Song of the Week: Waiting for My Real Life to Begin

My oh my.

My brother introduced me to this song from Colin Hay, "Waiting for My Real Life to Begin." How many of us can identify with the guy waiting for everything to work out the way he wants, while he has a significant person in his life (wife? friend? The Spirit?) saying, "Live now . . . you're missing it now." Selah--

Any minute now, my ship is coming in
I'll keep checking the horizon
I'll stand on the bow, feel the waves come crashing
Come crashing down, down, down, on me

And you say, be still my love
Open up your heart
Let the light shine in

But don't you understand
I already have a plan
I'm waiting for my real life to begin

When I awoke today, suddenly nothing happened
But in my dreams, I slew the dragon
And down this beaten path, and up this cobbled lane
I'm walking in my old footsteps, once again

And you say, just be here now
Forget about the past, your mask is wearing thin

Let me throw one more dice
I know that I can win
I'm waiting for my real life to begin

Any minute now, my ship is coming in
I'll keep checking the horizon
And I'll check my machine, there's sure to be that call
It's gonna happen soon, soon, soon
It's just that times are lean

And you say, be still my love
Open up your heart, let the light shine in

Don't you understand
I already have a plan
I'm waiting for my real life to begin

Fishing for People

Each Wednesday I post my article from "Winning Ways," an e-newsletter that goes out to over 750 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "Winning Ways," sign up here.

Warren Whitaker admits it's the most unusual way he's ever used to land a fish, but it worked.

While competing in the Texas Outdoor Adventure Series Big Bass Championship a few years ago, Whitaker latched on to a bass he knew would be a winner. He also knew it would be a problem. The big bass had wrapped Whitaker's 20-pound test line on a submerged tree.

Not wanting to lose his prize, Whitaker jumped in after the fish. At first, the fisherman kept his head above the water while he freed the fishing with his toes. But the bass had wrapped itself around the tree much lower. So, removing his life vest, Whitaker took a deep breath and dived down nearly 17 feet. Opening his eyes in the murky water, he saw the exhausted fish's tail and reached out and grabbed it. He pulled the big bass to him and held it against his body as he returned to the surface. Altogether, Whitaker had been in the water thirty minutes.

Back at the weigh-in, Whitaker's bass weighed 12.7 pounds, the biggest fish of the three-day event. For his labor, the fisherman took home a total prize of $18,300 in cash and merchandise.

I wonder if we have Whitaker's passion when it comes to catching people for Jesus. The Bible says that Jesus passed by Simon Peter and some other fishermen one day and said, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” This Super Bowl Sunday, February 4, we’ll focus on that call at Hillcrest. It’s the next story in our weekly study of Matthew’s Gospel. I think it’s interesting that when Christ began his ministry the first thing he did was look for partners for that work.

Join us at Hillcrest (9:30am or 10:45am) if you're in the Austin area, or listen to the sermon podcast (iTunes; website) posted Monday.

Warren Whitaker has raised the definition of what a real fisherman is willing to do. When it comes to fishing for people, do we measure up to his example?

Links to Your World--Tuesday January 30

As the Colts and Da Bears face off against each other in Super Bowl XLI this week, their head coaches remain good friends. In this article Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith say that the fact that they are African-American is not the most important thing about them. They are Christian mean who “both operate without regarding football as the most important aspect of their lives. They don't yell and curse at players; instead they are known for the calm demeanor that Dungy suspects cost him a chance to become a head coach earlier. ‘For two guys to show that you can win that way,’ Dungy says, ‘I think that's just as important for the country to see.’” In this Lifeway article, the executive director of Athletes in Action said, “We could not have picked two better coaches to represent all that is good about sports.”

Attention Austin-Area College Students! Join me for a small-group study of The Anchor Course at the Baptist Student Ministries building on the UT campus. For the next couple of months we’ll meet with other students every Monday. The event is called “Matrix,” and it includes a free meal at 6pm, with the small group studies starting at 7pm. Jennifer Adams from our church teaches one course called “Habitudes,” and I teach “The Anchor Course.” There is a small cost for the book. Find more information about the BSM and a map to get their building here.

In “A Mom's Guide to MySpace,” Connie Neal tells you what you need to know about this popular website.

