Tonight Benson Henderson walked out to R-Swift's adaptation of Rich Mullins' Awesome God.
Bendo was rocking it and singing to it as he walked out. Love it!
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Friday, April 12, 2013
Thursday, April 04, 2013
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Philmont - A Ranger's Summer movie
I have spent over a calendar year of my life in the mountains featured in this video. The Sangre de Christo Range. Philmont Scout Ranch, Cimarron, NM. If you've been there, you'll find your pulse racing as you watch this video. It will stir the longing to go back. IWGBTP!
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Monday, February 25, 2013
Ten Things I Want to Tell Teenage Girls - by Kate Conner
Exceptional post by Kate Conner.
2. Don’t go to the tanning bed. You’ll thank me when you go to your high school reunion and you look like you’ve been airbrushed and then photoshopped compared to the tanning bed train wrecks formerly known as classmates – well, at least next to the ones that haven’t died from skin cancer.
3. When you talk about your friends “anonymously” on Facebook, we know exactly who you’re talking about. People are smarter than you think they are. Stop posting passive-aggressive statuses about the myriad of ways your friends disappoint you.
4. Newsflash: the number of times you say “I hate drama” is a pretty good indicator of how much you love drama. Non-dramatic people don’t feel the need to discuss all the drama they didn’t start and aren’t involved in.
5. “Follow your heart” is probably the worst advice ever.
6. Never let a man make you feel weak or inferior because you are an emotional being. Emotion is good; it is nothing to be ashamed of. Emotion makes us better – so long as it remains in it’s proper place: subject to truth and reason.
7. Smoking is not cool.
8. Stop saying things like, “I don’t care what anyone thinks about me.” First of all, that’s not true. And second of all, if it is true, you need a perspective shift. Your reputation matters – greatly. You should care what people think of you.
9. Don’t play coy or stupid or helpless to get attention. Don’t pretend something is too heavy so that a boy will carry it for you. Don’t play dumb to stroke someone’s ego. Don’t bat your eyelashes in exchange for attention and expect to be taken seriously, ever. You can’t have it both ways. Either you show the world that you have a brain and passions and skills, or you don’t. There are no damsels in distress managing corporations, running countries, or managing households. The minute you start batting eyelashes, eyelashes is all you’ve got.
10. You are beautiful. You are enough. The world we live in is twisted and broken and for your entire life you will be subjected to all kinds of lies that tell you that you are not enough. You are not thin enough. You are not tan enough. You are not smooth, soft, shiny, firm, tight, fit, silky, blonde, hairless enough. Your teeth are not white enough. Your legs are not long enough. Your clothes are not stylish enough. You are not educated enough. You don’t have enough experience. You are not creative enough.
There is a beauty industry, a fashion industry, a television industry, (and most unfortunately) a pornography industry: and all of these have unique ways of communicating to bright young women: you are not beautiful, sexy, smart or valuable enough.
You must have the clarity and common sense to know that none of that is true. None of it.
You were created for a purpose, exactly so. You have innate value. You are loved more than you could ever comprehend; it is mind-boggling how much you are adored. There has never been, and there will never be another you. Therefore, you have unique thoughts to offer the world. They are only yours, and we all lose out if you are too fearful to share them.
You are beautiful. You are valuable. You are enough.
(Read “Ten Things I Want to Tell Teenage Boys” here.) (Read last year’s “Ten Things I Want To Tell New Moms” here.)
Ten Things I Want To Tell Teenage Girls
1. If you choose to wear shirts that show off your boobs, you will attract boys. To be more specific, you will attract the kind of boys that like to look down girls’ shirts. If you want to date a guy who likes to look at other girls’ boobs and chase skirts, then great job; keep it up. If you don’t want to date a guy who ogles at the breasts of other women, then maybe you should stop offering your own breasts up for the ogling. All attention is not equal. You think you want attention, but you don’t. You want respect. All attention is not equal.2. Don’t go to the tanning bed. You’ll thank me when you go to your high school reunion and you look like you’ve been airbrushed and then photoshopped compared to the tanning bed train wrecks formerly known as classmates – well, at least next to the ones that haven’t died from skin cancer.
3. When you talk about your friends “anonymously” on Facebook, we know exactly who you’re talking about. People are smarter than you think they are. Stop posting passive-aggressive statuses about the myriad of ways your friends disappoint you.
4. Newsflash: the number of times you say “I hate drama” is a pretty good indicator of how much you love drama. Non-dramatic people don’t feel the need to discuss all the drama they didn’t start and aren’t involved in.
5. “Follow your heart” is probably the worst advice ever.
6. Never let a man make you feel weak or inferior because you are an emotional being. Emotion is good; it is nothing to be ashamed of. Emotion makes us better – so long as it remains in it’s proper place: subject to truth and reason.
7. Smoking is not cool.
8. Stop saying things like, “I don’t care what anyone thinks about me.” First of all, that’s not true. And second of all, if it is true, you need a perspective shift. Your reputation matters – greatly. You should care what people think of you.
9. Don’t play coy or stupid or helpless to get attention. Don’t pretend something is too heavy so that a boy will carry it for you. Don’t play dumb to stroke someone’s ego. Don’t bat your eyelashes in exchange for attention and expect to be taken seriously, ever. You can’t have it both ways. Either you show the world that you have a brain and passions and skills, or you don’t. There are no damsels in distress managing corporations, running countries, or managing households. The minute you start batting eyelashes, eyelashes is all you’ve got.
10. You are beautiful. You are enough. The world we live in is twisted and broken and for your entire life you will be subjected to all kinds of lies that tell you that you are not enough. You are not thin enough. You are not tan enough. You are not smooth, soft, shiny, firm, tight, fit, silky, blonde, hairless enough. Your teeth are not white enough. Your legs are not long enough. Your clothes are not stylish enough. You are not educated enough. You don’t have enough experience. You are not creative enough.
There is a beauty industry, a fashion industry, a television industry, (and most unfortunately) a pornography industry: and all of these have unique ways of communicating to bright young women: you are not beautiful, sexy, smart or valuable enough.
You must have the clarity and common sense to know that none of that is true. None of it.
You were created for a purpose, exactly so. You have innate value. You are loved more than you could ever comprehend; it is mind-boggling how much you are adored. There has never been, and there will never be another you. Therefore, you have unique thoughts to offer the world. They are only yours, and we all lose out if you are too fearful to share them.
You are beautiful. You are valuable. You are enough.
(Read “Ten Things I Want to Tell Teenage Boys” here.) (Read last year’s “Ten Things I Want To Tell New Moms” here.)
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Thursday, February 21, 2013
10 Hard Questions - Tim Stevens
Some really good stuff below from Tim Stevens.
Our honest answer? No. Many years ago, a report was released indicating that 50 percent of our county did not attend church. A recent report indicates the number is now 60 percent. We hadn’t even kept up with the population growth or net loss from the decline of other churches.
Yes, we were having an impact on individuals, and thousands of lives had been changed. But we weren’t making a dent in actually changing a growing percentage of our community into mission-minded followers of Jesus.
The Shrinking 40 Percent
We weren’t alone. Every current poll I’ve seen indicates the American church is in decline. Yes, the number of large churches is increasing, but overall church attendance continues to go down. The way we do church—the model of Christendom that has been followed for the past 1,700 years—is working with fewer people all the time. Most people reading this are the product of the type of church that is, as a whole, becoming less and less effective.
