March 2007

There’s nothing quite like chilling with a good book and some good coffee.  I’ve been rereading an excellent book called the “Critical Journey” by Janet Hagberg and Robert Guelich.  I’ll post some thoughts on the book itself later but it should be required reading for every person who calls themselves a Christian.

Along with the book is a cup of Peets’ “Blend 101″.  I just purchased a half pound to brew up at home when I’m working.  I’ve said it before on this blog and I’ll say it again: Peets puts out the best coffee I’ve ever tasted.  I’ve purchased several varieties and all of them have been very good.  I prefer the East African blends the best for their taste but even the Latin American coffee blends are superb.  I’ve tried ‘em all from Starbucks, Caribou, Saxby’s, Peaberry’s, and Seattle’s Best but nothing tops a fresh cup of coffee from Peets!

If you are near a store, try them of have them ship you a bag soon!

Faith Untamed gets a face lift!  Thanks to the fine folks at Voxtropolis, our blogs can be personalized a bit more with a new look and custom headers.  The one above is the Denver city skyline looking from city park.  I’ve also added the “SNAP” extension to the blog so you can check out links ahead of time without clicking on them.  I’ve also changed the music so if you read this through an RSS reader like I do with Google Reader, you may want to visit the blog itself to hear the music play as you read.  I enjoy listening as I write.

A big thanks to Alex McManus and the gang at the “city of voices” for finding yet another way to keep Voxblogs unique.  I moved over to Vox from Blogger largely because of the community ideal that Alex and his wife Niza had when they formed Voxtropolis and I’ve not been disappointed.  The community of bloggers at Vox is as unique as the blog hosting service.

So, what do you think gang?  Any thoughts on the new look?  Anything you’d like to see?  Let me know!

Peace

That was the headline on Fox News’ website regarding the firing of a biology teacher who included some biblical references into his teaching as a part-time high school biology teacher.  Kris Helphinstine was also alleged to have given a PowerPoint presentation that made links between evolution, Nazi Germany, and Planned Parenthood.  In a quote from the story Helphinstine said he included the material:

“…to teach students about bias in sources, and his only agenda was to teach critical thinking.

“Critical thinking is vital to scientific inquiry,” said Helphinstine, who has a master’s degree in science from Oregon State. “My whole purpose was to give accurate information and to get them thinking.”

The teacher added that he DID NOT teach creationism, which is what the flap is really all about….

“I never taught creationism” he said. “I know what it is, and I went out of my way not to teach it.”

What I found truly amazing about this is the reaction of a few parents:

Parent John Rahm told
the newspaper that he became concerned when his freshman daughter said
she was confused by the supplemental material provided by Helphinstine.

“He
took passages that had all kinds of Biblical references,” Rahm said.
“It prevented her from learning what she needed to learn.”

“How many minds did he
pollute?” Dan Harrison, the father of a student in Helphinstine’s
class, said at the meeting. “It’s a thinly veiled attempt to hide his
own agenda.”

Okay…calm down Mr. Harrison.  Let’s look at this logically.  First off, the evolution argument is still not provable.  There’s merit to it yes.  Even Albert Einstein admitted that this world had the markings of being put together by a force beyond his theories.  Not having been in the class, I’m unable to put together a proper response about Helphinstine’s curriculum and what exactly he said.  Including a response from the bible as a historical reference is well accepted in many educational circles.  As long as it’s not taught as fact (though we as Christians believe it to be so), the historical references made in scripture, which many archaeologists have confirmed through research, is completely appropriate to teach.

As for John Rahm’s comments, what did his daughter need to learn?  He makes a comment used by Fox News in it’s story but the writer doesn’t elaborate on the “what” of such an accusation.  Does Mr. Rahm has a master’s degree in science like Helphinstine?  Can he accurately say what she needed to learn in a high school biology class?  Is critical thinking a part of learning how to use the scientific method?  Sure it is.  So why complain?  Because you though your daughter was getting indoctrinated with some biblical logic?  What if she was presented various sides of the same argument so that she could make an informed decision rather than hearing just one side of the equation and taking it as the one and only source.  That’s not good learning Mr. Rahm.  Your daughter would be short-changed into becoming a lemming that believes anything she hears from those who make a compelling argument but are wrong. 

