Check out this news from HCSB:

Today we are giving away free HCSB iPhone apps! RT and make sure you follow @HCSB to enter to win.

I’ve used the HCSB iPhone app recently and really love it. It’s great to have a translation you like available and accessible like that. I would highly recommend you buy it…that is, if you don’t get a free one!

This Bible includes the BibleReader with the following features:

• Three step Verse Chooser to easily navigate to any verse
• Word search to quickly find any word in the document

In Letters to a Diminished Church, Dorothy Sayers writes this:

The Church’s approach to an intelligent carpenter is usually confined to exhorting him not to be drunk and disorderly in his leisure hours, and to come to church on Sundays. What the Church should be telling him is this: that the very first demand that his religion makes upon him is that he should make good tables. Church by all means, and decent forms of amusement, certainly—but what use is all that if in the very center of his life and occupation he is insulting God with bad carpentry?

It is a little unusual for me to post something like this, so let’s just say it falls under the category of “Too good not to share!”

Here’s the story. My wife’s computer is broken, so we’re getting her a new one. She doesn’t do any hefty processing, so she wants a netbook. You know, one of those small, lightweight laptops.

As we looked around for a good (read, “inexpensive”) one, we found that they come with Windows 7 Starter Edition. Yet, when you visit the Windows 7 website and look under “Compare Editions” they only show a comparison of Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate.

What gives?

When you click on “Starter,” however, this what you read:

Did you catch that? “Windows 7 Starter puts less between you and what you want to do–less waiting, less clicking, less hassle connecting to networks.”

So if that’s true, I can only assume the converse is also true: “Buy any upgraded edition of Windows 7 and we guarantee more waiting, more clicking, more hassle connecting to networks.”

I love it!

I also love my Mac!

Hey, all you HCSB fans, join me in wishing a very happy birthday to Jedidiah Coppenger, the brand manager for the HCSB!

Happy Birthday, Jedidiah! Thanks for all your hard work in promoting an amazing English translation of God’s Word!

I recently held a contest asking subscribers to submit their own lists of reasons to love the HCSB to add to the 10 that I had listed. One winner was randomly selected, and that winner is…

Ben Mordecai, a newlywed engineering student at UGA. You can read his blog here.

Congrats, Ben! I hope you enjoy the Minister’s Bible!

In one of the simplest, yet most profound articles I’ve read in a while, Toby Sumpter writes:

God meddles with history. He messes with human lives, and He breaks into situations virtually unannounced. He interrupts Noah’s life, interrupts Abram in Ur, interrupts Moses in Egypt. We serve the interrupting God.

He doesn’t raise His hand to speak; He doesn’t wait patiently for a lull in the conversation. He just bursts in. And this bursting in, this interrupting characteristic is most gloriously obvious in the incarnation. And Jesus knows He’s interrupting; He knows He’s intervening in a major way. And He doesn’t apologize. He’s come to shake the world down. He’s come to undo the way things are done. And He realizes that this will mean broken families, upset markets, fractured communities, and political upheaval. He didn’t come to bring peace but the sword.

You need to read the whole article. Sumpter tries to help us see what it looks like to break into people’s lives, condemn the darkness and mercifully help set things right.

And you need to understand well why he says, “We cannot hold back, stand back and watch, or take shots at other Christians who faithfully plunge into the deep jungles of sin and hell.”

Sumpter holds nothing back to convince us that we need to

imitate Jesus even more faithfully, the center of which I would suggest is loving people,really loving people. This means knowing their names, eating with them, praying with them, crying with them, and dying for them. The Church is the womb of the new world, the mother of us all. And therefore we are called to be the family, the state, even the economy in utero, breathing through the contractions as they come faster and closer together, as the Lord Jesus shakes down those things which are not permanent, looking expectantly for this new creation, this New Jerusalem descending out of heaven.

In continuing the discussion about technology and discipleship, I want to consider the usefulness of BibleNavigator X, the new HCSB eReader for the XBox.

