Church - I led worship and teaching at house church Sunday night, which was fun. I did a few songs I had never led before, including "Salvation is Here." You wouldn't think it would work in a more intimate setting, but actually it was great.

Baby Watch - We're nearly there on a name. I think we're down to two middle names. Amy had her final baby shower on Saturday, so now we're getting the last few things we know we'll need. Including furniture. We have our crib (actually, I'll be getting it back from my brother soon), but we need a dresser, and we're also thinking about getting a daybed so the baby's room can still double as a guest room.

Home Improvements - That shower door did get installed, but it was two inches lower than what we ordered, so the new one will be installed on Wednesday. Figures. This project has taken longer to wrap up than we anticipated!

Conservative Rant - I forgot to mention my post last week, called Obama Wants Sex Education for Five-Year-Olds. Another great example why I won't trust the government to educate my children.

Labels: life, politics

Some of you are saying, "I am a follower of Paul." Others are saying, "I follow Apollos," or "I follow Peter," or "I follow only Christ." Can Christ be divided into pieces? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul?

For Christ didn't send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News - and not with clever speeches and high-sounding ideas, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power. (1 Corinthians 1:12-13, 17)

Even in the early church, people started picking one "leader" over another. Some were trying to align themselves with Paul, Apollos, or Peter. Basically, these were different guys, they had different approaches to ministry, and some people thought one guy had it "right" moreso than the other. Early on, the church was in danger of being divided. So this is Paul's attempt to prevent what would eventually become our present-day denominations.

Paul goes on:

As the Scriptures say, "I will destroy human wisdom and discard their most brilliant ideas." So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world's brilliant debaters? God has made them all look foolish and has shown their wisdom to be useless nonsense. Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never find him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save all who believe.

Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world's eyes, or powerful, or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose those who are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important, so that no one can ever boast in the presence of God. (1 Corinthians 1:19-21, 26-29)

The main point in this passage is that Christ "is the one who made us acceptible to God" (v30). But there is another implication here.

Where did the divisions start? The division started because Paul, Apollos, and Peter each had a unique approach to ministry. And though they each pointed people to Christ, they were influential to the point where people were following them instead of Christ.

Paul is indicating here that the wisdom of man is useless to God - meaning that God will use the foolish and the weak to spread His gospel. Yet our modern-day pastors ensure that their leadership skills are top-notch. They utilize the best statistical methods to make sure their worship services are having an "impact" by tracking attendance, monetary giving, or even the number of cars in the parking lot. They employ the best consultants to help them tweak their message and presentation to be friendly to their target demographic. This kind of approach is the exact same thing any modern-day CEO would do. This is the best of human wisdom. If it can grow a profitable company, of course it can grow a church.

But the proof is in the pudding, as they say. Or in the fruit, as Christ said. In his research, George Barna paints a bleak picture that the "churched" population is still lost. This is the result of human wisdom - building large buildings, filling them with a lot of people, but the end result being that you can't tell them apart from the rest of the world. And on top of that, division between believers is stronger than it ever has been.

Paul seems to paint a different picture. But in order to get there, we have to learn to not rely on human wisdom. Which means a lot less of acting like a CEO would, and a lot more acting as Jesus did when He chose the twelve and told them to train others in a similar fashion.

"Clever speeches and high-sounding ideas." Doesn't that sound exactly like what a typical approach to church is today?

Labels: church, house church

From Rowling Pulls It Off:

It has been widely observed that J.K. Rowling owes a creative debt to Christian fantasists J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis (apart from their fondness for initials). It's odd now to remember that, at the same time, some parents have objected to the magic depicted in the Harry Potter books as a glorification of satanic practices. For "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" confirms something else apart from the well-thought-out-ness of Ms. Rowling's moral universe: It is subtly but unmistakably Christian.

The principal Hogwarts holidays have always been Christmas and Easter, but it took five books before Ms. Rowling really began tipping her hand. In Book Six, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," she addressed concepts of free will, the power of love, and the sanctity of the soul. But in the final volume she gently lays it all out. The preciousness of each human life; bodily resurrection after death; mercy, forgiveness and redemption; sacrificial love overcoming the powers of evil--strip away the elves, goblins, broomsticks and magic wands and these are the concepts that underpin the marvelously intricate world of Harry Potter.

Actually the series has always addressed the concepts of love and free will in a way consistent with Christianity. But the Christian imagery was definitely strongest in the seventh book, and quite unmistakable - including imagery of the cross, quotation of scripture, and a Christ-like death and resurrection. Neville Longbottom also reminded me of David in some ways - the gentle boy who was willing to face the greatest evil. Other characters show true regret and remorse for their previous actions, and others reveal a capacity for total forgiveness.

