Book Review: Confessions of a Reformission Rev.

I was fortunate enough to receive an advanced copy of Mark Driscoll's Confessions of a Reformission Rev., and wanted to post a book review of it here. Mark Driscoll is pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Mars Hill is a young church, and Mark was a young Christian when he founded it. Confessions is an opportunity for him to tell his church's story- how they went from a handful of people to 5,000+ weekly attendees in just eight years. The story of Mars Hill is rather encouraging to church planters like me for a few reasons.

First, Mars Hill is an urban church. All over America, our cities are being revived by a younger generation who don't feel suburbia is for them. Church planting is booming, but most pastors are heading to the 'burbs where percentages of success/survival are much greater. Driscoll has embraced the concept of urban church planting and declares the importance of having thriving churches near city centers. It's encouraging to see churches like Mars Hill transforming their cities for Christ.

Also, Mars Hill is a Bible-teaching church. Driscoll didn't talk much about his teaching style in Confessions, but his weekly messages approach an hour in length. Most people couldn't get away with this, but Mark makes it work because of his emphasis on Scripture. Their church wrestles with books of the Bible, verse by verse, in series that can last months. I would guess that it's Mark's Biblical teaching that drives the church. At Echo, we've adopted a similar teaching style, not afraid of "being too deep." The future of the thriving American church is those who teach Scripture unashamedly.

And it should be noted the Driscoll advocates a conservative theological interpretation of Scripture. The trend of many emerging churches is to become more liberal, blurring the meaning of long-held theological doctrines such as the trinity, hell, and the atonement. Driscoll's church shows that you can have a conservative, Biblical theology, not be a cult, and still win people to Christ.

And, finally, Mars Hill is a reproducing church. Driscoll understands that one megachurch isn't going to get the job done; replication is the key. Mars Hill founded the Acts 29 church planting network which helps aspiring planters to start new communities throughout the country [Michael Foster is actually part of this network]. Mark understands the more churches, the better, and we should seriously adopt plans to plant more communities throughout American urban areas.

Even though Mark is more blunt and dogmatic than I am, he's a fresh breath in evangelical Christianity. It's tough for the old guard to dismiss him because of his constant use of Scripture and well-balanced theology. I'd recommend getting a copy of this book. Though I didn't find it as informative as Mark's first book, Radical Reformission, it's still a great read.

And it's especially time that we Cincinnatians get familiar with this way of doing ministry; it's what will be needed here in the next ten years.

Which is Crazier?

That, for the first time ever, the National Spelling Bee will be televised on network television, or that ABC will be broadcasting the event in high-definition?

They're NOT Ready For Some Football!

And now, as we wonder what the world is coming to, this: Kentucky Christian University To Add Varsity Football.

Bad idea. Now before I tell you why this is a bad idea, I should be upfront about my hatred for KCU [or, as we old schoolers used to know it, KCC]. Now I have a deep respect and appreciation for the school as far as a ministry preparation school; they have produced some great pastors. But, actually, it's their athletic program I can't stand. Whether playing, coaching, or cheering against, I've never despised a program as much as KCU [not even Elder]. They were are rivals, and it always got dirty. It was Ohio State/Michigan, Red Sox/Yankees, Smurfs/Gargamel. One of the greatest moments of my life was captaining CCU [or CBC, whatever] to the 1999 regional championship over Kentucky Christian on their home field.

Despite this bias, I believe I can still objectively say that this is a very bad idea. Just looking at their three-fold reasoning for wanting football, you can see where they're in trouble.

First, they want to add diversity to campus. I assume that's the nice way to say that African American males play football and will come to KCU for the opportunity. This could be true except that 1) it will be a non-scholarship program and 2) they're in GRAYSON, KENTUCKY!!! Ever been to Grayson? Go to the end of the world and go left ten miles. Few black males from the city will want to be in a rural setting.

Second, they say it will increase campus culture. They might be right, but at what cost? The facilities for a football program will cost about $2million. I think students would appreciate campus culture more if you dropped the $2mill into a movie theater. Or maybe save the cash and drop tuition.

