On this day

I have this blog so I can write things that are too politically correct for me to have associated with my real name. So here it goes.

Ten years ago today a brilliant enemy of the United States completed its attack.  And truth be told, today I wish I could find a way to avoid all of the attempts to remember what happened.  It's not that I'm trying to hide from an ugly truth, nor is it that I don't recognize, honor, and appreciate those who gave their lives trying to save others.

Remembering the aftermath of 9/11 reminds me that the terrorists won.

The purpose of terrorism is to instill fear into an enemy in order to change their actions.  Since that fateful day we have gladly traded our freedoms for the appearance of security and have happily sacrificed thousands more sons and daughters on foreign soil.  We have toppled two governments that were marginally, if at all, associated with the real culprits and violated the sovereignty of other nations.

And for what?  So that on this day, ten years later, people can sell T-shirts and make advertiser-supported TV shows to "remember" what happened.  As if any of us could forget...

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How big is your Gospel?

I heard a local preacher who I generally like this morning on his regular advertisement-length mini-sermon.  He was talking about the parable of the prodigal son.  He said something like “this story talks about our present day relationship with God, but I think it is also a great image of what will come in the next life.”

What a shame.  Yes, the Gospel is about our eternity in Heaven, but it is so much more than that.  A lot of Christians get caught up in that future hope that they overlook the power of the Gospel in our lives as we live them today.  This is a message that Christians need to be constantly reminded of, and it is a more powerful evangelistic message for a post-modern age.

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Random technical thoughts

RB's random technical thoughts from the Dominican"

• It's tough to write coherently when there's a fly buzzing around your head
• Non-American keyboards are tough enough, but they're even tougher when what appears on the screen doesn't match the button on the keyboard.  Good thing I can touch type, because I would never have found the question mark on this thing...
• A couple of weeks ago I bought a wacky little gizmo that has an Android tablet on one side and a Kindle-like e-reader on the other.  The tablet is useless in the sun, but that e-reader rocks.  I can get used to that.
• International television is interesting.  They have channels in the DR that we don't get in the States like Cubavizion Internacional.

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Celebrating survival

We've already heard the question several times.  "Is this your anniversary?  Are you celebrating something special?"  The answers, although we don't always give them are, "No and Yes."

No, we're not near a nice, even anniversary date.  But we don't care.  We're celebrating the fact that we've come this far literally and figuratively.  We're nearly 13 years into marriage, and we love each other now more than we ever have.  Staying married isn't easy; growing to love each other more when you're had some hard times is even tougher, and yet we have.  We're very, very blessed.

So no, it's not our anniversary, and it's not a second honeymoon, but we don't care.

Oh yeah, so why would people be asking these fairly personal questions?  What's going on?  We're in the beautiful country of the Dominican Republic eating, drinking, and doing pretty much whatever the hell we want to for a week.  After being together this long we figure we deserve it.

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Church Review - Church of the Apostles

Church name:  Church of the Apostles
Meeting place:  3585 Northside Parkway, Atlanta
Denomination:  Anglican
Worship Style:  Contemporary (piano led with several vocalist leads, backing vocals, band, and horns)
Dress:  Varies, with suits for the older and more wealthy and jeans for younger parents
Demographics:  Mostly white, almost completely upper middle class
Service times:  9:00 and 10:30


Dr. Michael Youssef is very well known and respected in evangelical circles.  And the history of Apostles is impressive.  It has grown from a small home church into a near-meagachurch with worldwide ministries.


While not quite as large as some churches in this city, the best way to describe this church is "big."  The music is big with every instrument imaginable.  Unfortunately the music is somewhat stuck in the late 1980's, complete with vocalists with hand-held mics and saxaphone.  Everyone on stage wears a suit (or similar for the ladies).  Of course, all of the music is played perfectly, and one of the vocalists had a studio-worthy voice.  For those who enjoy the music the best place to sit is in the center in front of the balcony.  Sitting under the balcony changes the acoustics for the worse.

Dr. Youssef is a dynamic speaker who comes from the older styled "preachy" preacher.  What surprised me as someone who has visited before is how much he resembles some charismatic preachers.  If it were ever possible to have an Anglican church that speaks in tongues, it would be Apostles.

Apostles offers nearly every program one could want, and there are numerous adult education (no one calls them Sunday Schools anymore) options.  It is a very well run church.

Perhaps the strangest part of our visit to Apostles was how I reacted.  I think this is more of a reflection on me than the church, but I bristled throughout almost the entire service.  After 15 years as a Presbyterian, I am not comfortable with the Charismatic movement, and I have become accustomed to discussions of how The Gospel impacts our lives today instead of what it means for the saving of our souls.  I know a lot of my friends love this church, and I am glad for them, but I have no intentions of going back anytime soon.  Besides, I prefer to go to church barefooted, and that would look strange when wearing a three piece suit.

