Here's an interesting article that discusses Jim Wallis and his book, God's Politics: Why the American Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It. 

I've heard about this book for a while and have been meaning to read it, but have yet to pick it up.  From reading through the article, I have to say I definitely agree with a lot of Wallis' thoughts and views, and am certainly looking forward to reading his book.   Has anyone read through it yet?

Parachute pants.  Oversized glasses.  Rediculous bling.  Early 90's mainstream "rap" at its worst.  Yep, we're talking about MC Hammer.  Can't touch this!

I remember hearing a rumor a few years back that Hammer had become a Christian.  Other than that, I haven't thought about this guy since viewing the occasional Pepsi commercial.  However, today I ran across a post on CNet that mentioned that the Hammer Man has his own blog! 

I had to check it out, and it seems legit.  I also ran across this post, which seems to confirm his faith.  Very interesting.  Apparently he's got a new album coming out as well. 

Next thing you know, we're going to see Vanilla Ice's comeback ;-)

This past Sunday, the church that we attend (and where my wife is a staff member), First Free, was the first church featured in a new weekly column in the Chicago Sun-Times called Sacred Ground. 

The article actually did a fair job of representing our church.

Looks like Israel (the Jerusalem Municipality in particular) is going to allow the creation of a center for Christian worship at the Mount of Olives, the site of Christ's ascension to heaven.  The center will essentially be a tent open for Christian pilgrims visiting Jerusalem to worship at a location sacred to their faith. 

Less appealing are the plans mentioned near the end of the article to open a Christian theme park and center in the region of Galilee.  This plan smells an awful lot like the now-defunct Heritage USA theme park and conference center, founded by tele-evangelist (and convicted criminal) Jim Bakker.  Not surpisingly, this plan is backed by Bakker's (former?) buddy Pat Robertson. 

Something about the Disney-fication of the Christian faith just doesn't sit right with me.  However, anyway you look at it, the Israeli government is in position to rake in quite a bit of tourist dough from backing both of these initiatives.

The outrage that has transpired in the Muslim world over cartoons defaming the Muslim prophet Muhammed has been alloverthemedia these past few days.  In fact, violence has even lead to the death of at least 3 people in Afghanistan and will likely not end until more have died.   

As a Christian, I have been pondering the response some followers of Islam have chosen to take in order to display thier displeasure with the images that have been published.  Certainly, I regret the violent manner in which many of these protests have been carried out.  I wonder why an event like this must lead to the death of even a single person.  On the other hand, I do believe the images published are in no way tasteful and do in fact demonstrate disrespect to those that view Muhammad as a "beatiful pattern (of conduct)" (Surah 33:21) for humanity.

In the same respect, I believe in freedom of the press and freedom of thought.  Daniel Pipes' article provides an interesting op-ed view of this issue.

So, what would be my response should images of Christ be published, similarly defaming Him?  Surely I would not be pleased to view such cartoons.  However, thinking about it (and pondering a simliar post by James White), I realized that Christ's character is attacked daily in the secular society within which I live.  Popular culture, including films and books drawing from secular philosophies have blasphemed Christ since the inception of the Church.  Granted, church history is unfortunately no where near perfect when it comes to violence in its past.  But reading the DaVinci Code has not incited me to storm Dan Brown's house and light it on fire.

So why the violence in response to these cartoons?  Part of it is likely the differences that are quite apparent when comparing the Western world and the Muslim world.  Freedom, education, and wealth are likely factors that would help stem such violent outbreaks from ocurring in such a place as the US.  Indeed, to my knowledge, no protests have occured within the US' Muslim communities that have been violent. 

However, when you take away the cultural influences and look at the issue from a faith perspective, I would like to believe that a faith such as Christianity, based on love, would respond to an incident such as this in love and truth.  While this post is in no way meant to be an attack on Islam, but rather an honest pondering of the events that have transpired, I still must ask: Why, does a faith claiming to be one of "peace" seem to display such a lack of that very virtue?

I finally got around to "reading" Dan Brown's bestseller, The Da Vinci Code.  The controversy and/or hype surrounding the book has been swirling around for quite some time now, but for one reason or another I never got a chance to read it until now (technically speaking, I listened to it on CD.)

I have to admit, the storyline is incredibly intriguing and very addictive.  I actually found myself longing for my commute to and from work each day, knowing I'd unwrap a little more of the story with each drive.  The story itself unfolds rather quickly, but the more controversial aspects do not show up until about the half way point.

Suddenly, you are hit like a ton of bricks with the assertion that Jesus Christ was not only married, but had a child as well.  The book clearly blasphemes the Christian understanding of Christ's fully divine/fully human nature.  While I can certainly understand the objections the Vatican and many other Christian organizations have had to this work, one cannot deny the freedom Mr. Brown has to share his opinion. 

However, it seems that the general public is increasingly unaware of the fact that this is indeed a work of fiction, not fact.  That people are accepting this work as historically accurate is concerning, especially since the story's popularity has spawned a Tom Hanksfilm and even a video game.  The popularity of this novel has had its effect at the Louvre, where record attendance has been recorded, and has spawned pilgrammages to the Rossyln Chapel. 

Christian apologist (and staunch Calvinist) James White does a good job of discrediting Dan Brown's work on his blog.  Pretty interesting read for anyone discerning the truth behind what is otherwise a thorougly entertaining piece of fiction.

NIV...with the ribbon bookmark.  HAHA.  Check out this video clip.

My jaw dropped when I ran across this article that ran in the Chicago Tribune (subscription may be required) today.  Apparently, Willow Creek, one of the largest churches in the entire country, will be closed this Christmas day.  Wah?

Their "excuse" is that it is a time that should be spent together with family.  Hmmm.  Well, what better way to worship our Lord and Savior on the day we celebrate His birth than together with the Body of Christ in corporate worship?  Indeed, it is the Church that is truly our family for the Christian believer.  I am honestly surprised that Willow has made this decision.  Christmas is traditionally the only day that many families even attend church...why should we be closing the door on a day that is so important? 

Granted, as the husband (pastor's wife?) of a church staff member (my wife runs the Seedlings children's ministry program at First Free), it is a little annoying that she has to work on Christmas.  However, it only happens once every seven years.  And, last time I checked, we are celebrating what to me is one of the two most important moments in history - the birth of Christ.  Christmas is not all about opening presents, eating, and playing that new Xbox 360 ;-) 

Tony Morgan, pastor at Granger Community Church in Granger, Indiana, blogged about his church's baptism service this past weekend, where over 400 (wow!) people were baptized.  I'm loving the O Brother Where Art Thou mock he's got posted. 

My church, First Free, recently held a baptism service at Foster Beach, where we had 5 people (including my wife!) baptized.  While it is awesome to see even a single person that has committed to follow Christ be baptized as a public declaration of their faith, to see 400 at one time must be incredible!  Granted, Granger is probably a much larger congregation than First Free, but still, they must be doing something right to see that kind of growth.  I'd love to hear what kinds of outreach activities they participate in.

I've been thinking about how our church is committing to uphold part of its mission, namely, compassionate outreach.  We are involved in many great activities in this regard, including a commitment to those in need, loving on the community we are in, and supporting global ministry. 

It is these very activities that will help us to share what is far more important than anything else we can ever do, which is to make sure everyone knows God's love for them and desire to be in relationship with them.  That is why I'm so excited about the Alpha Course we are running for the next 10 weeks.  The course is an excellent opportunity to enjoy dinner, meet new people, and bring tough questions to the table in an open, safe environment.  The course begins Tuesday, 9/13 at 7:00 pm at Cafe Victoria, and all are welcome to attend, so consider yourself invited!