And finally, the University is hoping to a football program will raise financial revenue. They estimate it will bring more than 100 additional males to school there. That's a rather generous figure considering a good amount of players-to-be are already on campus waiting for a program. And claims that the cost of the program will be deferred by the tuition of the players- that 1/3 of a player's college costs will fund the program- are optimistic.

The reality is that there is no more expensive sport than football. That's why few smaller schools have it, and even fewer that are non-scholarship. Starting any new athletic program at a collegiate level is difficult. I know first hand from starting CCU's women's soccer program, and the costs where minimalistic. I'm afraid KCU is biting off more than they can chew here. I pray it doesn't hurt their overall mission.

The real problem KCU and other small ministry-prep schools face is lack of contentment with what they are. In this world where success in only measured in numerical growth, Christian colleges struggle to accept the current state of their ministries. Instead of adding academic and athletic programs to attract students, maybe schools could understand that they don't have to be Liberty University. I'm all for getting more males and more diversity in our preacher colleges, but there must be better ways to go about it than the pigskin.

I'm just afraid my alma mater will lose focus and feel the need to "keep up with the Jones'." No need for a Hail Mary here.

Audio Blog Test

A New Day Has Dawned

Yes, the wife is now blogging. Her blog can be found at http://blueinkmediumpoint.blogspot.com. It's a long url, but she explains the origin in her first post.

In case you were wondering, I picked out her template. It's from a new site I found. It took a little work to get everything to fit in, but I'm really satisfied with the way it looks. Her template looks way cooler than mine.

So I hope you enjoy reading the thoughts of the most influencial person in my life.

The DaVinci Code And Jesus

I knew I was going to have to eventually comment about The DaVinci Code. I've been putting it off like a dentist appointment because there's almost too much conversation about it. But I have a little different perspective to offer about it, so I'm offering it up here. Before I get started, though, check out Aaron's brief, but well said, thoughts on the movie here. He's always more concise than I am. And for those of you usually skip my more lengthy posts, I'd encourage you to wade through this. There are some important issues here that everyone should at least think about it.

Unlike most of these insane Christian Chicken Littles, I've actually read Dan Brown's book. I found the story compelling, reading it through in one night. And I never read fiction, so that's saying something about the book. Now just because I enjoyed reading the book doesn't mean that I buy into any of the theological crap he tried to convince people into believing. Brown isn't the first person to propose that Jesus had children, and he won't be the last. Overall, the story is about action and suspense, displayed in a more cerebral setting, which I found interesting. If I'm able, I'll see the movie but will probably rent the DVD.

But that's not the standard Christian response to this subject. I understand that Catholics will be protesting at theaters this weekend. I've heard people like James Dobson say that it's borderline sinful to have anything at all to do with this book/film. And I've seen churches advertise DaVinci Code sermon series, using marketing tools to reassure the general public that they know everything about it.

My response: It's all hogwash. Don't waste your time.

The only effect all this Christian-focused attention will produce is increased revenue for Sony Pictures. Few people, if any, will be swayed either way on the subject. Yet what I find disturbing is the church's fascination with fighting/discussing The DaVinci Code while they gloss over what is truly the most important issue this movie brings up. It's the most important question anyone can grapple with while on this earth. And that question is:

"Who is Jesus?"

While Christians are ready to go medieval on Dan Brown, there are more serious dangers, from within our own ranks, that are being widely ignored. The most important theological threat that will plague the church in the next fifty years will be the person of Jesus. Who was He? What was His purpose here on earth? For what/who did He die? Did He really resurrect from the dead? These seem like the most basic questions, but their answers make up the foundation of Biblical Christianity. And that foundation is being attacked by people who claim to be Christians themselves.

For example, Brian McLaren is a leader of the Emergent Church, a new wave of younger churches that's gaining popularity throughout the country. In a recent Sojourners magazine article, he offered his two cents on Jesus and The DaVinci Code. He offers, "we need to ask ourselves why the vision of Jesus hinted at in Dan Brown's book is more interesting, attractive, and intriguing to these people than the standard vision of Jesus they hear about in church."

