Dad Life

Dad Life from Church on the Move on Vimeo.

HT: Ed Stetzer

Hell ... It Will Only Feel Like An Eternity

I'm leading a film and theology series with the youth at my church this summer and today we reviewed the movie What Dreams May Come and discussed issues of Heaven and Hell. If you haven't seen the movie, don't, it's terrible, but it does raise several topics of discussion, i.e., suicide, heaven, hell.  The discussion reminded me of this great episode from Seinfeld, truly one of my favorites.

A Godless Dream Deferred

A Brooklyn middle school has asked its students to consider whether God should be treated as poetry, considered to be neither true nor false (read the article).  I wonder if they mean that?  Do the educators at this school consider this poem by Langston Hughes to lack truth:


What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load. Or does it explode?

I doubt that the reality of this poem escapes the teachers in Brooklyn and I'm certain they teach their students everyday the injustice of a dream deferred simply because of the color of a man's skin.  But what is the educational motivation is in asking the students to consider whether or not "God" might be an idea rather than a reality.  Is it to inspire critical thinking - an ability to defend one's beliefs?  Or is it that the teachers at this school believe that a dream of world without has been deferred too long? 

Self-Righteousness Defined

"Self-righteousness is being more aware of and irritated by the sins of others than you are conscious of and grieved by your own." Thank you Paul Tripp, that hit me right between the eyes - and I needed it!  By the way, my favorite quote about Tripp is, "Behind that mustache is a third fist."  - Unknown

Wooing vs. Manipulating Your Children

HT: TrueFaced

Bark for God

"A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth is attacked and yet would remain silent." - John Calvin

A Facebook Pitfall

Walt Mueller:

An article that someone passed on to me just a couple of days before Jenn and Grant's wedding pounds this reality home. It seems that lawyers in the U.K. are reporting that the growth and popularity of social networking sites like Facebook are being used by people to make online connections (new friends, former classmates, old romances) that oftentimes lead to cheating, adultery, and divorce. The problem isn't Facebook. The problem is how the fallen and broken human heart leaves us with a bent towards using Facebook in dangerous ways. Over the course of the last three or four years, I have seen the growth of social networking technologies paralleled by a growth of poor decisions and crossed boundaries by Christian brothers and sisters who should know better. I have sat across from many who have entered into emotional and/or physical extra-marital affairs that have led to tremendous amounts of pain and difficulty that reaches far beyond just the immediate participants, some of which has resulted in divorce. The lawyers in the U.K. are saying that now, one in five divorce petitions they're processing cite Facebook as either the way petitioners find out about their partner's infidelity, and/or how their partner began or pursued extra-marital relationships.

Read the rest. 

HT: Vitamin Z

God is Awesome!

The Book of Awesome was recently published, highlighting things like, "snowy days," "that moment that the lights go out at a concert, right before the band comes out," "the small of crayons," and "high fiving babies."  No doubt, all of these things are really cool, but are they awesome? 

Awe·some

Pronunciation: \ˈȯ-səm\

Function: adjective

1 : expressive of awe
2 a : inspiring awe b : terrific, extraordinary

— awe·some·ly adverb

— awe·some·ness noun
 

"God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8).  Now that's awesome.

Why Your Church Doesn't Feel Like Family

8 Snares Set by Fear of Man

I found this post by Jamie Munson, Lead Pastor at Mars Hill Church (Seattle), helpful today.  I hope you do too:

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? – Proverbs 8:3–4

We often care about other people’s opinion more than we care about God’s opinion. We worry about our status among fellow humans because we fail to grasp our identity in Jesus. When we fear man, we’re vulnerable. (I addressed this issue recently in a sermon about The Parable of the Sower—how fear of man keeps us from bearing fruit in our lives.)

“The fear of man lays a snare,” the Bible says, “but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe” (Proverbs 29:25). Here are eight consequences—snares—that can result from fear of man:

(1) Idolatry. When we care about what man thinks more than what God thinks, we turn people into idols that we worship—seeking to please them in order to earn their approval or respect.

(2) Ineffectiveness. When we fear man we neglect God’s calling for us and we lose focus on executing the tasks in front of us because we’re too preoccupied with what others are thinking.

Read the rest here.

HT: The Resurgence

Chicago Cubs and Reformed Theology in Action

Philip Ryken, in his commentary on Galatians, says this:

"For two glorious summers, the Chicago Cubs taught fans the fundamentals of Reformation Theology. First the Cubbies made a trade for Vance Law and started him at third base. Then a few months later, marvelous to say, they brought first baseman Mark Grace from the minor leagues. There they were, right next to each other in the batting order: Law and Grace. They were in proper order, too, first Grace, batting in the fifth position, and then Law. For as Paul explained to the Galatians, God gave grace to Abraham before He gave Moses the Law.

And there they stood in the baseball diamond - Grace and Law - holding down the opposite corners of the infield. Opposing batters would smash the ball to third, where Law would knock it down and throw it over to first for the out. Reformation theology in action: Law to Grace to retire the side."

Some wonder why God would set for us a standard, i.e., the ten commandments, that He knows we cannot attain? But as Ryken reminds us, "Law and grace are not opponents; they are teammates working together for the salvation of God's people. The law leads to grace, which is only found in Christ."

As for the Cubs, they could really use Law and Grace back on the field.