Review: The Christian Atheist

Me, Myself, and Bob: A True Story About God, Dreams, and Talking Vegetables

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Phil, Myself and Bob

by Phil Vischer

This book was a gift from my friend Amy. As an aside, if you’re a mommy blogger or willing to stalk mommy blogs looking for exceptional content, he blog Snoodlings should be your first stop. I rarely get more than 10 comments on any entry here – but she consistently has astounding interaction on her blog. It’s a real community. Notes from the Trail at times has about as much interaction as asking our 13 year old son how school went that day.

The back story. Why would I want to read Phil Vischer’s book about the collapse of the Veggie Tales kingdom?

I was watching Veggie Tales before we had kids. Everyone in college ministry in the 90s was. When Vischer points out in his book that it was college students that helped promote and bring VT (Hokie fans, don’t get excited) to almost cult-like popularity, I vividly remember those days. A couch in the Baptist Collegiate Ministry at the University of Arkansas at Monticello was an ideal setting to belt out “Oh Where Is My Hairbrush?” with a dozen students. It was a spiritual experience.

VT was/is innovative. It was funny. It was profound. Phil Vischer wasn’t a household name; Bob the Tomato was. And therein lay the problem behind the scenes. In this amazingly candid book, VT fans are given theÂ story of Christian notoriety and the failure to resist seizing glory from God.

While Bob and Larry are entertaining and pointing kids, collegians and parents to simple, profound biblical truths, Vischer and the Big Idea staff are a whirlwind behind the scenes, hoping to blow away Disney in their pursuit to become a wholesome family entertainment company.

Vischer would have done well to consider Jeremiah Burrough’s words in The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment:

Do not promise yourselves too much beforehand; do not reckon on too great things… Those who look at high things in the world meet with disappointments, and so they come to be discontented. Be as high as you will in spiritual meditations; God gives liberty there to any one of you to be as high as you will, above angels. But for your outward estate, God would not have you aim at high things. ‘Do you seek great things?’ said the Lord to Baruch, ‘Seek them not.’ (Jeremiah 45.5)

After reading Amy’s profound entries about the book, I left a comment or two, and she graciously sent me the book as a gift. <Thanks again, Amy!> You can read them here:

That was months ago. After reading it, it brought to mind another excellent book that reminds us that how we define success will define us. It was Kent Hughes’ Liberating Your Ministry from the Success Syndrome.

I put two and two together, and bought a copy of both books for our church staff. We read them over the spring and early summer together and then had a wonderful staff retreat in which we committed to not pursue success but to simply and humbly continue to pursue God’s glory.

Amy probably never knew how much her insights from the book would impact a church staff in Blacksburg, Virginia. Blogging is like that. You throw something out there, and as Forest Gump says, “You never know what you’re going to get.” God is able to make all grace abound to us if we are honest, transparent and earnestly seeking His glory rather than our own.

I’m grateful for Phil Vischer. For vision. For “big ideas.” I hope to have some someday. However, I’m more grateful for the constant check on my own aspirations to greatness. It’s not about me or my desires for fame. (Yes, Amy, I’m right there with you.) It’s about Him. His Name. His Fame. I’m Lame… without Him.

Here’s hoping this is another random blog entry that might be used to provoke humility and patience in someone else…

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Shootn the Bull

Sep 30, 2010

You can get one yourself here.

Tweetcloud

Here’s a nice graphic view of my recent tweets…

Olympic athletes spotted at Northstar Church
Instagram
The Language of God review, continued
Donuts…
Google mail rant

Spiritual Markers

Sep 23, 2010

Experiencing God

I’m currently studying Experiencing God for the 4th time. The first time I studied the discipleship course written by Henry Blackaby, I was in my early 20s and an all-knowing seminary student. I was on staff at First Baptist Church, Garland, Texas. Through the material, and as I began to seek how God was working around me, a series of events unfolded that led to a bedrock certainty that the God of Scriptures is alive, well, active, loving and deeply personal as He invited me into the adventure of listening for and following His leadership for the rest of my life.

Last month, I invited our church into a devotional journey/adventure with me. I’ve resisted making Experiencing God a programmed endeavor. Rather, I’ve simply offered to those in our church who “want to learn more about how to relate with God” to get a workbook and begin a 12-week discovery with me.

