I Thought This Was Cool...

Do you remember that video that got posted to your Facebook profile ten times last week? Well, it now has over 12 million views and has seriously been some good publicity for Chris Brown (he needs it). Google's blog has a really interesting article on how the video has impacted music charts and the internet as a whole.

Practial Ideas to Live Missionally

Steve McCoy has five really practical ideas on how to reach a community for Christ.

A Communion Hymn

A shocking thing, this, that we should forget
The Savior who gave up his life –
To turn from the cross, indifferent, and let
Our minds veer toward self-love and strife.
The table, this rite, is habit – and yet
Christ’s words pierce our shame like a knife:

While breaking the bread, the Lord Jesus said,
“Do this in remembrance of me.”

Enamored with power, surrounded with praise,
We set out our ecclesial plans.
Efficiency hums, and we spend our days
Defending, promoting our stands.
Techniques multiply, our structures amaze –
The gospel slips out of our hands.

While breaking the bread, the Lord Jesus said,
“Do this in remembrance of me.
O remember, remember the cross.
From my side issued water and blood,
This was no accident,
I bore the wrath of my God.”

“Remember my bed, the dank cattle shed,
Though glory was all my domain.
Remember the years of service and tears
That climaxed in lashings of pain.
By God’s own decree, your guilt fell on me,
And all of my loss is your gain.”

While breaking the bread, the Lord Jesus said,
“Do this in remembrance of me.”

“Remember my tears, Gethsemene’s fears;
Recall that my followers fled,
That I was betrayed, disowned and arraigned –
The Prince of Life crucified, dead.
Remember your shame, your sin and your blame;
Remember the blood that I shed.”

While lifting the cup, the Savior spoke up,
“Do this in remembrance of me.”

So now when we eat this feast simply spread
I blush I forget to recall.
For this quiet rite means once more I have fed
On bread that gave life once for all;
Memorial feast—just wine, broken bread—
And time to reflect on Christ’s call:

While breaking the bread, the Lord Jesus said,
“Do this in remembrance of me.”

- D.A. Carson

Found on "Take Your Vitamin Z"

The Law vs. The Gospel

Check out this post about the law against the gospel or legalism against mercy.

You can recognize law preaching because it’s always full of references to the Bible being a “handbook for life,” full of principles for a successful life. If your Bible is just a handbook for life, throw it away.

The Bible is the story that delivers us the Gospel. It’s point is to get you to Jesus, the one mediator between God and man. It’s a big book to get you to a short message. You buy the whole field, but the treasure is the Gospel, not the book of Judges or financial principles from Proverbs. Once you have the Gospel right and you know what preaching is all about, then you can read and preach Leviticus or Malachi or whatever you want, as long as Jesus is in his proper place and the message is the Gospel, not the law, or the old covenant, or this week’s good advice.

Jesus Wants The Rose - Matt Chandler

What are we doing as Christians? Do we place so much emphasis on "doing right" that we somehow think that Jesus doesn't love those who don't?

Jack Hyles FAIL

Awesome video of Jack Hyles "preaching." He has a bible on stage, but he doesn't use it.

Why Evolution Isn't Ridiculous

I'm already cringing at all the angry comments that are gonna happen on this post. Feel free to comment, but hear me out.

I've heard the theory of evolution ridiculed in pulpits and classrooms as completely ridiculous. Evolution is made into a straw man that is easily (and frequently) torn down. But the fact is evolution actually makes sense. Yeah, it does. IF and only IF there is no God, then evolution makes perfect sense.

Any good scientist, creationist or evolutionist, will tell you that the chance of evolution occurring naturally is statistically impossible, but not completely impossible. Even the chance as thin as the thinnest of slivers is still a chance.

Let's say, to make things simple, that the chance of primordial soup evolving into a human being is one in one billion (in actuality the chance is far, far slimmer than that). If this universe existed for an infinite amount of time, and expanded and contracted an infinite amount of times, and life was given a chance an infinite amount of times, it would take about a billion times for evolution to occur successfully.

In reality, evolution is far more unlikely, but given an infinite amount of chances, would statistically probably happen. And (if God cannot exist) we know that it did happen because we are here today. Evolution must have occurred because it is the only theory that would explain our existence.

If God does exist (and I believe very strongly He does), the theory of creation makes much more sense. Creationism and Evolution rely on the same evidence. Scientists just look at that evidence and come to different conclusions based on what they believe about God.

Evolution's problem is not a scientific or a logical one. Its a moral one. Romans 1 tells us that mankind knows God, but doesn't glorify him as God, so their foolish hearts are darkened. Evolution doesn't need to be disproved. Mankind just needs Jesus.