Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Astonishing New Archeological Discovery

This amazing new find could yield some very interesting information about early Christianity. I'm looking forward to hearing more.

From the BBC News:
They could be the earliest Christian writing in existence, surviving almost 2,000 years in a Jordanian cave. They could, just possibly, change our understanding of how Jesus was crucified and resurrected, and how Christianity was born.

A group of 70 or so "books", each with between five and 15 lead leaves bound by lead rings, was apparently discovered in a remote arid valley in northern Jordan somewhere between 2005 and 2007.

Never has there been a discovery of relics on this scale from the early Christian movement, in its homeland and so early in its history.

Read the entire BBC Report

See More Pictures from BBC

More from the UK Daily Mail

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Lenten Readings and Video for March 27 - April 2

I'd like to invite you to join me in reading through the Gospel of Mark during these weeks leading up to Resurrection Sunday. It's a wonderful way to enrich your Lenten season and prepare your heart for a more meaningful Easter. Each Saturday night, I'll post the reading schedule for the coming week. I'll also post videos of Max McLean's interpretive recitation of each chapter.


Lenten Readings for March 27 - April 2:

March 28 – Mark 7:24-37
March 29 – Mark 8:1-21
March 30 – Mark 8:22-38
March 31 – Mark 9:1-29
April 1 – Mark 9:30-50
April 2 – Mark 10:1-16

Watch Video of Max McLean's Recitation
Click Here to Watch Mark Chapter 8
Click Here to Watch Mark Chapter 9
Click Here to Watch Mark Chapter 10

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Book Club: The Challenge of Easter

I've been inviting people in my church to read The Challenge of Easter with me. It's a small booklet based on a section from N. T. Wright's book, The Challenge of Jesus. Here's a short quotation from the chapter I read this morning:

"Blessed, says Jesus, are those who have not seen yet believe; yes, indeed, but one day we shall see him as he is and share the completed new creation that he is even now in the process of planning and making. We live, therefore, between Easter and the consummation, following Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit and commissioned to be for the world what he was for Israel, bringing God's redemptive reshaping to our world."

Wright challenges us to see that believing in the resurrection of Jesus on the third day and the Christian hope of resurrection on the final day is a beginning, but we need to understand and embrace what the resurrection means for how we live our lives today.

On Tuesday, April 19, 7:00pm, at Valley Christian Church, I'll be leading discussion group for those who have read The Challenge of of Easter. You're welcome to join us.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Heaven, Hell, and Mr. Bell

My copy of Rob Bell's new book, Love Wins, arrived yesterday. After reading so much by reviewers and bloggers, it will be nice to be able to finally just read the book.

JR Woodward's series of posts at his Dream Awakener blog provide the most helpful, evenhanded, and thorough assessment I've seen out in the blogosphere. Here are links to all six posts.




Part I:
Introduction
Part II: Overview of Love Wins
Part III: Is Rob Bell a Universalist?
Part IV: Does God’s love and mercy extend beyond the grave?
Part V: Understanding Heresy and Orthodoxy
Part VI: Heresy, Orthodoxy, and Final Judgment

Monday, March 21, 2011

Lenten Readings and Video for March 21-26

I'd like to invite you to join me in reading through the Gospel of Mark during these weeks leading up to Resurrection Sunday. It's a wonderful way to enrich your Lenten season and prepare your heart for a more meaningful Easter. Each Saturday night, I'll post the reading schedule for the coming week. I'll also post videos of Max McLean's interpretive recitation of each chapter.


Lenten Readings for March 21-26:

March 21 – Mark 4:35—5:20
March 22 – Mark 5:21-43
March 23 – Mark 6:1-13
March 24 – Mark 6:14-29
March 25 – Mark 6:30-56
March 26 – Mark 7:1-23

Watch Mark Chapter 5


Watch Mark Chapter 6


Watch Mark Chapter 7

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Teaching at Valley: Sunday, March 20

Valley Christian Church has three Sunday worship services.
9:00am - Daybreak Service
10:30am - Wellspring Service
4:30pm - Evensong Service

This Sunday I'll be preaching Part 2 of my "Darkness No More" series. If you live in the Twin Cities, I invite you to join us.

Sunday, March 20
Children of Light
Ephesians 5:8-14

8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. 14 This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Bell Blurbs: Boyd, Peterson, Mouw

There is a Patheos website with some rebuttals and endorsements relating to Rob Bell's controversial new book, Love Wins. For all the criticisms, having endorsements by Greg Boyd, Richard Mouw, and Eugene Peterson is pretty impressive. Here are a few positive blurbs from them.

