2010: Top Albums

The number ten is so last year. Below are my 9 favorite albums 0f the year 2010.

9. Ten Songs for Your Church, Sovereign Grace Music

I got this one for free at a conference. Of the ten songs, there are five that I never listen to. The other five are excellent and some of my favorite worship songs.

8. The Medicine, John Mark McMillan

Imagine if Bruce Springsteen, Wilco and Johnny Cash all raised a kid and made him go to church. This album would be the outcome. DNA tests on McMillan are inconclusive.

7. Entermission, DJ Official

Very diverse mix tape highlighting the talents of popular as well as lesser known gospel rappers. A sample from Dr. Eric Mason sets the tone of the record from the very first track. "You don't just do missions. You are a missionary."

6. Between Two Worlds, Trip Lee

Trip Lee gets better with every album. This one seems to have the most commercial appeal and, as is the case with all Reach Records artists, presents the gospel in a very clear and uncompromising manner. If you hate rap, you'll hate this album because well, it's a rap album.

5. To the Sea, Jack Johnson

This one is fairly typical for a Jack Johnson record but typical for Jack Johnson is still very good.

4. Counting Stars, Andrew Peterson

Andrew Peterson is such a good songwriter that I can't imagine him releasing an album that I don't like. Unless of course he goes techno and stops writing words for his songs. Don't laugh, others have tried it before.

3. Heartbreak Warfare, John Mayer

Mayer said that Continuum was like a record by The Police and this one was like a Neal Young record. That pretty much sums it up. Rough around the edges, not as good as the last one and not for everyone but still a good record. My wife and I saw him in concert during his tour for this album. I'm pretty sure he waved at me from the stage.

2. I and Love and You, The Avett Brothers

These guys have been around for a while but I just came across them this year. They come from North Carolina and their style is quite unique. They sound like The Old Crow Medicine Show would like to sound. Their style is best described as mountain music for a new generation with a touch of punk rock swagger thrown in. Add Rick Rubin at the production helm and you have a masterpiece.

The songs on this album are very well written. I'm not sure where these guys land theologically but most of their songs get you thinking vertically. One example listed below is the song Ill of Want that shows the void that is left from all the world has to offer. Jesus' words to the woman at the well about drinking and never thirsting again come to mind.

I am sick with wanting
And it's evil and it's daunting
How I let everything I cherish lay to waste
I am lost in greed this time, it's definately me
I point fingers but there's no one there to blame

I need for something
Not let me break it down again
I need for something
But not more medicine

I am sick with wanting
And it's evil how it's got me
And everyday is worse than the one before
The more I have the more I think:
I'm almost where I need to be
If only I could get a little more

I need for something
Now let me break it down again
I need for something
But not more medicine

Something has me (Something has me)
Oh something has me (Something has me)
Acting like someone I don't wanna be
Something has me (Something has me)
Oh something has me (Something has me)
Acting like someone I know isn't me
Ill with want and poisoned by this ugly greed

Temporary is my time
Ain't nothin on this world that's mine
Except the will I found to carry on
Free is not your right to choose
It's answering what's asked of you
To give the love you find until it's gone

I need for something
Now let me break it down again
I need for something
But not more medicine

Something has me (Something has me)
Oh something has me (Something has me)
Acting like someone I don't wanna be
Something has me (Something has me)
Oh something has me (Something has me)
Acting like someone I know isn't me
Ill with want and poisoned by this ugly greed
Ill with want and poisoned by this ugly greed

1. Rehab, Lecrae

Lecrae doesn't have the convenience that most other rappers have. An artist like Soulja Boy doesn't have to put together a great album. All that's needed is one catchy dance song in the midst of a sea of garbage and sales are through the roof. There's not a song on Rehab that will spark the next dance craze. However, this is a great album.

Rappers like Lecrae are traveling down a very narrow road with endless cliffs on both sides. A misstep to one side and everything just comes across as a moralistic anti-gang and drug crusade. On the other side there is the threat of compromising the message in an effort to gain more commercial appeal. See the duo GRITS for an example of both mistakes.

