Of the nearly 8000 verses in the New Testament, there are only about 4 verses that reference singing of songs or hymns in worship. I find it interesting how much we define our worship nowadays by music and song. Half of the time spent in corporate worship is devoted to the act, yet Paul will spend chapters describing what communion actually is, yet most churches are doing communion less and less. Why is this?

Now, I’m not opposed to the emerging church movement. If anything, I think they are healthy for the diversity of the body of Christ, as well as have important lessons and emphases to teach other denominations and styles of non-denominational churches. that being said, they are definitely not without their dangers… theologically, epistemologically, in their ecclesiology, etc. Some of the posters I found on the Pyromaniacs site were quite humorous to me and point out some of the generalizations true of the Emerging movement.

This is taken from Mark Driscoll’s post on the Acts 29 blog.

Religion says, if I obey, God will love me. Gospel says, because God loves me, I can obey.

Religion has good people & bad people. Gospel has only repentant and unrepentant people.

Religion values a birth family. Gospel values a new birth.

Religion depends on what I do. Gospel depends on what Jesus has done.

Religion claims that sanctification justifies me. Gospel claims that justification enables sanctification.

Religion has the goal to get from God. Gospel has the goal to get God.

Religion sees hardships as punishment for sin. Gospel sees hardship as sanctified affliction.

Religion is about me. Gospel is about Jesus.

Religion believes appearing as a good person is the key. Gospel believes that being honest is the key.

Religion has an uncertainty of standing before God. Gospel has certainty based upon Jesus’ work.

Religion sees Jesus as the means. Gospel sees Jesus as the end.

Religion ends in pride or despair. Gospel ends in humble joy.

While driving through Alabama, I figured it would be a good experience to flip through radio stations in the middle of nowhere… well… near Eufaula. Now, I know some of Bocephus’ (aka Hank Williams Jr) wonderful catalog of music, including “Family Tradition,” but a wonderful little diddy came on while on my drive. The song is entitled “If the South Would Have Won (We’ve Had It Made).” The song includes such wonderful lines as “I’d make my surpreme court down in Texas and we wouldn’t have no killers getting off free/If they were proven guilty then they would quickly swing” and as a South Floridian, my personal favorite, ” We’d put Florida on the right track, ’cause we’d take Miami back.” Listening to that song while driving through rural Alabama… I almost bought a confederate flag! (ok… not so much).

Over the next few days I have the exquisite opportunity to attend the International Christian Retail Show put on by CBA. For those who don’t know what it is, and I assume that a vast number of readers here at Drive Through Rain do not, this is the end all be all for anything you can find in any Christian bookstore, anywhere. So whether its Bible commentaries or TestaMints, Left Behind video games or Veggietales, you can find it all here. Everyone is peddling their crafti-work, and (supposedly) all in the name of Jesus.

Upon arrival to the World Congress Center, I see out on the vast landscape of Christian retail, and the floorspace alone is at least 4 football fields. Lets just say, its vast. So the company I work for has a booth, and I head that direction. I’m pretty dead set on finding them, so I am not taking in any initial impressions. Although I wasn’t browsing to start, it was hard to miss this on my way in:

Giant Larry Boy

Well, I got to my company’s table and proceeded to wander my way through the giant maze of Christian sub-culture fuel. Well, I was pleasantly surprised to start. The first half of my walk was through Christian book-publishers. I mean, there were probably a lot of books with questionable content or books that in no way further the Kingdom, but all in all, there seems to be some excellent resources out there.

My next experience was with the Christian junk sellers (i.e. everything besides books). My first real exposure to this was in college. I was never a man of faith until then, and had never really seen people sell much spiritual stuff other than the candles at the supermarket, usually in the Spanish foods section. When I was at Washington University, it was the year the Pope came to America and he came to St. Louis. We went to go see him, and you could find any Pope related item, from Pope-on-a-rope for all your baptismal cleaning needs and Pope-sicles, to satisfy your sacrament sweet tooth. Lets just say, this place topped them all. Some items I can understand people wanting and having a need for, but some things, I just don’t get. There was a booth for sunglasses…. seriously… Jesus sunglasses. What made them Christian? Don’t really know. Seems like people are ok with using Jesus as a marketing tool to sell stuff. Same with folks who put the Jesus fish on their business trucks. Is it truly biblical to never interact with non-Christians and only do any kind of business with supposed Christian-based companies? Does that guarantee you will never get ripped off? Unlikely. There was also a contraption to help you memorize scripture by projecting words on your windshield while driving. So, next time you see someone with a Jesus-fish on their car driving badly, don’t get mad… they may just be memorizing Scripture.

I will post for you three interesting finds for the day.

1. Christian Board Games. One company apparently makes Christian versions of all the board games out there. As if Scatagories really causes me to be tempted by the devil. They have everything from Apples to Apples the Bible Version to this:
   
   
   Guess you gotta make sure not to say words on your card, like “atonement, sacrifice, perserverance of the saints.”
2. Bronze Jesus. This lifesized bronzed Jesus warrior statue confronted me amidst my casual stroll. I was thinking of buying it and putting it by my front door to remind me what a merciful Savior I have.
   
3. The Jesus Statues. I have once before posted on ridiculous Jesus figurines, but these will take the cake. See Jesus in commonplace situations, like riding a bull, driving a harley, or falling off a cliff, to help remind you the price that was paid for your sins. Get yours today from WeAreFishermen.com