While it would be hard to beat the level of Christian imagery in the Chronicles of Narnia, I do think the Christian imagery is probably as strong (or stronger) in Harry Potter than it is in Lord of the Rings. Christians should re-think their stance on Harry Potter.

Labels: books, movies

I just finished the seventh and last Harry Potter book this morning. It was very, very good.

I read the first Harry Potter book back in March, and read through each one after that, and finished the sixth book over a month ago. I decided that I wanted to read the fifth book before the movie came out, and to have finished all six before the seventh book came out. I was the same way about the Lord of the Rings series - when I found out the movie series was coming, I read through all of the books (including The Hobbit) before the first movie came out.

The Harry Potter series was a very rewarding series to read. Rewarding in the sense that each successive book reveals more of the story, intertwines more of the characters, and creates a progression to the end of the last book. I'm seriously thinking about re-reading the series again - because of the way things (and characters) that you didn't think were important early on become very important in the end.

We also saw the fifth movie last week, and they did a great job adapting it from the fifth book.

I think one of the things I liked most about the Harry Potter series is that he's not an infallible hero. He's a hero, but he makes mistakes. He gets things wrong sometimes. But unlike the villain in the series, it's Harry's friends and his relationships with others that helps him to make the right decisions, and figure out what it is that he needs to do, and helps him get it done. He keeps trying to do things on his own in order to protect them, but then he realizes that he has to trust and rely on others. It's a constant theme throughout the series, that love is the best weapon that Harry has, and the only weapon that his enemy cannot understand.

I understand why some Christians have a problem with this series, but it's no different from Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Mary Poppins, or any number of other magical-oriented stories oriented towards children. The primary difference is that they call them "witches" and "wizards." I fully believe that if Rowling had used a different term for a female magician (or had only applied it to the villains), Christians would not have reacted as they have. In any case, the values and themes portrayed by the books are very positive.

It's a fascinating series, I highly recommend it. And if you enjoy movies, and haven't started watching the Harry Potter movies yet (I know a few of you haven't), do so. They're quite good, and getting better. Trust me, you'll want to see the sixth and seventh movies when they come out. Or better yet, just read all seven books.

Labels: books, movies

Family - My sister Shane and her husband Jason left for Germany on Friday. They'll be sharing their experience on their blog. They'll be there for nine months, with a visit back in January. We'll miss them, but this is a great opportunity for them!

Harry Potter - Just finished the seventh and final book this morning. I'll share my thoughts in another post, but it was very, very good.

Baby Watch - I got the "guest room" cleaned out, with some help from Britt. So we're one step closer to being ready for a new baby girl! Now we're on the lookout for a dresser and some other miscellaneous stuff. Amy's back has been doing better over the last couple of weeks, which has been a blessing. But she still wants to speed up time and get to the end of this pregnancy.

Home Improvements - We're getting closer to finishing our latest major project in this house, which is fixing up the master bathroom. We knew when we bought this house that the shower would need some attention - the grout on the shower floor tile had more or less failed. The trim in the bathroom was also of the shiny brass variety, but the finish was looking pretty rough in a lot of places. We ended up having the shower torn out and had a new one put in with a mixture of ceramic tile and natural stone. We had a plumber in over the weekend to change out all of the fixtures, and we're having a new shower door put in today. Now we just have to touch up some paint, and we'll be replacing the lights, towel bars, cabinet knobs, etc. I'll post some pictures when we're done, hopefully by next weekend. But it is really coming together, and it'll look great when it's done.

Labels: life

Something struck me last week, and it's become a focal point of my thoughts about being a follower of Christ and joining in fellowship with other followers.

The Old Testament was a complete system. In order words, it contained a covenant between God and man, and all of the directions you needed to follow in order to fulfill your obligation within that covenant. The law was complete - nothing needed to be added to it (though the Jews continued to add to it anyway through their legalism). And nothing was to be taken away from it.

It has been apparent to me for years that the New Testament represented a new covenant. The veil was torn in two - we no longer require a priest, performing sacrifices, the Jewish celebration days... all of those specific instructions no longer apply.

But the modern church we grew up with looked nothing like the church described in Acts, and in the letters of the New Testament. Certainly nothing like what Christ Himself did while He was here. So the thought was that while this is a new covenant, the New Testament was not a complete description of it. It did not explain everything. The role of an apostle, so vivid in the New Testament, was explained away as only necessary during the founding of the church. Likewise with prophecy, miraculous healing, and speaking in tongues (the latter only if you're not Pentecostal, but I have my own opinions about how they're not using the gift as described in the New Testament).

