Against Nothingness

Ross Lawhead.  The Realms Thereunder (An Ancient Earth) . Thomas Nelson, 2011. 400 pgs.  Beneath Great Britian lies a sleeping army ready and waiting for the great battle between good and evil. Daniel Tully and Freya Reynolds are normal school children. Until they accidentally discover, and awaken, two of the sleeping knights in that army. Thus begins their adventures in the realms thereunder. Knights, immortal and ancient wise men, trolls, gnomes, dragons, and an evil wizard seem to be in only the beginning in this enjoyable series.  Reading The Realms Thereunder  felt like a return to an older style of fantasy novel. It comes from a time when confused youths with swords could become heroes, a time when fantasy still had an element of the fairy tale, and it is well done. While maintaining the ambiguity of the human soul, the deceitful shadows of evil, and the reality of our confusing and often sorrowful life on earth Lawhead manages to pull the reader ...

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave  him to show his servants what must soon take place.  He made it known by sending his angel  to his servant John,  who testifies to everything he saw--that is, the word of God  and the testimony of Jesus Christ.  Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it,  because the time is near. - Revelation 1:1-3 "Give me a revelation, show me what to do, cause I've been trying to find my way and I haven't got a clue...."   (Third Day) If you could know something about your future, would you want to? What would it be? Many people come to the book of Revelation with questions about the future. But, other than in a large and general sense (SPOILER ALERT: Jesus is Victorious!!! ), that is not what Revelation offers. More importantly, that is not what we need. In Revelation we are given the apocalypse of Jes...

Scotty Smith.  Everyday Prayers: 365 Days to a Gospel-Centered Faith . Baker Books, 2011. 380 pgs.  On the surface, this is a devotional prayer book which has one prayer for each day of the year. However, you do not have to read very far to find out that Scotty Smith intends to communicate far more than this. Through these prayers, Smith desired to find Jesus in every part of the bible, bring the gospel to bear on every part of his life, and help the reader to do these same things. He seeks to engage Jesus as prophet, priest, and king (a popular reformed rubric these days, and certainly not a bad one), as well as to continually return to basics of the gospel within the grand metanarrative of scripture.  As you read these prayers you will find that they truly are everyday prayers. They range from poetic to personal in style, grand to minute in scope, and topically they are all over the place. This is, in my opinion, a good reflection of everyday life....

Pride has always been a struggle for me. Blogging has become yet another arena in which that struggle is played out. I reread blog posts and pat myself on the back, congratulate myself when I get new followers, and on and on. Thankfully, by the grace of God something happens just as frequently to keep me humble. I catch stupid mistakes (and I make plenty of those), fail to blog for days or weeks, or read someone else's blog which is significantly better.  Today something happened that just made me laugh. I found out that I am the number 1 result for those numerous individuals who search google for "cristion prsing songs."  Can you believe it? I couldn't. Go ahead, try it. You'll see.  I'm just so happy.  LOL

"Sower with the Setting Sun" by Van Gogh Jesus told many stories. They are known as parables. Interesting, shocking, counter-cultural, and confusing, these stories have oft been discussed. This year, at TC 2011, we have lived one... A farmer went out to sow his seed. This farmer, however, was strange. Apparently overburdened with an abundance of seed he abandoned the normal practice of plowing and carefully planting and went with the scattering method. That is, he walked around scattering seed all over the place. Now, that seed did what you would expect it might. Some landed on the path and birds came and ate it. Some landed in rocky soil. It quickly took root and grew but when the sun came out, it withered for it had no roots. Some landed among the thorns and though the seeds grew, the thorns choked out the plants. Finally, some landed on good soil where it produced a massive crop.  This weekend that farmer came among us; our God and Lord who ...

At BAC there has been a "Teen's Camp" every year for 20 years (or more). I have been to three, the most recent one last weekend. Every year we are blessed to be able to do what we can.  We remove ourselves from the familiar in order to enjoy some of God's creation.We plan games and groups, ask questions and are present to talk about them. We worship the Lord together in song, with music, standing with arms raised to our God. We invite a speaker to come and say again the good news of Jesus Christ. These are the things that we, by the grace of God, can do, every year. It is good; it is all good.  It is good to hear again the Love of God; it is amazing to experience God's love. It is good to hear the call to the kingdom of God; it is amazing to have the Spirit work in us and make that call a summons we must answer. It is good to know we are broken and need to change; it is amazing for Jesus to work repentance in us so that this knowledge becomes des...

Yes, we are officially starting a 'new year'. I used to think, for some reason, that once I got out of school I would run on a 'normal' calendar. Clearly that doesn't happen when you are a Youth Pastor :)  Top 3 Posts of August: 1. Heaven and Hell - For a second straight month this older and nearly content-less post has topped the charts.  2. What I Need  - A post on needs and wants in life and religion. Glad to see this up here.  3. "Exploring Kenotic Theology" by C. Stephen Evans  - One of the most academic books I have reviewed. Has anyone else read it yet? :) I hope that in the midst of this sure to be extremely busy September I will still get a good number of posts up here.