The Fire Pit

6 Effective Ways To Keep Your Church Young and Healthy

2011-12-06T16:28:00.000-08:00

I can't be silent anymore. I'm ashamed to say I haven't always thought this way. I bought into the growth and performance-driven model for years and God had to shake me up along the way and break me to realize how wrong I have been. My biggest failure as a pastor has been viewing people as cattle to be herded instead of sheep to be loved. Just about any conference or training I attended affirmed

Would you like to be the most succesful church in America? Here's How!!

2011-12-01T10:29:00.000-08:00

In Northern Nevada there is an incredibly successful church. There are hundreds of musicians and artists, singing, a potluck, and an amazing spiritual experience. Their website gives some of their core values such as radical inclusion, gifting, community, and participation. In 2011 the gathering reached one of it's highest numbers to date of 50,000 people. What is this amazingly successful

Most Effective Way to Grow your Church, Guaranteed!!

2011-11-29T19:29:00.000-08:00

Screw church growth!! I know this is an offensive way to begin a blog, but I have finally blown a gasket. I have received one too many e-mail promos of some conference some expert is giving on how to make your church grow. These promos are sent because they are effective, much like the adds on how to have a larger manhood by taking a pill. I know they are effective because I used to believe in

Healthy Marriage and Order

2011-09-12T13:06:00.000-07:00

I have come back from a long blogging hiatus because of big transitions in my life, but hope to more consistently continue on the topic of marriage in parallel with Seed's sermon series on Colossians starting September 18th. In my last blog I pointed out that from a Biblical perspective marriage is an institution. This means it was created by God for purposes beyond love, tax breaks, or

Marriage is an Institution not a buddy system

2011-07-14T11:25:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid growing up in Kansas, our school used to go to the greatest amusement park I've ever been to - Worlds of Fun. When we got off the school bus, the organizers told each of us to choose one person that would be our buddy for the entire day. Go on the rides with us, make sure we don't get lost. Of course I would always choose a guy or girl I liked because we all know that Worlds of

Marriage Series

2011-06-19T13:51:00.000-07:00

On September 11th Seed Church is starting a series in Colossians, so in order to prepare for that series over the next couple months I will be blogging on marriage. The blogs will be coming out pretty rapidly and hopefully there will be some thoughtful discussion. Stay tuned.

Jesus and "Hell"

2011-06-16T15:03:00.000-07:00

Jesus spoke often about hell and judgment throughout his ministry. The word Jesus uses consistently for hell is the Greek word Gehenna referring to the Valley of Hinnom. This valley was a place just south of Jerusalem. During Judah's history this same valley was associated with idolatrous worship, particularly the sacrificing of children to Molech. After Josiah abolished the practice and cursed

2011-06-04T12:09:00.000-07:00

"The vague and tenuous hope that God is too kind to punish the ungodly has become a deadly opiate for the consciences of millions." -A.W. Tozer

The Old Testament and "Hell"

2011-06-02T11:24:00.000-07:00

One important principle for interpreting the Scripture is that it is progressive in it's revelation. For example, in Genesis 3 Adam was told that his "seed" would one day defeat Satan. In Genesis 12 the "seed"is said to be the progeny of Abraham and will also bring blessing and eternal hope to those who believe in him. It isn't until we reach Galatians 3 that the "Seed" is identified as Jesus

A brief history of the "Hell" debate

2011-05-26T08:12:00.000-07:00

The attack on the doctrine of hell as presented in Scripture goes all the way back to one of the earliest church fathers. Origen, whose doctrine of apokatastasis, taught that there would ultimately be a restoration of all people and things. He was one of the earliest Universalists. At the fifth ecumenical council, the church declared anathemas against Origen's teaching on this subject.

Rapture Mispredictions No Joke

2011-05-21T08:58:00.000-07:00

So the wack-job Harold Camping who predicted that the "rapture" would come this morning was wrong. In the Old Testament God setup a standard by which to identify a prophet. One way to determine if someone was speaking from God is whether or not what they predict about God and his work actually came true (Deut. 18:21). If the person was deemed to be a false prophet they were to be killed by

What is a "Fundamentalist"?

2011-05-20T07:52:00.000-07:00

"Fundamentalist" is a confusing word. For example, if you live in Seattle and believe the Bible is the literal word of God, husbands are to act like men and lead their homes with strength and love, or that God created the world, then you may be labeled a "fundamentalist" by many in this culture. This is simply because Seattle is so extremely liberal they have no reference point for what the

Love Wins, Rob Bell and "Hell"

2011-05-16T10:10:00.000-07:00

In my previous blog I discussed Rob Bell's view of heaven as articulated in his book, "Love Wins". Now I want to address his view on hell. Let me begin by saying clearly, Rob Bell is a Universalist. The dictionary definition of a Universalist is someone who believes all mankind will eventually be saved. Bell denied being a Universalist in one of his TV interviews probably because he doesn't want

Jim Gaffigan, Camping, and Bacon

2011-05-11T13:06:00.000-07:00

I don't like to camp and I love bacon. Nothing more needs to be said. Funny Stuff!!!!