Lecrae manages his steps wisely by standing firm on gospel truth while at the same time growing in creativity with each new project. Rehab is a continuation of that growth. So no mega dance hit. Just a well-crafted hip-hop album that just so happens to carry a strong gospel message with it.

My Favorite Books of 2010

I was blessed to be able to read a lot of good books in 2010 and listed below are my favorites from the year. Quite a few of them were written and released before 2010 but I didn't get around to reading them until this year therefore, they make this year's cut. I have included 14 books on the list, not because that number carries some sort of deep spiritual meaning but because I really enjoyed all of these books. For what it's worth, these books are listed in order so the number 14 means that you should buy the book because you would probably like it. The number one means that reading that book will instantly change your life. If you don't read it, there's probably something wrong with you and you should see a doctor.

Happy reading!

14. The Pearl, Steinbeck

This is an excellent short story that shows how money does change things but not always for the best.

In the words of Puff Daddy/P. Diddy/Diddy, "Mo money, mo problems."

13. The Ones Who Hit the Hardest, Millman and Coyne

A detailed explanation of how the Steelers of the 70s were built, why they mattered to their struggling community and what made their rivalry with the Cowboys so great. As an added bonus, the Cowboys are the bad guys in this book so that should help you get through ESPN's endless coverage of that fading empire.

12. Edwards on True Christianinty, Strachan and Sweeney

If you, like me, are especially weak in matters of church history this short book is for you. The authors use Edwards' writings as commentary on current evangelical trends and norms in a way that familiarizes the reader with America's greatest theologian by highlighting the relevance of his timeless writings. Also, if for some reason you get invited to one of those parties where people wear knickers and speak latin to each other, you can give this a quick read and you might be able to contribute to the conversation.

11. The Trellis and the Vine, Marshall and Payne

If there is anything in your church that is a hinderance to the fulfillment of the Great Commission, it needs to be dealt with quickly and decisively.

10. The King of Torts, Grisham

See above quote by Mr. P. Diddy regarding the increasing amount of money and it's relation to the amount of problems in one's life.

9. The Revolution, Paul

The people who laugh-off Ron Paul as a crazy old man with weird ideas usually seem to fall into two categories. First, there are those who have heard a lot from the maniacal end of Paul's fan base but have never actually read or listened to the man himself. Second, there are those who are fans/beneficiaries of the very aspects of big government that Paul would eliminate were he given the chance. In politics, everybody's for eliminating waste until it's their sacred cow that's considered waste.

8. The Good News We Almost Forgot, DeYoung

Kevin DeYoung is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. In this book, he breaks down the Heidelberg Catechism into easy to read daily portions that helps readers to clearly see the gospel and its implications from an ancient document they might not otherwise be aware of.

7. Republocrat, Trueman

Jesus isn't a member of the GOP.

Settle down democrats, he's not a part of your group either.

When we view the gospel through the lenses of our political leanings and what Fox News (or MSNBC) tells us to believe, we miss the gospel.

6. The Generous Soul, Duren

There were a lot of good books written about money in 2010 and I think this is the best one. Duren's motivation for missional giving is not based on guilt but on God's sovereignty and grace. God created everything so nothing really belongs to us. What has been given to us is solely a result of God's generosity. Christians who take their faith seriously will consider how they can model the generosity of their Maker and Life-giver and Sustainer.

5. The Gospel for Muslims, Anyabwile

If you know a Muslim and care anything about explaining the gospel to them in a respectful, accurate and understandable way, you'll read this short book and do what it says.

4. Scandalous, Carson

In Scandalous, D.A. Carson gives a very helpful and easy to understand explanation of the meaning behind the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If you've ever found yourself around Easter time asking, "What's the point of all this cross and empty tomb stuff", this one is for you. If you often find yourself at Easter asking, "What's the point behind all of these eggs and bunnies?" this book will not help you. But, that is an excellent question.

3. The Tipping Point, Gladwell

Why do some ideas take off and change the world while others are left on the chopping block in some board room? Gladwell gives a well written and even better researched answer to that question. If you are in a leadership position and care about making an impact, you should give this book a shot.

2. The Holiness of God, Sproul

This is an old school classic. Sproul helps us to see that holiness is not just another one of God's attributes but instead it is his essence. For such a weighty topic, this book is very easy to read and very practical.

