For me, this phase I went through in the 80’s was one of them. Yes, my friends, I must confess - I was an American Gladiator, back in the day. Please go easy on my hairstyle and strange language - that’s how we wore it back then, and that’s how we talked. I just wanted to be cool.
If any of you are interested in the article Allen Hood referenced on the resurrection, here it is.
Some of you may be like me - you’re a personality profile addict. I can’t get enough of them. If you’d like to take a rudimentary (and free) version of the Myers-Briggs, go here and then let us know what Jungian type you are. I’ll throw in what I am somewhere in the comments section if you do.
History buffs may appreciate this Vanity Fair article on the power struggle between Kissinger and Nixon. I’m a sucker for this kind of inside information, personally.
This is an article from Time magazine that I was going to write about a while back, but couldn’t ever get to. As astonishing as it might be to some, it provides fascinating insight into what motivates a few of the “pro-Gospel of Judas” scholars in their quest to legitimize that gnostic text as a legitimate window into Christian thought in that era. The motivation (fueled, of course, by using radical Islam as a pretext) is, in part, to remove the early church glorification of martyrdom; secondly, to diminish the idea that Jesus died on the cross as a requirement for the forgiveness of sins. Perhaps this is worth a post sometime in the future after all…
This is for any who could be categorized as a fellow Karate Kid fanatic. Don’t open this in the prayer room with the volume on. It’s quite sudden, and a bit disconcerting after a while. Those who know me have already guessed that this is my favorite line in the whole movie, and I can honestly say that I have spoken it thousands of times growing up. Of course, I also spent way too much time randomly giving people the hopelessly pathetic Ralph Macchio “I’m being bullied right now” face; it’s a derivative of the “Mr. Miyagi, take me to Japan with you” face.
This could be one of the most disconcerting, disturbing, and fantastically stupid excuses ever used to justify self-defense. I’m not talking about the astonishing phrase, of course. I’m talking about the occupation that bolstered this woman’s courage to shoot her husband. Chalk up another public relations victory for the ol’ post office.
This is a total side note, with no link - I just wanted to say it for the record, since it was another topic I couldn’t quite get around to a few weeks back. I don’t remember electing Nancy Pelosi to conduct foreign policy on my behalf - anyone else want to ‘fess up to that one?
And of course, how could I not end this historic first foray into links I appreciate without sharing with you one of my favorite websites - or, as I like to call it, my own little burning ring of fire that I fell into? I don’t know how I’d feel, in terms of my dignity, if I had to look my friends in the eye and tell them I’m servin’ them up on a Grand Turbo. Honestly. Don’t know if I could really go there. Could you be friends with someone who invoked the name “Grand Turbo” at outdoor dinner parties? Me, I’m not so sure at this point.
On the other hand, it would be cool to own the “American Gladiator” of gas grills.
David
April 13th, 2007
One of the most awesome ways in which a believer can enter into the blessing of being Christlike is to emulate one of the simplest ways of being like Jesus: helping to brothers in conflict reconcile with one another. In relational conflict, the one who aggressively pursues reconciliation between the two offended parties and helps bring true peace is one who is beginning to lay hold of the very mission statement of God Himself in this age. He loves reconciliation.
As someone wise once said, “He’s a family man!” He loves it when the brothers get along “horizontally”, and when any kind of true reconciliation takes place amongst the family members than His heart is glad. This is why there is so much in the scriptures regarding relational issues and the necessity of loving one another. In fact, this was the whole content of the beloved disciple’s message in the final years of his life. Love one another.
His love for unity amongst His people is indescribable. That one would navigate the pathways of desire to find themselves kneeling before God thirsting for His presence, hungry for His heart, zealous for righteousness, tender in heart, meek in spirit - how could such a journey not lead a man to experience true love for those around him? How could such pursuit for God not leave one thirsting to love the ones that He treasures, hungering to climb the mountain of God with awesome comrades who bear the same marks of passionate pursuit?
