Daniel Abbey

To all bean curd lovers, my apologies in advance

A few weeks ago I listened to a Christian Q&A session posted online and was disturbed to hear some patently unbiblical teaching regarding confession. I’m not talking about the Roman Catholic practice of holing up in a booth and admitting your wrongdoing to a priest (who has no power to forgive you whatsoever). No this was a little more insidious.

It goes thus: if you’re a true Christian (that is, someone who has repented of sin and is trusting in Jesus Christ alone for salvation) then God has forgiven your trespasses and you never have to ask for forgiveness of sin again.

What a problematic statement.

First of all, it’s half true. Yes, God has forgiven all our sins (Psalm 103:12) and yes justification is a one-time deal wherein God forgives a sinner based on the merit of Christ’s perfect righteousness alone.

But what’s this business of never having to ask forgiveness ever again?

I call it the DAFT view (Don’t Ask for Forgiveness Theology). It’s an old idea often linked to antinomianism or the extreme grace idea that says adherence to the Mosaic Law is unnecessary for the modern Christian.

It’s sneaky, like tofu, pretending to be meat while actually being a poor substitute.

Yet I can see why it’s attractive – who wouldn’t want to just ditch all the negativity that comes with sin and get on with the more positive aspects of the Christian life? If God has forgiven us (which He has) and has blotted out our sins (which He has) then perhaps it makes better sense to focus on living by the Spirit rather than having to contemplate our sin and ask for forgiveness all the time (it’s not).

It’s dangerous theology, to say the least. And that’s because the Bible, contrary to this flawed doctrine, teaches us that:

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

You’d think that’s a pretty clear verse huh? Yet many people want to do away with this, as if it were some impediment to the Christian life rather than a critical component. DAFT guys have to reinvent the meaning of this verse and reinterpret certain passages to give their DAFT teaching legs. Yet in so doing they mangle the Bible and destroy the faith of others.

For example, DAFT folks teach that Jesus’ command that we confess our sins doesn’t apply today.

You see the first torpedo that DAFT proponents have to dodge is the issue of Christ’s model of prayer where he teaches us to confess our sins (Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4). Note Jesus’ specific words:

“Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us” (Luke 11:4).

As a suggested prayer pattern from our Lord I’d say this is a crucial thing to practice. Yet DAFT people say this verse no longer applies to us because, get this: at the time he said that He hadn’t died on the cross yet.

In other words, atonement wasn’t yet made and therefore justification by grace wasn’t yet possible. Jesus, they say, was telling His disciples they needed to continually ask for forgiveness of sin because, who knows, if they got trampled by a mad cow or crushed underneath an unstable brick tower, they might end up in hell for unconfessed and unforgiven sin.

In a works-righteousness economy where people have to earn their salvation by obeying the Law, this makes perfect sense. Except there never was a works-righteousness economy (not in God’s eyes anyway).

You see this whole new covenant (saved by grace)/old covenant (saved by law) thing is a flawed understanding of God’s plan of redemption. It’s a broken understanding of the gospel. DAFT folks would have us believe that as members of the new covenant, the covenant of grace, we are forgiven by grace – the grace made possible by the death of Jesus Christ – who now freely forgives people and no longer demands them to go through the complicated and perpetual requirements of works-righteousness Judaism to be saved.

But that view is only half true because salvation has ALWAYS been by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus. It’s been this way since the time of Adam and Eve. There was never a time in redemptive history where a person could be saved by doing good and praying for forgiveness on a daily basis.

We know this because the author of the book of Hebrews labors to inform his readers (a Jewish community steeped in Pharisaic, works-oriented doctrine and no doubt struggling with the concept of grace) that salvation by grace through faith has always been the case. He argues for this throughout the beautiful chapter of Hebrews 11, beginning with Abel, making his way through Noah and the Patriarchs, steadily contending that salvation was always a free gift imputed to us rather than earned.

Note the author’s comment in verse 11 that Moses forsook the pleasures of the Egyptian court for the sake of Christ “because he was looking ahead to his reward” (Heb 11:26). Moses was looking to Christ in faith!

Paul says that Abraham was justified by faith and not works (Romans 4). Like Moses, he was looking ahead to the Messiah, and was thereby justified by faith in Jesus Christ through the merciful grace of God.

We on the other hand, look back to the finished work of Jesus the Messiah but are still justified by the same means – faith alone by grace alone.