I doubt anyone involved in this situation will read this.  My conclusions are simply drawn from what little I’ve read on this case but it appears Mr. Helphinstine is being run out of the school simply by presenting a multi-faceted view of the world around us.  It’s the same thinking that great minds used to change our world over the years and just because one side doesn’t like the other, we shout down the offending viewpoint as illogical and wrong.  It sounds a lot like communism to me.

I just finished an excellent book on communication and preaching by Andy Stanley, the pastor of the very successful Northpoint Church in Alpharetta, Georgia.  In “Communicating for a Change”, Stanley’s ministry partner Lane Jones begins the book with a well crafted story about a pastor who’s looking to connect with his congregation better.  He visits with a businessman (The same fellow who helped him in an earlier Stanley book) who sends him to meet “Willy Graham” and to find out the keys to better communication.  Now Willy is not Billy and prefers to go by the name Will.  Not only that, but in this fictional account, Will is an over the road truck driver who’s been preaching for years. (Hence the picture of the truck on the book).  Of course our pastor friend wonders what a trucker can teach him about preaching and that leads them on a journey that allows Will to share some specific points about preaching and communicating for life change.  The story ends happily enough and then, Stanley enters the picture in the second half of the book to elucidate each of the points shared in the fictional story.

I’ll not get into too much detail since you can Google your way through a number of sites that will tell you more about the book but on a practical level, this book is outstanding.  I’ve already made the switch to “one-point” preaching as Stanley suggests and for me, the results have been tremendous.  The first few weeks were hard and I’m still adapting my style (not changing it mind you!) to incorporate the ideas shared in this book.  I’m always looking to communicate better and I think in today’s church world, we better find ways to connect story to biblical text to real application if we hope to see the changes in people’s lives that we’re after.  Stanley’s approach is thoroughly biblical for those who would criticize and not read his book.  In fact, his entire emphasis is built around leading your audience to the text and working through it to make contemporary application possible.  This is the best book I’ve seen on contemporary biblical preaching.  Preaching magazine has named it one of its top three books for preachers this year and I would agree.

There’s not a lot of methodology shared here other than a simple paradigm that Stanley uses to direct his planning and preparation.  From there, some simple questions guide the preacher in preparing a message around one point and staying on topic and vibrant throughout.  Another benefit this method has is that it sharpens your sermons and cuts out the fluff.  Awesome benefits in my opinion!

I highly recommend you get a copy of this book if you are communicating in any way.  While the text is aimed at those who preach each week, it’s ideas could be adapted to any communication setting.

It’s late..Since we’ll turn back the clocks at bedtime it’s already past 11pm (well 10pm RIGHT NOW but you understand) and I’m already wore out.  I thought this was a good time for one of those all inclusive, nothing really about church type posts…..

For starters…Why don’t we just keep daylight savings time.  I hate switching back and forth each year.  Why not move ‘em up an hour and leave it alone.  I’m sure we’ll get through winter just fine without pushing the clocks back.  Everybody likes an extra hour of daylight at the end of the day to get a few things done so why not leave it?

A few weeks ago, I blogged on a Consumer Reports piece on coffee quality.  Since that time, the Starbucks CEO has written a memo telling the stores they need to recapture the atmosphere that made them who they were.  He spoke of going back to manual espresso machines and the nostalgia that goes with them.  Here’s one clue to help gang…Free Wi-Fi.  I don’t pay for wi-fi when I’m out.  Atlanta Bread, Panera Bread, Daz-Bog Coffee, and Saxby’s Coffee all offer free wi-fi for those who need it.  With those options out there and more people going mobile, jump on the train before it’s too late.  This whole scenario was bound to happen.  Starbucks maintains its position by sheer volume.  I have not one but at least six Starbucks that are now within 10 minutes drive time from my home.  When my wife and I first moved out here, there was only one in that vicinity.  So in five years time, they added five stores just within 10 minutes or so of my home.  Not to mention the others around me a bit further out if I want some variety in my scenery.  All this, and I will drive about 18 minutes or so out to camp out at the only Peets coffee in the north Denver region.  As I stated in the earlier blog post, I just like their coffee better.  If you ever have a chance to try it, do so and see if you don’t agree.