Just about every church in America can be described by three words: “Come to us.” That is it. We put on amazing services and do everything we can to communicate truth to the people who make the effort to come to “the box” for worship. Some boxes are beautiful, and others are utilitarian. Some boxes are ornate with stained glass and a pipe organ, and others are located in an empty Walmart. But most of what we do is at, through and around “the box.” Many times even the mercy and justice ministries we engage in outside the walls are done for the primary purpose of inviting people to “come to the box.”
I remember being at a leadership conference where Alan Hirsch was teaching through the main thesis of his watershed book, The Forgotten Ways. We had opportunity to ask questions, push back and consider the practical application for our churches. Alan said he believed that this “come to us” model of church still works for around 40 percent of our population. Does that mean 40 percent attend? Not at all. But there is probably around 40 percent of the population for whom the model still works. We can put on great weekend services, and 40 percent of the people in our community are still attracted to, or at least not repelled by, that model.
Is that a scientific number? No. Is there any research to back up that number? No. But I believe it to my core. We have asked scores of people in our church whether they think it is accurate. To make it easy to consider, we put it this way: “If you were to invite 10 people to come to church with you, how many of them do you think would consider your invitation?” Over and over, they agree that it is probably no more than four people.
Maybe the number is much lower in the Northeast or Northwest. Maybe it’s much higher in the Bible Belt states. But every pastor I have talked to agrees that the number, whatever it is, is shrinking. Whatever you decide the number is for your community, it is likely getting smaller every year.
I remember a LifeWay Research survey, which found that “… a growing number of Americans are recognizing a need to develop their inner life … but many don’t know where to begin, especially if they don’t consider themselves ‘religious.’ Even if they are religious, many haven’t found everything they’re seeking in weekly services.” The article went on to report that 86 percent said they could have a “good relationship with God without belonging to a church.” I used that quote scores of times in talks I gave around the country in 2008 and early 2009. But, I don’t think the impact of that trend hit me hard until I was sitting with Rob [Wegner] listening to Alan talk at that conference. It was the first time I really considered the impact of the shrinking 40 percent.
The Growing 60 Percent
Everyone who is not in the shrinking 40 percent is part of the growing 60 percent. These are people who might believe in God (whatever that means for them), have a respect for Jesus and are on a spiritual journey, but they don’t consider the church (as we know it) as a resource to help them take steps. And it is likely they never will. They pursue their spirituality through culture, friendships, music, TV personalities, their own study of the Bible, self-help books and more. A study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life conducted in early 2010 reports, “… more than a quarter of Americans born after 1981 have no religious preference or affiliation. Fewer than one in five teens and 20-somethings frequent worship services” But the study also revealed that young adults pray as often as their elders did at that age and share an equally strong faith in God. More and more young adults are pursuing their faith outside of the church.
We can argue the percentage. You may not believe it is as high as 60 percent. But whatever the number, it is growing.
As our Granger leadership faced the truth that we weren’t making any real impact in the 60 percent of the population around us, it seemed we had a choice to make:
[Note: Tim Stevens continues the story behind the story of how Granger has championed both attractional and missional, and the impact of the both/and combination in the 2012 release Vision: Lost and Found available for purchase here.]
10 Hard Questions Every Leader Should Be Asking
Every church leader serious about making disciples should be asking themselves the same hard questions Granger leadership asked:
1. Is the sheer number of “unchurched” people in our area any less than it was before we existed?
2. Is the way we do church more effective or less effective in reaching people and making true disciples since we began?
3. Is most of what we do at, through and around “the box”?
4. (survey your congregation): “If you were to invite 10 people to come to church with you, how many of them do you think would consider your invitation?”
5. Am I as a leader content with reaching just the 40 percent that will still consider a “come to us” approach? Is our church?
6. Do I want to reach the growing 60 percent that won’t respond to “come and see” ministry? Does our church?
7. If so, is our church equipped and ready to reach the 60 percent?
8. What should I as a leader do next?
9. What steps should we as a church take?
10. Am I as a leader praying, “God, open my eyes”? Am I leading our church in the same prayer?
10 Hard Questions Every Planter Needs to Ask
Granger Community Church recently celebrated our 25th year (in December 2011). For a quarter of a century now, we’ve been a mission outpost in our community. We’ve seen thousands of people come to Jesus, get baptized and begin new, changed lives. The impact has been undeniable. And yet in February 2010, we looked at each other and asked a hard question: Is the sheer number of “unchurched” people in our area any less than it was 25 years ago before Granger existed?Our honest answer? No. Many years ago, a report was released indicating that 50 percent of our county did not attend church. A recent report indicates the number is now 60 percent. We hadn’t even kept up with the population growth or net loss from the decline of other churches.
Yes, we were having an impact on individuals, and thousands of lives had been changed. But we weren’t making a dent in actually changing a growing percentage of our community into mission-minded followers of Jesus.
The Shrinking 40 Percent
We weren’t alone. Every current poll I’ve seen indicates the American church is in decline. Yes, the number of large churches is increasing, but overall church attendance continues to go down. The way we do church—the model of Christendom that has been followed for the past 1,700 years—is working with fewer people all the time. Most people reading this are the product of the type of church that is, as a whole, becoming less and less effective.
Just about every church in America can be described by three words: “Come to us.” That is it. We put on amazing services and do everything we can to communicate truth to the people who make the effort to come to “the box” for worship. Some boxes are beautiful, and others are utilitarian. Some boxes are ornate with stained glass and a pipe organ, and others are located in an empty Walmart. But most of what we do is at, through and around “the box.” Many times even the mercy and justice ministries we engage in outside the walls are done for the primary purpose of inviting people to “come to the box.”
I remember being at a leadership conference where Alan Hirsch was teaching through the main thesis of his watershed book, The Forgotten Ways. We had opportunity to ask questions, push back and consider the practical application for our churches. Alan said he believed that this “come to us” model of church still works for around 40 percent of our population. Does that mean 40 percent attend? Not at all. But there is probably around 40 percent of the population for whom the model still works. We can put on great weekend services, and 40 percent of the people in our community are still attracted to, or at least not repelled by, that model.
Is that a scientific number? No. Is there any research to back up that number? No. But I believe it to my core. We have asked scores of people in our church whether they think it is accurate. To make it easy to consider, we put it this way: “If you were to invite 10 people to come to church with you, how many of them do you think would consider your invitation?” Over and over, they agree that it is probably no more than four people.
Maybe the number is much lower in the Northeast or Northwest. Maybe it’s much higher in the Bible Belt states. But every pastor I have talked to agrees that the number, whatever it is, is shrinking. Whatever you decide the number is for your community, it is likely getting smaller every year.
I remember a LifeWay Research survey, which found that “… a growing number of Americans are recognizing a need to develop their inner life … but many don’t know where to begin, especially if they don’t consider themselves ‘religious.’ Even if they are religious, many haven’t found everything they’re seeking in weekly services.” The article went on to report that 86 percent said they could have a “good relationship with God without belonging to a church.” I used that quote scores of times in talks I gave around the country in 2008 and early 2009. But, I don’t think the impact of that trend hit me hard until I was sitting with Rob [Wegner] listening to Alan talk at that conference. It was the first time I really considered the impact of the shrinking 40 percent.
The Growing 60 Percent
Everyone who is not in the shrinking 40 percent is part of the growing 60 percent. These are people who might believe in God (whatever that means for them), have a respect for Jesus and are on a spiritual journey, but they don’t consider the church (as we know it) as a resource to help them take steps. And it is likely they never will. They pursue their spirituality through culture, friendships, music, TV personalities, their own study of the Bible, self-help books and more. A study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life conducted in early 2010 reports, “… more than a quarter of Americans born after 1981 have no religious preference or affiliation. Fewer than one in five teens and 20-somethings frequent worship services” But the study also revealed that young adults pray as often as their elders did at that age and share an equally strong faith in God. More and more young adults are pursuing their faith outside of the church.
