Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, August 24th, 2007

August 24, 2007 | 2 Comments

Today my wife gave birth to our beautiful son, Daniel Evan. Photos are on the family photo album page.

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

Psalm 139:13-17

Posted by Aaron | Filed Under Blog, Family 

Good Worship + Good Theology

August 22, 2007 | 1 Comment

While in seminary a friend of mine visited a church he was considering attending. He liked the church, but he said the worship songs were almost too theological for him to really worship. I understood what he meant - although I didn’t fully agree with him. When we worship most Christians rightly want an emotional experience. We want to express our love and adoration to God in song with simplicity and beauty. Worship need not be the place for a complex theological treatise - but certainly it has to be a place for rich theology.

When John sees four creatures worshiping in heaven, he records their incredibly simple praise in Revelation, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (4:8). Not only is their praise simple, they never cease saying it. That is, they repeat the same praise over and over again. Although many would criticize contemporary worship music for being too repetitive and simple, this generally is not a valid criticism.

Must our worship music be stripped down or devoid of theological content to be truly engaging and truly worshipful? Certainly not. Although simple, the creature’s worship in Revelation is abundantly rich in theological content. In their song, simple as it is, they proclaim the praises of a preeminent God, holy to the extreme, eternal, powerful, the rightful Lord over all of creation, who will come again to bring his judgment. Good worship, true worship, must be theologically rich!

Here’s an analogy. I don’t know a lot about computers. I couldn’t begin to tell you what most of the specs on a computer package mean. I’m told that the computer in my study is top of the line - but that’s about all I know about it. On the other hand, the gentleman who picked out that computer knows almost everything about it. He knows the specs, he knows it’s performance ratings and capabilities, etc. The question is, “Who is better equipped to sing the praises of the computer?” The one who knows it best, of course.

Lately, I’ve been thankful for a new wave of theologically rich worship music that maintains the sort of simplicity and beauty that is conducive to true worship. There are many new songs that have been written by those who know their theological “specs,” and thus know their God. Please allow me to point you to a few of these resources. Maybe you have some others to add.

1) Reformed University Fellowship (RUF): RUF is the college ministry of the Presbyterian Church in America. Some involved in this ministry have rewritten new music for many old hymns. In my opinion some of the music is an improvement, and some not over the traditional tunes. But the truly great thing is that many truly great hymns that have been forgotten are now being remembered. Their hymnbook can be found here.

2) Sandra McCracken: Sandra has written new music for a number of old hymns as well. Her album The Builder and the Architect is full of great stuff. She has also written some lyrics for worship music.

3) Getty Music: Here you’ll find some wonderful new original hymns. Check out O Church Arise.

Posted by Aaron | Filed Under Blog, Church and Culture, Theology 

A New Look - again

August 21, 2007 | 1 Comment

That’s right, we’ve got a new look again. I’m in the process of adding some features, and generally doing some all-around updating. Wordpress is fantastic for flexibility and ease of use. Everything’s not quite perfect yet - so please let me know if you have any problems viewing/using the site so I can make fixes.

One new item I hope will add some excitement to this blog will be the guest-blogger feature. I’ll be inviting some other folks to contribute - and we’ll see where that takes us.

Until then…

Posted by Aaron | Filed Under Blog, Computer/Internet 

The Lowdown

August 14, 2007 | 1 Comment

Well, it’s time once again for the semi-regular update on everything that’s worth reading, thinking about, or doing on the world-wide web - and other things that are a complete waste of time. Sit back, relax, and allow me to be your guide…

Visit Round Hill Farm in Elizabeth, PA. No website, but here’s a picture.

Read about the ministerial qualifications of Ted Haggard’s replacement at New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Compare with the biblical qualifications found in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:7-9.

Read about the relationship between a church’s elders and it’s women’s ministries.

Generate your own church sign at churchsigngenerator.com.

Read from a huge selection of cheesy church signs.

Listen to a free seminary course from Covenant Theological Seminary.

Listen to interesting discussions on morality from Radio Lab, a radio show from New York Public Radio.

Create your own book at Blurb.com.

Read one sentence stories from onesentence.org - some funny, some tragic, some whimsical, some offensive.

View one of the many interesting maps at strangemaps.wordpress.com - such as this one, a hotly debated 1418 Chinese map of the world, showing surprising acurracy, and suggesting Columbus wasn’t the first.

Watch Filipino prisoners dance to Michael Jackson’s Thriller on youtube.

Read about injustices in the Filipino justice system, as reported by Amnesty International.

Read about the college student who caught Barry Bonds record breaking* home run ball - and may have to pay a big chunk in taxes.

Watch a fascinating documentary video on life in North Korea at joox.net.