Top 20 Comic Book Heroes - IGN

2011-05-10T08:04:00.000-07:00

I recently watched some of IGN's top 100 greatest comic book characters which you can see here. I don't have the time or money to read comic books like I used to, but the video reminded me again of the profound impact comic books and their characters have had on our culture. Comic book characters are the Greek mythology of our day. We truly work out our struggles and psychosis through

Three Things That Annoy Me

2011-05-03T11:35:00.000-07:00

So I have been AWOL for a couple weeks. After 10 years of renting, my family was finally able to purchase a house in the exact neighborhood we wanted within a couple miles of the church I pastor. God is good. Our house is a blessing and I'm very thankful for it. The first house we bought years ago was brand-new so I did very little work on it. The house we bought in

Church Planters can learn from Chade-Meng Tan

2011-04-21T10:13:00.000-07:00

This is brief talk by Chade-Meng Tan, the president and founder of Google. What I thought was very insightful was how a company driven by compassion produces humble but ambitious leaders which Tan believes are the greatest type of leader. He also says that when an environment of compassion is created, people begin to do spontaneous grass-roots projects on their own and eventually some of those

The Gospel Coalition in Chicago

2011-04-20T08:17:00.000-07:00

Acts 29 pastors smoking cigars in downtown Chicago This last week I was in Chicago for the Gospel Coalition. It was great time to reconnect with my father who pastors a church in northern Pennsylvania. He payed to fly me out to be with him during the week. I also had the opportunity to meet up with old friends and church planters who came for the conference as well. I had some rich fellowship

20/20 on the Cult of Independent Fundamentalism

2011-04-11T07:38:00.000-07:00

In 2005 I did a blog series on my Independent Fundamentalist Baptist background and the university I attended which created these monsters, Bob Jones University. I went so far as to call Fundamentalism as a whole a cult. Some agreed, others mocked me for Bob Jones bashing, others who still blindly follow these churches and pastors were hurt by my comments. Years later, people are still making

Rob Bell on Heaven Part 3

2011-04-09T20:16:00.000-07:00

Rob Bell's second definition of heaven is one that on the surface may or may not be correct depending on what he means. He describes heaven as a "real place" but then proceeds to describe heaven as more of an ideal of how things are to be. This ideal is something that through our effort and work can be eventually brought down to earth and form a kind of heaven-on-earth bliss where feelings of

Rob Bell on Heaven Part 2

2011-04-01T13:17:00.000-07:00

In the last blog I showed Bell's three part definition of heaven and now I will attempt break down each definition beginning with the first. "Heaven" is sometimes a synonym for "God." On page 42 Bell says, "In Jesus' day, one of the ways that people got around actually saying the name of God was to substitute the word 'heaven' for the word 'God'. Jesus often referred to the 'kingdom of heaven'

Love Wins, Rob Bell and "Heaven" Part 1

2011-03-30T08:38:00.000-07:00

Let me be upfront in saying that ultimately only Rob Bell knows what he means and really believes about heaven. After reading chapter 2 three times and also reading several of his interviews some questions still exist as to what he means. Maybe Bell is unclear because he likes to create tension. Maybe he is unclear because he isn't sure what he means himself. One of the trademarks of the Emergent

Love Wins, by Rob Bell

2011-03-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

I am not happy I am going to write this critique of Rob Bell's new book, Love Wins. Evangelical Christians love to jump on anti-book bandwagons and spend months at a time critiquing anyone who has a new idea. Ironically, many of these "critics" also quickly rush to publish their own books making money on the anti-view. I think it is disgusting. If you want to critique what you feel is heresy then

Francois Fenelon on Humility

2011-03-23T12:42:00.000-07:00

That is false humility which believes itself unworthy of God's goodness and dares not look to it with trust. True humility lies in seeing our own unworthiness and giving ourselves up to God, never doubting that He can work out the greatest results for and in us. If God's success depends on finding our foundations already laid, we might well fear that our sins had destroyed our chances. But God

Does he eat steroids for breakfast?