Let me help Brian out here and answer his question: BECAUSE IT'S NOT TRUE! Throughout history people have transformed Jesus into an image/God that they find acceptable and then claim Him as Savior. Usually it's an emphasis on grace, a denial of God's justice [hell] and a "God loves you just the way you are." I know that sounds nice, and it really preaches well, but it's just not Biblical. If given the opportunity, people will always manipulate the nature of God in order to excuse their own sinfulness.

I don't think I ever understood how serious this issue was until moving to the city. This debate isn't as evident in midwestern suburbs, but it's all over down here. Many mainline denominations are distorting their Christology to downplay sin and emphasize acceptance. True, Jesus is accepting, but He also calls for us to make life-change after responding to Him; it's a sacrificial faith.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that there's only one official version of Jesus that everyone must nail theologically in order to be saved; we'll never fully understand all that His death on the cross accomplished for us. But we also must not fool ourselves into believing that we can fashion Jesus around our presupposed beliefs. The apostle Paul warns in 2 Corinthians 11:1-4 not to be deceived by Christians presenting an unBiblical view of Jesus. And there are more of them out there- doing more harm to our Christian faith- than Dan Brown could ever do.

The DaVinci Code is the least of my worries.

Need More To Read?

Then I have two more websites to share. The first is Queen City Mission. Local church planter Michael Foster is compiling this site, hoping to get a conversation started about faith in Cincinnati. He already has some interesting stats posted about Christianity in our city. I'll be contributing to this site occasionally, so you might want to check it out.

The second one is not nearly as serious. I was just messing around this everning and came up with an idea: Google pages allows you to create free web pages, so why not make an extention to Beit Carr? And I did. I'm calling it The Outhouse of Carr. It'll be a place where I post little blurbs, just to entertain myself. So if you feel like taking a load off, make a trip to the outhouse.

Promises, Promises . . .

I'm not a big NBA guy. I usually start watching the play-offs in the conference finals. But I'll admit that I was very interested in the outcome of tonight's Eastern Conference Semifinal between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Detroit Pistons because I wanted to see if Rasheed Wallace was the second coming of Joe Namath. He more resembled the second coming of Joe Schmoe.

Ever since Babe Ruth, Americans have had a fascination with athletes who have "called their shot." Wallace wants to be that kind of guy. He has guaranteed victories before, but never as passionately as this:

"Like I said (Saturday) night, I know we're gonna bust their (expletive) . . . (tonight) is the last game here, in this building (Quicken Loans Arena) this year. Y'all can quote me, put it back-page, front-page, whatever."

Oh, it'll make front-page tomorrow, Sheed. I guarantee it.

The Hope of Death

We finally ended our study of Genesis at Echo last night. Had some friends from Mason [and Iowa] visiting us, giving us a good crowd despite a few regulars being gone. In wrapping up our months of study, I taught how Genesis, a book best known for its details of creation, begins with life but ends in death. The last chapter discusses the interment of two patriarchs: Jacob and Joseph. Jacob's remains were taken from Egypt and buried in the Promised Land. Joseph, however, knew that his relatives wouldn't be allowed to take his body to the Promised Land, but left specific instructions to make sure that his descendents would make sure to get his bones to Israel. I noted that the body of Joseph became an object of hope for the Israelites, who were enslaved by the Egyptians. Eventually [500 years later] Joseph was buried in his homeland. And, just like Joseph, Jesus' body [or the lack thereof] should represent hope for His followers, that we might someday return to our native land [heaven].

Ironically, my father called this morning to inform me that my step-grandfather passed away. He was ninety-eight years old, but I swear he could've lived another 20 years. I'll be officiating his funeral this week. He really has no other family, and I assume most of his friends passed away years ago, so it should be a small gathering.

John was a very proud man, wanting everyone to know that he had the financial means to take care of himself. I hate to admit it, but he was a bitter old man. He had few kind things to say about other people, but he really cared about my grandmother. He was never much to talk about faith but, in these later years, he started making appearances at church with my grandmother. I'm not sure if it ever registered to him how desperately he needed Jesus. We'll never know.

Death happens. To everyone. I still come back to the most profound statements I ever heard, that was actually uttered in a Bill and Ted's movie. The grim reaper, in the midst of a rap, said, "You might be a king or a little street sweeper, but sooner or later you'll dance with the reaper." Brilliant. No matter who you are, you can't escape death.