This longing is one that He has placed deep within the heart of every man and woman - the yearning for true brethren that constitute those whom we could link arms with as we go together into the deepest depths of the treasures of God. These divine treasures were made to be uncovered with others who have a similar hunger, desire, and passion for truth.
I am thankful for the gift of what Allen Hood calls “corporate revelation”. It is one of the gifts of Psalm 133, or the “commanded blessings” that descend upon brethren who dwell together in unity. It is our privilege to sharpen one another in our knowledge and understanding of the scriptures. It is our glory to share nuggets of insight and truth with one another, from various perspectives and sensibilities that constitute the diversity of gifts and thought processes of the body of Christ. We truly can go farther together than we can alone - and it is God’s sovereign design that it work according to that pattern. Why?
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April 11th, 2007
VS. 
Happy Good Friday! How awesome it is to know that Christ died for us that we might fellowship with God and one another in spirit and in truth! I want to celebrate both momentous events by making it up to you that my writing has been scattered over the past few weeks. Yep, you guessed it, this one’s record-breaking long. No way around it. I figure you can print this up and chew on it over the weekend, and beyond.
My Newsweek arrived in the mail this week, and much to my delight contained a mini-”debate” by Rick Warren (Pastor of Saddleback Church and author of “The Purpose Driven Life”) and Sam Harris (”New Atheist” author of the books “The End of Faith” and “Letter to a Christian Nation”). You can read the whole transcript here. Here’s a hint - it’s quite long, so make sure you hit the “print” button (and then hit “cancel” if your print queue comes up) to bring up a single-page view, rather than scrolling through ten pages of the transcript.
Though the whole article was fascinating, I found one comment Sam Harris made particularly interesting, related to prayer:
“Let me respond to this notion of answered prayer, because this is a classic sampling error, to use a statistical phrase. We know that human beings have a terrible sense of probability. There are many things we believe that confirm our prejudices about the world, and we believe this only by noticing the confirmations, and not keeping track of the disconfirmations. You could prove to the satisfaction of every scientist that intercessory prayer works if you set up a simple experiment. Get a billion Christians to pray for a single amputee. Get them to pray that God regrow that missing limb. This happens to salamanders every day, presumably without prayer; this is within the capacity of God. [Warren is laughing.] I find it interesting that people of faith only tend to pray for conditions that are self-limiting.”
I, for one, find it fascinating the Sam Harris is looking for empirical proof that God is real and acts on our behalf. I find it ironic that the scientific proof that Sam is looking for is related to answered prayer. This is noteworthy to me, of course, because I happen to link the events of the first and second coming of Jesus to that very “experiment”. What he is asking for (a supernatural sign related to prayer) has already taken place, in a far more spectacular and historic manner than the regeneration of a limb. As fascinated as we are with God when we have the privilege of witnessing such a dramatic healing, what could be more astonishing than the ultimacy of answered prayer - the birth of the Messiah onto planet earth, as well as His return?
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April 6th, 2007
For the last few months, I’ve been in the middle of what, in IHOP-KC terminology, is affectionately known as a “swirl”. In light of what is coming for IHOP and the growth curve we are currently experiencing, I had been saying since the beginning of the year that many, many changes and shifts were coming here. Of course, I didn’t think to include myself in that dynamic. Changes are coming for me as well, and I’ll tell you about them in the coming weeks. Thanks for your patience. Before I talk about change in the specific sense, I want to talk about change in the general sense. Transition seasons are a funny thing to walk through - you often find yourself at the mercy of the moment. Let me explain that last statement:
By the very nature of my calling and passion related to preaching about the end of the age, I naturally think forward. I am not a “carpe diem” type by any stretch of the imagination. I spend my days thinking decades ahead in regards to eschatology, thinking years ahead in terms of my job description, and thinking months ahead in terms of how to help position people rightly in their calling and purposes in this season of their lives. As one who loves it when things function at their optimum capacity, I’m constantly thinking ahead to try to problem-solve potential or emerging threats before they hinder the “mission” of this place, which is prayer.