That’s how salvation has always been. To say that people who lived before Christ had to somehow earn or acquire salvation other than through faith in Christ is unbiblical.

In light of this, what did Jesus mean when he gave his model of prayer? If he wasn’t teaching his disciples to ask for forgiveness daily that they might be consistently assured of salvation, what was he saying?

In John 13 we find a fascinating answer. Jesus and his disciples gather in the upper room for the Passover meal, the Last Supper. They have come in from another long day in the hot and dusty outdoors, their feet grimy and in need of washing before sitting down to eat. Jesus, in a startling act of humility and love, decides to perform this act Himself. He wraps himself in a towel, splashes some water into a bowl, and begins to wash his disciple’s feet.

Peter finds this offensive. The Lord God of the universe is washing them? He quickly objects: “You shall never wash my feet” (v8).

Jesus responds in the same verse: “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

Peter thinks about this and decides he wants to have full part with Jesus (which isn’t surprising, since he was perhaps the most devout and outspoken of the disciples and wanted to be with Jesus in everything). Not wanting to lack in any way when it came to communion with his Lord, he tells Jesus, “Not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” (v9).

Jesus’ reply is significant: “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean… ” (v10).

Did you catch that? Jesus was painting a spiritual analogy, telling Peter that someone who is justified (whose sins are completely forgiven) is like someone who has taken a bath and is totally clean. That person need not be justified again; it’s a done deal (“You are clean”). All he needs is the occasional washing of feet to get rid of the build up of dirt that comes with walking in this tainted world.

In other words, confessing your sins as a believer is not a matter of justification (coz that’s already been sorted); it’s a matter of sanctification or holy living (which is an ongoing process). We confess our sins as believers because we need day-to-day purification, that washing of the feet, so we can consistently enjoy the harmony of fellowship with our holy and perfect Lord.

We don’t ask for forgiveness out of some spiritual obligation to maintain good credit with a vengeful God, we ask forgiveness because we know God is holy and we want no part in anything that offends Him.

In more practical terms, we confess sin because to harbor it or ignore it would be like stepping in a patch of dung and entering a restaurant pretending nothing happened. Eventually the stench becomes so overwhelming all the guests leave or you’re booted out the door. Disharmony happens. And the only way to set things right is to wash off the dung (not buy a new pair of shoes).

Sanctification is a lifelong course that begins at our justification and carries through until our glorification, when the Lord calls us home to be with Him. It is our A-Z journey to Christ-likeness, a necessary path and natural consequence of being born again. We are all at different stages of sanctification and we all bear fruit to various degrees (Matthew 13:8). But make no mistake, all true believers are on the road and all true believers step in dung on the way.

That’s because we are still prone to sin (1 John 1:8). Yes we’ve been transformed and made into new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17) but we are still stuck in the flesh – our bodies, the earthly casings tainted and corrupted by sin (Romans 7).

This is why we are urged to confess our sins and forgive others; we need to be honest with our condition and bring before the Lord the stuff that bogs us down – our constant blunders, unbroken habits and secret sins. We need to confess and lay them before the Lord because the opposite would be to deny them and say that sin is of no consequence.

John had this to say of the man who felt no need to acknowledge his sin:

“If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives” (1 John 1:10).

I don’t know about you but I would not want to call God a liar.

Speaking of lies, you know what’s worse than a lie? Truth mingled with untruth. I find it very distressing to hear people who claim to be Christians preach the Word mixed with unbiblical teaching. At best it causes confusion in the body of Christ; at worst, it can damn people to a Christless eternity.

Don’t deny your sins or think that God finds them trivial. We ought to cultivate an attitude of submission to Christ that includes bringing our daily sin to him and asking Him to forgive and cleanse us. Remember, it’s not our eternal standing before God that is at stake; He settled that once and for all when you repented of sin and gave your life to Him as Lord and Savior. You ARE clean. Rather it is our fellowship with Him that is at stake, that daily communion where we enjoy His presence and power in our lives.

If we refuse to acknowledge our sins, like David after the Bathsheba debacle our fellowship with God will be marred and we risk experiencing a less fruitful walk. Indeed, it can get painful, as God makes it clear that he will always discipline His erring children (Hebrews 12:4-11).

The comforting thing is God is in the cleansing and restoration business (1 John 1:9) and disciplines us because He loves us.

Be on guard against false doctrine that tickles the ears and seduces the heart. Test all novel teaching to see if it matches the pure meat of the Word which is able to truly satisfy and nourish our souls.