I would suppose that death is the most important issue in my ministry. This obviously goes way beyond funerals. A key aspect of my job is get people to come to grips with the reality that they will eventually die and, because their lives will end someday, they should evaluate how they are now living. As a professor in college once said, "our eschatology [view of death/afterlife] determines our life's philosophy."

I guess I'm saying, "just think about it." Don't become so obsessed with death that you can't live. But, please, don't stroll through life without considering where you're heading.

_________________

I hope he doesn't mind, but I want to recommend Chad Doerr's blog again. Chad, who ministers at a church in Falmouth, Kentucky, recently lost his wife Amy. He's been journaling his journey in moving on with life while still remembering hers. It's some fantastic stuff.

Ole! Ole! Ole! Ole . . .

The drought is over: I scored a goal Friday night. I'm playing in two leagues right now: indoor, over 30 on Fridays and outdoor, recreational on Saturday. I had been playing non-stop [spring, summer, fall] since my freshman year of college until this recent two year stretch that I just ended. I'm getting my touch and control back, and I'm starting to look like I know what I'm doing again. And I feel like I'm back in shape.

I never realized how much I missed playing. Putting a well-placed ball in the back of the net will do it to you. And I'm getting to know the strangers on my teams better too. Overall, I'm having a lot of fun. I'd like to keep on playing through the fall.

Mother's Day

I ain't no dummy. Kelly and I have always been lax in our celebration of gift events. We haven't gotten each other Christmas presents in a few years. Birthday presents show up about once every other year. Usually a good card will suffice, and then we'll go out to eat.

But I wasn't fooling myself that the same kind of observance would pass on this, her first Mother's Day. I started planning a week in advance for how I would work it.

Step One: the gift. Fortunately Kelly tipped me off a few weeks ago that she'd love to get a massage session with a person she knows at Standard. This was my break, but I had to create a diversion so that she wouldn't be sure that I had actually listened. I negotiated a secret drop-off-type arrangement, a flawless exchange that she wouldn't at all suspect. I actually got her a few sessions, and she was none-the-wiser.

Step Two: the card. This might seem simple enough; it's not like I haven't picked out a card before. But this was Mother's Day, so the card had to be from both Kaelyn and me. After finding the "from us" card selection unsatisfactory, I opted to go with one card from each of us. Kaelyn selected a Care Bears card [yes, apparently they still have Care Bears and Kaelyn did a great job picking it out] whereas I opted for a more sappy "from daddy" card. This too worked out and impressed the Mommy very much.

Step Three: the meal. The perfect way to get the morning going is the Mother's Day breakfast. I went out Friday and purchased the ingredients I needed for a proper pancake breakfast. I hid them in the back of my Explorer until late Saturday night when I gave Kelly an invitation/menu announcing it. Yesterday morning I was a pancake machine and we were able to sit down and enjoy Kel's very first Mother's Day.

Mission accomplished. But I already told Kelly not to expect that kind of treatment every year. Was I kidding, or am I, again, creating a diversion? Only time will tell . . .

Here's a picture of the ladies on their first Mother's Day together:

Writer Blocked

So much to share, but no energy. I'll get at it tomorrow.

Life In The Big City

And now to our drama on the homefront . . . When we moved downtown many warned us of the perils of city living: shootings, break-ins, drug deals, and the like. But we were resolved to face whatever our new urban lifestyle brought. Thus far, we've experienced none of those previous things, but recently we have come face to face with a danger we didn't count on:

Raccoons.

Yep, when we left the 'burbs for the city we thought we traded in rural critters for sewer rats, but it's been a raccoon that has plagued us. I first saw him a couple of weeks ago as I was coming in from the parking lot; he actually walked toward me, which was troubling because raccoons can be vicious critters. After yelling at him, he ran into a hole that leads under our deck, into his own private Idaho. He's been hiding out there since then, gnawling away on garbage and ripping up the insulation on my heat pump.

He's made a few appearances which left me in a quandary of what to do. I couldn't shoot him because we're surrounded by people and don't currently own a gun. I didn't want to beat him with a baseball bat, because we're in a more refined housing area and it could be a bloody mess [plus, right when I'd go at him, the neighbor girls would be sure to come home and see me bludgeoning a 'coon].