“In the current religious climate in America, it isn’t easy to develop an imagination, a thoroughly biblical imagination, that takes in the comprehensive and eternal work of Christ in all people and all circumstances in love and for salvation. Rob Bell goes a long way in helping us acquire just such an imagination. Love Wins accomplishes this without a trace of soft sentimentality and without compromising an inch of evangelical conviction in its proclamation of the good news that is most truly for all."

– Eugene H. Peterson, Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology, Regent College, and author of The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language

Love Wins is a bold, prophetic and poetic masterpiece. I don’t know any contemporary writer who expresses the inexpressible love of God as beautifully and as powerfully as Rob Bell! Many will disagree with some of Rob’s perspectives, but no one who seriously engages this book will put it down unchanged. By my reckoning, this makes Love Wins a ‘must read’ book!”

– Greg Boyd, Senior Pastor of Woodland Hills Community Church, and author of many books, including Letters to a Skeptic.

“[Love Wins is] a great book, well within the bounds of orthodox Christianity and passionate about Jesus. The real hellacious fight, says Mouw, a friend of Bell, a Fuller graduate, is between “generous orthodoxy and stingy orthodoxy. There are stingy people who just want to consign many others to hell and only a few to heaven and take delight in the idea. But Rob Bell allows for a lot of mystery in how Jesus reaches people.”

– Richard Mouw, president of the world’s largest Protestant seminary, Fuller Theological Seminary, as quoted in USA TODAY

Peterson Says a Bit More in an Interview

The same website has an interview with Eugene Peterson clarifying his endorsement of Bell's book. He doesn't hold back, and he's not too hopeful about Bell's very vocal and uncharitable critics.

What are your thoughts regarding Rob Bell’s book and the controversy it ignited? What inspired you to endorse the book?

Rob Bell and anyone else who is baptized is my brother or my sister. We have different ways of looking at things, but we are all a part of the kingdom of God. And I don’t think that brothers and sisters in the kingdom of God should fight. I think that’s bad family manners.

I don’t agree with everything Rob Bell says. But I think they’re worth saying. I think he puts a voice into the whole evangelical world which, if people will listen to it, will put you on your guard against judging people too quickly, making rapid dogmatic judgments on people. I don’t like it when people use hell and the wrath of God as weaponry against one another.

I knew that people would jump on me for writing the endorsement. I wrote the endorsement because I would like people to listen to him. He may not be right. But he’s doing something worth doing. There’s so much polarization in the evangelical church that it’s a true scandal. We’ve got to learn how to talk to each other and listen to each other in a civil way.

Do evangelicals need to reexamine our doctrines of hell and damnation?

Yes, I guess I do think they ought to reexamine. They ought to be a good bit more biblical, not taking things out of context.

But the people who are against Rob Bell are not going to reexamine anything. They have a litmus test for who is a Christian and who is not. But that’s not what it means to live in community.

Luther said that we should read the entire Bible in terms of what drives toward Christ. Everything has to be interpreted through Christ. Well, if you do that, you’re going to end up with this religion of grace and forgiveness. The only people Jesus threatens are the Pharisees. But everybody else gets pretty generous treatment. There’s very little Christ, very little Jesus, in these people who are fighting Rob Bell.

Prayer of St. Patrick

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me;
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's hosts to save me
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a mulitude.

Christ shield me today
Against wounding
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through the mighty strength
Of the Lord of creation

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

The Important Stuff: Skyebox Apple Tree (Part 2)

What on earth are you doing, and does it matter? Skye Jethani has posted The Apple Tree and the End of the World (Part 2). I think he's got a good thing going. I'll be staying tuned, and I hope you will too.

If Skye's post piques your interest on this important subject, I'd encourage you to order a copy of N. T. Wright's book, Surprised by Hope, and start reading that too. The possibility of a future new heaven and a new earth might just motivate you to plant more apple trees (and do lots of other beautiful things) today.

YouTube Grows 100% in One Year

How would your world change without Google and YouTube? I have to admit that if they went away, it would be a big deal for me. Like no other media in my lifetime, they've woven their way into my work, my entertainment, my relationships, my shopping, my study, and on and on I could go.

Apparently, I'm not alone. Google's YouTube is experiencing exponential growth. The Star Tribune has an interesting article in today's paper about YT's phenomenal expansion in the past year.

"Analysts disagree as to whether YouTube is profitable, and Google won't disclose YouTube's finances except to say revenue more than doubled in 2010. Critics of its $1.65 billion purchase have melted away."
Read the Complete Article

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Mouw Chimes in On Bell, Part 2

Yesterday, I posted about Richard Mouw being quoted by a USA Today columnist about Rob Bell and his new book, Love Wins. I expressed a hope that Mouw would actually post something on his blog that would give us more about his take on the book and Bell's theology.

