Category Archives: Christianity

See You at the Pole

Posted on by

The nationwide See You at the Pole event is next Wednesday, Sept. 28th.  Below is a short video.  The theme this year is “Converge.”

…

The See You at the Pole website (syatp.com) says the event began in 1990.  I swear I remember doing this in middle school in the late 80’s.  Must have been a local thing.

I teach at a private Christian school.  We have daily chapel, and my wife and I sponsor BCM.  Our students frequently worship together and hear the gospel message.  We still observe See You at the Pole because on that day thousands of students nation wide – and now even worldwide – meet together to pray.  At our school staff and students can meet and pray together, but in the public school setting the events are entirely student led.  We wouldn’t miss the chance to agree with those kids in prayer for anything.

*BCM is Baptist Campus Ministry.  The name changed in 2005 from BSU, Baptist Student Union.

Christian Tech

Posted on by

How Steve Jobs Accidentally Changed the Persecuted Church appeared at Don’t Eat the Fruit .com back in April.  I read the article, copied the link, and then filed it away.  Read the full article here.

In a nutshell, Jobs never set out to change the way the Gospel is spread.  In Steve Jobs own words the iPod “changed everything.”  The biggest change was storage space; we now measure mp3 capacity in gigabytes.  How does that affect the church?  Countries that stop Bibles at the border usually don’t care about mp3 players.  People groups that do not even have a written language can listen to the Word, and recharge the device with solar power anywhere on earth.

Next the iPhone set the standard for video formatting.  You can record video in mp4 and be pretty sure any device can render it.  Now it’s the iPad.  With the widespread acceptance of ePub (also used by Nook) instead of just a digital Bible a user can basically carry an entire seminary worth of information.

Steve Jobs never set out to enable the Christian church.  I’m not saying Christians around the world use Apple technology to spread the Gospel.  Jobs drove the state of the art forward, and created industry standards that the church can use to everyone’s advantage.

An Interview with Phil Vischer

Posted on by

I didn’t interview Phil Vischer, even if the title implies otherwise.  The Sept. 24th edition of World Magazine has a lengthy interview with Phil Vischer, creator of Big Idea and Veggie Tales.  Read the full article here.

I have been aware of Veggie Tales for years, and have seen several episodes.  I watched Jonah (after it came out on DVD).  Now with a 2-year-old in the house I have seen a lot more Veggie Tales… over and over again.  I recently made this observation: all the stories revolve around Old Testament characters.  There is always a moral to the story and a Bible verse at the end, but for all intents and purposes the whole thing could be just as Jewish as it is Christian.  My wife pointed out they have an Easter Carol, but that’s the exception to the rule.  A pretty recent exception at that.  I’ve listened to church pastors do basically the same thing as Veggie Tales cartoons, and that’s use Old Testament Bible stories to teach a moral lesson.  That’s why this statement from Vischer in the interview really popped for me:

I looked back at the previous 10 years and realized I had spent 10 years trying to convince kids to behave Christianly without actually teaching them Christianity. And that was a pretty serious conviction. You can say, “Hey kids, be more forgiving because the Bible says so,” or “Hey kids, be more kind because the Bible says so!” But that isn’t Christianity, it’s morality.

Vischer’s new project is called Jellyfish Labs.  It features puppet characters instead of cartoons.  He describes it as “Muppets gone to seminary.”  The interview is more about the failure of Big Idea than what Jellyfish is doing next, but I’m still looking forward to it.  It apparently takes a long time to wear out a DVD.

UPDATE: Visit the Jellyfish Labs website and see what Phil’s been up to.

What Christians Are Looking For in a Church

Posted on by

Shaun King resigned earlier this month from Courageous Church in Atlanta.  Internet Monk has all the details here.  In short, he realized after loosing a lot of members in his attempt to build disciples that what his congregation really wanted was the Sunday morning show.  This got me thinking about what most Christians are looking for in a church.

King had followed all the advice given to him about building a congregation when starting a church.  He now says that he sold his soul for attendance and never quite felt like he was able to get it back.  He began preaching sermons and taking steps to get Courageous Church away from it’s Sunday morning focus and make the shift toward small groups, building disciples, and engaging the community.  He lost 85% of his membership.   Continue reading →

God is a Collector

Posted on by

Stamps, coins, baseball cards… all things that get collected.  Perhaps Barbie dolls and firearms could be collectible.  It takes a special type of person to collect exotic sports cars.  What collectors have in common is the desire to gather, catalog and/or display as many of a particular item as can be obtained.

