Remonstrance

Before I went into work today, I happened to hear David Jerimias (Dar & I saw him in San Diego), and he read this from the KJV:

Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. James 5:3 (KJV)

Then this description of the great economic systems of man:

And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. Revelation 18:1-4 (KJV)

Then another great preacher preached this:

I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Psalms 91:2 (KJV)

Then I went into work and got laid off. Wow. What preparation - I never listen to Christian radio because it’s usually singing. Not this morning.

Although I’m laid off, there is yet the blessings of the Lord at work here:

• I am actually on “administrative leave” until November 30th, at which time I am severed. They didn’t have to do that - and the VP said this was the only way to get additional severance pay for me since I’ve worked only 10.5 months there. Normally I would only get 2 weeks. This enables me to search for a job from a position of strength: I’m technically still employed.
• Because my “administrative leave” crosses the 1-year threshold, I can retain benefits through January which I otherwise would not be eligible for.
• My employment there was one big training course in J2EE and Enterprise computing technology - highly valuable skills which I lacked. Last year at this time, my programming skills were very narrowly focused on POS and client-side computing, and my job opportunities were very restricted. Not anymore.

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It was a dark and rainy night…

But it turned out to be an amazing night. Joel’s been bugging me for a while to check out “The Dive” at KSU, which is run by Campus Crusade for Christ (CC4C). It was about 20-30 people when we were starting our KSU Bible Study, but now they’re almost 200 people, meeting in a really cool auditorium.

I met Rick, the paid staffer running the ministry. They apparently have 5 additional staffers, Rick said. (That’s what we need!) He was familiar with Xenos and my brother Den, and he likes us.

They’ve placed our group on their Web site:

It was their meeting that arrested my attention. It was energized by excited and driven Christians, student-run from beginning to end. These were people willing to take a chance to serve the Lord by standing up there on stage to jam, act, teach, testify, MC, and more.

No, it wasn’t a well-polished production, and mistakes were made as expected from undergrads – but what carried the meeting was their determination to serve, their imagination and creativity and variety of gifting at work.

Boy, I was zapped by it. I got the fever! We should and could hit that campus with all our Xenos muscle like CC4C is doing. It rocked my world when it suddenly hit me we were loaded with powerful gifting, opportunity and spiritual muscle in our college group. For several years the Lord has been quietly building a repository of spiritual critical mass down there, and we could tear up that campus!

Shock and Awe!

Inspired, I started quickly jotting these “Deep Thoughts” on my Palm – when suddenly, over the loudspeaker I hear, “KEITH MCCALLUM!”

What? I look up, surprised, and behold! An auditorium of eyeballs were peering at me, and my buddies are all pointing their fingers at me and saying, “Go on up there! Go on!”

I figured out the MC had selected my name (at random, supposedly) from a bucket of visitor names (we graciously filled out visitor forms earlier, as asked), and I was now the big “prizewinner!”

So there goes a grey-haired old man followed by 400 student eyeballs and 200 smiles or smirks as I take a deep breath and boldly stride up there to claim my prize. It was a gift certificate for a Starbucks coffee.

Whoopy.

“Here, sit down,” the MC said, “Tell us all about yourself - Do you ever go to Starbucks?”

“Sure, all the time, whenever I’m tired or need a cup of coffee,” I stammer. ()

“Well, I see here it says you’re a graduate student, right?” he said, holding up my Visitor Form where I had circled the “Graduate” option.

“Um, no, not really,” I said, and looked out at the masses (oh boy, now they’ll think I’m just a lying scumbag…) “Well, see, what I thought it meant was to circle the highest level of education completed or something like that…”

“So you’re not a student?” the MC asked, looking surprised at me.

“Well, no, but looking now at this place, it’s all starting to come back to me now…” I said. “And it’s not a pretty picture.”

“Well, what are you doing here? How did you get here?” he asked, clearly teasing me. (Should I tell him we’re spying?)

“I was just tooling around here and there, and those guys right up there come up to me…” I said, pointing at Joel, Alex, Joe, Jake and Eric, who start waving their arms wildly so everyone sees them, “…and they say, ‘come on with us, Old Man, and check out this place!’ So, they drag me along, and here I am.”

The MC stares at me incredulously for a moment, then with a smile, “Well, that’s great! Thanks for coming!” Everyone claps, and I’m released to go back to my seat.

“Why didn’t you tell them you were from Xenos and something about us?” the guys ask me later.

Good question, but I had a good answer: “And tell them we’re checking them out, and, ‘Hey, by the way, come on over to our place instead!’” I said.

“Hey, c’mon everybody! The party’s at College Avenue!’” Jake said.