We can argue the percentage. You may not believe it is as high as 60 percent. But whatever the number, it is growing.
As our Granger leadership faced the truth that we weren’t making any real impact in the 60 percent of the population around us, it seemed we had a choice to make:
- We could continue to pour our lives and efforts and largest share of our ministry focus and dollars into reaching the 40 percent. Nothing wrong with that. Pure statistics show there are 62,000 people within five miles of one of our campuses who don’t go to church and who are part of the 40 percent. That’s a bunch of people who very well might be open to exploring their spirituality with us in a service. So on a relational level, we could continue to encourage our people to do everything they could to build relationships with a friend and start spiritual conversations, hoping to lead them toward a chance when they can invite them to a service where they will hear how much they matter to God? That was certainly an option. We could probably do “successful” ministry for years with this group. But eventually, the statistical reality would catch up. And we’d be spending more money and time with decreasing effectiveness.
- Another viable option: Leave the institutional church. Forget the “come and see,” attractional approach. It’s reaching a smaller and smaller percentage every year, right? It’s a dying breed. So why spend any more time there? Let’s be missional. Let’s go to the masses. If the 60/40 hypothesis is true, then let’s go to the more than 93,000 within five miles of our physical sites who don’t go to church and who likely will never go to church as we know it. These are people who are taking spiritual steps but need help. They are people who need to know how much they matter to God and how much they matter to the church. So we would be encouraging people to be the love of Jesus right where people live, in a culture they know best where God has given them influence, and be the church with them, right there, where they live.
[Note: Tim Stevens continues the story behind the story of how Granger has championed both attractional and missional, and the impact of the both/and combination in the 2012 release Vision: Lost and Found available for purchase here.]
10 Hard Questions Every Leader Should Be Asking
Every church leader serious about making disciples should be asking themselves the same hard questions Granger leadership asked:
1. Is the sheer number of “unchurched” people in our area any less than it was before we existed?
2. Is the way we do church more effective or less effective in reaching people and making true disciples since we began?
3. Is most of what we do at, through and around “the box”?
4. (survey your congregation): “If you were to invite 10 people to come to church with you, how many of them do you think would consider your invitation?”
5. Am I as a leader content with reaching just the 40 percent that will still consider a “come to us” approach? Is our church?
6. Do I want to reach the growing 60 percent that won’t respond to “come and see” ministry? Does our church?
7. If so, is our church equipped and ready to reach the 60 percent?
8. What should I as a leader do next?
9. What steps should we as a church take?
10. Am I as a leader praying, “God, open my eyes”? Am I leading our church in the same prayer?
What is Love?
Below is a short but powerful video on love.
What Is Love? from cvcnow on Vimeo.
Do marriage vows seem to mean as much today as they used to? If you've heard anything about the increase in divorce rates, you may wonder.
Bill & Glad are ignoring the trends. More than ever the vows they made 50 years ago are being tested. In sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, the promise they are keeping is a true example of what love is.
What Is Love? from cvcnow on Vimeo.
Do marriage vows seem to mean as much today as they used to? If you've heard anything about the increase in divorce rates, you may wonder.
Bill & Glad are ignoring the trends. More than ever the vows they made 50 years ago are being tested. In sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, the promise they are keeping is a true example of what love is.
Friday, February 15, 2013
What women really think about your facial hair?
I (obviously) don't endorse the following video as a guide in my life. But it is funny!
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Lecrae raps the Gospel
Lecrae is the real deal. Incredibly gifted rapper with the best part being his Gospel focus!
Lecrae Raps the Gospel in One Minute from Desiring God on Vimeo.
http://www.desiringGod.org
Lecrae Raps the Gospel in One Minute from Desiring God on Vimeo.
http://www.desiringGod.org
Monday, February 11, 2013
Jack White on Love Interruption and Freedom at the Grammys
Jack White was the highlight of the Grammys last night in my opinion.
First song is "Love Interrupted" with
his all girl band. The Second one is "Freedom at 21" with his all guy band. And I want to know where Jack got that black with blue "peacock" jacket!?!?
Thursday, January 24, 2013
5 issues that can keep a church from growing
This comes from Dave Kraft.
Here Are 5 Issues That Can Keep A Church From Growing:
ENTITLEMENT – When the body begins to think “this is my church”, it will soon start operating outside the complete power and utter dependency of the rightful owner. It will then lose the Spirit’s power.
ENERGY – The lack of energy stagnates a church. This is not referring to worship. You can worship to your taste, but energy is a part of any movement of God. The church is the body of Christ. Don’t forget…our God is not dead…He’s alive! A church is revived and reenergized when it renews its vision. As a church grows closer to Christ, and introduces others to Christ, it creates more energy for the body.
EXCITEMENT – If you can’t get excited about the Gospel, you’re not looking at Christ close enough. Anyone who can raise from the dead, forgive sins, and reconcile us to God…that’s exciting! When the people who regularly attend the church aren’t excited anymore, visitors aren’t likely to be either. When a body becomes comfortable, it often becomes complacent, and it loses the excitement it once had. It is then no longer attractive to outsiders.
ENGAGEMENT – The body needs all its members. When a few people do all the work burnout is soon to follow. The church shouldn’t depend on paid staff to do all the work, nor should ministry be limited to those with a volunteer title of some sort. If assignments have to be made before people are freed to do the work of the church, over time, the harvest is plenty, but the workers are few.
EFFICIENCY – When programs are so structured that even God couldn’t introduce change, decline is imminent. Growing churches are always thinking how they can improve. The cliche is true, the message never changes, but the hearers do. Finding new ways to reach a changing culture with a Gospel that never changes is part of a growing church’s responsibility.
Obviously there are many other reasons; these are just a few I’ve observed. Whenever I work with a church in decline, I will first look for one of these areas as a solution.
+What have you seen keep a church from growing?
Here Are 5 Issues That Can Keep A Church From Growing:
ENTITLEMENT – When the body begins to think “this is my church”, it will soon start operating outside the complete power and utter dependency of the rightful owner. It will then lose the Spirit’s power.
ENERGY – The lack of energy stagnates a church. This is not referring to worship. You can worship to your taste, but energy is a part of any movement of God. The church is the body of Christ. Don’t forget…our God is not dead…He’s alive! A church is revived and reenergized when it renews its vision. As a church grows closer to Christ, and introduces others to Christ, it creates more energy for the body.
EXCITEMENT – If you can’t get excited about the Gospel, you’re not looking at Christ close enough. Anyone who can raise from the dead, forgive sins, and reconcile us to God…that’s exciting! When the people who regularly attend the church aren’t excited anymore, visitors aren’t likely to be either. When a body becomes comfortable, it often becomes complacent, and it loses the excitement it once had. It is then no longer attractive to outsiders.
ENGAGEMENT – The body needs all its members. When a few people do all the work burnout is soon to follow. The church shouldn’t depend on paid staff to do all the work, nor should ministry be limited to those with a volunteer title of some sort. If assignments have to be made before people are freed to do the work of the church, over time, the harvest is plenty, but the workers are few.
EFFICIENCY – When programs are so structured that even God couldn’t introduce change, decline is imminent. Growing churches are always thinking how they can improve. The cliche is true, the message never changes, but the hearers do. Finding new ways to reach a changing culture with a Gospel that never changes is part of a growing church’s responsibility.
Obviously there are many other reasons; these are just a few I’ve observed. Whenever I work with a church in decline, I will first look for one of these areas as a solution.
+What have you seen keep a church from growing?
