Mo' Money Mo' Prollems

In case you were thinking it...yes, I do know how to spell "problems", but correct pronunciation and spelling does not apply to the language of the street. Therefore, you must deal with the title.

However, on a more serious note, I have been stirred up recently to think about the issue of wealth and Christianity. By wealth, I do not mean merely an abundance of cash or other valuable "whatnots". I feel that in churches today, too much emphasis is placed upon amounts of money or quantity of possessions rather than on the deeper issue. I guess what I have been wondering is...What is exactly the function and place of money and material wealth for people who love Jesus? Or more importantly, what does Jesus teach about wealth? My desire to know about this has arisen due to a few different instances.

The first is, well...I'm married now, and I have to lead my wife and future family in godliness in all areas of life; including finances. So, it is imperative for me to know what Jesus commands.

Secondly, I despise the prosperity gospel or any hint of it in anyone's teaching. Over the years, too much damage has been done by the church in the name of God for the purpose of material gain. Too many pastors love money more than Jesus, and too many congregations are tainted with a subtle love for the things of this world that is almost impossible to encroach upon by another loving Christian or by a faithful shepherd.

Third, most of the teaching I hear on the topic of money seems to be rooted in human reasoning rather than upon what Jesus says. Or at the very least, Jesus' words are considered and then applied in faulty ways by well-meaning people. Most of the time, we hear this disguised as "wisdom" or "smart shopping" or some other responsible-sounding saying that is - sooner or later - accepted as warmly as any other biblical truth.

I hope to be learning about this and blogging about it. I think it is an important issue that contributes - either positively or negatively - to the witness of the church. And I also hope to get some great feedback from anyone who would graciously help me understand Jesus in this area.

New post on our married-people blog "Roger That?"...check it out.

The Deliberate Church...A Very Small Book

So, the book really is not that small. For some reason, I can't find a decent picture of most books to post on here. It's either CBD's picture which includes a "23% off" tag or Amazon.com's photo which has a "look inside" thingy with an arrow on the front. Not diggin' the small pics. However, that is not what I want to write about. I just finished this book this evening and thought I'd give me two cents on it...because at the end of the day I know these authors really do want to know what I think. Not really, but I still like to talk about books.

This book is Mark Dever's (Senior Pastor, Capitol Hill Baptist Church, D.C.) sincere effort to share what he has learned in growing a healthy, bible-loving church. He covers everything from expositional preaching, spiritual disciplines, worship, evangelism, membership, eldership, and church structure. The book is geared toward a pastoral audience, so much of the wisdom shared is for the express purpose of helping out new pastors, or even old pastors who are in a situation where reformation is needed in an old and dying church. Also, I think this book may have been a response to "The Purpose Driven Church" by Rick Warren. Warren's book caused a wave of implementation among churches all over the world, achieving almost a cult-like following and a formulaic church administration. Sort of a "plug in Warren's formula and abra-cadabra...your church will grow like a chia pet" mentality. Dever's concern is that the gospel should be our churches' focus in ministry, not a particular method. And when methods are needed (and they are) we should consult scripture; not what necessarily worked in some neighborhood for some pastor in some city 8,000 miles away. Methods can easily glorify man, whereas the Bible and the gospel will glorify Jesus; not to mention the fact that if the gospel is our focus, the church will be built by Christ - not by us. And that is what we want.

So, I liked it a lot. Pastor Dever seems like a man who is living out his faith, applying it to the church he pastors, and - in this book - bearing his heart for the edification of Jesus' people.

Our "married people blog"... open for viewing.

"The Estes Plan"

Jon would probably be upset that I named this post after him, especially since it's about a Bible reading plan and not a new fad diet or something. Anyway, my good friend Jon has designed a Bible reading plan that I am totally enjoying. This one is different from most in that you do not read pieces from four different books per day, but you stay in one particular book so you can actually pay attention and follow what is happening to the end of the book. When we skip around aimlessly from book to book, just trying to follow a reading plan, sometimes we miss development of a particular book's theological concepts and overtones. With Jon's plans, it seems as though we get the benefit of a disciplined reading schedule as well as consistency in reading. I also like the added bonus that in one year, you go through the O.T. once and the N.T. twice, because the O.T. is nearly two and a half times bigger than the N.T. So, click here and check it out.

Obsessed with Ringtones?

So here's a useless post as far as deeper things are concerned, but I must go on. I have provided a link (look down the right side of my page under other blog links) that will take you to a website where you can upload songs from your computer to a website which will then send you a text message to your phone. For each different phone brand you may have, there are instructions on what to do with that text message so you can receive your ringtone. An added bonus to this whole thing, is that when you upload your favorite songs, you can choose which 20 second interval of the song you want to put on your phone to play as the ringtone. Thus, no more buying ringtones with the useless parts of the songs playing. What's the catch? Well, there is none really...except that when you sign up with this unbelievably cool site, i get free ringtones as well. So uh, let's all work together, right? Anyways...if you are interested, there you go. If not...welp...sorry for the lame-o post.

Flower Pelting

Indeed we were pelted with flowers. I was not able to see the culprits, however I am positive that there were several handfuls of petals that were deliberately hurled at my face rather than sprinkled upon us from above. You wouldn't think that flower petals hurt at high speeds...and you would be right in thinking so, because they didn't. So, it really just makes the guy throwing them look a little foolish. But I digress...

Needless to say there are many things different in my life now that I am married. A short list might provide insight as to what I mean:

-I sleep with a woman (not just any woman, namely Bethan).
-I wake up with a woman (see above).
-Bethan cooks me breakfast.
-Bethan cooks me dinner.
-Bethan drives me to work (we only have one car).
-I talk to Bethan a whole lot (and I enjoy it).
-I live with my best friend...who is a woman.
-I share a bathroom with Bethan.
-Bethan uses the toilet after I have used it (and doesn't complain).
-The dishes are washed, all the time.
-My clothes are washed, all the time.
-Bethan knows where everything is.
-It smells better here now.

And the list goes on. All of which are newfound joys in my life. And because this is so new, about every six seconds there is a teachable moment. And this is a good thing because I need to learn a lot of things; namely, how to show Bethan that Jesus is everything he says he is without letting my sin get in the way. I think she would agree as well that there are many teachable moments for her too....teachable moments that must be posted and shared. Therefore, at the risk of adding another web space to the already jam-packed blogosphere, the Rogers family (that has a nice ring to it) will soon be launching a co-published blog for the purpose mentioned above. And also to post funny pictures, cool quotes, and other random things from our new life together. I'll make another post soon with the site information.