1. Generous Justice, Keller

In my short time on earth and in the church I have seen Christians fall into two traps in regards to matters of justice. On the one end there are those who only care about feeding the hungry, caring for orphans so on and so on at the expense of the gospel. This is what we would commonly refer to as liberalism or the social gospel. At the other end are those who only care about evangelism. Their implied message is, "Here's how to get saved so you can go to Heaven whenever you and your family die from that AIDS thingy I'd rather not do anything about. Good luck." Keller shows us the pitfalls of both extremes but also helps us to see how we can merge what is right about the two and land on the gospel.

As is the case with his other books, Keller has done the church a great service in writing Generous Justice.

Up Next: The Year in Music

Christmas Is About Separation, Loneliness and Despair

Christmas is about separation, loneliness and despair.

I know, I sound like a cross between Ebenezer Scrooge and Friedrich Nietzsche. Believe it or not, this is actually a fact that runs throughout the Biblical storyline. Think about it. Why did Jesus have to come in the first place? If God does everything for a specific purpose, surely the birth of Jesus would be no exception.

From the beginning of the Bible we see a story of humans living, from one degree or another, in separation from God. Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden. Moses wasn’t allowed to look fully at the presence of God. David often wondered where God was. The common strand that runs throughout all of these lives is sin. Sin is a falling short of God’s standard of perfect holiness. Our problem is not that we have a few bad habits here and there. Our problem is that we are born with a disease called sin that separates us from our Creator. That’s where the loneliness and despair come in.

Thankfully, the story doesn’t stop there. Jesus allowed himself to be born into a world that would pierce and crush his body. This baby would grow up to know despair. Jesus took on flesh so that he could dwell among other fleshly creatures only to be rejected by them. He knew loneliness. Jesus left his rightful place in heaven to come to earth and endure the wrath of God in our place. God’s Son knew separation.

So Christmas is about separation, loneliness and despair – for Jesus. He would endure these things on behalf of his people. So now, through repentance from our sins and faith in Immanuel, Christmas is about something else too. For the people Jesus came to save, Christmas is about redemption, communion and joy.

What I Learned During My Summer Vacation

I spent last week with my family in sunny St. Augustine, Florida and had a blast. The week I spend with my wife and kids on the beach is one of my favorite times of the year. What follows is a list of what I learned.

1. As much as it pains me to say it,

I like the Atlantic better than the Gulf.

Saying this reminds me of the first time I tried cornbread with sugar in it and thought, “Hey, this doesn’t taste like burlap” only too feel like I was dishonoring my grandmother if I took one more bite. I haven’t had sweetened cornbread since.

I grew up going to the Gulf. People I grew up with believed that if you lived a good enough life you got to go to Panama City Beach when you died. What’s not to love about the Gulf?

Here’s one thing. It’s the airbrush t-shirt capital of the world. I think there’s a law somewhere on the books that requires any visitor of any gulf beach to purchase an airbrushed t-shirt before leaving. There are bonus points for the picture of sunglasses with your name in one lens and your BFF/boyfriend/dog’s name on the other lens. If you can’t afford the extra ink for the sunglasses a simple letter n sandwiched between two squiggly lines will suffice. See example below.

Tracy

~n~

Cody

Panama City

Spring Break

1986

I saw none of that in St. Augustine. If you think that means I got ripped off you should probably stop reading this and get back to Farmville. Instead we went to a beach town that forces you to reflect on a cool theologian from Hippo. Also, there are waves in the Atlantic Ocean. Usually the only time you see waves in the Gulf is when you look behind the lunatic from The Weather Channel standing on the beach telling us how windy it is just before another hurricane makes landfall.

Another great thing about St. Augustine was the lack of current and former frat boys loaded up on PBR and Molly Hatchet looking to impress the ladies with their new tan. The drunken frat boy at the beach is annoying. The drunken 47 year old former frat boy at the beach is criminal. Both seem to prefer the Gulf to the Atlantic and this gives the final and decisive death blow to the Gulf. Sorry Gulf. It was a good run but we’re through.