Monday, January 07, 2013
Jack White on Austin City Limits
While I don't own any of his music, it seem every time I hear Jack White play I come away impressed. Below is a link to the PBS Austin City Limits show he did a while back.
I like that the music is pretty straight forward yet creative. And it rocks. Seems like the guy is pretty gifted at what he does, and every time I seem him play it is compelling.
If you're not familiar with his music, I'd suggest starting at the 20 minute mark and watch for about 10 minutes. Good stuff!
Watch Jack White on PBS. See more from Austin City Limits.
I like that the music is pretty straight forward yet creative. And it rocks. Seems like the guy is pretty gifted at what he does, and every time I seem him play it is compelling.
If you're not familiar with his music, I'd suggest starting at the 20 minute mark and watch for about 10 minutes. Good stuff!
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Free: Advanced Pro-Life Apologetics Course by Scott Klusendorf
Originally posted here.
From the link above:
The complete lecture notes for my sessions are here and the links to the videos are below. (Dr. Scott Rae taught the other half of the course. His sessions, dealing with reproductive technologies and end of life issues, are found here.)
Content Overview: Successful pro-life apologists pursue four essential tasks. First, they clarify the debate by focusing public attention on one key question: What is the unborn? Second, they establish a foundation for the debate, demonstrating to critics that metaphysical neutrality is impossible. Third, they answer objections persuasively. Fourth, they teach and equip.
Texts:
1. Gilbert Meilaender, Bioethics: A Primmer for Christians (Eerdmans, 2005)
2. Agnetta Sutton, Christian Bioethics: A Guide for the Perplexed (T&T Clark, 2008)
3. Scott Rae, Moral Choices: An Introduction to Ethics (Zondervan, 2009)
4. Scott Klusendorf, The Case for Life: Equipping Christians to Engage the Culture (Crossway, 2009)
From the link above:
The complete lecture notes for my sessions are here and the links to the videos are below. (Dr. Scott Rae taught the other half of the course. His sessions, dealing with reproductive technologies and end of life issues, are found here.)
Content Overview: Successful pro-life apologists pursue four essential tasks. First, they clarify the debate by focusing public attention on one key question: What is the unborn? Second, they establish a foundation for the debate, demonstrating to critics that metaphysical neutrality is impossible. Third, they answer objections persuasively. Fourth, they teach and equip.
Videos:
Session #1: What is the Issue--The Nature of Moral Reasoning (52 Min.)
Session #2: What is the Unborn? (1:08)
Session #3: What Makes Humans Valuable? Part 1: The Substance View of Human Persons (52 min.)
Session #4: What Makes Humans Valuable? Part 2: The Religion Objection (15 Min.)
Session #5: Who Makes the Rules? Abortion: Law, Metaphysics, and Alleged Moral Neutrality (38 Min.)
Session #6: What is my Duty? The Bodily Autonomy Arguments of Thomson, Boonin, and McDonaugh (54 Min.)
Session #7: Catholic Social Justice Teaching and Other Objections (46 Min.)
Session #8: Equipping Yourself to Engage at Your Church (46 Min.)
Session #1: What is the Issue--The Nature of Moral Reasoning (52 Min.)
Session #2: What is the Unborn? (1:08)
Session #3: What Makes Humans Valuable? Part 1: The Substance View of Human Persons (52 min.)
Session #4: What Makes Humans Valuable? Part 2: The Religion Objection (15 Min.)
Session #5: Who Makes the Rules? Abortion: Law, Metaphysics, and Alleged Moral Neutrality (38 Min.)
Session #6: What is my Duty? The Bodily Autonomy Arguments of Thomson, Boonin, and McDonaugh (54 Min.)
Session #7: Catholic Social Justice Teaching and Other Objections (46 Min.)
Session #8: Equipping Yourself to Engage at Your Church (46 Min.)
1. Gilbert Meilaender, Bioethics: A Primmer for Christians (Eerdmans, 2005)
2. Agnetta Sutton, Christian Bioethics: A Guide for the Perplexed (T&T Clark, 2008)
3. Scott Rae, Moral Choices: An Introduction to Ethics (Zondervan, 2009)
Suggested Reading:
1. Francis J. Beckwith, Dignity Never Been Photographed: Scientific Materialism, Enlightenment Liberalism, and Steven Pinker (Ethics in Medicine, Vol. 26:2, Summer 2010)
2. Francis J. Beckwith,The Human Being, a Person of Substance: A Response to Dean Stretton
3. Christopher Kaczor, The Ethics of Abortion: Women's Rights, Human Life, and the Question of Justice (Routledge, 2010)
1. Francis J. Beckwith, Dignity Never Been Photographed: Scientific Materialism, Enlightenment Liberalism, and Steven Pinker (Ethics in Medicine, Vol. 26:2, Summer 2010)
2. Francis J. Beckwith,The Human Being, a Person of Substance: A Response to Dean Stretton
3. Christopher Kaczor, The Ethics of Abortion: Women's Rights, Human Life, and the Question of Justice (Routledge, 2010)
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Learning from the wise men at Christmas
An article I wrote was published in our local paper today.
Learning from wise men at Christmas – by Pastor Chris Meirose
At Christmas we give attention to the cradle in the manger, but the cradle is meaningless without a cross that followed. So each time we see the cradle, we should remember that Jesus’ birth would soon be given its full meaning by His death and resurrection.
Matthew 2:1-12 tells the story of some wise men who paid Jesus and His family a visit some time after that first Christmas. They were following a star with an understanding of some of the Jewish prophecies that foretold of a Messiah who was to come. Did the Wise Men know all the details and how all these prophecies would unfold? Doubtful. They were merely allowing the Lord to lead them in what they did, where they came, and what they gave.
There are a lot of lessons we can learn from this passage. Perhaps the best thing these wise men did in this story was that THEY CAME TO JESUS. Matthew 2:11 – “11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary”. They left the palaces of whatever kings they were serving at the time, and made their way to meet the newborn king. They knew the proper way to show respect for a king was to come in person and present themselves to Him. Likewise, the gift that God deserves from us, and wants from us, is US. He wants us to present OURSELVES to Him this Christmas season. That hasn’t changed in 2000ish years.
Then once they came to Jesus, notice what they did in verse 11, THEY BOWED BEFORE HIM. Matthew 2:11- “and they bowed down,”. They showed the kind of respect due a king, they acknowledged His authority and importance. They humbled themselves before Him, even though He was just a young child. When God comes to you in whatever form or size we should bow before Him.
And the wise men didn’t just stop & bow down, but they also WORSHIPED HIM. Matthew 2:11 - “and worshiped Him,”. Humbling themselves, bowing down before kings was the usual way of showing respect. However, this time they went beyond the normal, they didn’t just kneel down, they worshiped Him. They recognized He wasn’t merely a human being. They were worshiping Jesus as He really is, GOD in the flesh. This Christmas we all need to do likewise and heed the invitation of the Christmas carol: “O come, let us adore Him.”
One final thing I’d love for us to learn today from the wise men in the Christmas story is - THEY WENT AWAY DIFFERENTLY THAN HOW THEY ARRIVED. Matthew 2:12 – “12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.” The “practical” explanation is that they went back in a way they would not be killed by Herod. But the “spiritual” explanation of this is found in the Jewish tradition of going home through a different gate in Jerusalem than whichever one a person came through when arriving to worship at the Temple. So if you came through the East gate, you might leave through the South gate. It was to signify that they had truly worshiped that day, they had been in the presence of God. The fact that Matthew records the fact that the Magi went home a different way was not lost on the Jewish readers of the Gospel he was writing to. These well educated, important and distinguished men were transformed by their encounter with the Immanuel – God with us. Let us also be changed in this season as these men of long ago were by Christ.