I eventually decided that this fell within the realm of a condo issue, so I called the proper authorities who sent a guy out with a trap. There was nothing for twenty-four hours, but finally tonight:

He'll roam no mo'. You would be proud of me, though; I've resisted the urge to poke him with a stick.

But our neighbor still contends that there's another raccoon that's been lurking around. I guess this vermin's been using the area under our deck as his own little bachelor pad. Time is over, boys. Don't make me beat you with a baseball bat.

In a related note, who knew that Dreamworks would transform our plight into a major motion picture?

It'll Last Longer

Just wanted to remind you of my photographic art via my Flickr page.

Jesus Loves Porn Stars

I wanted to be at the University of Cincinnati last night to observe the debate between porn star Ron Jeremy and Pastor Craig Gross of xxxchurch.com. I couldn't make it because we had our prayer meeting and, anyway, they weren't going to let the general public in until after all UC people had seats; I didn't want to make the trip and be turned away at the door. Gross' organization has been the champion of evangelical Christianity against porn addiction, but they fight the battle on many different fronts. Most notably, they attend porn conventions, handing out Bibles and trying to convince industry people to change their professions. They also have free accountability software you can download from their website to keep your internet usage more wholesome.

I have to admit, and I might take some criticism for this, the church's fight against pornography sometimes wears me out. It seems churches everywhere have figured out how porn has infiltrated the pews and are making a concerted effort to bring it to the forefront. I'm not saying that pornography isn't a problem, but that it's the fruit and not the root. Too many times we Christians concentrate on combating individual sin rather than individuals' sins. Pornography is problematic, but the bigger fish to fry is sin in general. Perhaps the reason it's become so rampant within our ranks is because we ministers have softened our stance on preaching about sin. Maybe we've been preaching too many cutsie "how to make your life better" messages. It could be time to stop teaching that garbage and be straight-up about sin again.

If we somehow found a way to completely shut down the porn industry we might feel a sense of accomplishment, but something else would rise to take it's place. There will always be things hindering us in our walk with God. That's what sin does. And that's why we elevate Jesus above everything else, because we believe that He takes care of our sin problem.

Still, I admire what Gross and associates are attempting to accomplish. If you check out xxxchurch.com, you'll see that Gross has been able to use these events as an opportunity to get to know Ron Jeremy better. They're still miles apart philosophically, but you can't get people to buy into the gospel message until they can witness what it's done in you.

p.s. On the xxxchurch website, check out the blog section from March that talks about their unfortunate tangle with a Bible seller that wasn't willing to cooperate with them. I'd link it, but wasn't able to nail down a url.

I'm No Idol Worshipper

This is the most American Idol I've watched since season 1. I wouldn't call myself a die-hard since I still don't know their names. But getting rid of The Rocker guy tonight was the dumbest decision yet. So what are you left with, America? The girl with a good voice who can't seem to find her niche, the guy with a good voice but makes Gilbert Gottfried look attractive, or the guy who will hit mandatory retirement age in two years.

I think I'm done.

And P.S.: kudos to Fox who sucked me in to watching Unan1mous because I'm too lazy to change the channel. This had to be the worst reality show ever. Seriously. Ever. And I watched too much of it.

Free The Internet

Do you surf the web? I guess so, because you're reading this. Do you email? Of course you do. So be prepared for those services to change right before your very eyes. This wasn't meant to be activist week here at Beit Carr; I'm not trying to get too preachy here. But this is an issue that will transform the internet forever and it's being snuck in right under our noses.

There's a bill before the United States Congress right now to regulate the internet. The legislation, called the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act [COPE], purposely makes no provision to maintain something called "network neutrality." Yes, it's a bunch of geek talk, so let me try to break it down for you.

Currently, as you use an internet provider [like TimeWarner], they can't regulate the content that comes to your computer. Everything you want to look for comes in at the same speed. This ticks off them off those providers because you're just as likely to check out Echo Church's website as you are to look at a site owned by TimeWarner. Providers want a leg up in making profits, so this bill would allow them to create different venues of web access: a "fast lane" for companies willing to pay the big bucks to get there and a turtle lane for everyone else. So if your favorite website isn't willing to pay for fast lane service, it could take much longer to get there despite the lightening speed of your DSL line.