On his blog, Ed Stetzer wrote:

Why make the Bible available on a gaming system? The idea of making the Scripture readily available for the people in a language they understand and a format they can interact with has long been the desire of the church. In this case, the ability for small groups to easily gather around the TV to read a passage together opens the Bible to a more social experience. B&H has said that they hope youth ministers are open to using it, and have included bookmarks in it so teachers can jump right to the passages they’ve prepared.

I want to ask you these questions:

• Is this a good idea?
• Would you use your Wii or XBox to read the Bible?
• How might this be a helpful way of using current technology
• How could the church make use of this product?
• Have you used it? If so, what do you think about it?

Recently I wrote about 10 reasons to really like the HCSB. I then solicited input from my subscribers to make this list.

These are all reader-submitted. So this gives you a taste of why some other people like the HCSB. Interestingly, some of them are on my “Things I Don’t Like” list! Oh well. To each his own. It just goes to show that this translation is not meant for a narrow target audience.

You’ll also notice that some are repeated. That’s because more than one person likes that particular feature.

By the way, one of the people who submitted something to this list will win a Limited Edition HCSB Minister’s Bible. I’ll be announcing the winner soon!

So here you are: 40 reader-submitted reasons to LOVE the HCSB:

1. Highlighted OT passages in NT let the reader know the OT is being quoted
2. Literal translations in footnotes. I think that this may be the best feature actually. While the translators will translate in modern English, they will give you the literal word for word in the footnote so you can learn a little “ancient idiom.”
3. Modern speech with contractions; it reads like normal people write and talk
4. Modern idioms (see Amos 4:6) are used so the reader can understand (just like jokes in other languages don’t translate well, neither do idioms)
5. John 3:16. I am over 50, and for the first time in my life, I understand this verse
6. Capital pronouns for Deity. While sometimes this requires an interpretation, I do like the fact that I can keep people straight when there are a lot of pronouns in a sentence
7. Manuscript differences in brackets. When the Majority or Received text is different from the Critical text, it’s usually noted by full brackets so you can either choose to follow or ignore it depending on your persuasion
8. This is a recent translation from current accepted manuscripts rather than an update, so…
9. It is not bound to previous translation decisions, i.e., it doesn’t have to “sound” like an older English text
10. It comes in a wide variety of quality products (binding, fonts)
11. An essentially literal translation
12. “Yahweh”
13. Rendering John 3:16 such that it doesn’t sentimentalize God’s love for the world
14. Avoids awkwardness like, “The LORD is a warrior, the LORD is his name.”
15. Will play well with my ESV
16. It breaks the whole “I’m going to be a bible translation with three letter initials.”
17. Will be a good change of pace
18. Translator commitment to inerrancy
19. Footnotes things relevant to textual criticism
20. Lots of footnotes
    
21. Conservative scholars translated it and reviewed it
22. It is translated from the most reliable manuscripts
23. It has attempted to avoid being bound by traditional renderings
24. It is a formal translation that is very, very readable
25. It is published by a conservative Christian company
26. It retains traditional theological terms
27. The bullet notes are excellent
28. It will be distributed worldwide for evangelism purposes through Holman Bible Outreach International
29. There are many editions produced which are evangelism Bible handbooks (e.g.: Share Jesus Without Fear N.T.; The Way of the Master N.T.; Darwin’s Bible; Atheist’s Bible)
30. Those who are involved in the process of revision are truly listening to those who will be using the HCSB in local churches, colleges, and seminaries
31. Capitalization of the Persons of the Trinity
32. I like that the “missing verses” are included in the text instead of footnotes. (i.e. Luke 17:36)
33. Sounds good when read aloud
34. John 3:16
35. Footnotes for other manuscripts
36. Bold type when the Old Testament is quoted in the New Testament
37. New translation and not a revision
38. Great for in depth study and personal devotions
39. The use of Yahweh and especially Messiah
40. I have a new translation to recommend and use in my youth ministry!

Have your own things you like about the HCSB? Leave them in the comments below.