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Church Review - Christian Church of Buckhead

For those who don't know Georgia very well, there is a town in the state named Buckhead.  It is a tiny town and not particularly fancy.  This is NOT the Buckhead of which I speak in this post.  This Buckhead is one of the wealthiest sections of Atlanta.  And it's a strange place for this kind of church.

Church name:  Christian Church of Buckhead
Meeting place:  3372 Peachtree Road, Atlanta in the old Christian Science Reading Room next to Maggianos near Lenox Mall
Denomination:  Christian Church (which is a non-denominational denomination and not creatively named)
Worship Style:  Modern pop (acoustic guitar led with keys, bass, and drums)
Dress:  Casual (jeans)
Demographics:  Mostly white, mostly young families or young professionals
Service times:  9:30 and 11:00

Review:  We've visited this church a couple of time with friends.  It's a fine church, and we could possibly worship there on a more regular basis.  The worship is upbeat and modern with a good band.  In our visits all of the songs were recently written with no hymns or songs with complex writing.  There is no liturgy, but communion is observed (with grape juice in tiny cups) every week.

The building is rented, and the church has done a good job converting space designed for another religion to something that works for a Christian service.  Flat screen TV's flank the stage for lyrics and other purposes.  Artwork fills the wall behind the stage and is updated periodically based on the current sermon series.  There are no kids in the service because they spend the entire time in Sunday School, which received high reviews from the younger critics in the RB household.

Derek is a cool guy and a fine preacher.  His sermons are delivered in a very conversational style.  His sermons are practical without a lot of "religious stuff."  While he references a number of passages during his sermon, there isn't a lot of page turning.  The sermons are applicable without being very challenging or threatening.

Christian Church of Buckhead is a good church, and we can see why our friends have made it their church home.  However, our preference is for a church with a deeper root in historical Christianity.  Christian Church of Buckhead seems to have left that with the historical trappings.

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Reviewing Churches

I love to dream about my next big idea.  I've had a few that have come close to being worthwhile.  I know this because other people implemented them long after I thought about it and did well.  One day I'll actually pull the trigger on one of my ideas before someone else does and, hopefully, make some money in the process.

One of my ideas is to create a web tool for finding churches.  Think about it.  In any major metro area there are hundreds of churches, and there's no way to try them all.  But if we could build a decent little tool that included objective information like denomination, number of services and starting times, and basic demographics, it would be very helpful.  If we could then add on subjective information like "this church is more hipster and less pop" or "the preacher's sermons were dull," then we could have something very useful.  But alas, I don't have the time to build such a thing.  But should you, dear reader, ever find yourself looking for a church in Metro Atlanta, then you will have the benefit of RB's church reviews.

My next several posts will contain reviews.  If you know these churches and want to counter them, then you are very welcome to in the comments.  I'd love to know how your experience has differed from mine.

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Something new

Church shopping isn't everything it's cracked up to be, especially when the kids are asking if we've found our new "forever church."  So I'm very excited about today's church - a "spirit filled" Lutheran church.  I don't know much about the Lutherans, but that sounds like a contradiction.  Then again, I never thought I'd find a charismatic Anglican church, but we visited a very large one of those a few weeks ago.

God does work in mysterious ways...

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The Gospel at work

I've sat under 3 different pastors in the past 12 years, and each of them focused on the centrality of the Gospel in our lives.  But they weren't focusing on the Gospel in the way that my old SBC pastors did.  There was never an alter call, and they rarely talked about Heaven or Hell.  (That's not to say that they didn't, and Hell is a very real place that holds a lot of people.)  Instead, they were talking about the fact that God, through Jesus, is making all things new and that he loves us because of Christ.  There is nothing we can do or not do to make God love us less, and there is nothing we can do or not do to earn more of His favor.

If this isn't what you hear every Sunday, think about that for a moment.  I heard this for 12 years, but it still didn't sink in.  And now that I've been without a church home for a couple of months it has.

Over the past few years I have been a generally unhappy man.  Some people have described me as full of rage.  I've felt a need to be right.  And I've given in to much more temptation than I would have liked.

But the last few weeks have been very different.  Despite a very overwhelming work situation, sick kids, and a dead car, one of my few friends described me as a changed man.  He had no idea I was under so much stress.  And I have found temptation less inviting over the last few weeks.  This is a huge change, and I'm not doing anything.  No quiet times.  Less worship and teaching.  No more prayer than usual.  How is this possible?  How can God be working in my life?

The Gospel.

The answer is that God is working in my life.  I'm not working.  Christians don't have to work; that's the Holy Spirit's responsibility.  And the more we recognize that and allow Him to work, the more like Christ we are.  

Yes, I want to go back to church.  And we're still church shopping.  But I'm not going there looking for a solution.  I'm going there to worship with other people who have realized the same thing.  Jesus is the solution.

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