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Brian McLaren and others make Obama Ad…

Closed Published August 19th, 2008 on The bob.blog feed!

What do you think? 




When I first heard about this ad, I didn't think much of it- I thought Brian would be speaking as an influential Christian voice/writer. But it's pretty clear... "As a pastor" he says. I'm a little uncomfortable with pastors (and this ad is chock full of them) endorsing a candidate AND tying their pastoral role to that endorsement. 

While not illegal (in the IRS kind of way), and not unethical... something about it still makes me uncomfortable. 

I'm not adverse to letting people know who you vote for as a pastor. I've done that. But actively campaigning for a particular candidate... Hmmm... 

The role of a pastor should be a bit more in the "prophetic" area when it comes to politics- that is, asking hard questions not just of the candidates, but of those who are looking to the candidates to solve all their problems and either usher in a new golden era or take us back to the good old days. 

I'm more comfortable with pastors challenging the idolatry of candidates than with endorsing them... but that's just me. :)

Pandora may shut down…

Closed Published August 18th, 2008 on The bob.blog feed!

Oh, Pandora... we hardly knew ye!

Josie June Hyatt!

Closed Published August 18th, 2008 on The bob.blog feed!

Josie June Hyatt!

Abortion Rates

Closed Published August 17th, 2008 on The bob.blog feed!

I'm listening to Obama on the Saddleback forum and so far- very impressed. I really, really like the guy. 



Is that so? 

Justin Taylor points to this 2008 article from U.S. News and World Report showing abortions have decreased dramatically under George Bush's tenure. The title of it is "U.S. Abortion Rate Falls to Lowest Level in Decades."

Interesting...

Amazed, impressed and suspicious of Rick Warren…

Closed Published August 17th, 2008 on The bob.blog feed!

1. I'm amazed at what Rick Warren is doing- getting both Obama and McCain to come to this kind of forum is just amazing. 


Watch the complete forum: Video Part 1 », Video Part 2 », Video Part 3 », Video Part 4 »

2. I'm impressed at what Rick Warren is doing with his celebrity (and that's what it is). I'm on record as being anti-church celebrity- but Warren is in his best moments, a living argument to my views. He's leveraging his celebrity in the best ways- to serve the poor (especially those with AIDS in Africa) and to restore civility to the political process. (At his worst, I think he's a confirmation of my views on video venues- stating that he'd never preach on TV because he didn't want to compete with other churches, he's now switched and is opening video venues all over Orange County.)

3. I'm suspicious- I don't know if I'm the first person to make this charge, but, after some long thought and a night wrestling through whether I want to say this in this venue, I'm just going to come out and make an accusation that needs to be made...

Rick Warren is cheating. 

Take a look at these two pictures... What do you notice? 

6a00d83451e38969e200e54f70d6e18834-800wi Rickwarren111607 The first and earlier picture clearly shows a hairline in retreat. Not just receding- this hairline has laid down and surrendered. 

Now notice the second picture- this isn't just a comb-forward. There's a hairline there that has re-established a beachhead and is in full advance. 

Has Rick become a client of The Hairclub for Men? Is he turning his great wealth (much of which he gives away) to follicular enhancement? 

Is he doping???

J'accuse, Mr Warren! 

Come clean! Be honest! Confess!

At least tell the rest of us what the secret is, huh?

Slate on Video Venues

Closed Published August 15th, 2008 on The bob.blog feed!

I spent about 45 minutes a couple of Fridays ago talking with a reporter from Slate.com. He was doing a story on Video Venues and wanted my take. That 45 minutes got distilled down to a line in this story. 


I realize that in many ways, those urging caution about video venues are arguing up hill. But, I can't help but feel the case against is picking up a little steam. When I wrote for Out of Ur last week, I did so with fear and trembling- knowing that the crowd reading isn't your typical emerging church-friendly crowd I might get here... but I was surprised by the mainly positive and overwhelmingly polite response! 

One commenter said this:
"Ben (August 6th) -- I agree with you that good things are taking place at Willow, but Willow, while it is inspiration for many, is also the exception that proves the rule.