A while back I started a series on the language of TULIP, and how some of those terms screen out other important realities. (Read the first article, in particular, to understand the concept of “terministic screens” a little better.) I’m finally getting around to the last point of the acrostic: the perseverance of the saints.

This particular point of the doctrines of grace is less problematic than some of the others. In short, the doctrine states:

The doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints is stated in the Westminster Confession in the following words: “They whom God hath accepted In His Beloved, effectually called and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace; but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved” [Chapter XVII, Section 1]. Or in other words we believe that those who once become true Christians cannot totally fall away and be lost, — that while they may fall into sin temporarily, they will eventually return and be saved. (Loraine Boettner)

If there is anything that the language, “perseverance of the saints,” might screen out, it could be the very Spirit-enabled work of this perseverance. That’s why defenders of the doctrine always seem to clarify up front that this is not a works-based, try-really-hard-and-you-might-keep-your-salvation kind of doctrine.

When I was growing up in the heart of Christian fundamentalism, the complaint against this point of Calvinism was that it taught people that final salvation was up to them and their works. Well, apparently that’s the danger of using a term like “perseverance of the saints.“

Some have suggested that we call this point the Preservation of the Saints. I’m afraid, though, that just doesn’t capture the idea in its wholeness.

Some (and I emphasize “some”) of the passages that indicate this need to persevere in faith are the following:

• 1 Cor. 6:9-10
• Gal. 5:19-21
• Eph. 5:5
• Heb. 3:14
• Heb. 6:4-6
• Heb. 10:26-27

Those passages do not merely teach that God will preserve those who trust in him, but that those who are his are characterized by certain works (or the refraining from certain works). So to say that this doctrine is simply about God preserving us is to capture less than is meant.

Take this passage from Samuel Rutherford, for example:

Worthy Sir, I beseech you in the Lord to give your soul no rest till ye have real assurance, and Christ’s rights confirmed and sealed to your soul…. Take pains for your salvation; for in that day when ye shall see many men’s labours and conquests and idol-riches lying in ashes…oh how dear a price would your soul give for God’s favour in Christ!

Perhaps “Perseverance of the Saints” is the best label for it after all! Maybe this is the term that makes the most sense of passages like Romans 2:5-11. So it is right to say that if we do not, by the power of the Spirit, live lives that evidence saving faith, then we cannot lay claim to having the seal of the Spirit at all. That is the meaning of Perseverance.

Do you use technology (websites, email, social networking sites, texting, blogging, etc.) to connect with people for discipleship? If so, how? What does it look like for the church to engage people across generations to make disciples?

Almost a year ago, the Barna Group conducted a survey to explore how technology drives the generation gap.

In their research they divided people into four main groups:

• Mosaics (18-24)
• Busters (25-43)
• Boomers (44-62)
• Elders (63+)

Their findings, in one sense, aren’t too surprising. The younger generations tend to use new technology more than older generations. However, some of their observations are very telling.

For example, while Americans of all ages use new technology in various ways, older generations view them as a convenience. It’s easier and quicker to send an email than a letter.

Younger generations, on the other hand, “rely on technology to facilitate their search for meaning and connection.” That’s important.

If we are to connect in meaningful ways with younger generations, we will either use their technology to make points of entry into their world or we will fail.

This certainly does not mean that discipleship will now take place behind computer screens or on the other end of a text message, but it does mean that if we fail to connect with younger people in those ways, then our efforts at discipling people will die along with older generations and older forms of connection.

Here’s a chart they give showing how different generations use technology:

So I ask again, do you use technology (websites, email, social networking sites, texting, blogging, etc.) to connect with people for discipleship? If so, how? What does it look like for the church to engage people across generations to make disciples?

If you haven’t already done so, click here to participate in the poll on technology use.

Next month I’m speaking at the Westminster Renew Conference about how to use technology in discipleship. As a part of my research, I want a little help from you. Take the poll below, then read on.

Would you add anything to that list? How do you use technology at your church? How do you utilize technology to build relationships or to connect with people?