So in a radical transition season like this one (which, of course, is a microscopic one compared to the broader transition season called “the end of the age”) it is disruptive to become stuck in the moment. Changes and shifts start happening faster than you can anticipate, and so you begin to spend more time waiting and anticipating than planning and implementing. You begin to realize how forward thinking you are not in light of the brilliance of the Holy One, whose ways are not our ways and whose thoughts are not our thoughts. As such, divine logic that transcends our darkened thought processes moves glacially at times (seemingly) and impossibly fast at others (seemingly). I appreciate how Bob Jones described the leadership of Jesus, so many years ago - that in the perfection of His leadership, He seemingly does the opposite of what every human leaders natural tendencies would do in the same situation.
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April 5th, 2007
If it’s all the same to you all, I’ll save the deep theological musings for the times I am writing from the prayer room. when I’m writing from home, I’ll throw in some of my personal thoughts on whatever comes to mind. Today, it’s the issue of my kid’s destinies in Christ.
It’s kind of interesting to think about the oddities of the culture I am proud to be a part of, as they express themselves in my funny little brain. I am keenly aware that even the simplest of exercises in modern Americana transform into something wholly other than in the lives, hopes, and dreams of many parents here at IHOP-KC. What will my children be when they grow up? Here at IHOP-KC, there are a few viable options to consider:
1. Martyr.
2. Prophetic messenger, prophetic singer, or prophetic messenger singer.
3. Prophetic marketplace forerunner evangelist.
4. Prophetic outcast John the Baptist-type.
5. Worship leader.
Some of the traditional options, then, seem to be off the table. Which is interesting (and ironic), because I actually think it’s within the bounds of reason and reality to think about some fairly lucrative careers for my kids. Dale Anderson talked to me last week about something I’ve suspected as a dad but couldn’t really dwell on without being accused of bias: that if I ever wanted to, in his words, “feed the American sports machine”, it’s entirely possible I have a first round draft pick on my hands with Daniel. I have to agree, and not in a biased way, because those of you who were paying attention a moment ago didn’t see “first round draft pick” on the aforementioned list. Daniel is naturally and obviously athletic by nature. He has always loved every sport, and we have never gone out of our way to teach or show him the various sports he claims to love and play.
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April 1st, 2007
Since we all enjoyed the last one, I thought it would be helpful to inform you that Daniel laid out his extensive plans for his fifth birthday party next year. In February, 2008.
His party will be, in his words: “A superhero underwater dinosaur race car party” held at the only venue that could contain such supercharged awesomeness, Chuck E Cheese’s. Mark your calandars now.
It will involve, of course, Tracey playing race car video games while the rest of us slide cars down slides into the mouths of dinosaurs, after which time we would all follow our cars into the dinosaurs mouths as well.
See you there.
David
March 31st, 2007
My apologies for the lack of content this week - things will be back to “normal” for me as of tomorrow. Well, fairly normal, for those of you who know what my life is like here. So…normal in terms of getting back to a regular writing schedule, as well as jumping back in with the fantastic comments that have come in this week over some of my posts.
Part Two of “What Does it Mean to be a Son of God” tomorrow.
David
March 29th, 2007
After a brief hiatus from the “Sermon on the Mount” series, I want to get back on track with a critical question that really should challenge me to the core of who I am and what it even means to be a Christian at the end of the age. My point is not that I want to give this challenge, but that Jesus Himself did, two thousand years ago. He raised the bar towards the end of the Beatitudes, when He invited us to become “peacemakers”. Jesus had something in mind when He spoke those words that goes well beyond how traditional theological streams define the blessing that comes to a peacemaker. It was His stated intention and awesome promise that those who lay hold of this heart reality would be called sons of God.
