Tonight's chain of musical thoughts

Playing this in the van while headed home:

Led to playing this as soon as I got home:

Led to this question: Please, oh please, Andrew Osenga, Cason Cooley, Mark Lockett, et al, won’t you someday soon Kickstart a one-night-only Normals reunion concert?

The end.

The Power of the Pen

I like writing by hand, and I love the feel of writing with a good pen. In my experience, though, good pens are hard to find.

Several years ago I decided I wanted to give fountain pens a try. While I enjoyed the character that the fountain nib added to my writing, I always had a couple of issues: first, I could never get consistent ink flow through the nib. (Maybe I just wasn’t willing to spend enough on a pen? The Lamy Safari is usually spoken of highly, though.)

Second, my handwriting tends to be small, which means I value thin, precise lines. Not so easy with a fountain pen. (I keep a Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pen around for signing things at work. My signature: not so small.)

Then I found the Uniball Signo gel ink pens, which are awesome. (I prefer the 0.38 mm width.) Unfortunately, they’re not sold directly in the US; I splurge every year or so and order a few from JetPens.com, which imports them from Asia.

Then last week somebody linked to and highly recommended the Parker Jotter ballpoint retractable pen. This little gem is stainless steel, refillable, and a little smaller than your normal sized pen; all winners as far as I was concerned.

Then I found out it was the pen used as James Bond’s exploding pen in Goldeneye, and that sealed the deal. (I’m a sucker for Goldeneye for some reason.) The video here is queued up for maximum clicky-ness. (Unfortunately I was unable to find one that ran long enough to get computer hacker Boris’s final, exultant cry of “I am invincible!”.)

And friends, the pen sounds exactly like that when I click it. Which is awesome. (Come back in a week to find out if I’ve completely annoyed my wife with the clicking yet.)

Happily After All

It’s Memorial Day here in the States, which means we’ve been enjoying a day together as a family. I enjoy days when I get to spend time with my girls - it’s so fun to see the cool people they’re turning into as they get older.

puddle_dance

A few random parenting “wins” from today:

Laura, age 8.5, suddenly likes to hang out and play games. She suggested we play Flux (a card game) this morning, and then proceeded to lose gracefully to her younger sister, twice. (This is a much bigger accomplishment than it sounds.)

Addie, age 7, watched a My Little Pony cartoon this morning, then came excitedly to tell me that at the end of the cartoon all the flying ponies had flown across the sun, and that the scene was just like what had happened in the movie E.T. (When our seven year old is picking out classic movie references, we must be doing something right!)

Katie, age 4, was “reading” her Grams a book this afternoon while we were driving in the van. When she got to the end, she meant, I think, to end the story with “they lived happily ever after”, but instead it came out as “happily after all”. The more I think about it, there’s something profound about that ending.

None of us will likely live happily “ever after”; but may we all have the opportunity to live happily after all.

Where are the voices? Boz Tchividjian has strong words on the SGM mess.

Boz Tchividjian (grandson of Billy Graham, law professor at Liberty University, and former state prosecutor in Florida) weighs in on the SGM abuse allegations and this week’s troubling statements on that topic from The Gospel Coalition and Together for the Gospel.

The allegations, Tchividjian says, are horrifying, and based on his experience carry the hallmarks of truth and seem highly credible. So, he went searching the internet to see if Christian leaders were saying anything.

I searched online hoping to find statements by Christian “leaders” speaking out about this case or at the very least expressing grave concerns regarding the very disturbing facts alleged in the lawsuit. I was never looking for, or wanting, anyone to throw CJ Mahaney under the proverbial bus. I was simply hoping to hear statements that expressed horrors about child sexual abuse and with institutions that are not transparent about such offenses. Initially, all I found was silence from these leaders.

As some of us have been noting for several weeks, the silence has been deafening. So, what did he actually find?

