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We were in Virginia Beach at Regent University last night for a Dallas Seminary alumni gathering. It was good to see Greg Hatteberg again - we first met 20 years ago when he helped me format a resume so prospective churches would see my experience. He is now in charge of the alumni office. I'll post pictures of the gathering as soon as Greg posts them to the alumni web site.
By far the best part of the trip was seeing my mentor, Pastor Wilson. The Wilsons are retired (not slowed down but retired) in Newport News. We had breakfast ... |
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| Posted by Alan Cole at | | | |
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| I have strong reservations about the TNIV (Today's New International Version) published by Zondervan, in large part because it is an inclusive language translation. I use inclusive language sometimes. I use it regularly in my sermons. But I don't believe it should be part of Bible translation. A short explanation: Let's say I have three children - two boys and a girl. And let's say I tell one of the girls to tell her brother to come to dinner. And let's say she is untutored in original languages so she decides that what I meant is "Tell your sibling to come to dinner." Has she faithfully ... |
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| Posted by Alan Cole at | | | |
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If you're a high powered blog reader, you may have heard of the Rebelution. It's a movement started by a couple of teenage brother, twins, actually, and it is calling today's youth to meet higher standards than society expects. I'm not a youth, but I'm excited by what I see from their site. Their "battle cry" is "Do Hard Things". If you haven't visited their web site, you really should.
Check out this blog on worship from their site. Let us know what you think.
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I'm speaking tomorrow on Luke 14:25-35. Thought you might enjoy the accompanying Bible study, which I write for every passage I preach.
“The Anything but Ordinary Life”
Luke 14:25-35
“We must do something about the cross, and one of two things only we can do–
flee it or die upon it.” A.W. Tozer, The Root of the Righteous
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Day 1: Why does Luke note the "large crowds" (25) following Jesus at this point? In what ways could Jesus’ audience honor their father and mother without allowing their approval and advice to hinder their relationship with Jesus (26)?
NOTE: Jesus is using hyperbole, an ... |
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| Posted by Alan Cole at | | | |
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When is it Christians all agree,
And let distinctions fall?
When, nothing in themselves, they see
That Christ is all in all.
But strife and difference will subsist
While men will something seem;
Let them but singly look to Christ
And all are one in Him:
The infant and the aged saint,
The worker and the weak,
They who are strong and seldom faint,
And they who scarce can speak.
Eternal life's the gift of God;
It comes through Christ alone;
'Tis His, He bought it with His blood;
And therefore gives His own.
We have no life, no power, no faith,
But what by Christ is given;
We all deserve eternal death,
And thus we are all even.
Joseph ... |
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One of the weaknesses of the blogosphere is that it provides "instant commentary" without the actual ability to use the perspective of time to take the long view. Instant commentary can be pretty useless and often inaccurate. When Tim Russert passed away, Slate (the internet magazine) published an interesting article that bemoaned the 24/7 coverage the news media gave of the loss of one of their own. Even though Bush 41 said Russert "...never practiced 'gotcha' journalism" (he was wrong, as he was on too many things) The Canonization of Saint Russert: The media overdo the death of a journalist summed up the tsunami of media coverage this way:
"Russert's own networks, NBC and MSNBC, have bathed him in appreciation. On Friday, MSNBC broke in
with coverage announcing the death and started collecting reactions. NBC Nightly News mourned his
passing. Dateline NBC was given over to Russert's memory, as was MSNBC's Hardball. The fallen
newsman's Saturday show, Tim Russert, memorialized him, as did the Saturday edition of Today,
which fielded the reminiscences of Bob Schieffer, George Stephanopoulos, and Tom Brokaw, who
appeared at almost every juncture to talk about his friend. Sunday's Today reprised the coverage.
The Chris Matthews Show devoted itself to Russert's memory, and the contestants—I mean, guests—
on a special edition of Meet the Press competed to see who could loft the highest praise for the
show's departed host."
This commentary in the same article summed up what I sensed at the time about the media:
Watching the cable news networks in the hours after his death, one was struck by the outpouring
of admiration and affection from across the political spectrum and from journalistic colleagues of
every sort. It was impossible not to be struck—once again—by just how incestuous and claustrophobic
the Washington-based nexus of politics and journalism has become.
Contrast the outpouring of coverage about Tim Russert with that of the coverage of the passing of Tony Snow. No breathless "Breaking news" reports. No coverage across the major networks of the memorial service.
Tony Snow held conservative views. Like the Pharisees in Jesus' day, the news media can't stand anything that goes against their prevailing orthodoxy, in this case, the orthodoxy of liberalism.
And its sad, because by all accounts I've read Tony Snow was a really decent human being. No wonder it didn't make the news,     |
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| Posted by Alan Cole at | | | |
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One of my favorite seminary profs used to say "It takes little size to criticize," I like that. It was his way of saying that we shouldn't waste a lot of time responding to critics. They're usually small people. Not necessarily in physical stature - one of my harshest critcs was a basketball player - but in smallness of soul.
A few months ago my friend and fellow pastor Mark Batreson was characterized as an "apostate evangelist" by one of his critics. You can read Mark's response here.
A Baptist pastor in Texas had a good analogy about doctors and ...
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| Posted by Alan Cole at | | | |
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Best quote about reading that I’ve seen in a while: "Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it." PJ O’Rourke
Best Bumper sticker that I've seen but NOT on a car: “God wants spiritual fruits, not religious nuts”
Most helpful web site I’ve found lately: The Password Meter. I checked several of my passwords and never got a passing grade, which is discouraging because I thought I was being exceptionally clever in choosing passwords I could remember. Turns out the meter never came close to pegging (like I thought it should) ... |
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| Posted by Alan Cole at | | | |
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Its hard to beleive that the summer is flying by so quickly. It seems like yesterday that I was going to blog our Memorial Day weekend, which for most people is the beginning of summer. I say "most people" because we once lived in Michigan and people there thaw out and actually do summer a lot later - but that's another story.
Cahterine had not been to the new WWII Memorial on the National Mall yet, so we took Memorial Day weekend and spent the day on the Mall - first the WWII Memorial, then some of our other favorites. ... |
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| Posted by Alan Cole at | | | |
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