I’ve been trying to read more lately. But, the problem with most of what I have been reading is that most of it is dry and is not engaging. And it is hard for a dry book to keep my attention when there is so much else out there that is begging for it. This, however, is not the case for Vintage Jesus, by Mark Driscoll. So far it has been a great read; challenging my faith and making me laugh at the same time. I have been reading it for the past few nights and came upon a paragraph that I had to share.

Sadly it is too common for churches not to speak of Jesus, which is a tragedy akin to a wife rarely uttering the name of her own husband.  In our day when there are innumerable contradictory beliefs about who God is, Christians must be clear that their God is Jesus Christ alone so as to communicate the same central truth that scripture does.  No matter how many verses are used, the Bible has not been rightly understood or proclaimed unless Jesus is the central focus and hero.

Mark Driscoll
Vintage Jesus, pp. 66

Exactly. I think that Christians in general and many churches (if not most) have such a low view of Jesus and the gospel that we loose the power of our faith for powerless religion. I wish all Christian leaders had the same attitude that is extolled in this paragraph (and in the book as a whole), about their savior.

I would highly recommend that all Christians read this book, it would give us all a much better understanding of our hero. You can buy a copy of the book at amazon.com.

I can say (being absolutely convinced that it’s true), that Jesus is first in my life and that I desire to know Him more intimately and see people changed by His love. The problem is that my life so often proves me to be a liar (whether I am convinced of it or not). I find that idolatry seems to hide itself very well in my life. And it is always hidden to the degree that I can look at someone else and see their idol, and totally miss the fact that I am worshiping mine at the moment that I spotted theirs.

Mark Driscoll has a story that lends an interesting perspective to our American culture. Watch the video below and, if you can (without proving yourself to be a liar as well), tell me that you are not guilty of idolatry from time to time. I am sure that if you are anything like me, you struggle with this issue a lot. And, if you aren’t like me and you don’t struggle with idolatry at all, let me know your secret (you know, outside of moving into a cave all by myself and drinking well water and eating bugs). I’m sure there is some middle ground, Jesus help me find it.

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Too many Christians are stuck in the kiddie pool, afraid to go deeper. If it doesn’t fit on a bumper sticker, it’s too much work to memorize or think through. So we throw our theology onto bumper stickers and cutesy t-shirts, and usually end up butchering the message of the Cross in the process. I have never seen a bumper sticker that honored God as ultimate. But I have seen hundreds of them that make God look lame and cheesy and not worthy of honor, and cheesy god is not the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present, sovereign God that I know.
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The guys at Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA have some of the most advanced multimedia capabilities of any church that I have seen. They continually put out top quality multimedia content that moves my heart toward God. The video below is one of those videos.

It comes from a sermon called Death by Love: Reflections on the Cross by Mark Driscoll. I would highly recommend listening to the sermon in its entirety, or downloading it for later.

Oh, and by the way, the video ends at about 2:15 (even though it appears to go longer, it is blank for the remainder of the time).

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Piper. That crazy guy. Or wait, maybe it’s the other way around. Maybe it is the popular view of the church at large, when it comes to missions, that is crazy, and maybe seeing Christ supreme in all things is the correct way to see everything we do, including missions.

Anyway you see it, this is a great perspective about how we should see missions. And remember I didn’t write it, so don’t get mad at me, although, I guess, it is totally legit to be mad at me for agreeing with it. So agree, or disagree, it will not make it any less true.
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What would you do if you found a treasure so valuable that the loss of everything else to gain it would be gladly accepted? Wouldn’t you live your life in such a way that everything you did, and thought about would be centered around that treasure? Wouldn’t it cause you do do crazy things to gain it and to show it off once it was gained? I think so. And it’s my belief that that treasure which is more valuable, more life giving and sustaining, and more worthy of all of our dreams and affections is none other than Jesus Christ.

I think the issue with so many people, including many Christians that I know (and myself from time to time), is that they can get so caught up in the great things that God has done and the things that He has created, and their affections end up terminating on those things. And when they end there it makes it really difficult to see the treasure of who He is because they are blinded by what He made.
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“Breaking Now: Pope holds prayer service at national shrine in DC” “Fox News Alert” “Stop Everything you are doing” “Super Mega Important”

Just a thought here. As I sit working on some website stuff, I have Fox News running in the background, and it sounds like all of the anchors and guests are falling out of their seats with their excitement over the visit from the pope. I can’t even remember how many times today I have heard the phrase “holy father” in reference to the pope, and each time I cringe a little at the idea of anyone other than God being holy. We have one and only Holy Father and His name is not Benedict XVI.
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4am Thursday morning was one of those moments that I could do without. Although I was warned by the weather people of the impending storm before I went to bed, the sky looked too peaceful to bring anything other than a good cool night to us. But, all of my years as an armchair weather man failed me, and I was wrong.
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Man, John Piper has just been on a roll lately. This video is a promotional video for a conference that is being held soon, that I wish I had had the money to go to, but didn’t (maybe next time). Matt Chandler also has a video that is pretty closely related to this current one.

I am becoming more and more convinced of the importance of good Bible teaching in the lives of Christians. I think without good Bible teaching Christians can never fully understand who Jesus is and why they should live for Him.

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“God blesses those He loves.” We’ve all heard it before. “Jesus died so that you could have financial success and be healthy.” We’ve heard that too. And I tell you what, nothing gets me more fired up than the idea, or teaching, that people deserve things from God and that God wants to make us successful in this world.
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