Family = Priceless

This summer I have had several great moments with my wife, daughter, and my extended family of my parents and brothers (and my sister-in-law).

The fact of the matter is you couldn't give me a million bucks!!! to replace the memories and the time spent with my parents....my wife....my daughter, etc. My prayer is that you see time with your family and loved ones as so valuable that you can't put a sight - related number on it. Friends, there is no price tag that you can put on it and I pray that you don't.

Saved From Wrath IV

Excerpts taken from John Piper's Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came To Die (Crossway, 2006).

God's law demanded, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" (Deut. 6:5). but we have all loved other things more. I have loved

• Myself more
  
• Sports more
• Experiences more
• Possessions more
• The internet more

This is what sin is - dishonoring God by preferring other things over him, and acting on those preferences. Therefore, the Bible says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). We glorify what we enjoy most. And it isn't God. Our God is just, he does not sweep these crimes under the rug.....He feels a holy wrath against them. God sends His own Son to absorb his wrath and bear the curse for all who trust him. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us" (Galatians 3:13).

I am thankful for this term called "propitiation". It refers to the removal of God's wrath by providing a substitute. The substitute, Jesus Christ, does not just cancel the wrath; he ABSORBS it! and diverts it from US ----> to HIMSELF. God's wrath is just, and it was spent, not withdrawn.

Oh how I praise the Lord and give Him glory for this truth - Jesus absorbed the wrath of God for a dirty rotten sinner like me.

Nashville Missions Wrap

The blogging has been quite slow lately due to being in Nashville for our 2008 summer mission trip. My responsibilities for the week consisted of

1. Leading our team along with fellow youth leader Jodi Stende
2. Organizing the transportation via charter buses for 14 churches from North and South Dakota (3 buses and 166 students and leaders). Practicing patience with bus drivers who sometimes get cranky and sometimes just need a smoke.
   
3. Teaching a breakout session comprised of students from Fargo, ND, Calgary, AB, Canada, and Madison, SD.
4. Staying alive and not sweating to death.
5. Refraining from asking people if Pro Wrestling and NASCAR are real sports.
6. Keeping an eye on one of our boys who kept leaving messages for Cari Underwood via her publisist.

We were able to stay at Vanderbilt University for the week and I must say it is the most beautiful college campus that I had ever been on. Interestingly enough Vandy is a part of the SEC conference and compete against the likes of U of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Florida in athletics despite their enrollment of a little more than 6,000 students.

Our missions project for the week was to serve an organization named Monroe Harding. Monroe Harding is an organization that aids in the developing of 16-19 year old boys that have been troubled by various issues relating to the law or abuse. The organiztion teaches the boys life skills and teaches them as many pursue their GED. We served them by painting, cleaning, doing yard work, cutting branches, dethawing freezers, and making a wood-chip walking path for the boys. We didn't get to interact with the boys individually, but our kids had to trust that what we did everyday God would take and use for His glory sake.

The last interesting nugget from the trip was the frustration surrounding our buses. I'll just post the pictures, but this provided a 2 hour delay waiting for a wrecker that took place in St Josephs, Missouri at 4 a.m. while everyone was sleeping on their respective buses. Result = Not fun, but trusting the Lord to work things together for good for those who love Him.










This kind of reminds me of when I wrecked a swather while working for Hermansdale Farms of Brinsmade, ND at age 16.

Nashville: Hello Music City!

There has been a lack of content on the blog lately due to being gone and in Nashville for a mission trip with our youth group from MBC. I will highlight this trip and have a full write up to come in the days ahead. A couple nuggets from the upcoming write up.

• Nashville is stinkin hot and humid! (It was 97 today with a max humidity of 84%)
  
• The rescue mission we are working at has a lady that works with us that said ya'all around 200 times in 3 hours today
• My breakout session that I led today enjoyed my quote of the day as I explained that I am from North Dakot (a great agricultural hub): "Christians are like manure: Spread them out and they help everything grow better, but keep them in one big pile and they stink horribly." (Francis Chan).

More to come!

Former Viking Joe Senser

Here is an interesting story about the Vikings former commentator Joe Senser. He has become a licensed minister - as well as bar owner. The main highlight for me was seeing that he challenges men to be great fathers.

Kris Draper and the Stanley Cup

As a relatively new father I don't know all the tricks of the trade. My skills and knowledge of childcare apparently have company as Kris Draper of the Detroit Red Wings recently got to take the Stanley Cup to his hometown of Toronto and show it off, take pictures with it, and display it to his hometown friends.