See the New York Times article (here) on changing attitudes toward dancing in conservative churches. Most of us have known about this change in attitude for a long, long time, but it’s good to see the Times explain how tired and old the jokes sound regarding Baptists and dancing.

“What is antiseptically called ‘screening’ for Down syndrome is, much more often than not, a search-and-destroy mission: At least 85 percent of pregnancies in which Down syndrome is diagnosed are ended by abortions.” Read George Will’s moving reaction to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recent recommendation here.

You have probably heard of Jim Elliott’s famous quote: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” Now look at the actual journal entry in the famous missionary’s own handwriting as found in the Billy Graham Center archives here.

Visit Herb Ingram’s new blog, “Herbal Essence.” Currently, he’s introducing the six steps of our “INVITE Strategy.” Learn more about how the INVITE Strategy got started here.

On-Mission Mondays: Become a High-Threshold Church

Every Monday I post about being “on mission” with Christ. I’ll spend a couple of months asking you to think with me about the principles in Milfred Minatrea’s book, Shaped By God's Heart: The Passion and Practices of Missional Churches . Find previous posts on this subject by clicking the label “On-Mission Mondays” at the end of this entry.

“Missional churches are high-threshold churches, and they clearly communicate the responsibilities of church membership.”

Milfred Minatrea presents this as the first of nine essential practices of churches on mission with Christ. They provide clear information on how to unite with the church. They express the advantages of belonging to the church. And they stress the importance of corporate unity in pursuit of God’s worthy goals. “Missional churches,” Minatrea says, “are made up of members who are convinced God has invited their community to participate in his mission and that accomplishment of his mission requires their unity.”

He cites several churches as examples of this principle, pointing to the content of their membership classes and the covenants they ask new members to sign.

Hillcrest does a good job fulfilling this principle of high-threshold membership. We require prospective members to complete “Discover Hillcrest” -- a two-hour class offered about every six weeks. We cover for major topics:

The PLAN of Our Salvation: We share the Gospel and invite people to receive it, and we explain the two symbols of our salvation – baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Those who need to schedule their own baptism can do so at this point.

The PURPOSE of Our Lives: We explain the fourfold purpose of the disciple’s life and how Hillcrest is dedicated to helping members fulfill that purpose. “Hillcrest” is more than our name – it’s our destination. Like climbers want to reach the top, disciples of Jesus want to mature. We have our own H.I.L.L. to climb: Honor the Lord of Life, Invite Your World to Life, Love the Fellowship for Life, and Live the Word in Life.

The PARTNERSHIP of Our Church: We look at the strategy we use to reach people for Christ and develop them as disciples. The purpose of membership is to partner together with other members to fulfill this strategy.

The PATTERN of Our Leadership: We look at how Hillcrest is organized for decision-making and ministry.

We conclude the class by asking those interested in joining to sign a membership commitment.

Prospects are channeled into this class through various means. The class is promoted in a prominent section of the bulletin that is dedicated to first-time guests. As the date of the next class approaches, all prospects receive a note in the mail and they call from one of the Ministry Staff. On the Sunday that the class is scheduled, I encourage worship attenders to stay for the lunchtime study.

In every church where I have required this class for membership, adult baptisms have dramatically increased and the dropout rate has dramatically decreased. I highly recommend Minatrea’s first principle for becoming a missional church.

If you are a church leader interested in learning how to start a membership class, I recommend Rick Warren’s important book, The Purpose-Driven Church.

Ten Signs You're Not Ready for Change

Each Thursday I post my article from "LeaderLines," an e-newsletter designed for church leaders. If you want to subscribe to "LeaderLines," sign up here.

I found a list that hit me between the eyes. As a leader who has had to play the role of “change agent” in several settings, I thought I had this change thing down. But at Tony Morgan’s weblog, he presented his “Top Ten Signs You’re Not Ready for Change.” (You can find it here.) These signs apply to change in any setting--business or church. See if you can identify:

You see other organizations as the competition instead of the idea incubators.

You're trying to avoid criticism that comes when you fail...and when you succeed.

You're afraid of the culture.

Your life is fast and cluttered and there's no space to dream.

You value getting it right over getting started.

You believe conflict is a bad thing.

You've stopped asking questions.

You think systems and strategy are the enemy of creativity.

You're expecting to receive credit for your ideas.

You think you've already arrived.

