Bread And Circuses

the first rule about jesus

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:09 CMT

the nytimes has an article about evangelical churches participating in mixed martial arts fighting. cute stuff like churches named 'xtreme ministries' doubling as fight academy's and stuff.
we here at salina will be starting our fighting academy soon, centering around making devastatingly snarky comments.
thanks cass...
by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.12.13 - 2010.1.24

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:58 CMT

sermon catch up time. sorry for the terrible delay...
sermon, 2009.12.13 on mark 9:14-29 (notes) is here.
the sermon, 2009.12.20 on mark 10:1-12, is here.
no idea where the sermons for 2009.12.27 (mark 10:1-12)and 2010.1.3 (mark 10:13-30; i have those notes at least) are though. perhaps the angel ordered them sealed until the end or something.
but, back to the system, the sermon for 2010.1.10 on mark 10:32-52 is here.
then, the sermon for 2010.1.17 on mark 11:1-14 is here.
and the sermon for 2010.1.24, on mark 11:15-33 (notes), is here.
whew.
by taylor
Comments : 0

i told u i was hardcore

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 8:11 CMT

robert park on human rights and evangelism
required reading for our church: it would be worth comparing the tone of the comments in the metafilter post with those following the Reuters interview. we should be praying for this guy and for those he is trying to reach. "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christthe righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead."
by jeff ronk
Comments : 1

by the numbers

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:48 CMT

graphic showing the breakdown of america's religious affiliations.
by taylor
Comments : 2

give till it hurds

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 22:11 CMT

mint.com has a nice image breakdown on the giving, covering americans generosity and where to give.
by taylor
Comments : 0

out and about

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:09 CMT

rocky (editing), andy (filming), and carrie (interviewing) made a little 'man on the street' video in austin, asking folks questions about their spiritual beliefs.
update: well...if you want to see it, you'll have to ask permission as it turns out. so, do that or don't, whatever.
by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.12.06

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:55 CMT

the transfiguration occurred vicariously in our midst sunday, as we looked at mark 9:1-13.
relive the event at home with the sermon here. also, if you haven't heard it yet, here's the song by sufjan stevens.
by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.11.29

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:40 CMT

mark 8:27-38; peter identifies jesus, then offers some rather misplaced advice and gets smacked down. jesus then talks about the cost of discipleship; good reading for any disciple.
the sermon is here.
by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.11.15

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:00 CMT

the end of the first section of mark; review the outline if you need to brush up on the layout.
jesus feeds some gentiles, rejects some pharisees, then offers a picture of understanding; mark 8:1-26.
sermon available here.
by taylor
Comments : 0

perhaps we should just exchange cordial greetings

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 8:17 CMT

tried to ignore this on interwebs but failed as it's everywhere now. christians rapping about how you should side-hug to avoid having too much of your body touch someone of the opposite sex.
i will be having none of this.
by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.11.8

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 9:56 CMT

jesus does some mixing with some gentile types in mark 7:24-37.
the sermon is available here.
by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.11.1

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:38 CMT

another sunday on the fancy recording machine; the fantastic passage of mark 7:1-23.
the sermon is here.
by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.10.25

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:54 CMT

mark 6:45-56, including the fantastic story of jesus walking on the water. this was recorded on a new fancy recording device (zoom h4n), then tweaked and mastered by a real music genius. we're gonna start doing sermons only though; hopefully that'll be ok with you folks in internet land.
sermon here, notes here
by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.10.18

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:06 CMT

mark 6:30-44, as taught by the newly ordained hurley. jesus feeds the 5000...
the whole service is here, and the sermon is here.
also...the audio has been compressed this week, but not well. sort of a hack job; lemme know if this is better or worse than the usual trash recording. on the positive side, we bought a new fancy recording device that should work much better.
by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.10.11

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 8:35 CMT

mark 6:14-29; the section in which john the baptist's beheading is recounted, covered by jeff.
the full service is here, and the sermon by itself is here.
by taylor
Comments : 2

service, 2009.9.27

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:09 CMT

huuurrley, rollin through mark 6:1-6 (jesus gets dissed by his homies in nazareth). recording is available.
the full event is here, and the sermon by its lonesome is here.
by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.9.20

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:32 CMT

well, we're on a bit of a streak at this point. two weeks in a row with no recording... we did cover mark 5:21-43 however, and the notes are available here if you're curious.
by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.9.13