This year let us all keep in mind that the true way to celebrate Christmas, to worship Christ, is to let Him bring change in your life, a fresh awareness of His love for you, and to allow Him to work His perfect will within you and through you. It’s all about Jesus.
If you would like to know more about First Congregational Church you can visit us on the web at http://WasecaChurch.org or join us for worship at 10:00AM each Sunday and 8:45AM for Sunday School (starting again in January), visitors are always welcome!
Learning from wise men at Christmas – by Pastor Chris Meirose
At Christmas we give attention to the cradle in the manger, but the cradle is meaningless without a cross that followed. So each time we see the cradle, we should remember that Jesus’ birth would soon be given its full meaning by His death and resurrection.
Matthew 2:1-12 tells the story of some wise men who paid Jesus and His family a visit some time after that first Christmas. They were following a star with an understanding of some of the Jewish prophecies that foretold of a Messiah who was to come. Did the Wise Men know all the details and how all these prophecies would unfold? Doubtful. They were merely allowing the Lord to lead them in what they did, where they came, and what they gave.
There are a lot of lessons we can learn from this passage. Perhaps the best thing these wise men did in this story was that THEY CAME TO JESUS. Matthew 2:11 – “11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary”. They left the palaces of whatever kings they were serving at the time, and made their way to meet the newborn king. They knew the proper way to show respect for a king was to come in person and present themselves to Him. Likewise, the gift that God deserves from us, and wants from us, is US. He wants us to present OURSELVES to Him this Christmas season. That hasn’t changed in 2000ish years.
Then once they came to Jesus, notice what they did in verse 11, THEY BOWED BEFORE HIM. Matthew 2:11- “and they bowed down,”. They showed the kind of respect due a king, they acknowledged His authority and importance. They humbled themselves before Him, even though He was just a young child. When God comes to you in whatever form or size we should bow before Him.
And the wise men didn’t just stop & bow down, but they also WORSHIPED HIM. Matthew 2:11 - “and worshiped Him,”. Humbling themselves, bowing down before kings was the usual way of showing respect. However, this time they went beyond the normal, they didn’t just kneel down, they worshiped Him. They recognized He wasn’t merely a human being. They were worshiping Jesus as He really is, GOD in the flesh. This Christmas we all need to do likewise and heed the invitation of the Christmas carol: “O come, let us adore Him.”
One final thing I’d love for us to learn today from the wise men in the Christmas story is - THEY WENT AWAY DIFFERENTLY THAN HOW THEY ARRIVED. Matthew 2:12 – “12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.” The “practical” explanation is that they went back in a way they would not be killed by Herod. But the “spiritual” explanation of this is found in the Jewish tradition of going home through a different gate in Jerusalem than whichever one a person came through when arriving to worship at the Temple. So if you came through the East gate, you might leave through the South gate. It was to signify that they had truly worshiped that day, they had been in the presence of God. The fact that Matthew records the fact that the Magi went home a different way was not lost on the Jewish readers of the Gospel he was writing to. These well educated, important and distinguished men were transformed by their encounter with the Immanuel – God with us. Let us also be changed in this season as these men of long ago were by Christ.
This year let us all keep in mind that the true way to celebrate Christmas, to worship Christ, is to let Him bring change in your life, a fresh awareness of His love for you, and to allow Him to work His perfect will within you and through you. It’s all about Jesus.
If you would like to know more about First Congregational Church you can visit us on the web at http://WasecaChurch.org or join us for worship at 10:00AM each Sunday and 8:45AM for Sunday School (starting again in January), visitors are always welcome!
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
MN Vikings - Exceeding expectations?
I'm a fan of the NFL. Specifically of the Minnesota Vikings. Having grown up in South Dakota, and now living in Minnesota, it came by proximity if nothing else. My favorite NFL team for many years was the Detroit Lions due to my fandom of Barry Sanders. Those years of many disappointing teams prepared me well to become a Vikings fan. Disappointment is familiar to both organizations.
In August during the NFL training camps, I sat down and looked at the Vikings 2012-13 schedule to project out my own expectations of this team. Down the list I went, adding up wins and losses. Considering which teams projected to be good, where we might eek out a road win, and whether any of our divisional foes were vulnerable. I even tried to factor in that Percy Harvin might have migraine issues again.
When I tallied it all up, gave weight to a still developing quarterback and Adrian Peterson coming off a major ACL/knee injury, considered that the defense was looking vulnerable at the end of last season, I came to the conclusion that the Vikings would finish 6-10. And I was happy with that record. I thought it was progress for this team, and it would be a platform from which to build upon.
Then we got into the season this year, and Adrian Peterson proved yet again he is a superior physical specimen. Ponder's first game of the year he went 20 for 27 and 270 yards to 7 different receivers. Percy Harvin showed he cold be a change of pace from the backfield and a dangerous threat even on a bubble screen. Three games into the season we shocked the San Francisco 49'ers which further raised expectations - not a win that I foresaw (though I also expected to beat the Colts in week 2).
It could have been easy at that point to get really excited. To adjust up my expectations. But I resisted. Barely.
From there it has been up and down, especially for Christian Ponder. Ponder has had 3 games where he failed to reach triple digits in yards passed. 5 games with less than 120 yards passing (3 of which have come since Percy Harvin was injured).
The defense has been frustrating. I went to the Tampa Bay game in the Metrodome, and it was nothing but frustration as Doug Martin was a one man wrecking crew. Didn't help that punter Chris Kluwe stunk the place up that night as well. But they have struggled to get pressure on the QB like they have in the past few years. Jared Allen is dinged up (shoulder) but it is more than that. To the credit of the DB's though, I think they have improved significantly with Harrison Smith being a very big key to that improvement.
My other observation from the Bucs game was that Ponder has zero time to throw the ball. He was is self preservation mode all night, and by the end of the game looked a little shell shocked. While some of the issues this season have been him being inaccurate, I think an equal part has been spotty protection and receivers (outside of Harvin) who just aren't top shelf material, or at least they haven't shown it yet.
So as of today, the Vikings are in the playoffs hunt sitting at 7-6 on the heels of a HUGE win over the Chicago Bears last Sunday. The Vikings have been good at home and not so much on the road, and they travel to a beatable St. Louis Rams team this weekend. The Rams have been playing well of late, so it'll be interesting to see how it goes. It is an indoor stadium which tends to help the Vikings somewhat, though the advantage is probably neutralized since the Rams are accustomed to it as well. I'm going to pencil in a narrow win by the Vikings, bringing us to an astonishing 8-6 which will further raise the bar for many people's expectations.
The following week brings the Houston Texans - in Houston. While I think the Texans may limit the number of snaps for some of their key players, I still think they play hard enough and long enough to defend their home field. Vikings drop to 8-7.
The final game is the much hated Green Bay Packers in the Dome. This far out it is difficult to say if Green Bay will have anything to be playing for in this game. I imagine they'll rest their key players some, and possible quite a bit if the game doesn't matter to their positioning in the playoffs. The Vikings have a shot at winning this game, probably moreso than the Houston game. I'd still put it at 50/50 at best, but for the time being I'm putting it down as a win with how well the Vikings played the Packers at Green Bay two weeks ago.
