Category: Gospel and Culture

Newsweek on Keller; Keller on Newsweek

Posted on February 10, 2008

 Newsweek profiles Tim Keller.

The reporter writes about visiting Redeemer: “There’s nothing sexy here. There’s no rock band, no drop-down theater-size video screen, no 100-member gospel choir—just a few chamber musicians and a couple of prayer leaders to help the congregation along in its hymns. The crowd at Redeemer Presbyterian is overwhelmingly young, single, professional and—for lack of a better word—sober.”

Here’s the conclusion:

Like so many New Yorkers, Keller is a misfit. He’s a megachurch pastor who doesn’t like megachurches. He’s an orthodox Christian who believes in evolution. He emulates the Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards and loves a good restaurant. He’s an evangelist who relishes the power of doubt. New York is the perfect home for such an idiosyncratic Christian: “I’m probably an overeducated guy who makes things too complicated for a lot of people,” he says. As it is for all New Yorkers, the question for Keller is whether he—or his vision—will ever be at home anywhere else.

(HT: Z)

Update: Tim Keller writes in with regard to the comments to this post:

We should be charitable to the writer on the issues mentioned. They are pretty minor. Yes, it isn’t my first book, but the last one was over 20 years ago. I don’t preach at all 5 services–I preach 4 and every week someone from the preaching team preaches the fifth one. I wouldn’t in the least style myself a new C.S. Lewis (who would want a new one when the old one is still so great) but she got that from publicity copy written by well-meaning people at Penguin. I wouldn’t want to characterize myself as another Rick Warren but she likes Rick and wouldn’t see that as a negative statement. I believe in the historicity of Gen 1-11 and Adam and Eve and I don’t believe in young earth-creation or six 24-hour day creation, but, as far as she’s concerned, that means I believe somewhat in evolution. She’s not used to the fine distinctions on these things we make inside the church. Also, I’ve never lived anywhere near Georgia (but maybe I’ve spent so much time in the airport it’s affected my accent!) And even the statement that my book disappointed her in comparison to my preaching is actually true—I’m a better speaker than writer, and always will me. That was more a compliment to the preaching than a criticism of the book.

Despite this list of nits to pick, it was an overall positive, even warm article, especially considering it comes from someone whose beliefs are so different. The writer clearly likes the church and appreciates the ministry in many ways. So I’m glad for her efforts.

HT:JT

New U2 Album in October

Posted on February 7, 2008

*Update on album title, tracks, audio, and release here.

No name, no firm info, but a partial track list….

  • No Line On The Horizon” – Bono and Edge played this song for a USA Today writer during an in-the-car interview at the Sundance Film Festival. On hearing it, writer Anthony Breznican says “heavy distortion fills the car,” and later adds: “The song is rough, weaving between brutal guitar blasts underscoring the mellow title refrain.” Edge explains that the song “It came out of a new distortion box that my guitar tech got.”
  • Unknown Title – in the same interview with Anthony Breznican, Bono and Edge played a second song whose opening lyric is, “It’s six o’clock…”. Bono tells Breznican that numbers are significant in each of the new songs.
  • “If I Could Live My Life Again” – Bono says this song is “inspired by the great Argentinian poet Jorge Luis Borges.” Bono said he had just begun the song while speaking with author Michka Assayas in December, 2005. Their interview appears as the extra material in the paperback version of Bono in Conversation with Michka Assayas.
  • “Love Is All We Have Left” – a song Bono named during his May, 2006, trip to Africa as one that he had recently written. “It’s like an old Broadway tune. I thought it was a Frank Sinatra song,” Bono said.
  • “North Star,” a song from the How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb sessions which included a guest organ appearance from Michael W. Smith. In this CCM article, Smith describes the song as a tribute to Johnny Cash.
  • “Mercy“, one of the last songs to get cut from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, described in Blender magazine as “a six-and-a-half-minute outpouring of U2 at its most uninhibitedly U2-ish”
  • “Lead Me In The Way I Should Go” — a contender for Atomic Bomb first mentioned in this February, 2003, interview with Bono in Grammy Magazine
  • “You Can’t Give Away Your Heart” – a contender for Atomic Bomb first mentioned in SPIN magazine

HT: @U2 : CM

Robie is Well!

Posted on February 6, 2008

Robie’s cist was removed this afternoon without any complications. Barring an unexpected word from pathology, she is in the clear. No cancer. Praise God!

The fibroid tumor had attached itself to the intestine and was softball in size. Dr. Garza removed it with a small instrument inserted through a tiny incision made in Robie’s abdomen. He paused and prayed for us before Robie went into surgery. Recovery should only be a few days.

Family has helped with our kids. Friends are bringing meals. Many have prayed. Robie shared after the surgery that just before she went under she sensed a surge of peace, a feeling she has not had often or would comment on lightly. Thank you for your prayers. Thank God and man for modern medicine. Thank Christ for his tender mercy.

Robie is having Surgery

Posted on February 6, 2008

My wife is having surgery today. It’s intimidating and encouraging. The issue came out of nowhere. We’ve only known about this for about a week. Doctors don’t know what the cist is in her uterine area. They think they have ruled out ovarian cancer through multiple scans. Today they will extract the cist.

The unknown can be intimidating. Robie is understandably concerned about “going under.” Mortality flirts with her thoughts. When I first heard of the possibility of this being something serious, I was in Chicago. When I heard the word cancer and the phrase “I want to see my kids grow up” from my wife, I was on the phone. The emotional impact hit my gut with force and pulled tears to my eyes. Thankfully, doctors have since ruled out ovarian cancer.

In all of this, we are encouraged. We are not mainly encouraged because its not cancer (nothing is for sure until the laproscopy), though that is very good news. We are encouraged to know and share the belief that God appoints difficult trials with well-intentioned purpose. His providential purposes are manifold.

We hope to discover some of them along the way. Perhaps the purpose is missional, to share the sufficiency of Jesus with others in the face of mortality. Perhaps the purpose is personal, to sanctify and sweeten our trust in a beneficent Creator and redeemer. Perhaps it is marital, to strengthen our marriage through trial. Or perhaps its just normal, normal suffering in a broken world, a reminder of the universal need for Someone greater than man to repair and renew the world as we know it.

God’s purposes are probably all of these and more. Pray that we would discover his purposes and re-discover him as we embrace this trial. And pray for mercy, mercy and hope, especially for Robie. Mercy for a clean, complication-free surgery and hope in a God who is always good.