The sentiments expressed in Bob's article are slowly becoming the majority voice. Up until recently, we've heard nothing but the upside of multi-site, but slowly other voices are being heard. Yes, this has worked in some places; but perhaps they also are exceptions that prove the rule.

I've been reading much on this subject, but hadn't encountered the phrase "celebrity pastor" before. I think this nails it. Left unchecked, by the year 2025 there would only be a couple of dozen Evangelical churches left in the U.S. with all the rest being video feeds of that handful of central locations.

That ain't how this whole thing got started."

How Obama could be the REAL Pro-Life Candidate…

Closed Published August 15th, 2008 on The bob.blog feed!

Wow- a column on abortion that actually says something. That's rare...


Joel Hunter is a conservative, Republican megachurch pastor in Central Florida. He's giving the Democrats some free advice, if they care to hear it: Even if you stick with Roe V. Wade, you can show evangelicals that you are the pro-life party by showing us how you will actually reduce abortions---and how you will support "life" in other areas besides abortion. From Steve Waldman's Beliefnet column today:

Hunter makes a practical argument: providing women with economic help in carrying babies to term can actually reduce the number of abortions more, and more quickly, than focusing on overturning Roe v. Wade. "With eight years of Bush the abortion rates have not declined. Every indication is that with financial support and different forms of supporting pregnant mother and then some post birth help also we could come close to 50% reduction in abortions. That's huge. That's huge." 

Continuing with the same culture war paradigm is therefore morally dubious. "If we insist on keeping this an ideological war we're literally not saving the babies we could save. The Democrats have a huge opportunity here to really steal the thunder from those who are seen as traditionally pro life."

Keep a look out for other Christian leaders popping up with the same message. What's causing this is the complete failure of the Republicans to reduce abortions, even with 20 years of Republican presidency since the rise of the Christian right. Many Christians are finally getting fed up.



The Holy Grail

Closed Published August 15th, 2008 on The bob.blog feed!

Ever since iTunes developed a way to share libraries (within a network), and the hackers developed a way to really share libraries (across networks) and then Apple disabled said ability and the hackers...


Anyway- I've been waiting for this. It looks as though it's been out for awhile, but with the addition of the iPhone app, it makes it the best. thing. EVER. 

Now, I can stream all 60 something gigs of my home library to not only my MacBook, but my iPhone. All my music, whenever, wherever... I feel dizzy. 

Plus all YOUR music. 

You can connect up to 30 friends. 

Be still my heart...

The iPhone app is free for the first 100,000- after that it's still only $3.99. I'd pay a lot more than that...


Get it. Oh- and invite me... I'm driverlikejehu and I want to listen to your funky music. 



Getting Started

1) Install Simplify Media on your Apple iPhone or iPod Touch using the Apple App Store (our category is Music) or this direct link.

2) Sign in with your Simplify Media screen name and password.

If you don't have a free account, download and install Simplify Media for your PC, Mac or Linux computer and create one from your desktop.

3) Invite more friends to enjoy more music.

View step-by-step screenshots.

Features

+ Stream your music over WiFi, EDGE and 3G

+ Navigate fast by artist, album and genre

+ Enjoy cover art, artist bios and lyrics

+ Connect with up to 30 friends

+ Easy setup; no router configuration

Are you talkin’ to me???

Closed Published August 15th, 2008 on The bob.blog feed!

Travis bickle taxi driver "It's like you were preaching right to me."


I hear that on a pretty regular basis. I'll say something that convicts someone during our discussion on Sunday morning, and later, after, they'll approach me and let me know that what I said found a mark in their consciousness. Some add a word of thanks, some just acknowledge that what I said hit home. 

Those are some good, good moments in the life of someone who does what I do- when those we love and are trying to help shepherd and teach give us the kind of feedback that says we were on the right track- and that even if we weren't intentionally there, God used it anyway. (It's especially good news to the ear of the co-dependent pastor, but that's another blog post.)

Intentionally?