Don’t settle for tofu.

Note: this post uses portions of an old article you may have read but can now no longer find on my site. Forgive me. I’ve always wanted to reword that article. This is the (better) update.

I miss drinking tea.

“Well get up and make some you dopey fool!”

Yeah but I don’t feel like it. I haven’t felt like drinking tea for a few weeks now.

Something must be wrong.

I’m English. And like every other scraggly-toothed, stiff-upper-lipped yeoman I like my tea – nay, NEED my tea on a regular basis.

Tea is how we start/get through/end the day as well as react to football matches/deal with strange election results/conclude funerals.

In Britain, people drink an average of 1,550,600 cups a day – just over 7 Olympic-size swimming pools – a stupendous amount of tea. Hooray for India.

English tea consumption, like the mathematical equation Pi, is constant, bankable, and woven into the very fabric of the universe.

So why am I not drinking?

It’s not like I don’t have the right brand. Some people won’t drink tea unless it’s of a very special quality, grown in the magical hills of some faraway third-world country, protected by rebel insurgents and tree fairies, touched only by virgins, transported down to civilization one sack every six months and doled out to the rest of the world on a gold barter arrangement. This tea is usually sipped out of a small porcelain thimble held between the thumb and index finger with the pinky extended as far away in the other direction as humanly possible.

That ain’t me. I also dislike anything that pretends to be avant garde but is actually the product of some unholy union between Earl Grey and a dubious sounding fruit. Bergamot Orange is one such example. It’s as clear as ant’s blood and tastes like mouthwash. I’d sooner use it to scrub my car than let it slip down my throat.

I enjoy the traditional English cuppa, also known as Builder’s Tea, which is strongly brewed Ceylon with milk and sugar mixed in. Forget green tea, herbal tea, or whatever medicinal tea your local shaman alternative doctor is hawking you. They may be able to cure cancer, promote brain activity, and enhance sexual performance but do you really wanna chastise your taste buds to be a virile, intelligent lothario?

Wait, don’t answer that question.

Back to my current tea-totalling (pun intended). Maybe it’s the unbearable Philippine heat? It’s hard to drink tea when it feels like the earth’s been stuffed inside a giant leather jacket.

Or maybe it’s because I tend to drink coffee most of the time at work. Now that I have a real job with real deadlines and a real coffee machine in the pantry with tons of gourmet grains in stock, coffee has become, well, a lot easier to prep and drink, that’s for sure.

I know there’s a theological lesson buried in here somewhere. Maybe if I flip the kettle on and drop a teabag into a mug, it’ll all become clear.

Like Bergamot Orange, only better.

Perhaps my all-time favorite hymn is “And Can it Be?” by Charles Wesley. It is one of the most melodically stirring and lyrically profound songs ever written, surely the best of the six thousand plus hymns Wesley penned.

I remember singing it in church while growing up, mastering the tune but barely understanding its message. Then one day, after repenting of sin and embracing Christ as Lord and Savior, I sang it during Sunday worship and could not believe the clarity with which I read the words. The Spirit was working in me, helping me fathom and appreciate the hymn as never before.

The following verse sprung out at me with particular vigor:

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

It was an unforgettable moment; the verse crystallized exactly what I was going through. Like Wesley, I was once incarcerated in a dungeon of doom, shackled by sin and blinded by the darkness. I had no hope of clawing my way out; I was a prisoner of nature’s night, unable to reverse the inexorable hold of sin on my life. People told me to choose God but I chose the devil, each and every time.

Then the Lord pierced the darkness with His living light – flaming, glorious and resplendent. I awoke to the truth of His love; my chains crumbled, my heart was set free. I was now able to choose God because He had resuscitated my heart. I was now free to follow Him because He chose to set me free.

I’m so glad Charles Wesley articulated what I, and no doubt thousands of others, feel but can barely put into words regarding so great a salvation. It’s a magnificent hymn and a wonderful way to honor God and His mighty redeeming work. The thunderous sound of several hundred vivacious believers singing this at the top of their lungs is surely a taste of heaven.

Anyway, enough. Sing along with me, in your heart, wherever you may be.

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

’Tis mystery all: th’Immortal dies:
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;
Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father’s throne above
So free, so infinite His grace—
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

Still the small inward voice I hear,
That whispers all my sins forgiven;
Still the atoning blood is near,
That quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Another week and more random stuff from the internet.