Draper apparently forgets tendencies of toddlers as he put his daughter Cameron on top of the cup without a diaper on and she proceeded to quoting Draper to "take a poop in the Stanley Cup." Draper concluded with acknowledging that the Cup was cleaned up and he drank out of it later that night.

Church Membership I

How important is church membership? I have been thinking about this question a lot lately as in working in a baptist church we require membership to be accompanied with a couple of things.

1. The taking of our Discover Class (a 4 hour class designed to communicate the church's theology, doctrine, and mission/vision to the attendee)
2. A testimony of born-again faith to the church's leadership board accompanied with a time for questions from the board to the candidate and vise versa.
   
3. A testimony of being baptized by immersion or the desire to do so soon (only after they have been baptized is their membership final). This point is usually the hot topic and has historically been in the church a point of division and debate.
   

John Piper recently dissected this issue at Bethlehem Baptist Church and this sermon pretty much blew me away. I highly encourage you to watch this sermon if you are struggling with church membership and baptism. The issue in his sermon wasn't baptism by immersion, but church membership and how it relates to membership. Here is an excerpt from the sermon.

"The issue was: How should our church relate to those who are born again, and deeply committed to the Bible and to Christ, but are not yet persuaded that their infant baptism is unbiblical and invalid? Should such believers be admitted in some cases to membership at Bethlehem? Or to put the question in the larger general way: Should the front door of the local church be roughly the same size as the door to the universal body of Christ? In other words, should we say to any person: We know you have truly entered into membership in the universal body of Christ, but you may not enter into membership in this local expression of the body of Christ?

Or another way to put the issue is: How does the seriousness of exclusion from local church membership compare with the seriousness of not being baptized even though, after studying the Scriptures and trying to be obedient, the unbaptized person believes that he is baptized? In the real world where genuine, Bible-believing, gospel-loving, Christ-exalting, missions-minded Christians do not agree on the meaning of baptism in the New Testament, how should we relate to each other?

On the one hand, if we say, “You may be a member of this church even though you are not biblically baptized,” that seems to undermine the importance that the New Testament puts on baptism. All Christians we know about in the early church were baptized (except the thief on the cross). That is how you expressed your faith publicly and became part of the visible church.

On the other hand, if we say, “Even though you are born again and a member of Christ, you may not be a member of this church,” that seems to undermine the person’s faith and the meaning of the local church. It seems to undermine faith because from one angle, exclusion from membership is like front-end excommunication before membership has happened. When you excommunicate a member from the church, according to Matthew 18:17, you “let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” In other words, you love him and try to win him as an unbeliever. That sounds really serious. Are we saying to those we exclude from membership that they are in the category of an unbeliever?

And saying no to a genuine believer who is part of the universal body of Christ seems to undermine the meaning of the local church as an expression of that universal church."

Piper provide 5 strands of evidence in the NT for church membership

• The Church Is to Discipline Its Members - Church membership is implied by the way the church is supposed to discipline its members. Consider the implication of Matthew 18:15–17. If there is no church membership, how can you define the group that will take up this sensitive and weighty matter of exhorting the unrepentant person and finally rendering a judgment about his standing in the community? It’s hard to believe that just anyone who showed up claiming to be a Christian could be a part of that gathering. Surely, “the church” must be a definable group to handle such a weighty matter. You know who you mean when you “take it to the church.”
• Excommunication Exists - Church membership is implied by the simple fact that excommunication even exists. Paul implies this in 1 Corinthians 5:12–13. Being in the church is definable. The other implication is that a person can be removed from being “in the church.” Such a formal removal would not be possible if there were no such thing as a clear membership—who is an accountable part of this body, and who is not?
• Christians Required to Submit to Their Leaders - Church membership is implied in the biblical requirement of Christians to be submitted to a group of church leaders, elders, or pastors. The point here is that without membership, who is it that the New Testament is referring to who must submit to a specific group of leaders? (Hebrews 13:17)

• Shepherds Required to Care for Their Flock - Church membership is implied in the way the New Testament requires elders to care for the flock in their charge (Acts 20:28).
• The Metaphor of the Body - Church membership is implied in the metaphor of the body(1 Corinthians 12:12–31). The original meaning of the word member is member of a body, like hand and foot and eye and ear. So the question this imagery raises for the local church that Paul is describing in 1 Corinthians 12 is: Who intends to be treated as a hand or foot or eye or ear of this body? There is a unity and organic relationship implied in the imagery of the body. There is something unnatural about a Christian attaching himself to a body of believers and not being a member of the body.