Thankfully, I can say that most of them don’t apply to me. But four of them made me squirm:

Regarding #2, I’ve had my moments when I went into “criticism-avoidance-mode,” which stopped my progress, or at least slowed it down.

Regarding #4, I’ve hit a season of life right now that's “fast and cluttered” with “no space to dream.”

Regarding #5, I have often let “getting it right” keep me from “getting it started.” Part of this comes by me honestly: I have the spiritual gift of administration, and in a previous church I followed a guy who got all kinds of things started but didn't get many of them right. Still, sometimes waiting to “get it started” until you “get it right” is just an excuse for faithless procrastination.

Regarding #9, I think I’m getting better at this, but I’ve always choked on the proverb: “Amazing things can be accomplished if you don’t care who gets the credit.” That part of my ego’s dying but not yet dead.

How about you? Which of the ten signs leave you unready for change?

Pay Attention to the Foundation

Each Wednesday I will post my article from "Winning Ways," an e-newsletter that goes out to over 750 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "Winning Ways," sign up here.

Here’s a parable for our times: Half of the town of Kiruna, Sweden, is being moved two miles from its current site at a cost of $4 billion. Decades of iron ore mining has slowly eroded the foundations of the town built above the world’s largest underground mine.

It’s an expensive lesson: Lose the foundation, lose your way of life.

Across the next 40 to 50 years, some buildings will be torn down and rebuilt. Others will be taken down piece by piece and reassembled in their new locale, including a historic wooden church. The church was once voted Sweden's most beautiful building but the ground it was built upon is giving way, so it won’t last.

Some remain uncertain that the new location will be any more secure than the sagging earth they’re leaving. For the relocation, the state-run mine has chosen a spot where they have deposited waste rock from the mining process.

Nevertheless, most accept the move as inevitable. “The people in Kiruna have known since 100 years ago they were living on iron ore,” said Vice Mayor Hans Swedell. “They knew that sometime they would have to move.”

As I said: A parable for our times.

A little apathy in our civic duties, chronic laziness in our parenting, a few bad decisions in our business, a few compromises in our church—like the tap, tap, tap of a miner’s pick, these things can slowly chip away at the foundations. The consequences aren’t immediate, but over time we find we’ve jeopardized the life we hoped to build.

In Isaiah 58:12, the prophet looked hopefully for people who would “rebuild the ancient ruins” and “raise up the age-old foundations.” Let’s be the fulfillment of that prophecy in our own families, churches, community, and nation. What can you do today to tend the convictions and habits that uphold the things important to you?

Links to Your World--Tuesday January 23

Learn how to start a conversation about Christ with Grey’s Anatomy here.

Visit Herb Ingram’s new blog, “Herbal Essence.” Currently, he’s introducing the six steps of our “INVITE Strategy.” Learn more about how the INVITE Strategy got started here.

Learn about HSAs--Health Savings Accounts--in this article: “Health Insurance Help is Here.”

“In a groundbreaking study that examined the effects of cohabitation on the long-term quality of marriage, the Alabama Policy Institute (API) conducted a study of more than 1,300 married couples. The results are eye-opening. The study shows that the longer a couple cohabits before marriage, the less satisfied they are with their marriage” (Article here).

Here is some encouragement for parents wondering what the college years will do to their kids’ faith.

In this article, Andrew Comiskey says, “The church can and should offer transformation for homosexuals.” He writes: “I entered into the faith as a practicing homosexual and discovered through the community of faith a clear and loving track of redemption on which I matured into the capacity for heterosexual marriage and family.”

On-Mission Mondays: Mission-Minded or Missional?

Lord willing, I’ll put up a post every Monday about being “on mission” with Christ. I’ll spend a couple of months asking you to think with me about the principles in Milfred Minatrea’s book, Shaped By God's Heart: The Passion and Practices of Missional Churches
.

“If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.” With this quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Milfred Minatrea begins his book designed to create a yearning to be shaped by God's heart.

He challenges church leaders to transition their churches from a "maintenance" mentality to a "missional" mentality. Too many churches, he says, have fallen into a maintenance mentality:

The Protestant church in North America was born into a comfortable and familiar environment that was favorable and respectful of its presence. . . . By the middle of the 20th century, however, . . . the times were changing, and changing fast. . . . Some longed to engage the changing culture and share with those who have never experienced the serenity and peace found in relationship with God and the members of his church, but to their surprise other people did not seem to see their church in the same way. They felt bewildered and under fire. In response, they retreated to the sanctuary, their place of comfort, growing ever more inward in their orientation.

