My good friend Tyson Guthrie (who wrote the other half of the Nicene Creed devo) has a blog that I hope (hint, hint) will be updated more regularly now that the summer camp season is winding down. One of his great regular pieces is called Brotherly Wisdom and includes a quote from a modern writer/theologian and a short summary of Tyson’s thoughts on the quote. Here is a great example from Tyson’s latest posts:

“…My peers and I were among the first ones to experience grade inflation, where we got A’s for excavating our feelings and “doing our best” at calculus. We were among the first to be programmed for self-esteem, as we learned that having a pulse made us wonderfully special. For as long as we can remember, we’ve been destined for superstardom. Some of us have been prepped for elite schooling since before we could use the potty, and we’ve been on the traveling soccer teams before we knew not to touch the ball with our hands. We’ve been stuffed full of praise for mediocrity and had our foibles diagnosed away with hyphenated jargon and pop psychology.
It’s no wonder we expect people to affirm us for everything, criticize us for nothing, and pay us for anything we want to do.” -Kevin DeYoung, Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God’s Will

DeYoung nails it. If you haven’t read this book, you should. In the age of the adultolescent DeYoung’s advice is sage, and his voice should be heard amidst and above the pseudo-spiritual ramblings of some/many popular Christian authors.

Check out Tyson’s blog here: http://heytyson.blogspot.com

Because sometimes it’s easier to hear something from a cute panda.

One of my new favorite theologians is Stanley Hauerwas. Although he is not a fan of the title, he was named the Best Theologian in America by Time in 2001. In this clip he discusses his thoughts on the healthcare debate, but midway through makes a thought provoking statement about how we educate our nation’s Doctors vs. how we educate our pastors.

The whole thing is interesting, but be sure to hear what he says from minutes 1:30-3:00.

What do you think? Valid argument or not?

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Like the new font in the header? It can be yours! Our very talented friend Kyle Steed has released his much celebrated font called Clumsy. It is available for free, and donations are accepted (highly recommend donating something!)

Check it out here:

http://clumsy.kylesteed.com

This fall at The Village Church our Pastors are starting a series on authority. I am very much looking forward to this, since I have had quite a few questions about this for some time. For sake of good discussion, where do you rank the following sources of authority? If you have no idea, give it a shot. If you aren’t a Christian, please feel free to participate as well – maybe even give some insight into why none of these should be authorities in your mind.

In no particular order:

• The Pope
• Church Elders
• Scripture
• Your interpretation of Scripture
• Creeds & Confessions

Please rank 1 for highest authority over your life, and 5 for lowest authority over your life. I’ll share my rankings soon, but I’d love to hear yours for now, however informed or uninformed you feel.