Thursday’s Random Thoughts

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1. Do you know how hard it is to play Angry Birds living in a house with 4 other people?

2. I’m guessing our president and vice president were against pretty much everything they have done before they were for it.

3. Wisteria. Red Buds. Dogwoods. Azalea. Pear. Cherry. Oak. Honeysuckle. Bacon.

4. Wait…if we think a book is heretical because a famous pastor said it was, does that make the pastor a Cardinal?

5. My kids like to play with all the pillows and cushions from the couch. And they like to do so on the floor. I say we leave them there to show our solidarity with the Middle East.

6. I’m no Monk, but I find it hard to drive my car with all this pollen on it.

7. Hey, if that pastor/cardinal is upset, are they an angry bird?

8. Bethany and I have been watching the Star Wars movies and the first two remind me of MST3K.

9.  Do we really think Twitter is a great place to mass rebuke people we have never set our eyes on?

10. So, I’m reading this book about heaven and hell and the fate of everyone who has ever lived and it tells the story of some people getting a second chance after dying and us being surprised at who is there. I started to throw the book away but then I realized I would only have the first six books of every evangelical’s favorite children’s series.

Midweek Music: The Civil Wars

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What does it sound like when two great voices careen against each other?

The first time I heard them, I had just turned off the road known to long-time Birmingham residents as “Diaper Row.” I was on the Red Mountain Expressway driving north. We had then  a radio station that would actually play a song like ‘Poison and Wine’. Fifteen minutes later I had downloaded the EP of the same name, tweeted about it and got a thanks from Joy Williams.

I don’t know what kind of music you call Biblical. But I’ve been doing some reading in the OT and there is a lot of betrayal and beauty, murder and mystery, passion and paradox all the way through. The best music has at the very least echoes of this. Which is why I like Barton Hollow, their first full-length album. It’s Biblical in the same way Flannery O’Connor is Biblical.

And O’Connor is a good comparison.

There is a southern gothic edge to it. Beauty with darkened filigree. But not too much filigree. This album is dominated by two voices, a guitar and a piano. But the two voices define it. Joy Williams voice is hypnotic and the kind you could get addicted to. It’s the audible version of a thousand pools of light. John Paul’s voice is well…is it OK to say a man has a beautiful voice?

This album is worth far more than the $5 you can get it for on Amazon.

One last thing. ‘Poison and Wine’ – the first song I heard by them is the kind of song you wish would never end. So don’t feel guilty about hitting ‘repeat’ again and again. Everybody does it.

Some Thoughts on Tim Keller’s ‘King’s Cross’

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King’s Cross by Tim Keller is fantastic. I’ve been reading it devotionally since I bought it a couple of weeks ago. It’s hard. I want to keep on reading.

But it works so well devotionally, I’ll keep trying. What I mean is, I keep thinking about it throughout the day. Not that this should be the litmus test for devotional literature. That’s silly. But there is simply enough for me to think on within each section. Sometimes I read a section twice.

So here are some thoughts after reading about 60 pages…

1. More and more I’m attracted to writers who write like a poet. Their words move. There is life in the way the words are situated, not just used. Most Christian writers only whore out words. They do not love them. They use them. Tim Keller is not so much a poet. But he doesn’t merely use words. He writes clearly. Not many people can do this and still be interesting.

2. Familiarity breeds contempt. But contempt does not always out itself. Sometimes it is there but you cannot see it. I was not excited about a book going through Mark. I’ve taught and read it so much. We should fight against this familiarity while still being glad we have 4 gospels and many places to go when we need to hear from God.

3. I started reading this book at the very beginning of the Rob Bell drama. To read about the life of Jesus as he deals with Pharisees is helpful. That’s all I should say at this point. Except I think Peterson may be right.

4. Keller quotes George MacDonald, “…those who believe more must not be hard on those who believe less.” Then Keller answers why. “Because faith is ultimately not a virtue; it’s a gift.” There is a grand canyon between those two ways of looking at faith. And we are watching that gulf grow at rapid pace. Why? We love to be hard on people.

5. Different groups tend to try and co-opt Jesus. This will not do. He stands athwart the designs of those would ask him to identify with their group and he says, “You must identify with me.”

Midweek Music: St. Patrick’s Day Edition

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I’m Irish. My family – the Redmonds – can be traced back to Wexford County. There is no end to the enjoyment of this fact for me. Among my forebears was a John Redmond, who as a Protestant member of Parliament defended the rights of his Catholic neighbors. Rarely a popular move.

My love for bands and singers from The Emerald Isle is merely accidental. Or genetic. Maybe the way destined lovers are brought together unbeknownst of the predestined link, I was drawn to so many Irish musicians. None of it was because I thought I should be listening to this music. It just happened because I had to like it. And that’s the only music worth listening to anyway.

