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“I must admit that I find all of this completely astonishing. The people who are growing spiritually are the people who are reading their Bibles. And it’s the same group of people who find themselves less dependent on the church, and more likely to be dissatisfied with the church. What does Reveal conclude from this? That the church isn’t as necessary for mature Christians because they have their Bibles. What?! How about concluding, “Maybe we should teach more Bible in church.”

How did they miss this?

If it’s the Bible and prayer that matures the mature, isn’t it the Bible and prayer that will mature the immature? And if it’s the Bible and prayer that matures people altogether, isn’t that what the church should be doing when it gathers?

Remarkably, Reveal tells the dissatisfied that it’s their fault for not being self-starters. Isn’t that like a math teacher telling the parents of the teenager who is dissatisfied with the teacher’s teaching, “It’s his problem because he’s not teaching himself math at home.”

-Jonathan Leeman of 9 Marks Ministries, responding to Chapter 3 of Willow Creek’s Reveal study, “What Did We Discover” on the 9 Marks Church Matters blog


I am excited to post another interview in preparation for the Abandoned: Worship as Life seminar this Saturday, September 29 on the campus of Missouri Baptist…

It is a distinct honor to have you listen on my conversation with one of my personal heroes and now good friend, Sally Morgenthaler. Many will know Sally from her best-selling book, Worship Evangelism and her appearance at many worship conferences over the last decade. Well as is the case with us all, Sally is evolving. But you’ll have to listen in to see how and why…

Note: Sorry for the quality. You’ll hear an echo with the audio. Just imagine we did this interview in a cave and you’ll forget about it after a while. Man, technology…


why can’t we all just get along?: part 3

Here is the third installment of my presentation on worship at Missouri Baptist University last month- Why Can’t We All Just Be Reconciliators: A Third Way. It’s looking like there will be four parts overall. Here is Part 1 and Part 2.

Up to this point, we have mainly looked at categories. Part 1 looked at the preservationist and innovationist camps. Part 2 looked at the traditional, contemporary, and emerging church contexts. Part 3 brings us to a biblical description of what being a reconciliationist looks like:

So how does this put us in a better position to talk about what being a reconciliationist means?

As a way into this, I would like to look at a couple of scripture passages together in the Gospels of Luke and John. In these two passages, the setting is the Garden of Gethsemane, which sits at the foot of the Mount of Olives just east of Jerusalem. You know the scene. He is about to be arrested, flogged, and crucified in the next 24 hours.

What is interesting about these two passages is that Luke and John record the same event through very different lenses and words. But because both of these passages describe the same story and fit together harmoniously, we need to read both passages to help us as we understand this idea of reconciliation.

Read the rest of this entry »


7 degrees of brad, sort’ve

Not quite the six degrees of Kevin Bacon, but it will do:

Degree #1: During my time in Nashvegas, I attended The People’s Church where Shaun Groves and I became friends. One of the friendliest things he did was try to convince his record label’s president to come to a showcase of mine. He didn’t come, but the gesture was awesome!

Degree #2: On his blog, my friend, Shaun, discusses how understanding Greek unearthed the real meaning of the shalom: the absence of war.

Degree #3: Rob Bell just preached a sermon series at his church, Mars Hill Church, in December of ’06 entitled “Calling All Peacemakers,” in which he challenged his church to think about the long standing history of non-violence.

Degree #4: Rob Bell says this on the Mars Hill Church website about their belief about how Jesus and worship interface:

Through Jesus we have been forgiven and God is reconciling us to himself, each other, ourselves, and creation. Jesus is the only mediator between God and humans. For all who accept his sacrifice he gives the Holy Spirit who leads us into all truth through a communal life of worship and a missional expression of our faith.

Degree #5: I wrote a blog entry about the accessibility of worship lyrics that got picked up by the ESV blog. Wow!

Degree #6: The ESV blog picks up Midwestern MDiv student Hank Imler’s blog entry about bible translation issues.

Degree #7: Hank Imler is my cousin by marriage.


Here is this week’s edition of “The Rearview Mirror,” where we peruse the past week’s best of the best in the blogosphere. Enjoy!

1. Online video becomes a real business. What does this mean for the church?

2. Missional churches, Epiphany, and squatters.

3. The history of religion in 90 seconds. Intriguing…

4. UNC-Wilmington criminology professor, Mike Adams, gives one of his students a lesson in integrity.

5. The ESV blog helps us visualize one-year Bible reading plans. Who knew there were this many ways to read the Scriptures?

