Greg Habegger and I are preparing to start a new website that will make the new hymns that are somewhat buried here at My Two Cents more accessible. We have some technical and artistic gurus ready to help, and we’re hoping to have the site up and running before long. However, we’re missing something important—a name that represents our heartbeat in an accurate, memorable and succinct way.

We’ve discussed some ideas, but nothing has stuck. We need some help. Remember, the last time I named a ministry I actually settled on “Buckaroo.” Enough said. :)

Here’s what we’re about: we intend our music to be doctrinal, Christ-honoring, cross-focused, accessible (bothy textually and musically), passionate, and congregational. How can we communicate that through a name? Any brilliant ideas?

(An occasional suggestion that is genuinely helpful amidst what I imagine could be a collection of wise-guy laughers would be appreciated.) :)

I stand corrected. And emotionally spent!

Here’s what I said about the men’s 4×100 freestyle:

“I don’t imagine that any of the posts to follow will top this first one. The final of the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay (complete with French trash talking, swimming phenom Michael Phelps, a world record time for the 5th place finishers, and the most amazing finish I’ve ever seen) was just sensational.”

Well, what I saw a few minutes ago topped it. Phelps’ win to claim gold medal #7 in this Olympics was like nothing I’ve ever seen. He was way back at the turn of a 100M race that leaves almost no room to make up time. He was way back at 50M, way back at 60M, way back at 70M, even way back at 80M. He was going to lose. He should have. I thought he did, as did everybody else, including his mom and coach.

But he didn’t. He led that race for all of .01 seconds, which is the margin of his win, but he won. He snuck into the wall by what? A fingernail? It’s like an angel pushed him or something.

My girls and I (with the exception of 4-year-old Grace, who was rudely awakened by the ruckus) went nuts during the last 50…as if our screaming could make him swim faster or something. And when his name popped up as the winner? Pandemonium at the Anderson home!

What fun! Unbelievable.

I’m in the middle of a two-part series on The Christian and Money, and it’s killing me. Seriously, comparing my thoughts on money with Scripture’s is devastating, though necessary. All of us—rich or poor, old or young, male or female—struggle with greed. In fact, I think there is probably no part of life in which Christians are more worldly than in our thinking about money. We need to scrutinize ourselves with the Word on this matter.

The first message in TCBC’s money miniseries focused on The Importance of Money in the Teaching of Christ. In short, there are a lot of red letters that address the green stuff. I’ve summarized it this way:

1. Money can be a useful tool.
2. Money can be a dangerous trap.
3. Money will be a spiritual test.

After some introductory thoughts, the message is essentially a reading on the topic of money in the gospels with occasional commentary. It’s been good for me, both when I prepared it a few weeks back and when I reviewed it yesterday in preparation for part 2 Sunday night. Unless you’re the one person in the world whose life has been entirely eradicated of the greed that seems to be a universal part of sinful flesh (and you’re not), it will probably be good for you, too. Give it a listen.

Here are some miscellaneous thoughts and links for your consideration, including bits about Matt Hoskinson, The Solid Rock, homeschooling, how sanctification is like building boats, and a crazy YouTube link:

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Pray for Matt Hoskinson…and Grow with Him

Matt Hoskinson’s cancer journal has been extremely encouraging to me. Matt has been intentionally devotional, focusing more on spiritual than medical matters. I commend it to you, and I encourage you to pray consistently for Matt and his family.

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Michael Bird on George Ladd

Michael Bird’s synopsis and review of a new biography on George Ladd is a fascinating read. Give it a look.

(HT: Joe T)

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Teach People to Long for the Sea!

David Powlison recently cited the following quote from French author Antoine de Saint-Exupery, which I believe is very germane to believers provoking one another to godliness:

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood, and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”

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A Cabinetmaker and a Hymnwriter

After enjoying singing “The Solid Rock” with the TCBC family during Sunday night’s Communion service, I wondered out loud who its author, Edward Mote, was. Who was this man who spoke so beautifully and accurately about our hope being based only in Jesus’ passive and active righteousness—His “blood and righteousness”? Who was the one who spoke with such certainty about appearing before God “dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne”? Who penned such a masterfully cross-focused hymn? Well, the answer surprised me.