2. I’m proud of both of my sons.

Last year, my oldest son was scared to jump off the side of the pool while I was holding his hand. This year, he couldn’t stop. He also enjoyed getting obliterated by waves. It’s a real relief to see your son do a non-voluntary cartwheel thanks to a runaway wave only to pop up out of the water begging for more.

My youngest son hated the ocean when he first saw it. By the end of the week he was digging in the mud, trying to catch crabs and surfing. I’m exaggerating on the trying to catch crabs part. He’s also really good at walking up to complete strangers and getting all up on their towels and staring at them like they’re from Alabama. I, on the other hand, am not good at explaining my way out those situations.

Along with the fun of playing in the waves, it’s also a great joy to see your kid’s relief when you tell them they are allowed to do a number one in the ocean. So if you’re ever at the beach and you see my boys standing in the ocean, be sure to drop by and say hello.

3. Walking on the beach with the love of your life

is greatly underrated.

No matter how many times you hear about this kind of thing or read it in sappy poems or see it in cheesy romance films, it still doesn’t get old. It actually exceeds expectations. I don’t really know why but it does. This year we met people from Pittsburgh and wrote messages in the sand for people to read later on. Here’s the one I wrote.

Please Help Me!!!

Marsha made me erase it before I could leave a license plate number.

4. Northern Florida is for sale.

Some woman named Jean is the seller and she has billboards up all over northern Florida. I wish I was rich so I could buy Gainesville and turn it in to the north Florida extension of the University of Georgia.

5. Southern Georgia is the billboard capital of America.

You may not know this but there is a law in many south Georgia counties that requires billboards to be no further apart than 37 inches. Also, they must be yellow, contain grammatical errors and every fifth one must have something to do with the adult entertainment industry. This has done wonders for the landscape down that way. Highway Advertising Engineering is currently the most popular major at Valdosta State University. Go Blazers!

6. Tough economic times

call for creative advertising.

The billboard (yes this was located in south Georgia) read, “Heated Pool”. Unfortunately, this sign failed to include a translation for the word “heated”. When we drove a bit further we saw a concrete pond covered by a green house that was at least 20 years old. No one was using the heated pool at the moment we drove by.

7. Tough economic times

call for small businesses to be versatile.

I learned this lesson in south Georgia as well. I drove by a huge pickem-up truck (local vernacular) pulling a huge trailer. The logo on the side of the trailer said “Victory Lane Mobile Chapel”, and then just below the logo, “and racing team”. This is a lesson for all churches that have fallen on hard economic times. Take it on the road and start a racing team on the side. I hear a Victory Lane cosmetics line is coming in the fall.

#&@$#*!!

What should Christians make of the Psalms that ask God to curse other people? Rob Plummer gives a short explanation of how to interpret these Psalms as well as how these Psalms display the gospel.

Five Lessons I Learned at Church Last Sunday

The guy coming in halfway through my sermon wasn’t interested in looking for a place to sit.

I notice lots of things while I’m preaching: the sleepers, the doodlers, and the people that leave early. These things can be discouraging but rarely are they distracting. Maybe almost a decade of speaking in front of continuously texting teenagers has prepared me to look boldly in the face of distraction and snicker. I should have been in The Men Who Stare at Goats.

But what happened last Sunday really distracted me. When this particular guest came in, I assumed he would quietly pull up a pew on the back row. By the time he was halfway down our center aisle I ruled that one out. Maybe he’s related to one of the ladies on the front row and is coming down to surprise grandma and enjoy the last few minutes of church. I ruled that one out when he found his way up the steps and onto our platform where he gently took hold of my left arm to whisper in my ear.

Maybe it’s because I was preaching at the time but I was in full theological mode when he came up on the stage. No thoughts of the UFC. That came about a day later. I was expecting this to be somebody that stayed up all night with Jesus watching Benny Hinn and just had to show up to tell us all what he learned. I immediately thought of the order of our worship service and was prepared to rebuke him back to Paul and Jan land. Instead, another rebuke was in order.

“I want to talk to one of the women in your church.”

Sometimes people say things to you that require much prayer, soul-searching and wisdom-seeking. This wasn’t one of those times. I told this obviously distraught stranger that there was no way he could do that and to sit down somewhere so I could talk to him at the end of the service. Thankfully, he cooperated. I then continued to finish out a sermon to a bunch of people who had no idea what I was saying because they were too busy worrying about what the guy on the front row had up his sleeve, or in his pocket, taped to is chest or strapped around his ankle. Who can blame them?

Churches need the leadership of many godly men.

Providentially, I was preaching on Peter’s command to the elders in 1 Peter 5 when our friend paid us a visit. My point was that the biblical way for churches to be run is not by committees or power hungry, wanna-be CEO pastors. Instead, the pastor should work with other men to lead and direct the church. When I finished preaching, closed things out and went down to meet this man, I got to see several men who, as usual, stepped up in that leadership role. I think there were men around the entire room, ready to step in when needed. It reminded me of those wrestling matches on TV when I was a kid where a bunch of wrestlers stood around the outside of the ring with leather straps to keep one or both of the actual wrestlers from running away. The only differences this time were that the men in my church were wearing the leather straps instead of holding them and they were not wearing tights. At least not that I could tell.

So all of these men were on guard in case something went down. But they were also there for something else. When I finished talking and praying with the stranger, several of these men embraced him, cried with him or counseled him. There were men who were just there to serve, men who were there to instruct and counsel and men who did both. More than ever, I saw my sermon text played out immediately after I was done preaching it.

The after is much worse than the during.

It’s a lot like when you’re first learning how to drive and one day you're acting like an idiot behind the wheel and almost drive under a gas tanker. You don’t think much of it right at the moment but about 45 seconds after the fact your heart is somewhere up in your esophagus and beating six times faster than it should be.

It was the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit that pulled me through this weird incident and allowed me to finish the task at hand without developing a chain-smoking habit. Sure, we could point to adrenalin and I think that’s a very real help in those types of situations and even in mine but even adrenalin falls under the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.

It was also the grace of God that allowed me to have the kind of fear that I felt two hours after all of this. That’s when people started calling and visiting to check on me and publicly thanking God for His protection. That’s when I really realized, “Hey, this has happened a lot of times in churches and not ended so well.” It was God’s grace that not only protected all of us but opened our eyes to things we need to do better. And that brings us to number four.

Churches must take security seriously.

I feel like such a wimp for saying that. I imagine Jim Elliot, Nate Saint and every other Christian martyr looking down on me with a frown. I’m pretty sure that’s not the case but it still doesn’t stop me from thinking about it.

The reality is that the world is getting more and more crazy and churches are some of the most vulnerable places in our society. That’s why Towaliga Baptist Church will be relocating to a beautiful, used, slightly damaged compound in Waco, Texas.

Okay, maybe not.

Instead, I do feel that all churches must be strategic and equipped when it comes to security. Most churches in the south are equipped. You’d be hard pressed to find a man in church that’s not carrying a gun, knife, throwing star, bow staff or tack hammer. But all of that is worthless if there’s no strategy. All the weapons in the world will only be reactionary if there is not a strategic plan for security. I never thought I’d be thinking about this kind of thing but I am and if you are in a leadership position at your church I hope you are too.

Never underestimate the power of a hurting heart.

I live and minister in a part of the United States that puts way too much emphasis on walking the aisle. I truly think that many here believe in salvation by grace through aisle walking. This trend makes evangelism very difficult because so many people think they are okay with God because they walked down an aisle. Others feel they can’t get anywhere in a relationship with God because they are too scared to walk down an aisle at the end of a service to say a prayer. In the south, aisle walking is both highly reverenced and highly feared.

I share that bit of context to highlight what kind of grief this man was enduring. Not only was he not ashamed to walk down an aisle, he was willing to do it in a room full of strangers during the middle of a sermon. Again, this aisle walking did nothing for him but I think that it does show just how broken this man’s heart was. When I was in seminary, a professor told me that there is a broken heart on every pew. He forgot to tell me that some of those broken hearts bypass the pews all together and come straight up on stage with you.

That’s what I learned at church last week and I’m really looking forward to this week.

John Mark McMillan | Death In His Grave

Here's the chorus.

"On Friday a Thief

On Sunday a King

Laid down in grief

But awoke with keys

Of Hell on that day

The first born of the slain

The man Jesus Christ

Laid death in His grave."