That would put the Vikings at 9-7. Had you suggested that when I predicted 6-10 at the beginning of the season, I'd probably have laughed at you. And while it may be 8-8, or even 7-9 when the season closes, I can't help but remark that the Vikings have exceeded my expectations for this season. Sure I've been frustrated with Ponder, pondering whether he's the QB of the future. But at the close of the season, I know I'll look back and think that there was little to be disappointed in overall. Sure I'd like a different coaching style. Sure there were games I'd rather not have a QB in the game and just direct snap to Adrian Peterson 50 times. But really, they've done well in my book. Everything from here on is gravy in my opinion.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
3 Rules to follow by Dhati Lewis
Learning from Dhati Lewis today. One of the things he said that was really good was:
“…We believe the Gospel changes people, and people change the world. You see I really believe the reason why we don’t see more transformation is because we haven’t really been transformed and changed by the Gospel. We can speak it in theory. We can speak it in word, but we don’t really understand how to incarnate that thing in our heart. So the reality is that there’s this tension that we live in…You see I talk to my people and I tell them we have three rules in this church:
1. Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength
2. Love your neighbor as you love yourself
3. Do whatever else you want to do.
You see the reality is this, the restriction is in the first two. If we can show and model and teach people how to incarnate God’s love and embody it by loving other people then we don’t have to talk all the time. We don’t have to talk about the dos and the methods in which we spend most of our time. I really believe the apologetic of our day is authenticity. People really just want to see something that’s real, that’s genuine. They’re not looking for the polished person anymore. They want to see something that’s genuine and they can say “I want that! What you have is what I’m missing, what I need!”
“…We believe the Gospel changes people, and people change the world. You see I really believe the reason why we don’t see more transformation is because we haven’t really been transformed and changed by the Gospel. We can speak it in theory. We can speak it in word, but we don’t really understand how to incarnate that thing in our heart. So the reality is that there’s this tension that we live in…You see I talk to my people and I tell them we have three rules in this church:
1. Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength
2. Love your neighbor as you love yourself
3. Do whatever else you want to do.
You see the reality is this, the restriction is in the first two. If we can show and model and teach people how to incarnate God’s love and embody it by loving other people then we don’t have to talk all the time. We don’t have to talk about the dos and the methods in which we spend most of our time. I really believe the apologetic of our day is authenticity. People really just want to see something that’s real, that’s genuine. They’re not looking for the polished person anymore. They want to see something that’s genuine and they can say “I want that! What you have is what I’m missing, what I need!”
Friday, November 09, 2012
My Faith Story
I spent the first portion of my life knowing there was a God, without
having much knowledge about that God, or having a personal relationship
with that God. I always knew that Jesus was something that should be
important to me; I just did not understand that it was of greatest
importance. I had been living what I thought was a good moral life, and
thought that paired with my years in church and Sunday school had me
covered.
The theme of my faith journey is that God works in unexpected ways, and one of the ways in which he was working in my life was I was placed with a strong Christian as my roommate in college my freshman year. Through him and some of our close friends, I began to understand that I did not have the relationship with Jesus that I needed to have. Their faith and support brought me into a relationship with Jesus and fostered in me an interest that has not since been quelled. I began to ask questions of them. I dusted off my Bible and began to read. For the first time in my life I was excited to learn about the Bible and Jesus Christ. I went on my first mission trip just a month after coming to Christ, and followed this with a month long missions trip to the same location in Mexico the following school year.
I spent the next six years learning and growing in faith. Early on in those years I was not as focused on my faith as I wish I had been, but I was going to church regularly, and usually was part of a Bible study or small group, though I wasn’t serving with any regularity. When I moved to Mitchell, S.D., and began to attend Northridge Baptist Church, I entered into a period of fantastic growth in my personal faith. I was challenged by the teaching in sermons. I joined the praise and worship team, something I would never have imagined previously (my parents didn’t believe it until they saw me sing). I joined a Men’s Bible study that taught me volumes on being a Christian, friend, and leader of a family. I was also a member of a small group Bible study while at Northridge. I could not find enough time in the day to learn and grow in my personal faith. It was during this period that I began to listen to God's call on my life towards ministry. I also worked with the High School youth group for a couple of years while at Northridge Baptist, filling in in-between youth pastors. This gave me my first real taste of teaching about and through the Bible.
I left Northridge Baptist and this season of ministry to enter full time into Seminary at Bethel Theological Seminary, Arden Hills, MN. I have completed a Master’s of Divinity in the Greek Track with a focus on Transformational Leadership. While in seminary I grew enormously spiritually. I was regularly challenged to re-evaluate what I believed, and forced to think through many areas of theology I had never approached before. It was a greatly challenging and enlightening time. Some who go to seminary find their enthusiasm for spiritual things waning by the conclusion of their education, but not me. My faith is far stronger, and deeper because of my experiences in seminary.
Seminary was also a great training ground for ministry for me. I had the opportunity to be the teaching assistant for the Preaching department for 2.5 years (serving under Bob Merritt of Eagle Brook Church, Phil Print of Crossroads Church, and Dan Rotach), and then spent another year as the teaching assistant in the Transformational Leadership department (serving under Justin Irving). The leaders in these departments were greatly influential in my personal development. I also served on the Student Senate for three years, and was the President of the Student Senate for school year 2005-06.
Following completion of Seminary I began to serve at Crossroads Church and had again the wonderful opportunity to learn under some incredible men of God. Having served as the teaching assistant to Pastor Phil Print while I was in seminary gave me the opportunity to see the inter-working of this large church first as an outsider, then as an insider. I had the opportunity to write bible study lessons and daily devotionals for some church wide projects. I continued to grow in faith and leadership as a small-group coach as well as a small group leader. I had the amazing opportunity to be part of the team that transitioned the church from being a church with small groups to a church of small groups. In May we had something like 150 members in small groups, and when we re-launched the following September we were just shy of 700! This was a great opportunity to see God’s blessing first hand.
We were “blessed” in March 2008 to be called to a small church in Southern, MN. I say that a bit tongue in cheek because coming out of seminary I knew that I wanted to be on staff at a multi-staff church in a large city and that I did not want to be a Senior Pastor, and my long term goal was to be an executive pastor. Thankfully God knows best, and indeed He blessed me with an opportunity to do everything I didn’t want to do – I’m a solo pastor in a small church in a small town that I had never heard of before applying for the position! And indeed God has blessed me and my family in mighty ways through this experience. I have experienced tremendous personal spiritual growth through my having to preach roughly 55 times a year the past 3 years (that includes holidays, special services, weddings & funerals). Additionally, I’ve been leading & teaching (and team teaching) Jr. High and Sr. High youth groups and Bible studies for adults, so my time in the Word is greater than ever before! Thankfully God is God and I am not, He knows best.
I continue to grow through personal study, study related to ministry, and through various church conferences. I regularly listen to other preachers’ sermons to allow them to feed me, teach me and challenge me. I read regularly to continue to add to my knowledge base. I also read from a wide range of blogs and online resources to keep current with trends in our churches and our culture. I practice personal devotions from the Bible, and am growing spiritually with my wife as well. I am still being formed, am not where I would like to be, but am amazed at where I have come from. God is indeed gracious.
If I were to sum my faith up in one sentence it would be:
I am a Christ follower who is seeking to serve God, hoping to bring Him glory, desiring to be used by God, and thankful God is great enough to use me in spite of me.
My Bedrock Beliefs:
That Christ is my personal Lord and Savior and is the only solution to my (and the world's) sin problem.
That we need to honor God in everything we do.
That people matter to God.
The Bible is God’s Word.
That the local church is the hope of the world.
That the truths of Scripture should be communicated in meaningful and relevant ways.
