Videos from The Gospel Coalition

From John Piper



Tim Keller:


Josh Harris:


And this guy :-):

The Key!

Which keyboard is playing that great sound? (1) The Present; or (2) Truth

explanation: Johannes Brahms!

sorry for the delay in blogging, everybody. i have VERY limited computer access right now . . . so enjoy this!

Don't Waste Your FAKE Cancer

John Piper had real cancer. Michael Guglielmucci had FAKE cancer.

Who is really sick? And should we now pray MORE or LESS for Pastor Guglielmucci than we were praying before?

Please open your hymnal . . .

"Please open your hymnal to hymn number 199."

Really Big News

So . . . maybe you've heard . . . I've taken another job.

After ten years (and eight months) working at Harvest Bible Chapel, I've taken a new position at Cornerstone University that begins this fall.

I'll be doing three main things at Cornerstone. (1) I'm going to be overseeing music and worship for their chapel services; (2) I'm going to be serving as adjunct faculty in their music division; and (3) I'm going to get a Master's degree from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary.

For some of you, this announcement might seem to come out of no where, others of you who might know me a little better can see this as the next divinely inspired step for both my ministry and my family. We are thankful to God for leading us.

Now, the most difficult part of this decision has been the decision to leave HBC. I have been attending Harvest Bible Chapel since September of 1993. I have grown and learned so much there. We love the church, and if my goal was to stay in a place where I am the most loved, respected, cherished, and well-paid, I would never leave.

But Jesus said, "By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit" and so my life has to be about more than gathering appreciation and resources. I must be about stewarding my strength, gifts, and opportunities for maximum impact in the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

I believe that Cornerstone is entering a new season of ministry that has fantastic potential for bearing much fruit. Their new President, Dr. Joe Stowell, is a proven leader and a friend who I believe in. Cornerstone will provide a great place for me to sharpen my musical and leadership skills and talking with their students will help my sharpen my thinking about worship and the Lord. It will be a joy to advance the kingdom in Grand Rapids for the glory of Jesus Christ.

Welcome Chair

Read a church website welcome sign, and find two problems.

First, spelling. Second, theological. Can you find 'em?

Terrible Bible Teaching for Kids!

A great article by John Walton (who teaches Old Testament at Wheaton College Graduate School) over at Koinonia (which is about to make my "LINKS" list) on the five basic fallacies that appear repeatedly in biblical children's curriculum.

I'm going to paste in the fallacies and one sentence, but if this piques your interest, please READ THE WHOLE THING.

The fallacies (and brief descriptions) are

1. Promotion of the Trivial: The lesson is based on what is a passing comment in the text (Josh 9:13, they did not consult the Lord), a casual observation about the text (Moses persevered in going back before Pharaoh over and over) or even a deduction supplied in the text (Joshua and Caleb were brave and strong).

2. Illegitimate extrapolation: The lesson is improperly expanded from a specific situation to all general situations (God helped Moses do a hard thing, so God will help you do a hard thing. But the hard thing Moses was doing was something commanded by God whereas in the lesson the hard thing becomes anything the child wants to achieve).

3. Reading Between the Lines: This occurs when teachers or students are asked to analyze what the characters are thinking, speculate on their motives, or fill in details of the plot that the story does not give.

4. Missing important nuance: This occurs when the curriculum pinpoints an appropriate lesson but misses a connection that should be made to drive the point home accurately.

5. Focus on people rather than God: If in the end, the final point is “We should/shouldn’t be like X (= some biblical character)” there is probably a problem unless the “X” is Jesus or God. Better is “we can learn through X’s story that God . . .”

I thought this sentence serves as a great summery:

If we are negligent of sound hermeneutics when we teach Bible to children, should it be any wonder that when they get into youth groups, Bible studies and become adults in the church, that they do not know how to derive the authoritative teaching from the text?

NoiseTrade: Synthar

a SWEET new service called NOISETRADE found this album for me by SYNTHAR. I love it.http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

WorshipGod '08

Having a great time at WorshipGod '08. I'm here with Andi Rozier, Steve Busch, and Matt Stowell. It's great to have Matty back, and we've all connected again without missing a beat.