Edward Mote was a simple man born to pubkeepers in London. He wasn’t saved until adulthood. At the time he wrote the hymn he was a 37-year-old cabinetmaker (though he later entered pastoral ministry). So one of the finest hymns of the last 2 centuries was written by a “Joseph,” a craftsman with dirty fingernails and calloused hands. Wow. I love that.

Learn more about Mote and his writing of “The Solid Rock” here.

(HT: Joe T)

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Homeschooling Is Not the Gospel

This critique of the not-uncommon “homeschooling-is-the-answer-to-the-world’s-problems” ideology of many homeschooling families is quite helpful. And lest any play the martyrdom card, it’s written by a homeschooling dad (and linked to by another homeschooling dad). Here’s a sample:

“Furthermore, the problem [with society] is not bad education, it is bad character (sin). The solution is not homeschooling, it is the gospel of Jesus Christ and participating in the growing kingdom of God. The utopian society is not homeschool grads in power, but the consummation of the kingdom of God which will only occur at the second coming of the Lord in glory. I fear that many in the Christian homeschooling movement have a false understanding of the problem, the solution, and the ultimate goal. And smooth-talking, eloquent, yet misguided speakers that give vision and encouragement to homeschooling parents are not helping build the kingdom of God.”

Read this worthwhile post. And if you homeschool, read it twice. :)

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Minute Art

As usual, I’ll end with something utterly-worthless-but-still-cool. Here’s some art more instant than bad-tasting rice:

(HT: Jessica Pf)

I’ve been praying for Bible Community Church of Mentor, Ohio since they began looking for a pastor last year. Bible Community is a church with a strong history. They have sent out several pastors and missionaries over the years, have taken a strong stand for truth, and have ministered to churches and families in Northeast Ohio via Mentor Christian School. It’s also a church with which Tri-County Bible Church enjoys sweet fellowship. They have been in the midst of a crucial pastoral transition for quite some time, and I’ve been praying for the Lord to grant them the wisdom to make the right decision.

By God’s grace, I believe they did so Sunday. Josh Scheiderer has accepted the call from Bible Community Church, providing them with a pastor who I believe will provide solid leadership for them and providing Northeast Ohio with another young, gospel-driven pastor who is committed to the best of historic fundamentalism. I believe that the Lord is working in a unique way in this area, and it’s my privilege to co-labor and fellowship with such men as Tim Potter, Kent Hobi, Dave Saxton, Todd Nye, Dan Greenfield, and Joe Tyrpak. These are fine men, and I’m glad to see their number increase by newcomers like Aaron Keteles, Rich Peffer, and now Josh.

Welcome, Josh. I’m excited to have you here, and I’m eager to see the Lord bless BCC under your leadership!

I’m an Olympics junkie—have been since 1984 and the L.A. Olympics. (Think Carl Lewis, Edwin Moses, Greg Louganis, Karch Kirali, Flo Hyman, Mary Lou Retton, and the great ‘84 men’s gymnastics team featuring Peter Vidmar, Bart Conner, Tim Daggett, and Mitch Gaylord. Mercy, I even remember the Beatrice commercials that aired incessantly during the Olympics that summer.) All that to say, I’ll be keeping up with the Games over the next few weeks and pointing out some of my favorite moments.

I don’t imagine that any of the posts to follow will top this first one. The final of the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay (complete with French trash talking, swimming phenom Michael Phelps, a world record time for the 5th place finishers, and the most amazing finish I’ve ever seen) was just sensational. You can watch a replay of it here. If you haven’t seen it, you must.

Sweet.

One of my favorite preachers, Albert N. Martin, has retired following 46 faithful years pastoring Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, NJ. He concluded his ministry with 9 messages filled with counsel to his beloved congregation. You can read about the messages (which seem to encapsulate his strong philosophy of ministry) here. (Thanks for the good post, Ryan.)