I’ve been listening to The Chieftains for about 11 years now. I discovered them through Rich Mullins, I think. A lot of their songs are about lost love, drinking and murder. What is not to like about old men singing about lost love, drinking and murder? Sounds like the Old Testament to me…

Van the Man. I never get tired of Van Morrison. Ever. For even a moment. I wanted to name a child after him but my wife did not like ‘Van Morrison Redmond’. We settled on ‘Dylan.’ Watch this by the man from Belfast and you can just thank me later.

Can you remember the first time you heard Bono say, “Sing this with me, this is 40.” I was in my ’79 ‘vette. Chevette, that is. No reverse. Speakers sitting in the vinyl backseat and a cassette of Under A Blood Red Sky pushing them to the outer limits of respectability. I was driving toward the parkway on Esplanade. It was Summer and Scott Smith had given it to me to try out. If you can’t love this, you aren’t converted.

The Video I Know I’m Not Necessarily Supposed to Like But Do Love

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I love this. I know I’m not supposed to. But I do. I’ve watched it about 10 times.

Why you ask? I was not bullied a lot as a kid but I was enough to hate school. I got picked on a good bit for my stuttering among other things.  I probably did my own share of bullying, for which I look back on in horror. I also finished up my High School years at a school where I was really scared some days.

You might also ask, “Is this what you would ask your kids to do”?

Nope.

I would ask them to walk away. But if they did do this I would tell them to never do it again. And while they were suspended I would buy them toys, take them to Chuck-E-Cheese, Yogurt Mountain and we’d stay up late watching Bugs Bunny cartoons. And then I would give them extra kisses.

And probably ask them to not do it again…with a wink.

Random Thoughts

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1. This post by Kevin DeYoung about Bell’s book is good and respectful.

2. I read Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure again this past weekend for sermon prep. It is hard to get over his genius.

3. I don’t trust people who don’t eat bacon.

4. My son, who is five, and I played catch with a ball and our gloves for the first time the other day. Very special time. Each sound of the ball hitting the glove was an echo of my Dad and I doing the same.

5. Advice: Don’t eat at a chinese restaurant where the sugar packets are from Captain D’s.

6. The Young, Restless and Reformed segment of evangelicalism is one characterized by smackdown.

7. My kids are so disobedient. I keep telling them to stop growing up and they just keep on doing it.

8. I got to spend time with some of my former students from Mississippi this past Saturday. I am still reeling from the joy of seeing them and watching them walk in faith.

9. Some are arguing that we should do away with nuclear reactors because of the possible meltdowns due to the earthquake in Japan. Whereas, I would argue we should do away with earthquakes.

10.  Whoever is making the decision about retaining Daylight Savings Time does not have any young children.

Prayer From A Lack of Faith

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A thought just hit me. A question really.

Do I ever pray because I lack faith?

Prayer always looks good. Always. Also It feels good. And Spiritual. But I wonder if sometimes I – and others –  ever pray because we do not trust God and are asking him to do something different. I wonder if sometimes our prayers are a reflection of our lack of trust in God and his ways of doing things.

Maybe I can explain it better like this.

What if something happens and we do not have any audio and video for a worship service? My tendency would be to pray the problem would be taken of. Which – all things being equal – is not bad. For I believe God is powerful and can fix this problem. But my tendency is to pray for God to wield this power of his to take care of what I think is the problem.  Why is it a problem? Because I do not think God can be worshipped well without A/V. I do not believe the means of grace – the word and sacrament – are powerful for him to be worshipped and to draw people into fellowship with him.

So in unbelief, I pray.

This is different than acknowledging my unbelief in prayer. This is not, “I believe…help my unbelief.” This is, “God, exert your power because I do not think what you have given us as the base minimum for corporate worship is powerful enough.”

No wonder pastors get burned out.

But we also do this as parents and spouses and doctors and lawyers and homemakers and accountants and artists and plumbers. We ask God to do something because we do not believe he is doing something. Either because we look at the mundane and expect the extraordinary as proof of his power or we simply have no vision for a God working where we do not see him working.

This of course does not preclude prayer. The opposite is true. Now we are able to say to God, “I believe you are powerful, so I come to you in prayer. And I believe you are working powerfully for my good (and the good of your people?) even though I can’t see you.”

In other words it’s kinda like saying, “I believe, I believe…help my unbelief.”

Some Thoughts On The King’s Speech

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1. Never has a movie had such catharsis for me. My stuttering and stammering problem has never been as bad as his was. But I know that frustration intimately.

2. I can think of no major motion picture with better acting.

3. He could speak without stuttering while music was playing. I can preach or speak to any number of people and never stutter or stammer. But if you ask me to do announcements, I’m in terrible shape.

4. Now, we have two great movies with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.

5. I’m not foolish enough to think those who have never had a speech impediment cannot glean much from this film. But they cannot understand how powerful this story is for those of us who often feel trapped in the inability to form the words which are bursting to escape.

