Hey nightclubs, got an idea...

Just about every Sunday driving home on Ontario St. from church, I cast a glance at one of downtown Chicago's "premier" night club's marquis. I purposefully won't link to it, but only regular visitors of downtown Chicago or Chicago residents will know which one I'm referring to (not that it's a unique idea to them). Now that I've got you curious...

(by the way, [to my Christian friends and interlocutors] a place like this cannot be redeemed. Plainly, the clearest path to redemption would be if the owners and managers repented and bowed the knee to the King, sold the place and turned it into a place of virtuous profit or sold it to a church or agency for a great price)

Aside from some of the vulgarity implied on some of their ads is an ad promoting the fact that among all the kinds of parties they host, they invite you to have your "divorce party" with them. How about that? Let's celebrate infidelity, irresponsibility and freedom of choice.

As a guy who's in business and particularly marketing, I know how we are constantly on the prowl for a great idea or campaign.

Well, here's one:
At the end of the world, when all "hell" seems to be breaking loose on earth in an unprecedented way and your establishment is still left standing, I can think of no better idea than the following. However, I must preface the idea with some background from that antiquated piece of sage literature, the Bible.
From the book of Revelation, chapter 11, there are going to be 2 powerful dudes called witnesses running around for over 3 years preaching and supposedly incinerating any opponents. Well, their mighty preaching circuit will end with their assasination. Let John the Apostle fill in some details here:

"and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. For 3.5 days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because the these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth."

So, the idea, nightclub managers, is to have a "YAY, the 2 prophets are dead!" party (buy the URLs now!). That kind of party may reach a niche no one else is thinking of (even though it is predicted here in the Biblical text). Retailers could even run a last minute Black Friday gig to aid in the festivities. However, it would be fair for planning purposes to clue you in to read verse 11.

Dear Black Friday Fans

Dear Black Friday Fans:
I would like to remind you that last year some really eager counterparts of yours (read: greedy) took the life of someone's son. What a shame that a reduced-priced gadget is worth more to you than a living, breathing person. What a travesty that the flat screen you want so badly on which you will witness thousands of unreal deaths will be the cause for you to participate in a real mob killing (actually, it's not the TV's fault. You're just greedy). In trying to save a buck this Friday, please stop. Save a life. Use your mouth to build up your fellow Black Friday fans. Keep your middle finger to yourself. Let someone else have that parking spot. Dudes, let the ladies ahead of you (yeah, even if they seem obnoxiously pushy). Finally, what will it matter if you gain the Friday discount but lose your own soul?

Dear Corporate America in a Depressed Economic America:
Shame on you for feeding our appetites for more. While you have your logos emblazoned all over charities and sponsorships, you sit in your boardrooms lusting for more and groping to keep your investors happy. While you throw money distantly to society's disenfranchised, your commercials are positioned to exploit the passions of the same ones. You'll get back your charity money eventually. Sad.
(By the way, Sears, I appreciate your approach this year. It saves on the madness.)
Shame on you for opening your doors even earlier? When will 3am be too late? How about this for a change: open your doors at 7 and keep the same deals all day long or save the best deals till later? How counterintuitive would that be to your marketing strategy? Try it.
Finally, what will it matter if Friday's spending results in increased 4th quarter revenue and you die?

Dear Jesus:
Forgive me for my own greed and for any hypocrisy in the above charges. I long for your redemption. Thank you for pouring out your riches, becoming poor and dying for my greedy self so that I might be rich toward God. Have mercy on me, a sinner.

They being dead still sing God's grace... Wow!

My friend, Bill Provenzano, recently wrote me:

"Almost 2,000 years ago, Christians were massacred in the Roman Colosseum. It gives me pause when I consider that so many years later, Amazing Grace shakes the very walls wherein our brothers and sisters were slain for the sake of His everlasting name, even by a group called Il Divo."

Singing this hymn at games, concerts and other venues seems trite and almost predictibale. At the Roman Colosseum, however--ironic. Check it out.

Experimentweeting

Check out the side bar. You'll see I've plummeted further into the world of social media. I was on Facebook previously for my previous employment and discontinued that. This seems more doable to me.

