One More Reason to Get a College Degree

I turned on World News Tonight with Peter Jennings this evening at 6:35 p.m., which happened to be without Peter Jennings. Elizabeth Vargas was the substitute. By the end of the broadcast, my Mass Media course with the late Dr. Mike Davis (from my days as an undergrad at Union University) was paying off, even 13 years later. Let me explain.

Dr. Davis taught us that advertisers drive the agenda for the news.

When I tuned in, they were finishing a story from Cape Canaveral, FLORIDA on the scheduled shuttle launch for tomorrow. This story was followed by a short mention of the dust cloud crossing the Atlantic with a promised impact on the southern half of FLORIDA. This was followed immediately by a commercial for FLORIDA Orange Juice. Coincidence? Maybe.

Later in the broadcast, Vargas reported on Lance Armstrong's first day of retirement, mentioning his amazing story of being a CANCER survivor. Next, she said that upon returning from the commercial break, we would hear of how Senator Arlen Specter was dealing with CANCER. During the break, the first two commercials targeted CANCER patients, one promoting a prescription pill that enabled CANCER patients who were on chemotherapy to be able to resume their normal lifestyles. After the commercial break the story on Senator Specter focused on how he maintained his grueling schedule in spite of his fight with CANCER. I was waiting for him to credit his good fortune to the aforementioned drug. Coincidence? What do you think?

What I just described is not unusual at all. In fact, if you will start paying close attention to the contents, and even the wording, of the "news" stories, you will often find that they are designed to prime the pump for the advertising around the corner. At times, it can come across as so obvious, that it can be downright amusing. In fact, I consider watching the news and tying it to the advertisers an entertaining venture. I know...get a life. Just try it yourself sometime. You'll never watch the news the same way again.

See Mom, all the money for my college educatoin payed off!

7 STRAIGHT

I watched Saturday as Lance Armstrong outpaced all competitors in what proved to be a very exciting time trial. It was actually the first stage that Lance won in this year's tour even though he had the overall lead. His ride into Paris Sunday morning was, for all practical purposes, a victory lap. I have been one of the holdouts to jump on the "Lance is awesome!" bandwagon, but as I watched this weekend, my hesitations were melting away. I grant that this sport may not require as much skill as many other professional sports, but how many of us can cover that many miles on a bike in that little time and then go out and do it again the next day? Although I would never want to apply the label to awesome to anyone other than our God, I must say this guy is a remarkable athlete.

The NEW Lakewood Church

Last night I watched the first Sunday morning service from the NEW Lakewood Church in Houston. I was disappointed, but not surprised. Here was the summary of the whole evening: "You are great, Lakewood is great, and, oh yeah, God gets all the glory."

I believe that Joel Osteen is a decent guy. But I'm not sure he really is called to preach the Gospel of Jesus, because he does not preach the Gospel of Jesus. At least I have never heard him declare the gospel. Here is the summary of his message from the "Grand Opening" of the NEW Lakewood Church: "The critics, naysayers, and negative people said we would never make it into the Compaq Center (the Houston Rocket's former home arena), but look at what God has done for us. If he can fulfill our dreams, just think what he can do to fulfill your dreams." His altar call at the end was cross-less.

Sadly, I even heard Joel's wife say, "God loves you so much he died on the cross so he could come live in you. That ought to show you how valuable you are, and how much you are worth" (not exactly verbatim, but close). Unfortunately, they just don't get it. The amazing thing about Christ's death on the cross for his people is not because of how valuable they are. It's amazing because of how valuable He is and how undeserving they are. The cross doesn't say how valuable we are; it says how gracious He is. Bottom line: it's not about our dreams, our health, our wealth, our happiness, etc. It's all about Him.

What's worse, TBN was there interviewing people afterwards. Some blond-headed pastor from California in a halloween-colored suit made this very perceptive remark: "We've come a long way in Christianity" or maybe he said, "We've made tremendous strides." It was a comment of that nature. I wasn't paying much attention, but my head jerked around when I heard the comment and I was major-league wanting to have TiVo at that moment so I could rewind and get his exact wording. So a really large "feel good" church converts an arena in downtown Houston into their new "worship facility" and that is somehow an indicator that the state of Christianity is moving forward? What planet is he from? Oh yeah, California! Hey, even Californians have access to Barna and Gallup. Our nation is in need of revival more than ever. Don't let the megachurch phenomenom fool you. If anything, the megachurch thing only serves to show us that our consumeristic mentality in the American church is worse than ever.

Oh yeah, one last thing. Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi of California also attended the service, was officially recognized, and was interviewed afterward. She thought the service was wonderful.

Who is John Roberts?

Apparently a very nice guy. The type of guy you cannot help but like. A very non-controversial guy. A safe pick by Bush.

That's the part that scares me. Is he really conservative as many say? Or is he going to be a moderate? The more bitter the fight for his confirmation, probably the better a justice he will be. If the Dems don't put up much of a fight, I'll be very concerned that he is too moderate. It will be interesting to watch this confirmation process play out.

