salt the planet

My sister recently got engaged and, as my aunt pointed out to us, has fulfilled a prophecy about the man she will marry.

It goes like this.

My Dad (David) has two sisters, Janet and Donna. This is the list of them and their spouses.

David and Mary
Janet and Darry
Donna and Larry

Well, if that isn't weird enough for you, my sister (Erin) and I have two cousins, Clark and Jarred. This is the list of us and our spouses along with Erin's fiancee.

Jeremy and Karissa
Jarred and Melissa
Clark and Karen
Mark and Erin

The CRAZY thing is that we discovered this as Karissa and I were talking about marriage and looking at engagement rings in Thanksgiving of 2001. Erin didn't even know a guy named Mark!!! How crazy is that that we have a rhyming family now! I think its one of the signs of the end times.

Check out this 16 second clip of Chris Tomlin's new song, Party. It gives just a taste of the intensity that night at Passion06 as our praises rang out.

Also, be sure to go to the iTunes store and download the Early Session Bundle, which includes:

Salvation is Here (Kristian Stanfill covering a Hillsong song, which is fantastic!)
You are My Joy (David Crowder*Band, who some people say I resemble)
Passion, Purpose, and Designer Jeans (message from Louie Giglio)

If you don't have iTunes, first you are a loser, and second, by clicking on the link above, you can download it (It's Free).

This is a great collection of music and message that draws me back to God's fresh rekindling of my heart during that week.

In youth ministry, I find one of my primary struggles comes from knowing when and how to raise students up and when to release them. I see it as future preparation for me as a parent (though I know that it will be different then [btw, "then" is still a couple of years off, God willing]) . I also see this struggle with parents who, at various times, do not see the ability within their kids to move beyond to do amazing things. It can be so oppressive from a student's viewpoint, yet so difficult for a parent whose heart is centered on raising their child the best they know how.

Though this post by Steve Argue touches on broader and deeper things, it was what got me started thinking about this.

I pray for our parents, that they may not only realize their call to raise their children, but also their call to release them. I pray that our students will be understanding when these times don't come as they desire. I pray that I will be given the wisdom to discern how to come alongside parents and students in this journey.

Wow! A lot can happen in just one week! If you haven't been following the latest controversy with the International Mission Board's new policies and subsequent attempt to remove a trustee, here are some sites that are a must read before proceeding in this post:

No Emo Poetry Here
Missional Baptist
SBC Outpost
Grace and Truth to You
Founder's Ministries Blog

There are many other who are posting, but you can get to other websites through these guys.

With that said, I think it is interesting that BP news has posted an article about Tom Nettles' new book, "Ready for Reformation." What do you think about this in light of some of the current happenings?

During one of the breakout sessions, I went with some of our students to hear John Piper talk about "Teaching the Whole Counsel of God on Campus: A Call for a New Generation of Bold and Brokenhearted Theologians." How could I not go to a breakout session with that title? I mean, come on!

I want to begin by saying that I am trying to work from my notes which are not as complete as I would like them to be. So, I'm trying to be as accurate as possible, but I may get something not exactly dead-on. Don't misread Piper just because you misread me.

Piper began by listing some elements that sociologists are describing about this generation (of which I am a part), which is typified by post-modernism. He prefaced it by saying that he believes many of us rise above these things. He also believes that these things change so fast, that once social scientists publish them, they are already different.

We are not drawn to propositional truth.
We are style conscious.
We choose church by its feel, not its doctrine.
We don't see people as sinners, we see them as people with psychological needs who have need for Jesus in a therapeutic way.

He listed several others, but I couldn't write that fast.

He then proceeded to say that teaching the whole counsel of God has been a struggle for centuries, saying that this message would be partially a biography of the life of Athanasius and partially an elucidation of applications from the church father's life to current theological struggles.

Piper's summary of the life of Athanasius contained two primary points: he defended the deity of Christ against the Arians and, because he was banished at least 5 times (due to the raging theological conflict), his struggle was marked with the phrase "Athanasius contra mundum," which means Athanasius against the world.

Athanasius' struggle eventually led to the first Nicene Creed, which clarified that Jesus was the very substance of God. Though this seems like a minute issue now, it was the raging theological debate of Athanasius' time, leading to the punishment, exile, persecution, and killing of many individuals.