Some of you read this post on 10 reasons to like the HCSB. But I may not have been clear on how to enter the drawing for the HCSB Limited Edition Minister’s Bible. So, just to clear up the confusion, here it is:

If you are a subscriber via RSS or email updates, then look for instructions at the bottom of this post.

If you are not yet a subscriber, then click here to subscribe via RSS or click here to subscribe via email. Then look for instructions at the bottom of the post you get in your feed reader or email.

By they way, I’m trying to negotiate a way to make this giveaway one of the new, updated Minister’s Bibles. I can’t guarantee that yet, but I’ll let you know if that happens.

Better subscribe anyway, just to be on the safe side.

I am not sure if these are really my “top 10,” but they are definitely 10 good reasons to like the HCSB.

1. Yahweh — It’s always bothered me to see “LORD” as the translation for the divine name in the OT. Whether “Yahweh” is the best option, I’m not sure, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction.

2. Messiah — I’ve never been a big fan of “Christ” either. Ironically, here I say, “Let’s translate, not transliterate.” But then you have to ignore point number one! Oh well. Again, we’re headed in the right direction, which is more than I can say for most other translations.

3. Slave — “Bond-servant” never really made sense, particularly in American 21st century culture. “Servant” just sounded too tame. “Slave” really seems to capture the heart of doulos much better.

4. No beholds — Seriously, when do you ever say, “Behold”? If the word has a better English translation, fine. If it’s just an untranslatable expression, then don’t translate it. Either way, there has to be something better than “behold.” No “beholds” in the HCSB.

5. No shalls — I shall not waste time telling you that I shall never use the word “shall” again. Do you ever say “shall”? I didn’t think so. At least not if you’re under 50. If current English speakers don’t use it, why should our contemporary English translations? According to dictionary.com,

“Most educated native users of American English do not follow the textbook rule in making a choice between shall and will.”

Are they saying that translations that use “shall” are uneducated?

6. John 3:16 — It takes a great amount of courage to mess with the most beloved and well-known text of Scripture. This was the first verse I ever read in the HCSB, and I was shocked and thrilled by their translation. Finally! Someone had the guts to remove the misguided sentimentality of “so”=”so much” (ahem, TNIV!) and replace it with a better translation of houtos: “in this way.”

7. Farstad — You’ve gotta love a translation that got its start by a man with a name like Farstad.

8. Optimal Equivalence — What do you do when “word-for-word” and “thought-for-thought” are both too simplistic? Well, you abandon the NASB (et. al.) and the NIV (et. al.) all at once and pick up an optimally equivalent HCSB, of course. Believe it or not, they do seem to have struck a nice balance.

9. God’s Righteousness – Given the variety of ways to translate dikaiosune theou, I love the HCSB’s use of the possessive “God’s righteousness” in Romans 1:17. This leaves the interpretation up to the students of Scripture instead of limiting them to one particular interpretation (as in, “a righteousness from God”).

10. Bad Marketing — Wait. This is something to like about the HCSB? Absolutely! You’ve got to admire a translation with inadequate marketing that can still remain neck-and-neck with one that has the marketing muscle of Crossway behind it. Not too shabby. Just imagine where the HCSB could be on the CBA’s best seller list if B&H had Crossway’s marketing budget.

Find Out How You Could Win a Limited Edition Minister’s Bible

Want to have your own Limited Edition HCSB Minister’s Bible? Subscribe to the Anwoth blog via RSS or Email and look for instructions on how your top 10 reasons to like the HCSB can earn you a chance to win one!

Does your church have a worship leader? How about a music pastor? Music director?

Well, you have someone in charge of the musical aspects of the church and someone who directs the corporate worship of the church. Sometimes that’s the same person, but not always.

I’m going to give you 7 questions to ask to help you know if your worship leader is overqualified for the job.

Let’s face it: No matter what you call them, worship leaders are rarely overqualified for their job. In fact, #31 on Purgatorio’s list of reasons you probably shouldn’t be a worship leader is this:

31. You gently inform your worship team their gifts are no longer needed as you’re moving exclusively to

(You should read the whole list, but promise to come right back when you’re done and finish reading this!)