WolframAlpha
An awesome and forward-thinking search tool developed by eccentric math genius Stephen Wolfram. Definitely one to bookmark. It’s my new toy!

Papercuts
Check out these fantastic and whimsical A4 paper sculptures by Peter Callesen. Truly amazing art.

Guatemala Sinkhole
The startling and frightening pit in photos. National Geographic compares it to other famous sinkholes from across the globe.

Porn Stats
The average age a child first sees porn online is 11. Chilling.

No Dogma, No Fruits!
“It can be difficult to convince another Christian that the doctrines of grace are biblical. I know because I’ve tried (sometimes winsomely, sometimes not). Convincing an egalitarian of complementarian is a challenge too. Ditto for any other disputed doctrine. But in my experience what’s even more difficult is convincing the average Christian that doctrine matters at all.”

Was life really created in a test tube? And does it disprove biblical creation?
“Headlines are buzzing with the news of Dr Craig Venter’s sensational “creation of a synthetic life form”… So what was actually achieved, and what does it mean?”

Believe It or Not
“I think I am very close to concluding that this whole “New Atheism” movement is only a passing fad—not the cultural watershed its purveyors imagine it to be, but simply one of those occasional and inexplicable marketing vogues that inevitably go the way of pet rocks, disco, prime-time soaps, and The Bridges of Madison County.”

Franz Reichelt
This one came out of nowhere but hey, Stuff! is random right? Anyway, it’s the interesting and tragic tale of Franz Reichelt, an “Austrian-born French tailor, inventor and parachuting pioneer, now sometimes referred to as the Flying Tailor, who is remembered for his accidental death by jumping from the Eiffel Tower while testing a wearable parachute of his own design.”

I am not what you would call an athletic person.

I rarely play sports. The most involved I get with anything that requires me to stretch and exercise my muscles would be running, which I only do when it rains, I’m late for work, or if I’ve eaten too much curry and the men’s room is a considerable distance.

Even then I don’t run that often. So it came as no surprise that I almost had a seizure playing badminton the other night.

OK, so “seizure” is a bit much. But it sure felt wrong. When your sweat transforms your t-shirt into cling wrap and you’re gasping for air like someone sealed you in a giant ziplock bag, something is amiss, no?

I must admit, I strolled onto the court feeling fairly confident. I mean, come on, it’s badminton – how hard can it be? You just hit the shuttlecock back and forth until it falls to the floor, gets stuck in the net, or smacks you in the face because you thought you could hit it with a fancy forward swing but, uh, you thought wrong (aka “epic badminton fail”).

Look, ice hockey it is not. The thing is, a sport is a sport and at some point will require you to do the unthinkable, like move your arms, bend your knees, or explain that sweat in your eyes always messes with your contact lenses. I was hoping there wouldn’t be much of that, like perhaps I could hit incoming shuttlecocks with sheer mind power instead of actually having to use a racket, imagination, and some ol’ fashioned human strength.

Again, wrong.

I played my friend and comrade in the Lord (who also happens to be my boss), a big-framed Finnish software developer who looks like Philip Seymour Hoffman except that instead of starring in Oscar-quality films he makes world-class software for a living. He’s the kind of guy who, when thinking, frowns hard and tucks his chin firmly between his thumb and index finger. He speaks with a sophisticated European drawl and regularly dispenses professorially profound observations on technology and theology, his twin passions, while peering over steel-rimmed glasses and sipping ridiculously strong coffee.

He’s also something of an expert at badminton (as far as I could tell anyway) and approached the game with such stoic calculation, such efficient, self-assured Finnishness, I felt I was playing a James Bond villain who kills his enemies by making them sweat to death on court (“Do you expect me to lose?” “No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!”) He basically stood in one place, effortlessly returning my volleys, while all I could do was scramble to and fro to pick up flaming shuttlecocks before they melted through the floor.

At one point, after stooping for the nth time to retrieve a smoldering projectile, I stretched, recalibrated my spine, and let out a parched sigh that reverberated throughout the court like an unholy echo from the bowels of hell. I then turned to my friend to see him sniff. That’s right, he sniffed. No cracking of the neck, no wiping of the brow with his forearm. He wasn’t even sweating. He just sniffed and stared at me, waiting for my serve.

Needless to say, I lost the game. We didn’t actually score it but from the way I dragged my sorry backside off the floor (and the way my friend stayed on to play a few more games in quick succession), I knew who the better man was.

