Category: life

“Oprah seems to be a contradiction perfectly suited for a confused world of pluralism. She is a billionaire who speaks passionately about the pain and suffering in the world from the comforts of her sheltered life. She is among the most beloved icons of mothers yet she has never had any children. Many viewers tune in to learn how to improve their marriages yet she has never been married. And, she speaks of spiritual matters often and has an entire segment of her show titled “spirit,” which makes you wonder which spirit she’s referring to.” Read the whole article here.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, as much as I love and am encouraged by the ministry of John Piper, On the Poddy with Dave & Dan is now 3 places higher on the iTunes rankings!!

“Hey dave, frank woodly just signed my nipple!”
I just received this sms off my friend Mal. Back in the late 90’s when we were still teenagers we used to watch and love the tv show ‘Lano & Woodley‘ (Woodley is on the left). I’m not sure where Mal is but maybe his next quote might be “I’m never going to wash my nipple again…”

And in second place…“You can only be young once. But you can always be immature.” Dave Barry

(Mal if you’re reading this… what were you doing?)

I’ve been doing more reading about the emerging church of late. Haven’t read much more of Contemplative Youth Ministry or Becoming conversant with the emerging church but… I have been reading a bit about Mark Driscoll and his books. I’ve yet to get hold of his them but have read some reviews as well as info on his blog and church site. His latest book is called Confessions of a Reformission Rev. (Avid readers of my blog may remember that my podcast was ahead of his sermons in the iTunes top100 on Monday!!)

Mark Driscoll was one of the early leaders in what has come to be known as the emerging or emergent church. He is careful to define both terms, suggesting that he still believes in the principles upon which the emerging church was founded, but deliberately separates himself from the emergent crowd and such men as Brian McLaren. On pages 21 and 22 he says that “the emergent church is the latest version of liberalism. The only difference is that old liberalism accomodated modernity and the new liberalism accomodates postmodernity.” As for Driscoll, he “swim[s] in the theologically conservative stream of the emerging church.” (from here)

I’m interested to see how Driscoll interacts with culture without being dictated by it. It seems that in the history of his church at each difficult turn he’s gone back to the scriptures.

I’ve spent a bit of time (not recently) reflecting on Tim Kellar and Redeemer Pressie Church NY. Don Carson has this to say about them:

“The irony is that, while this sounds like an outstanding exemplar of the emerging church movement, this church – Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City – is thoroughly unlikely to identify itself as a candidate for emergin rolls. The reason I talk about this church should nevetheless be clear: it displays all the strengths of the emerging church movement while avoiding most of its weaknesses. In other words, the emerging church movement has numerous strengths, and we should be grateful for them – but they are not exclusively theirs” (from p56 of Becoming conversant)

I’m keen to keep thinking about how to interact with our culture yet not be swayed or shaped by it.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Romans 1:16 (esv)

The rain was falling. I heard a knock at the front door. Knock. Knock. Knock. I opened the door. Behold, it was a man dressed in a Foxtel jacket.

FOXTEL MAN: Good evening Sir.
ME: G’day… sorry we don’t have a TV
FM: You what? You don’t have a TV? Are you serious?
ME: Yes.
FM: Why is that?
ME: We don’t want one.
FM: [laughing] Then I guess you won’t be wanting extra channels!
ME: [also laughing] That’s right. Have a good night!

That was 2 days ago. It would have been good if I’d said some of the reasons why we’re too busy for a TV… could have lead onto a gospel conversation.

On the Poddy with Dave & Dan has made it to number 30 in the Religion & Spirituality section on iTunes!!!

We are ahead of the following:
>>> Matthiasmedia
>>> Max Lucado
>>> Greg Laurie
>>> Saddleback young adults
>>> Mark Driscoll @ Mars Hill
>>> We’re only 1 off taking down Joel Osteen!
>>> I can’t even see Sydney Anglicans in the top 100 anymore!

Give us one week and I’m confident we can make it into the top25 (which puts you on the front page!). Two weeks and we can maybe even make the top 20!