Just in case you might be concerned that your worship director is indeed overqualified, here are some questions to ask that will help you determine whether that’s the case:

1. Does your worship leader actually have a degree in music?

Let’s hope not, right? I mean, that’s asking a lot. Granted, we expect our pastors to be trained in theology, and we expect our doctors to have studied medicine. Heck, we even prefer our design folks to have a graphic design or art degree from somewhere.

But if our worship leader/music pastor actually has a degree in music, that’s a little overkill, don’t you think?

2. Is your worship leader able to hold his own in theological discussions?

Probably not, or you would have hired him to be your pastor, right? Be careful! If your worship leader knows theology and can discuss the Bible intelligently, then he’s probably just using this music position as a “stepping stone” to become a real pastor.

3. Has your worship leader ever written any music (other than “worship” songs)?

Because if so, then he is clearly becoming much too experienced, and you may have to pay him more. If he’s ever had any of this music actually published and played–by professionals, no less–then you’re up the creek for sure. You’ve hired an overqualified person!

4. Has your worship leader written anything related to music?

And no, a blog doesn’t count. I’m talking about something a publisher prints and sells (and that rules out online, self-publishing sites, too).

If your worship leader is writing books or articles, then he’s probably not spending enough time listening to your local Christian radio station to pick out next week’s songs.

5. Has your worship leader ever been asked to speak about music or worship somewhere besides your own church?

If your worship director has been a guest speaker speaking on music or worship at a church or conference somewhere, then he’s clearly just trying to promote himself. Oh, he may be a good musician if they’ve asked him to come speak, but he may just be too good. Ditch him now before he asks for more time off to speak somewhere else.

6. Can your worship leader play more than 3 instruments well?

If so, then he’s definitely overqualified. I mean, does your worship pastor need to know how to play anything except guitar and piano?

And maybe drums.

7. Can your worship leader jump in with a band or choir of almost any variety and not miss a beat?

You want to make sure your worship leader is well-versed in popular contemporary worship music and a little bit of traditional hymns, too. Anything more than that is just too eclectic for the Church.

The updated HCSB text is officially at press! We should see it in the Minister’s Bible in June of 2010. I think we’ll see some great tweaks to an already great translation.

Like I mentioned before, those brackets will be a thing of the past. That alone makes a new printing worth while.

In addition, we just might see some more footnotes (believe it or not). We love those footnotes.

While the text is getting its update, the HCSB website will be getting its own set of updates in the new year as well. They’ll be opening up comments on the blog and adding contact information as well.

Can’t wait to see all the new changes!

Click below to become a fan of the HCSB on Facebook or to follow the HCSB on Twitter:

So I recently wrote about 5 of the theologically worst Christmas carols ever. Interestingly, I was not the only person thinking about this topic.

Peter Leithart wrote, “How N.T. Wright Stole Christmas” to help us see that if we take the Bible’s Jesus on his own first-century terms, we have to throw out many of our Christmas songs.

Leithart concludes:

I suggest a moratorium on new Christmas hymns, until we all learn the Magnificat and the Benedictus and the Nunc Dimittis so much by heart that they seep out our fingers at the keyboard, until we instinctively sing of Jesus’ birth like Mary, like Zecharias, like Simeon.

Then Chaplain Mike, filling in for the iMonk, piggybacked off Leithart’s article to ask whether this was indeed the case.

Mike asks:

Are we missing the fullness of the Gospel in our Christmas hymnody?

There you have it, folks. Asking questions like Mike’s and making statements like Peter’s are sure fire ways to get people angry at Christmas time. We don’t like to have our traditions examined or challenged.

Granted, I might be wrong about the Christmas carol thing. I might be overstating my case to make a point. But I might be right, too. We won’t know if we refuse to examine our traditions–even our most cherished ones.

So in the Spirit of making friends instead of enemies, let me offer some Christmas songs you should consider using next year:

• “Rejoice,” from the Sovereign Grace Christmas CD, Savior
• “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence,” a good text from the 5th century, and the Picardy tune isn’t too bad either
• “Jesus Is Coming (Sing Alleluia),” a new song for me this year, by Bruce Benedict: PDF
• In fact, most of the songs here.

