Many people have been surprised as to my silence on the death of Steve Jobs since I used to work for Apple and have worked for other Apple companies. My silence thus far has not been so much intentional as it has been due to the fact that every news outlet has been saturated with the news and updates. There are many reasons to admire the man and a few why we shouldn’t. I’ll have more to say in the coming days I am sure.
I just got the new biography by Walter Isaacson. I just started reading it this afternoon but my wife is over 200 pages into it. So far from what I have read it has been very interesting and captivating. I am sure I’ll blitz through it this week.
Also, just today, the New York Times released an article that was the eulogy for Steve Jobs that his sister, Mona Simpson, read. It is moving and powerful from a worldly perspective. I would encourage you to read it.
This weekend my wife and I had the opportunity to attend a concert near Milwaukee. Headlining the concert was Steven Curtis Chapman and the two guys with him were Andrew Peterson and Josh Wilson. Josh Wilson we had never heard of but Andrew Peterson is one of our favorites. In fact, the whole reason we went was to see Andrew Peterson and the other two guys were bonuses.
Let me just say at the outset…we were blown away! I figured it would be your typical concert where Josh Wilson opens up with a few songs, then Peterson comes out and does a few more, and then Chapman would come out and be the main act. It was nothing like that! All three guys took the stage at the same time and sang with one another’s songs. At times one or two of them would drop away and the focus would be on one guy. Then sort of a round robin thing would happen.
The name of the tour is “Songs and Stories” and it wasn’t until we were part way through the concert the idea of the title hit me…all of the songs they sang were stories from their lives—either about marriage, kids, life, growing up, and the hard times that God uses to sharpen us. Many times before they would sing a song they would tell you how the song came about and what inspired it.
There is plenty more I could say and I’ll probably say more in a future post. However, let me share just the top moment about each guy.
Josh Wilson
I had never heard of Josh before, but he is a very talented musician. He talked about how he has been used to being sort of a one-man-band over the years and demonstrated how he uses these different loop pedals to record parts and play them back to give a pretty awesome sound. I would recommend you watch this video here for an explanation and an idea of what we here. When he played Amazing Grace it was pretty incredible.
Andrew Peterson
I’ve been following Peterson and his music for a long time (10 years?). He is folksy, real, theological, and a gifted song writer and author. He shared the story of how the song “Dancing in the Minefields” came to be. I was surprised to hear that it was the result of a senseless disagreement that he and his wife had around their 15 year wedding anniversary. Once he told the story I jokingly Tweeted “If ‘Dancing in the Minefields’ was the result of an argument, I’m hoping Andrew Peterson & his wife have a few more disagreements!” Seriously…if you have not heard this song then you need to get it right away. Don’t stop with that song though, you’ll enjoy the entire album. I’ll say more about Peterson in an upcoming post.
Steven Curtis Chapman
I’ve been listening to SCC for as long as I’ve been a believer. Most of his songs are personal reflections of his life with his family and it was so much more real hearing him explain the songs to us last night. The moment that was the standout for SCC wasn’t even a song but it was when he was plugging his adoption work. He and his wife have adopted three kids so far and have formed an organization called Show Hope. Show Hope is an organization to help couples financially that are wanting to adopt a child. Their stories are awesome and so are those of the people they have helped. Michelle and I want to adopt someday and hearing these stories last night just fueled that even more for us. We believe there is no greater picture of the gospel on earth than the picture of adopting a child.
So the entire night was great! We enjoyed the weekend away and we topped it off today by getting to see some friends after church.
OK…this is no fat joke (I’m a big guy myself)—it has nothing to do with size of the man or the elephant. It has everything to do with the size of theological orthodoxy and the line for where heresy is drawn. The blogosphere has been all blown up this week about James McDonald inviting T.D. Jakes to The Elephant Room this coming January. Many of you probably are not familiar with The Elephant Room so I give you their explanation of it here.
The Elephant Room features blunt conversations between seven influential pastors who take differing approaches to ministry. No keynotes. No canned messages. These are “the conversations you never thought you’d hear.” All conversations are moderated by James MacDonald of Harvest Bible Chapel and Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church
So what is the kerfuffle with Jakes and this conversation? Well as it turns out Jakes is a modalist. A modalist you say? Yes, a modalist. A modalist is someone that does not believe in a three person Trinity (Father, Son, Spirit), but three manifestations of one person (modes). Modalism is defined well at the Christian Apologetics and Research Center;
Modalism is probably the most common theological error concerning the nature of God. It is a denial of the Trinity which states that God is a single person who, throughout biblical history, has revealed Himself in three modes, or forms. Thus, God is a single person who first manifested himself in the mode of the Father in Old Testament times. At the incarnation, the mode was the Son. After Jesus’ ascension, the mode is the Holy Spirit. These modes are consecutive and never simultaneous. In other words, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit never all exist at the same time, only one after another. Modalism denies the distinctiveness of the three persons in the Trinity even though it retains the divinity of Christ.
So what’s the issue? What’s the big deal? Simply put this is not good. Many brighter people than I have already commented on this issue this week. I simply want to serve you with those I’ve found to be the most helpful…in order.
I am a follower of Christ, a husband to Michelle, and an employee to Northland International University. I married the love of my life in May of 2009 one week after I graduated from seminary with a Master of Divinity degree. I am now pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree and desire to serve the church through education and discipleship.
Many people have been surprised as to my silence on the death of Steve Jobs since I used to work for Apple and have worked for other Apple companies. My silence thus far has not been so much intentional as it has been due to the fact that every news outlet has been saturated with the news and updates. There are many reasons to admire the man and a few why we shouldn’t. I’ll have more to say in the coming days I am sure.
This weekend my wife and I had the opportunity to attend a concert near Milwaukee. Headlining the concert was Steven Curtis Chapman and the two guys with him were Andrew Peterson and Josh Wilson. Josh Wilson we had never heard of but Andrew Peterson is one of our favorites. In fact, the whole reason we went was to see Andrew Peterson and the other two guys were bonuses.
OK…this is no fat joke (I’m a big guy myself)—it has nothing to do with size of the man or the elephant. It has everything to do with the size of theological orthodoxy and the line for where heresy is drawn. The blogosphere has been all blown up this week about James McDonald inviting 
