Do you want Joost?

A few weeks ago I was selected to be a part of the official beta testing team for Joost. You may be saying what is Joost?

"Joost is a new way of watching TV on the internet. With Joost, you get all the things you love about TV, including a high-quality full-screen picture, hundreds of full-length shows and easy channel-flipping."

Joost beta testers were selected by Joost. Each tester was given three invitations to hand out at their discretion (I'm trying to make this sound important). I have three shiny invitations for three individuals who are able to express why they believe they should be invited? If no one comments I will salt and pepper the invitations and eat them.

21 Ways to Minister to Those Who Are Suffering

The Desiring God blog re-posted an article by John Piper. The article was originally written for the Columbine shootings and revised for the 9.11 attacks. They have re-posted the artilce in light of the Virginia Tech shootings and the article may be read here.

Unified Leaders

I am currently reading a book (I have yet to post it here) about unity among leaders in the church. In the beginning pages of the book the author states that he had to settle on three components in order to have a unified leadership team. They are:

1. Doctrinal purity
2. Sincere and warm friendships
3. Philosophical purity

What do you think? Are there any others? Are these too many? What say ye?

Nothing says Easter like Peeps

For the kids

Happy Easter!

(ht - Dad)

Churches who "get it"

These are observations from someone who visited several churches. The churches that 'get it' had similarities. I will only list the ten points to grab your attention. Read the entire article here.

1. Each church has a pastor with a vision.
2. Each church hires almost exclusively from within.
3. Speaking of staff, the staff of these churches ‘get it’ too.
4. A larger percentage of their staff (or staff wives) are pregnant.
5. These churches and pastors don’t have a clue what they’re doing.
6. Since they don’t have it all figured out, these pastors all shared with me their desire to connect with other leaders who can help mentor them.
7. These churches are not shy about sharing resources.
8. Most all of these pastors are bloggers.
9. These churches are not afraid to make tough calls.
10. Numbers are important to them.

Not funny in the end...

"Some eighth graders got an early start on April Fool’s Day when they handed out doughnuts laced with laxatives to classmates, but it was no laughing matter when five were ticketed by police.

There were no apparent injuries but ambulances were dispatched Friday to Sequoya Middle School on Long Island as a precaution, a spokeswoman for the Sachem School District said.

Two 13-year-olds and three 14-year-olds were charged with second-degree tampering with a consumer product.

Classes proceeded as usual, but parents were given the option to pick up their children. The district also said it would take “appropriate disciplinary action.” (read story)

Now that's impressive!

Hey kids guess who's on the map now!? This was headline news last evening.

The Guinness World Records have confirmed it, North Dakotans are the most angelic of all. North Dakota officially holds the mark for the most snow angels made all at once, in one place.

State Historical Society curator Marilyn Snyder got the official certificate from Guinness today. She says she was surprised to get it so soon.The event was held on the state Capitol grounds on February 17th.

A total of 8,962 people got down in the snow and flapped their arms and
legs.

We are proud of this good use of time and State land.

Punk Rockers?!

Some may ask, "are your black boys punk rockers?"

Wikipedia defines punk rockers as those who "express youthful rebellion, distinctive clothing styles, a variety of anti-authoritarian ideologies, and a DIY (do it yourself) attitude."

youthful rebellion - yes
distinctive clothing styles - not applicable
a variety of anti-authoritarian ideologies - what?
DIY attitude - no

They may not be real punk rockers but they are the greatest boys we've ever had!

The voice of the Lord

It's all down hill from here. John Piper writes about "The Morning [He] Heard the Voice of the Lord." He says,

Let me tell you about a most wonderful experience I had early Monday morning, March 19, 2007, a little after six o’clock. God actually spoke to me. There is no doubt that it was God. I heard the words in my head just as clearly as when a memory of a conversation passes across your consciousness. The words were in English...

Is it true? Did John Piper really hear God's voice? Read the entire article here.

(ht - no blog Randy)

Double Sacrilege

More cheese here.

Subdivisions, Craft Stores & Cults

I am reading a new book entitled Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches: Five Perspectives. The five perspectives come from five authors (Mark Driscoll, John Burke, Dan Kimball, Doug Pagitt and Karen Ward). The purpose of this post is not to discuss the book but to discuss the names of the churches in which these five people serve.

They are respectively:

1. Mars Hill Church
2. Gateway Community Church
3. Vintage Faith Church
4. Solomon's Porch
5. Church of the Apostles

What happened to First (fill in the denomination) Church? Why has there been a shift in the names churches choose? Does the church make a statement with the name? If so, is the statement really being made if someone from the church has to explain the meaning of the church? I am a student of art and I have had similar questions about art. If someone has to explain the meaning of their "piece of art" why do we need art? If words have to be used to explain the art wouldn't a more effective way of communicating the meaning be through words? Similarly (and very loosely similarly), should the name of a church have to be explained?

I don't have the answer. I am just curious about the popular shift our culture has taken in making church names sound more like subdivisions, craft stores and cults.

What say ye?

Can't think of a title

John Piper's father passed away late yesterday. His words about his father's death are an unbelievable blessing. If you don't read any other blog today read about his experience here.

It was 12:55 as I walked out of room 4326. Just before the elevators on the fourth floor in the lounge, a young man in his twenties was sitting alone listening to his iPod with headphones. I paused. Then I walked toward him. He stopped his music. Hello, my father just died. One of the greatest tributes I could pay to him is to ask you, Are you ready to meet God? “Yes, Sir.” That would make my father very happy. You know Jesus is the only way? “Yes, Sir.” Good. Thank you for letting me talk to you.
As I drove out of the parking lot, I stopped. The moon was a day past full. It was cold—for Greenville. I looked at this great hospital. Thank you, Lord, for this hospital. I will probably never lay eyes on it again.

Read the full article here.

A Two Year Old Theology

Today my wife was cleaning out our eldest sons dresser drawers. She was removing clothes that no longer fit him. He noticed what she was doing and asked "why are you taking my clothes?" She answered, "these clothes don't fit you because you are too big." He quickly replied, "when I am bigger Jesus will come back." I think he may be referring to this.

This evening I was going through catechism questions with our eldest son. We use the book posted below. I would recommend this book to anyone who has young children...or actually anyone who has a heartbeat. We are now up to questions concerning God. Here is the way the conversation proceeded:

Me: How many Gods are there?
Ezra: There is only one true God.

Me: How many persons are there in the one God?
Ezra: Three.

Me: Who are these three persons?
Ezra: The Father, the Son and the...I'm gonna be three soon.

Purchase the book here.

Yankee Doodle Jesus - pt. 7

This is a real poster. I did not make this one up. In fact, this is one of many posters about belief in God and being American. What do you think? Does American = belief in God?

To see more Yankee Doodle Jesus click here.