Fridays Are For One Question
Posted by MK | Filed under Fridays Are For One Question
We’ve started playing the “take-turns story” game at our house.
It’s pretty simple. I start a story, hand it off to the kids, they tell a part, then hand it back to me, and so on. Usually it involves Star Wars, though when Andi gets a chance to tell her part, somehow Cinderella makes an appearance in the Millineum Falcon.
Whatever – it’s a take-turns story.
Point is that there is always an epic battle scene between the forces of good and evil. Such is the inspiration for today’s question:
“What’s the best pairing of hero/villain ever created?”
A Rant About Worship Songs
Posted by MK | Filed under Bible Study
This was pretty convicting to me, especially since I have the tendency in me to be a church snob.
From Jeremy Pierce:
Here are some of the things I really hate in a worship song.
1. Too simplistic, banal, lacking in depth, shallow, doctrineless: Consider that one that just talks about unity among brothers that only mentions God in passing at the very end.
2. It’s so repetitive. I mean, come on, how many times can you repeat “His steadfast love endures forever” before you start thinking the song is going to go on forever? Examples: here and here
3. For some songs, the focus is too much on instruments, and the sheer volume leads to its seeming more like a performance than worship and prevents quiet contemplation.
4. There might be too much emphasis on too intimate a relationship with God, using first-personme” and “I” or second-person pronouns like “you” instead of words like “we” and “God”. This fosters a spirit of individualism, and it generates an atmosphere of religious euphoria rather than actual worship of God. Worship should be about God, not about us. Or what about the ones that use physical language to describe God and our relationship with him? Can you really stomach the idea of tasting God? singular pronouns like “
5. Some songs have way too many words for anyone to learn.
6. It patterns its worship on experiences that not everyone in the congregation will be able to identify with. If you’re not in the frame of mind or don’t have the emotional state in question (e.g. a desperate longing for God. Then what are you doing lying and singing it? Worship leaders who encourage that sort of thing are making their congregations sing falsehoods.
7. Then there’s that song with the line asking God not to take the Holy Spirit away, as if God would ever do that to a genuine believer.
8. Then there’s that song that basically says nothing except expressing negative emotions.
At this point I’m so outraged that people would pass this sort of thing off as worship that I’m almost inclined to give in to the people who think we shouldn’t sing anything but the psalms. Oh, wait…
Documentaries to Check Out
Posted by MK | Filed under Movies, Videos
I’m a big fan of documentaries. Some of mine and Jana’s favorites include Supersize Me, Spellbound, and King of Kong.
Here are a couple of trailers for upcoming docs, about greatly differing subject matter, each intriguing in its own way.
Songs in a Minor Key
Posted by MK | Filed under Friends to Check Out
My good friend, Zach Nielson, whose blog I currently link to on here, has just released his first Jazz album. He’s a very talented musician and well worth a listen.
Love for you to check it out here.
10 Seconds to Justify My Existence
Posted by MK | Filed under Theology
In the movie Chariots of Fire, Olympic athlete Harold Abrahams says the following when reflecting on his upcoming race:
“And now in one hour’s time, I will be out there again. I will raise my eyes and look down that corridor; 4 feet wide, with 10 lonely seconds to justify my existence. But will I?”
Ten seconds to justify my existence.
Ten seconds to prove my worth.
Ten seconds to know that I’m valuable.
How very, very sad. And yet how very, very familiar. I might say it like this:
One hour to prove I’m a good worker.
One clever blog post to remind people to keep reading.
One insightful tweet to make people think I’m smart.
In the end, though, it’s just a race. It’s just 150 characters. It’s just another project at work. And we are left wondering, “Who am I? Am I really worth anything?”
We don’t need 10 seconds to justify our existence; we have something better. Jesus did it for us not in 10 seconds, but in 6 hours on a Friday afternoon.
Those six hours free us from the burden of self-justification. With His arms outstretched, Jesus told us what our purpose is. Why we are here. Who we are.
We live in freedom – freedom to work. To run. To write. To live. Because Jesus has justified us.
Fridays Are For One Question
Posted by MK | Filed under Fridays Are For One Question
More than once on the blog, I’ve bemoaned the long summer of heat here in Nashville. Consequently, I continue to anticipate the coming of fall. It’s my favorite season.
Cooler weather, great sports, leaves changing – all that stuff. So todays’ question is simple:
“What’s your favorite season?”
I’d Hate to Be That Bottle
Posted by MK | Filed under Just for Fun, Videos
I can’t say if this is real or not. But I know enough to know that Federer might just be that good.