2011-03-22T09:15:00.000-07:00

I am continually amazed how each generation of athletes gets better and better. I remember the Statue of Liberty dunk invented by Dr. J (Julius Erving). It seemed crazy high and unbeatable. Then the Jordan era produced some fluid and creative dunks. These dunks were still for the most part performed on fast breaks or in dunk contests and not straight down the lane full of defenders. If there

Myth's about Community

2011-03-15T06:01:00.000-07:00

"Community" is a word used in many churches today to describe the authentic, transparent, and accountable relationships people experience with each other. Really, it is about being a family away from your family. Everyone has experienced aspects of community, but few have experience it in full. Why is community something so many people long for, but few experience? I think it is because it is

Religion and Science

2011-03-11T06:52:00.000-08:00

This is a great article here by a Rabbi Jacob Adams about the continual struggle science has with abiogenesis (the origin of life and where how it started). Here is an excerpt: "Not one of them has the foggiest notion about how to answer life's most fundamental question: How did life arise on our planet? The non-believer is thus faced with two choices: to accept as an article of faith that

The Perfect Day

2011-03-10T09:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my birthday. If not for the constant reminder from friends and children I would never remember I had a birthday at all. I'm not against finding excuses for parties and cake, but I just don't get too excited about birthdays. Yesterday was different. I decided I would celebrate my birthday, so I took the day off. What I experienced yesterday was the perfect day. Not perfect for

What can art realistically accomplish?

2011-03-08T08:59:00.000-08:00

I don't think I've every seen anything quite like this. The use of art and story combined to help form neutral conversations and change perceptions. I think the best quote on this video is the story of the man on the street in impoverished Monrovia who was looking at one of the art projects on the wall and trying to figure out what it was. He kept asking, "What is the purpose of this project?

Is having kids stupid?

2011-03-07T18:48:00.000-08:00

Here is a pretty cynical article on the stupidity of having kids. I guess if everything of value is measured by it's ease and financial benefit then maybe he has a point. If only the author of this article's mom had headed the warnings and not had children so we wouldn't have to read this crap. Thoughts?

Dance Has Spiritual Value

2011-03-07T15:31:00.000-08:00

My wife and I have been attending and also financially support a non-profit called Sixth Day Dance. One of the co-founders and creative directors attends our church and we have been highly impressed with the quality of their productions. I like to dance, though I am not very good. Most dancing I ever attempt in the privacy of my own home is club-dancing or Hip-hop. For me dancing is fun. It is

A Cigar and a Story

2011-03-03T15:44:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday myself and three other pastors from Seattle attended a pastor's and church planter's conference in Portland. At the hotel in which we stayed there was a little mini-bar hut behind the hotel in a place we would never have found unless we were looking for it. We were told we could smoke cigars in that hut. The hut was tiny. Couldn't hold more than a dozen grown men at a time. There I met

What part of "church" are you drawn to?

2011-03-03T09:14:00.000-08:00

I was at a conference this week led by Hugh Halter, the author of Tangible Kingdom, and Bob Logan who founded the life-coaching ministry called Coachnet. I enjoyed the Tangible Kingdom book, but the conference was kind of Mehhh. A statement was made which I thought worth having a conversation around. The statement was this: "What you draw people with is what you draw people to." If our

Expert Idolatry

2011-02-28T18:36:00.000-08:00

What I thought was interesting about this presentation was how our culture has become so consumed with following "expert" advice that they we longer think for ourselves. An expert is anyone who has published a book, earned a degree, or gained any level of celebrity. Yet think about how many times the "experts" have been completely wrong. It is healthy to challenge what we hear, and do our own

Compensating for something?

2011-02-28T06:15:00.000-08:00

For any dude who glorifies the 21st century and thinks to himself, "If I lived back in the Medieval Period I would be a kick-ass knight", check out this video on contemporary jousting. It seems silly until you see how bad these guys get hurt.

N.T. Wright on the Gospel

2011-02-24T08:55:00.000-08:00

Below is an excerpt from N.T. Wright's articulation of the Gospel at the Edinburgh Dogmatics Conference. My challenge to those who struggle with Wright is to point out where he is wrong, non-Reformed or non-orthodox in his view of the gospel. Justification is a separate topic, but his view of the gospel is the foundation by which his views on justification rest. "I begin where Romans begins –

This is wrong on so many levels

2011-02-23T15:45:00.000-08:00

N.T. Wright and Paul's New Perspective

2011-02-23T14:23:00.000-08:00

I ran across a transcript of a talk N.T. Wright made at Edinburgh years ago dealing with his somewhat unique take on the gospel, justification, and salvation. Wright continues to create controversy because of his views. Last year I read his book Justification and thought it was both provocative and thoroughly Biblical. In an Inter Varsity Press Q and A Wright explains much about his book and

Bush Cancels Trip Over "Torture" Issue

2011-02-21T17:42:00.000-08:00

Apparently George W. Bush cancelled a trip to Switzerland under concern he could be arrested for his part in allowing water-boarding of criminals. First, I want say that in my opinion water-boarding is a form of psychological torture. I know of at least one radio talk-show host who mocked the idea of water-boarding being torture and then changed his mind after having it only partially done to

Why do men hate going to church?

