1,000 Attend Service For Pastor Electrocuted During Baptism

This is a terrible tragedy. Kyle Lake will be missed. May he rest in peace.

A Halloween Solution - Christianity Today Magazine

Halloween...probably the most controversial of holidays in America. Here's a fun, short article dealing with the day.

Emerging Solutions—and Problems - Christianity Today Magazine

Sorry for the long delay since I last posted! I've been rather busy with hospital visitation, funerals, leadership issues, denominational meetings, alt.worship services, some big time spiritual warfare, and my growing family. Here's an article that caught my eye. Perhaps you have followed the flap over Carson's book Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church. If not, this article will introduce you to some of the issues. I feel I often straddle the fence on the issue of the emerging church. I haven't jumped in with both feet, but the preaching of Tim Keel and Rob Bell really resonants with me and much of what I have read by McLaren and others does as well. Yet I find myself torn. I also find much that doesn't sit well with me. I think that's why the following quote from the article sums up my feelings as well:

Rather than becoming antagonists, Carson and McLaren should continue in dialogue, so the academic theologian and the missional practitioner might be mutually enriched and refocused.

The 100 Minute Bible

The 100-Minute Bible is primarily intended for people who have an interest in Christianity but not the time (nor tenacity!) to read the whole Bible

This concept is really bugging me! What has been determined to be the "core" of the Bible? Can you really pick out the principle stories? And who says which stories are the principle stories?

I have found that people make time for the things they are interested in. If you are interested in fly fishing, quilting, mathematics, philosophy, etc. there are no shortcuts to growing in your understanding of these things. You have to put effort forth. And people do, if they are interested. Why should the Bible be any different? I think the 100 Minute Bible is sending the wrong message! What do you think? Are you as bugged by this as me, or do I need to just chill out?

Old Words, Vibrant Faith - Christianity Today Magazine

Check out this interview with Charlie Lowell of Jars of Clay taking about the band's CD, Redemption Songs. I appreciate his thoughts and his sentiment concerning the hymns!

These songs have been in the band for years. Some of them we wrote for the record, like 'God Will Lift Up Your Head' and 'Jesus, I Lift My Eyes.' Some of them we have been singing backstage in our dressing room or at church for years. But it's new to our audience. It's something we haven't really talked about. There was this sort of modern worship thing, and we felt like black sheep. But times came around and we felt like this is really valuable and could be something that the church even needs right now. Maybe the church needs some of these songs that take us back to our roots and foundation.

Why? - Christianity Today Magazine

Here's a short article giving several different answers to the question of why concerning hurricane Katrina and Rita.

The debate over the meaning of the hurricane started when it became clear that federal, state, and local officials were having trouble responding to the disaster.

Democrats said the hurricane revealed inept leadership and bias against the poor. Republicans said government failures showed that the private sector could do a better job.

Muslim militants said it was Allah's judgment. Louis Farrakhan trumpeted a Black Muslim view that Katrina was judgment for the Iraq War. Ovadia Yosef, a leading Orthodox Jewish rabbi in Israel, said the hurricane was punishment for U.S. leaders forcing Israel out of the Gaza Strip.

Book Review: 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper

Have you ever wondered what life after death is like? Do books about near death experiences interest you? Then you may enjoy this book. Don Piper shares his incredible story of death, pain, and life in his book 90 Minutes in Heaven.

Piper died in a terrible car accident on a rural Texas highway. He was dead for 90 minutes. During that time, he went to heaven but came back to life on earth after a pastor prayed for him.

Repeatedly, Piper says that words cannot possibly describe what heaven is like. Piper is greeted by deceased friends and family, sees the pearly gates and golden streets, and hears wonderful music.

After describing his brief glimpse of heaven, the rest of the book recounts his trying struggle to recover from his horrific injuries. The intense pain and knowledge that he will never again be normal lead Piper to despair, depression, and frustration. Fortunately, God places several people in Piper’s life who help him through his depression and despair. Piper begins to share his experience with others and finds God working through his story.

Overall it is a good book. His description of the car accident, heaven and the painful recovery are powerful. Many of the lessons he learned through this ordeal are very helpful. One such lesson for me was allowing people to minister to me because it enables them to live out their calling.

But several things bothered me in the book. One was the author’s repeated attempts at interpreting what he experienced in terms of his theological presuppositions. Most obvious were Piper’s repeated comments concerning the absence of time in heaven and yet he experienced sequence. He met one relative first, then another, then a friend, and so on. He did this first, and this next, and so on. He heard this song, which had these notes, played in this sequence, and so on. If he experienced obvious sequence in heaven, which would indicate the passage of time, why doesn’t the author reinterpret his theology in light of his new experience?

Another frustrating aspect of the book was the overall weakness I see in many evangelical Christians (myself included!) as exemplified in Piper. Piper is a Baptist minister and I kept asking myself what this book would be like if a minister with a more contemplative, sacramental worldview had experienced this same trial. I commend Piper for his openness and allowing himself to be vulnerable. I commend Piper for allowing us to see him when he was not at his best. I commend Piper for writing a book that doesn’t present himself as the most likeable guy. But overall, I feel he reflects so many Christians today who do not have a deep, contemplative relationship with God and who lack a theology that includes suffering.

Don’t get me wrong. I would not have handled his situation any better than he did. But I do believe that his analytical approach to this ordeal by seeking to find answers is typical of many evangelical Christians today. We rarely seize moments that will allow us to contemplate the sufferings of Christ (and obviously none of us want to do this!). To me some of his reflections highlight some of the weaknesses of a purely analytical, rational approach to our relationship with God. It feels to me, based on the teachings of Jesus and Paul, that we should have a far better perspective on suffering and pain than we typically do.

