TheDeSocios.com

I have heard a few people state that they are uninterested in my recent wishlist posts, probably because these folks don’t want to buy me any of the things on my list.

Here is the deal with these lists, I have like a dozen people asking me what I want for Christmas, so I thought I would make it easy for everyone.

Here is the problem, some of my readers don’t care, and the people who do care about my list, can’t find out who bought what.

So here is the solution that will please everyone= boxedup.com. This is a program that allows you to create a wishlist that you can put up on your site, and people can access you wishlist page, on boxedup.com, and reserve a product from the list, so people don’t get duplicates.

for those of you who don’t care about my Christmas list, you will still want to check out this site, its a really cool idea.

We are currently in Louisville, The City of bourbon. Snoke, and I are having a great time.

Last night we went to the release performance for Ben Sollee’s new album at the 21c Museum.

Today we went to the 11, and 7pm worship gatherings at Sojourn Community Church.
I got to thinking about what was the same and what was different.

So, here are some of the differences and similarities between City Reformed and Sojourn Community.
Differences:
1. Louder – A drum set, and a electric guitar means a louder service, with a bit more of a punch. Though the 7pm service was a bit more mellow than the 10am.
2. People – Its funny, I’m guessing that the average age in the 10am was actually older than our service. I think they have more long-term residents than we do, even if they are in the 20′s and 30′s.
3. Size – There were probably 300 people in the 10am and 80 in the 7pm, so they are bigger.
4. Building – The 930, though not simply a church building, is definitely nicer than the Frick Academy.
5. The Atmosphere – Most of the people were dressed more casually than CR, and the lighting in the building was a bit more stirring than the halogen gems that we rock.
6. Standing for the Bible Reading – I had thought about this before, and I really liked it.
7. Communion – Weekly (Let the gasps of utter horror from the “4 times a year because its special” folks begin.)

Similarities:
1. The “elements” – Call to Worship , Singing, Prayer, Bible Reading, Confession of sin, Assurance of Pardon, and a benediction.
2. Both Church leaders explain the service, and doesn’t assume that everyone is a part of the church subculture.
3. Deep sermons – you can tell that, both Matt, and Daniel are men that love the Bible.
4. Contextualized – Both CR and Sojourn are trying to take an ancient truth and make it as accessible as possible with out changing that truth.
5. Keller – North or South, Baptist or Presby. Tim Keller has a wide sphere of influence.

Now to the good stuff…

Who has the better facial hair?

Matt Koerber

Daniel Montgomery

Winner: Matt Koerber

Just check out that beard. Though a bit scarier in his picture, Matt clearly wins by the fact that he could stop a bullet with that facestache, and thus prevent a stray bullet from hitting a member of his church (talk about laying ones life down).

My finals are finished, and I have just a bit of reading and a few pages to write.
So here is what I’m planning for the next week, or so, at thedesocios.com:

1. I recently heard a lecture by Darren Patrick about the History of the Emergent Church, and I’m hoping to write a response.
I’d especially like to focus on the nature of missions– Is it from the church or from God.

2. I’m heading down to Louisville this week to take Michael up on his offer to visit the 930 Art Center, and Sojourn Community Church. Sojourn is an Acts 29 Church, so I’m pretty excited. It will be great to see what these guys are doing and maybe it will give me some ideas for Pittsburgh, if we stay. I’m hoping to at the least take some good photo from the trip, maybe Ill bring my video camera. So next Monday night or Tuesday I’ll post about our trip down to the 930.

I can cross off three books from the list.
I know Im getting: Seeking A Better Country, and The Churching Of America.
I also got an email from my dad that he has The Coming of The Kingdom, and I can take it.

Marshill’s publishing ministry theresurgence.com just announced their free online Greek tool. If you have bibleworks, or are privileged enough to have a mac with Accordance on it than this isn’t anything revolutionary, but if you don’t have the expensive bible software, this gives you an unheard of level of access to the original language.
I have not seen any information about which version of the text it is, BHS4 is my guess.

Again I have to say praise God for Marshill and their commitment to the word of God.

See it at www.regreek.com

On further examination, I need to add a few more books to my Winter Wishlist:

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Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America
by Darrell L. Guder

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The Churching Of America, 1776-2005by Roger Finke, Rodney Stark.

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Like many of my compatriots, I am a bibliophile. Growing up I hated books and I never read, but late in college I started to read good books. By the time I was in Seminary, maybe due to my love of the good book, I began to love reading good books. By no means do I have an exhaustive library, in fact my collection is quite humble, around 300 books.
Like many people I know, I am currently in the middle of reading several books, but this does not stop me from wanting to read other book.

Here is my Winter (Birthday & Christmas) Wishlist:

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Coming of the Kingdom by Herman Ridderbos.

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Seeking a Better Country: 300 Years of American Presbyterianism by Darryl Hart and John R. Muether.

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Everyday Theology by Kevin J Vanhoozer.

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Salvation to the Ends of the Earth: A Biblical Theology of Mission by Andreas Kostenberger.

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How Jesus Transformed the Ten Commandments by Edmund Clowney

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Thirty Years That Changed the World: The Book of Acts for Today by Michael Green.

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Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament by Peter Enns.

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Living the Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing by C.J. Mahaney.

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So if you like watching tv on you computer, when you want, with a minimal ads, and you have this little thing called a conscience and would rather not steal them, than Hulu is your dream application. Hulu is a new program similar to youtube that is in beta right now, it give you the freedom to watch tv shows online for free, whats the catch two really short ads in the middle, what the benefit, you arent stealing or getting ripped off to watch a little tv.

here is a embeded clip of a recent episode of the office.

Notice a couple of things:
It loads super fast, you can embed on a page, and the quality looks really good.