A Difficult Anniversary

Today marks the two year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. I remember two years ago at the end of our worship gathering telling our church here in Delaware that if Katrina hit New Orleans as a Cat 5 it would destroy the city. We prayed for New Orleans that day.

I went to seminary in New Orleans. I love that city. It is one of the few places I would willingly return to in the south and pastor. So on this anniversary, I want to leave you with a link to a news site that helps us remember one of the most devastating events in the history of our country.

NOLA.com

WOW!

I mention a certain SBC seminary president in a post, and not in a negative way, for the first time in a year maybe, and I immediately start getting traffic from his school. Very interesting…

Caught in the Middle

I was able to get Casting Crowns‘ new album, The Altar and the Door, on iTunes this morning. Yeah, I pre-ordered it. Here’s a song that I’m falling in love with called “Somewhere in the Middle”. And it comes with a shout out to my friend Paul Littleton as the main tag line is the title of his blog!

Verse 1
Somewhere between the hot and the cold
Somewhere between the new and the old
Somewhere between who I am and who I used to be
Somewhere in the middle, You’ll find me

Somewhere between the wrong and the right
Somewhere between the darkness and the light
Somewhere between who I was and who You’re making me
Somewhere in the middle, You’ll find me

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control?

Chorus
Fearless warriors in a picket fence, reckless abandon wrapped in common sense
Deep water faith in the shallow end and we are caught in the middle
With eyes wide open to the differences, the God we want and the God who is
But will we trade our dreams for His or are we caught in the middle
Are we caught in the middle

Verse 2
Somewhere between my heart and my hands
Somewhere between my faith and my plans
Somewhere between the safety of the boat and the crashing waves
Somewhere between a whisper and a roar
Somewhere between the altar and the door
Somewhere between contented peace and always wanting more
Somewhere in the middle You’ll find me

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control?

Chorus
Fearless warriors in a picket fence, reckless abandon wrapped in common sense
Deep water faith in the shallow end and we are caught in the middle
With eyes wide open to the differences, the God we want and the God who is
But will we trade our dreams for His or are we caught in the middle
Are we caught in the middle

Lord, I feel You in this place and I know You’re by my side
Loving me even on these nights when I’m caught in the middle

Signs and Communicating the Gospel

I may be preempting a post by my good friend Todd Littleton or this may serve as an intro to one of his future posts. I’m sure you are fine with it, right Todd? This is also a continuation of a series on reframing the message of Christ.

Signs are all around us. According to Arthur Asa Berger, in his book, “Signs in Contemporary Culture: An Introduction to Semiotics”, signs “are things which stand for other things, or…anything that can be made to stand for something else.” An example of a sign is the word tree. The word tree and what is stands for, “a woody perennial plant having a single, usually elongate main stem generally with few or no branches on its lower part” are not the same. The word is used as a sign of the idea or concept. The intent to communicate must also be kept in mind. Is “tree” a noun or verb? The meaning is different when that is considered.

A sign can be anything: a theatrical presentation, a movie, a word, a hood ornament, a commercial, etc. The study of signs is called semiotics, which means literally, “words about signs.”

Semiotics are used heavily in communication and advertising and marketing. For example, the logo for BMW is a sign and has multiple meanings. It stands for the auto manufacturer. But it also stands for prestige and influence. If a BMW car is used in an ad for a clothing line, it is making an association with class, prestige, cost, and target market. The car or logo conveys a very distinct meaning.

The Bible uses signs. In the book of Jude, Jude uses semiotics to communicate a message about the false teachers his readers were encountering. In verse 11, Jude states: “11 Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion. (ESV)” Every commentator on this book mentions that these men are “types” or “signs” of a certain kind of behavior that the Jewish culture understood as sin. In addition, Jesus was crucified between two political revolutionaries (Greek: lestes). What image was trying to be conveyed by Rome? That he was a political revolutionary.

Our Christian subculture has its own set of signs. An image of W.A. Criswell with a raised Bible invokes for many the conservative resurgence within the Southern Baptist Convention. Joel Osteen is a sign, as is Rick Warren. Put a picture of Rick Warren on a book, and that picture will create meaning in the minds of people all over the world. Ed Young, Jr., in addition to being a pastor, is a sign. Brian McClaren also has meaning apart from his role as a minister and even as a human being.

In the SBC, the blog SBCOutpost is a sign. Mention that name to many in the SBC and it will invoke meaning. For some, it will stand for a group antagonizing those who led the SBC conservative resurgence. For others, the meaning it has is as the outlet that is exposing corruption in those same leaders. The sign of Paige Patterson has a two fold meaning as well. For some, he is the savior of the SBC and for others, he is the poster child for all that is wrong in the SBC.

What if, when we began to share the message of Christ, we think about the images our words create. It may be necessary to reframe our words, using different signs to express the message. Quite honestly, this is hard work. It is harder than simply going through a canned presentation. It means understanding how people are motivated and what meaning words have in their lives. But if authentic transformation is to come through the message we present, we have to move from the sign of salvation being a way to get tickets on the 50 yard line of that heavenly stadium. It means presenting a message that has an impact on a person’s life today, a message more than “It will make your life better.” I will make, to some, several provocative statements through this series and here is one: trusting Christ as savior may not make your life better, it just might make it worse in some contexts.

Think about the signs and images your words create. Look at advertisements and see what meaning they are trying to create. This will help you not only understand culture, but understand how your words communicate to others. And you may land on a sign that will allow you to more effective communicate His message and in doing so, partner with the Holy Spirit in seeing the lives of others transformed.

New Bob Jones Univ. radio ad

This is hilarious. One of my favorite preachers in the whole wide world is Steve Brown. He sounds like God. He’s got a new website and he’s doing some comedy bits. Today he’s released one about Bob Jones. Here’s what he says:

If you haven’t been keeping up with ‘The Jones’, BJU is an uber-conservative private college in Greenville, SC, established in 1927. Many unfounded rumors surround the school, but just the basic, undisputed facts are themselves laughable enough.

Exhibit A: BJU refused to enroll blacks until 1971 and until 2000 had rules forbidding interracial dating. Yikes. Talk about putting the ‘mental’ in ‘fundamentalist.’

The school has gradually been pulling its collective head from its collective rear (unofficial motto: “ladies not required to wear hats to church services since 1990!”), but I’m not sure their latest radio ad is going to help matters any.

Now for all you Bob Jones folks who might take me to task, relax…laugh a little! This is funny…
[audio:http://media.gospelcom.net/kln/sbetc/comedy-bits-pieces-podcast/cbp021-08282007.mp3]

Next Page »