6. The subplots of marriage and friendship and sibling rivalry and class and leadership are genius.

7. The set and script and story are like a holy trinity of beauty.

8. I cried so much the girl next to me was probably wondering what my problem was.

9. The same struggles inhabit the hearts and minds… and mouths of royalty and the rest of us.

10. I left feeling speechless. Literally.

Truth and Love and How We Do Theological Disagreement

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I still have not read Rob Bell’s new book. But I’ve read a few reviews of those who have. And it looks like he may in fact hold to some form of Universalism. (Update: I am in the middle of Love Wins and am no longer sure I would call his position Universalism. It is more like Lewis’ picture in The Last Battle.)

This is neither fascinating nor worrying for me. I am not worried he will lead too many people astray. Heck, I kinda assume that most of the people he pastored were believing in some type of Universalism anyway. I mean, this is nothing new…young hipsters having trouble with ‘eternal torment’ and all. It is troubling to think about.

What  fascinates and bothers me the most is how we talk about these things. And when I say ‘we’ I mean ‘me’ also.

I do believe it is loving in and of itself to talk about hell and warn people of God’s wrath against sin. And I agree, any lack of desire to be faithful in this as a pastor is derived from my own sin wanting to play nicely with the cultural milieu I find myself in. Maybe there are some people like talking a lot about Hell and how people are going there. Certainly there are. But we may also need to be careful of the tendency to downplay that element of the story. So I agree, hell is part of the gospel story and should not be mitigated.

But how we tell the story is also significant.

In a recent interview on MSNBC, Tim Keller alludes to this. Conservatives – theologically speaking – have a reputation for caring about the truth. Liberals on the other hand have a reputation for caring about kindness. Keller says Jesus does an attractive job of being both – the embodiment of speaking truth and being kind.

Usually the reply to such a statement is for someone to say, “It is loving and kind to be truthful with people about _______” Sure. But there is a reason why Paul called his people to speak the truth in love. Obviously there was the possibility of speaking the truth and not doing so in a loving way. The fact that this has to be pointed out – by Paul and by someone today – tells us something. It tells us we may be the kind of people who are prone to have truth so uppermost in our affections that we forget to be loving.

It makes sense that men and women of the faith would react to error with truth. But how many, when error raises it’s ugly head, see an opportunity to display lovingkindness to the world? I mean, if this is how we are supposed to be known as those who are his disciples, should it not be more of a concern to display the truth of the gospel of God’s love through love than through our our doctrinal convictions?

And I have doctrinal convictions that are not fuzzy. I love them and hold them dear. And would die for them and would debate them and grieve over the church’s loss of them. But Christians and non-Christians and those we might be unsure of will not be won over by our confidence in our convictions so much as their adornment in a love for men and women which reflects Christ love for those who were his enemies.

The cross is really a great place to see this truth and love on display. As he hangs there he is saying, “I am God. I am King. I am the Messiah. And I want you to be forgiven for what you do. That is why I hang here in shame and pain, enduring the ridicule.” If he were only about truth? Well, I think we can only assume, no cross.

The irony is we don’t want people to be fuzzy but clear on doctrine but we are libel to be very fuzzy in our love to them. But Paul is not only clear about the eternal fire but is also very clear on what love looks like. The unbeliever and the person we think may be drifting into doctrinal error will certainly question our love by our relentless pursuit of them to believe what we think to be true. But there has to be some kind of expression of love which they will recognize. We should be able to exhibit a love for each other and others that betrays to the world we are in fact disciples of Jesus.

I was actually talking about this very issue with a friend the other day. We were talking about a particular pastor’s response to Rob Bell. He called it “tough love.” I responded with something along the lines of “Funny, I don’t remember that being part of Paul’s list in 1 Corinthians 13. But ‘patient love’ is.” I actually assume tough love is sometimes needed. But the problem is only a few people will look at tough love and call it so. But patience and kindness? Maybe we theological conservatives should work on those a little more.

It is true that Rob Bell’s Universalism – if that is what he holds to – will possibly lead people into error. Maybe. Probably. However, I am more sure of this – an evangelical subculture that cannot muster up lovingkindness in a way that mirrors Christ and is recognizable to those we remain at doctrinal odds with will do far more damage.

MIdweek Music: The Jennys, Dylan and My Favorite Christian Band

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I get asked a lot bout what I am listening to. Maybe I should use this Midweek Music thing to share what I have been listening to over the past week…

I’m actually listening to The Wailin’ Jennys at this very moment and have barely let up since discovering them a few weeks ago.

U2 continues to be my favorite Christian band. 😉

“What Can I give back to God for the blessings he poured out on me?”

I’ve also been enjoying Dylan’s The Witmark Demos.

A week doesn’t go by when I am not listening to The Beatles.

And last, my kids love these guys…

What are you listening to?