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FRIDAY PHOTOS

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John Piper on Church Planting

Ed Stetzer summarizes Piper's session from the GCA North American Church Planting Seminar

"I will build my church" (Mt. 16.18)

I = A Risen Christ, worthy of eternal worship, is the one who plants the church.

Will build = Christ builds His church through “ripping the gates of hell off of the human heart… so they can see.”

My = The church belongs to Jesus Christ and Jesus is already at work in the city where you are planting. “For I have many people in this city” (Acts 18:10)

Church = Only one institution in the entire universe is given the promise that Jesus will build it.

my del.icio.us world

-"The Five Churches Experiment" (two un-churched college students visit churches and offer reflections)
-do you really want to hermetically seal your wedding dress? trash it!
-Raising Kids in the City (via Redeemer Presbyterian NYC)
-Using Jott as a capture tool
-Michael Moore vs. the tenacious Canadians
-Rock Paper Scissors is now a sport
-Five LinkedIN tips (it still feels like myspace for grownups to me...)

FRIDAY PHOTOS

ALL MY PHOTOS | FLICKR FRIDAY PHOTO GROUP

Richard Florida on the Colbert Report

Those who have had any extended conversations with me in the last several years have heard me reference the work of Richard Florida. I am convinced that people who care about the spread of the Gospel and church planting in urban environments should pay careful attention to the argument of his book, The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It's Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life (in spite of Florida's expressed views on religion).

Though my praise and interaction with his thesis must wait for another day, I draw your attention to the the fact that Florida was recently interviewed on the Colbert Report. (he discusses the interview here).



Memorable Colbert quotes from the interview:
-"So you mean I'm supposed to follow gay people around..."
-"I think you are a gay-bohemian artist who just wants to sell his house"

Related
-my del.icio.us links tagged "richardflorida"
-Bruce Reyes-Chow's book review/ discussion of religion and the creative class, together with Florida's own blog response
-Jonathan Dodson's blog (Jonathan is a friend and church planter in Austin who writes thoughtful pieces on issues related to the creative class)
-Florida's Blog
-The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It's Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life (Amazon)

Technorati Tags: ColbertReport, CreativeClass, RichardFlorida

Two New Books on Christology

In the summer of 2005, I had the distinct privilege of studying the doctrine of Christ under Oliver Crisp. Crisp's class helped me understand the formation of the doctrine of Christ as well as gave me a critical framework through which to process contemporary issues in Christology. (I re-read the questions from our take-home final yesterday and am still working through some of the topics addressed). I mention this for two reasons:

1) I can think of few doctrines that demand more serious attention from Christians.

2) I spent the last few days with my nose in two new books on the subject:

• Oliver Crisp, Divinity and Humanity: The Incarnation Reconsidered (Current Issues in Theology) This book presents many of the issues presented by Dr. Crisp in our class, though in a much more formal and complete way. I think Dr. Crisp is a brilliant theologian and whole-heartedly commend anything of his you can get your hands on (though some of it comes at a hefty price). For those interested in hearing Crisp's lectures from Regent, you can purchase the entire course from the Regent Bookstore. Or, you can download the course from regentaudio.com.
• I have read portions from Stephen Nichols' forthcoming, For Us and for Our Salvation: The Doctrine of Christ in the Early Church and can't wait for August to deliver the final copy. In addition to tracing the development of the doctrine from the New Testament through Chalcedon and providing the reader with primary source documents, the book contains several useful appendices (a glossary, tables of pertinent biblical texts, and extensive guide for further reading). You can read the blurbs at Crossway's site as well as Jim Hamilton's blurb about the book.

Technorati Tags: Christology, Crossway, OliverCrisp, StephenNichols

Brian Doerksen: The Holiness of God & The Banality of Modern Worship

In a recent interview with Christianity Today, Brian Doerksen (myspace) talks about the reasons behind the subject matter of his new album:

CT: Why make an album focused exclusively on God's holiness?

Doerksen: Two reasons. The positive reason is, when I went to withdraw and seek God at the beginning of last year to learn what he wanted me to do, I had such a powerful encounter with him and his holiness. The more I meditated, the more it became the only thing I wanted to sing about.

The negative reason would be simply my deep concern about some of what is going on in the modern worship explosion—the shallowness, the man-centeredness, the banality. I wanted to do something that was about God and his core attributes. A song like "Holy God" is a God song, not a song about our feelings toward God. It's not our response to God. So this was my way of saying, "Think on these things."

(read more)

Technorati Tags: BrianDoerksen, worship

We Are Not Pregnant

Actually, for those that don't know, Katie and I are expecting a child. However, "we are not pregnant"-- and CT editor Mark Galli riffs on this phrase as a launching pad into one of the best pieces I have read on the differences between men and women in some time. I will highlight some of my favorite pieces from "We Are Not Pregnant: The glory of men and women lies in their unbridgeable differences" below, but I strongly urge you to read the whole thing

Technorati Tags: gender

Pinback - From Nothing to Nowhere (free mp3)

Pinback's new album, Autumn of the Seraphs, is slated to be released on September 11, 2007 on Touch And Go Records. For those that need a preview, Touch and Go released a free download yesterday of "From Nothing to Nowhere".

For those that can't wait for 9/11, Katie and I bought the Other Men's Wake Up Swimming (Other Men @ myspace) on our way out of Vancouver and it has barely left the CD player in our car. The Other Men represent the reformation of Rob Crow's earlier project Heavy Vegetable and follows on the heels Rob Crow's new solo album, Living Well, both of which are well worth your attention.

God bless San Diego!

Technorati Tags: pinback, RobCrow

Creating the Church Around...

Living as we do after the Fall but before the Heavenly City, we are in a time when faith is central, and so the Word must be central-- because God's Holy Spirit creates His people by His Word! We can create a people by other means, and this is the great temptation of churches.  We can create a people around a certain ethnicity. We can create a people around a fully-graded choir program. We can find people who will get excited about a building project or a denominational identity. We can create a people around social opportunities for young mothers or Caribbean cruises for singles. We can create a people around men's groups. We can even create a people around the personality of a preacher. And God can surely use all of these things. But in the final analysis the people of God, the church of God, can only be created around the Word of God (Mark Dever, 9 marks of a healthy church, 50).