From the Unemployment Line to Entrepreneur?

Yesterday was my last day on staff at Holy Trinity Church. I was being laid off because of the financial stress the church has been undergoing. There were and are no hard feelings. As in any institution or company, there is no perfect culture. HTC has her organizational problems, but that doesn't change the fact I still love her and serve her regardless of my employment status. I've know this has been coming since March. I've had adequate time to prepare.

On a positive note, I am considering becoming self-employed. I've got a lot to plan as I don't want my wife to carry the load for that long. Lots in my head.... Stay tuned.

Unstoppable Salvation

At HTC, I have the privilege to preach every now and then. The last opportunity was over Labor Day weekend. More than highlight the sermon, I wanted to recognize my brother, friend and co-worker, Samuel Andres, for his creative design. This piece which he created for the Romans series artwork for the HTC website was unfortunately turned down by one of the decision makers. It is so abstract yet compelling, that I had to ask him for it. Thanks, Samuel!

Sermon- God's Unstoppable Work of Salvation

John Piper's Call to the Pastorate

As I'm facing job loss and praying about entrance into a pastorate, church planting and/or the EvFree denomination, I providentially stumbled upon this tribute to John Piper's call to the pastorate. God has used JP in a special and strong way in Gospel Christianity. I praise God for the influence and grace he has spoken into my life.

Here's an example of a talk that God used in my life from the good doctor.

HT: (predictably) Justin Taylor

Mesmerized by the "Princess"

We had the delight of attending the wedding of a co-worker. Gabrielle was mesmerized by the "princess" (the bride) the whole time. Of course, here she looks a bit underwhelmed at being with Papi. That's okay. I love getting in whatever pics I can with her.

Praying before Meals

Lately, I've been thinking about the whole praying before meals thing. I've never really given much thought about why we do other than we're supposed to be grateful to God for all that he gives us and tell him often. No scripture or biblical precent comes to mind as a defence for praying before the meal.

So, we have recently tried praying after a meal or segueing with it into our family worship time. Sometimes, we have thanked God for the food at our bedtime prayers.

Of note, I flipped through Frank Schaeffer's book, Crazy for God, passing the airport recently (I don't recommend; in some respects it seems like a type of dancing on his dad's grave). One of his "fondest" memories with his dad, Francis, is when they would take trips together and purposefully neglected a meal time prayer. I strongly recommend Edith Schaeffer's well-written tome of the history of their ministry, L'Abri.

Guarding the Good News

This is one of the major themes of the book of 2 Timothy which my church is currently preaching through right now. I had the opportunity to deliver the message on July 5th. Here's a link to the recording. The last 20 or so minutes of the recording shouldn't have been recorded. What matters is the first 30 minutes and even more the Word of God itself.

American Cities and White Flight

I'm readng Cities right now by Roger Greenway and Timothy Monsma. It's a pretty good read.
Greenway on the "white flight" phenomenon of the last half of the 20th American century says: " Insofar as suburbia rose as a reaction to the city and its people, suburbia is an attitude, a mind-set, as much as it is a geographical entity."

That is a keen observation. Suburbia is an "attitude". This is not to say that all suburban "attitudes" are wrong. It's just that white people were so "in"secure in their skin that when the urban ethnics and American blacks came into town, they fled. And so did the churches.

It Takes a City to Raise a Child

Recently, I have been thinking about education and raising my children in a metropolis. If left to myself, I would probably home school my children and keep a very tight "grip" on the leash of influence. I have by no means thought this out completely. Furthermore, I know that several people feel strongly about how their children should be educated.

Thankfully, I have a wife who balances me out. She keeps me real. She's wise. So, one of things that has crossed my mind is that we can't raise my kids by ourselves. We need other people. We need the church. We need my parents and my brother. We need my in-laws; we need friends. We need the city. This is not to say that God has not resourced us with everything we need in the Scriptures to be the main influencers of our children. But, I'm beginning to wonder if it's really arrogant to think that I could do it by myself. I have thought and remain fully convinced that God has given these children to me, and that I am the main one to influence and teach them. I am totally committed to the idea and institution of family in the Bible. But I guess I'm confessing that living in this particular God-ordained institution should not be done independently from the context of other institutions he's given; and not just those institutions but creation as well.

