His podcasts and books – Crazy Love in particular – have been a huge blessing to me.

You may or may not know that a few months ago he walked away from his church. No scandal, no controversy or drama – he just abruptly announced that he would be moving on with no specific plans about where.

Now that the dust has settled a bit, he has transplanted his whole family to an ‘undisclosed’ city in Asia, where nobody cares that Crazy Love just hit the NY Times best-seller list, and CNN wrote a pretty interesting article about the whole thing.

The clencher for me:

Before selling his house and packing up his wife and three children, Chan was becoming “Christian famous” in Evangelical circles.

“Even in my own church I heard the words, ‘Francis Chan’ more than I heard the words, ‘Holy Spirit’,” he said.

That was a big part of the reason he walked away at the peak of his professional career.

“I think there has been too much emphasis on me. I want to be used by God, but I think we have this desire to make heroes out of people rather than following God and the Holy Spirit.”

He quotes the apostle Paul, who told his followers “I didn’t die for you.”

Wow.

He may or may not have gone a little overboard, but either way: I think he’s on to something.

Check it out.

Derek Webb is one of the best musicians that you’ve probably never heard of.

He has a niche of followers who love his music and wrestle with his message, but I’ll bet that if you’re over 25 and reading this, then the name is new to you.

If that’s the case, do yourself a favor and go get one of his albums. Any one will do.

You don’t even have to risk spending your money on something that you may not like! Derek is actually the founder of NoiseTrade, where you can download an album for any price you’re willing pay, or for free if you’re willing to recommend it to five friends!

I’ve been enjoying Derek’s music since he came and performed at NC State several years ago. I remember sitting at Derr track and watching him — nothing but a mic, a guitar, an amp, and some pedals — introduce me to “Where The Streets Have No Name” by U2…

A so-called ‘christian’ artist singing a U2 song that has nothing to do with Jesus.

Was this a mistake?

Were the Campus Crusade staff people scrambling to huddle up and figure out what to do?

And so began a long series of lessons that Derek Webb has been instrumental in my learning.

His music constantly challenges me to think rightly about the Church, culture, morality, and Jesus.

He has helped me love the difference between those four words, and their interrelation.

My new favorite song, from his last album (not his newest album), is called “This Too Shall Be Made Right“.

It’s a recongition that this earthly kingdom is broken, but that it won’t always be.

It’s a song of mourning and hope.

Reality and optimism.

One verse says:

the earth and the sky and the sea are all holding their breath
wars and abuses have nature groaning with death
we say we’re just trying to stay alive
but it looks so much more like a way to die
this too shall be made right

I think of so many people I love when I hear those words.

Another verse says:

I don’t know the suffering of people outside my front door
I join the oppressors of those who i choose to ignore
I’m trading comfort for human life
and that’s not just murder it’s suicide
this too shall be made right

Ouch!

This about what happened in Indonesia this week. And how much was that coffee you’re drinking?

You can read all the lyrics here.

Do you have a favorite Derek Webb song?

And with all that in mind, I’m curious about your thoughts and experiences.

Whether you go to church or not, whether you’re a christian or not, I’d love to have your thoughts!

(I’m playing with Google forms, so I’ll see what kind of cool ways it gives me to share the results w/ everyone!)

If the embedded form doesn’t appear below (after the break), then please use this link

You’ve seen Lecrae pop up on this blog a few times now (like here).

He’s been around for a while, but for years, I used to walk right past his albums at the christian bookstore. I can’t really explain why…  I just looked at the album covers and assumed the music would be cheesy, like most almost all ‘christian’ rap.

But it’s not.

At all.

His newest album, Rebel, is the bast rap album in the history of the world I’ve ever owned.

Seriously.

I play it when I run. I play it when I drive. I play it while I work.

And I have been for like 6 months now.

One of the catchiest songs on the album is all about the Church, and called “The Bride“, (in reference to how the Bible says that the Church is the Bride of Christ).

The theology on this track is astounding, and the message is desperately needed in the Church at large today.

There are so many misconceptions about what the Church is, and isn’t.

…so many churches teaching bad theology and making the rest of us look bad.

And maybe probably the worst part: so many people giving up on the Church because it isn’t what they want it to be.

Recently, at the Advance 09 conference, pastor Mark Driscoll gave a great message about what the Church is and is not.

Everything he said was insightful and important, and this track captures it really well.

