Take Your Vitamin Z

James MacDonald Shares Thoughts After #TheElephantRoom

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:44:00 +0000

You can read his reflections here.

A Portlandia Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:31:00 +0000

These caricatures are so funny.

(HT: 22 Words)

Just Keep Going

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:45:00 +0000

I needed to read this today.

Here is a short article by Kevin DeYoung on perseverance in the Christian life and ministry stemming from the life of William Wilberforce.

Lost + Full House = 90's Awesome Sitcom

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:02:00 +0000

(HT: Relevant Mag)

Cheap eBook Alert

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:08:00 +0000

Sexual Temptation: Establishing Guardrails and Winning the Battle
Randy Alcorn
$0.99

Ed Stetzer Reflects on #TheElephantRoom

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:28:00 +0000

Here are his thoughts.

More Reflections on #TheElephant Room - Trevin Wax

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:56:00 +0000

Trevin Wax has a lengthy post that is worth reading. His conclusion:

In the end, I admire James MacDonald’s intention to bring about more civil discourse between believers. We need charity and clarity. But civility is not a love-fest. We will disagree – strongly at times. Why? Because theology matters. The stakes are high. Bad theology hurts people.

Bad conflict in the Christian church is caused by ego and pride. Good conflict ought to flow from love and compassion. We need less “bad conflict” and more “good, sharpening conflict.”

Weak unity in the Christian church is caused by minimizing the importance of theology. Strong unity flows from affirmation and celebration of the essential truths of Christianity and how they impact our lives and ministries. We need less “weak unity” and more “strong unity.”

So when we engage in conflict, let’s make sure it is out of love for the truth, love for Jesus, love for one another, and love for the people we shepherd. Sometimes we may even stand against a brother on a certain issue, but even when we take an adversarial stance, it ought always to be for the good of that brother and the glory of King Jesus. Let’s take the goal of The Elephant Room seriously and be people who are full of grace and truth.

Read the rest.

Ray Lewis' Speech After Recent Playoff Loss to Patriots

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:13:00 +0000

What Happens When You Drop Your iPhone

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:11:00 +0000

So true.

Funny.

Questions After #TheElephantRoom

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Darryl Dash with a helpful post that asks some good questions and provides some links if you missed the commentary from yesterday.

Pressing Towards Evangelistic Faithfulness

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Ross Appleton with a very helpful article:

Let’s encourage God’s people to speak, to move toward a boldness rooted in the unshakeable reality of the Gospel, where we rely on the Holy Spirit to tell us what to say and when to say it. Without His guidance we will either talk too much or never talk at all. We will awkwardly throw up on people because we think their eternal destiny is up to us and not the sovereign Holy Spirit, or we will never say anything at all because we are waiting for that perfect time when someone is least likely to resist, instead of trusting in the transformative power of the Gospel.

Read the rest.

Forsake All Fraudulent Success

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Ray Ortlund:

In a world of secrets, outward success is everyone’s goal. If we can just succeed, we won’t have to face ourselves. No wonder that doesn’t work. It can’t work. The reality of what we are will always topple this house-of-cards persona we so earnestly wish were true.

The gospel is not God’s way of giving us an even better self-improvement goal. The gospel is God’s judgment on our better selves and his replacement of it all with Jesus.

Every one of us thinks, “If only I could do __________ or be __________, then I would arrive.” So, what does “arrival” look like to you? If it isn’t Jesus, the risen Lord himself, every arrival you achieve is only another set-back.

If you make financial security your arrival, you are already trapped in anxiety. If you make a thin body your identity, you will hate yourself more. If you make a porn-free life your okayness, you are doomed to compulsion. God’s remedy for you is not more money or better looks or perfect control. God’s gift to you is Jesus. With Jesus, we are saved. Everything is going to be okay. Without Jesus, we are damned. Nothing will go right.

Forsake all fraudulent success. Make Jesus your goal, your arrival, your identity, your comfort, your okayness, and he’ll gladly give himself to you — and on terms of grace. But reach for anything else, and it will turn into its opposite and betray you.

To paraphrase the apostle Paul, “I’ve lost everything, and I don’t even care, because now I get Jesus” (Philippians 3:8).

Teens and Porn: 10 Stats You Need To Know

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:31:00 +0000

Wednesdays were Pretty Normal - A Video

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:16:00 +0000

Get the book here.

Wednesdays Were Pretty Normal - An Interview with Michael Kelley

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:55:00 +0000

Michael Kelley is a good friend from my Nashville days. Back then he was a college pastor at a local church with strong communication gifts. Soon after we left Nashville, Michael and Jana found out that that their young son had cancer. It was heartbreaking. Years later, Michael has written a book that deals with these this season of their lives. You'll definitely want to check it out.

Here is a brief interview with Michael.

1. How has watching your son endure cancer changed you and your family?

That's a big question. It might be more of the case of how has it "not" changed us. For me, I think the day Joshua was diagnosed was the day I actually became an adult. Up until then, I had the luxury to sort of play at life, and even play at theology. But when Joshua was sick, it brought an incredible seriousness to life - to marriage, to parenting, to work, really everything. For us as a family, it's really become one of the biggest things that's made us who we are. In a lot of ways, we feel like God has given us this story and it's our job to try and steward it well.

2. Facing the potential death of a child is unspeakably horrific. When were the darkest hours?

I have a really vivid memory of 2 things. I remember when Joshua was hooked up to a morphine drip because the pain was so bad, and him waking up every hour in the hospital crying and not being able to comfort him. One night in particular, we watched "Barney's Puppy Love" about 17 times just trying to make it until the sun comes up. That was a dark night.