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:48 CMT

had some recording device troubles this week, so there's nothing to listen to on this past sunday's service over mark 5:1-20 (the gerasene demoniac).
sorry...
by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.8.30

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:23 CMT

we finished the parables in mark 4 (v26-34) sunday, covering the parable of the growing seed and the parable of the mustard seed.
the full service is here, the sermon is here, and the notes are here.
by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.8.23

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:42 CMT

well. technical details bedevil us again, and we have no recording of this past sunday's service. you will have to imagine it, in your head, like in the old days when people used to sit around fires and say, "oh that little bit of fire looks like what sunday looked like at salina street church".
we covered mark 4:1-25. on the parable of the sower. make sure you imagine that bit.
by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.8.16

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:16 CMT

jesus was accused of healing by the power of 'satan', spoke about the unforgivable sin, and talked about his true family. if you're thinking to yourself, "my that sounds like mark 3:20-35.", go ahead and take another cookie.
the full service is here, and the sermon only is here.
by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.8.9

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:03 CMT

well...no recording this week. but the text was mark 3:7-19, and it's entirely possible that the notes will be posted here at some point.
by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.8.2

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:58 CMT

mark 2:23-3:6, in which jesus disputes with some pharisees regarding the sabbath.
the full service is here, the sermon alone is here, and the notes are here.
by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.7.26

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:36 CMT

mark 2:13-22 this week; jesus calls levi, refers to himself as the bridegroom, and talks about fasting. brother hurley had the helm so we taped the pink recording device to the music stand.
the full service is here, the sermon alone is here.
by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.7.19

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 8:53 CMT

exactly one week off on the posting here; last week's service is now available. we covered mark 2:1-12, in which jesus heals the paralytic who is lowered through the roof (great story).
here, the sermon is here, and the sermon notes are here.
by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.7.12

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 8:52 CMT

so...our top secret pink recording device was assidentally left at home by yours truly, which means you'll have to use your imagination to hear the service from the 12th. but the notes at least are available, so you can follow along with jeff's teaching on mark 1:29-1:45 (the compassion of god illustrated, as jesus heals several, including a leper).
sorry for the lack of audio...
by taylor
Comments : 0

wow- ur bible shur looks old!

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:36 CMT

codex sinaiticus goes online
from B&C bibleology: "Sinaiticus is perhaps the single most important text of the New Testament in existence today. It is a 4th Century Codex of the Greek Bible (including the Old Testament, though not all of the Old Testament has survived." now you can read it online. The manuscript was 'discovered' by the noted scholar Dr. Tischendorf at the monastery of St. Catharine on Mount Sinai. During a journey to the monestary in 1853, he was shown the manuscript by the steward of the monastery; he attempted to buy the manuscript, but without success. Later, Tischendorf convinced the monks to send the manuscript to the Czar of Russia, who (as Protector of the Orthodox Church) could be influential in selecting the next head of the monestary. There is some question to the validity of this deal however, as the monks allege that Tischendorf promised that the manuscript would be returned to them. Needless to say, the manuscript did never make its way to Sinai again, being sold by the USSR to the British Museum in 1933, where it resides today.
by jeff ronk
Comments : 0

service, 2009.7.5

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:54 CMT

mixed things up with the service order this week; cut the break out and put the announcements first (per a request). coincidentally, we astally have the whole service up for you to listen to, if you like barely hearing things via our amazing recording technology.
in more relevant news, the sermon was on mark 1:16-28.
full service here, sermon only here, notes here.
by taylor
Comments : 0

who wants to be a believer

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:03 CMT

a new gameshow in turkey is attempting to convert atheists to religion. the show will pit rabbis, imans, monks, and priests against each other in an attempt to woe the atheist(s) to their respective religions.
by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.6.28

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:24 CMT

apologies in advance, sermon only this week (again). jeff covered mark 1:1-15 (notes here).
sermon is available here.
by taylor
Comments : 0

web presence

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:45 CMT

the website for evangel cathedral is certainly showing our sorry selves up.
make sure your speakers are on and the volume is set to 11.
thanks to shaun for the link...
by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.6.21