Very refreshing times of worship, including a very special time this morning. I really feel like I received a "word" from the Lord this morning. It doesn't happen very often, but it was such a comfort to my own soul. Very kind of the Lord.

Cubbies sweep. It's all good.

Best Game Ever

Brian Blade Fellowship

Check out this live show by the Brian Blade Fellowship, live at the Village Vanguard.

It's very accessible jazz, which dips toward the movie soundtrack sound, in a good way.

Chess boxing

I think the summer Olympics may have just found their own bi-athalon.

CHESS BOXING.



ht: challies

Conversations With Ethan: Mad Scientists

Ethan just turned six. I am his father. The following conversation took place this afternoon, as I drove our family back to our house.

Dad, when I grow up, I want a job where I serve Jesus.

Well, Ethan, you can serve Jesus with whatever job you get.

Um, Dad? Not "Mad Scientist".

. . . I'm sorry, Ethan. What did you say?

A Mad Scientist is a person who makes things that COULD help the police, but they use the things to get money for themselves. That doesn't serve Jesus.

Luke 8:39 - Did you read that too fast?

Jesus speaking to the demon-possessed man He had just healed.

"Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

Don't read it too fast. Read it one more time to see if you get it.

"Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

There's a parallel in the two sentences. Let me show you with some formatting:

"Return to your home,
and declare
how much
God
has done for you."

And he went away,
proclaiming throughout the whole city
how much
Jesus
had done for him.

Return to your home = went away
declare = proclaiming
how much = how much
GOD = JESUS
has done for you = had done for him

It's a great little signal flare from Luke, telling us of the divinity of Jesus. But you miss it if you read too quickly.

CD: Video review

Here's a very kind review of my hymns CD.

Thank You, Jesus, For The Cross

I co-wrote a song with Andi Rozier entitled "Thank You, Jesus, For The Cross", and it is receiving some very kind words from such Internet blogs as BISH, and HEART&VOICE.

You can find a demo and lyrics here.

My life lived for only me
My days spent so sinfully
My heart was dark, my eyes too blind to see
My pride destroying me

Your life, sent for sin to die
Your blood shed to justify
Upon the cross, My ransom to afford
This sinners great reward

Thank You, Jesus, for the cross
Thank You for the price You paid for us
Giving up Your life to save the lost
Thank You, Jesus, for the cross

The crown placed upon Your head
The nails meant for me instead
Your death became the only way to life
For me to live is Christ

You knew no sin, but You became sin
The great sacrifice
so we’d become the righteousness of God

The story on this one is pretty fun. Andi and I have been trying to co-write a song for about, um, seven years. It just never worked. There's a lot of hilarious stories, though (Mate - the word "ORBIT" does not belong in a praise song. That's a brand of gum.).

At a song writers retreat about two years ago, we got a verse we both liked, but felt the melody and chorus were "pants" (a British phrase for "awful"). Then, we were helping our good friend Steve Busch write a bridge for one of his songs, and we came up with something Andi and I felt "chuffed" about (British: very excited).

Steve hated it. :-)

Fast forward about two weeks later, and Andi and I were co-leading a song writers retreat. The Lord gave us all a very sweet time. Andi brought out this lyric that we had co-written and played this new melody and brand new chorus. It was so moving. I told him it needed a first verse and ran to a quiet room. I came back 30 minutes later with the verse. We wrote, like, three more verses and kept one of them. AND we put the bridge that Steve Busch didn't like onto our song.

It got some tweaks. Most notably, there was a LOT of debate on the first line of the chorus. Was it better to say "Jesus, Thank You" or "Thank You, Jesus"? It seems strange now, but those of you who write songs know how much you agonize over that stuff.

So - that's how it happened.

Shai Linne: rap and sound check

Shai Linne killing it. And, yes, even Christians have monitor problems.

Vacation '08

Lisa and I got back from vacation. I was very excited to go, especially after hearing such a great exhortation from CJ Mahaney on vacationing for the glory of God.

The grandparents came in waves to watch the kids back in Illinois while my bride (of 10 years) and I ran down to St. Thomas with some really great friends, The Elliotts.

In case you couldn't tell, I didn't get very tan.

Here's some pics.

Calvin's Institutes - WORDLED!

Lots of guys are doing this now: