Dancin Machine

I would like to give a shout out to my brother Rob- "Shout Out! Hi-Oh!"- for drawing my attention to this video. My wife (a dancin machine) and I have had dance-offs within the confines of our family room but unfortunately did not have the opportunity at our wedding reception. Check this out- pretty funny. And yes, I am kind of upset that it was not my idea.

belly

I eat way too much ice cream and way too many gummy bears.
That's a fact, Jack.

Poetry

I have always enjoyed the flair of truth-laden creativity. Some people just have it. They can strike up deep emotion with the stroke of a pen- not in some manipulative way- but because unmovable truth is exposed in some beautiful way. After reading a devotional from John Piper, I decided to read the book of Lamentations. It was an emotional 30 or 45 minutes. Jeremiah, was staring at the streets of Jerusalem watching the demise of the land and people that he loved- watching children beg for food from their mothers, and their mothers in return ("compassionate women" keep in mind) cook their own children for food. And Jeremiah's response- a poem. Lamentations. An emotional, truth-saturated, painful poem with glimpses of hope. I read it and I saw America- a people who have forsaken God and people who are starving for the food of the Word. Lamentations is an incredible piece of work. Even if you were to take it out of the Bible and place it in a school textbook, it would still be gorgeous. Not only is it beautifully written, it's a poem that God wants us to read and to reflect upon and be changed by. It is a poem from God to us.

I hope to become a decent poet. I hopet to become a poet. Suffice it to say, it will take a while. I will leave you with one that I wrote in high school. It's breathtaking, I know. I hope to have some that are more meaningful to share as God continues to shape my mind from mush to masterpiece. I have started some and it will take weeks or months to finish. But here is a poem that I received an A for in high school.

"Eek"

"Eek" cried the kitten,
I hit it with a mitten.
"Eek" cried the cat;
I hit it with a bat.
"Eek" cried the bear;
I hit it with a chair.
"Eek cried the dog;
I hit it with a log.
"Eek cried the anteater;
I wacked it with my weed-eater.


That's right. An A. Feel free to leave your own masterpiece here.

Can Eloquence as a Preacher be a Stumbling Block to Listeners?

Moments ago I read John Piper's blog and I was struck by what he said. He basically says that its possible to be so eloquent as a speaker that people don't care what you say- they will like it no matter what the subject matter. He points to an example from the life of George Whitefield, one of our country's most gifted/successful preachers in American history. The last paragraph hit me square in the mouth- like a sucker-punch from Mister T- I am a product of what he is talking about. We pick up on his blog:

"In the spring of 1740 Whitefield was in Philadelphia preaching outdoors to thousands. Benjamin Franklin attended most of these messages. Franklin, who did not believe what Whitefield was preaching, commented on these perfected sermons:

'His delivery...was so improved by frequent repetition, that every accent, every emphasis, every modulation of voice, was so perfectly well turned, and well placed, that without being interested in the subject, one could not help being pleased with the discourse: a pleasure of much the same kind with that received from an excellent piece of music.' (Harry Stout, The Divine Dramatist, 104)

Here was preaching that was so well-delivered you could like it enough to ignore it's convicting truths. What should I say about this? More: What should I do about it? Paul said,

'Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.... My speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1Corinthians 1:17; 2:4-5)'

Was Whitefield right to perfect his delivery to the point where unbelieving Benjamin Franklin would enjoy it like a piece of music?

Pray for me. This is not an academic issue for a preacher.

P. S. Lest the generation of younger preachers who don't give a fig for eloquence think they have this one solved, beware. There is an "eloquence" of "hip" and "dress" and "slang" and "savvy" and "casual" and the "appearance of artlessness" that can have the exact same mesmerizing effect in our day that Whitefield's eloquence had in his: People like it without sharing any of the convictions."


This gives me a lot to think about. Pray for me too.- Kyle