In an unprecedented move, Makoto Fujimura, one of the greatest Christian artists of our time and author of Refractions: A Journey of Faith, Art, and Culture, will be combining his love for art with his love for the Bible in a new project.

Crossway Publishing has commissioned Fujimura to create an illuminated manuscript to commemorate the 400-year anniversary of the King James Bible. This leather-bound English Standard Version of the Bible, set to be released January 2011, will be printed with a six-color metallic process and will comprise the four Gospels as designed and illustrated by Fujimura. Five major new works, painted in the artist’s Manhattan studio, will be the volume’s main images, making this the first such manuscript to feature abstract contemporary art in lieu of traditional representational illustrations.

Read more here.

T.C. Robinson has a good example of the use of footnotes in the HCSB. An example that demonstrates courage, honesty, accuracy and thoroughness on the part of the editors and translators of the HCSB.

While we’re discussing footnotes, here are some notes about the footnotes in the HCSB:

Footnotes – The HCSB has the following notes:

• 1,586 textual notes
• 5,161 alternate readings
• 843 explanatory notes
• 27,565 cross references
• 237 OT citations in the NT

The NIV and ESV have far fewer notes. For example, the NIV has no textual notes in Gl, Php, 2Tm, and Ti. HCSB has 16. The NLT does have extensive notes, but often a critical term like atone or atonement is left without explanation. In Nm 25:3 there is no help given on Baal of Peor. And in Lv 13:39, ESV uses the term leukoderma with no footnote to help the reader.

(From “A Comparison of the HCSB with Other Major Translations” by Dr. Edwin Blum, General Editor for the HCSB)

It’s a strange phenomenon that we hire music pastors or worship leaders in our churches, yet many times we insist on not letting them “pastor” us in the area of music. We want to sing our favorite songs, and we want to sing our favorite style of music, regardless of the theological content of the songs or the inherent quality of the music itself.

This is a widespread phenomenon that every church deals with.

Especially at Christmas.

Most theologically-minded musicians dread the Christmas season, because much of the music we sing is so shallow (at best) or heretical (at worst).

This list, then is not an attempt to be downright mean to our traditions, but to examine our traditions in light of biblical realities. It may be a tough pill to swallow, but the pill may just start a theological healing process in the Church.

Here’s my list of 5 of the theologically worst Christmas carols ever:

O Little Town of Bethlehem

Phillips Brooks’ text is very poetic, indeed, but it’s just as meaningless as it is poetic. The theological lines of the song are vague. For example:

• Verse 1: “The hopes and fears of all the years Are met in thee tonight.” — In Bethlehem all the hopes and fears of the world come together in the baby Jesus. Yeah. Either that’s so deep I just don’t get it, or it’s so shallow it has no meaning.
• Verse 2: Couldn’t find any lines of theological significance.
• Verse 3: Jesus is described as the blessings of God’s heaven. The last line is a little confusing, but I’m sure it has something to do with “asking Jesus into your heart.”
• Verse 4: “Cast out our sin, and enter in.” That’s about as deep theologically as this song gets.

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear

There is not a single line of text in this song that is theologically salvageable. The whole song is about angels. The third verse leads us right up to Christ and then performs a bait-and-switch, throwing us under the angel bus instead:

And ye, beneath life’s crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow,
Look now! for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing.
O rest beside the weary road,

This is where I expect the next line to be about Jesus, cf. Matthew 11:29.

And hear the angels sing!

What? All you have to offer me in the trials of life is listening to angels singing?

Silent Night, Holy Night

Yes, I’m going to go there. This has to be one of the most “sacred” of all Christmas carols. Messing with Silent Night is like defacing a church door. This song is one of the biggest sacred cows of our Christmas traditions. What could possibly be wrong with this song?

