Curtis (Voice) Allen

Curtis (Voice) Allen sent me an email this afternoon. He asked if I would help get the word out about his new album, The Crucible, which is being released on Tuesday.

Curtis Allen is a man who has a gift for producing rap that exalts the message of Jesus. I bought Curtis’ last album, Progression, this last April and then, two days later, I ended up bumping into him and having a blast getting to know him at the Together for the Gospel conference.

Curtis has quite a story about how Christ got a hold of his life and pulled him out of a dangerous scene in the D.C. area.

Curtis can rap. He’s got great flow. His lyrics are top drawer. His rap draws me closer to God . So, what are you waiting for? Listen to this man’s rap and buy a copy of one of his albums.

The Fire King (Cambodia 2006, Part 3)

The first part of our Cambodia trip involved some site-seeing. Most of this took place far up in the north of Cambodia, in the Siem Reap province. While we were there we spent some time at the Cambodia Cultural Village. And it was here that  I learned, first hand, all about the Cambodian FIRE KING.

This is how it happened. My friends and I were with a crowd of 500 or so Cambodians and internationals watching one of the short Cambodian culture plays/exhibits. The best I could tell, the people who were dancing around with skirts, spears, and painted faces were performing for us a little diddy about the ancient kings who used to rule the kingdom of Cambodia. It was mildly entertaining. But, all of a sudden, a group of these warrior men singled me out from the audience, grabbed me and hoisted me upon their shoulders, and took me into a mysterious hut.

There in the dark, damp hut two Cambodians spoke to me in their native Khmer language and a little bit of broken English. This pair informed me that I was now designated as the Cambodian King of Fire. They then began to hand to me and put on me various bits and pieces of Fire King garb. I was given a stylish and feathery red vest, spears and such, several assorted yellow arm bands, a curly Cambodian wig, and a large Viking-esque helmet. Next I was given instructions which I could barely understand of how I was to act out the Fire King part once the men came back to fetch me from my kingly hut. Best I could understand, my job was to sit on my throne and look kingly and to periodically look into the fire, raise my weaponry into the air, and shout “Uuuuudaaaahhh” to the top of my lungs. So, that’s what I did.

As far as I could tell, the crowd appreciated my performance. I was told that I looked like a Cambodian Conan the Barbarian.

The Karma of Christ (Cambodia 2006, Part 2)

Over 90% of Cambodians are Buddhist. Buddhist philosophy, ritual, and architecture pervade this country. On day 3 of our trip, while in the northern province of Siem Reap, I took this picture of some Buddhist monks walking along the road in their traditional orange robing. I am thankful that now, more than ever before, such men are beginning to hear a message that is the exact opposite of Buddhist teaching. They are beginning to hear, Cambodia is beginning to hear, the gospel.

For a very long time Buddhism has been the worldview held by the majority of Cambodians. Central to Cambodian Buddhism is the doctrine of karma. Karma is the belief that one’s status in life now and in the future depends upon one’s own deeds, behavior, and performance.

The basic karma equation works like this:

• good behavior and performance = reward

• bad behavior and performance = punishment.

This is a tragic way to live.

Most people, be it in Cambodia or America, live under a default religious mentality that their good behavior will earn them “God
points” and their bad behavior will reap “God demerits.” This, however, is the opposite of the Christian gospel.

Karma is bad news. The gospel is good news.

The gospel is good news. It’s the best news we humans could ever hear.

However, before the gospel tells us good news, it first tells us bad news. The gospel declares that all people have a badly damaged relationship with God, one so badly damaged that we can’t fix it ourselves. Even worse, we are at fault for this broken relationship. Worse still: God will justly and severely punish people for the treason of breaking relationship with him.

According to the Bible, we all have very bad karma.
According to the Bible, we have no hope of saving ourselves through keeping our performance or karma. Yet the good news is that God can fix this relationship. The gospel tells us that God has acted to fix this relationship through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

Jesus is the only one who has ever had perfect “karma.” Jesus is the only one who ever lived a life of perfect obedience, righteousness, and sinless-ness. Jesus lived the life that you and I could never live. To speak in Buddhist terms, Jesus never lived a day or committed a deed of bad karma. Yet, the bloodline of the gospel is that despite his perfect life, Jesus purposely died the terrible death of a bad karma criminal–the death you and I ought to have died. Instead of sending us to the cross to punish us for our sins, God the Father sent Jesus to the cross and punished him. Jesus lived the “good karma” life we sinners are unable to live and died the “bad karma” death that we sinners deserve to die. And what’s more, after three days in the grave Jesus rose again and showed himself to be victorious over sin, bad karma, and death.