I’m sure it’s kind of awkward to read lyrics to a rap song, especially if you’ve never heard it, but check this out (emphasis mine):

Hook:
Yeah she may look gritty
When her man come back she gone look so pretty – She the Church
You might see her acting crazy, be patient with her tho cause she still God’s baby – She the Church
Before you dis her get to know her, Jesus got a thing for her and He died just to show her – She the Church
She ain’t bricks and buildings
She all of God’s people Men women and children – We the church

Verse 1:
She’s a building of beings being constructed
Christ is the cornerstone, foundation build on another and you’s a goner holmes
She’ built on Him, supported by Him, conformed to Him, now she’s a body of bodies who transform through Him

A temple that breathes we are the halls,
we are the floor board or more we are the walls
Manifold wisdom of God no longer a mystery
The church pinnacle of our salvific history
One flesh union homie
The Tri-union is glorified through our corporatized communion
Still the present reality is she was born a casualty though she’s made alive
She’s still affected by depravity
Once lived in sin and enslaved by her lust and
folks catch her slippin and they turn away disgusted
She’s a work in progress Christ is the head of her
And He wash her clean with the words that He done said to her
She’s already pretty but she’s really not dressed and sometimes she look silly but she’s far from a mess
Yes, please so don’t be dissin cause Jesus done paid grip an
And if you didn’t then should caller her Misses. I’m talking bout the church

Verse 2:
Her name is ecclesia meaning the assembly
Bows to the Trinity No other Divinity
A body family and community she is all one/ but on earth you see her in congregational small ones/ a microcosm or a small scale example/ but it is the church even though its just a sample/ Invisible spiritual/ physical visible/ not a brick temple never that simple/ this a not a building/ she is not bricks/ she’s a world changer but ain’t bout getting rich/ perpetrating fakes cause a lot of folks to hate/ plus her hands get dirty and her feet get scraped/ and sometimes her body parts start acting outta place/ legs tryna be arms/ arms thinking they the face/ but she’ll never be replaced with a one man band or a small Taliban with no body in command

Verse 3:
Some don’t get it so they hate/ they say she’s on a paper chase they say she’s really fake/
So they go start a ministry so they can do the work/ but they don’t understand how Jesus feel about His church/ and yeah they make disciples/ they got plenty conversions/ they take care of the widows and the orphans they be workin/ But none of them are churchin/ no church structure/ no elders and no discipline/ they have no conductor/ and they so they don’t submit/ but quite a few of them baptize/ people how I pray that you’d look at this thing from God’s eyes/ take responsibility inside the whole council not just the area where you might have a mouthful/ who should folks submit to/ who will conduct the discipline/ if excommunicated what body will they be missing then/ look at Ephesians 4 where Paul gets practical/ 1st timothy and Titus if you thinking I’m irrational/

What’s your favorite and /or least favorite thing about the Church / your local church?

I highly commend it to anyone who considers themself — or desires to be — a ‘leader’ of any kind of ministry.

If I get to church Sunday and all we do is worship through these songs, I think that’ll be time very well spent…

What’s missing?

Here’s an excerpt:

The Houston church’s connection to Hooters — a restaurant chain whose signature is waitresses in skimpy orange shorts and tight tank tops — goes back more than nine years to a time when Pastor Clint Reiff was serving the congregation as associate pastor.

“I met a waitress while we were both pumping gas at the Shell station. We started talking. She mentioned that she was exhausted after waiting tables, and it made it hard for her to come to church,”  Reiff recalled.

He gave her his business card and told her to call if she ever felt the need. Two days later, the restaurant’s manager called to invite the church staff and their spouses to dinner.

When Reiff said he’d check with the pastor and get back with him, the manager responded, “We’re just looking for answers like anyone else.”

“I didn’t know if he said it flippantly or not, but I said, ‘We’ll be there,’” Reiff said. “I’m not sure our pastor at the time really knew what he was saying ‘yes’ to, but he was supportive, and a few evenings later, we were there. As I recall, most of us sat with our heads down trying not to look up, but we survived that first meal,” he said.

What do you think?

Say what you want about Rick Warren.

Say what you want about Melissa Etheridge.

I love, love, love to hear stories about believers demonstrating love instead of hate or condemnation.