I believe that the changes I have gone through in the last couple of years has led me to this point: that the New Testament is as complete a description of the new covenant as the Old Testament is a complete description of the old covenant.

In the Old Testament, God told them exactly how to build the temple. What types of materials to use. In what way to perform the sacrifices, and exactly who was qualified to do it. Everything was given to them, down to the letter, in terms of how they were to relate to each other and to God.

I now believe that the same is true of the New Testament. We are not told how to build our temple because we are not supposed to have one. Christ told the woman at the well that the structure can no longer be the focal point of worship - yet our churches still sing about how holy the sanctuary is.

Christ told us exactly how to relate to God - to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And how to relate to each other - to love our neighbors as ourselves. And the new commandment was that by loving each other, people will know that we are His followers.

Then Acts and the letters in the New Testament proceed to give us a full description of what that should look like. Meeting in each other's homes. Reaching out to people where they are. Doing miraculous works. Sharing the gospel with others. Helping out each other in every need.

Finally, I understand that we don't have to be creative, visionary, or strategic. I simply have to be obedient to the principles and directions laid out in the New Testament.

Britt had a series awhile back called Things I Can't Find in the Bible. It's a list of twenty things that are incredibly common in modern church that are simply not described in the New Testament:

Friendship Evangelism
Asking Jesus into Your Heart
Christian Entertainment (and the PS)
Seminary Education
Denominations
Dressing Up For Church
Priest Class Under the New Covenant
Ordination of Man
Political Action
Having a Building
Registered Membership
Christians as Sinners
Day of the Week
Specific Ministry Positions
Preparing for Sermons (and the intermission)
Order of Worship
Christian Tithing (and the addendum)
Material Wealth as a Sign of Faith
End of the Gifts of the Spirit
Changing the World

In his conclusion, Britt said:

Looking back, it seems like I have systematically questioned what many consider foundational Christianity. Maybe I have. But ultimately I only want to experience the complete freedom in Christ that results in great joy, power, authority and peace. I find that greatly lacking in most of the Christians I meet from day to day.

We've shrugged off much of the apostasy that the Catholic church introduced into Christianity. But there are still so many things that we cling to that are simply not described in the New Testament. As Wolfgang Simson said:

If it was possible for the very essence of the gospel - salvation by faith, justification by grace - to be buried under the sand of history, what about the rest? If we can gravely err in the very key and core issues, could we also have erred in other, lesser issues? The fact that the Bible was again given into the hands of common people started what I call the history of rediscovery: it was the turning point where the church started to climb again out of darkness, escape its own structural prison and rediscover, step by step, long-forgotten truth and long-forgotten practices, including the house church as an organic form of church.

I think the end result of adding things onto the New Testament has lessened the degree to which Christians experience joy, power, authority, and peace. I no longer think of these things as simply extra-biblical - I now think of them as a hindrance. Naturally, it takes time to shrug off traditions of the past, but I believe that this is where God is leading His church - to a point where where are reliant only upon Him, and not tradition. And the first step is to see what God intended for us, as described in a complete covenant, as distinct from where we find ourselves today.

Labels: church, house church

I got rid of BellSouth last year and switched to SunRocket. Overall, I've been satisfied with their service. Or, I should say, I had been satisfied. At this point, SunRocket is dead. They've laid off nearly all of their employees. Our phone isn't working. We can't access our voicemail online.

The thing that is extremely annoying about this? No warning. No notices. Our service stopped working on Monday. SunRocket's support lines are shut down. They did not respond to my e-mail. Only when I started searching the web did I discover that they were going out of business.

This is a perfect example of abysmal customer service. It would have been simple for them to explain the issue to their customers and warn them that this was coming.

I was at least able to forward our number to Amy's cell phone so we can get calls. It seems like something is still working over there. But I've already started the process to switch to Packet8. Hopefully they'll stay in business for the next year. And hopefully if they do go out of business they'll warn their customers before turning off their service.

UPDATE: I finally got an e-mail today (7/20) from SunRocket. Basically, the e-mail tells customers that they are shutting down, and they have set up transfer agreements with Packet8 and TeleBlend. Our phone had a dial-tone last night, but I'm not sure if that will last or if Packet8 has the SunRocket hardware info, or what. Anyway, at least they did finally e-mail customers, even though they should have sent some kind of notice a week ago.