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 20:08 CMT

brother hurley had his first day of teaching since moving back to austin, tx, and covered an intro and overview of mark. he's rather high energy, so beware of the multiple times when he knocks the pink recording device off of the music stand.
also, we don't have the full service available this week do to some technical difficulties, but the sermon is here, and his notes are here.
by taylor
Comments : 0

our new internet study resources page

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:17 CMT

a cheater's new testament introduction
i have been working on compiling some useful internet study resources. this is the first in what i hope will be a larger more exhaustive collection of links to sites that will contribute to your biblical education.
by jeff ronk
Comments : 0

read the new testament this month

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:48 CMT

jeff has put together a schedule to help you read through the new testament in a month. my family is signed on for the project, and that means my 7 year old son is doing the reading, so no excuses.
by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.6.7

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:48 CMT

hebrews has been completed; jeff finished the book this week, hitting heb 13:18-25. next week we'll read through the book as a group (probably no posting of the service next week), then we'll be on to mark.
the full service is here, the sermon all alone is here.
by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.5.31

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:35 CMT

hebrews 13:7-17, an encouragement to stay true to the truth they were established with initially.
the full service esta aqui, and the sermon is here, and the notes are here.
by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.5.24

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:23 CMT

yes, we're just playing catch up here...i've been a out of town quite a bit lately, so please forgive the delays. anyway, without further ado, here's the full service and here's just the sermon (covering heb 13:1-6).
by taylor
Comments : 0

some thoughts after visiting mars hill church

Sun, 31 May 2009 17:48 CMT

MHC downtown
so, as part of our little excursion to seattle, laurie and i visited one of the mars hill church campuses today. i wanted to put down some observations and solicit some discussion.

by way of background, mars hill is a megachurch in seattle started by a guy named mark driscoll. it has grown from a bible study to a HUGE multi-campus church in about 10 years. (guessing here: see their site for the real history). as it is now, they have several campuses in addition to the main one in the ballard neighborhood north of downtown seattle. each of the sites has its own pastoral/elder leadership, but the preaching is driscoll piped in. not sure about the nuts and bolts of how that works but he is there on the screen at the campuses.

laurie and i visited the downtown campus (linked above) for a couple of reasons:

it was with in walking distance
i wanted to see how the campus model functioned in a real life service
that location supports our friends over at austin city life, an acts 29 network plant that meets over on 6th st.

we hit the 9:00 service and were pleasantly surprised to see that they also have a hard time starting on time, though not quite as late as we do. the interior had a nice minimalist modern-ish vibe: lots of black, coffee from storyville coffee. the band leading worship was on the bluegrass side of indie; nicely done, not too loud. over all the feel was just comfortable. i liked it.

now for some observations:

worship: not overdone; the setting provided a nice atmosphere for reflection/contemplation/meditation of the truths of scripture or songs. it was not emotionally conjured as we sometimes see, it was just nice to have a time to dwell on the passage that was read and projected as the back drop. the music was god focused, biblically based, and well presented. i think that as a church we could tighten this up a bit- work harder to provide an atmosphere that facilitated dwelling or meditation on scripture or our musical expression of worship.
as far as the campus model: there does seem to be some legitimate campus pastoral leadership at the sites: i am not sure how this plays out during the rest of the week, or in terms of decision making but it seemed to work. re: piping in driscoll- i am ambivalent here; for one thing it relies on tech- it can be glitchy. we had a rough start this morning. it is less strange to watch the sermon on a screen than i thought it would be, but i worry about the teaching opportunities of the local pastors/elders.
they use a lot of house done media- video, print, music, so there is a nice degree of cohesiveness across campuses. to my untrained eye, the quality is pretty good. the video intro to II peter today was quite catchy.

overall it was one of the more pleasant church experiences that i have had: comfortable and unpretentious, well done with out being cheesy. on a downside- they were not overly friendly- same as any church. not unfriendly- just not outgoing to a couple of new faces. of course- laurie and i are not exactly outgoing ourselves so we were happy to just blend in with the scenery.

lets have some questions/comments here. fire away. use this as an opportunity for what we can do to make salina street church more engaging and useful.

i will use this chance to get a little, como se dice, sentimental: i love the church- i love our church; it is my greatest desire to see it built up and strengthened. may god use our efforts to do just that. may we all work together to present every person complete in christ, remembering ii peter 1:1-4 "Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust." amen.
by jeff ronk
Comments : 1

service, 2009.5.17

Thu, 21 May 2009 19:30 CMT

this past sunday we covered hebrews 12:18-29, the very last warning of hebrews. no more stern, scary stuff in the book from here...
the full shebang is here, the sermon is here, and...notes are here.
heads up, this sermon is waaay to long, rolling in at 50 minutes. ouch.
by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.5.10

