Stuff Apostolics Like

Author's Note: The impetus for this post came from my own thoughts, discussion with others in church, and some recent reading that critiqued the construction and reception of Hollywood entertainment. Joel was extremely helpful in offering criticism of the rough draft and expressed some serious doubts about the message put forth, though he eventually gave me the go ahead. Those doubts have taken root in my own mind, but I still believe that there's some utility to this post. My only hope is that before you agree or, more likely, disagree with this post, that you take a little longer than you normally would and mull it over some more. An author doesn't typically have such a luxury with his readers, but I suppose I can ask, anyway. The Scenario: It’s a typical Sunday night service at your local church. The praise team is playing a great song, everyone is clapping and singing, and there seems to be a good spirit in the sanctuary. You’re a little over twenty minutes into t...

Acknowledgements: This post goes on recommendation of one Mark Stanton....May the Lord bless him in all his days on earth and that he would be fruitful and multiply. (That is if he wants to have many kids. Should He not, I do not wish such a burden on him for the cost of kids these days is estimated to be around 200,000 dollars per child (years 0-18) even without assuming the burden of paying their college tuition. With that in mind, if he wants no kids I pray him a safe journey in life and marriage, with birth control methods always working their desired purpose throughout. That is, if Mark does believe in birth control. If he does not, but does not want kids, I pray God's mercy on Him for I think he is to be living a life of disappointments). Intro:  Of all the types of people that have been discussed on this blog, the Sermon Affirmation Guy is one of the ones that I hold nearest to my heart. And I really mean that. One of the reasons I love the Pentecostal experience and Pent...

Firstly, sorry about the delay of not posting. I try to post with some sort of regularity and it pains my heart when I don't do so. Forgive me dear citizens. But continuing with using high school social order as a good analogy to understand the topics I write about, I give you a story: A few years ago, a new kid moved into the school full of apostolic Pentecostals. Allegedly he came from California and his best friends were "Emergent" and "Grace" but no one was exactly sure where he came from. He was handsome, a great athlete, and had a better way with the ladies than most. This usually would make the other high school students red with jealousy as the foreigner stole away all possibility of keeping the ladies to sticking to their "home-grown roots." But yet the new kid had such a way about him that all the other guys fell head over heels him in terms of them pursuing a strictly platonic bro-mance relationship with him. The new kid never seemed to ge...

Let me preface this post by saying the only reason I am writing this is because I was a Jonny Lang fan years ago, and the moment a musician I like gets popular I disavow my loyalty and quickly scour obscure websites trying to find other obscure bands/artists that no one has ever heard of just so I can continue thinking in my head that "I am above the masses." It's elitism in it's purest and most unadulterated form. So when one of my favorite blues' artists suddenly is being swallowed up whole as the chosen son of my denomination, I am left to do nothing else but to have a midlife crisis and claim like a sheepish brat to anyone who brings up Jonny Lang in conversation how, "I liked his early stuff such as Lie to Me  and Wander this World " and how I find "his newer stuff too poppy and too far removed from his true bluesy roots." But for those of you who are keeping track at home, Jonny Lang is a wonderful, world renowned  blues artist who in...

Okay, so I was working on the Jonny Lang post I promised like two weeks ago. And it's almost done. But in the midst of the writing process, the gods took the wheel of fate and spun it around to altar my plan of action for writing this day. It came from an excellent quote in my facebook inbox from SAL contributer, Chady Hosin, and the quote was by one of my top five favorite authors, Albert Camus: " By the same token, the writer's role is not free from difficult duties. By definition he cannot put himself today in the service of those who make history; he is at the service of those who suffer it." That was good to remember when you are writing about the importance of Jonny Lang and it's influence of introducing Nashvillian blues within our movement. (I Kid.). But then I saw IT! Now as main writer to this blog, I have persevered as best as possible to not indite specific individuals. A whole post on gigantic head gear/head band has been refrained from being ...

I apologize that I do not have a picture IBC related but Google images was not working. So this was the next best thing I could muster up. (Prelude: Excuse the tendency to wax poetic and romantically in this post. I am just in the middle of constructing something that when finished could be the first thing I have ever done that I am proud of it. And naturally when something of self-worth is constructed, one's mind needs to be in all kind of inspirational places, and thus what you see below it the regretful result of my state of consciousness during such a period of romanticizing and disillusionment). So we are on the third and most likely final stop of our bible college tour. And because no one who went to IBC or is currently at IBC sent me an e-mail volunteering to do the write-up of their college, they have elected me to be their representative in account of their silence. However, I consider myself appropriately qualified for the task at hand because I have visited the land of m...

Editor's note: Yesterday Ryan posted his take on an experience from years past at the fine institution of CLC. In spite of it being an openly subjective testimony of his take of the time he spent there, people felt this didn't do justice to the institution itself. As if the institution actually had a voice and in that voice an objective and unbias view of itself. Everyone's experience in life will be different. How they perceive things will be up to them, their past cultural experiences, and the timing of which they encounter the "thing." So for someone to say, "Ryan your view of CLC is wrong." That to me is so precious. Two weeks ago someone told me "you should feel awful about yourself." I knew that I should have, but I didn't, so I laughed. One may come to my house right now and see the messiness of it and be horrified. Another may feel "at home" amidst the messiness. That said, for Gateway, I will be presenting another form...

Once known for its great theology program and progressive music department, both of which have since slid into oblivion. All the teachers left and nobody replaced them (slight exaggeration here). There was a Dean of Music whose perspective on ministry was very progressive as well as how that related to music. She empowered students and created a great environment for learning and ministry. But then she left (shout out to LLP - woot!), then there was a replacement. Then they left. Then nothing. I remember hearing the chorale at a Youth Congress and then IBC sang and made them sound like kindergartners (although since they've added 'I'm A Pentecostal" to their repertoire they've become infinitely more popular). In case you're not familiar with the song, I've attached a link for your viewing pleasure. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vd_C5KX_lk CLC was once known for being Theologically progressive (Segraves, Garner, etc). Then there was a change in the admini...

Let me just start by saying that my one (1) semester of Bible School was one of the most fun periods of my life. I got introduced to the war between Contemporary Christian music and Gospel (I swear that if they had sung 'Open The Eyes of My Heart Lord' one more time I was gonna stab someone so that their heart would be the only way they'd be seeing). I learned that 1-4-5 gets boring really, really fast. I was once told that I could play one chord, fourths, for the entire song. Thanks for that, by the way. But I got to be involved with some incredibly talented people, see aspects of ministry that blew my mind and watch young people take their first steps into ministry in ways that were incredible. I have enduring friendships and connections from Bible School - I've met tons of other people through friends at other Bible Schools - the social networking aspect is amazing. I also grew a fat stomach for the first time in my life, frequented Krispe Kreme donuts almost every...

Oh dear saints, we gather around this here parts again to remember all those backslidden youths from memory past. The backslidden males got lost in destroying their own body with self-worship of sports and inebriation through many illegal substances, and fornication of all kinds... But it is the ladies... those precious females who we bow low to on this day and have a moment of silence... For their fate was not on their own doing... Rather, they started out innocent by listening to a Britney Spears song 3 times too many on the radio, including "I'm a Slave 4 You" and we all know that "you" in the song title is SATAN! And this was all the room Satan needed to make an entry into the soul of the unknowing Apostolic female. For the moment Britney is provoked upon the ears, God's protecting grace goes for the hills in hatred of terribly written music. But just like a frog that will remain in a boiling pot of water if the temperature is gradually and subtly i...