Well, today he did just that with a post entitled, "The Orthodoxy of Rob Bell." He suggests that Rob Bell is not unlike C. S. Lewis, Billy Graham, and Mouw himself in their perspective of "salvific generosity." He asks, "Why don’t folks who criticize Rob Bell for wanting to let too many people in also go after people...who want to keep too many people out? Why are we rougher on salvific generosity than on salvific stinginess?" Read the Complete Post

World without End: Skyebox Apple Tree (Part 1)

What on earth are you doing, and does it matter? Skye Jethani has a thought-provoking post on his Skyebox blog about how your ideas about "the end of the world" affect the way you live today. The post is called The Apple Tree and the End of the World (Part 1). I'm not sure how many parts are yet to come, but I'm looking forward to reading them.

If Skye's post piques your interest on this important subject, I'd encourage you to order a copy of N. T. Wright's book, Surprised by Hope, and start reading that too. The possibility of a future new heaven and a new earth might just motivate you to plant more apple trees (and do lots of other beautiful things) today.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Mouw Chimes in On Bell

Richard Mouw, the highly respected president of Fuller Theological Seminary has been quoted in USA today about Rob Bell's forthcoming book, Love Wins. I'm sure that his positive statements will stir up a lot more negative reaction in the blogosphere. I hope that will push Mouw into post something more substantial on his own blog outlining his reaction to Bell's book.

From the USA Today Article:
But Richard Mouw, president of the world's largest Protestant seminary, Fuller Theological Seminary based in Pasadena, Calif., calls Love Wins "a great book, well within the bounds of orthodox Christianity and passionate about Jesus.

The real hellacious fight, says Mouw, a friend of Bell, a Fuller graduate, is between "generous orthodoxy and stingy orthodoxy. There are stingy people who just want to consign many others to hell and only a few to heaven and take delight in the idea. But Rob Bell allows for a lot of mystery in how Jesus reaches people."
Read the Complete Article

Lenten Reading Schedule

I'd like to invite you to join me in reading through the Gospel of Mark during these weeks leading up to Resurrection Sunday. It's a wonderful way to enrich your Lenten season and prepare your heart for a more meaningful Easter. Each Saturday night, I'll post the reading schedule for the coming week. I'll also post videos of Max McLean's interpretive recitation of each chapter.


Lenten Readings for this Week:

March 14 – Mark 2:1-17
March 15 – Mark 2:18-28
March 16 – Mark 3:1-19
March 17 – Mark 3:20-35
March 18 – Mark 4:1-20
March 19 – Mark 4:21-34

Watch Mark Chapter 2


Watch Mark Chapter 3


Watch Mark Chapter 4

Saturday, March 12, 2011

New Series: Darkness No More

My new teaching series at Valley Christian Church begins this Sunday.

Darkness No More
Finding Light & Life in Christ

Sunday, March 13
Kingdom of Light • Colossians 1:9-14

Sunday, March 20
Children of Light • Ephesians 5:8-14

Sunday, March 27
Words of Light • 2 Peter 1:19-21

Sunday, April 3
Hearts of Light • 2 Corinthians 4:4-7

Sunday, April 10
Armor of Light • Romans 13:11-14

Sunday, April 17
Fellowship of Light • 1 John 1:5-10

Friday, April 22
Good Friday Service, 7:00pm
Leaving Darkness, Loving Light • John 3:19-21

Sunday, April 24
Resurrection Light • 2 Timothy 1:9-10

Sunday, May 1
City of Light • Matthew 5:13-16

Friday, March 11, 2011

The Trouble (and Blessing) of Lent

I first started observing Ash Wednesday and Lent during the years I served as the Campus Pastor for Christian Student Fellowship at the University of Minnesota. The CSF ministry center was just blocks away from Luther Seminary. I would occasionally go over to the Chapel of the Incarnation over on the Luther campus to take in Wednesday morning worship.

David Lose, faculty member of Luther Seminary, has written a nice article on the meaning and benefits of Lent. If you've never observed Lent, or if your experience of Lent has been some sort of empty ritual, you may find his essay helpful.

"I need Lent, finally, to remind me of who I am -- God's heir and Christ's co-heir -- so that, come Easter, I can rejoice and celebrate with all the joy, all the revelry, all the anticipation, of a true heir to the throne." Read the Complete Essay

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Beauty for Ashes

We had a wonderful time of worship and reflection last night at Valley Christian. This was our second year to have a service on Ash Wednesday, and it's proving to be very meaningful.

