I love this video. Apparently, Time magazine has called it the best viral video yet. And now there is an auto-tuned version. I've included both for your pleasure.
Friday, May 28, 2010
DG Conference 2010 Trailer
This is the trailer for the Desiring God Conference coming up on October 1-3. Great trailer, great theology, and it looks like a great conference.
Prayer Update
As many of you know, things have been quite out of whack in the Strong household. My wife, Jen, is expecting our fifth child and about two weeks ago was put on bed rest to prevent her going into pre-term labor. She has a history of that with all of our other children, and she was experiencing some early labor signs.
As of Sunday, Jen will have made it to 35 weeks! We've been praying for 36 weeks, so we are very close. For the last two weeks or so she has been on some meds that have pretty bad side effects (nervous, shaky, headache, heart-pounding, etc.). She'll be able to stop those on Sunday. Bed rest, however, will continue until next week.
All in all, it has been a great experience. I'm not trying to sugar coat or overlook the anxiety that Jen and I have both felt. But God has proven faithful time and again. He has answered our prayers continually. So many, especially our church, have aided us with prayers, meals, help with the kids, house cleaning, etc. Jen and I have both been learning that life in the slow lane (that is being unable to accomplish much of anything except the basic necessities) is a pretty good place to rest in the goodness of God. Our weakness shows his strength.
Thank you for all your prayers. Please keep them up. Our Father delights to hear them, and we appreciate the love for us that they express. When the dust begins to settle, I should be able to get back to some more faithful blogging.
As of Sunday, Jen will have made it to 35 weeks! We've been praying for 36 weeks, so we are very close. For the last two weeks or so she has been on some meds that have pretty bad side effects (nervous, shaky, headache, heart-pounding, etc.). She'll be able to stop those on Sunday. Bed rest, however, will continue until next week.
All in all, it has been a great experience. I'm not trying to sugar coat or overlook the anxiety that Jen and I have both felt. But God has proven faithful time and again. He has answered our prayers continually. So many, especially our church, have aided us with prayers, meals, help with the kids, house cleaning, etc. Jen and I have both been learning that life in the slow lane (that is being unable to accomplish much of anything except the basic necessities) is a pretty good place to rest in the goodness of God. Our weakness shows his strength.
Thank you for all your prayers. Please keep them up. Our Father delights to hear them, and we appreciate the love for us that they express. When the dust begins to settle, I should be able to get back to some more faithful blogging.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Work & Rest
Work and rest make up the rhythm of our lives. If we are serious about living out the gospel in daily life, then it seems mandatory to bring that gospel into our work and rest. The Bible has a lot to say about these issues. One could even say that the Bible is, in a sense, all about these issues. At LBBC, we have spent the last several weeks exploring work and rest. If you're interested, you can follow along with the study here. The first sermon began on 4/11/10. Hope the sermons serve you well.
False Assumption #3: Everybody Has An Angle
Everybody has an angle. It’s not an assumption, like many others, that we are born with, but one we learn by experience. Foucault said that all human beings are on a quest for power. That’s not your typical Sunday School lesson, but if you know anything about yourself and others, you know that he wasn’t far off the truth. Humans love power. We do. We like the power to manipulate, influence, “nudge” others into a path of our liking. And usually that path happens to be to our benefit.
Information is power. When the doctor says, “you really need this surgery,” generally you have no idea whether you really need it, or whether he is just padding his pocket by performing a non-harmful yet unnecessary surgery. He has a power over you in the form of expertise information. Tyrannical totalitarian governments are in the business of information. They keep much of it secret by hijacking the press and media outlets, they ruthlessly extract it with their brutal crews of secret police, and they run countless campaigns of misinformation. Why? Because the more information the more power.
The Angle of information. We all want power, and information is power. Logically, then, the world should thank us when we provide life-changing information like the gospel. However, what often happens is people become very suspicious of your information. And they do it for the simple reason that if you know something they don’t, then you have some power over them. They automatically assume that you are using your power to “nudge” them into a path that benefits you. Everyone has an angle, and the Jesus’ stuff is just your angle. This very logic is why the gospel is so radical, so counter-intuitive. At its heart is power that is used not for personal benefit, but for the benefit of others. It is power sacrificed, power in service. However, people don’t assume that. All they see is Mr. Information trying to sell them a bill of goods to pad his church’s attendance, add to his own level of self-righteousness, and play the admirable role of the hero saving them from so-called eternal peril. Call it blindness, hard-heartedness, or whatever you like, but it is the status quo perception in a broken, power hungry world. Better get used to it.
Living Proof. “Keep your conduct . . . honorable . . . so that they may see your good deeds and glorify God”(1 Peter 2:12). It has often struck me how often NT writers, like Peter here, emphasize Christian living far more than proclaiming the gospel. I doubt that it is their preference for “lifestyle evangelism” over against proclamational evangelism. After all, “how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?”(Romans 10:14). Nevertheless, the early church was obviously aware of their need to persuade hearers that their love was genuine. The gospel is power sacrificed, power in service, but until individuals see and experience that power in action, they are not likely to believe in its existence. We must be living proof of the gospel. How is power in service being lived out in your life?
Information is power. When the doctor says, “you really need this surgery,” generally you have no idea whether you really need it, or whether he is just padding his pocket by performing a non-harmful yet unnecessary surgery. He has a power over you in the form of expertise information. Tyrannical totalitarian governments are in the business of information. They keep much of it secret by hijacking the press and media outlets, they ruthlessly extract it with their brutal crews of secret police, and they run countless campaigns of misinformation. Why? Because the more information the more power.
The Angle of information. We all want power, and information is power. Logically, then, the world should thank us when we provide life-changing information like the gospel. However, what often happens is people become very suspicious of your information. And they do it for the simple reason that if you know something they don’t, then you have some power over them. They automatically assume that you are using your power to “nudge” them into a path that benefits you. Everyone has an angle, and the Jesus’ stuff is just your angle. This very logic is why the gospel is so radical, so counter-intuitive. At its heart is power that is used not for personal benefit, but for the benefit of others. It is power sacrificed, power in service. However, people don’t assume that. All they see is Mr. Information trying to sell them a bill of goods to pad his church’s attendance, add to his own level of self-righteousness, and play the admirable role of the hero saving them from so-called eternal peril. Call it blindness, hard-heartedness, or whatever you like, but it is the status quo perception in a broken, power hungry world. Better get used to it.
Living Proof. “Keep your conduct . . . honorable . . . so that they may see your good deeds and glorify God”(1 Peter 2:12). It has often struck me how often NT writers, like Peter here, emphasize Christian living far more than proclaiming the gospel. I doubt that it is their preference for “lifestyle evangelism” over against proclamational evangelism. After all, “how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?”(Romans 10:14). Nevertheless, the early church was obviously aware of their need to persuade hearers that their love was genuine. The gospel is power sacrificed, power in service, but until individuals see and experience that power in action, they are not likely to believe in its existence. We must be living proof of the gospel. How is power in service being lived out in your life?
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