Praying for the Steven Curtis Chapman Family

Please pray for this dear family and the sudden & tragic death of their five year old daughter, Maria. You can meet her here.

As a father of three little girls five and under, my heart aches. But we do not grieve as those who have no hope - for our hope is in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:13-20). May our Shepherd lead them through the valley of the shadow of death.

And... dance with your daughters today.

Logos, Ethos, Pathos

From Kent Hughes’ commentary on Philippians:

There are times when I am preaching that I have especially sensed the pleasure of God.... There is nothing quite like it — the Holy Spirit filling one’s sails, the sense of his pleasure, and the awareness that something is happening among one’s hearers.

What has happened when this takes place? How do we account for this sense of his smile? The answer for me has come from the ancient rhetorical categories of logos, ethos, and pathos.

The first reason for his smile is the logos—in terms of preaching, God’s Word. This means that as we stand before God’s people to proclaim his Word, we have done our homework. We have exegeted the passage, mined the significance of its words in their context, and applied sound hermeneutical principles in interpreting the text so that we understand what its words meant to its hearers. And it means that we have labored long until we can express in a sentence what the theme of the text is — so that our outline springs from the text. Then our preparation will be such that as we preach, we will not be preaching our own thoughts about God’s Word, but God’s actual Word, his logos. This is fundamental to pleasing him in preaching.

The second element in knowing God’s smile in preaching is ethos — what you are as a person. There is a danger endemic to preaching, which is having your hands and heart cauterized by holy things. Phillips Brooks illustrated it by the analogy of a train conductor who comes to believe that he has been to the places he announces because of his long and loud heralding of them. And that is why Brooks insisted that preaching must be “the bringing of truth through personality.” Though we can never perfectly embody the truth we preach, we must be subject to it, long for it, and make it as much a part of our ethos as possible. As the Puritan William Ames said, “Next to the Scriptures, nothing makes a sermon more to pierce, than when it comes out of the inward affection of the heart without any affectation.” When a preacher’s ethos backs up his logos, there will be the pleasure of God.

Last, there is pathos — personal passion and conviction. David Hume, the Scottish philosopher and skeptic, was once challenged as he was seen going to hear George Whitefield preach: “I thought you do not believe in the gospel.” Hume replied, “I don’t, but he does.” Just so! When a preacher believes what he preaches, there will be passion. And this belief and requisite passion will know the smile of God.

The pleasure of God is a matter of logos (the Word), ethos (what you are), and pathos (your passion). As you preach the Word may you experience his smile — the Holy Spirit in your sails!

$200 Book Shopping Spree!

Just click on the banner below to register for a $200 shopping spree at Mongergism Books - a great source of solid literature. The contest is hosted by Tim Challies, so you don't have to worry about your email being sold to the pharmeceutical companies. :o)

Also, you can get your own "referral number" and for anyone who registers under your number, you'll get another entry in the drawing. The link below should put you under my number automatically, but in case you're asked, my referral number is 70837.

Thanks & hope you win something! BTW, the second & third place prizes are a $75 & $35 dollar shopping spree (T-shirt included!)

Comic Relief - Act Two

Here are the other comic ads I promised on an earlier post.

Grip of steel. Power packed wrists. Rippling, bulging, sledge-hammer forearms. I can only think of one other simple piece of rubber that can do this much... you got it! Squeegee.

Here's the deal. The Junior Sales Club of America will send you 12 boxes of seasonal cards (21 cards per box) on good faith - no money up front! All they ask is that you sell each box for $1.25, return the unsold boxes within 30 days and keep 50 cents per box. Or, you can earn "nationally famous" prizes based on your sales.

Field Glasses, Flash Camera, Hi-Fi LP Record 8 Pack, Diving Submarine Kit... just a few of the valuable prizes that could be yours.

I thought the layout & typography on this roller skate ad was interesting... there's no concern for correct punctuation nor are the words in any type of eye pleasing arrangement. It's like the words "are yours on" was a cut & paste error that made it to the printer.

I'm not sure if Chicago Roller Skate Company is still in business... unless they've changed their name to Chicago Skates.

A Living Epistle

In preparation for a recent teaching opportunity, I came across this sermon by Cornelius Tyree called "THE MORAL POWER OF A PIOUS LIFE" or known also as "The Living Epistle". It's long - so you probably won't read it all in one sitting, but you might take a few small bites at a time.

