking population of other lifelong believers who will never challenge their assumptions. Maybe they’re secretly afraid that the objections and questions people raise about Christianity have no answers.

The smarter you get about your Christian worldview and values, the less intimidated you’ll be by your culture. So, take an apologetics class, or just start reading helpful books such as Lee Strobel’s “Case” books: The Case for Christ, The Case for Faith, The Case for a Creator, and his latest, The Case for the Real Jesus. In books like these you’ll find solid defenses of your faith.

Now, don’t misunderstand. I think we need to be prepared so we can discuss our faith, not so we can debate it. Our job is to win people, not win arguments. Knowing firmly what you believe does not remove your obligation to ask sincere questions and listen respectfully. That’s what you do when you’re building real relationships with others.

Also, as you try to communicate what you believe to others, you have to figure out ways to describe your faith in a way that your neighbors consider relevant and compelling. When I was doing research for writing The Anchor Course (website, purchase), I was disappointed to find how little material exists that is designed to explain the Christian worldview to seekers. The vast majority of material in our Christian bookstores was written under the assumption that believers would be purchasing it. I wrote The Anchor Course as a way to explain the faith to those who are asking, “Tell me what difference it will make in my life to believe the Bible is the Word of God, or that the Holy Spirit is a real presence, or that Jesus is really returning.” In other words, they want more than a rational defense of the faith: they want us to answer the “So what?” question.

In short, you’re going to be intimidated by the culture around you unless you have a firm grasp on the reliability and the relevance of the things you believe. Across the next two weeks, I’ll cover the next two ways we can reduce the fear we sometimes feel toward our culture.
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Each Thursday I post my article from "LeaderLines," an e-newsletter for church leaders read by over 300 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "LeaderLines," sign up here.

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Winning Ways: “Perspectives on the World Christian Movement”

In a few weeks, you will have an opportunity to discover in depth what God is doing around the world, and you’ll be able to consider your part in his work.

Perspectives on the World Christian Movement is a life-changing 14-week study program, and a new semester of the internationally-acclaimed course begins in January.

The course will give you an encounter with God as you’re led through fascinating topics under the teaching of historians, missionaries, church planters, seminary professors and leading missiologists from around the world.

Since its beginning in 1974, more than 100,000 people have taken the course around the world. Across the past two years here in Austin, more than 650 people have taken the course--from more than 81 churches representing 10 different evangelical denominations. I’m a graduate, and Craig Johnson, chairman of our Mission Team, completed the course this year. We highly recommend it. Craig writes:

After going through the Perspectives course this past year and being challenged to live my life in a deeper and more centered way to our Lord and Savior I wanted to take the opportunity to encourage my fellow church members to take this course themselves. This class will open your eyes to see what God has always wanted and how He has always desired to reach people both locally and globally and bring them to Himself. There are already several church members that have decided to take this course and I would encourage you to take it with us.
By participating in the course, you’ll get the finest overview of God worldwide work available today. John Bush with Wycliffe Bible Translators says:

The Perspectives course succeeds in communicating that God has always had a plan for the world, that he is carrying out that plan, and that he invites us to have a part in what he is doing. Many people looking to see where they fit into God’s plan find the Perspectives course to be an eye-opener, whether they are involved in their local church or helping to build God’s Kingdom among the least reached.
Just consider some of the topics that you will study:

The Story of His Glory
Pioneers of the World Christian Movement
The Task Remaining
Building Bridges of Love
World Christian Partnership
The spring semester will be held in two locations: the Hill Country Bible Church UT downtown on Monday nights, or the Great Hills Baptist Church on Tuesday nights. The semester begins on January 14/15 and ends April 21/22. The course costs $215, or $415 if you want academic credit. The fees include all materials. There is a discount if you register by December 17. Go to http://www.perspectivesaustin.org/ for more information and to register.

At Hillcrest, we recommend Perspectives as a part of our Hillcrest Institute degree plan. During this Christmas season where our church focuses on international missions, I hope you’ll sign up for the upcoming Perspectives course!
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Each Wednesday I post my article from "Winning Ways," an e-newsletter that goes out to over 880 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "Winning Ways," sign up here.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Articles For Navigating The Golden Compass

I wrote about the upcoming film adaptation of The Golden Compass last week. You can send the post as an e-mail by clicking here.

Since then, I've found some helpful articles that reinforce some of the things I was saying, as well as providing more details. You'll find the following useful:

In "The Devil's Party," Alan Jacobs wrote, "Whichever party readers support in the ancient contest between God and Satan, they will be disappointed to see how often, in The Amber Spyglass, the tale’s momentum is interrupted by polemic. Pullman’s anti-theistic scolding consorts poorly with his prodigious skills as a storyteller. In imagination and narrative drive, he has few peers among current novelists. For such gifts to be thrust into the service of a reductive and contemptuous ideology is very nearly a tragedy."

In "An Almost Christian Fantasy," Daniel P. Moloney supplies a helpful recap of the three books, and critiques Pullman's effort to set up an alternative to the Christian storyline of Creation, Fall, Sin, Death, and Heaven-Hell.

Albert Mohler has read the books and is one of the first reviewers to see the film. In his briefing, he explains some of the misunderstandings that Pullman has of Christianity--not the least is Pullman's mistaken idea that Original Sin is sexual intercourse. In the end, he says, "Philip Pullman has an agenda, but so do we. Our agenda is the Gospel of Christ -- a message infinitely more powerful than that of The Golden Compass. Pullman's worldview of unrestricted human autonomy would be nightmarish if ever achieved. His story promises liberation but would enslave human beings to themselves and destroy all transcendent value. The biblical story of the Fall is true, after all, and our only rescue is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The curse of sin was not reversed by adolescents playing at sex in a garden, but by the Son of God shedding His blood on a cross."

