Check out this video from Taylor Mali. He sure does speak the language of our times.

HT: JT

Check out this terrific article at the New Atlantis entitled “Sucker-Me Elmo.” I am a bit old-fashioned in many ways, but every year, I’ve bugged Amy to move over into the educational toy aisle, where things don’t need batteries, and they don’t give me headaches. Bigger than that, though, I think they do a better job of facilitating learning. Well, this article argues the same thing. Just say no!

HT: LD

Mega-marts push business to the suburbs. Churches follow suit. Homebuyers flock to cookie-cutter subdivisions. City edges keep expanding. Our world is changing. In the midst of all this is a growing desire to revitalize downtowns all over America. Columbia is no different. Disgruntled suburbans are moving back. Entrepreneurs are reopening doors. “The District” is thriving. People hang there. People shop there. People study there. But the church is absent. And so is the gospel.

Imagine a community of faith that sinks her roots deeply into the “The District,” resolving to engage and serve the culture. See her answering the city’s questions. See her touching the downtown’s hurts. Watch her being a force for good and blessing in the center of the city. Picture a church that proclaims the glory of God and the wonder of the gospel, without compromise, within that culture. Imagine a church that shatters stereotypes by proclaiming truth, while also living with compassion. See the grace of God being proclaimed and being lived out by members of a closeknit, loving community.

Imagine that church being concerned less with becoming another super-center, and more about growing the kingdom of God. See a community of faith that trains her own within her midst, through an on-campus institute, and sends Christians out to start churches and reach cultures. See a city changed— from the inside-out. This is the Karis vision.

We have been blessed immensely at Karis by the ministry of New York pastor Tim Keller.  Keller planted and serves Redeemer Presbyterian Church there.  An article we use and disperse much is his work called “The Centrality of the Gospel.”  Keller argues that two “thieves” stand on opposite sides of our gospel, much as two men were crucified on each side of our Lord.  Those “thieves” are religion or legalism and irreligion or relativism.  In the paper, he states that both are equally opposed to the gospel of our Lord.  This important work profoundly taught me that legalism is as much of a problem as relativism– something we don’t often understand in evangelicalism.

A number of Keller’s works can be found on Steve McCoy’s Reformissionary site here.  The “Centrality of the Gospel” piece can be found here.

One thing I have discovered this past year that has changed the way I organize my life is the amazing PocketMod. Many of you might make fun of me for this, as it’s so incredibly low-tech. But it is amazing. What it does is it allows you to print 8 pages of calendars, to-do lists, etc. that fold up in a semi-origami fashion and fit marvelously into your pocket. I throw some of my church invite cards in the front jacket, and I’m ready to go. My regular Sunday night routine involves filling out a new PocketMod. Try it. You’ll love it. It’s so much cheaper than a Palm Pilot.

Rob Gaskin and I went into the studio a month or so ago to talk about “Movies and MindMaps” with Janet Saidi of KBIA, Columbia’s NPR affiliate. Our interview on “Off the Clock” ended up going into quite a bit about our vision for the church. Visit KBIA’s “Off the Clock” page and select the February 16th program or click here to download.

I’m sorry to say that things don’t look good for our friend Amy, who attended our church briefly before beginning her battle with Leukemia.  Read here to hear more about her current situation, and pray for her, please.

After a several month hiatus, thanks to my good buddy, Troy Gaines, I’m now back and bloggin’ and rollin’. I’m back with a new style and a new name. A few months back, we changed our church name to Karis. That’s the Greek word for grace. And, to be very, very clear: it’s pronounced CAR-iss, not CARE-us.  Check back soon for more posts from the K.P.