The theme of my faith journey is that God works in unexpected ways, and one of the ways in which he was working in my life was I was placed with a strong Christian as my roommate in college my freshman year. Through him and some of our close friends, I began to understand that I did not have the relationship with Jesus that I needed to have. Their faith and support brought me into a relationship with Jesus and fostered in me an interest that has not since been quelled. I began to ask questions of them. I dusted off my Bible and began to read. For the first time in my life I was excited to learn about the Bible and Jesus Christ. I went on my first mission trip just a month after coming to Christ, and followed this with a month long missions trip to the same location in Mexico the following school year.
I spent the next six years learning and growing in faith. Early on in those years I was not as focused on my faith as I wish I had been, but I was going to church regularly, and usually was part of a Bible study or small group, though I wasn’t serving with any regularity. When I moved to Mitchell, S.D., and began to attend Northridge Baptist Church, I entered into a period of fantastic growth in my personal faith. I was challenged by the teaching in sermons. I joined the praise and worship team, something I would never have imagined previously (my parents didn’t believe it until they saw me sing). I joined a Men’s Bible study that taught me volumes on being a Christian, friend, and leader of a family. I was also a member of a small group Bible study while at Northridge. I could not find enough time in the day to learn and grow in my personal faith. It was during this period that I began to listen to God's call on my life towards ministry. I also worked with the High School youth group for a couple of years while at Northridge Baptist, filling in in-between youth pastors. This gave me my first real taste of teaching about and through the Bible.
I left Northridge Baptist and this season of ministry to enter full time into Seminary at Bethel Theological Seminary, Arden Hills, MN. I have completed a Master’s of Divinity in the Greek Track with a focus on Transformational Leadership. While in seminary I grew enormously spiritually. I was regularly challenged to re-evaluate what I believed, and forced to think through many areas of theology I had never approached before. It was a greatly challenging and enlightening time. Some who go to seminary find their enthusiasm for spiritual things waning by the conclusion of their education, but not me. My faith is far stronger, and deeper because of my experiences in seminary.
Seminary was also a great training ground for ministry for me. I had the opportunity to be the teaching assistant for the Preaching department for 2.5 years (serving under Bob Merritt of Eagle Brook Church, Phil Print of Crossroads Church, and Dan Rotach), and then spent another year as the teaching assistant in the Transformational Leadership department (serving under Justin Irving). The leaders in these departments were greatly influential in my personal development. I also served on the Student Senate for three years, and was the President of the Student Senate for school year 2005-06.
Following completion of Seminary I began to serve at Crossroads Church and had again the wonderful opportunity to learn under some incredible men of God. Having served as the teaching assistant to Pastor Phil Print while I was in seminary gave me the opportunity to see the inter-working of this large church first as an outsider, then as an insider. I had the opportunity to write bible study lessons and daily devotionals for some church wide projects. I continued to grow in faith and leadership as a small-group coach as well as a small group leader. I had the amazing opportunity to be part of the team that transitioned the church from being a church with small groups to a church of small groups. In May we had something like 150 members in small groups, and when we re-launched the following September we were just shy of 700! This was a great opportunity to see God’s blessing first hand.
We were “blessed” in March 2008 to be called to a small church in Southern, MN. I say that a bit tongue in cheek because coming out of seminary I knew that I wanted to be on staff at a multi-staff church in a large city and that I did not want to be a Senior Pastor, and my long term goal was to be an executive pastor. Thankfully God knows best, and indeed He blessed me with an opportunity to do everything I didn’t want to do – I’m a solo pastor in a small church in a small town that I had never heard of before applying for the position! And indeed God has blessed me and my family in mighty ways through this experience. I have experienced tremendous personal spiritual growth through my having to preach roughly 55 times a year the past 3 years (that includes holidays, special services, weddings & funerals). Additionally, I’ve been leading & teaching (and team teaching) Jr. High and Sr. High youth groups and Bible studies for adults, so my time in the Word is greater than ever before! Thankfully God is God and I am not, He knows best.
I continue to grow through personal study, study related to ministry, and through various church conferences. I regularly listen to other preachers’ sermons to allow them to feed me, teach me and challenge me. I read regularly to continue to add to my knowledge base. I also read from a wide range of blogs and online resources to keep current with trends in our churches and our culture. I practice personal devotions from the Bible, and am growing spiritually with my wife as well. I am still being formed, am not where I would like to be, but am amazed at where I have come from. God is indeed gracious.
If I were to sum my faith up in one sentence it would be:
I am a Christ follower who is seeking to serve God, hoping to bring Him glory, desiring to be used by God, and thankful God is great enough to use me in spite of me.
My Bedrock Beliefs:
That Christ is my personal Lord and Savior and is the only solution to my (and the world's) sin problem.
That we need to honor God in everything we do.
That people matter to God.
The Bible is God’s Word.
That the local church is the hope of the world.
That the truths of Scripture should be communicated in meaningful and relevant ways.
Thursday, November 01, 2012
Baldy's BBQ - A Review
If you know me, you know that my love languages are football, wings, and BBQ. :-) So when my wife suggested we visit a new BBQ place, you know I was game. We had to run to the Twin Cities for some school supplies, and stopped in Lakeville, MN for dinner. The review follows...starting NOW!
Baldy's BBQ
11276 210th St W
Suite 103
Lakeville, MN 55044
PH: 952.469.3343
(it's in a strip mall just behind the truck stop/McDonald's East of I-35 on the Southern most Lakeville exit)
What we ate:
Appetizer - Trio with Corn Poppers, Fried Green Beans, Cheese Curds
Entrees - The Beast (wife) and Mixed Grill (me) with Brisket, Pulled Pork & Baldy's Sausage.
Sides - Cornbread, Fries, Coleslaw, Five-Cheese Corn with Ham
Sauces - tried all they had.
Ambiance:
I'd call it "hole-in-the-wall-strip-mall" with a bit of sports bar thrown in. It was a slow night I suspect with it being Halloween. Room was dark, a few TV's, a handful of booths along one wall, and tables seating 4 or 8 taking up most of the floor space. Dining room was clean, bathrooms were clean. Nothing special, but on par for most BBQ joints. No concerns on cleanliness anywhere - most of the food prep areas are within view.
Service:
We dined in, though take-out is available. Our server was pleasant and knowledgeable. With this being our first visit, that is important. Answered all our questions well, and weathered a fidgety 3-year-old. Kept our glasses full and paced our app and entrees well.
Food:
Corn Poppers are always incredible. The Fried Green Beans tasted like Onion Rings, which was a minus for me, a plus for my wife. The Cheese Curds were a bit over cooked resulting in some loss of cheese. Our son loved the Fried Green Beans, eating about 80% of them. I'd do it again, though I'll personally pass on the green beans next time.
Brisket - they use a very thin sliced brisket. Flavor was pleasant, though not nearly as flavorful as I like. A hint of smoke, so if you don't like a strong flavor, you'll like this. I found it lacking. I also don't like the think slice nearly as much as a thick slice, or my preferred of chopped. Meat wasn't dry, but I wouldn't call it juicy. I chalk that up to the thin slicing. Beef was tender, but again, this might be a result of the thin slicing since there was little to offer resistance. My benchmark for Brisket in the Twin Cities is Dickey's, and this isn't up to that standard. I'd eat it again, but I've had better.
Pulled Pork - Great flavor, a bit chewy. The pork had the flavor I was hoping the brisket would have. I'd order it again, with the hope it was a bit more tender next time. One of the better pulled porks I've had.
Baldy's Sausage - first bite was surprisingly mild with great texture. And then about 20 seconds later a gentle heat started to build. Nice. Didn't see that coming. The overall flavor is mild with a noticeable but not overpowering hint of fennel seed (which is important, because I generally don't like fennel seed) and then a slowly building bit of heat that is about 20% less that I like, but probably about right for most customers. Juicy while not being greasy. The surprising highlight of my meats. If pushed, I'd still take Famous Dave's Hot Links or Dickey's Spicy Cheddar Sausage, but only by the slimmest of margins. You can't go wrong with this sausage!