Let me encourage you to read this book. And let me encourage you by reading this book to place yourself in Piper’s place and develop a powerful, thoughtful theology of suffering.

Thanks to Paige Harvey of PS Media Relations for sending me a copy of this book to review.

Out in the sticks extreme makeover coming (I hope!)

Outinthesticksoct
Originally uploaded by hawkenstein.

I am growing tried of the look of my blog. I am currently trying to rework it and learn a thing or two along the way. Please be patient if things go completely crazy!

These changes will coincide with some huge changes going on at the churches I pastor. I plan to share about all of that in the near future.

Grace and peace,
Steve

Book Review: Calling by Frank Tillapaugh and Richard Hurst

I have been familiar with Frank Tillapaugh and his work at Bear Valley Church in Southeast Denver for quite sometime. Though he has not been the pastor there for over 2 decades now, his legacy there is widely felt. I worked as the youth pastor at Centennial Community Church which was birthed out of Bear Valley as a reclamation project which he briefly mentions at the end of the book.

Frank's work has been profound in the Denver area. And yet his work is really a result of creating what he calls an "open system" which allows people in the church to pursue their God given calling. He truly believes that the Bible really means it when it says that, we are all ministers, that all have been given a gift by the Holy Spirit to use in ministry, and that all beleivers are a royal priesthood. He really believes a pastor is "to prepare God's people for works of service" (Ephesians 4:12).

This belief has caused Frank to take helping people live their callings seriously. As a result the ministries below have come into existence:

Denver Street School (check out the history page)
Mile High Ministries (check out the About Us page
Inner City Health Center
Whiz Kids Tutoring
Project Cure
Alternatives Pregnancy Center

...and many others.

Wow! Isn't it great to see the power of calling? Just think of the impact these ministries have had and continue to have on so many people in Denver! And few people relize that these ministries owe there existence to followers of Jesus being faithful to their calling...to the want-to that God placed inside their hearts.

If you want to get a taste for how this might be accomplished in your church (though it is not a how-to manual) read Calling. I highly recommend this book. If used copies of the book are not available from Amazon, the book is available from Frank's organization Dreamtime listed on this product page.

Emergents, Meet Saints! - Christian History

Here's a great article on studying church history to inform our current wrestlings with church and culture. Here's a great quote from the article and I agree with the author.

The Emergents seem to me to have it right: No single program or rulebook can possibly speak to the hearts of this diversely gifted, diversely perceptive, and diversely wounded young generation who yearn for spiritual fulfillment yet deeply distrust 'organized religion.' We need to reassess—to find new models of creative ministries.

What to do in such a time?

This is a time for stories. Maybe stories from history, 'straight up'—carefully researched and narrated by the scholars who have given their lives to unearthing and interpreting historical evidence and shaping the clearest, most accurate and unbiased story they can out of the shards and shadows of the past. Maybe edifying allegories, plays, and tales of various kinds.

And maybe, too, the life stories of those 'dead Christians' who translated the Gospel for their own generations—forcing the church in their times to shake itself out of deep ruts and see the world in new, challenging lights. Maybe these lives can teach us something about how to translate the Gospel for the lost of our own new patchwork, post-Christian generation.

I like this idea of looking to the past for ideas for future new creative models of ministry. What are your thoughts? Is there anything we can learn from the past to help the church move forward into the future?

The Power of Media: Interview with Micheal Flaherty

Here's an interesting interview with Micheal Flaherty, the president and co-founder of Walden Media which is bringing The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe to the big screen this December. I find the following quote from the interview particularly interesting:

I was thoroughly depressed after Columbine, but I started to get encouraged when I read about how strong some of the young victims' faith was, particularly Cassie Bernall and Rachel Scott. One thing I found interesting was that these kids loved films. Cassie's favorite movie was Braveheart, and I think Rachel's was as well. In contrast, the killers' favorite films were reportedly things like Natural Born Killers.

I decided I would like to find a way to make more great, inspiring films that can lift people up and encourage them, particularly for this age group. So I called my old roommate from college, Cary Granat, who at the time was president of Dimension Films. Cary also wanted to do something more inspirational for the family. So that was the origin of it, acknowledging that media really does have a role in influencing hearts and minds. And finding a way, rather than just to curse the darkness, to light a few candles and get more great films out there.

Particularly interesting to me is Flaherty's acknowledgement that the "media really does have a role in influencing heart and minds." It is refreshing to hear someone in the media say this. It seems to me that whenever concerns are voiced about the media and how it depicts violence, sexuality, religion, etc...that those voices are drowned out by others crying for free speech and seeking to argue that the media does very little to shape people's hearts and minds.

Watching my children grow has only made me more aware of the power of the media to shape hearts and minds. Last night we were reading from Laura and Mr. Edwards a Little House on the Prairie chapter book. In this book, Laura Ingalls describes winter on the prairie and how the girls passed the time. Listen to her description:

Now that winter had arrived on the Kansas prairie, the days were short and very cold. The wind howled and a hard rain fell. But there was no snow. Laura and Mary stayed inside, close by the fire. They listened to the wind and the wet sound of rain as they sewed on their quilts and cut paper dolls from scraps of wrapping paper.

Can you imagine kids today being content doing these things? I know my kids wouldn't be! They have been so shaped by the media that they believe they must always be entertained. Commercials on TV are particularly powerful to a 5 year old! I can sit and watch as their little eyes grow bigger and bigger as their excitement concerning a toy or a snack food increases. Then when the commercial is over they turn to me and say, "I want that! Can we go get that now? Can I have that for my birthday? I want that for Christmas!" The power of the media to shape the heart and mind. I believe it's very real.

What do you think?