Listen to a sermon jam of John Piper talking about following Christ.
Download Link

Read about how Reformed Theology/Calvinism is making a comeback among young Christians - from September 2006 Christianity Today.

Listen to this song and decipher it’s poetry. I’ve never been able to figure it out myself. Find the lyrics here.
Download Link

Posted by Aaron | Filed Under Blog, Lowdown 

Locking Church Doors for the Good of the World

August 8, 2007 | Leave a Comment

I recently finished reading a brief overview of the Reformation by Stephen Nichols called, The Reformation: How a Monk and a Mallet Changed the World. Although brief, it was an excellent overview of the people and events surrounding the Protestant Reformation, and I learned a number of things I hadn’t known before. Of those, perhaps the most interesting is the simple fact that Calvin would lock the church doors in Geneva after the worship service.

Nichols writes:

Despite his insistence on the primacy of the church, Calvin knew the church had its limits. John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress illustrates these limits well. In his classic allegory Bunyan calls the church “The house built by the Lord of the Hill for the safety and rest of pilgrims.” Bunyan has his main character, Christian, enter this house, the church; he has him “fed,” his allegory for the sermon and the Lord’s Supper; and he has him led into the armor, where he is equipped. Then Bunyan has the keepers of the house send him away, out into the world. Calvin did the same for his parishioners by locking the church doors after the service. Christians, having been fed and equipped, refreshed and nourished, are to be in the world, according to Calvin.

Theologians of the medieval era tended to downplay life outside the walls of the church or monastery or convent. They tended to give little credence to one’s work in the world and to the world itself. Calvin and Luther, joined by many other Reformers, hammered out a doctrine of vocation: one’s work is a calling. They also reminded their congregations and us that this is God’s world, and we are to cultivate it and enjoy it for God’s glory. Calvin locked the church doors so the church could be in the world.

Having read this, I was struck by how poorly we do the same today. Too often, rather than sending Christians into the world, we’re continually calling them back to the church. Today we have Bible studies - fellowship groups - youth groups - elder/deacon meetings - children’s programs - VBS - recreation programs - church softball - church choir - church picnics - church schools - church dinners - etc.

There is, of course, nothing wrong with any of these things. Some of them are quite biblical (such as church dinners, fellowship and Bible study). The problem is that the sheer volume of all of these church activities effectively removes the Christian from the world altogether. There is no time for involvement in community activities and no time to love and care for and interact with one’s neighbor.

For many, evangelism now simply consists of inviting someone to church, yet the true Biblical idea of evangelism means going into the world to share the gospel. I can’t think of one instance in the N.T. where a conversion takes place within the context of church worship. Paul allows for the presence of unbelievers within worship (1 Corinthians 14:24-25), but his statement is conditional, “if” an unbeliever enters. It is not a command to bring unbelievers to worship. Every instance of conversion in the New Testament (unless I’m missing something) takes place in the world, not in the church.

Maybe we would do well to ween our church activities down to a necessary few - and then actually live in this world. Maybe we would do well to recapture the Reformation vision that affirms the goodness of the world, and then devote ourselves to community life in the neighborhoods, towns and cities where we live. Maybe we would do well to invite unbelievers to church less frequently, and more frequently accept their invitations to participate in their lives. Maybe we would do well to lock our church doors a little more often.

Maybe we would do well if our boasting were a little more like Paul’s, “For our boast is this: the testimony of our conscience that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God…” (2 Corinthians 1:12).

Posted by Aaron | Filed Under Blog, Church and Culture, Missions, Theology 

The Lowdown

August 3, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Here it is - the new feature you’ve been waiting for. A periodic update on everything that’s worth reading, thinking about, or doing on the web.

Read an insightful blog post about where the Church and Starbucks cross paths.

View the trailer to The Golden Compass. The first movie based on Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Material’s trilogy. The best children’s books I’ve read… and the most anti-Christian.

Read Rick Phillips writing about why he decided to send his kids to a fundamentalist Christian school.

Create a personalized radio station at pandora or last.fm.

Read about how you can best care for your pastor’s wife.

Read what Martin Luther has to say about fathers changing diapers.

Read what John Piper, a pastor in Minneapolis, has to say about the bridge collapse.

Listen to Piper talk about why there is suffering in the world.

Read about Bob Hope at the Clearfield County Fair.

Play golf at the Madison Club. I’ve finally found a decent public course near home.

Subscribe to Mars Hill Audio. An audio journal for thinking Christians.

Listen to a “sermon jam” of S.M. Lockridge’s famous sermon on the titles of Christ.
Download Link

Simpsonize yourself. That’s me.

Posted by Aaron | Filed Under Blog, Church and Culture, Lowdown