A Case Study in Abiding
Posted by MK | Filed under Bible Study
Jesus was a relatively new figure on the religious landscape. There were rumors surrounding Him – His birth, His teaching, His power – but by far, the big draw was still John the Baptist. John, with his wild beard and locust-popping habits. John, the fearless who called the Pharisees to task. John, the eccentric.
But John had caused a different kind of ripple. The previous day, Jesus had approached the Jordan River. John stopped what he was doing to make a mysterious but powerful declaration: “Behold! the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” It left his disciples wondering.
Then, when the same thing happened the next day, two of those disciples wanted to inquire further:
“Again the next day, John was standing with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, ‘Look! The Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this and followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and noticed them following Him, He asked them, ‘What are you looking for?’” (John 1:35-38).
Valid question. Here were two men who were followers of John. Jesus comes walking up, and suddenly he’s got two hangers-on. So what were they looking for?
Their answer seems to say, “We don’t know,” for at first glance the didn’t even give an answer. They turn to each other. Then, instead of answering the question, they ask another question to Jesus: “Teacher, where are you staying?”
Now that’s a good question. It’s not because it redirected the question of Jesus, buying them some time to think of a better answer. It’s a good one because of the word “staying.”
The word is the same word we find in John 15:4, this time spoken by Jesus: “Abide in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it abides on the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.”
That’s what the men asked: “Where are You abiding?” Where are You remaining? Where are You dwelling? Where are You going to be, because that’s where we want to go. To be with You. To remain with You. To abide with You.”
That’s the question I want to ask: “Jesus, where are you abiding? Because that’s where I want to abide. I want to dwell with You. To fellowship with You. You are my prize, so wherever You are, be it dangerous or uncomfortable or peaceful or joyful, that’s where I want to abide.
But there’s one other detail in the Scripture that pushes the idea. John goes on to record that the two men did indeed go with Jesus. And they “stayed with Him that day.” Then John records the actual time they were there, as if to say, “And can you believe it? When we looked up the whole day was gone!”
That’s what abiding is like. It’s being so caught up in the being that you lose track of time. May it be so.
What is the Bible Really About?
Posted by MK | Filed under Theology, Videos
Let the truth sink in. Understanding this will change everything you think you already believe. It did for me.
4 Keys to the Art of Teaching Scripture
Posted by MK | Filed under Preaching/Teaching
I’ve posted a few things before related to my personal philosophy of preaching and teaching (The 3 AM Statement,The 1 Question that Can Change Someone’s Life, and 7 Steps of Bible Study Preparation). Today, I’d like to post some things I try to keep in mind whenever I prepare to preach or teach. These are some helpful, overarching principles that have guided me in my study, particularly as I try and put the information into the form where it can be best understood by others.
So here are 4 Keys to the Art of Teaching Scripture:
1. Look for the story.
Everything in the Bible has a story. Even the laws of Leviticus or the specific instructions regarding worship of Paul. Everything has a story. Look for the backstory of the text. Why did the author write it like this? What emotions was he feeling as he did? How would the people have received it? What was their personal relationship like with each other? If, as communicators, we can express this larger story, we not only help people get a more full sense of the scope of the text, we also help them connect more deeply to not just the words, but the spirit behind them.
2. Find the thread.
If we believe that ultimately the Holy Spirit is the author of Scripture, then there is always a continuity between different parts of Scripture. If we look deeply, we can find the thread between seemingly unrelated parts of the Bible and how they thread together. Sometimes it’s with an image. Sometimes it’s with a single word. Sometimes it’s with an author or an audience. But finding that thread helps people see that the Bible isn’t isolated from itself; it’s one, cohesive unit.
3. Elevate the audience.
Simply, nothing is ever “just about” something. A text about parenting is never just about parenting. A text about mildew is never just about mildew. A text about sexual purity is never just about purity. There are cosmological things going on here, and because there are, there is always far more at stake than what might seem to be. A good example of this is Paul’s teaching on marriage in Ephesians 5. At first glance, we might treat the text as “3 Ways to Have a Successful Marriage.” But there is always something more at stake. What is at stake is the fact that marriage is meant to be a walking, talking, living, breathing illustration of the gospel. We must elevate the audience to see the immensity of what’s truly at stake in the seemingly common, everyday stuff of life.
4. Point to Jesus.
Jesus is the hero of the Bible. He’s the center of every story. As a seminary professor of mine once said, “The fingerprints of Christ are on every page of the Bible – sometimes you just have to dust for them a little bit.” We must always preach Christ and Him crucified, so that means it’s entirely appropriate when we approach any text to ask the question, “Where is Jesus in this passage?”