What I did find was a lot of statements by Christians claiming that all of these individuals were innocent until “proven guilty by a jury”. Sadly, that is not the only time I have heard such a response from the Christian community when allegations of child sexual victimization are brought forward. What is ironic, or better yet, down right disturbing is that these same individuals don’t approach any other sinful crime in such a distorted manner…

I have personally gotten similar reactions when the topic has come up on Twitter, and I’ve seen many others get that reaction as well. Few “leaders” are saying much about the horror of the crime; what they’re saying is “nobody’s proven anything yet”.

He then makes four observations about the TGC and T4G statements:

  1. Neither statement makes mention that the heart of this lawsuit is about a systematic church effort to discourage and eventually prevent the families of children who were allegedly (and repeatedly) sexually victimized by church officials from speaking out and reporting to law enforcement. A statement that fails to mention that this lawsuit is less about the abuse and more about an institution that took steps to protect itself and its reputation over the victimized souls and bodies of little ones. Omitting such fundamental facts from these statements speaks volumes about the inability of the authors to grasp the eternal significance about which they write.
  2. Neither statement mentions that CJ Mahaney was actually the Senior Pastor at one of these churches where all of this horrific abuse allegedly occurred AND where these families were discouraged from bringing this matter to the God ordained civil authorities? Including this would simply state a known fact without implicating Mr. Mahaney in any wrongdoing. Omitting such a fundamentally important fact from this statement is extremely disturbing to me and very disheartening to so many others.
  3. The statement by T4G fails to mention that this lawsuit was dismissed for one reason and one reason only…expiration of the statute of limitation. Isn’t it tragic that the reason why this suit was dismissed – taking too long to file – was the very objective of these church leaders allegedly had when they discouraged these individuals and families from stepping forward.
  4. The statement by the members of the Gospel Coalition says the following as it relates to the statute of limitations and the dismissal of the case: So the entire legal strategy was dependent on a conspiracy theory that was more hearsay than anything like reasonable demonstration of culpability. As to the specific matter of C. J. participating in some massive cover-up, the legal evidence was so paltry (more like non-existent) that the judge did not think a trial was even warranted. Does this sound like a statement that even appears to make an effort to be objective?

The whole piece is worth a read. I hope and pray that more Christian leaders will make their voices heard.

Happy Birthday to Becky!

Today is my dear wife’s birthday. We’re probably getting to the point where she doesn’t appreciate me listing her age any more, but suffice it to say I’ll always be a couple months older than she is.

We’re old enough now that we’ve known each other for half of our lives, and I can’t quite imagine my life without her. Best friend, awesome mom for our three daughters, faithful friend to those around her, tireless servant. I am well and truly blessed.

It’s only typical that we will spend her birthday primarily celebrating others. (Let’s face it: it’s graduation season.) But with her mom visiting and three excited little girls, we won’t let the day go by without making sure we celebrate her, too.

instagram.com/p/ZgtYXAg…

T4G and TGC break their silence on Mahaney

One of the great frustrations of those trying to bring the allegations of rampant child abuse and cover-up in Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM) churches to light has been the silence of those who have long been founder CJ Mahaney’s greatest supporters - Al Mohler, Mark Dever, and Ligon Duncan of Together For The Gospel (T4G) and Don Carson, Justin Taylor, and the rest at The Gospel Coalition (TGC).

In the past 24 hours, in light of the dismissal of the majority of the civil suit against SGM folks (due to the statute of limitations), and in what appears to be a coordinated move, both those groups have issued statements of their continued support for Mahaney.

Together for the Gospel

The T4G statement came out last night on Facebook [Update: statement has been deleted from FB; It is also on the T4G website, which doesn’t allow comments.] and is troubling. They first seek to cloud the water about the civil lawsuit:

Claims presented in a civil lawsuit seeking financial compensation are beyond the ability of the public to render judgment. Often, such claims are even beyond the ability of a court to deliberate.

So if even the courts don’t have the ability to render judgment in these sort of issues, who can? Paul seems pretty clear in Romans 13 that God has established the civil authorities to bring punishment to wrongdoers.

They go on:

If a Christian leader is accused of any wrongdoing, those to whom he is accountable must investigate the charges and then deal responsibly with the evidence. If a criminal accusation is made, Christians have a fundamental duty to inform law enforcement officials. This does not, however, preclude or mitigate the church’s responsibility for biblical church discipline.