How important is church membership to you?

God's Glory Through 2008 Home Run Derby

The 2008 MLB Home Run Derby occurred tonight and my Minnesota Twins were represented well as Justin Morneau came away the winner of the competition. Morneau's victory was overshadowed by the testimony of Rangers CF Josh Hamilton. I don't know if you've heard the story of Hamilton, who by the way at the break is batting .310 with 21 HR's and 95 RBI, but I will try and give you some background.

Hamilton finished as the runner-up to Morneau in the competition. I believe he was tired as he had belted a Major League record 28 home runs in Rd. 1. That is a breakout and career year for anyone playing for my favorite team, the Twins. These HR's weren't 314 foot shots to the short porch in Yankee stadium either as three of them traveled over 500 feet. He didn't even complete round 2 as he bombed another 4 out of Yankee Stadium and stopped to conserve energy for the finals. After Hamilton was defeated by Morneau in the finals he concluded his interview and being defeated with saying, "I just want my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to be honored and glorified tonight." (I watched Baseball Tonight later and they replayed this interview and cut it off just before Hamilton started talking about Jesus - that's the media for ya). Now I have seen this comment from musicians, actors, and athletes for years and I have always wondered if they really meant what they said - that they really wanted to give all the glory to Jesus? In Hamilton's case I truly believed this athlete - because of His testimony.

In 1999 the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (now the Rays) drafted Josh Hamilton out of a North Carolina high school with the number one pick in the MLB draft. It was the first time a high schooler had been selected number one since Alex Rodriguez was selected number one by the Mariners in 1993. Hamilton went to the Minors and was a blue-chip prospect that was on the fast track to the Majors. To make a long story short, Hamilton ran into trouble in his life as he became an addict to drugs and alcohol and was suspended by MLB for all of 2002 through 2005 (4 seasons). He burned up all of a $3.94 million dollar signing bonus that he received in 1999 on drugs and alcohol. Josh entered rehab (multiple times as he got out and failed 6 months later and was back on his addiction). Josh eventually found the ultimate healer, Jesus Christ in his life. Josh was reinstated by MLB when he was working for his brother's tree service in NC sending limbs through a chipper. Read some of his story here and here.

Here are some of the excerpts from stories on Josh Hamilton's faith:

• "I had taken Klonopin, a prescription antianxiety drug, along with whatever else I was using at the time, and the combination had put me over the edge. It's the perfect example of what I was: a dead man walking......And now, as I stand on the green grass of a major league outfield or walk to the batter's box with people cheering for me, I repeatedly ask myself one simple question: How did I get here from there?"
  
• "Baseball is third in my life right now, behind my relationship with God and my family. Without the first two, baseball isn't even in the picture."
• "I was driving out of the players' parking lot at Great American Ball Park after a game in May, with Katie and our two girls. There's always a group of fans standing at the curb, hoping to get autographs, and I stop to sign as many as I can. And on this particular night, a little boy of about 9 or 10, wearing a Reds cap, handed me a pen and something to sign. Nothing unusual there, but as I was writing the boy said, "Josh, you're my savior." This stopped me. I looked at him and said, "Well, thank you. Do you know who my savior is?" He thought for a minute. I could see the gears turning. Finally, he smiled and blurted out, "Jesus Christ." He said it like he'd just come up with the answer to a test. "That's exactly right," I said.
  
• "God told me he was going to give Josh baseball back, but it wasn't going to be for baseball," Katie says. "It was going to be for something much bigger. He was going to give Josh a platform to help others. He is the most beautiful choreographer. It's not by accident that all the things that have happened in our lives have happened."

By the way, Josh Hamilton hadn't played higher than Single-A ball (15 games) in his career before being on the Red's roster for 2007 (where he hit 19 HR's and 47 RBI in 90 games). I praise the Lord for stories like this that point to Christ. It would be very easy for Hamilton to say that he got himself out of his terrible situation, but he points all glory and fame to Jesus!

Saved From Wrath III

Wrath: An attribute of God, the doctrine that God intensely hates all sin.

As I have been saved from sin, I have also been saved from God's fury and righteous attribute to hate sin - as my sin has been taken by Jesus on the cross. Although I am still sinful in the flesh, Jesus continues to take my sin as I repent.