While I'm rambling, it occurs to me that my own upbringing was a "group project". While my parents were cautious of what influences they let into the home, they exposed my brother and me to a vast and diverse body of knowledge and experiences that they themselves could not offer. They attentively resourced opportunities for us. For that (amongst many reasons) I am most grateful to my Dad and Mom.

I'll have more to say on this subject at another time, but for now, I leave you with a wonderful talk given by Timothy Keller, pastor in Manhattan, on the subject of raising kids in the city. I'm still trying to figure out how to get the direct link, Owen Strachan has the talk posted at his blog.

"How to Be a Stranger and a Pilgrim on Earth"

My good buddy in the gospel, AJ Gibson, recently gave the commencement address at the university he's taught at for the last 5 years (where I also ministered at for 2 years). He addressed the subject of "How to Be a Stranger and a Pilgrim on Earth" from 1 Corinthians 7:29-31. Of note in his address:

"Christians have wives and husbands and children and parents, etc., but should never have and hold them as if they were everything. My wife is the “wife of my sojournings” and my children are “the children of my sojournings.”
Therefore if any of these people whom I love and hold dear fails or disappoints me, my life will not end because God is my portion. 'Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever' (Psalm 73:25-26).
If God in his providence should choose to take any of them from me, I should be able to say 'The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.'"

I really appreciate this perspective from AJ because the last year and a half of his life has put this "creed" of his to the test.

Read more at A.J.'s blog here (and put it on your blogroll).

On the Lordship of Jesus Christ

About 2 months after President Obama had been elected to office, I had the opportunity to give the Sunday Sermon at Holy Trinity Church in downtown Chicago. I had been encouraged by one of the pastors to preach from the Messianic Psalms if I ever had a "one-off" opportunity. Well, here is the link.

Living for Another Time

Jonathan Leeman who is the communications guy at 9Marks Ministries in D.C., recently posted on the 9Marks blog about preaching that leaves people longing for eternity. In the study I have been teaching through Hebrews 11, I have been struck with how 'other-worldly' great men and women of the faith lived. Leeman says:

"Christianity is not all about learning to live the Christian life as an American (or South African or Brazilian) in the 21st century. Rather, it's about being an alien wherever he places us, and we're going to find being an alien sort of looks similar no matter where he places us in time and space. Not only that, Christianity is about God's plan of bringing glory to himself through all of his people. "

Anthrodudes

I had the opportunity the last 5 weeks to teach a men's class at my church called "Anthropos" (Greek for man). We kind of kidded around about the modern equivalent to 'anthropos' being "dude." So, we struck a happy medium of "anthrodudes."
Anyway, we looked at men of faith in the New Testament book of Hebrews; particularly the 11th chapter. Here are some questions I posed at the beginning:

• Where does God call us as men to grab hold of ‘nothing’?
• What does it mean to “grow in faith”?
• How does faith affect our leadership?
• Do you lead your family in faith? Or is your wife always the one driving the direction of your family?
• Are you living in a state of extended adolescence?
• What are the areas of your life that are “unturned stones” that need redemption?

Here is the class outline:

a) Intro to Faith & Faith from the First Dudes (Hebrews 11:1-7)
b) Abraham: Man of ‘Other-Worldly’ Faith (Hebrews 11:8-22)
c) Moses: Man of ‘Non-Conformist’ Faith (Heb 11:23-31)
d) Women Warriors, Wussies & Cavemen: From Judges through Intertestamental History (Heb 11:32-40)
e) God’s Gym: Faith & Discipline (Hebrews 12:1-17)

The last one we didn't even get to. We barely touched on the 'wussies' section (yes, too pithy, I know even for my taste). I will tease out briefly some of the major points we covered in that class.

I'm grateful for Wesley, Jon, Andrew, Eric, Brandon, Joshua, Scott, and Kevin-- all who 'persevered' the class at some point perhaps 'not realizing the promise' the class was supposed to deliver.=+)