Bugatti Veyron 16.4
Country of Origin: France
Price: €1,000,000 ($1,192,057)
With its notorious production delays finally over, Bugatti's Veyron is now on sale in Europe--and the company wants to bring it's 16 cylinder, 1001 HP sweetness to the US. This would be convenient as I happen to have taken residence here.
Doug Sherman, pastor of our fellowship here in Moses Lake, WA, just posted a great commentary on human suffering. A blurb:
"Pain reminds me that I feel and it serves as the emotional and spiritual counterpart to my physical nerve endings. It teaches me to avoid evil and embrace God. It is a beautiful thing that the God who could give me the capacity to laugh loudly from the belly, experience the ecstasy of sexual passion and the beauty of art and music, could also equip me with the emotions of sadness, anger and sorrow. The pleasure and the pain teach me about the God of the Scriptures who sits in the heavens laughing, stands outside Lazarus tomb weeping, and cries out in the oil press of Gethsemane, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"'
Ecclesiastes 7:3-4 - 3 Sorrow is better than laughter, For by a sad countenance the heart is made better. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. NKJV
Paul Loeffler recently introduced me to a blog he follows. It's called Radical Living in a Comfortable World and it's hosted by husband, father, missionary, youth worker and author, Seth Barnes. Seth recently read a 15 Point Thesis identifying major flaws in today's "traditional" church. I've heard it said that "it doesn't take a rocket scientist to find imperfections in the church." True. But Ecclesiastes reminds us that there are different seasons under the sun. One of those seasons involves "tearing down." Deconstruction (pruning if your prefer) is a painful component to true discipleship both on the individual and corporate levels. I found Seth's post challenging, provocative, and inspiring. Thanks, Paul!
I just stumbled upon this band tonight. Coincidently, tomorrow afternoon I'll be delivering a Honda Odyssey to a client flying in from Boise ID, BTS's home town. Their new CD, You In Reverse, was recorded between gigs in Portland, OR. The project took a full year to complete and has been very well received. Boise Weekly journalist Amy Atkins recently interviewed fellow high school alumni and lead singer Doug Martsch. If you enjoy the 60's sounds of psychedelic, guitar driven pop/rock check out their my space site! If not, the least you can do is visit their cool homepage and play with the fly. Try it!
9 Marks has some fantastic audio resources available to church leaders for free. Last night I stumbled upon an interview with SBTS president Al Mohler and I Kissed Dating Goodbye author Josh Harris on the important topics of dating and marriage. The provocative thoughts shared here (primarily by Mohler) could encourage some great discussions within families and churches wrestling with how to define a Biblical pathway leading to marriage. At the end of the interview Josh mentioned that his churches' youth pastor recently made a strategic move to make parents a vital part of their youth program, involving them in weekly meetings. Josh feels this will bring long term change affecting how his church views male-female relationships. I personally believe that this inclusion of parents in church youth ministry is a Biblically sound alternative to the prevailing model.
At 28, Jose Gonzalez has a bright future ahead of him. His critically praised new release, Veneer, is winning him worldwide acclaim as the simple, nylon guitared troubador from Sweden. His father's Argentinian upbringing most likely contributed to Jose's latin feel. In an NPR interview he shared that he uses "open tuning" on many of his songs. Open tuning allows a guitar player to strum a major chord without employing any of the frets with the left fingers. On top of the great bio info and touring dates you'll find samples of Veneer at his website.
Rick McKinley of Imago Dei in Portland, OR is one of the most graciously poignant communicators of the gospel I have ever heard. I know Easter is behind us but if you haven't reached critical mass I highly recommend this download to take you there. Rick approaches the resurrection from 3 different paths: the historian, the philosopher, the lover. I continue to be bombarded with the importance of story.
Adrian over at Jubilee Church in London preached a great sermon today on the polarizing effect of the cross of Jesus Christ. He begins by listing the "Top 20" most influential Britons of all time. He then compares their perceived influence to the influence Jesus seemed to have in His day. Jesus' ministry forced people to make decisions. You either loved Him and embraced His Lordship or hated his guts. Some things never change.
In the midst of all these questions a woman named Mary Magdalene offers an appropriate response to the generous love of God by annointing Jesus for burial with costly perfume.
The literal bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is the centerpiece and cornerstone of our faith. Mark Driscoll spent some time blogging over the last few days regarding the significance and evidences of this historic event. There's some good stuff here.
Driscoll on the Resurrection Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. Download his Easter sermon here.
I'm in a ranting season. Regarding the church I'm in deconstruct mode. I'm provoked regarding the discrepancy I see between the biblical bride of Christ and the image I see on Sunday mornings. I realize that blood was shed for this beauty but I have a very tough time with her current digs: building campaigns, CEO style leadership and program-based ecclesiology. Sometimes I think that if it all came crashing down we would be better off. What if, for instance, we stopped the Sunday morning show of 2 fast ones, 2 slow ones, and an entertaining message? Would we survive? Are we slaves of our own agendas and vision statements? I'm zealous for the bride of Christ. I have an image I can't get out of my mind. I picture her spotless, refined, classy, elegant, resourceful and radiant. I hear the "unforced rythyms of grace" leading our leaders. I guess I'm looking for a city who's Builder and Maker is God.
Paul Loeffler (above) is a good friend. Last night after worship practice he took me out to Starbucks and burped me. I needed to unload. All this stuff gets pent up inside till I feel like I'll explode. We talked for about an hour and I vented big time. This season would be much lonelier without bros like Paul.
I'm captivated by good stories and good storytellers. Sermons or sales pitches, actors or airline stewardesses, tell me a story well and I'm in.
I've stumbled upon this topic a couple times in the last few days. First, Pastors James Harleman and Gary Shavey of Mars Hill Church discuss the power of stories in their discussion of the Academy Award winning film, Crash. Hollywood's success, they point out, is largely based on it's story telling skill. Secondly, Forbes magazine published an article by Harvard Business School instructor, John P. Kotter (left), on the power of stories in the business world. You may have heard of his new book, Leading Change.
Wayne Jacobson and Brad Cummings are a couple brothers in Christ stepping "outside the box of organized religion." They have discovered great liberty and responsibility outside of the traditional church model as most of us know it. Their podcast, The God Journey, chronicles this story, discussing the joys, wonders, trials and challenges associated with discovering Christ in a spiritual world without walls. I highly recommend it. Here's a good episode.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Brad (right) for over an hour last night. What a great guy! He's 39 years old, has 3 kids, and has pastored/preached in a mega-church for several years. We discussed the subjects of calling, ecclesiology, theology and church planting. I appreciated his wise counsel and humble tone. I feel like I made a new friend. Thanks, guys, for sharing your journey with all of us.
Guys, don't miss out! 
Christ-follower, husband, father and pastor, awkwardly dancing to the unforced rhythms of grace.
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