2011-02-21T08:53:00.000-08:00

Someone just forwarded this summary of David Murrow's Why Men Hate Going To Church. I have read the book, but for those who haven't this summary does a great job of breaking down the issues. This isn't an excuse for apathetic, spiritually deadbeat men to sit back and continue to watch on the sidelines. However, it does point out some insights that American churches as a whole need to hear. The

Abbott and Costello

2011-02-17T07:43:00.000-08:00

I grew up watching Abbott and Costello and I still think they are one of the funniest comedy duo's of all time. Check our their classic, "Who's on First" sketch. The speed by which they banter is amazing. This would be difficult to pull off. Sorry about the stupid commercial beforehand. I don't know how to turn that off.

Bible Myths - Lucifer is "morning star"

2011-02-16T09:26:00.000-08:00

Isaiah 14:12-13 12 How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star (Lucifer), son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! 13 You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. Clearly there are passages which

Why Beauty Matters?

2011-02-15T08:26:00.000-08:00

A good friend turned me on to this 6 part video series all of which you can follow on Youtube. Here is part one. I have watched about 3 of them and I like what I have seen so far. On one hand I agree with the fact that putting a urinal in a glass case is not beauty or art. On the other hand I still am not convinced that beauty and art can only come from skilled elites who define for the rest of

Friendship and Conversation

2011-02-14T10:48:00.000-08:00

"People try so hard to be interesting instead of interested." -Unknown I find this quote to be true in my own relationship experiences. It seems there are few people in our lives that seem really interested in who we really are. People who want to share in our hopes and dreams and desire to affirm what is unique in us. Instead relationships often remain very shallow and surface with both people

Catholic Bishop Approves iPhone Confession App

2011-02-11T06:05:00.000-08:00

So now it looks like you can conveniently confess your sins to yourself in preparation for confessing them to a priest for only $1.99. Interesting. Check it out.

Nigel Marsh: How do we make work-life balance work

2011-02-09T07:44:00.000-08:00

One question I get asked often from both men and women is how do we balance our work life and our family life. Nigel Marsh attacks this issue head on, while revealing his own failures as a father of four. One comment he makes after deriding "dress-down Fridays" and "maternity leave" is "the core issue is that certain job and career choices are fundamentally incompatible with being

What does the Bible say about Sex?

2011-02-08T08:36:00.000-08:00

A Newsweek article today discusses recent scholarship concerning the Bible's own take on sex and it isn't the prudish perspective many churches seem to espouse. There are two extremes in the Bible and Sex debate. One side attempts to take books like Song of Solomon and spiritualize it instead of seeing it for what it is - a story of Solomon's love-making with his new bride. However, there is

Ali Carr-Chellman: Gaming to re-engage boys in learning

2011-02-07T06:28:00.000-08:00

Now having two boys in the public school system, I agree by experience that boys are not engaged in learning in our current educational system. It is a system designed by women for girls and many boys are getting left behind. Instead of developing a hunger for learning they are checking out mentally. Not that I think the private schools are any better. In fact, many private schools are even

"Last Days" Are Over

2011-02-06T19:26:00.000-08:00

I did a two part teaching series on Mark 13 and Jesus' prediction of the events of "last days" that led up to the "end of the Jewish Age". I believe the Scripture is very clear that "last days" began at the end of the Jewish exile, reached it's climax at the coming of Jesus and ended at the destructions of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. We are not in the "last days", because they are already fulfilled.

Christian Cheese-Ball Defined

2011-02-06T15:40:00.000-08:00

Note to self: If you are going to suck in a performance, please don't attribute all the credit to God.

UFO Jerusalem Israel, Two Videos Synchronized, Jan 28, 2011

2011-02-05T14:07:00.000-08:00

This is a weird video. Looks like a UFO or Angel. Do you think this is real or a hoax? Thoughts?

Mad Men - Meh!

2011-02-05T07:48:00.000-08:00

My wife and I love watching a good TV series. It is a way for us to connect and relax in the evening after the kids go to bed. We have sat with nail-biting anticipation through the story of Lost. We have left the couch only to run to the video store for the next episode of Battlestar Galactica. So when I hear about this popular and well-made series Madmen, I thought I would check it out.