the year that was 2007

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: Gospel, abandoned, apologetics, blogging, books, church, church planting, concert, culture, education, family, fatherhood, music, parenting, relevintage, review, seminar, theology, video, worship
• Date: Jan 3,2008

January

My number 3, Sloan, turned 1. Unbelievable.

March

I presented a talk on worship and reconciliation entitled “Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?: A Third Way” at Missouri Baptist University. Here are parts 1, 2, 3, and 4.

April

relevintage turned 1.

Chris Sligh stopped by relevintage in response to my entry “Chris, Stay in Your Supposed Subculture.”

May

derekwebb.net picked up my review of Webb’s new album, The Ringing Bell.

Sally Morgenthaler stopped by relevintage in what would end up being a providential connection.

June

I left Grace Church – St. Louis after 2+ years – my second go-around with them – to accept the position of Worship Arts Coordinator of the new Worship Arts program at MBU, my alma mater.

Holly and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. Still crazy about her after all this time…

July

I saw Pete Yorn in concert at Live @ the Levee. My concert review here.

Word & Way featured me and my new position at MBU.

I attended the Gospel, Church, and Culture seminar at the St. Louis Baptist Association building with Darrin Patrick of The Journey and Mark Devine of Midwestern Theological Seminary.

I started @ MBU.

August

I announced the first annual Abandoned: Worship as Life seminar, sponsored by MBU’s Worship Arts program, with special guests Sally Morgenthaler, Shaun Groves, and Joel Lindsey.

I posted the first of my conversations with Sally on issues of worship, missiology, and culture.

Our fourth child, Everett was born. My second son…

We celebrated Margo’s 4th birthday. Unbelievable.

I started a Masters of Arts in Theological Studies with Liberty Theological Seminary. 18 hours worth, to be exact…

I was asked by Liberty Theological Seminary apologetics professor, Adonis Vidu, to help contribute to a book he is working on in response to Westminster Theological Seminary professor Peter Enns’ book called Inspiration and Incarnation.

September

I attended the Continuous Worship conference at Mars Hill Church in Seattle with my friends B.J. Mumford and Joel Lindsey. Special guests were Harold Best and Mark Driscoll. Additionally, I had the privilege to spend some time with Mars Hill worship pastor, Tim Smith, and see “behind the scenes.” My recaps of the conference are here, here, here, and here.

Pre-seminar interviews for Abandoned with Sally Morgenthaler and Shaun Groves were posted on relevintage.

I directed MBU Worship Arts program’s first annual Abandoned: Worship as Life seminar. Recap here.

The beginnings of an intensive church planting training program with the Acts 29 Network and The Journey commenced with other folks like myself – full-time job, married. This will be a bi-monthly training session with the pastors from The Journey. I begin this program full bore in January of 2008.

October

We celebrated Cooper’s 6th birthday. Unbelievable.

November

I led worship at The Journey for the first time.

December

I survived 18 hours of seminary.

I went with Joel to see to the Rams play the Steelers in their last home game of the season. They retired Marshall Faulk’s jersey at halftime and Isaac Bruce moved into third all-time receiving yards, moving past James Lofton.

not that you care…

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: Christianity, apologetics, books, church, education, evangelism, missiology, theology
• Date: Aug 22,2007

I thought I’d share with you my required reading for my first set of three 8-week classes at Liberty. I am looking forward to the content. I’m not looking forward to the amount of time I have to get all the reading done. I’ll post my second set of three 8-week classes in early October. Nonetheless…

Theology I:

World Missions:

Apologetics:

I particularly looking forward to reading Wells’ God in the Wasteland, Willard’s The Spirit of Disciplines, and I’m already a third of the way through Piper’s Let the Nations Be Glad.

I’m tired just looking at the covers. Whew…

changes…

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: apologetics, blogging, education, emerging church, theology, web, worship
• Date: Jun 18,2007

To everything, turn, turn, turn
There is a season, turn, turn, turn…

-The Byrds

After months of prayer, conversations, interviews, etc., God has called me to leave Grace Church – where I am worship pastor – and join the staff at Missouri Baptist University as Worship Arts Coordinator to help them build the brand new Worship Arts program starting July 1. I will be teaching upper-division classes on worship history and leadership and emerging worship trends, traveling/speaking at regional events in the Midwest on behalf of MoBap, giving oversight to all of the ministry groups, as well as directing some of the ministry groups.

It is truly an honor to have been considered and ultimately offered the job. This new major is unprecedented in the Midwest region and I believe will be a trendsetter for the region. We are going to be intentional about being progressive – yes, we are going to talk about the emerging church – while at the same time being grounded theologically.

One thing that I have begun to work on is putting together a state-of-the-art website that will include this blog, Worship Arts student’s blogs, as well as podcasts and vodcasts of personal interviews with local and nationally-known worship pastors/leaders/experts. This will serve as an internal communal tool at MoBap as well as an external promotional tool.

Additionally, this summer, I will be going back to school and beginning a Masters of Arts in Theological Studies from Liberty Theological Seminary via long distance education. I’m really looking forward to more school in this new season – I know, that sounds crazy…

In many ways, this is a major shift for me, away from the local church and into academia. But my affiliation with the local church will continue. Holly and I will be calling The Journey our home church. And I will still be leading worship frequently at Missouri Baptist, as well as at local churches as I’m asked.

Stay tuned in the next few weeks. I might have a major announcement to let you in on for the fall.

Above is the amazing postcard that MoBap’s publication department put together – kudos Lisa and Bryce – and below is the press release about this new major.

