posted by @Bruxy on Twitter
For those of you who read this on the blog, in just a few days Thinking Out Loud will celebrate 12 years of never changing its basic blog theme, Gray is the New Black. Oh, and writing some articles also. Last week was music week here at Wednesday Connect. Scroll back ICYMI. It contained some really great music, but apparently that’s not what draws people here. So I’ll be phasing those out.
■ Hurry! It’s the bees knees! Be the first kid on your block to visit the new website for James MacDonald Ministries.
■ Parenting Place: With a pre-teen and two teenagers, you wouldn’t expect this family to make their next church Episcopal. “Questions permeate my thoughts, how will our children endure this shift, especially at this stage of their spiritual development? Is this even the right choice for our family? … I glance over at my children—wide-eyed, and we’ve only just begun.“
■ The advertisement you didn’t see on the broadcast of the weekend game. FOX-TV refused to sell the airtime…
■ …Opinion: Should anyone really have been shocked by halftime show?
■ Regulated to Death, Literally: Michael Frost writes,
A recent Australian government enquiry into child sexual assault by clergy recommended that there be tighter regulations around who can be called a “pastor” and what minimum training is required for such a role. I understand why those recommendations were made but they make it very difficult for those churches that want to encourage all members to see themselves as missionaries (or sent ones) in their own neighborhoods. One of the fathers of the missional movement, Lesslie Newbigin was well known for talking about the declericalizing of the church. That is, the blurring of the line between clergy and lay people, and “ordaining” all people to mirror the work of God in the world.
It’s one of five cultural trends that are killing the efforts of the local church.
■ A completely oxymoronic title: “The Comforting Doctrine of Election.” There was nothing comforting in this sentence of a Christmas post we’d missed earlier: “And often after the last present is unwrapped and the left overs are cleared away and you are in the car on the way home often a wave of sadness comes; those people you love so much are headed to hell.” No! No, it’s not over yet. Sorry, this isn’t what I believe. And how is this “comforting?” This is ‘election’ run amuck.
■ If you’ve followed the career of Rob Bell, you know that Mars Hill launched with an unlike series on the book of Leviticus. Now, he’s selling a Leviticus audio commentary titled Blood, Guts and Fire.
■ I’m quite sure the Harvest Bible Chapel saga continues to help sell newspapers for the Chicago Tribune. My favorite sentence, “While MacDonald’s style led some to bristle, he remained an extremely talented preacher who attracted thousands each week to Harvest locations.” Bristle. That’s the word we’ve all been searching for. The article quotes a church spokesperson saying that the church has lost about 6,000 people across six campuses.
■ Provocative Headline of the Week: “Hillsong Worship Is Going on Tour, But Don’t Call It Worship.” Sample:
I’ve said before that there’s a reason the contemporary pop-worship church holds such a low view of Holy Communion. It just doesn’t understand the point. Music is their substitute sacrament. Through commercial music, they allow themselves to be carried away on an emotional level into a perceived sensory connection with the divine. When you interpret worship through the lens of emotional stimulation, the bread and wine don’t make sense. It doesn’t compute.
■ Persecution Watch: Pastor Lawan Andimi was part of the Church of the Brethren in northern Nigeria, and chaired the Christian Association of Nigeria in his local district. A few weeks ago he was abducted by Islamic militants affiliated with Boko Haram. “On Jan. 20 he was beheaded by his captors. Sources said Andimi refused to renounce his faith in Jesus. He paid the ultimate price.” …
■ …Meanwhile China uses a facial recognition system to keep track of who is attending church.
■ It’s all Greek to me! Seriously, here are 5 Greek words that every Christian should know.
■ Pastor Worship: It’s apparently more of a male thing. “But when you ask a man about his church, the first (and often only) thing he talks about is the pastor. He doesn’t talk about the facilities. He doesn’t talk about his friendships. He talks about his pastor and the quality of his sermons. ‘Oh, Pastor Jimmy is just a regular guy. His sermons are awesome!'” “So what are men searching for? A leader they can look up to and respect.”
■ Essay of the Week
Unreached People Group: MAGA-Nation.
We need to bring the real good news of Jesus to rural Trump supporters and FoxNews-weaned Evangelicals and Conservative single-issue voters and to people embracing a white America-centric theology—because the truth is: the compassionate, generous, diverse, barrier-breaking movement and message of Jesus are as foreign to them as anyone on the planet.
