Last July, a man named Randy Pausch passed away after battling pancreatic cancer.  A professor at Carnegie Mellon, Dr. Pausch has become well-known for a speech he gave at his university that became known as The Last Lecture.  Many professors had given “Last Lectures,” where they imparted the wisdom they would want others to know if they only had one last lecture to give.  For Dr. Pausch, however, his Last Lecture was a reality, as had was losing a battle to terminal cancer.  In that lecture, Dr. Pausch was engaging, bright, and shared deeply moving words about achieving childhood dreams and really living life to the fullest.  The Last Lecture became an international phenomenon, landing him on Oprah and spawning a book based on the same principles.

As wonderful as the Last Lecture was to listen to, there are a couple of things that are hard to say but important to make clear.  Read more »

Last week, I raised the question of whether or not the seeker-sensitive methods of advertising and preaching to felt needs, with the goal of bringing people into the church so that they might eventually hear the gospel, was somehow less Biblical or Christlike than an approach that just preaches the gospel of sin, repentance, and salvation in all its offense and trusts that that approach will be enough.  I gave the example of Granger Community Church in Indiana, advertising their series regarding what the Bible has to say about sex on billboards in their community in order to entice people into their church and create conversation in their region, and asked whether that was a supremely creative expression of evangelism or a shameful display of man-centered methods towards church growth. 

I have heard some critics of the Granger approach to ministry and evangelism point out the dangers of selfish ambition and the (to them) obvious desire of these pastors to have a big church, to be successful in the eyes of the world.  Read more »

I want you to try an experiment with me for a minute.  Think about all of the celebrities that are constantly parading across our TV screens, magazines, and newspapers these days – Brad & Angelina, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Johnny Depp, and so on – and answer me these two questions:  Firstly, do you know more about them than you do about your next door neighbors?  And secondly, has knowing the details of their lives added even the smallest bit of value to your life? 

We’re in the third week of series I’m calling “American Idols,” where I’m attempting to unmask the idols in our culture – things other than God that we are tempted to worship, emulate, or believe will save us – and discuss how they have distorted our understanding of the gospel and what it means to follow Jesus.  Idol #1 was the Idol of consumerism, with the Temple of the Mall as its place of worship.  This week’s Idol is the Idol of celebrity, and here is one of its many sacred texts:
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I’M getting my picture taken tomorrow by a real photojournalist (it’s actually Sarah Schultz of NewLife). I’M going to have my picture in the paper (the River East and Glastonbury Citizen, most likely). Maybe they’ll even write something nice about ME. You see, I am a BIG SHOT, because I am a PASTOR.

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