I also remember a couple of times trying to hold it together long enough to get out of the hospital room, walking into my office at work, closing the door and laying down in the floor and crying.

It wasn't at either one of those times that we necessarily thought we would lose Joshua. But I think now it was just a sense of loss in general because of how much life had changed. Loss of dreams, loss of joy, loss of time - much, much loss.

3. What do you feel is unique about this book that Christians need to consider?

I think there are many books that try and reconcile biblically the goodness and grace of God and the brokenness of the world and the suffering of His people. These are good books.

What I hope separates this book from others is the fact that this book is not meant to explain that tension at all. It's rather an acceptance of it. It's an attempt to describe believing with the full knowledge and experience that we will all, inevitably, experience that brokenness. We certainly don't have it all figured out. I do think, though, that we all have a choice about what to do with our pain and disappointment. It can either stall your walk with the Lord, or it can push you deeper into it.

4. What do you want this book to accomplish? Why did you write it?

The first reason to write it was because I honestly thought it was my job to do so. I think God wants us to be stewards of our experiences and stories as much as our money and time. So the book is an attempt to steward what we've been given responsibly and well.
But I also think that there are many, many people who, having experienced something like cancer, have been existing without pressing into that experience. They just gritted their teeth and tried to get past it. My hope is that, through this book, many people might press deeply into their own experiences and find that despite their painful circumstances, God was not only with them, but was actually hurting alongside them in a deeper way than they were.

5. No one wants to endure suffering, but looking back, what have been the blessings?

There have been many. I think my wife and I know and support and love each other more now. I think I love being a father and the responsibility that means more now. And I hope I am more reliant and dependent on the Lord now.

Get Michael's book here on pre-order.

MUTEMATH - Odd Soul Tour Trailer

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:17:00 +0000

My favorite band is going on tour. You won't want to miss it. This trailer is really cool.

You Cannot Smile in Such a Cellar

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:00:00 +0000

Erik Raymond:

I am all for communicating sin and the need for Christ. This is biblical. It forms our understanding of the gospel. But sometimes preachers and Christians linger a bit long in the boiler room, inhaling the smoke of the Law without opening the windows of grace. You cannot smile in such a cellar.

Spurgeon saw and spoke of such a trend in his day. His observations and cautions may be surprising but I think right on.

Read the rest.

Portlandia is Funny

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:37:00 +0000

Madison, WI is just a mini version of Portland. I love living here. Good parody here.

(HT: The Blazing Center)

Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name” sung in the style of Bon Iver

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:04:00 +0000

Awesome.

(HT: 22 Words)

Paterno, Sandusky, and the Nature of the Law

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:17:00 +0000

Michael Kelley:

It’s almost as if there is in all of us some base level of morality – a law of conscience if you will. Something that’s ingrained deeply within us that requires something of us. And that “something” is not just to do the minimum required, but to do and be more than we are. We feel it, and it has suddenly risen to the level of the national consciousness.

What we are seeing playing out before our very eyes is in a sense why the law doesn’t work. The law, apart from Christ, is about the minimum. It’s about what is required of you. But even when we keep the minimum, there is still something inside of us that knows the truth. It’s the nagging feeling that there is something else. Something more.

And then here comes Jesus, and He takes it to another level:

“Murder you say? Well, there’s something more. Murder isn’t just about the physical act of killing. It’s about thinking ill of someone in your heart, too.”

Jesus won’t let us settle for the minimum. He fulfills the law, body and heart. And thankfully, He fulfills it on our behalf. But in so doing, He gives us a new heart, one that doesn’t only feel the need for something more, but actually desires to do it. To love, and to not just murder.

Read the rest.

Cheap eBook Alert - A Heart For Freedom

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:10:00 +0000

Just got this book in the mail. Looks riveting.

A Heart For Freedom
Chai Ling
$1.99

Five Ways to Fight Abortion and Serve the Unborn and Their Moms

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:32:00 +0000

John Piper with another important article on this topic. His five ways are:

Supplication
Consideration
Education
Legislation
Proclamation

Read the rest to see these five ways expounded upon.

6 Years of Vitamin Z

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:43:00 +0000

As of yesterday, this blog has been going for six years.

Thanks for reading, commenting, and supporting this site. When I started six year ago, I was living in Nashville as musician and trying to figure out what I was going to do when I grew up. Many things have changed in these last six years and many of you have tracked with me through all those changes. I don't know if I'll be doing this six years from now but for now I am thankful for the role this blog has played in my life. I hope it serves you well.

The Cross Seems Silly When God is Shrunk and Man is Elevated

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:22:00 +0000

“All inadequate doctrines of the atonement are due to inadequate doctrines of God and man. If we bring God down to our level and raise ourselves to his, then of course we see no need for a radical salvation, let alone for a radical atonement to secure it. When, on the other hand, we have glimpsed the blinding glory of the holiness of God, and have been so convicted of our sin by the Holy Spirit that we tremble before God and acknowledge what we are, namely ‘hell–deserving sinners’, then and only then does the necessity of the cross appear so obvious that we are astonished we never saw it before.”

- John Stott, The Cross of Christ, 109

(HT: OFI)

Should I Marry a Man with Pornography Struggles?

noreply@blogger.com (Vitamin Z) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:46:00 +0000

Russell Moore answers that question here.