I had a chance to tour the Celestial Seasonings Tea factory with my daughter Friday for a high school field trip.  I enjoy good tea also and didn’t know that the factory in Boulder is the only one in the world.  All of the tea that’s made by Celestial Seasonings is made in Boulder, Colorado and they pump out about 10-million tea bags a day.  Not bad for a company that started with one guy and a few of his friends collecting wild herbs for tea that they measured by hand and packaged in muslin bags back in the 70’s.  If you are ever in Colorado and want a tour, be sure and stop in and do spend some time in their “mint room”.  You’ll breathe free for days on end!  Yes, I broke from my coffee addiction and purchased some Canadian Vanilla Maple tea that tasted too good to pass up.

Is it just me or are we all of a sudden seeing an inordinate number of churches preaching “sex” series all at the same time?  This seems to be more predominate in the newer churches, at least from what I can see on the blogosphere.  Usually, the series lasts between four and six weeks, has a companion website, and as soon as word gets out, a TV station runs a piece on the church which makes it onto the church website within days of airing complete with the cameo of the pastor saying the same thing to the camera…”Well, these are the things people have questions about and we’re not afraid to tackle the tough issues…” or some variation thereof.  Of course, there’s always a few interviewees smiling and saying “Yes, this isn’t like church of yesteryear”…

Mind you, I’m not criticizing the idea so much as I am making an observation so please don’t try to label me as one type of Christian or another.  From what I can gather, it seems this trend started when Granger Community Church presented it’s “Pure Sex” series at this time last year.  All of a sudden, a whole group of people were influenced to do the same thing…I’ve even seen many churches ripping off the graphic of two pair of feet under the sheets…Not the exact same picture mind you, but a clone of it nonetheless.  Prior to this series, I hardly remember reading anything about such a trend in message series.  It seems many are pushing the edges of what they need to do to reach out during these series’ also.  Incorporating secular music with sexually suggestive lingo into the worship to “connect” and make a point. Hmmmmm okay…I’m not one to point a finger if it’s having an impact.  I’ve even considered a similar series myself but in my prayer time, I’m challenged to look for the deeper reasons that people suffer in this area.

People crave relationship.  That’s why sexual sin is so rampant in our society today.  Lust is predominant but it was the same in Jesus’ day.  Nothing has changed.  The bible has plenty to say on the subject within the whole context of relationship.  Statistics show that women engage in sexual activity as part of the entire emotional connection that they crave while men are predominantly driven by images and visual stimulation.  For them, sex is important too but it’s more raw in its desire than what a woman experiences.  That’s why so many girls get hurt by boys who are looking for the next conquest while they are trying to hang on to a relationship.  We see this played out every day in our churches.  I have families and I know you do to who are broken with single moms (or dads) trying to raise kids because we didn’t address the issue of relationship within the context of sex.  I know many of these types of series’ I’m talking about address such issues but I think the shock value is more appealing than what many leaders would let on.  Being on the “cutting edge” looking like the rebel in a sea of dry-rot religion is enticing.  Much of what is contained in these series’ could be integrated into a message series on relationships and a much more panoramic view that can be ‘edgy’ without overdoing it.  My friend Jason in Arizona is doing such a series.  Believe me, there’s plenty he’s saying about the issue of sex but he’s also incorporating conflict, dating, the differences between men and women, romance, and money.  I’m impressed with his presentation.  I listened to the first message in the series while I walked at my local park a few days ago.  I usually do a series on relationship beginning on Mother’s Day and ending on Father’s day each year.  I try to incorporate all sides in this starting with the husband/wife relationship, kids, money, sex, and even seniors since so many families are now caring for an elderly loved one.  It works and our families almost expect it at that time of year.

Again, don’t get me wrong.  I’m not being critical.  I just think the shock value of such a series is gone now.  Many churches around me have already done this.  If I see one more news piece about such series’ I think I’ll puke because it’s the same story.  I’d much rather hear the larger picture story about how the church is impacting it’s little world right where it’s at.  Are lives being changed?  Marriages restored?  Kids being loved like they should?  Social justice being done?  I loved what Erwin McManus said at the recent Humana 2.0 conference in Florida last month: “A church can be successful and have no effect in the world.â€?  I pray that’s not the end result for all of us.