Labels: life, tech

"Don't smoke, drink, cuss, or chew, or hang out with those who do."

"I can assure you of this: if you are associated with the use of beverage alcohol, I think I dare exaggerate not to say that 99% of all doors of ministry in the Southern Baptist Convention will be closed to you." - Al Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2005

As Dan Kimball asks, "would Jesus then have 99% of the ministry doors shut on Him?" Apparently, in the Southern Baptist world, the answer to that question would be "yes."

I think that the concept of "balance" is one that is lost on traditional Christianity. To be fair, though, the situation is improving. But every now and then you're reminded that there is still a lack of tolerance in the Christian world to things such as drinking alcohol.

I've heard many stories from people who grew up in churches where you couldn't go to the movie theater, couldn't go to the ballpark, couldn't go to the bowling alley, couldn't use playing cards, etc. because of the association those places had with "sinful" activities such smoking, drinking, cussing, and chewing.

Yet there is a simple truth - while all of them are potentially harmful and/or disgusting, we simply cannot label smoking, drinking, cussing, or chewing sin.

True enough, smoking regularly will kill you. But I know someone who smokes one cigarette a year. Is that sin? Binge drinking is dangerous, and damages relationships and bodily functions. But Jesus turned water into wine. Was that sin? While the Bible says we should not take the Lord's name in vain (a concept much more complex than we make it out to be), standards of speech are entirely subjective and culture-specific, and words flow in and out of vulgarity over the ages. How can we label uttering a specific word sin? And as disgusting as I think chewing tobacco is, how is it any different from smoking?

The issues surrounding all of these issues are simply related to "balance."

As an example:

Nevada Couple Blame Internet for Neglect
RENO, Nev. - A couple who authorities say were so obsessed with the Internet and video games that they left their babies starving and suffering other health problems have pleaded guilty to child neglect.

The children of Michael and Iana Straw, a boy age 22 months and a girl age 11 months, were severely malnourished and near death last month when doctors saw them after social workers took them to a hospital, authorities said. Both children are doing well and gaining weight in foster care, prosecutor Kelli Ann Viloria told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Michael Straw, 25, and Iana Straw, 23, pleaded guilty Friday to two counts each of child neglect. Each faces a maximum 12-year prison sentence.

Viloria said the Reno couple were too distracted by online video games, mainly the fantasy role-playing "Dungeons & Dragons" series, to give their children proper care.

This is a classic example of how we don't know how to balance our lives. Michael Straw received $50,000 in an inheritance, and spent it on a new plasma TV and computers. Then he and his wife tuned everything else out, including their children.

Somewhere out there, there's probably a pastor who is preparing a sermon on how evil games are, and how good Christians shouldn't own an XBox or Playstation. That type of reaction would have been quite common fifty years ago. Instead of such a reaction, we should be talking about how to appropriately balance such activities, and how to recognize when an activity begins to consume us.

At the Catalyst Conference last year, Louie Giglio discussed a Christian winemaker as an illustration, and mentioned that he and his wife enjoy wine occasionally.

On the official Catalyst blog post summarizing that session, they had to shut down comments. The anti-drinker comments got particularly nasty, and of course prompted nasty comments from the opposing side. But in the end, Louie took a lot of flack for admitting that he (gasp!) enjoys wine.

Trying to prevent any consumption of alcohol is an attempt to push us back into legalism, the same kind of legalism that said that bowling was a sin. The same kind of legalism that said that Christ couldn't heal on the Sabbath. Getting drunk is a sin - that's clear in the New Testament. But to take the step further and say that therefore we can't drink at all, is once again acting like the Pharisees.

In any case, if Jesus were to step back into this world today, he'd be hanging out in the bars and reaching out to the people there. And just like the Pharisees back then, the Baptists (among others) would be outside complaining about it.

Full disclosure: I don't drink. I honestly don't like the taste of alcohol. But stuff like this makes me want to acquire the taste for it...

Labels: church

Worship - Last week I got to play bass, this week I got to play lead guitar. There's a world of difference between playing guitar while you're leading worship and just playing guitar - and again, I haven't done that in a long time. I had a blast. It didn't hurt that we did a few songs that totally rocked out as well!

I'm going to have to scale down how much I help out over the next couple of months, though - Amy will be at 32 weeks tomorrow. Given that McKenna and Jeremiah were both born at 37 weeks, and that like them, this little girl is measuring two weeks ahead, we really have only a few weeks left to get things ready. The baby's room is still a "guest" room, the hospital bag is only halfway packed, and we need to make a final decision on a name! Time to get cracking!