God is a collector, too.  What could God possibly collect?  He created the heavens, the earth, and all that exists.  He owns the cattle of a thousand hills.  What could be of such importance to God that he pays careful attention to gather, store with care, and perhaps one day put on display? Continue reading →

Eyes Are NOT the Window to the Soul

Posted on by

“Eyes are the window to the soul.”  It’s a well known phrase, and so old that no one really knows the source.  It’s very poetic, just not scriptural.

Jesus, in Matthew 12:34, says that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”  What is really inside of a person comes out of their mouth.  You will know the tree by the fruit it bears.  That’s a more reliable indicator than a person’s eyes.  He says in v.35 ” The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.”    In Matthew 15 Jesus is responding to the accusation that his disciples eat without washing their hands.  He says what gets eaten goes into the stomach and is later expelled; it’s what comes out of a person mouth, not what goes in, that defiles.  What comes out of the mouth shows us what a person is really made of. Continue reading →

What Is A Blogger?

Posted on by

People that don’t blog probably have a pretty negative image of what a blogger is.  Computer geeks, emo girls, tree huggers and every single personality on G4 all come to mind.  Many blogs are driven to generating profit, whether for the entertainment industry or marketing products and services.  But then there is the other type of blogger; enter the world of the Christian Blogosphere.

Michael Spencer, the original Internet Monk, introduced me to blogging.  He was neither 24 years old nor living in his parents’ basement at the time.  The internet is a tool, just like books, radio and television.  There are some Christians that will never let a t.v. in their house but there are also some good Christian programs on it.  There are Christian radio stations and Christian book stores.  The internet is neither inherently good nor evil but could be used for either.  And some of us are using this tool to reach people and places with the Gospel that wouldn’t let missionaries or a case of Bibles cross the border.

I recently added Meeting in the Clouds to my blogroll.  My mother is 71, and knows how to push the space bar to pause Netflix.  That’s the beginning and end of her computer literacy.  Cloud Watcher is 74.  Notes from a Retired Preacher is authored by former pastor Jack Weaver.  His is a spry 82.  He uses the Internet to reach the world that he is no longer as capable of physically getting around in.  We may not agree on everything (if we did one of us would need to stop blogging) but he is not short on passion for sharing the Gospel.

Whatever a “blogger” looks like, the Christian blogger is sometimes a whole other animal.  In a sense, blogging is all about saying “Look at me!”  The Christian blogger is saying “Look at Jesus.”

Is Anything Too Hard for the LORD?

Posted on by

God had first spoken to Abram when he was about 70 years old, promising him many descendants and lots of land.  Abram didn’t hear from God again for about 15 years, but when God reminded him that he would have his very own son, Abram believed him.  God counted his faith as rightousness, making Abram the first person made righteous by faith.  God explains that although his descendents will be innumerable like the stars in the sky, they will not be given the land for 400 years.  God’s schedule is not our schedule; he will speak to Abram again in another 15 years. Continue reading →

Lord of History

Posted on by

When God speaks to Moses from the burning bush, he knows that Pharaoh will not let the Hebrews go “unless compelled by a mighty hand.”  God has a series of signs and wonders in store for Egypt.  There comes a point when Pharaoh would have been willing to let them go and we’re told that God hardened his heart, because he was not done demonstrating his power.  It was all part of God’s plan.

I did not intend to preach a sermon featuring 9/11 on the 10th anniversary.  I decided to use text from Genesis 15, when God met with Abram (not yet Abraham) and renewed his covenant to make of him a great nation.  God explains that it will not happen right away; as a matter of fact it will not happen for another 400 years.

Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.  But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.  Gen. 15:13-14

Continue reading →

Blogroll: Meeting in the Clouds

Posted on by

From time to time the old blogroll just has to be updated.  The blogs listed at right are ones that I read and would recommend to others.  Sometimes a good blog I enjoy reading fades away.  If you haven’t posted in the past 6 or 12 months, then you’re really not blogging.  I had one blog friend that just quit; he claimed there were hundreds of goods blogs on the internet and writing another would be irrelevant.  I sometimes reluctantly edit my listings.

On a brighter note, I sometimes make and then add new blog friends. Meeting in the Clouds has been on my blog roll for a while, but hasn’t been introduced yet.  The author identifies herself only as Cloudwatcher.  Originally from England, she now lives in Australia with her husband of 50+ years.   The visual style of her blog is very different than mine, but I have found her to be very insightful.  Well versed in scripture and eternally the optimist, her blog is certainly worth a look.