This is a key point. To whom was CJ Mahaney responsible? It has been made abundantly clear from the brouhaha around Mahaney and SGM polity over the past couple years that Mahaney was essentially accountable to no one. When it was deemed best that he step down from leadership, he didn’t stay at his home church, under discipline; instead he left to attend Dever’s church in Washington, DC, then went to start another church in Mohler’s backyard in Louisville. If anyone was in position to hold Mahaney accountable, it was Dever, Mohler, and Duncan, but to all appearances they have completely failed to do so.

A Christian leader, charged with any credible, serious, and direct wrongdoing, would usually be well advised to step down from public ministry. No such accusation of direct wrongdoing was ever made against C. J. Mahaney.

This almost defies belief. Mahaney was accused, in the lawsuit, of conspiring to keep the abuse covered up. At a bare minimum, he failed to report the abuse accusations to the authorities, even though he was in a position where he was legally required to do so. So are those charges not credible? Not serious? Or not direct? It would appear that Mohler, Duncan, and Dever are saying either that (1) the charges against SGM aren’t credible, or (2) that failure to mandatorily report child abuse is not a serious or direct charge. Really?

Those who minister in the name of the Lord Christ bear an inescapable duty to live and to minister in a way that is above reproach.

Finally, we get to a place where we agree. What I’m led to wonder is if the term “above reproach” means something significantly different to Pastors Mohler, Dever, and Duncan than it means to me.

The Gospel Coalition

TGC’s statement (“Why We Have Been Silent about the SGM Lawsuit”) was published this morning as a statement from Don Carson, Justin Taylor, and Kevin DeYoung. It’s slightly less troubling than the T4G statement… but only slightly.

They acknowledge up front that their silence could indeed feel like a betrayal to those who suffered abuse, and that pastors hold a responsibility to obey all civil mandatory reporting laws in addition to overseeing church discipline. (This is a lesson that, by all accounts, SGM badly needed to learn.)

However, then TGC turns on the alleged victims, claiming that the conspiracy charges against Mahaney were underhandedly and unfairly manufactured, and praising the statute of limitations as “an important feature of our legal system”.

My question is this: why should church leaders be so happy to escape due to the statute of limitations? Regardless of the legal limitations, shouldn’t the charges be fully investigated by the church, and discipline enacted accordingly? God is not restrained by any statute of limitations.

TGC goes on to encourage us to let the litigation to play out, to hear both sides, to not assume all allegations or false, and to not assume that all defendants are guilty. Good stuff. I could’ve almost been happy with their statement until this final paragraph:

Reports on the lawsuit from Christianity Today and World Magazine (among others) explicitly and repeatedly drew attention to C. J., connecting the suit to recent changes within SGM. He has also been the object of libel and even a Javert-like obsession by some.

And there we are. “Javert-like obsession.” TGC has now turned the tables. The victims of abuse are now the accusers, and Mahaney, the head of an organization that allegedly let the abuse run rampant, is the victim.

For shame.

“Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs." Luke 12:1-3

“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." Matthew 18:6

"…the truth will set you free.” John 8:32

[Update at 9:30 Friday morning]

The T4G statement has been removed from Facebook in its entirety. I’ll link to a copy of it if I can find one.

[Update at 10:06 Friday morning]

The T4G statement is available on their website. Commenting is not allowed.

A Rich Mullins... movie?

Matthew Johnson alerted me yesterday to the trailer that’s out for a movie about Rich Mullins. Before I comment, here’s the trailer:

www.youtube.com/watch

Honestly, my first thought was that it’s been more than 15 years since Rich died in a car accident, and I’m still not really ready to see a movie. All the trailer’s foreshadowing with him driving in the Jeep is enough to bring tears to my eyes.

