Abortion & The Early Church

The sadness I feel over the abortion epidemic in America has intensified as I spend time with and bond with my 3 week old son.

Abortion is not a new epidemic. Abortions have been occurring for thousands of years. Several years ago, in my Early Church History course in seminary, I wrote a lengthy research paper on the Early Church’s response to abortion in the Greco-Roman world. The early Christians provided a comprehensive critique and response to the practice of abortion, the likes of which had never been seen. You might appreciate reading this research paper (I received an A on it). Download abortion_the_early_church

Third Places

Rick Meigs has written some helpful reflections on “Third Places,” drawing from the work of Ray Oldenburg in The Great Good Place. Christians should frequent third places. I’ve recently encouraged the twentysomethings of CPC to each adopt a third place of their own as a means of better knowing and loving their community.

When I lived in Saratoga I was in walking distance of 2 third places that I visited on a weekly basis and where I was able to participate in some good ministry. Since moving to San Carlos/Foster City 5 months ago, I’ve not done as good of a job as I’ve wanted to of sticking to 2-3 core third places. Rick’s article encourages me and excites me to step it up in this area.

To find out what a third place actually is and to read some great Christian reflections on third places, click here and read Rick’s post.

(HT: SM)

Thanksgiving 2006

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. This holiday begs the question: “Who do we thank on Thanksgiving?” As a Christian, what I’m most thankful for is knowing the answer to this question, knowing who to say “thank you” to on Thanksgiving.

I am not a wise man who figured out who to thank for the blessings of life. I am a little man who believes that a good and sovereign God created all things and has graciously made himself known to us. I believe that we humans have rebelled against this good and loving God, mistakenly and wickedly thinking that we ought to call our own shots and be our own gods. Yet despite our rebellion, the one God of the Universe chose to extend great grace to us by sending his Son, Jesus, to earth live the rebellion-free life we couldn’t live and die the rebellious death we should have died.

Jesus the Messiah took responsibility for what was not his fault. He took responsibility for what was our fault–rebelling against God and bringing sin and chaos into God’s creation. So, this Thanksgiving I am thankful that I know who to thank: the God who both creates and takes responsibility for what’s not his fault by saving broken people like you and me.

That’s how I’m answering the Thanksgiving question. And, most of you Buzzard Blog readers answer this question the same way I do. But, most Americans either don’t know who to thank on Thanksgiving or they have a different answer to the “who to thank” question. As Christians who are seeking to love our neighbors, we ought to be well aware of how our non-Christian neighbors think about Thanksgiving. As we seek to understand how our non-Christian neighbors answer the Thanksgiving question, we can better seek to humbly point them towards the the great Who of Thanksgiving. We ought always to do this humbly, for it’s only by grace that we Christians know who to thank.

In today’s Washington Post “On Faith” column, Tufts University Philosophy professor Daniel C. Dennett shares his answer to the Thanksgiving question. Dennett believes that there is no who to thank this Thanksgiving. He believes there’s a what that we can thank, the what of “goodness.”

Dennett writes:

There is no person who created the universe, or the planet, or the biosphere, so there is really nobody to thank for that…I can thank goodness–the wonderful fabric of excellence created by individuals working together in human civilization to make this planet a better place…We nonbelievers have no difficulty with Thanksgiving; we just Eliminate the Middleman and give thanks directly to the real, ongoing, human project of making the world safer and better for everyone.

I have no hope in “goodness,” “the wonderful fabric of excellence,” or “the human project” for making the world “better.” I think Genesis 3 and today’s newspaper make clear where the human project leads us. My only hope is in the God who I thank this Thursday. I don’t want to thank God by myself. I want to thank him along with you and, maybe someday, along with Daniel C. Dennett.

Greenwood Community Church Sex Scandal

This is very sad. Just a few minutes ago one of my best friends emailed me to tell me about the sex scandal that was revealed in his church this past Sunday. My buddy Chris attends Greenwood Community Church in Colorado. This is now the 2nd tragic evangelical sex scandal to be revealed in Colorado in the past two weeks (ie., Ted Haggard).

Todays Rocky Mountain News reported the story:

For the second time in two weeks, a Colorado flock heard a Sunday sermon about sin and sexual scandal – not somewhere “out there,” but in their very midst.

“I have to confess to you, I have failed. I feel responsible for this taking place,” Pastor Tom Melton told a packed crowd at Greenwood Community Church in Greenwood Village. Last week, high school pastor Don Ryan confessed to sexual intimacy with a 16-year-old girl from the church. Out on bail, he faces serious prison time.

Click here to read the whole article.

And, here’s the statement on Greenwood Community’s website:

On November 14, 2006 Don Ryan, the former High School Pastor here at Greenwood Community Church, came to our senior leadership and confessed that he has committed a sexual indiscretion with a student for which he is solely culpable.  This event was immediately reported to the Greenwood Village Police department. Therefore, he has been removed from pastoral staff and any type of leadership at Greenwood.  This is a heartbreaking loss for everyone, but our hope is in the power of our Savior to begin the healing and restoration that only He can bring about.  We are very saddened by the revelations and our thoughts and prayers go out to the victim, the victim’s family, as well as all others concerned and touched by these events.   The church leadership takes these allegations of inappropriate behavior very seriously and has cooperated with the authorities in their investigation.  As we wish to protect the privacy interests of the individuals who have raised these concerns, we cannot comment any further on the case, or the investigation.  We ask that all of those involved with these events and the investigation appreciate the seriousness of the claims and fully support the victim, the victims’ family and all others involved.  Please pray for everyone who has been impacted.