The Beast - Smoked Brisket sauced in their original sauce,coleslaw,bacon and two onion rings. On a 5inch Kaiser Bun. First impression - holy cow! Can a single person eat this beast?!? It is huge. You definitely get your money's worth on this. My wife said the coleslaw was exceptional. She doesn't eat coleslaw often, but almost always on a sandwich when we eat BBQ. She was definitely pleased and would order it again. And she only ate 1/4 of the sandwich and was stuffed (with app earlier). She'll get at least 1 more lunch out of this plus my leftover pulled pork.
Cornbread - best cornbread I've had North of Nashville. Outstanding. Crunchy outside, moist and dense inside, with awesome flavor. Pan cooked like it should be. Easily the best cornbread I've had in a LONG time. I'd stop here just to eat that alone.
Fries - best fries I've ever eaten. While I don't eat a lot of fries, and nearly never order fries (never at fast food places), these were awesome! Special seasoning, and batter fried = pure potato deliciousness. I got them on the recommendation of our server, and he didn't lead me astray.
Five-Cheese Corn with Ham - think of a really rich creamy/cheesy sauce poured over sweet corn with a few thin slices of ham thrown in. Really good. Thankfully no onion in the mix. The creamy texture was nice, the corn was sweet, though I think it could've benefited from a bit of heat and salt. A dash of white pepper or cayenne pepper would've really pushed this over the top. If they added a breadcrumb topping for texture you'd have fights breaking out at tables for who gets the last spoonful. Really tasty and a no-brainer to order again.
Sauces - I tried all that were on the table. My favorite by far is the Original. While I didn't sit and think about the flavor profiles a whole lot, this was a very nicely balanced sauce with nothing too strong in any direction. The Spicy was probably my least favorite, and definitely not as well liked as Devil's Spit from Famous Dave's. The Gold was a honey-bbq sauce that was really tasty and is good with the pork and would pair well with chicken too I'm guessing. The Sweet was too sweet and fruity for my liking, though not bad, just not what I was looking for, and certainly not as good as the Original. There may have been a fifth sauce, but if so I'm forgetting what it was.
Would I do it again? Yep. If Dickey's was next door I'd stop there first and grab my brisket there though and then finish at Baldy's. Very good value for the money, and next time I'm trying ribs and/or turkey!
Baldy's BBQ
11276 210th St W
Suite 103
Lakeville, MN 55044
PH: 952.469.3343
(it's in a strip mall just behind the truck stop/McDonald's East of I-35 on the Southern most Lakeville exit)
What we ate:
Appetizer - Trio with Corn Poppers, Fried Green Beans, Cheese Curds
Entrees - The Beast (wife) and Mixed Grill (me) with Brisket, Pulled Pork & Baldy's Sausage.
Sides - Cornbread, Fries, Coleslaw, Five-Cheese Corn with Ham
Sauces - tried all they had.
Ambiance:
I'd call it "hole-in-the-wall-strip-mall" with a bit of sports bar thrown in. It was a slow night I suspect with it being Halloween. Room was dark, a few TV's, a handful of booths along one wall, and tables seating 4 or 8 taking up most of the floor space. Dining room was clean, bathrooms were clean. Nothing special, but on par for most BBQ joints. No concerns on cleanliness anywhere - most of the food prep areas are within view.
Service:
We dined in, though take-out is available. Our server was pleasant and knowledgeable. With this being our first visit, that is important. Answered all our questions well, and weathered a fidgety 3-year-old. Kept our glasses full and paced our app and entrees well.
Food:
Corn Poppers are always incredible. The Fried Green Beans tasted like Onion Rings, which was a minus for me, a plus for my wife. The Cheese Curds were a bit over cooked resulting in some loss of cheese. Our son loved the Fried Green Beans, eating about 80% of them. I'd do it again, though I'll personally pass on the green beans next time.
Brisket - they use a very thin sliced brisket. Flavor was pleasant, though not nearly as flavorful as I like. A hint of smoke, so if you don't like a strong flavor, you'll like this. I found it lacking. I also don't like the think slice nearly as much as a thick slice, or my preferred of chopped. Meat wasn't dry, but I wouldn't call it juicy. I chalk that up to the thin slicing. Beef was tender, but again, this might be a result of the thin slicing since there was little to offer resistance. My benchmark for Brisket in the Twin Cities is Dickey's, and this isn't up to that standard. I'd eat it again, but I've had better.
Pulled Pork - Great flavor, a bit chewy. The pork had the flavor I was hoping the brisket would have. I'd order it again, with the hope it was a bit more tender next time. One of the better pulled porks I've had.
Baldy's Sausage - first bite was surprisingly mild with great texture. And then about 20 seconds later a gentle heat started to build. Nice. Didn't see that coming. The overall flavor is mild with a noticeable but not overpowering hint of fennel seed (which is important, because I generally don't like fennel seed) and then a slowly building bit of heat that is about 20% less that I like, but probably about right for most customers. Juicy while not being greasy. The surprising highlight of my meats. If pushed, I'd still take Famous Dave's Hot Links or Dickey's Spicy Cheddar Sausage, but only by the slimmest of margins. You can't go wrong with this sausage!
The Beast - Smoked Brisket sauced in their original sauce,coleslaw,bacon and two onion rings. On a 5inch Kaiser Bun. First impression - holy cow! Can a single person eat this beast?!? It is huge. You definitely get your money's worth on this. My wife said the coleslaw was exceptional. She doesn't eat coleslaw often, but almost always on a sandwich when we eat BBQ. She was definitely pleased and would order it again. And she only ate 1/4 of the sandwich and was stuffed (with app earlier). She'll get at least 1 more lunch out of this plus my leftover pulled pork.
Cornbread - best cornbread I've had North of Nashville. Outstanding. Crunchy outside, moist and dense inside, with awesome flavor. Pan cooked like it should be. Easily the best cornbread I've had in a LONG time. I'd stop here just to eat that alone.
Fries - best fries I've ever eaten. While I don't eat a lot of fries, and nearly never order fries (never at fast food places), these were awesome! Special seasoning, and batter fried = pure potato deliciousness. I got them on the recommendation of our server, and he didn't lead me astray.
Five-Cheese Corn with Ham - think of a really rich creamy/cheesy sauce poured over sweet corn with a few thin slices of ham thrown in. Really good. Thankfully no onion in the mix. The creamy texture was nice, the corn was sweet, though I think it could've benefited from a bit of heat and salt. A dash of white pepper or cayenne pepper would've really pushed this over the top. If they added a breadcrumb topping for texture you'd have fights breaking out at tables for who gets the last spoonful. Really tasty and a no-brainer to order again.
Sauces - I tried all that were on the table. My favorite by far is the Original. While I didn't sit and think about the flavor profiles a whole lot, this was a very nicely balanced sauce with nothing too strong in any direction. The Spicy was probably my least favorite, and definitely not as well liked as Devil's Spit from Famous Dave's. The Gold was a honey-bbq sauce that was really tasty and is good with the pork and would pair well with chicken too I'm guessing. The Sweet was too sweet and fruity for my liking, though not bad, just not what I was looking for, and certainly not as good as the Original. There may have been a fifth sauce, but if so I'm forgetting what it was.
Would I do it again? Yep. If Dickey's was next door I'd stop there first and grab my brisket there though and then finish at Baldy's. Very good value for the money, and next time I'm trying ribs and/or turkey!
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