Buddhism teaches that you must save yourself from sin. The only Savior in Buddhism is yourself.
Christianity is the exact opposite. The gospel teaches that you cannot save yourself. The gospel teaches that your only hope is laying claim to a Savior. Jesus is that Savior. And he is the perfect, one and only Savior for sinners like you and me. And now, more and more Cambodians are encountering and being transformed by this message.
I am thankful that the gospel of Jesus Christ is on the move in Cambodia. While in Cambodia I heard many stories of Buddhist monks who have heard the gospel, repented of their sin, and laid claim to Jesus the Savior.

The gospel first came to Cambodia in the early 1900s. But little progress was visible until the terror of the Khmer Rouge came in the 1970s. Under the genocidal Khmer Rouge very large numbers of Cambodians sought refuge in Jesus the Savior. But it appears that now, more than ever, more and more pastors and churches are being raised up in Cambodia to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and bring many to a karma-less way of living found only in Jesus. I count it a great honor that I got to spend time with 50 of these men. In their churches and communities they are witnessing the gospel get a hold of and transform many lives. In that I rejoice.

Cambodia 2006, Part 1

Last month I spent two weeks in Cambodia with Mark Mitchell, Teaching Pastor of Central Peninsula Church, and Paul Nuth, Cambodian native, pastor, and missionary. We were there to put on a preaching conference for a group of 50 Cambodian pastors.

In the coming days I will blog in more detail about the trip. For now, let me share three personal highlights from the trip.

Highlight #1: Hanging with Mark Mitchell. Mark Mitchell is a great man. I’m honored to be taken under his wing at CPC. Having begun my new role at CPC a mere two weeks before this Cambodia trip, it was a great joy to immediately have a time of extended ministry, adventure, and bonding with Mark. He and I had many laughs, much rich conversation, and a good deal of memorable ministry moments together. Mark is a great model of a Christian man who cares about intentionally and humbly taking on a young buck like me and offering wise and godly mentoring.

Highlight #2: Seeing the Success of the Preaching Conference.
The preaching conference we put on focused on teaching the Cambodian pastors how to do expository preaching. In preparation for the conference, Mark and Paul had a team of guys work on translating Haddon Robinson’s book, Biblical Preaching, into Khmer (the Cambodian language). With these books nearby, these Cambodian men devoured the material that Mark taught them. Mark did an excellent job of teaching these men the “what” and “why” of expository preaching and of showing them the steps involved in crafting a solid expository sermon. I ended up gaining a great deal from the conference myself. From listening to Mark teach I ended up making some significant adjustments to my own sermon preparation method.

Highlight #3: Preaching in Cambodia. The final highlight was preaching to these Cambodian men in our hot and humid conference room. I had the honor of preaching twice during the conference, offering the men an example of what expository preaching looks like. I had a blast doing this. I hadn’t preached through a translator since I preached my first sermon in Mexico when I was 16 years old (that sermon was a terrible sermon–a very poor example of expository preaching. It’s good to have grown as a preacher since those 16 year-old days).

In addition to preaching in Cambodia, I also enjoyed teaching the men how I went about crafting my two sermons (ie. the movement from text, to outline, to sermon). I found that through doing a bit of teaching about preaching I ended up learning a good deal more about preaching.

That’s all for now…

How to Start Reading the Bible: 3 Tools

Reading the Bible is a good thing to do. Reading the Bible on a regular basis is an even better thing to do. Here are three very basic tools/tips for establishing (or re-establishing) a habit of regular Bible reading.

Tool #1: A Bible. Simple enough: if you’re going to be reading the Bible regularly, you need to have your own copy of the Bible. Last time I checked, Bibles are for sale everywhere. If you already have a Bible, be sure you’re using a Bible that you enjoy handling. If your Bible’s so big that your grandma can’t lift it or so small that you can’t read the print, then you’ll have a hard time looking forward to reading that Bible. Be sure to have a good translation, like the ESV (my favorite). And, if you go to a Christian bookstore to buy a new Bible, I encourage you to not worry about all the fancy options out there. These days there’s a specialized Bible marketed for every conceivable type of person. Leave the “2006 Turning Over a New Leaf, Special Edition, Vegetarian, Retired-Social Worker, Empty Nester Amplified Golfers Bible” on the shelf and just pick up a good translation.

