Our next installment of Movies and MindMaps will feature Pan’s Labyrinth, a fantasy film which will spur much discussion.  Come to the Boone County Chambers Room, just north of Boone Tavern, in downtown Columbia, at 6:30 p.m. this Friday for a free film viewing and discussion.

Contact Rob at 529-0909 for more info.  Also visit the Movies and MindMaps site.

Look at the film’s official site.

Read the IMDB entry.

Note: This film contains violence that would be unsuitable for children.

The podcast and manuscript for “Loving Deeply Our Brothers and Sisters” is now up.

One of the things I love about my city begins next Thursday.  It’s the Twilight Festival.  Every Thursday night in June and September, the “District” is alive with music, food, and family.  It is one of those events that reminds me that I live in a special city.  The people from the “District” have put together a new website previewing this year’s events.  Check it out.

The book The Prayer of Jabez has some serious problems, in my humble opinion. Among them, it…

a) Demonstrates poor biblical interpretation skills by ripping a passage out of context and using it in a way that was not intended.

b) Legitimizes wacked-out, “name it and claim it,” theology in the evangelical world.

c) Totally bypasses Jesus and the gospel.

I came across this excellent post from an old seminary acquaintance, Denny Burk. He listened to Derek Webb’s podcast and summarized it like this:

I just finished listening to a fascinating interview with Derek Webb in which he gives some of the reasons for the break-up of Caedmon’s Call. Believe it or not, Derek says that Bruce Wilkinson and The Prayer of Jabez were in part to blame for the band’s demise!

Derek explains that his first solo album was inspired by an encounter that Caedmon’s Call had with Bruce Wilkinson at a trade event. At this event, Wilkinson was supposed to speak for about 20-30 minutes, and then Caedmon’s was to perform a few songs when he finished. Wilkinson held forth for about an hour and a half telling the crowd that if they would pray the prayer of Jabez, then God would bless them. According to Derek, Wilkinson never once mentioned Christ or the gospel. Derek was so outraged, that he wanted to speak out against the gospel-free message of Bruce Wilkinson. When the rest of the band demurred, Derek struck out on his own.

Maybe this story is common knowledge, but I had never heard it before. But don’t take my word for it. Go listen to Derek tell the story himself in this interview with the RUF director at Belmont University: Derek Webb episode 12 (from the Derek Webb podcast).

My friend Jim Hamilton posts an excellent paragraph from Doug Wilson’s debate with a skeptic.  Read it here.  It is fantastic.

For our recent installment of “Theology Club” at Karis, we have been discussing Bruce Ware’s fine book, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles, and Relevance. We met yesterday and had a very lively discussion– three guys and three gals– on God as one, yet three. If you have looked for a book, written with the layperson in mind, that teaches not only the biblical teaching on the Trinity, but also its relevance, this is the book for you. Dr. Ware truly has a gift for making things transcendent remarkably accessible.

I am excited to study this group with my members, because I had the remarkable privilege of worshipping with Dr. Ware at Clifton Baptist in Louisville and studying under him at Southern Seminary. He, along with the other Clifton elders, ordained me for the ministry. I had the opportunity to see both his academic life and his family life, serving as youth minister for a season at Clifton and working closely on the youth worship team with his daughter Rachel. My point? I know Dr. Ware. His mind and heart are worthy of emulation and admiration. Check out this great book!

In addition, there are some excellent lectures by Ware found on the doctrine of providence at TheResurgence.com. These essentially boil down a class on Providence I took at Southern into just a few lectures.

For those of you keeping up with MBC life, Dr. Mark DeVine from Midwestern addressed a theological study committee about the “Emerging Church,” and how Acts 29 fits in to that. Well, following the event, in the Pathway, Devine felt very misunderstood. The Pathway then offered to let him write a column expressing his position. That article has yet to be published. Here is the article for your consideration.

I can’t believe I forgot to post on this, but Mars Hill’s Mark Driscoll spoke at the New Church Conference recently in Florida. He and his video people at the church put together an excellent video describing the type of man needed to plant a church in today’s culture. They played the video at the conference, and Bill Hybels, known for his egalitarian views, got up and ripped on it. He said something like, “Don’t women have spiritual gifts, also?” The invertebrates holding the conference decided not to give out the thousands of videos the church labored to produce, fearful of potential backlash. So the encouraging and challenging video has been made available by Mars Hill.

Let this be a reminder how counter-cultural the biblical, complementarian understanding of gender roles has become. And let those out there calling Driscoll and Acts 29 “emergent” and soft on truth humbly reconsider. His church was recently picketed for Driscoll’s position (required for all A29 planters). Happened to you lately?  Watch the video here.

Here’s an actual church sign from a place down the street from my house.  Let me get this straight: EKGs “measure” our hearts.  And our hearts measure our little friends?  This is classic.

Here’s an interesting article from the New York Times.  It argues that there is a “new breed” of evangelical now that is as much concerned about historically “liberal” causes as it is about the traditionally conservative ones, like abortion.  However, the article notes that young evangelicals are still very pro-life, but, citing Barna, claims they are more open to gay marriage and the like.   I would dispute the latter.  Honestly, Barna’s polls perplex me most of the time, and I don’t put too much stock in them.  How helpful is it, for example, when he allows, in his polls, for people to be called “born again” and believe there are multiple ways to the Lord?  Regardless, I have seen the thesis of this article up-close as I’ve worked to plant a church here in Columbia.  First of all, I fit this mold.  Second, almost all the young people I encounter think along the same lines.  And I also see a parallel passion for theology in younger people.  I would say that each of these issues, like the environment, for example, are driven by the teachings of Scripture, by sound theology.  And this, in part, explains some of the resistance to the old-line “religious right” conservatives like Falwell and Robertson.  Where, for example, in Scripture does it teach that the free market rules?  That the borders should be sealed?  I could go on.  Check out the article.