(Check out the album version and lyrics here.)

-Ben

Check it out – should be pretty intense:

• 1/6 – #9 – There’s no doubt the Bible says children are a blessing, but the Bible doesn’t seem to address the specific topic of birth control. Is this a black and white topic, or does it fall under liberties?
• 1/13 – #8 – Why do you make jokes about mormon missionaries, homosexuals, trenchcoats wearers, single men, vegans, emo kids and then expect these groups to come to know God in the same sermon?
• 1/20 – #7 – Why does an all loving, all knowing, and all sovereign God will into creation people He foreknows will suffer eternal condemnation? Why does Romans 9:20 feel like a cop-out answer?
• 1/27 – #6 – Of all the things you teach, what parts of Christianity do you still wrestle with? What’s hardest for you to believe?
• 2/3 – #5 – How should Christian men and women go about breaking free from the bondage of sexual sin?
• 2/10 – #4 – If salvation is by faith alone, then why are there so many verses that imply works?
• 2/17 – #3 – How does a Christian date righteously; and what are the physical, emotional, and mentally connecting boundaries a Christian must set while developing an intimate relationship prior to marriage?
• 2/24 – #2 – What can traditional/established churches learn from “emerging” churches?
• 3/2 – #1 – Do you believe that the Scripture not only regulates our theology but also our methodology? In other words, do you believe in the regulative principle? If so, to what degree?

I’m looking forward to many of these.  #9 should be very interesting and insanely controversial.  #8 is personally interesting to me as I contemplate the place of humor in preaching.  #3 might just be the most needed out of all these.  And #2 and #1 have to do with church methodology and practice, which is also very interesting and useful for me…

-Ben

One of them is called Sons of Thunder.  They just released a 4-song demo that you can listen to and download.  Here’s a description they’ve attached to it:

We’ve been thinking, reading, and thinking about our reading a lot lately. Here’s the gist of all that thinking and reading: The Apostle Paul said all of life is worship. A truth-telling preacher says God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. A contemporary philosopher says the opposite of faith isn’t unbelief but idolatry. And a retired music proff says that worship is not dependent on a time, place or a specific activity, but is constantly pouring out of us at all times. We heartily agree. And after a very personally trying year for the Johnson family, the lovely and talented Mrs. Johnson decided she would pour her heart out in song in response to a good, loving and gracious Father God with all of the abovementioned in mind -minus Author and Perfecter, written by Joel Brown-… This music is the result. Our new friends and wildly talented musical collaborators James McAlister, Jeff Shoop and Ryan Phillips graciously accepted our offer to join us in our endeavors and there’s little chance that these tunes would have seen the light of day in their present form without their musical expertise. These songs are intended to be sung corporately, loudly and enthusiastically where we all fellowship, Mars Hill Church. With all respect, many of our fellow congregants are somewhat self-aware, prone to snobbery and likely influenced by seasonal effective disorder brought on by dark damp Seattle winters. We could all stand some personal enjoyment. These songs are meant to get hands out of pockets, eyes off the floor, toes tapping, frowns turned-upside-down and voices singing together for the purpose of hearts being elated to His glory.

-Ben

1. Pride is our greatest enemy.  Humility is our greatest friend.

2. Pride, in its origin and practice, is demonic and Satanic (Satan’s pride was the first sin).  Humility is Christ-like and Spirit-enabled.  Any human being who has any measure of humility is a miracle.

3. Pride is the encouragement to compare ourselves to other people.  We tend to pick people who are less than us.  Humility is continually comparing ourselves to Jesus.  If you struggle with pride, compare yourself to Jesus and that will help.

4. Pride covets the success of other people.  When they succeed, we become jealous.  This is why we critique them.  Humility allows us to celebrate the success of other people and the grace God has displayed.

5. Pride is about me…. about what I deserve.  Humility is about Jesus, and it’s about other people.  It allows people to be selfless.

6. Pride is about my glory – who I am, what I’ve done, do you like me?  do you want to be like me?  Humility is about the glory of Jesus – who is Jesus, what has he done, do you want to be like him?

7. Pride is “I am God”.  Humility is not about being God but about celebrating the fact that the real God has lovingly served me.

8. Pride leads to arrogance/cockiness/smugness, and is repugnant.  And leads to rejection of truth/teaching.  Humility leads to confidence (in truth), NOT compromise (of truth).

9. The point of pride is independence (look at Satan, look at our sin).  Humility is about dependence – acknowledging that we are created, God is creator, and we are dependent on God for everything.

10. “Pride is the mother of all sin” – Augustine.  Therefore, conversely, humility is the mother of all Joy.

11. Pride is something that we can achieve in this lifetime.  Humility is something we must continually pursue – it isn’t something we achieve fully.  Can’t say, “I am proud to report that I am now humble.”  Can say, “By God’s grace, I am a proud person pursuing humility.”

1. MySpace – first massively successful social network (I know about the others, but that’s just an aside), but MySpace was focused on the individual. Customization was highly emphasized in the context of the individuals page, with the individual’s tastes, etc.
2. Facebook – this took it the next step by generating social graphs around large physical communities (colleges, at first). This was actually a very productive step in the sense of the Gospel in that the emphasis subtly shifted to the physical and away from the virtual community.
3. The City – Radically physical social network of intentional and missional small communities (think Community Groups and Service Groups) within a large community (the campus, then the church, then a network of churches).

(FYI, this is the same guy that built that online Greek Bible that I talk about sometimes.)

-Ben