Now that you know the story, please pray for this church.

UFC 65

Tonight’s fight is going to be great. I’m rooting for Sylvia in the heavyweight bout and, of course, pulling for Hughes to retain his welterweight title. I’ve been watching UFC since I was a high schooler (before gloves were required & head butts were outlawed), and this looks to be one of the better fight cards in recent UFC history. Bring it on, UFC 65.

Arturo G. Azurdia III, Spirit Empowered Preaching

I recently finished reading Spirit Empowered Preaching by Arturo G. Azurdia III. This book doesn’t make it into my favorite books on preaching category (the pink cover alone disqualifies it), but it was still a helpful read for me as a preacher. I especially appreciated chapter 3 on the Christ-centered nature of the Bible/preaching. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the book:

“…the Bible now comes to us through the grid of the gospel.”

“The preacher wakes up on Lord’s Day morning and he can smell the smoke of hell on one side and feel the crisp breezes of heaven on the other.”

And I LOVED this quote that Azurdia included from Charles Spurgeon:

“Don’t you know, young man, that from every town  and every village and every hamlet in England, wherever it may be, there is a road that leads to London?… So from every text in scripture there is a road towards the great metropolis, Christ. And my dear brother, your business is, when you get to a text, to say, now what is the road that leads to Christ?… the sermon cannot do any good unless there is a savor of Christ in it.”

Craig Dunham & Doug Serven, Twentysomeone

Our 20s book of the month for November is Twentysomeone by Craig Dunham & Doug Serven. If you’re in your twenties and you’d  like some guidance for better navigating this difficult decade, or if you’re not in your twenties and you’d like to better understand how to minister to twentysomethings, I recommend this book.

Here’s the table of contents:

1 The Question of Our Twenties
2 God Has a Wonderful (and Strange and Confusing) Plan for Your Life
3 Humility: Overcoming the Tyranny of Self
4 Integrity: Living Out Who We Are
5 Teachability: Learning to Learn from Anyone
6 Faithfulness: The Crucible of the Twenties
7 Money: Resisting the American Dream
8 Time: Using (Not Just Having) the Time of Our Lives
9 Community: Living with All Kinds of Folks
10 Legacy: Rethinking Accomplishments and Success

I’m a fan of many chapters of this book but my favorite part might be the appendix with its list of “100 Things to Do in Your Twenties.”

Are You Preaching the Gospel to Yourself?

Recently I wrote about my buddy Todd Lubiens’ P.G.T.Y. challenge. Today I came across this diagram and an accompanying article by Drew Goodmanson, a diagram and article that do an excellent job of illustrating and explaining the importance of P.G.T.Y. (preaching the gospel to yourself).

If Buzzard Blog is known for anything, I hope this blog can be known for constantly talking about the gospel, about the often overlooked reality that 1) the good news gospel of Jesus is far more incredible than we imagine and 2) the gospel is essential not just to becoming a Christian, but also to growing as a Christian. Here’s the first paragraph of Goodmanson’s article:

At Kaleo Church we teach that the Gospel isn’t just a means of salvation, but it is the very way we grow as Christians.  When Paul writes his letters to the Galatians or Corinthians, he addresses each problem in the Christian community with the gospel.  (eg., Peter, who eats stops eating with the Gentiles isn’t told to ‘stop’ which would be legalism, but is told that his actions aren’t walking in line with the gospel.  His motivation for change is a reminder of who Christ is and what he has done for us and how that sets us free by grace.)

Click here to read the rest of the article and view the diagram.

bad news, good news, & the pee predicament

Bad news first. This last Sunday Taylor and I took our 6 day old son to his first church service. He had a great time making some new friends and listening to the sermon. This was a great way for Cru to spend his first Sunday in the world. That’s all good news. The bad news is that Taylor’s bike was stolen from our carport while we were away at church. Bummer. Now that Taylor isn’t pregnant I was looking forward to riding bikes with her again. If you see somebody riding a silver and blue colored women’s mountain bike, consider tackling them and then asking them if they stole the bike. If they say yes, please bring the bike back to me.

Now the good news. We took our son to see his pediatrician today and found out that Cru’s gained 5oz. over his birth weight (the doc said this is the best first week weight gain he’s ever seen). We also discovered that Cru doesn’t cry when he receives shots–he just grunts and takes it like a man. I was proud.

Finally, there’s quite the pee predicament going on in the Buzzard household. No matter how I try and defend myself, whether it’s with a fresh diaper or a cloth, 1 out of 4 times I change my son’s diaper he pees on me. I’m really perplexed by the whole thing because he’s able to shoot at me and soak me from most any angle. Dads & moms, any advice? I need to get a better defensive technique going here.

Bible Reading Calendar

I’ve posted about my favorite Bible Reading Calendar before, but since some of you have asked me about this calendar recently and about my own Bible reading habits, I thought I’d post this again. Check it out.  3 chapters a day (roughly) will get you through the whole Bible in a year. And, unlike other Bible reading plans, this one aims to get you well aquainted with overall storyline of the Bible. Download bible_reading_calendar.pdf