Franchising Church, pt. 1

In late 2004 I predicted that the next big thing in the American church would be setting up satellite campuses in other states. We have already witnessed the acceptance of the multiple campus concept. The next step, naturally, is to go national. Why limit the target audience of your church to the size of your city? After all, we are a video society. Instead of planting churches and sending out pastors, why not just send out a DVD or satellite image of our pastor? It will save money and allow others to experience the power of sitting under our uniquely gifted teacher.

Without judging the motives of Andy Stanley and the elders, Northpoint Community Church has (to my knowledge they are the first), pioneered this next, inevitable step in the depersonalization of the American church. Now with campuses in Athens, GA and Dothan, AL, Northpoint has expanded beyond the Atlanta metro area. They are not called campuses or satellites, they are “strategic partnerships.” My guess is that they are legally separate entities from Northpoint. But you can bet your bottom dollar that if the “partner” to Northpoint doesn’t do things the way Alpharetta says to do it, bye-bye satellite link-up. There will be a “pastor” on location, but the teaching pastor of these “partners” will be Andy Stanley.

Yes, the pastor on location may manage the ministry and day-to-day operations of the, say, Dothan church, but the primarily influencer, and thus, leader, will be Mr. Stanley. According to Alexander Strauch, in an elder led church, the teaching pastor is the first among equals because of the incredible impact of the pulpit ministry. So, although Wiregrass Church of Dothan will be guarded by the elders (meaning the elders of Wiregrass, not the elders of Northpoint), guided by the Staff (of Wiregrass), and gifted by the congregation (of Wiregrass), Andy Stanley will be the primary influencer of Wiregrass, and therefore, for all practical purposes, the real Senior Pastor.

What we have here, in essence, is franchising almost to the degree restaurants do it. Some would probably say this is good for the American church. After all, few of us have the speaking skills of one like Andy Stanley. So, more people will be exposed to superior teaching. Also, 20 years from now you will be able to find a Northpoint in your neighborhood, along with a Saddleback, a Crystal Cathedral, a Willow Creek, a Lakeside Church, and a Bellevue. And if you relocate to another city in the US, you can pick up right where your pastor left off in his series, without missing a beat. Of course, your chances of knowing your pastor personally will be very slim, unless you can afford to go on one of his “Bible teaching” cruises (which I’m all for if anyone wants to send us on one!).

In "Franchising Church, pt. 2", I will list the inherit dangers of franchising church.

Reflecting on the Summer of '94

11 years ago today I was stung on the back of the neck by a Wasp in rural Oklahoma. I passed out about a minute later and my whole body started swelling up. If it wasn't for the quick response of some Godly women to put a couple bags of ice around my neck, I might not be here today. To keep my immunity built up, I get six shots of venom every month. The greatest protection, however, is to avoid wasps and bees and keep my epi-pen with me at all times. Ah, the summer of '94! In addition to the wasp sting incident, in May my Grandfather died, in late July I was at the Ballpark in Arlington witnessing Kenny Rogers throw a perfect game, in early August I began my first pastorate, and in late August I met my wife.

What I'm Reading

I've just started this intriguing book by David Clotfelter. At first, because of the title, I was concerned that he was going to be a critic of Jonathan Edwards; fortunately, I was wrong. At the start of the book, he admits that early in his Christian life he was not a fan of Edwards, but through Bible study and reflection, he realized that Edwards was right. I'm only on chapter 2, but so far...a great read. I'll post again after I've finished the book.

Running Through Romans

I am preaching through Romans in five weeks. It is not a verse-by-verse exposition; it's more of an introduction of Romans. Here is the five week outline:
1-3.20 Judgment - The Need for Salvation
3.21-5 Justification - The Way of Salvation
6-8 Sanctification - The Impact of Salvation
9-11 Election - The Mystery of Salvation
12-16 Application - The Display of Salvation

This past Sunday was the first message;I find this kind of preaching very challenging. But I also think it is good for our people to sometimes get more of a bird's-eye view of Bible book.

Summer Days

This is the summer of...
...rain every day (at least in Florida)
...sleepless nights (especially for my dear wife)
...family always visiting us (to help us with the twins)
...finishing 2 Timothy and introducing Romans
...enjoying another fine Cardinal baseball season
...praying that Bush lives up to his promise regarding the kind of person he nominates for the SCOTUS
...attempting to get back into exercising

So far it's been great! How's your summer?

Birth of a Blog

Well, enough reading blogs like Pyromaniac, Tim Ellsworth, Between Two Worlds, Camponthis, and for His renown...all worthwhile reads. It's time I stepped out into the blogosphere and tested the waters. It was bound to happen sooner or later. You can only read so many blogs without getting the itch to blog. So, I've decided to shed my purely blogobserver (is that a word?) status and become a bona fide blogger.

My first question is this: what do you call someone who doesn't blog but merely reads blogs? A blog reader? A blog fan? In the previous paragraph, I made up a word: blogobserver. But maybe there is a real world out there that describes those who read blogs but do not blog. Maybe they are peeping blogs. Does anyone know?