I was initially introduced to Pastor Martin’s ministry by my good friend Mike Goldfuss, a missionary in Mexico City. (Thanks, Mike!) I’ve benefited much from Pastor Martin’s ministry, and I’ve posted links to sermons on several occasions. (The MTC posts that mention him can be found here.) There are 358 of Pastor Martin’s sermons available at sermonaudio.com, so the church will continue to benefit from his good ministry. One particular message just rose to the top of my “must hear” list. I discussed it in this post in October 2006, but I think it’s especially germane in light of Pastor Martin’s retirement, and I want to consider it again. Here’s a brief description of it from my previous post:

“One of my favorite preachers, Albert N. Martin, provided the answer to that question 4 years before I was born in this lecture, initially given “at the Ministers’ Conference of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church at Westminster Theological Seminary in September 1967,” then published by Banner of Truth (from sermonaudio.com’s summary). Here’s a bit of historical perspective: Martin delivered the address a day after D. Martin Lloyd Jones had preached at the same conference.

So what’s wrong with preaching, then and now? Martin’s answer is essentially preachers. Sure, Martin describes the problem under three headings—’The Man, the Message and the Manner’—but the last two points are wanting essentially because the man is wanting.”

Pastor Martin modeled a faithful life and ministry for 46 years, all in one church. He was sober and passionate about his responsibility as a preacher of the Word. By God’s grace, he modeled the very things which he prescribed and avoided the very pitfalls of which he warned 41 years ago.

Lord, give us more men like Albert Martin. Indeed, make us men like Albert Martin.

This week my family enjoyed a few days at Middle Bass Island, a vacation place on lake Erie—a trip that included parasailing! Here’s a short video I took while being dragged around by a boat some 300-plus feet below me:

Better than my parasailing was the parasailing of a 74-year-old friend of our family, whom I’ll only identify as “Mrs. C” out here in cyberspace.

She pulled it off. With class. And in a dress. They call that “chutzpah!” Ironically, I was the one who got green from the boat ride, not her. The Lord is perpetually finding new ways to humble me. :)

You can see pictures of Helen’s excursion and the rest of the trip (including a couple of gorgeous sunsets and five gorgeous Anderson gals!) here.

Yesterday I preached a message entitled “The Heartbeat of Tri-County Bible Church.” It was (to quote the sub-title) “A Look at TCBC through the Lens of Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians.” It’s essentially our philosophy of ministry in one “drink-from-a-fire-hydrant” message. It addresses issues that are vitally important to us, including a doxological purpose, cross-centeredness, thoughtful worship, intentionality (vs. being merely traditional or contemporary), decentralized leadership, every-member ministry, gospel-driven separatism, whole-counsel preaching, an environment of gracious transparency, etc. Lord willing, the message will be useful now and in the future to remind our members and inform newcomers what TCBC is passionate about—what are our non-negotiables. We are hopeful that communicating our values clearly will serve as a target, allowing us both to aim our energy, time, and money at the right objects and to measure how we’re doing. We believe that it will also serve as a magnet, both attracting those who are like-minded and repelling those with competing agendas, both of which are good things.

The meat of the message and the distinctives of our church really come out in the unpacking of these points, but we’ve summarized our core values as follows:

1. We are passionate about God’s Glory.
2. We are passionate about God’s Son.
3. We are passionate about God’s Spirit.
4. We are passionate about God’s Gospel.
5. We are passionate about God’s Grace.
6. We are passionate about God’s Word.
7. We are passionate about God’s Church.
8. We are passionate about Godly Families.

By God’s grace, we have endeavored to have a philosophy of ministry at TCBC that is both biblical and intentional (one of our favorite words). It bears the “fingerprints” of many, including our excellent assistant pastor, Joe Tyrpak. I use the word “endeavored” intentionally. :) We certainly don’t claim that we have it all together. Far from it; we’re very aware that we are a work in progress—a “hard hat area,” as we put it. Nevertheless, I believe that the message and the philosophy it conveys could be helpful to other pastors and churches, as well as TCBC. You might not agree with all of it, but I think it will at least provoke some thought and push you toward more intentional and biblical ministry where you serve. Consider it, critique it, and improve upon it, but give some thought to the idea of “core values” and “intentionality” at your church. If you’re able to give the message a listen, feel free to chime in with comments or questions.