Five hundred years of protestant theology has taught us to think of this phrase in the “positional” sense, as an aspect of our identity that is “automatic” or bestowed to us in the moment of our new birth. The moment we said “yes” to Jesus as Lord and Savior is the moment we became “born again” into the family of God. “Behold!” John spoke in his first letter as he meditated on this stunning truth, “what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” John continues to develop this awesome sentence in a manner that was meant to provide insight into the manner in which God views us as he emphasizes, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”
It’s a breathtaking statement that gives the believer a concrete definition of their present position before God as well as a future glimpse into the implications of that position. John’s words were meant to give us both confidence and hope. So I agree that to primarily view our identity as a son of God in a positional manner is correct and beneficial to our growth in God. Yet the scriptures consistently speak of the “already, but not yet” manner in which Jesus establishes His kingdom promises. Thus Peter could be called a “rock” of steadiness long before it was actually true of him. The kingdom of God was at hand in the days of the first advent, but the fullness of what Jesus proclaimed was yet to come. This is why John concludes his statement about our identity as chldren of God with this: “And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies Himself, just as He is pure.”
In other words, John understood that there is more to being a “child of God” than simply a positional reality at the new birth or theological statement of identity regardless of our lifestyle. John identifies our coming transformation as a future hope that must stir us into present holiness and purity. In other words, one can be in the family yet not be a true spiritual son. A true son is not satisfied with the designation of sonship, but longs to be found in truth as one in whom God is “well-pleased” as we live before Him. A true son longs to be like his father - just as Jesus wanted to reflect His Father in heaven. Jesus did not simply call Himself a Son of the Living God, nor did He appeal to His identity as the Second Person of the Trinity. He actually embodied and exemplified the meekness and humility of His Father as a true and authentic Son - and thus the Father was well-pleased with Him.
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March 26th, 2007
Tonight at dinner, Daniel informed us that -
“A long time ago, when I was two years old, I was in my mommy’s belly…and I heard her voice…IN HER GUTS!”
I thought you would want to know.
Side note: Daniel was sporting his camo pants with a blue Spider-Man t-shirt and work boots. Someone commented to my wife that he looked cute. To which my wife, who calls that his “forbidden outfit”, dryly replied -
“Sure. Now all he needs is a red kool-aid mustache and a BMX bike.”
David
March 24th, 2007
Hello to all! I hope you like the slight adjustments to help the readability of things. Thanks so much to Josh Hawkins for all he has done to help facilitate this little web journal and the overall look and feel of my website. I am thankful to have him as a friend and comrade. Let me (and Josh) know what you think!
I’m still working on my continuation of the Sermon on the Mount. As you may (or may not) recall, I left off at Matthew 5:9, which is an intensely personal passage for me at the moment. Every time I go back to that post and tinker a little, I get a bit messed up - as we like to say here in Kansas City. The cry of my heart to be a true son of God (and thus be a “peacemaker”) is causing me to continually stop, reevaluate my life, and pray. I can only get a few sentences out at a time when I write about that particular heart attitude before I am forced to pause and let it simmer a bit inside of me. I am still at the “yearning” phase of things, waiting for clear language to catch up with the things that my heart is stirred for at the moment. I am sure many of you know what I am talking about. It’s actually sort of a pleasurable place to be. The pleasure in the crucible of the pain of reaching for God comes in those tender moments when somehow, by grace, I just know that He hears me and loves the cry of my heart. Today is one of those days.
It’s one of those days where I am stirred by His kindness and His unbelievable leadership and must say again - “Your gentleness has made me great!” As David cried out in Psalm 18 after he was delivered from Saul and “all of his enemies”, he says this phrase in the midst of numerous unbelievable statements about the kindness and the goodness of God. Some of the other more well known phrases are, “He delivered me because He delighted in me;” and, “For by You I can run against a troop, by my God I can leap over a wall.” It is one of the most stirring of all of David’s psalms. He is so gentle! He is so patient! I am stirred by that theme today.
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March 23rd, 2007
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