Cell phone spirituality

I got a ridiculously funny text message last night when I was hanging out with some people at The Mill. The message said this:

Say this slowly "God I love U & I need U!" send this to 10 ppl & a miracle will happen 2nite. Ignore it and everything will go wrong!

I ignored it and everything seems to be fine so far. I read the message out loud and everyone laughed. It was from some unknown Mississippi number (go figure). I tend to get pretty annoyed with any form of media as a means to share the gospel, although I'm sure God has used it. My favorite story is when I received one of those Christian email forwards that told some emotional and unbelievable stories. Then at the end of the message it said something like this:

Send this to as many people as you possibly can!!! If Jesus had been alive when we had email, he would definitely have used it to spread His name.

WOW. I can't even begin to list all the problems with that.

"Upon The Burning of Our House"

As many now know, my church Zion Church (PCA) burned down early this morning. In the fury of various emotions this afternoon, I remembered a poem that I had studied in high school by the 17th century puritan poet Anne Bradstreet. The poem is as follows:

Upon the Burning of Our House

In silent night when rest I took,
For sorrow neer I did not look,
I waken'd was with thundring nois
And Piteous shreiks of dreadfull voice.
That fearfull sound of fire and fire,
Let no man know is my Desire.
I, starting up, the light did spye,
And to my God my heart did cry
To strengthen me in my Distresse
And not to leave me succourlesse.
Then coming out beheld a space,
The flame consume my dwelling place.
And, when I could no longer look,
I blest his Name that gave and took,
That layd my goods now in the dust:
Yea so it was, and so 'twas just.
It was his own: it was not mine;
Far be it that I should repine.

He might of All justly bereft,
But yet sufficient for us left.
When by the Ruines oft I past,
My sorrowing eyes aside did cast,
And here and there the places spye
Where oft I sate, and long did lye.

Here stood that Trunk, and there that chest;
There lay that store I counted best:
My pleasant things in ashes lye,
And them behold no more shall I.
Under thy roof no guest shall sitt,
Nor at thy Table eat a bitt.

No pleasant tale shall 'ere be told,
Nor things recounted done of old.
No Candle 'ere shall shine in Thee,
Nor bridegroom's voice ere heard shall bee.
In silence ever shalt thou lye;
Adieu, Adeiu; All's vanity.

Then streight I gin my heart to chide,
And didst thy wealth on earth abide?
Didst fix thy hope on mouldring dust,
The arm of flesh didst make thy trust?
Raise up thy thoughts above the skye
That dunghill mists away may flie.

Thou hast an house on high erect
Fram'd by that mighty Architect,
With glory richly furnished,
Stands permanent tho' this bee fled.
It's purchased, and paid for too
By him who hath enough to doe.

A Prise so vast as is unknown,
Yet, by his Gift, is made thine own.
Ther's wealth enough, I need no more;
Farewell my Pelf, farewell my Store.
The world no longer let me Love,
My hope and Treasure lyes Above.

The last verses were particularly comforting for me. Many have already rightfully stated that the building that a church is in is less significant than the actual people of God represented. This is certainly true. But it is also right that God should have a dwelling place with His people. What I find very comforting is that God will establish his Kingdom eternally in the new heavens and the new earth. There, no fire can destroy his actual dwelling place.

Come quickly, Lord.

Not necessarily recommended

Nobody loves Derek Webb more than me. I'm a huge fan. But I must say that his latest album has been a bit disappointing for me. I admire him for constantly changing his style and bringing up issues that are not normally talked about in Christian circles. But this last album seems over the top. He switches to more electric guitars and heavier drums, which is a drastic change from his previous albums. He changes from a ballad approach ( on many songs) to a more abstract songwriting approach--a style that can be good but is not necessarily his strength.
There are a couple of redeeming aspects. The songs Savior on Capital Hill and This too shall be made right are interesting and thought provoking. The love songs to his wife, however loving and tender the effort, are mostly boring and unoriginal. I expected more.

Another recent experience of mine was reading Listening To The Beliefs Of Emerging Churches. While this was not necessarily a bad book, it did leave some things to be desired. It is a book that has 5 different emerging church pastors perspectives on theology. Each pastor wrote a chapter and each one wrote a response to everyone else's chapters. It is a good read if you already know a good bit about the pastors being discussed, but I would not recommend this book to someone trying to learn general information about the emerging church. For me, the book raised more questions than it answered.