It’s been exciting in the past three weeks to hear stories of what God is teaching and how He is transforming long-held assumptions and expectations into new ways of joyful, faith-filled living. People are experiencing God rather than just going through a study.

Each time I’ve been through the material, I’m reminded of how simple, loving, and compelling a love relationship with God through Jesus Christ is. It continues to be a formative and influential study in my life. If you’ve not heard of it, I invite you, too, to grab a workbook and enter a 12-week adventure of turning from religion and to a relationship with God.

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Sep 16, 2010

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Just do that thang

It’s time. You’ve flirted with the knowledge and sense of responsibility toward an idea for a long time now. The conviction you felt as white hot in that moment long ago has since cooled to ice-edged certainty. You know you need to. But you haven’t done it. You haven’t followed up, followed through or followed God on what He’s revealed or asked. You’re still sitting there in a frozen commitment to indecision.

And you won’t grow beyond where are now.

Not until you suck it up and just do that thang.

Go for it.

What God has placed on your heart and asked you to proceed with will not bless the world or you until you step out and step up.

And when you do.. we’d love to hear here what thang you did. We’ll celebrate here in the comments with you.

Tebow Time
Resisting terror: the VT shooting of December 8, 2011
Guy on a Buffalo
Chasing the wind
Never Say Never

Sep 6, 2010

9 Comments

Ode to OBU

It’s my 20th college reunion this October, and I’m pretty excited about returning to the metropolis of Arkadelphia, Arkansas. My days at Ouachita Baptist University were undoubtedly some of the most formative, fun, and forever-directing of my life.

I learned last week that in honor of OBU Founder’s Day, alumni are being asked to blog memories from college where they will be posted here.

So here goes…

I entered the halls of Daniel South with a hopeful optimism. I went potluck on my roommate, since no one I knew from Little Rock was starting OBU with me that fall in 1986. At my high school graduation, we had weepily sung “Friends Are Friends Forever” by Michael W. Smith. Little did I know that in just a few short months, I would be tight-rolling my jeans and dropping test tubes on the floor in chemistry lab.

It only took a few days to form four-year friendships. Andy Dean and Matt Smith were my suitemates from Germantown, Tennessee. Next door were Mitch Bettis a hometown Arkadelphia hero and Dennis Tucker, football-star-turned-preacher-boy from Fort Smith. Ken Gibson and John Turner lived across the hall and also called Arkadelphia home.

It was a rather inauspicious beginning for me. There was a “Mr. OBU” pageant which was before the days of political correctness. Essentially, the guys dressed up like girls and performed on stage. Memory is fuzzy as to why I found myself in the spotlight in Mitchell with large water balloons strapped around my neck with a shoe string doing aerobics, but thank God I didn’t win. I was first runner up.

Though the cast of characters would change some over the next four years, we stayed close. Mitch, Dennis, Matt and I pledged Kappa Chi that spring, while Andy, Ken and John went to the dark side and pledged Beta Beta Swing.

Silly jokes evolved into elaborate prank wars over the course of four years as we honed our skills on one another and learned hundreds of uses for balloons, survived countless crotch shots and developed healthy paranoia about where we left our car keys.

At some point in those early days hours, we all noticed that OBU had beautiful coeds. As an aside, I taught a Bible study last Monday night to a group of Virginia Tech students on sexuality and relationships. I summarized for them my dating experience in college like this: freshman and junior years were spent in wonderful year-long relationships. I ended one and got dumped in another. I’m still friends with both. However, sophomore and senior years were a whirl of semi-serious short relationships that ended amicably, combined with infamous “Coke dates.” Names will be withheld to protect the innocent. (Exes can sigh in relief and continue reading without trepidation.)

After my freshman year, I changed my major from a pre-med focus to communications and got cussed out for doing so by one of my science professors. I still remember the reception I received from Dr. Downs in the communications department that week. With a twinkle in his eye and what looked like a shrunken head on his desk, he informed me that his department was going to be demand my very best work (typo left in intentionally). He was and remains one of my very favorite professors of all time. If he told me to jump today, I would nod and ask “how high” without hesitation.