Friends - I helped my good friend (and former pastor) Pat load up yesterday for a few hours. Tomorrow, they're moving to Indiana where Pat has taken a pretty cool position at Indiana Wesleyan University. They've been some of our closest friends over the years. We've shared ministry, frustrations, dreams, and vacations together. Pat and Alison had only been married a couple of years when they first stayed at our house on their first visit to Goergia, just like Amy and I at the time. And as they're leaving they have three kids, we're about to have our third.

We've known this was coming for long time, and we had already been serving God in separate ministries for over a year. But we're still sad to see them go. I just had this secret hope that something would pop up for them closer to Georgia! But they'll be close to their family, Pat will be close to Anderson University (where he's working on his doctorate), and the job at Indiana Wesleyan is really cool.

I hope God will direct our paths to cross again, but if not, we know that just means we'll have to wait just a bit longer to serve God together again.

Labels: church, life

I decided to start a new series of posts, just wrapping up every week the major things that have been going on in the past week. This is partly to just share with folks what's up with the Mooneys, but also because I often have smaller thoughts to share that just don't warrant an entire post.

Fourth of July - we hosted a big family event for the 4th. Took the kids out for fireworks afterward. They loved it! I also got to try to explain to McKenna what "Independence Day" means.

Worship - I got to play bass today for the first time in a LONG time. My bass is showing some neglect - it desperately needs new strings. I was asked to fill in today on bass at a church where I've been leading worship occasionally for the last couple of months. I had a blast!

Movies - we took the kids to see Ratatouille yesterday. They loved it, though it didn't keep their attention as much as some of the other Pixar movies do. It was Jeremiah's first time seeing a new big screen movie. Amy tried taking him to see a free movie last summer and it was an awful experience. But he did pretty well yesterday, especially considering the movie was almost two hours. And for those who are budget conscious, the AMC Theaters around here have all shows at $5 before noon on weekends.

I also saw Transformers last Monday. I was a big Transformers fan as a kid, and this movie did not disappoint. But I think even folks who weren't Transformers fans as kids would enjoy it. Just don't take your little kids to go see it - the violence wasn't bad, but there were a few jokes that were not appropriate.

And while this isn't news about the past week, I'm currently taking part in Conservative Rant, a political blog started by my good friend Andy. My goal is to contribute to that site once a week, but it'll probably only be twice a month for the next couple of months. My first post there was Why I’m Conservative (or, Why I’m Not Liberal) and my most recent post is How Pacifism Leads to War. I plan on using that site for most of my political-oriented posts from now on, but I'll mention them here from time to time.

Labels: church, life, movies, politics

Heath tagged me. This is supposed to be about five weird habits I have. So here goes.

Blogging - I enjoy blogging, and I have a lot of thoughts I want to share, but the weird part is I don't post nearly as often as I should. But you probably already knew that.

Commenting - I have a knack for posting snarky comments on other people's blogs. Right now, particularly Josh's. If I agree with someone a lot, I rarely comment. If I don't agree with someone at all, I usually stop reading. But if I am pretty close to agreeing with someone and just differ on key points, I end up commenting frequently. And yes, I tend to be that way in real life, too.

Technology - I have what is commonly known as "gear lust." I love new gadgets, technologies, software, etc. This applies to my passion for music (Line 6 rocks!), computers, gaming, and entertainment. Fortunately I have a wife who helps me rein all of that in and keep it sensible.

Coke - in the South we do not use the term "pop." Like Q-Tip, Band-Aid, and Kleenex, we say "Coke" around here to refer to any dark-colored carbonated beverage - except Pepsi, which many in the Atlanta area equate with poison. In any case, I drink a good bit of it. Probably too much. Whenever I get around to really trying to lose weight, I know I'll have to cut down. Probably doing that alone will help me lose a pound a week. Vanilla Coke is my favorite - which to my delight they just brought back!

Sinus - I've had sinus troubles for the last several years, including a sinus surgery a couple of years ago. Which helped things tremendously - I've had an average of two sinus infections a year since the surgery, down from about eight per year before that, and they're much less severe now when I do get them. But one way I keep it in check is to rinse my sinuses. I know it sounds weird, but it's actually quite refreshing, and really helps to keep everything moist and cleaned out. If you have sinus trouble I highly recommend it.

All right, so now is the part where I tag other people. So I'll pass the torch on to Josh, Pat, and Kevin. Don't worry guys, no pressure, nothing bad will happen if you don't pass it on.

Labels: life