6. Pamela Durso, associate executive director of the Baptist History and Heritage Society, writes on what we can learn from the long history of Baptist worship wars.

7. The recent Knicks/Nuggets brawl at Madison Square Garden was no doubt a black eye for the NBA. But ESPN Page 2′s Jemele Hill says don’t blame “thugs.” Blame false bravado, machismo and stupidity.

8. Get Religion’s Terry Mattingly voices his thoughts on the little semi-story The Greenville (S.C.) News missed last week and if experience matters when it comes to writing for the religion beat of a major newspaper.

9. The German Opera’s controversial production of Mozart’s Idomeneo went on in Berlin last week without incident, although it was two months late and with more than 100 German cops on hand. Paul O’Donnell of Beliefnet.com’s Idol Chatter discusses that though there is a controversial scene that is a protest against “any form of organized religion or its founders,” opera and organized religion face many of the same challenges…

10. It’s hard to believe that Mary was just a teenager [anywhere from 12 to 17 on who you talk to] when Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in her womb. Scot McKnight “pushes back” Marko on the adolescent implications that Mary might have faced [or not faced].

11. The untold story of Southern Baptist Clarence Jordan via iMonk and the Bible Belt Blogger.

12. London, the new Jerusalem via Jonny Baker.

13. Moby tries to tells us the real meaning of Christmas. Nice try Mr. Hall, but there’s more to the Story: redemption of sin.

14. Shaun Groves lets us in on what happens when CPAs and artists breed together…hilarious!


blogging the Bible

Not sure where I stumbled upon this, but this is a cool marriage of art and “heart-on-your-sleeve” Biblical “commentary”: Wonders for Oyarsa.

The title of this blog is taken from C. S. Lewis’ Out of the Silent Planet. Oyarsa is the name of the guardian spirit of Malacandra (the planet Mars).

Wonders of Oyarsa combines the breathtaking Biblical illustrations of French artist Gustave Doré (1832-1883) and commentary on the accompanying Scriptures.

Here is the idea behind this blog:

One of the reasons I started this blog was to blog the Bible. I got the idea from David Plotz over at Slate. As a nominal jew, he describes his experience at a cousin’s bar mitzvah. Being bored out of his mind, he picks up a Bible from the pew in front of him. Arriving at Genesis 34, he is soon engrossed in the sordid story of the rape of Dinah and the revenge of Jacob’s sons.

I’ve enjoyed David’s writing so far – it’s refreshing to see someone take the story on its own terms and wrestle with it. I’ve known many devout people bending over backwards to justify dreadful things in the Old Testament, but he’s not afraid to decry parts that seem horrible to him. I’ve also known unbelievers who read the Bible simply to mock and criticize, but David doesn’t let his difficulties blind him to the deep and wonderful things.

Now, what does this have to do with me, a lifelong Christian? Blogs about reading a book I’ve read all my life don’t sound too exciting. And maybe it isn’t exciting, and I don’t really expect that many readers. However, it does seem like a really good idea for any Christian – to read the entire Bible, reflect on it, honestly write what comes to mind, and welcome conversation from others.

* I want to engage the text – to not shy away from the parts that jar and even disgust me, and to see the parts I’ve always loved with new eyes.

* I want to focus on more than individual passages or stories – to let the grand sweep of the narrative carry me to places further up and further in.

* I want to invite others to come along with me – to show me things I’m missing, and to tell me what thoughts resonate and which ones don’t.

To be honest, it’s probably not something that I’d actually finish if I didn’t have some sort of public face and accountability. So, to those of you who are interested, thanks for joining me. I appreciate the company.

Interesting…check it out here.


reforming lectio divina

Due to a recent comment on three words from my under the tutelage of bono entry [Lectio Divinia anyone?], I feel I need to clarify my position on a controversial topic in today’s church, the aformentioned Lectio Divina.

First, definitions are important. We base what we believe about a certain thing on the definition we have in our mind of it. I would like to state what I believe is and is not my definition of Lectio Divina. [Maybe the problem is we have different versions of what this means floating around. No doubt that some of the criticism is warranted due to abuses of it]

Second, I feel, in no way, am I watering down what Lectio Divina means for the purposes of my argument. This is simply my interpretation of the practice.

Third, I do not believe that this practice should be replaced or come before the serious discipline of exegesis. Exegesis involves an extensive and critical interpretation of the Bible, meaning “to draw the meaning out of” a given text. This is of utmost importance in our spiritual formation.

On to a definition…

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