Here’s the most quotable piece (emphasis mine):

I hadn’t heard of Pastor Rick Warren before all of this. When I heard the news, in its neat little sound bite form that we are so accustomed to, it painted the picture for me. This Pastor Rick must surely be one hate spouting, money grabbing, bad hair televangelist like all the others. He probably has his own gay little secret bathroom stall somewhere, you know.

As I was winding down the promotion for my Christmas album I had one more stop last night. I received a call the day before to inform me of the keynote speaker that night… Pastor Rick Warren. I was stunned. My fight or flight instinct took over, should I cancel? Then a calm voice inside me said, “Are you really about peace or not?”

I told my manager to reach out to Pastor Warren and say “In the spirit of unity I would like to talk to him.” They gave him my phone number. On the day of the conference I received a call from Pastor Rick, and before I could say anything, he told me what a fan he was. He had most of my albums from the very first one. What? This didn’t sound like a gay hater, much less a preacher.

He explained in very thoughtful words that as a Christian he believed in equal rights for everyone. He believed every loving relationship should have equal protection. He struggled with proposition 8 because he didn’t want to see marriage redefined as anything other than between a man and a woman. He said he regretted his choice of words in his video message to his congregation about proposition 8 when he mentioned pedophiles and those who commit incest.

He said that in no way, is that how he thought about gays. He invited me to his church, I invited him to my home to meet my wife and kids. He told me of his wife’s struggle with breast cancer just a year before mine.

When we met later that night, he entered the room with open arms and an open heart. We agreed to build bridges to the future.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7_dZTrjw9I

I’m really excited (and late!) to let you know that Walid Shoebat will be speaking at our church community, Calvary Chapel of Raleigh, this Sunday.

Shoebat is a former PLO terrorist who God saved and pursued. Now he travels around speaking about the state of the Nation of Israel, and educating the world about the supposedly ‘peaceful’ religion of Islam from the perspective of a formerly Islamic militant.

He’ll be speaking at 10:00 and 4:00.

I encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity!

I especially like #6:

6. Make sure the majority of your songs talk about what we do and feel rather than who God is and what he’s done.
Why clutter up our songs with clear, specific, and compelling descriptions of God’s character and works? Why not just emote and talk about how passionate we are? Because an emotional fire that has no doctrinal fuel dies about pretty quickly or ends up trying to feed on itself.

What is one worship song that you LOVE to sing? What is one worship song that drives you crazy?

For me, a worship song that I LOVE to sing is “From The Inside Out” by Hillsong United. We still don’t sing it at our church fellowship, which is beyond me, but it’s been on my iPod for at least 2 years and I still love it because it almost forces me to come alive with worshipful thoughts about God.

A worship song that I struggle with is “Above All”. Musically, it’s beautiful. And I believe that Michael W. Smith had pure desires when he wrote it. But to me, that song is depressing, and theologically incorrect. I’ll stop there, because everyone else I know really likes that song, and I don’t want to step on your toes. If you love that song, then more power to you!

Alright, so let’s have yours…
(ht: Zack N)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oHm7IB8Uxc

Does this look familiar?

[Video by DesiringGod. ht: VitaminZ]

Check out this great interview between Mark Driscoll and John Piper.

This is not  your typical interview where one pastor is giving another pastor a chance to brag or promote something. Mark just asks a ton of open-ended questions about John’s life for the benefit of everyone. And John is very humbly honest. I learned a lot about him that really helps me put my own life experiences in better perspective.

Things like:

• That Piper just laid down his whole vision of his ‘retirement’ years to adopt a daughter at age 62 out of love for his wife
• That Piper went through a mid-life crisis that involved years of marital counseling

Give it a listen. It’s about an hour…

Check it out here.

Calvary Chapel of Raleigh Podcast

A task that has been on my to-do list for months is to set up a podcast for our church body.

I just know that I’m ten times more likely to listen to a teaching if it’s already on my iPod because iTunes put it there when I sync’d up, and I have a feeling that many other folks are the same way.

I also know that it’s a great way to make our pastor’s teaching available to those who might never otherwise find us. I often listens to pastors from around the world who I’ve never met, just because I found their podcast.

But I was always intimidated by the technicality of it. The first thing that iTunes asks you for when you go to setup a podcast is the XML document. “What XML document?”

But I found a great tutorial and it turned out to be pretty easy!

So click here to see our new podcast on iTunes, and if you’re looking for some teaching to listen to, why don’t you subscribe?

(Oh, and if you want to hear the teachings but you just don’t want to use iTunes, they’re all available on the website here)