This bill is all about putting more control of the internet in the hands of major telecommunication companies. Does that sound like what's best for the American people? I would think not.

Do yourself a favor and take a few seconds to visit http://www.savetheinternet.com. Fill out the petition to email a letter of concern to your congress person.

Don't say you weren't warned.

On Casino Gambling

Apparently the city is moving quickly on casino gambling. They need 1,000 signatures by tomorrow to get the issue to the point where they would need an additional 30,000+ signatures. At a news conference today, many city councilmen/councilwomen were present to support this initiative. Alarmed at how quickly this whole process is moving, I felt compelled to use my new city citizenship to make my voice heard. I sent the following email to the two council members leading the charge, CC'ing the mayor and the rest of council. We'll see what kind of response I get. I want to make it clear that I'm not going to use Echo as a means to push an agenda that I'm personally passionate about. Our focus as a church is on spreading the gospel. Regardless of what happens with this issue, we'll keep teaching Jesus. But as a citizen, I felt I had to make my opinion known on this matter.

Vice-Mayor Tarbell and Council Member Ghiz, I know you believe the time is short as you push for the signatures to get a casino in the Broadway Commons area. It seems many council members are approaching the project with reckless abandon, making sure that Cincinnati doesn't "miss out" on the potential revenues that a casino could bring to the area. But as a pastor and resident of this city, I would urge caution in proceeding too quickly. This issue should be thoroughly investigated, researching the consequences that putting a casino near the downtown area could bring.

I'm not naive enough to think that people aren't already gambling in many different forms in the city [i.e, the lottery] without a casino. Nor am I someone who thinks it wrong [or even "sinful"] to permit legalized gambling in the state of Ohio. I merely question the reasoning behind bringing a casino into our city.

What about crime? Isn't there already enough to go around? Much analysis has been done about crime in and around casino communities and there's always been a degree of subjectivity surrounding those statistics. But of all the studies I've perused on the subject, I've never read of a crime decrease resulting from legalized gambling.

Is it all about the money? Potential Cincinnati gambling revenue could be stolen from Lawrenceberg and Aurora, but at what cost? What about the proximity to the impoverished? There is a distinct difference between having a casino on the river in rural Indiana verses downtown Cincinnati. If you put a casino near the downtown area, right on major bus routes, you'll be tempting people who won't be able to turn down the lure of getting rich quick. We can deceive ourselves into believing that most gamblers will come from out of town, but the reality is that locals will be the bread and butter of this industry. I minister in the Walnut Hills area, a stone's throw from Broadway Commons. The last thing many of those residents need is an additional vice to tempt them.

Are there no better ways to create jobs/revenue here in town? Are you seriously telling me that $20 million per year is a sufficient exchange for the potential ruined lives of your constituents? If that's the case, why not legalize drug use? Obviously I'm being sarcastic, but both of them can lead to demise for the sake of profit.

And I would advise you not to fall prey to the peer pressure that's driving this sudden urgency to move forward. I can't accept the "everyone else is doing it, so we can't miss out" defense here. Just because Cleveland and Columbus chose this road doesn't mean that Cincinnati has to as well.

I felt compelled to write because this is an important issue to me. I was have lived my entire life in the greater Cincinnati area. This past year I moved my family from Warren County back into the city to start a church with the desire to help make Cincinnati a better place. I've believe in this city and have been encouraged about the possibility of it turning the corner. And with everything needed to get us there, in spite of all the current crime that holds us back, I'm told that casino gambling is the answer? I'm disappointed if that's the best this council can offer.

I pray that you do what's best for the people of this city.

Sincerely, Steve Carr

Do You Pinch?

I love this commercial for the Honda Element. It's probably one of the cheapest-made commercials on television, but I like it so much I wanted to share it here. Just goes to show you that showcasing creativity doesn't have to be done with a huge price tag.

Is It Just Me . . .

. . . or is anyone else hoping that David Blaine holds his breath a little too long? Um, just kidding.

Maybe.