“And besides,” I added, “what a let-down if they found out their ‘grand prize’ went to some old Preacher Man instead of some worthy seeker…”

Everyone thought that one over for a minute, then: “They probably thought you were some street bum we dragged there and now they’re praying for you,” someone else said – I think it was my kind friend Alex.

Well, I didn’t really lie to 200 people. Truthfully (in a very general sense), I was just doing my thing and these guys kept bugging me to check it out…and that’s the scoop!

BUT THERE’S MORE…!

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Imagine reading a headline like that in your local newspaper. Christians and non-Christians alike would be outraged. But upon reading the article, you discover that ‘Christian Freedom’ is the name of an organization engaged in a nation-wide smear campaign against atheists, and some atheist organization responded by denouncing the activities of the ‘Christian Freedom Organization’.

Now, read this headline which actually appeared in today’s BBC News:

‘Free Thought Takes on Organized Religion’

It sounds like “Freedom of thought stands up against organized repressors” at first glance, but actually it’s an organization called “Free Thought” which is engaged in a national ad campaign against faith. They’re putting up billboards that look like this:

wonder if it read ‘imagine a world without atheists’ …?

What I find astonishing is not the billboard campaign (even though–sniff! sniff!–it’s about Columbus, my beloved hometown), but rather the reporter which gave this campaign a good publicity headline for what can only be described as a venomous attack against religious faith. ‘Free Thought’ is attacking, not being attacked!

The reporter (and his editor) made the amateurish mistake of reporting what the “Spin Doctors” at FFRF.ORG wanted reported. In Journalism school way back in the early ’80s they taught us that Public Relations people will often name their organization in such a way that provides free, good publicity whenever the press refers to the organization. The press fell for it! Headlines are especially vulnerable to this free publicity, because space is limited, and some editor, not having enough space for “Freedom From Religion Foundation” simply condensed the essence of the title to fit the space.

I just thought you’d be interested in what they teach you in journalism school.

Also, I wanted to blog this quickly before my good friend Joesnake blogged it, because it’s actually Joe’s discovery, and a good one at that. Thanks Joe! I love you, man!

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Tags: apologetics, atheism, humor

An Ominous ‘Revolution’

Know this: George Barna’s latest book on the future of Christianity depicts a nightmare. It’s a future already in full-swing all around us. It’s Laodicean Christianity with a smile. Barna calls this population of compromised Christians “Revolutionaries” and has written a book ominously warning the rest of us to quit criticizing the “Revolution” — else get left behind in the stampede dust of those quitting the church!

Know this: just as the prophets of old were unwelcome in their own hometown, so are Revolutionaries looked at askance by even their closest friends and family members…

Be forewarned: just as Jesus Christ, the ultimate lover of humanity was scorned, misunderstood, persecuted, and eventually murdered for His extreme love, goodness, compassion, humility, wisdom, and grace, so are Revolutionaries abused by a culture that is itself in crisis. The mere presence of Revolutionaries makes the typical American citizen—yes, even the typical churchgoer—uncomfortable.” - Revolution, p.16

The only substantial revolution in this book is with the Barna Group’s quality control before printing the book. It is an embarrassment to this heretofore respectable research institute known for its surveys and polls. [Read more →]

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Tags: american church, books, reviews, statistics

from SPIN Magazine

Apparently R.E.M. is “coming out” now. As one industry pundit said, “while their recent albums were a bit insular, Accelerate sounds as if it were made with the audience in mind.” So R.E.M. is “coming out” as the more extroverted band we loved in the 80’s. But Stipe is also “coming out” and acknowledging he’s gay, too. A coincidence?

Has anyone heard the new R.E.M. album? Is it any good? Leave a comment, let me know!

But what’s fascinating and potentially useful for those of us interested in word-craft is Michael Azerrad’s article about Stipe in Spin magazine. It’s Web-writing at its best, and worth studying. Web-writing is surely the next-generation of sweet prose, no doubt. As a lifelong aficionado of writing style and an OSU journalism grad, I’ve studied the sweeping changes in articulate style in the last two centuries, and this new Web-writing style deserves careful consideration. You see it in blogs, in a crude way, but it’s obviously reaching higher places, and English style is undergoing evolutionary change. I wonder if they teach the mechanics of this style in journalism or anywhere.

Azerrad’s style is economical. There’s no fat, not a single word. He conjures a whirlwind of fast-paced pictures like the MTV music videos, but Azerrad uses clipped word-pictures. Fascinating, somewhat disjointed, and reflective of the American psyche.

Anyway, the R.E.M. interview is a worthwhile read.