These are the seven lessons Piper pulled from the life of this early church father:

1. Defending and explaining doctrine is for Christ's glory. We must battle for the gospel.
   
2. We must have joyful courage in the defense of the gospel. We must always outrejoice our adversaries. We don't win an argument, we win a person. Our hearts should be filled with joy over the truth.
3. Loving Christ includes loving true propositions about Christ. This stands in contrast to people who may say, we love Christ, not statements about Christ. The question is what type of Christ? Describe your Christ.
4. The truth of Biblical language must be vigorously protected with non-biblical language. Some may say "The Bible is our only creed." This cloaks or conceals falsehood with Biblical language. The Alexandrians (those who followed Athanasius) confronted the Arians with traditional scriptural phrases which appeared to leave no doubt to the Son's Godhead. Yet the Arians accepted the biblical phrases by admitting evasions beneath it. I.e. the Bible's truth can be used to cloak biblical error.
5. A widespread, long held difference by the church does not mean that it is insignificant or that we should cease to assuade others of the truth. Just because the church has been arguing about it for thousands of years, doesn't mean it shouldn't be discussed.
6. Don't aim to teach/witness only in categories of thought that can be readily understood by this generation. Acts 20:27. (Here he acknowledged the necessity to hold in tension the indigenous principle, referencing 1 Cor. 9:22, and the pilgrim principle, referencing Rom. 12:2.)
   
7. We must not assume that old books which say startling things are wrong, but that they actually have some glorious truths.

Piper specifically referenced these points in comparison to the struggle that is arising between post-modernity and the church. While he used the words emerging and emergent interchangeably at times, it was clear his concern was centered around this movement in the church. As he discussed the need for propositional truth, it sounded like he was open to propositions as a great starting place, but not the end goal. This seems to be a thought prevalent in many emerging churches.

He also mentioned emerging issues by giving an autobiographical insight. After college, before he got married and went to seminary (mid to late 60's), many people were questioning the validity of the local church. They claimed that it was on its way out and quickly losing its effectiveness. He said he even felt sympathetic if not drawn to this idea for several months. However, after getting married, he began to think that he and his new bride should go to church. He said that many people are now saying that church is on the way out, specifically referring to the local body of believers. People are drawn to the "universal body," but not the local body. He found it interesting that 40 years ago, people were making the same claim they are today.

These two thoughts about propositional truth and local church along with his comments on emerging churches have caused me further pause in my journey to reflect on the tension between the traditional (evangelical) viewpoint I have been raised in and the emerging conversations that I am so drawn to. I believe that emerging churches are making a stand for the local church. In fact, that is their primary focus as they seek missional living in their context. This is one of the things that draws me to them.

Listening to Piper made me wish I had a little Chris Seay in my pocket to pull out and set on the stage with him so they could have a discussion. I think this would be great, seeing as they both come from some common roots.

I am very interested in hearing what you think of these ideas.

Being as I just saw him two days ago, it floored me to read Piper's letter the Bethlehem Baptist Church that he as prostate cancer. You can read the full letter here.

(HT: Justin Taylor)

The conference has been fantastic. I really enjoyed the way that they started off the worship on Monday evening. David Crowder began onstage by himself playing Come and Listen on guitar. Then Chris Tomlin joined him and sang a few songs. After that, Charlie Hall came out and then Matt Redman joined the three of them, all singing and playing acoustically while a cellist and pianist played behind them. It was a very reverent way to approach God in the beginning.

Louie Giglio spoke about the idea/vision/theme behind Passion, which comes from Isaiah 26:8. A great reminder to me as I recalled my first taste of the movement back in 2000.

On our way out of the conference center the last two nights it has been amazing to look up 5th avenue in Nashville and see nothing but people literally filling the street for as far as I can see. It has given me reason for pause, looking forward to the coming kingdom. I imagine all of us filling its streets and moving the same direction: toward Jesus.

John Piper spoke yesterday morning on Jesus' suffering as the integral part of the glory of God, which is the reason for the existence of the universe, since it is the centerpiece of God's glory. The phrase he used will require a lot of chewing for a long time: "We are talking about the greatness of the glory of the grace of God supremely through the suffering of His Son." One of the thoughts that stuck with me was that Jesus suffered all his life from the absence of glory shared with the Father. That is suffering I can never understand but only be thankful for.

Tomorrow I will be heading down to Nashville for the Passion '06 conference with a group of seniors and college students from church. Karissa signed up as a volunteer for the conference (working with the Touch Team) and went down ahead of us tonight. My guess is that I won't be able to blog until after the conference.

I attended the One Day Conference hosted by Passion in 2000 (arial photo above) and it was one of the most memorable worship experiences ever. It affirmed my desire for mission and prepared me for much of what I feel called to today. I am looking forward to the time of personal renewal in God, as well as the changes that He will bring in the lives of our seniors and college students. Please be in prayer that God will make his presence known to us and that we will be catalyzed toward hearts and lives on-mission for Him.