Washington DC:.
I'll be in the Washington DC area coming up in July with the Riddle Group, there maybe some time to connect while I'm there. And DC area readers. I'm going to be in Sterling VA most of the time.

Sea Do

My friend Jimmy really needs a day off and some time to cut loose. I think he needs some time at the lake riding Sea-Do's or hanging out in a boat this weekend. But I have no watercraft.

Does anyone have a boat, or sea do they would be willing to let a couple of very responsible pastor types borrow for an afternoon?

I'm serious. Email and let me know.

myfriendmark@gmail.com

Jesus Loves Porn Stars:.

The guys over at xxxchurch.com are taking the bible to Porn conventions and handing them out. American Bible Society refused to print their bibles. Al Mohler isn't a fan of their bible or their tactics. But I am.

Here's a link from ABC news covering them


Jesus loves porn stars

Super Busy Writing:.

I spent the day writing over at Shades of Brown Coffee shop in Brookside today.

Sat. I'm taking Pam and the kiddo's to see Lion King compliments of my sister Stefanie and brother-in-law Casey. They got us tickets for christmas! We've been looking forward to it.

Sunday - I'm speaking at Rivendell Fellowship. I'm looking forward to this too. Pam and I consider Rivendell our home right now, but we are "those people" who have not attended a sunday morning experience in 11 weeks or more. (we have a good excuse... not that we need one) So we are looking forward to this. I need to figure out what I'm going to talk about and discuss with them. Any ideas?

2006 MTV Movie Awards - Gnarls Barkley

Thanks to Marko for pointing me to this.
My kids loved it. I had never heard of Gnarls Barkley, but I went to iTunes and got this song after listening to this.

An Interview with a Congressman:.
Stephen Colbert intervews the Congressman from the 8th district of Georgia, who co-founded the 10 commandments being placed in public settings like courhouses. but can he actually name more than 3 of them?

This is great!
Link

An Amazing Story on Tony Dungy:.

Wow. ESPN does an incredible story on Tony Dungy, head coach for the Indianapolis Colts on the lost of his son last December and what life with Dungy is like.


On how his players perceive him:
"Last season, when first-year Colts defensive tackle Corey Simon and his wife experienced a personal tragedy, Simon and Dungy had a talk in the head coach's office. Dungy has an open-door policy; his players feel like they're talking to their father rather than their coach. Dungy reminded Simon that God's will is perfect. When Colts middle linebacker Gary Brackett lost his father, mother and brother over a 16-month period ending in February 2005, Dungy told Brackett that he was in a position to inspire others by holding his head high in the face of his adversity. Dungy put his arm around running back Warrick Dunn when they were together in Tampa Bay and Dunn was trying to cope with the death of his mother while also balancing a career and raising five siblings. Lauren Dungy often would accompany Dunn on parent-teacher conferences -- that's how extended the Dungy family is. We could go on for days with stories like this."


On Lauren Dungy: (Tony's wife)

"Dungy says his wife is having a harder time than he is; James (everyone called him Jamie) and his mother were quite close. (Tony politely declined an interview request on Lauren Dungy's behalf.) It's emotional for Lauren, Tony says, whenever she drives past one of James' old schools or near a park. Or when she's alone with her thoughts when the couple's younger children, Jordan and Jade, are asleep and Tony isn't home. Or when they're in a store and a clerk who was a schoolmate of James' wants to share stories about him. Theirs is a pain to which only parents who have lost a child truly can relate."

Link

You scored as Karl Barth. The daddy of 20th Century theology. You perceive liberal theology to be a disaster and so you insist that the revelation of Christ, not human experience, should be the starting point for all theology. Karl Barth 80% J?Moltmann 60% John Calvin 47% Paul Tillich 40% Anselm 40% Augustine 27% Charles Finney 27% Martin Luther 20% Friedrich Schleiermacher 13% Jonathan Edwards 7% Which theologian are you? created with QuizFarm.com

Why I stopped using the Bible:
(yesterday I posted this on the Liquidthinking site, but I wanted it here too.)

I want to stop using the Bible. I use it way to much and frankly I'm tired of people I encounter using it too. I hear people talk about using the Bible.... a lot. As a pastor there are people who expect me to use the Bible. If I give a sermon, but don't quote the Bible, they will quickly tell me I'm not using the Bible. So as any person faced with that kind of stimuli I started putting quotes in my sermons. I'd tell the same funny stories, then drop a verse it. Of course it was always on topic. After those sermons, people might say, "Thanks for using the Bible." I loved the reinforcement.

I've read books recently which in their promotion materials say things like, "Uses 1,200 Bible verses for support." Support? Did they just say, support? IS that what this the Bible is for? Support? I'll refrain from jock strap and bra referrences here, but something doesn't seem right. It might just be me.

Look I'm not against people quoting the Bible, I just have a problem with them using it. Let the Bible speak. I have this hunch that the Bible is not some kind of tool kit or arsenal for me to use on something or against someone. Maybe I should support the Bible. Maybe God .... should.... use.... me.. ?? Something seems out of order here.

I have a car. I use it. It transports me to somewhere else faster than I can walk. I use gasoline to fuel my car. I use these things and it costs me something.
I have a TV. I use it. It entertains me. I use it for news, and amusement. I use electricity to fuel my TV. I use these things and it costs me something.
In high school I used girls. I used them. For whatever my selfish motives were as a horny 17 year old boy, I used girls for my satisfaction. Maybe they used me too. It cost us both something.
I use my Bible. I use it and when I use it, it costs me something.

So maybe you can get why I don't want to use the Bible any longer.

The Bible too often as become a weapon in the hands of people with agendas. They believe the agenda is God's agenda, so there is something ultimate about their perspective. The ends seem to justify the means. Their ends support their means.

I'm not giving up on the Bible. I'm not telling you to stop quoting the scripture. I'm not telling you to know the scripture.

Just stop using it. If anything... let it use you. Let it read you. Live the scripture.

Live into the story of God.

So today I killed a fly using the hose extension on my upright vacuum. There was a certain satisfaction that came with it.