• Verse 1: This is a lullaby. We’re wishing baby Jesus a good night’s sleep. Which of course, any new mother would tell you, that first night is anything but a good night’s sleep. Especially in a cave with animals.
• Verse 2: This verse retells briefly the story of the angels appearing to the shepherds and proclaiming the birth of the Messiah. Nothing to criticize here, except perhaps that a lullaby is an awkward setting for that retelling.
• Verse 3: We praise the night, the star, the angels and then Jesus. Why discriminate against the “wise men”?
• Verse 4: “Radiant beams from thy holy face”–anyone want to offer an explanation for this one?

So why did this one make the list again? For one, the lullaby theme (see the next song for explanation). Also, the complete lack of any incarnational substance whatsoever.

Away in a Manger

This song has to be one of the all-time worst Christmas carols ever. Once again it’s another lullaby. The problem with the lullaby genre for Christmas songs is that the point of Christmas is not the baby. The point of Christmas is the incarnation of God himself. There’s a huge difference.

Besides the lullaby issue, the second and third verses of this song have distorted some truths for children for ages. In the second verse we’re told that even though “the cattle are lowing” (which is a very odd word to begin with) baby Jesus wakes up, but he doesn’t cry!

Could someone please show me that in the Bible? Of course he cried. That’s what babies do. I was into my 20s before I realized that this song was a massive hoax. Jesus was human. He cried.

In the third verse we pray for baby Jesus to “fit us for heaven, to live with Thee there.” Yet nowhere does Scripture indicate that that’s the goal. Heaven is not the place where we live with Jesus for all eternity. But that’s another discussion.

The First Noel

This song attempts to retell all of the minor points of the birth narrative as if they were the major storyline itself:

• Verse 1: Shepherds. These are perhaps the most important secondary characters in the birth narrative.
• Verse 2: The Star. This story appears in Matthew’s narrative, but no Christmas carol has ever sought to deal with Matthew’s reason for including the narrative. What’s the point of the story: the magi or the star?
• Verse 3: More Star. And Wise Men.
• Verse 4: Yet even more Star. And more Wise Men.
• Verse 5: This verse isn’t traditionally sung, so here it is for your reading pleasure:

Then did they know assuredly
Within that house the King did lie;
One entered it them for to see,
And found the Babe in poverty.

• Verse 6: Look! More Wise Men.
• Verse 7: The fact that we’re already at verse 7 is problematic. Does anyone really want to sing this many verses? Nevertheless, this verse is also not usually included, so here it is:

Between an ox stall and an ass,
This Child truly there He was;
For want of clothing they did Him lay
All in a manger, among the hay.

• Verse 8: Anyone tired of this song yet? This verse is actually a fairly descent doxology, despite its universalism in the last line.
• Verse 9: What? You didn’t know there was another verse? Check this out:

If we in our time shall do well,
We shall be free from death and hell;
For God hath prepared for us all
A resting place in general.

‘Nuf said.

So what are your most loved/hated Christmas songs?

Every year our church holds a theology conference. We are calling this conference Renew. We explore the intersection of theology and life.

This year the conference will be about making disciples of the next generation, or inter-generational discipleship.

Our keynote speakers this year will be Christian Smith and Anthony Bradley. And we’re offering 15 break-out seminars. Here are some of the topics being covered in this 2-day conference:

• Worship Across Generational Boundaries: Can We Sing in the Same Room?
• Expanding the Kingdom Through the Technology of the iGeneration
• The Importance of Story in Relating to the Next Generation
• Addicted to Fun: Boredom, Entertainment and Idealism in Your 20s
• Kingdom Expansion Through Family Worship
• How Faith Is Won or Lost on the College Campus
• Imaging Jesus As the Mission of God
• Counseling, Mentoring or Discipleship: A Panel Discussion on Pathways to Change

I’ll be giving the seminar called, “Expanding the Kingdom Through the Technology of the iGeneration.” So if anyone wants to get me an ipod or iphone for Christmas, know that it will be used for great ministry purposes.

Check out the Renew Conference website here. You can download the conference brochure, get more details and even register online.

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