Wayne Grudem gives us this thought provoking statement in Systematic Theology (Zondervan, 1994). "As with the other attributes of God, this is an attribute for which we should thank and praise God. It may not immediately appear to us how this can be done, since wrath seems to be such a negative concept. Viewed alone, it would arouse only fear and dread. Yet it is helpful for us to ask what God would be like if he were a God that did not hate sin. He would then be a God who either delighted in sin or at least was not troubled by it. Such a God would not be worthy of our worship, for sin is hateful and it is worthy of being hated."

Fear the stache

The American Mustache Institute, which I never even knew existed, is pushing for Jason Giambi to be the last voted in All-Star for the American League this year.

"It doesn't take a mathematician to figure out that Jason Giambi's hitting prowess, plus a fashionable mustache, equals a bona fide All-Star," Aaron Perlut, executive director of The American Mustache Institute, says in the release. "Giambi's significant first-half production as well as his powerful lip fur -- indicating great intellect and good looks -- make two very compelling reasons for his place on the American League All-Star roster."

Wow, I can't really believe that

1. The Yankees even allow mustaches, since they have a rule against beards, sideburns, long hair, and facial hair - but I guess Don Mattingly got away with it so why not Giambi. I guess George S. rule was no facial hair below the lip.
   
2. That a Yankee (w/decent numbers) needs help from the AMI to make the All-Star team for an All-Star game that is played where - Yankee Stadium! How embarrassing!

For more information on the mustache, check out Alex Decker's post on the topic.

Favre please go away! Unless?

Reports are looming of Favre un-retiring from ESPN's Chris Mortenson......Mike McCarthy couldn't even present a $100,000 donation to a Wisconsin Boys and Girls Club without being asked by an 11-year old if Favre was coming back. Why does the entire sports world have to deal with this again. Please Brett just go away! I proclaimed enough Favre a while ago. Go to Mississippi and sit in your tree stand and hunt deer with your bow and arrow! Shoot a 30 pointer or whatever your state calls big deer with antlers. Help Deanna write more books and promote breast cancer! Go root for Southern Miss in meaningless Conference USA games this year - maybe even go to the Motor City Bowl or whatever pointless bowl Southern Miss will end up in, but please just don't come back and play football.......UNLESS you will somehow cross state lines and help the PURPLE to a Super Bowl XLIII win in Tampa on Feb. 1, 2009. I have always disliked Favre because he is a Packer, but his game is a tremendous upgrade at this point to T Jack in Minnesota. If the Vikes would sign Favre = instant Super Bowl contenders...instead of the Playoff contenders that they are right now on paper.

Sr. High Camp 2008

I took some video at Sr. High Camp this year - pretty lame on the quality and editing, since i did it in like a half an hour, but here it is for your leisure and enjoyment

Bible Translation: Does it matter to you?

Over at Tim Challies blog, he offers a great challenge with a write up on Bible translations. Check out Every Word Of God

Music's Role In Worship

I reviewed and promoted Bob Kauflin's new book, Worship Matters a while back. This book has had a huge impact on me as I think through music's role within the church. Check out this video as Tim Smith interviews Bob on music's role within the church. I love the term "undistracting excellence"

A Book You'll Actually Read Series

I was super pumped today to receive in the mail 4 small books. These books are designed to be read in 1 hour. Mark Driscoll has written 4 small books (96 pgs. each) called A Book You'll Actually Read.....

• On the Old Testament
• On the New Testament
• On Who is God?
• On Church Leadership

These books are cheap ($7.99) and contain great reading lists in the appendix for furthur reading and study on these topics. You can order or check them out here. Here is a short clip of Mark promoting one of the books.

These would be great gifts or resources for new Christians, non-Christians, or mature Christians as well.

Prepping for Youth Tonight

This afternoon I realized that my youth pastor skills are kind of slipping. I am leaving the church soaking wet after I have failed to tie water balloons correctly for the past hour. Many popped and the water sprayed all over. Many broke after I put them in the bucket. I used to be able to tie balloons with water in them in my sleep. What is wrong with me? I think I have my mind on my wife maybe too much today (I don't think we can ever think about our wives too much). She was doing a massive cleaning/rearranging/painting the house project today and I can't help but think how surprised I will be to walk in the house later.

Anyways this summer I have been challenging our youth to go through a book entitled Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations by Alex and Brett Harris. It has been a good study as we have discussed expectations and how God has been leading them as they discover His will these teenager years. The book starts with this quote on how expectations are just altogether low for teenagers.

"Most people don't expect you to understand what we're going to tell you in this book. And even if you understand, they don't expect you to care. And even if you care, they don't expect you to do anything about it. And even if you do something about it, they don't expect it to last."