Well... sometimes. The truth is, half the time someone says "It's like you were preaching right to me"... I was. 
One of the the benefits to doing this smaller, more personally connected model of church is that I know most of the people I'm preaching to. At least the general outlines of most people's stories and much more than that with those who hang around for awhile and are willing to be present to the community and open up a little. That knowledge of what people are wrestling through/experiencing is the background hum behind all my preparation to teach. I'm intentionally teaching what I think people need to hear. And occasionally, I get it right. 

Other times, it's pure happenstance. Or God's Spirit just applies His word in someone's heart and mind in a way I didn't expect. I especially like those ones- the first has the potential for abuse and pride... the second has none of that. When it happens, I'm extremely grateful just to have been present for and useful in God doing some business with someone. 

One of the hard parts about blogging as a pastor is that while the above is expected and encouraged in preaching, it can be viewed differently in this online context, mainly because of the less personal nature of the medium and the who-knows-who's-reading-it broadness of the audience. 

The difficulty in being a pastor who blogs his experience of pastoring is that about ZERO percent of my job takes place outside the context of people- real people with real names and stories. Everything that I write has the potential to connect back to real-life human beings. 

So, a couple of thoughts on that. 

If you are an evergreen person, and you've read this blog and found yourself wondering "Is he talking to me?" the answer is no... sort of... maybe... yes. 

I mean by that- probably not, but if it feels like it, that's probably something you should think about and think through. I don't often intentionally set out to deliver messages through my blog- I have no idea who reads this thing and who doesn't. Aside from a couple of regular evergreen people who comment, I really don't know which of our people reads this. So... I'm not trying to directly deliver many messages. 
But since all of my pastoral experience is tied to, flows out of and through and to these people that, as I said, I love and am trying to help shepherd and teach, occasionally, something someone says or does is going to lodge in my consciousness and bounce around in my skull for awhile and potentially come out here, in this place where I think through and express what I'm dealing with. I hope you evergreeners know- I think about you a lot. And I hope you are okay with that. 

And yes- occasionally I will convey part of a conversation I've had with someone. I try hard to think through what I'm sharing and on occasion ask someone if I can blog something... but even when I don't ask, I'm trying to be careful in what I put out there, and not write anything that I'm not confident someone wouldn't say themselves in a larger context, or say it in such a way that the people involved aren't hidden well. 

But the truth is, most of the time, I'm not talking to evergreen people. I'm talking to myself. I'm working through my own stuff, even if it's influenced or set off by thinking about what others are wrestling through, I'm mostly just preaching to myself... Case in point followed by this. The first is a short meditation, the second more of a longer confession. No one would think the second was directed at them- it's pretty specifically about me. The first, however...

It's still about me. That doesn't mean it might not be about you too... but it's mostly a thought, provoked by something I read, informed by some pastoral and personal experiences I've been having for the last 7 years... going all the way back to when I first met a Multnomah student who said he felt called to the mission field in a far-off country and yet wasn't actively telling anyone about Jesus in his home context. 

But hey- if it finds a home in your heart, let's go with it. Maybe I wasn't thinking of you when I wrote it. In fact, I'm pretty sure I wasn't. But whether I was or not, if part of it feels like a glass slipper sliding smoothly onto your foot, then you can be Cinderella too! 

But here's what I don't want anyone who reads this blog to do: parse each statement I make, trying to figure out who I'm really talking about. How about if you just believe me when I say I'm usually talking to and about myself? And if it hits home with you, then let's be thankful that God is using something you read in a medium as silly as a blog to help form you. But let's not take it the further step of wondering who else might be feeling the same thing or who Bob might have been really talking to- that's neither helpful nor healthy. 


If you enjoy the blog- cool. If you don't, you don't have to read it. But for this period in my life, it's been pretty important for me to write it, personally speaking. I want to continue writing out of my experience pastoring these particular people in this particular community while still maintaining a sense of balance in sharing and protecting a sense of trust with what I hear. As always, I'm open to hearing if you have felt otherwise- just come talk to me. 

Okay- on with the day! Maybe today our daughter will be born! 

Tozer on Pursuit…

Closed Published August 14th, 2008 on The bob.blog feed!

" To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul's paradox of love, scorned indeed by the too-easily-satisfied religionist, but justified in happy experience by the children of the burning heart."

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