May I give a few suggestions to anyone like me whose gut is the size of an American football, has zero legs muscles, and thinks he can totally kill at a round of badminton when all he’s ever mastered is Scrabble?

Learn how to do CPR on yourself.

And it helps to play someone just as clueless at sports as you are. If your opponent is calm, extremely intelligent, and grew up in a country that feeds this to their kids, steer clear!

Now if I can just learn how to breathe without swallowing my tongue, things might be better next match.

After keeping us waiting for a century, Mark Twain will finally reveal all

“The creator of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and some of the most frequently misquoted catchphrases in the English language left behind 5,000 unedited pages of memoirs when he died in 1910, together with handwritten notes saying that he did not want them to hit bookshops for at least a century.

That milestone has now been reached, and in November the University of California, Berkeley, where the manuscript is in a vault, will release the first volume of Mark Twain’s autobiography.”

The Council of Trent – The Sixth Session: Justification Canons

It’s interesting to read Rome’s official stance on reformation doctrine, particularly the doctrine of justification by faith alone. All people who hold to this doctrine (that is all who believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ is salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone) have been declared by the Roman Catholic church as accursed. And yet if we (evangelicals) are right on the gospel and Rome is wrong (and there can only be one correct view) then they have actually placed the anathema on themselves.

Is The Thickness of Two Short Planks A Forgotten Divine Attribute?

“None of the systematic theologies I own include `being as thick as two short planks’ in their treatments of the divine attributes; but it appears that there is a trend today to rectify this neglected aspect of God’s being.”

Pornography — The Difference Being a Parent Makes

“Ryan Tate got more than he bargained for when he made his protest to Steve Jobs. In a strange way, we are now all in his debt, because the response from Steve Jobs now puts Apple on the line. In the end, the real meaning of this media eruption is less about computers and “apps” and more about parents and kids.”

Mark Zuckerberg responds to privacy concerns

“We have heard the feedback. There needs to be a simpler way to control your information. In the coming weeks, we will add privacy controls that are much simpler to use. We will also give you an easy way to turn off all third-party services. We are working hard to make these changes available as soon as possible. We hope you’ll be pleased with the result of our work and, as always, we’ll be eager to get your feedback.”

And this guy says don’t believe it (Why you shouldn’t trust Facebook’s apology)

“Facebook isn’t sorry. It says it’s sorry, but it isn’t sorry. Sure, it’ll come up with tweaked privacy settings to defray criticism, just like it did in December 2009. And in August 2009. And in March 2008. And in December 2007.”

50 Freely Available Professional Fonts For Your Designs

Need some really neat and professional fonts? This here is a very good list.

I once had a bookmark that had a bunch of “Rules for Teenagers” printed on it – maxims for minors you could say. I forget what they were, except for one that really stuck in my head:

Stand for something or you’ll fall for anything.

Unless you’re a religious jihadist, sex trafficker, or something worse, this is generally good advice. Stand for something (good) or you’ll be swept away by whatever is fashionable to believe in, regardless of whether it’s good or not, like some hapless invertebrate in the turbulent open sea.

Of course, for Christians, that “something good” should be the gospel of Jesus Christ, the “power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Rom 1:21). It’s the one thing that can save a person’s soul and transform him forever into the likeness of Christ to the eternal glory of God.

It should be, therefore, the supreme cause around which all Christians must rally.

Unfortunately many of us would rather give ourselves to anything but our Savior. Instead of standing for Jesus we fall for shiny and seductive alternatives – modern idols that glow with invisible power but are impotent to save and sanctify our souls.

Environmentalism, political issues, social activism – there’s a cause and movement for everything. We’re all lured by their seeming worthiness to end global crises, alleviate human strife, and make the world a better place. But do they measure up to the peace and power that come through knowing and being reconciled to a holy, infinite God?

Of course not. Yet our lives betray us. We pay lip service to the power and importance of the gospel and then center our existence around some lesser crusade, whether it be saving Mother Nature, electing government officials, or simply trying to convert people to a new brand of coffee coz it’s just too awesome and you haven’t lived until you’ve tried it blah blah blah.

Not that there’s anything wrong with a good cause, political reform, or better coffee. In fact, there are many good things in this world to be involved in and passionate about. But if we call ourselves Christians and our fervent desire to save the whales, change the government, or wax lyrical about overpriced consumer beverages overshadows our gospel message, then maybe we ought to reexamine what we believe in.