Oh yes, and did I mention that Walker Texas Ranger wrote the Foreword for the book. If you know of a teenager that enjoys reading pick this book up for them today. It will be well worth their time.

Summer = Modesty

One day during a lunch I asked a female student from our youth group (to make things clear - I was not alone with this student - her father was there as well) if she believes that Christian women know that the way they dress has the power to provoke the eyes of Christian brothers. She responded with a resounding "Yes". My follow-up question was do you believe that some Christians know this fact, but dress a certain way anyways/regardless? She paused and thought for a moment and then responded with another definitive "Yes".

In the frigid North it seems that when the summer months hit - modesty becomes an issue that we talk about more frequently. I was just at a week of high school camp and modesty was talked about. Our culture says that.....

1. This is our time to get tan - Our culture has this obsession with dark skin - Why, I do not know, but perhaps magazines, celebrities, and Baywatch has contributed to this?
   
2. This is our time to show off what we think we've got - usually this is done to show everyone how hard you've been working out all year to get that chiseled bod (me, umm not so much) or how many times you've been to the tanning bed since you are already tan by June 1st - most of the time by June 1st we haven't even cracked 70 so being tan by June 1st is pretty impossible unless you venture out to a tanning saloon beforehand.
   
3. That dressing with the least amount of clothing is practical - I mean we are literally 'cooler' dressing with less on when it is 90 compared to when we go with layers when it is 20. Marketing uses this to display ads, commercials, etc.
4. For Men - wearing your shorts low and without a belt is a good thing - allowing everyone at your job or when you are out to see your boxers, buttocks, and underwear is apparently something you just have to do - Check out what the new Flint, MI police chief has done to 'crack' down on this problem. Many times I believe we just talk about women being immodest, but men don't think on this issue enough either.
5. For Women - wearing short shorts/skirts, revealing tops = getting noticed = which whether male (in #4, not wearing short skirts) or female goes to an attitude of pride (lifting yourself up).

Now when Paul speaks to the issue of modesty in the New Testament I believe it is important to distinguish that he is speaking to BELIEVERS. Paul is speaking to those that follow Jesus and declare Him as LORD in their lives. Which means to me practically, I can't get frustrated about going to the pool with my daughter and getting upset about everyone showing off their bods and wearing next to nothing - unless it is a Christian family swimming hour - which I don't think exists unless your church has it's own pool - or you rent a community pool for a pool party - or your church builds a community pool for the community (which is a missional/outreach idea - don't what I think about yet on this one). Practically the response I have to have is - THESE PEOPLE NEED JESUS - that is their number 1 issue and primary need. People without Jesus should behave in an immodest way - which means that modesty isn't even on their radar....so our responsibility is to put the Gospel on their radar through Jesus Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to change people hearts - which will transfer into more and more understanding why modesty is important as a response to Jesus - rather than just a bunch of Christians following their so-called 'stupid' rules.

What is my response to followers of Jesus dressing immodestly? Does it disturb me that my sisters in Christ don't get this sometimes? Yes! It frustrates me that followers of Jesus would dress in a way that as they go out and about can produce either of the next two.....

1. Fellow brothers and sisters may be tempted to lust
2. Enemies of the Cross can sit, salivate, stare, and say whatever comments they want about my brothers and sisters in Christ.

How is modesty attained and how does it become ingrained into a lifestyle that followers of Jesus see as a priority. Here are a couple suggestions

1. Sanctification has to be a priority - do you and I want to be more like Jesus or not
2. We see how we dress as a response to the Gospel - if we dress trashy - we really show how we feel about the Gospel.
3. Have a system in place to have an accountability in this. For married persons - have your husband and wife call you out on this when you are dressed immodestly - you have that responsibility to each other as you are 'one'. For the teenager ask your parents for their counsel - girls have your father approve of what you are wearing. Those of you in college - find someone who is older than you and is the same sex as you and have them keep you accountable in this area - don't pick someone who won't shoot straight with you either. That wouldn't help at all.

Lastly, I am not a legalistic/fundamentalist type who land blasts (is that even a word?) people on this issue. I believe in an approach that is loving on this issue and to approach this issue with sensitivity as it is an issue that people struggle with. I like style (even though I really don't have any). I like lookin' good - but most of all I like Jesus magnified and lifted up to be SUPREME - which HE is. So I encourage you to respond with modesty this summer - or whenever you go somewhere warm when it is cold back home in ND - as a response to the Gospel.