Been There, Done That

Today the Ikon folks met at Grape Day Park in Escondido to have a Thanksgiving meal with our friends who live in the Park. For the past six months Cory and Crissy Verner have spent every Saturday having coffee and donuts with these folks, making friendships and immersing themselves in the lives of people who are typically overlooked. Once a month a few of us join them, bring real food, get to know people, offer haircuts, etc. Today they wanted to share the holiday with their new friends in a meaningful way.

Several things surprised me about the gathering, but one thing didn’t. Continue reading…

Church Told to Stop Feeding Hispanics

In an astonishing decision, a local zoning hearing has determined that a Phoenix church can no longer serve a weekly pancake breakfast to Hispanics.

Retired Arizona Supreme Court justice Bobb Crockeran, serving as a hearing officer, ruled Monday that feeding the Hispanics at a place of worship can be banned by city ordinance. The decision affects all Phoenix churches with underlying residential zoning.

Over the summer, city officials maintained that the church violated Phoenix zoning code by feeding the Hispanics on its property, a use that can only occur in commercial or industrial zones. City officials said the decision is effective immediately.

The church argued that it is within it’s constitutional rights to serve people’s needs on its property according to its religious beliefs. But the Crockeran disagreed: Continue reading…

The Arrogant Bastard Church

Ever since I wrote The Mega-Freeloader Church I’ve been thinking about a blog series that examines different cultural phenomena in the West as a way of re-imagining certain aspects of church ecclesiology. When I saw David Fitch’s post today – A Warning List For Those Who Would Join the Missional Church – I knew I needed to start my series with this:

Introducing “The Arrogant Bastard Church.”

No, I’m not talking about Mars Hill (either of them). For those of you who love beer you may know that I’m talking about some of the best beer known to man – and, happily, it’s practically made in my own backyard at fabulous place called Stone Brewery. Have a gander at the prose on the back label of a bottle of Arrogant Bastard Ale: Continue reading…

Honk if You’re Going to Hell

As I was driving with my daughter this morning I noticed the following bumper sticker on the car in front of me:

“Eternal hell awaits those who question God’s unconditional love.”

Naturally, the letters were stylized in a fiery font meant to convey the literal flames of Hell and the excruciating (no pun intended) torment that would surely accompany such a punishment. When I first read it a flood of questions invaded my mind: “What makes the driver think that bumper sticker is a valid expression of the gospel?” and “Does the driver really believe this is an effective means of conveying the gospel or is it just that their personal sense of spiritual validity is derived from presenting an acutely polarizing brand of religion?” and “Is it even possible in a post-Christian culture to present God’s justice (including His judgment) in a way that won’t be understood against the historical backdrop of horribly twisted theology and practice?“  But all these questions were quickly crowded out by a sudden realization: Continue reading…

Honk if You're Going to Hell

As I was driving with my daughter this morning I noticed the following bumper sticker on the car in front of me:

“Eternal hell awaits those who question God’s unconditional love.”

Naturally, the letters were stylized in a fiery font meant to convey the literal flames of Hell and the excruciating (no pun intended) torment that would surely accompany such a punishment. When I first read it a flood of questions invaded my mind: “What makes the driver think that bumper sticker is a valid expression of the gospel?” and “Does the driver really believe this is an effective means of conveying the gospel or is it just that their personal sense of spiritual validity is derived from presenting an acutely polarizing brand of religion?” and “Is it even possible in a post-Christian culture to present God’s justice (including His judgment) in a way that won’t be understood against the historical backdrop of horribly twisted theology and practice?“  But all these questions were quickly crowded out by a sudden realization: Continue reading…

Sociopaths Need Jesus Too

Dear Preacher

Dear Preacher,

I really do hate this part of my job, but I suppose someone must do it. You’re definitely going to want to sit down for this; it seems I’m the bearer of bad news.

I’m afraid we’ve decided not to “pick up your option” this year, so to speak. That is, we’re letting you go.

Now don’t get me wrong, we think you’ve done a marvelous job (that joke you told last Sunday was brilliant! “Coffee break’s over…” Ha! That line gets me every time! You know, you have a real knack for making people laugh?). Still, sadly, your artistry just doesn’t seem to be necessary anymore.

Continue reading…

Birds, the Bible, and broken down cars

Update #1: Jenell (no, not my wife Jenell surprisingly), has posted a brilliant and hilarious response to John Piper’s latest strange rant about the Lutheran and bad weather. Trust me, read it.

Update #2: Greg Boyd has the unforgivable audacity to weigh in on the discussion of John Piper’s recent post with scientific understanding and common sense. Scandalous!

Update #3: Today (8/22) John Piper clarifies his intentions about the tornado blog post. I have tremendous respect for Piper’s life and work, but frankly I’m having a hard time swallowing his explanation. His entire original post was written to single out the ECLA and their particular sin. How can he credibly claim that he was making a general point?

Update #4: Michael Spencer (aka the Internet Monk) weighs in with his thoughts on the whole topic. His post is excellent…but then, I would think so because I agree. : )

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Daryll Dash began his blog series on the topic of God’s sovereignty and evil today, and he does a great job of modeling a humble, reasonable, and irenic tone. In other words, he’s everything I’m not.

The whole post is worth reading here, but the main scriptural points he makes are:

• God controls the events of the natural world, including the weather (Psalm 65:9-11; Psalm 135:6-7; Psalm 147:15-18; Jeremiah 5:22; Nahum 1:3; Acts 14:17). God governs the events of nature.
• God sometimes favors one group over another through natural events (Genesis 41:32; Exodus 9:13-26; Amos 4:7).
• According to Jesus, this divine control extends over even the smallest details (Matthew 5:45; Matthew 6:26-30; Luke 12:4-7).
• Jesus, as God, calmed the sea at his command (Matthew 8:23-27).

Let me begin by addressing the passages themselves:

Continue reading…