Mon, 11 May 2009 23:22 CMT

well...jeff taught on hebrews 12:14-17, which is a fantastic section. but our dandy little pink recording device pooped out about halfway through the prayer section of our service, so there really isn't anything to listen to.
apologies to you, dear reader, and may such difficulties be few and far between. jeff's notes are available here. feel free to tweet questions or email to elders-at-salinastreetchurch-dot-com.
by taylor
Comments : 0

penn says

Sat, 09 May 2009 15:43 CMT

(posting for jeff) penn jillette, noted athiest of penn and teller fame, on his encounter with a christian proselytizing him. a well expressed view of his thoughts on 'witnessing', from the other side of the equation.
by taylor
Comments : 0

fascinating graphic

Thu, 07 May 2009 9:05 CMT

changes in religious affiliations
this is a really interesting look at changes in religion from childhood to adulthood. the graphic is particularly striking.
by jeff ronk
Comments : 0

service, 2009.5.3

Tue, 05 May 2009 19:11 CMT

heeeeebrews 12:4-13 this past sunday. moving right along, almost done with the book - what will come next?
full service here, sermon only here, and notes here.
by taylor
Comments : 0

moral standing

Tue, 05 May 2009 12:11 CMT

the nytimes has an article exploring how people view their own morality; interesting reading. people tend to overestimate their own morality; 1 cor 10:12,13 comes through here again:

12. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. 13. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

by taylor
Comments : 0

service, 2009.4.26

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:13 CMT

hebrews 12:1-3 this week. also, i botched the recording, so if you were hoping for some of the singing and other bits of the service, well tough on you.
the sermon, however, is here. Teaching notes here.
by taylor
Comments : 0

the new athiesm

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:32 CMT

more athiests shout it from the rooftops
from the NYT: "Josh Streetman, who once attended the very Christian college that the Pastafarians were about to debate, said he knew the Bible too well to be sure that Scripture is true. Like Mr. Streetman, many of the other students at the meeting were highly literate in the Bible and religious history."
by jeff ronk
Comments : 0

service, 2009.4.19

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 14:59 CMT

yeah, nothing for 2009.4.12, as that was easter; our easter service is available if you want to read along, but it's distinct from a usual service, comprised of mixed scripture reading, prayer, and singing.
the 19th saw the finish of heb 11, covering verses 32-40. the notes are here if you want them.
full service here, sermon only here.
by taylor
Comments : 0

deadly sins

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:59 CMT

jeff pointed out this john piper sermon on battling the unbelief of lust, in which piper says the following:

My text on that point was Matthew 5:28-29 where Jesus says, "Every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell." I pointed out that Jesus said heaven and hell are at stake in what you do with your eyes and with the thoughts of your imagination. After the message one of the students came up to me and asked, "Are you saying, then, that a person can lose his salvation?" This is exactly the same response I got a few years ago when I confronted a man about the adultery he was presently living in. I tried to understand his situation and I pled with him to return to his wife. Then I said, "You know Jesus says that if you don't fight this sin with the kind of seriousness that is willing to gouge out your own eye, you will go to hell and suffer there forever." He looked at me in utter disbelief, as though he had never heard anything like this in his life, and said, "You mean you think a person can lose his salvation?" So I have learned again and again from first hand experience that there are many professing Christians who have a view of salvation that disconnects it from real life, and that nullifies the warnings of the Bible and puts the sinning person who claims to be a Christian beyond the reach of biblical threats. And this doctrine is comforting thousands on the way to hell.
Jesus said, if you don't fight lust, you won't go to heaven.

same goes for other sins referenced in that section, not just lust. our attitude towards sin has to be energetic, active resistance; not self-pity, not self-righteousness, and certainly not half-hearted.
by taylor
Comments : 4

service, 2009.4.5

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 16:00 CMT

sunday's service covered hebrews 11:23-31, reviewing the faith of abraham - rahab. the full service is here and the sermon by it's lonesome is here.
by taylor
Comments : 1

service, 2009.3.29

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 16:51 CMT

the 'hall of faith' in hebrews 11, abraham through joseph. cooler people than we...
full service here, sermon only here. notes here.
by taylor
Comments : 0