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Tags: culture, music, reviews

It’s been on the “Best Seller” list for the New York times now for weeks. It’s forbidden to be read by Mark Driscoll (my fundy-hero). It’s a modern-day “Pilgrim’s Progress” …

What do you think about it? Have you heard about it? I’m interested to get some feedback on it. Read the USA Today article. If you’re dealing with Christianity, you’ll be asked about it, I’ll bet.

All the controversy is caused by this crazy little book, “The Shack”, where God is depicted as a black woman, and according to Christianity Today it poses a “Modalist View” of the Trinity (Modalism views the Trinity as one person who takes three different “forms” or “modes”, and it was denounced as heresy at Nicene and other church councils.)

the author -sexually abused (USA Today)

Says Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle: “If you haven’t read The Shack, don’t!” According to USA Today:

Driscoll, whose multi-campus non-denominational church is packed with 6,000 people each weekend in the least-churched corner of the nation, says he is “horrified” by Young’s book. He says “it misrepresents God. Young misses the big E on the eye chart.” - USA Today article.

Anyone come across other reviews about the book? Let me know!

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Tags: reviews, theology

It was a cold, rainy day, and all I could do was wait. The great migration of families and vans to Florida sunshine would begin soon, leaving behind this dreary Ohio weather. For once I was all packed and ready, but nobody else was…I lay sleep before the all-night journey began.

I slipped into a surreal dream that would haunt me the rest of Spring vacation.

We Are Stardust

Warm sunlight sprinkled through the pine forest and danced across the log-cabin floor of the lodge. Sliding-glass doors opened into a balcony overlooking an endless forest of needles dancing in the sun. Cascading stream-sounds drifted through the pine trees.

I sat in a large room filled with empty tables and chairs, all except for one: Greg, Mark, Joel and a few others were here, and we were laughing about something and sipping coffee. (It was like this Roundtable conversation…)

something like this, by a stream

“I can’t believe how easy it is!” Greg said when the laughter stopped, but we all kept smiling and nodding.

“We tried so hard, so many years, but never imagined it was so easy!” someone said, chuckling. We could laugh about it now.

We were reminiscing about the church-growth movement we stumbled-upon accidentally. We were now “hopping” away from Northeast Ohio in short, 100-mile jumps, and after several years we were somewhere in the mountains of eastern Pennsylvania planting more churches.

A large Ohio-Pennsylvania map on the wall was marked with a row of big, fat dots across it. Lines radiated outwards from each fat dot, and each line ended in a small dot. The fat dots were church-planting “hubs” with emanating lines — hundreds of them — ending in small “dots” that were newly-planted churches!

the radial beauty of starburst church growth

“They look like star-bursts,” someone said as we were gazing at all of them. I heard distant strains of music echoing in the forest from ages ago: “…we are star-dust…”

The World’s Greatest General

“Great armies march off the map!” — Alexander the Great

One man said it, but a man named Jesus Christ actually did it: he launched a movement that marched off the map.

We were laughing because we finally discovered the secret of a church-planting movement, and it was so absurdly simple! It was so obvious, too. It was the movement inaugurated by Jesus.

A movement doesn’t grow in, fat churches, but in small, little groups spawned with maybe a dozen Christians (or less). Such simple groups! But they were strong too, because they were tied together by “hubs”. Each “hub” was a Central Teaching and other things like training, finances and other ministrations which made the little groups strong.

• It was easy to plant a church of 10 or so!

The door burst open, and a few of our young leaders came bounding in, smiling and hyped. They were leading a group 10 miles south in a town called Gettysburg.

“We had 15 people last night!” one declared. There was clapping and back-slapping for the new leaders: “Cool! …Good job! …Praise God!”

They dragged a couple chairs across the wood floor and plopped down to tell us all about it, but then…

The door burst open and a young married couple came bouncing in from our first church plant 10 miles north…

“Hey guys!” the young lady said. “Guess what? We planted another church last night!”

“Yeah, and with 11 people!” the guy said.

“Whooot! Yahoo! …Praise God!” This was a great breakthrough: the first of the “Next Generation” of churches for eastern Pennsylvania.

something like this, but a little more rustic

What conversation echoed in that lodge that sunny morning! It all made sense now…

O Sleeper!

“Awake, O sleeper!
Rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you!” — Eph. 5:24

When I woke up it was still cold, rainy and dreary in Akron.

But now I had an interesting story to tell Darlene and all my friends, and we talked about it all the way to sunny Florida.

But the “O sleeper” verse above is followed by an good point:

Therefore be very careful how you live – not as unwise but as wise, taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil — Eph. 5:25,26

March 14, 2008 set in-motion a chain of events which I must discuss next…

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