I never met Rich Mullins or even saw him play a concert, and yet he remains my most significant musical influence. I listened to his records (well, cassette tapes and CDs) over and over and over through high school and college. I sang his songs. I learned his piano riffs. After he died I organized a little band to do a 4-song memorial tribute to him in our college chapel service. I guarantee you if you sat me down at a piano I could play and sing at least three dozen of his songs from memory.

Here’s my other hang-up with the movie: I know Rich almost exclusively from his songs. Do I really want to deal with some other writer’s dramatization, and some actor’s impression, of his life? Maybe not.

Instead, I kicked up iTunes and started on a bender playing through Rich’s classic albums The World As Best As I Can Remember It, Vol. 1 and 2, Never Picture Perfect, and A Liturgy, A Legacy, and A Ragamuffin Band. You guys can let me know how the movie turns out, but those records may be all of the Rich I ever really need to know.

Facing the truth about ourselves

Andrew Peterson has a beautiful piece up at The Rabbit Room today. He reflects on his discomfort at answering personal questions on a doctor’s questionnaire, and the dichotomy between what he wants to think he is and what he actually is.

But you see, the story we tell ourselves is skewed. There comes a time when we need to sit and take account of how we’re spending our lives, like at the doctor’s office or with the budget, and be reminded that we are not who we think we are. We need Jesus more than we allow ourselves to admit. We are not really so much better than the people around us whose lives are so obviously messy. In fact, we’re not better at all. They may in fact be closer to the heart of Jesus because they are humble enough to admit to themselves that they need help, humble enough to answer the hard questions about their weakness boldly.

You should really read the whole thing.

Telling the Tales of the Scarring War with Sin

Songwriter and singer Jennifer Knapp answered questions over on Rachel Held Evans’ blog this week, and in the midst of it all she offered up a devastatingly spot-on critique of Christian Contemporary Music (CCM) and how it reflects the attitude of the evangelical church:

In this sense CCM reflects our Christian culture very well. It is our Christian culture to invite those to tell only the story of victory and spare the gruesome details of the scarring war. We can reside if we are made clean and presentable, those who are still writing their story must wait for absolute victory before they can share it with others.

I don’t know about you, but from my experience, she’s right on.

When we hear testimonies in church, or smaller gatherings like men’s groups or (I would assume) women’s groups, etc, the stories we are told are only, as Jennifer calls them, “stories of victory”. How someone battled their demons, their besetting sin, and hallelujah, with Jesus’ help they came out victorious.

And sure, it’s encouraging. Stories of victory provide hope that there is victory to be had.

But when was the last time you heard a testimony that said “I don’t want to do this sin, but I did it again this week. So I’m repenting again and I’m going to God for grace.”?

Let’s go even further. If, by some odd happenstance, someone does confess struggles with sin in a church meeting, what gets confessed is a “respectable” sin. Pride. A bad attitude. Shortness with a spouse. Failure to have a regular quiet time.

Have you ever heard a testimony where someone confessed an ongoing, painful struggle with alcohol, or pornography, or anger, or financial honesty? Not a story of victory, but a story of the pain of the “scarring war”? I never have.

Here’s what I think this means:

We don’t really believe in the gospel of grace and forgiveness.

Sure, we give it lip service. But what good is the message of grace and forgiveness when the only time we acknowledge it is for stories of victory, for people who have experienced absolute victory?

Yes, Jesus said “Go and sin no more”. We put fancy words on it and call it “progressive sanctification”. But sanctification will progress at different rates sometimes. One brother may experience a sudden change and never go back to drunkenness; another may fight the bottle his whole life. To only affirm and share the stories of the former is tacit acknowledgment that what we really value is not the grace but the works.

I can hear some objector ready to quote me Romans 6:1. “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? May it never be!”

Here’s the thing: we will all continue in sin for the rest of our lives. For some of us it’ll be the same sin. Others will retire old sins only to find and wrestle with new ones. We don’t want to, but we will. See Romans 7.

But when we silence the stories of the ongoing, painful, scarring battle, we are hampering the bountiful endowment of grace.

In God there is an abundance of grace. Powerful. Rich. Saving. Free. Not designed only for those who have already cleaned up their act.

Let’s not do anything to withhold it.