You see the gospel of Jesus is more important than any human cause or movement no matter how significant or high-impact they may be. That’s because the gospel is the only thing that can reconcile a person to God, ensure his sanctification, and bring him to everlasting glory (Ephesians 2:8-10; 1 Peter 1:3-5).

It’s also the most significant display of God’s grace, mercy, and power (Romans 5:8). God’s plan and execution of redemption puts His matchless person and character on vivid and unparalleled display; He is magnified in His love for us, glorified beyond measure when He redeems sinful, rebellious people.

We’d do well to remember that the next time our earthly causes eclipse God’s ultimate calling on our lives. We change the world by sharing, preaching, and living the gospel to lost people. The power of God works through the gospel to transform and redeem sinful lives. God is glorified through the execution of His gospel, not our Rainbow ships, government officials, or our all-flaming Orange Mocha Frappuccinos.

Standing for the gospel should be our supreme cause. We can certainly count on its effect (Isaiah 55:11).

This is the first in what I hope to be a regular series of posts compiled mostly of stuff I’ve encountered online throughout the week, both religious and secular in nature. The title: “Stuff!” Of course.

Fed Up With Facebook? Delete it, and Here’s How

“In the blink of an eye, Mark Zuckerberg has gone from boy wonder to Big Brother, from Mozart to Mao. The man and his machine have suffered a populist fall precipitous enough to make even Tiger Woods wince with empathy. All this calamity, of course, begs the obvious question: “How did things go so horribly wrong?”

Why Church Kids Must Go Bad

“The model of adolescent faith is not the kid who can avoid the bad, but the kid who stares down the darkness in herself and in her world by seeking God in just such places. The model of adolescent faith is not shiny, happy kids, but honest kids, that in joy confess a God who works in backwards ways, in ways where the first are last, and the suffering are embraced, where all who taste death are promised God’s very presence. They are not good kids that avoid all that is bad, but faithful kids that go into the world to seek God in the real, in the reality of existence, which is both beautiful and horrible.”

The Lost Language of Worship

“Contemporary worship suffers from an emotional bias. It is disproportionately upbeat. I am not necessarily talking about the tempo of the music, although this bias is sometimes reflected in the tempo. I am talking about its emotional tone. The culture of evangelical worship has little tolerance for grief in the assembly.”

London unveils creepy-looking mascots for 2012 Olympics

“Olympic mascots have always been the object of scorn (remember Izzy?), but these two, uh, things take the absurdity to a whole new level. There’s a complicated backstory to the characters which was written by a children’s author. It explains why the mascots have one eye (it’s a camera lens to see the world) and yellow lights on tops of their heads (an homage to London taxicabs), but fails to tell the tale of why they look like early rejects from a Pixar movie.”

Seattle’s Best Coffee Stirs Up Heated Opinions

“Seattle’s Best Coffee revealed a redesigned logo this week. Unfortunately, its ambiguous look brings to mind a lot more than just a cup of joe.”

How a Web Design Goes Straight to Hell

While we’re still on the subject of design, here’s one take on the web design process that I’m sure every web developer can relate to. Hilarious and sobering.

Ian McKellen – Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

What would we do without the internet?

God Smacked

If Team Pyro did the Daily Show, it’d probably look like something like this.

Nike – Write the Future

Nike knows how to make commercials. But its latest World Cup ad has got to be one of its best ever. Helmed by Alejandro Inarritu (director of “21 Grams” and “Babel”) the nifty video is peppered with humorous visions of the future, skillful soccer plays, and hilarious cameos. An instant classic.

Kevin DeYoung has written a very insightful article over at Tabletalk magazine called The Glory of Plodding:

What we need are fewer revolutionaries and a few more plodding visionaries. That’s my dream for the church — a multitude of faithful, risktaking plodders. The best churches are full of gospel-saturated people holding tenaciously to a vision of godly obedience and God’s glory, and pursuing that godliness and glory with relentless, often unnoticed, plodding consistency.

It’s a good word for those of us infatuated with the idea of revolutionizing the church by cultivating a big, modern yet somewhat invisible Christianity.

Also contributing to the idea that church is more about being a consistent visionary more than a mega-church revolutionary is Dr. Larry Mininger’s thoughts on small churches titled Measuring Success. He says:

Fascination with bigness obscures the truth that Jesus, the builder (Matt. 16:18) and head (Eph. 1:22) of the church, has built many more small congregations than large ones. Small churches, not large ones, are the norm.

Good stuff with which to start the week.