I was studying the salt & light passage in Matthew 5, and Tyree's words are helpful for us to know the importance of letting others see our "good works" that they might "give glory to God."

How can the attention of men be most effectually drawn to the great subject of Christianity? If there can be no sound conversion to God without thought and investigation—then how can men be induced to entertain the gospel proposition? The most effectual way to enlist general attention to the religion of Christ—is for its professors to display it in their tempers and conduct.

The best commentary on the Bible that the world has ever seen--is a holy life of growing likeness to Christ. The most eloquent sermon in behalf of the gospel that the world has ever heard--is a uniform, active life of piety. The best version of the Bible that has ever been made--is a consistent pious example. The Christian whose light thus shines, not only correctly renders--but beautifies the sacred text. His life and conduct are a sort of second edition of the written Scriptures--a living epistle which all can read, all understand, and that convinces and convicts all.

So, how are others reading your life?

"A New Earth" is an Old Lie

By now you've probably heard of the book by Eckhart Tolle titled "A New Earth" that has been catapulted to the best seller list by the midas touch endorsement of Oprah Winfrey.

If you're still unsure of what the book is about - and frankly, what Oprah is about, then you'll do well to check out the following links.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss just aired two special programs addressing this new age teaching that Tolle & Winfrey are spreading. She interviews Dr. Erwin Lutzer and Dr. Don Whitney. You can listen here.

And Don Whitney has his own brief but extremely helpful article explaining Tolle's background and his books (he wrote another before "A New Earth"). You can read or download this article here.

Finally, see for yourself - a quick search on YouTube will provide you with plenty of material straight from Oprah's mouth.

Comic Relief - Act One

I was recently going through some of my dad's old comic books. There are a few still in decent shape - but the majority have lost their covers & are falling apart. From these I clipped the following offers. I can't help but think of my friend Kirk & his short film about the false expectations that these companies hold out like Lucy and Charlie Brown's football.

"It's huge, over 3 ft. high, approx. 23 cu. ft. interior, covers almost 9 sq. ft. of floor space"

Huge?! C'mon! Check out the age range of 4 to 14! Any 14 year old that can fit in this cardboard cabin is gonna be walking around with it hanging on him like a sandwich board. This thing can't be much larger than a microwave oven.

Notice my dad filled out the order form - thankfully my grandparents enlightened him to the folly of such an investment.

From the looks of the picture - this projector is only about 4 times as wide as the actual 8mm film tape.

You can click on any of these images to enlarge & read the sensational sales pitch. They also make cool desktop backgrounds. Once you click & enlarge, just right click on the image and select "Set as Background". Anyways - here's what this one says (with my own commentary added):

Here's high powered speed combined with the thundering excitement of the "Hot Rod" class. Powered by it's own electric motors [that's right, it takes two piston pumpin' bad boys to make this cat scream], this marvelous automotive miracle [wait - did they say, "miracle"? Miracle?! Miracle.] will give you a thrill as it zooms along at tremendous scale speeds. Realistic in detail, it's great fun to build and even more fun to race up and down courses, over hills and on the thundering straightaway. Imagine [because it will never be reality] the thrill as this speed-merchant outraces all the other kids in the neighborhood. And [did we mention already...] it's great fun to build. Complete with all [i.e., both] parts and instructions. Only $1 plus 25 cent shipping charges. [we'll send you your change]

It's fun - it's exciting. It's high speed. [It's a rip off even by QVC standards.]

I've got several other comic ads to show you... I'll save them for next time. But in the meantime, check out Kirk's blog category of mail order madness. Besides, he writes much better than I.

Superboy

Having fun with Gimp.

Under Construction

For my faithful three readers... I'm finally intiating my template change. I'll be making changes over the next couple of weeks.
Lemme know whatcha think.
Thanks.

Good Monster

A friend of mind pointed me to this August 2006 interview with Jars of Clay frontman Dan Haseltine. It gave me a new appreciation for their album, Good Monsters, and reminded me of how much I already loved it.

In the article, Dan speaks candidly of his former struggle with secret sins and self deception. I found this quote by him to sum it up perfectly.

"I am my own worst pop music station, constantly telling myself what I want to hear-and coming up with creative ways to do it."