■ Kevin Makins is the pastor of Eucharist Church in downtown Hamilton, Canada and he’s chosen a unique way to introduce his June title with Baker Books; so we get to let him tell you himself! The book is Why Would Anyone Go to Church: A Young Community’s Quest to Find and Reclaim Church for Good.
■ In other book marketing news, Zondervan figured out a great way to tie-in your interest in Henry Cloud and John Townsend’s Boundaries series, depending on your favorite social media.
■ Dey not bein’ idle, man: Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky announced recently that they are launching their 10th campus.
■ Conspiracy theories? Connections between Coronavirus and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the implementation of 5G technology.
■ Next time you’re driving around while skipping church on a Sunday morning, slow down as you pass different churches and count the cars.
■ Newsy-political links we don’t here: The Atlantic looks at the confirmation bias of Wayne Grudem.
It is rather stunning to me that a person who has written a major textbook on Christian ethics can’t distinguish between a lawful investigation by American law-enforcement authorities or Congress and a president pressuring a foreign government, over which he has tremendous power, to announce an investigation into his political opponent—especially when the president’s team makes clear to that foreign government what the outcome of the request is supposed to be.
Title: “There is no Christian Case for Trump.“
■ It’s personal: Over the years I’ve posted a variety of music links, but last year I discovered this one which is in a class all by itself. So yes, I’m repeating it. This is an arrangement of Psalm 104 from Psalm Project Africa. (Love how they pass the lyrics back and forth.)
■ New Music – Zauntee – Center Stage (Let love take center stage) – lyric video.
■ Hot Music – We the Kingdom – Holy Water – lyric video.
■ New Music – Isla Vista Worship – Opened Up the Heavens.
■ Finally, just when I thought the satire writers had exhausted every possible premise, the Vatican Boy Choir defected to Japan.
See you back in two weeks.
Last week’s top links:
- Worship leader accused of playing well-known song.
- First, Willow founder Hybels; now, Hybels mentor Dr. Bilezikian
- American Pie parody ode to Facebook
- Audrey Assad new song
- Movie trailer: The Road to Edmond
- Responses to Philip Yancey from NYT article
- Priest: Kobe Bryant attended Mass on the day of his death
Thinking Out Loud 
I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the video from the African community on Psalm 104. I listened to it and it moved me so much…I immediately opened up my email “blast” program (I send weekly devotionals and reminders to people in our faith communities) and included it in my devotional this week! I wanted the 500 people who receive that email to experience it. I reminded people that we in the West have this “sense” that we have a lock on the most appropriate music for worship. Whether it be the hymns of the church that have been written since the 16th century (most all by Europeans and Americans) OR the contemporary praise and worship genre that takes 1000’s of dollars in sound, lighting and musical equipment to pull off…we sometimes have this spiritual arrogance that communicates that it is we and we alone who “have this down.” I talk to leaders of churches all over the country. In my own denomination, we have even branded our worship liturgy as “divine” as if it were the only form and structure that God desires or that God had a specific hand in crafting it Himself. Yes, good things are happening in the worship world of the West…we have great traditions to uphold and new expressions of worship to explore but to be so “western-centric” is not only a shame but an insult to the Body of Christ globally. I wish I had the opportunity to worship with those brothers and sisters in Africa who were inspired to pen a song that flowed from their hearts to the “throne” of God…that song was filled with the sweet incense of praise and worship to the Lord and came directly from the experience and heart of His people. Of all the links this week, that one was praiseworthy!
Comment by rdugall — February 5, 2020 @ 10:09 am
I’d actually lost the link to that video, and this week I really wanted to hear it again. Took about an hour to find. I’m glad it resonated with you as it does with me.
Comment by paulthinkingoutloud — February 5, 2020 @ 10:28 am
You were truly led by the Spirit in posting that video. In addition, your Mass Appeal link was helpful as well. People, Christian leaders especially, need to know that NO ONE has a lock on worship. I tell people that probably a worship life that would be BEST has to do with variety. I tell people who belong to our faith communities that when they are out of town to visit and worship any other ‘tribe’ but our tribe…to see and experience how other Jesus followers worship and thank God for the diversity of the Body of Christ. I believe we are in trouble when we “baptize” any structure, musical genre, or worship expression as normative or, better yet, canonical. Keep up the awesome ministry!
Comment by rdugall — February 5, 2020 @ 10:57 am