May 2007
Monthly Archive
The Gospel Conference
Posted by Dan on 27 May 2007 | Tagged as: Xianity
Will, Brett and I went to the Gospel Coalition Conference in Chicago. It was an interesting conference to be sure. For starters is was very academic, taking place on Trinity Divinity School’s campus. It also included speakers such as John Piper, Tim Keller and Mark Driscoll. I was going to give a big summery of the week, but there are many good blogs out there who have done that well and Brett has already done a good job of that.
Anyway, here are a couple of reminders that I took away. Simple but good stuff.
1. A high view of scripture. These guys all believe that God’s word is true and living and you see it in even the way they read
a passage.
2. A Gospel Centered Hermenutic. By this I mean, that all scripture points to Christ.
3. Sin is very bad and this is what makes God’s grace great. John Piper talked about the severity of sin. He quoted Romans 8 when it says
“20Against its will, everything on earth was subjected to God’s curse. 21All creation anticipates the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.”
Sin is so serious, that God subjected all of creation to the curse, even though it was Adam who sinned. Creation is groaning. We see that in natural disasters. We see that in our sicknesses. We see that in accidents. We see a world groaning, because things aren’t as they should be. All because sin is such a serious issue. And so we wait for the hope we have in Christ and we cling to the fact that Jesus has taken our wrath. We have a hope for new bodies. We have hope for a new life with Christ.
Any conference that can remind us of the basics of the Good News of Jesus so well is a good thing.
Band Retreat
Posted by Dan on 19 May 2007 | Tagged as: music, Xianity
I am on a band retreat with 11 others here in Michigan and so far it’s going really well. The retreat place is super nice, great nature, a lake, hills, paths, lamas, and really good food. Really good food. Especially for a camp.
Anyway, last night we had a great talk about the music and worship at Riverview. I had everyone fill out evaluations for their band to get everyone thinking about what we are doing well and what we need to improve on.
We have such a diversity of band, from folk, to indie rock, to contemporary that many times just the styles seem to balance out anything that we do that is extreme. At the same time we are struggling to find balance in each band. We have to figure out how to, in every way, serve the church. Sometimes this means playing stuff that just super easy and simple for people to use, basically communal prayers to God. It’s also appropriate to sometimes do what’s best for the church, even if it’s not the most comfortable thing for people. Comfort could be our greatest danger in worship.
Ish-online
Posted by Dan on 16 May 2007 | Tagged as: music
For those of you far from the reaches of Riverview, you can download the new Ish Album at
Also, check out our record label, Semper Reformanda Records website for more updates. I’m hoping to post some bonus mp3s up there soon.
Listen to a couple of our songs for free on Myspace.
Let me know what you think!
Also, please feel free to pimp this on your blog or website. I’m really excited about getting this music out there. We are hoping to resource pastors, worship leaders and Joe church member with these songs. Thanks!
Riverbrew Video
Posted by Dan on 16 May 2007 | Tagged as: Uncategorized
Check out the new Riverbrew video.
Engagement and Pre-Marriage
Posted by Dan on 15 May 2007 | Tagged as: Life, Xianity
First of all congrats to Will and Monaca on their engagement! It’s great to see a wonderful couple find love and do it the right way.
EDIT: to clarify-Will and Monaca are not living together, thus “doing it the right way.”
It’s really weird being in a church that holds certain values on what marriage means before God, because in our culture, even most Christians have standards that make me uncomfortable, in the sense of doing their wedding. Probably about 90% of the couples that come to us claim to be Christians and are living together. This is strange when we see scriptures state that we shouldn’t even have a hint of sexual immorality.
Steve found a very helpful article on this topic by Ron Deal. If you are a pastor or an engaged couple (or hoping to be engaged someday) you should read it. It’s called The Elephant in the Bedroom
Tomorrow at Our Place
Posted by Dan on 11 May 2007 | Tagged as: Life
We are having people over at 9pm bring whoever.