MBU appoints Brad Andrews as Worship Arts Coordinator

June 11, 2007

After a yearlong nationwide search, Missouri Baptist University has appointed Brad Andrews to lead the University’s newly created Bachelor of Arts in Worship Arts major.

As MBU Worship Arts Coordinator, Andrews will be responsible for the overall cultivation and recruitment of this unprecedented academic program, which seeks to prepare students to lead emerging congregations in meaningful, highly contextual worship. Andrews will assume his position on July 1.

“I have a passion to mentor young people to reach emerging generations for Christ and to see worship and the arts as vital catalysts in the church to do so,” Andrews said. “I believe we are living in a transitional time in the life of worship in the church, where the look of worship is morphing into an experiential and more organic encounter.”

Andrews, a 2000 graduate of MBU who is pursuing a Master of Arts in Theological Studies at Liberty Theological Seminary, is a vastly experienced worship leader, songwriter and recording artist.

Since 2005, he has worked as the Worship Arts Pastor at Grace Church in Saint Louis. At Grace—one of the largest churches in Saint Louis with more than 3,500 people in attendance every weekend—Andrews acted as the primary worship leader, oversaw a staff of twelve ministry professionals and served as creative director.

Andrews has written, recorded and performed original music with Dove-award winning producer Joey Candaday. He has regularly sung background vocals and assisted with pre-production work on a number of Christian albums. In addition, he has showcased for Christian music labels Sparrow and Rocketown Records.

About MBU Worship Arts
The Worship Arts major—the first of its kind in Missouri—interweaves a host of practical courses in music, communication, and theology disciplines, giving students a solid platform to lead congregations in contemporary and emerging music trends.

Worship Arts students receive practical training through seminars and internships from some of the most dynamic worship leaders in Saint Louis.

For more information about MBU’s Worship Arts major, contact the Office of Admissions at 877.434.1115 and visit www.mobap.edu/worshiparts.

mcgrath vs. atkins: darwin and humanity – should we rid the mind of God?

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: apologetics, athiesm, relevintage, religion, science
• Date: Mar 20,2007

I just watched the recent debate between Alister McGrath, Professor of Historical Theology at Oxford University, author of Dawkins’ God and The Dawkins Delusion and Peter Atkins, Professor of Chemistry at Oxford University, well-known atheist and supporter of Richard Dawkins.

It is a very interesting debate by two heavyweights. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the give-and-take.

I’m going to break down the main points I think McGrath and Atkins are making and the strengths/weaknesses within them in the upcoming weeks. I know, I’m in way in over my head…

My thought is that for my generation, this is basically a new debate, insomuch as we are coming of age where competing ideas on the existence of God – or lack thereof – are needing to be dealt/be confronted with for the first time within our generation. Older generations have been debating this for a long time. We inherently know it is an ‘old’ debate, but for anyone growing up in these postmodern times, it is basically a novel discussion.

You can watch the debate if you are interested here. I look forward to the discussion…

[HT: challies.com]

maier in real time

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: apologetics, books, movies
• Date: May 31,2006

The critique tonight by Maier is called: The Da Vinci Distortion.

Here we go [times are in the p.m.]…

7:14: There have been various attempts by authors through the centuries to ‘caricature’ the person of Jesus

7:18: On the first page, Brown makes the statement that he is keeping ‘faith’ with his readers that the information in the book are ‘authentic’

7:20: Maier says he liked how the book started, but once Teabing opens his mouth, there are 6-8 bald face lies per page

7:23: The main premise of the book is the Priory of Sion. It is a hoax. The creators of this organization were found guilty in a court of law for forging the documents that supposedly ‘proved’ its existence

7:25: The NY Times when reviewing the book, called it The Da Vinci ‘Con’

7:29: The primary answer to why sales of the book skyrocketed: controversy. But not controversy alone, but controversy with the largest phenomenom in the history of the world: Christianity

7:30: The Passion of the Christ shows what ‘controversy’ can do to box office sales

7:33: If we would have not reacted to the lies, the book and its momentum would have been over in three weeks

7:40: Each of the falsehoods in the book are easily refuted-the Gnostic gospels in particular, which are late, derivative, and packed with absurdities

7:50: Offering time

8:03: Novelists can do whatever they wish with the foreground, but always offer an authentic background. Brown has fictionalized the foregrounded and he has falsified the background and many readers don’t know this

8:05: Who is responsible? The publishing industry more so than the sensationalist authors

8:06: The paradox is that as more caricatures of Jesus are being written, we are discovering more hard evidence that proves Christianity than in previous times and gives us an opportunity to witness

8:14: Our faith is based on innerant fact. which overwhelms all other world religions

8:14: Be sure to respond to counter-arguments with gentleness and respect [1 Peter 3:15]

filling in the blanks

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: apologetics, books, movies
• Date: May 31,2006

In about an hour and a half, my church, Grace Church-St. Louis, is hosting Paul Maier.

Maier is the Russell H. Seibert Professor of Ancient History at Western Michigan University. He is also a vice president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Maier also, interestingly, studied under famed scholar Karl Barth.

Maier has recently surfaced on news programs because of his book, The Da Vinci Code: Fact or Fiction?, cowritten with Hank Hannegraaff and the recent release of the movie, The Da Vinci Code.

I am going to try to blog real-time tonight.

In my previous post, in the year 2036, I stated that learning is good if it helps us ‘fill in the blanks’ for culture and give them the full Gospel. I no doubt will walk away better by being here.

But I’m not listening with ‘reactionary’ ears tonight. In other words, I’m not looking for ammo to use against those who are vehemently non- or anti-Christian. I’m looking for truth to elucidate the Gospel for those who are in dire need of it.

I hope Maier teaches us with that heart as well.