Tool #2: A Cup of Coffee. Coffee helps me love Jesus. I begin my mornings with a cup of coffee in one hand and my Bible in the other (and I usually keep a pen for underlining behind one ear). With a strong cup of Peet’s Coffee (the only coffee brewed in the Buzzard home) I’m better prepared to see and savor the wonders of God’s Word. If you don’t like coffee, that’s okay. The point is to read your Bible at a point in your day when you’re the most available and alert to soak in the truths of Scripture. For me, that’s first thing in the morning with a cup of coffee. For you it might mean on your lunch break with a soda or in the evening with some tea. Coffee or no coffee, beverage or no beverage, morning or evening–the point is simply to make sure you’re actually awake when you read your Bible.

Tool #3: A Plan. To get into a habit of reading the Scriptures regularly you need a plan. If you simply pick up your Bible at random and read any old page, you’ll never gain a grasp of the coherence of the whole Bible and you’ll soon quit reading. Over the years I’ve followed a variety of “Read the Whole Bible in One Year” plans. Right now I’m using a plan that focuses on first giving you an overview of the storyline of the entire Bible and it then later moves back and fills in more details. I really like it. So, if you’re looking for a Bible reading plan, I encourage you to check out this plan: Download bible reading calendar.pd

Buzzard Blog Begins

This is the first sentence of my first post on my first blog.

I’m starting this blog in hopes that posting some thoughts on the gospel and culture will help both you and me. I’ve named this blog “Buzzard Blog” because my last name is Buzzard, I like alliteration, and with this name, I won’t forget what my blog is called.

Just six weeks ago I began a new role at Central Peninsula Church and since then I’ve been thinking that blogging might aid my ministry as well as my own walk with Jesus. I’ve been thinking through five reasons why I should start blogging. Here they are:

#1 Blogging Keeps You Sharp. From my reading of other blogs it seems that the discipline of blogging can help you to think well and write well. I want to grow as a thinker and as a writer. So, I’m becoming a blogger.

#2 Blogging Benefits Others. This past year I’ve learned a lot from reading blogs. From regularly reading a few good blogs I have: matured as a man of God, learned more about the gospel, grown in ministry, been forced to think harder and repent more, grown in my love for the church, beheld new truths, beheld more ways Jesus is expanding his kingdom, and I’ve had some good laughs.

My hope is that I too might captain a blog that benefits others in such a fashion. Though I will sometimes write random posts from my life, my primary aim is to post thoughts on the gospel, culture, and life that will serve others. The audience I envision for this blog is both the larger internet world and my church family and friends.

#3 Blogging Communicates. Blogging is an exciting new form of communication. God created his people to be communicators, I love to communicate, and so I sense a strong call to take part as Christian man in this new communication medium.

#4 Blogging Builds New Relationships. God is about the business of building new relationships. God is all about having his people build new relationships. Blogging is a proven tool for connecting people, for building new relationships. Therefore, I blog.

#5 Blogging Aids Accountability. When you blog, you provide others with a little window into your life. With the right readership, this gives me greater accountability. If I gain just one Buzzard Blog reader who regularly reads and interacts with my posts, I’ve gained a bit more accountability—one more person who can play a small role in helping me live the Christian life with greater integrity.

There are, however, at least two reasons I can think of for why I should be wary of blogging.

First, there’s a lot on my plate right now and so I see how blogging could simply become an additional burden or distraction from more important work. If blogging turns out to be a burden rather than a blessing, if it takes me off mission rather than keeping me on mission, I’ll need to stop.

Second, I’m a technology idiot. For example, it took me a very long time to figure out how to make my church’s name in this post show up as a link so that you can click on it and link to it. It’s also taken a while find a good masculine color for this blog. It seems like the majority of blog color options are pink, purple, and sea-green with snowflake backgrounds. I’m feeling marginally masculine with the colors I have going now.

Despite the above, according to my math, 5 good reasons for blogging outweigh 2 reasons for being wary of blogging. So, here I go. Buzzard Blog Begins.

This is my last sentence of my first post on my first blog.