It was in the communications department during my sophomore year that Mitch and I developed a deep friendship. Mitch was annointed editor-to-be of the Ouachitonian yearbook, and when the department purchased a bunch of Macintosh computers, we were challenged to produce a “camera-ready” yearbook. As we sat down behind MacPluses with their little monochrome screens, it was the beginning of a lifelong love affair with Apple products.

My junior year was interrupted with heady business plans as Mitch and I created a graphic design agency called AdVantage Advertising. In a few short months, it was consuming our vision, and we moved from dorm rooms to the educational co-op to an empty top floor of an office building downtown. We continued a whirlwind schedule of classes, yearbook production, social activities, dating, church involvement (I was serving at Third Street Baptist at the time) fraternity (we called them social clubs at OBU) and business development. I’m amazed in reflection that I honestly don’t think we ever felt “stressed.” We had taken a huge bite out of life and were enjoying every single moment. Of course, our classmates and girlfriends probably have a different perspective.

It wasn’t until the end of my senior year that I invited a freshman student to help me with the youth group at Third Street. Carolyn Brooks had attracted my attention as a well-grounded, spiritually-vibrant girl who I hoped would teach the girls in the youth on Sunday nights while I taught the guys. She also suspected my motives. I was quickly informed that she would help, but that she was N-O-T interested in dating me.

Our relationship remained friendly throughout that year, but we became steadily closer in heart. Even while she condemned my Coke-date approach to social life, she maintained a joyful perspective on our friendship and continued to offer wisdom and occasional rebuke. It wasn’t until my May 1990 graduation and she returned to Hobbs, New Mexico that we began dating. I stayed in Arkadelphia for another year to work with Mitch before heading to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in the summer of 1991.

Over the course of four years, I distinctly remember looking across the tables of friends at Walt’s and marveling over just how blessed I felt. Ah, Walt’s. It was there that we debated, had late-night pancake breakfasts (where I lip synced Nylons‘ songs with Mitch and Dennis in a choreographed group called The Goobers), tossed jello squares, and planned our futures.

There were professors that inspired and professors that perspired. We were family at OBU. The small post office in the bottom of the Â student center wasn’t just a mundane stop. These were pre-email days, and those metal boxes were approached with hope and expectancy. The short dejection of an empty box was quickly replaced by the crowd of friends around you.

I remember…

wrecking on Andy Dean’s motorcycle in the river bottoms below the student center
pinching Andy Westmoreland on the butt in a crowd of dignitaries in his pre-presidential days and feigning innocence
getting handcuffed to a rail at Frances Crawford during a Kappa serenade by my “brothers” and watching in dismay as several exes emerged to paint me with makeup
Loving how “classless” OBU was – it was not unusual for any member of any class to hang out with others.
Watching Operation Desert Storm on the TV until late at night in the Starlight Apartments.
Bumping into then Governor Bill Clinton on a yearbook trip to New York City
Doubting that CDs would ever succeed over cassette tapes
Writing a weekly humor column for The Signal – and the one column that was censored and never saw the light of day
Rarely missing Noonday in Berry Chapel but detesting the organized chapel experience
Avoiding Tiger Tunes like the plague. I still don’t know how I got out of it.

OBU was and is magical. More so than the iPad. It was a place for training leaders and making friends. It was a place for self-discovery and spiritual challenge. It was there that my earlier preparation by family, school, and church met in blissful intersection. It was there that I was prepared for days ahead.

Those happy days contained our own versions of Fonzies, Ralph Malphs, Richies and Potsies. We dug deep into relationship and discovered community. We knew the value of looking at another’s face and reading books before Facebook seemed to cheapen both.

Thank you, Arkansas Baptists, for providing for these generations a small college by the Ouachita River. It’s meant the world to us all.

[Read Carolyn's reflections here. For more memories of OBU and a deeper look at the Noble's life since then, you can check out my series I wrote simply called Our Story.]

Tebow Time
Resisting terror: the VT shooting of December 8, 2011
Guy on a Buffalo
Chasing the wind
Never Say Never

Church Chew

Sep 3, 2010

Previous in series Next in series

Loving stops leaving

Don’t Go to Church;Â Be the Church.