It's good to look mortality in the eye and to remember our days our numbered (Psalm 90). Remembering that "we are dust, and to dust we will return" is a profound way to begin our journey toward Resurrection Sunday. As we imposed ashes on the forehead or hands of worshipers, we said, "Remember you are dust." Then as the worshipers partook of communion, we said, "Remember He is life."

Here are the lyrics to the closing song I wrote for last night's service. The attitude of the worshipers and the sound of their singing was wonderful.

Saved from Darkness
Overwhelming shadows—
Sin, guilt, doubts, and fears.
Who can pierce the darkness?
Who can dry our tears?

He has saved us, He has saved us
From the dominion of darkness.
He has saved us, He has saved us,
And brought us into the Kingdom
Of the Son He loves.

Though the truth is shining,
Some still love the night.
Will you leave the darkness?
Walk into the light!

He will save us. He will save us
From the dominion of darkness.
He will save us. He will save us
And bring us into the Kingdom
Of the Son He loves.

One true light is shining—
Hope and life for all.
Will you now receive him?
Can you hear him call?

“I can save you, I can save you
From the dominion of darkness.
I can save you, I can save you,
And bring you into my Kingdom,
As the son God loves.”

Let us strive to please Him,
Living fruitful lives.
Sharing in His Kingdom,
Children of the Light.

He has saved us, He has saved us
From the dominion of darkness.
He has saved us, He has saved us,
And brought us into the Kingdom
Of the Son He loves.

Words & Music by Dave Burkum
© Copyright 2011 by Sonoluma (burkum.com).


View and Listen to Music Here

Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Spring toward Resurrection - Lenten Readings

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent in the traditional Christian calendar. The lengthening days of spring that precede Easter are a wonderful time for reflection on the life and light that Christ brings into our lives ("lent" comes from old German words for "long" and "spring"). The melting snow, budding trees, and emerging flowers serve as beautiful metaphors for the renewal, hope, and transformation that God has graciously given us through Jesus. It's good to remember that the Christian life is a journey toward resurrection and restoration.

In an effort to help you have a meaningful Lenten season, I'd like to invite you to join me in reading through the Gospel of Mark during these weeks leading up to Resurrection Sunday. Each Saturday night, I'll post the reading schedule for the coming week. I'll also post videos of Max McLean's interpretive recitation of each chapter.

Lenten Readings for this Week:
March 10 – Mark 1:1-15
March 11 – Mark 1:16-34
March 12 – Mark 1:35-45

Monday, March 07, 2011

Waiting Wins: McKnight on Bell

There has been much brouhaha and speculation about Rob Bell's soon-to-be-released book, Love Wins. Too much! From my jaded point of view, the firestorm over the book says more about shrewd marketing and the frustrating state of popular Christianity than it does about Rob Bell's theology.

I'll wait until the book comes out and I've read it before writing anything about it. In the meantime, one of the best posts I've read is from our good friend, Scot McKnight, over at the Jesus Creed blog. Rather than stirring the pot, Scot is, thankfully, challenging people to care, think, wait, and love.

Scot writes:
Waiting for Rob Bell 2 (2011.03.07)

I stood in horror watching the blogosphere light up last week, but my horror was not simply over the accusations made against an author whose book was not even yet available nor just over those who were denouncing Rob Bell for what they were absolutely certain was universalism. No the horror was that there was a volley of posts put up about hell. It looked like a tug of war between Love Wins! and Wrath Wins! Is this what we need? the way to proceed? the way to find resolution?

My horror, then, was three-fold: first, the image of God that is depicted when hell becomes the final, or emphatic, word and, second, the absence of any context for how to talk about judgment in the Bible and, third, the kinds of emotion expressed: we saw too much gloating and pride and triumphalism on both sides. I felt like those who watched the sinking of the Titanic and who didn’t cringe at the thought of thousands sinking into the Atlantic to a suffocating death. They were instead singing and dancing to a jig that they were right or had been predicting the sinking all along. . . . Read Scot's entire post.

Saturday, March 05, 2011

New Dave Burkum Website


After a few frustrating years of never getting my personal website updated, I finally have a new site thanks to the good people at Weebly and Bandcamp. Both sites have been extremely easy to work with. When people like me can make a site, you know that the internet is getting easy enough for anyone. Much appreciation to my friend, Jordan Peacock, for introducing me to Bandcamp.

Now you can find your way to most everything I do, just by visiting my site. Click Here to Go There