Wednesday, August 28, 2013

My New Blogging Home

After 5 years and a 100 posts I've decided to pack it up and move over to wordpress.com.  My new blogging address is everywheregospel.wordpress.com.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Weakness is the Way

Another great quote from J.I. Packer's new book:
"The truth, however, is that in many respects, and certainly in spiritual matters, we are all weak and inadequate and we need to face it.  Sin, which disrupts all relationships, has disabled us all across the board.  We need to be aware of our limitations and let this awareness work in us humility and self-distrust, and a realization of our helplessness on our own.  Thus we may learn our need to depend on Christ, our Savior and Lord, at every turn of the road, to practice that dependence as one of the constant habits of our heart, and hereby to discover what Paul discovered before us: 'when I am weak, then I am strong' (2 Cor. 12:10)." -pg 15-16

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

"Weakness is the Way"

A great quote from J.I. Packer's new book:
For all Christians, the likelihood is... that as our discipleship continues, God will make us increasingly weakness-conscious and pain-aware, so that we may learn...  that when we are conscious of being weak, then--and only then--may we become truly strong in the Lord.  And should we want it any other way?  What do you think?

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Moore Prayers - White Horse Inn Blog

Moore Prayers - White Horse Inn Blog

Vampire Weekend takes on God: Part III

Part I & Part II

Everlasting Arms, track number seven on "Modern Vampires of the City," is a lyrically convoluted song with a plethora of mixed references.  Under most circumstances this would be frustrating, but in this song's case it perfectly fits the message that it's trying to convey.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Vampire Weekend Takes on God: Part II

Vampire Weekend begins their faith pondering with an infectious groove entitled "Unbelievers."  In this song Ezra Koenig seems to be wrestling with the message of condemnation he hears from Christianity (and maybe religion in general).  He writes:

"We know the fire awaits unbelieversAll of the sinners the sameGirl you and I will die unbelievers bound to the tracks of the train
I’m not excitedBut should I beIs this the fate that half of the world has planned for me?"
The last line is quite the punch in the gut.  Koenig perceives that the world of Christianity is actively planning his condemnation.

Now, a brief listen to this song could lead us to write it off as a simplistic rant against the nature, reality, and/or message of hell in the Bible; but if we dig a little deeper a different theme emerges.  This song is rather a poignant lament of the weight of the law and a yearning for a message of grace from the church and God.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Vampire Weekend Takes on God: Part I

When I read Rolling Stone's review of Vampire Weekend's new album "Modern Vampires of the City" prior to its release I couldn't wait to get may hands on it.  About the album Nathan Brackett writes:
"God, of all people, looms large: He is a foil on "Unbelievers," where Koenig sings about the fundamentalist half of the world wanting to throw him and his lady under the tracks of the train. The sweet "Everlasting Arms" is partly inspired by a 19th-century church song; "Worship You" references Paradise Lost (and Nick Cave). "Ya Hey" (rhymes with "Yahweh" – get it?) retells the Old Testament story of the burning bush, over a dubby groove." 

Monday, May 13, 2013

"Blogger" stats are killing my will to blog

The other day I was listening to Tullian Tchividjian give a talk called "One Way Love: Inexhaustible Grace for an Exhausted World" at the Mockingbird Conference.  During this talk he gave a piercing personal illustration.  He confessed that after publishing his first book, he became obsessed with his Amazon Rating to such an extent that on days his ratings were high he'd be happy and on days they were low he'd be depressed.  Through this Tullain discovered that he was trying to find his identity and worth in things other than Jesus' finished work on his behalf.

I watched this talk after checking my "Blogger" stats for the twelfth time that day and it got me thinking.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Karl Holl on the Newness of Jesus

"The God who rigorously insists on the highest does not will that any man should come within range of His judgement...  Therefore He seeks them out.  And the means by which He lays hold on them is His pardoning grace.
In all other doctrines of salvation the belief in liberation is founded on the conviction of the ineradicable nobility of mankind...  The god-like in man must come into its own.  Jesus, however, instead of this, sees a deep gulf between God and man...  Jesus stress is laid... on the fact that man has forfeited his worth but that nevertheless God accepts him.
Jesus' conception of God was new...

Monday, March 25, 2013

an interesting critique of the "radical" faith movement

"The reliance on intensifiers demonstrates the emptiness of American Christianity's language. Previous generations were content singing "trust and obey, for there's no other way." Today we have to really trust and truly obey. The inflated rhetoric is a sign of how divorced our churches' vocabulary is from the simple language of Scripture.

And the intensifiers don't solve the problem. Replacing belief with commitment still places the burden of our formation on the sheer force of our will. As much as some of these radical pastors would say otherwise, their rhetoric still relies on listeners "making a decision." There is almost no explicit consideration of how beliefs actually take root, or whether that process is as conscious as we presume."


http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2013/march/here-come-radicals.html?paging=off

Monday, January 28, 2013

gravity always wins: Radiohead and Christianity Part IV

Part I, Part II, and Part III

19 For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity.  20 All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.  21 Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth?
- Ecclesiastes 3:19-21   

2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath.  3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.  4 But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.  5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.  6 Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.
- Ecclesiastes 9:2-6   

              This might seem weird, but I’ve always found it oddly comforting that the Bible doesn’t sugarcoat death.  Unlike other religions or worldviews that see death as a way of transcending our earthly shells, the Bible views it as an unnatural enemy and curse that must be destroyed (1 Cor 15:26).  For me, this affirms the ghastly reality that is death.