Our church has embraced this slogan with a whole heart in the past year. We were grateful for the graphics at theÂ Faith in Action website and adapted them for our use this past year. But it’s more than a slogan for us; it’s a mission.

The church – your church – was never meant to be aÂ place. Your church is a people – andÂ they includeÂ you. The church as described in the New Testament is a gathering of people who are growing in their love for God daily and who surrender their lives, vocations and goals to the will of God and His mission.

More importantly, discovering love in God cannot be self-contained and should not be marketed. It should be shared. The easiest way to share truth that requires life adjustment is through loving service.

That’s why we urge one another to be the church. Loving involvement with others provokes spiritual sensitivity. Love is amazing. It destroys barriers and uproots objections. Love in the face of a world that offers cheap substitutes transforms.

I have no statistics to throw out, but I’m convinced that people will rarely leave a loving church. If they do, there are much deeper issues at stake in them than in the church.

So, loving stops leaving… most of the time.

In short, we cannot love God and not love people. Loving people means getting involved, serving, helping, and yes, teaching them in the way that Jesus did.

Let’s recklessly love our neighbors AND our enemies and watch how God uses the power of His love through us to weaken resistance to Him and call folks to Himself.

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Sep 1, 2010

Taking a breath

At the end of July, I communicated to our church staff and membership that it was “all hands on deck” for August. It promised to be a hurricane of activity, and we needed everyone in place to serve. There are three college campuses and one medical school within 15 miles of us. The student population swells the the county by almost 45,000 students (undergrads and postgrads) each fall. As these students and families make their educational pilgrimage to the area, the opportunity for ministry is astounding.

Our August schedule was so marked up with fellowship opportunities, service projects, community and campus events that I think my iPhone got heavier every time I pulled up my calendar.

Yesterday at our staff meeting, I shared with an amazing group of people – both paid and volunteer – how proud and grateful I was to serve with them and the members of our church. We had our first Sunday with two services this past Sunday, and there were few glitches. More importantly, in the last two weeks, we’ve seen God (and it’s been all Him) bring over 200 new people to our church – students and families.

Now begins the joyfully hard work of ensuring that this new crowd becomes a congregration. It is our prayer and deep hope that we will be faithful and diligent to encourage every single person and family coming to our church to love and good deeds in Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 10:24)

A busy August is over. I’m grateful and humbled by the amazing things God has done. I want to enjoy this moment. Simultaneously, this time is also one of great spiritual urgency as we seek to encourage and equip the people God has sent us to be the church.

I plan to take a deep breath over the next few days, gaining perspective and seeking wisdom. Â I’d appreciate your prayers for our staff and our church.

Tebow Time
Resisting terror: the VT shooting of December 8, 2011
Guy on a Buffalo
Chasing the wind
Never Say Never

Parchment Reviews

Aug 18, 2010

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Review: Outliers

Outliers

by Malcolm Gladwell

This is the third book of Malcolm Gladwell, and itâ€™s three in a row for books of his that Iâ€™ve truly enjoyed. He has a unique way of unveiling the assumed and revealing the patterns and reasons we donâ€™t realize are present.

In Outliers, Gladwell examines success stories. One of the most well known characters in the book is Bill Gates. The book is an easy read of complex subject matter. Gladwell is a master storyteller, and he weaves compelling narratives around empirical research to engage the reader. Youâ€™re drawn deep without realizing youâ€™re enjoying sociology.

One paragraph toward the end of the book summarizes his findings succinctly:

Superstar lawyers and math whizzes and software entrepreneurs appear at first blush to lie outside ordinary experience. But they donâ€™t. They are products of history and community, of opportunity and legacy. Their success is not exceptional or mysterious. It is grounded in a web of advantages and inheritances, some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky â€“ but all are critical to making them who they are.

Gladwellâ€™s conclusions are remarkable, but they are not new. Throughout the book, I caught myself nodding as his meticulous research and narrative simply verified a much older assertion:

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. (Proverbs 19:21)

Andâ€¦

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. (Proverbs 16:9)

Review: Sticky Teams
Review: Radical Together
Review: Out of a Far Country
Review: Exponential
Review: AND: The Gathered and Scattered Church

Aug 16, 2010