“That we should be to the praise of His glory!” (Eph 1:12)

Here are some miscellaneous links, thoughts, and resources I’ve been collecting for a while. Some (like the sermon and a few outreach ideas) are quite serious. Another (the Wordle of Ephesians) is fascinating, I think. And others (including a shocking article about a Florida friend, a thought about HomeSat, and a “you might be a fundamentalist” link) are just for fun.

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Doran’s Message from the 2008 FBF Conference

If you’ve not yet heard “Biblical Separation and Fundamentalism,” Dave Doran’s message on separation from the recent FBF conference, you need to give it a listen. He affirms the importance of biblical separation. However, rather than preaching a message which would merely draw “attaboys” from the already convinced separatist crowd, Doran posed thoughtful questions regarding the application of separatist principles in ministry today. I was encouraged by the message. Good stuff.

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“First the Church, Now the Building”

By God’s grace, we’re progressing through the excavation phase of our building program and awaiting building department approval of our finished and stamped plans. Since we’ve been overdue for a new church brochure, we’ve decided to use the building project (which is drawing attention in our small town) as an opportunity to communicate the gospel. Here’s a pdf of our new brochure, TCBC: Hard Hat Area. It includes a simple gospel message (that, BTW, is more of a narrative than those we’ve used in the past). The brochure “debuts” Thursday night as we participate in a community parade, where we will have a building-going-up float, construction hats, and these t-shirts (front and back):

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Gospel CD Text

Speaking of gospel resources, a friend asked a while back if he could use/adapt the “script” from our Gospel CD project, “How Sinners Can Be Right with God.” Absolutely! That simple and inexpensive project has given the members of TCBC a great resource to distribute to friends and family members. I highly recommend that other churches work on recording something similar. If this helps, here’s a PDF of our Gospel CD text. Just realize that it was intended to be recorded, not printed, and that we made some very slight adjustments from this text (which I’ve not taken the time to alter). Use it!

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Wordle of the Book of Ephesians

I took a break from my sermon preparations late Saturday night to see what a “Wordle” of the book of Ephesians would look like. What is a Wordle? The Wordle site defines itself this way:

“Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text.”

The fact that the picture shows the actual emphasis of the text makes the following Wordle of Ephesians (NKJV) both instructive and beautiful, I think.

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“You might be a fundamentalist if…”

This thread at Sharper Iron cracks me right up. It’s a fun look at the idiosyncrasies of fundamentalists, generally pointed out (I think) by convinced fundamentalists. When you need a laugh and have some downtime, give it a look.

(HT: Mark)

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RIP, HomeSat

I’ve already switched to BJUP’s hard drive option for homeschooling. However, several friends of mine are a bit distressed that HomeSat’s days are numbered. I’m wondering: what if a bunch of customers and former customers start an online petition (say, please-reconsider.org?) and try to persuade them to change their minds? Maybe this could end with an announcement of a change of policy on Larry King Live! :)

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“Meet the Press,” Andrew

Finally, my good friend Andrew Henderson is planting Grace Baptist Church in New Tampa, FL. The church recently got some free face time with this nice article in the Tampa Tribune. Here’s a (rather disappointing) sample of what Andrew was able to say:

“We aren’t…here to focus on the Lord, to worship him and to exalt him.”

“Most members…feel comfortable. It isn’t about…worship with all our hearts.”

“Hope is…suffering here.”

“Worship is not…about God! We invite you to worship with us in a loving, traditional atmosphere that centers on exalting…ourselves.”

“We live in a day where people want…us.”

“It’s not…[o]ur goal…to see folks come to Christ, to grow in Christ and in their walk with God.”

If you’re shocked, give it a read yourself. :)