At ChristianityToday.com, film critic Peter Chattaway introduces us to Tony Watkins, author of Dark Matter, a useful book that analyzes the trilogy from a Christian framework. Also, film critic Jeffrey Overstreet provides good answers to some common questions on the film.

Locally, Sara Stevenson wrote in the Statesman that "the anti-Christian message gets in the way of a good story." While reading the trilogy with her book club, she said he enjoyed the first book (The Golden Compass), but as she read the second book she said, "My defense of Pullman thinned." By the third book, "I found myself getting angry with the author because his anti-Church comments began to get in the way of a great story."

And in "How Hollywood Saved God," Hanna Rosin details how the nervous New Line studio has stripped most of Pullman's most subversive themes in order to protect their $180 million investment.

Links to Your World: Tuesday, December 4

Nehemiah’s Wall found in Jerusalem, some archaeologists believe. Maybe we’ll see that on our Israel Trip. Want to go? The deadline for your deposit is 3 weeks away! Learn more here.

Send my take on The Golden Compass as a e-mail to friends.

Worship leader closes eyes; forgets where he is.

New SBC Pastors are 3 times more likely to be Calvinistic. Welcome to the team.

Segway of the Sky: Ask for this Christmas gift for your Mopac commute.

Here’s one way some clever marketers say you can reserve a spot in heaven. Here’s the only way.

You have $30,000 in debt just for being an American citizen. Oy.

Why is there such misunderstanding over the simple fact that human life begins at conception?

It seems to me that the impulse to atone is a religious one, and yet you are a self-declared atheist. "Yes, I am an atheist, and probably Briony is, too. Atheists have as much conscience, possibly more, than people with deep religious conviction, and they still have the same problem of how they reconcile themselves to a bad deed in the past. It’s a little easier if you’ve got a god to forgive you." (Ian McEwan, author of the book and executive producer of the film, Atonement, in an interview with Deborah Solomon in the NY Times Magazine.)

Amazon’s Elusive Customer Service Number: And other useful consumer information this holiday shopping season.

Four questions to ask before reading blogs.

Girl Scout receives coveted award 69 years late. Faith Iames Schremp, 86, joined Girl Scouts in 1938 and earned all the proficiency badges needed to win the award. But the morning Schremp, of Wausau, was to leave for Girl Scout Camp, she woke up with the mumps. Attending camp was the final rite of passage in earning the award. There’s a sermon illustration here . . .

This week’s long read: The project known as Evangelicals and Catholics Together is now in its thirteenth year. The group is currently engaged in studying what can be said together about the Virgin Mary, and a number of participants were asked to prepare preliminary papers. In time for Christmas, here are papers from Edward T. Oakes, J.I. Packer, T.M. Moore, Cornelius Plantinga, and Matthew Levering.

Die with a DWI and Get a Free Coffin: St. Mary's Today, is a weekly newspaper in southern Maryland. It runs a "DWI Hit Parade," which lists all the drunk driving arrests in Southern Maryland. It not only lists the offender, but the officer who arrested them as well. They even have archives dating back to 1999. To make their point stand out even more, the paper is running a "contest." The first drunk driver kill themselves during this holiday season gets a free coffin.

In the World of Competitive Texting, Over 20 Is Over the Hill

Massachusetts wants to criminalize spanking as a parent’s disciplinary tool.

In "Crimes, Drugs, Welfare—And Other Good News," the authors write, “In attitudes toward education, drugs, abortion, religion, marriage, and divorce, the current generation of teenagers and young adults appears in many respects to be more culturally conservative than its immediate predecessors.” Interesting. (Related: Collin Hansen at ChristianityToday.com refers to the article and makes the doubtful suggestion that the shift may result in a return to postmillennialism.)

Hispanics in America: “Who are today's Hispanics and how can your church reach them? Take an in-depth look at this exploding population and learn why churches nationwide are discovering that to be relevant in their community, they must intentionally break down cultural barriers and engage Latinos.”

Cost to buy all items mentioned in “The Twelve Days of Christmas” is up 4% in '07 to $78,100, according to PNC report. (Story)

Or you can buy a tacky religious-themed item from the annual “12 Days of Kitschmas” list.

How “In God We Trust” got put on our coins.

A Christmas present for seniors? Nintendo Wii is hot in retirement centers.

Have you read the previous posts this week? They include the "Song of the Week" (A new series on Advent begins with "O Come O Come Emmanuel" by Steven Curtis Chapman), how to keep our church from turning the Great Commission into the Great Ommission, and the importance of international missions support.

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Song of the Week: Steven Curtis Chapman's "O Come O Come Emmanuel"

Throughout the month of December, the "Song of the Week" feature of this weblog will take you around the candles of the Advent Wreath. The first candle we light is to remember the hope of Christ's arrival, especially the expectations stirred up by the prophecies.

The song, "O Come O Come Emmanuel," reflects that hope. It dates back to the 12th century by an unknown author, and it was translated from Latin into English by John Neale in 1851. The ti­tle, of course, comes from Isai­ah 7:14: “Be­hold, a vir­gin shall con­ceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Im­man­u­el.” “Day-Spring” comes from the song of Za­cha­ri­as, fa­ther of John the Bap­tist, who sang in Luke 1:78: “The day­spring from on high has vis­it­ed us.”

The shorter rendition below is from Steven Curtis Chapman's project, The Music of Christmas. Here's "O Come, O Come Emmanuel"--

O come, O come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear

O come Thou dayspring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight

Rejoice, rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel
Rejoice, rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel

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Do you have some favorite Christmas music? Join the conversation I started last year at Operation Christmas Shoes! The player for the featured "Song of the Week" can be found on the upper right corner of the weblog for one week.