Not surprisingly, they found themselves increasingly out of touch with the rapids of cultural change in the real world in which their neighbors lived. Most cared about those on the outside, but they felt impotent to connect and share with unchurched persons in any significant way. Consequently, their church is no longer anticipated having a major impact on society and hoped only to reach enough people to help the church survive. I call this prevalent consumer orientation, isolation from society, and associated lack of belief in capacity to have significant influence a maintenance mentality.

A "missional mentality" is very different. Minatrea defines a missional church as “a reproducing community of authentic disciples, being equipped as missionaries sent by God, to live and proclaim his kingdom in their world.”

While many churches would regard themselves as "mission-minded," Minatrea says this is not the same as being missional. Mission-minded churches view their role as sending and supporting those who have been "called" to mission service. "The missional church," says Minatrea, "understands that although some may be supported as those sent to other locations, every member of the church is 'sent.'"

This sounds very similar to what I've been saying at Hillcrest about having a "beachhead mentality" instead of having a "bunker mentality." Those are military terms. A beachhead is an offensive position that soldiers establish so they can push into occupied territory. A bunker is a defensive position where soldiers hunker down when under attack. When I began to challenge people to make Hillcrest a beachhead instead of a bunker, some people looked for another bunker to join.

I've been told that whenever a church goes through a transition, you can expect to lose 15%. That's been my experience, too. Thankfully, though, we are becoming more missional instead of just mission-minded. We are beginning to see ourselves as a mission point to our own community instead of just a church that sends money and people to mission-points far away.

Minatrea outlines nine essential practices of missional churches. Across the next several Mondays, I hope you'll think with me about each one.

The INVITE Strategy

Most of you know Herb Ingram, my friend and colleague at Hillcrest. Herb is in charge of outreach and our ministry to adults. He has a new blog called Herbal Essence (get it?). He has started his weblog with an overview of our "INVITE Strategy" at Hillcrest.

The INVITE Strategy was created by Herb, Jim Siegel (our minister to students), and me. Over lunch at an area restaurant, we talked about what we liked and (mostly) disliked with evangelism training programs we had led. I pulled out a pen, turned over the restaurant's paper napkin, and said, "Look, what's the natural way that you and I engage people in a discussion of the gospel?"

Across the next half-hour, the three of us came up with six steps, and codified them in the acrostic "I.N.V.I.T.E." We encourage our congregation to take up the challenge of 1 Chronicles 13:2 (NLT), "Let us invite them to come and join us." It involves six steps:

I--Identify your THEMs. You'll have to see Herb's first post to understand who a "THEM" is.

N--Nurture an authentic relationship with your THEMs

V--Verify the spiritual condition of your THEMs

I--Introduce your THEMs to your church family

T--Tell your THEM your faith story

E--Encourage THEM to cross the line of faith

I encourage you to keep up with Herb's blog as he introduces these six steps. Try out the six steps yourself and write Herb about your progress. If you live in the Austin area, be sure to attend the one-day "INVITE Strategy Seminar" this Spring. More about that later!

Links to Your World--January 16

Do you create backups of your computer files? Without backups, a hard drive crash will cause you to lose all those photos from your digital camera, music downloads, and any documents you’ve created. Learn about backup services here.

At his website, “Investigating Faith,” watch free video clips of Lee Strobel interviewing Anthony Flew. Flew recently rejected over 7 decades of atheism to declare his belief in the existence of God. Video clips include, “Why Did Your Beliefs Change?” “ What Was Your Impression of C.S. Lewis?” “What is God Like?” and “Why Do You Hope There Isn't an Afterlife?”

In this Newsweek article, young people take “The Blasphemy Challenge,” daring a God they don’t believe in to send them to hell.

Will Saudis Ban the Letter ‘X'? According to this article, a Saudi businessman was not allowed to use the English name “Explorer” for his company because it includes the letter “X,” which comes too close to resembling the Christian cross.

The Wrath of Grapes: Baptists and Alcoholic Beverages

"You should always take two Baptists fishing with you," goes the old joke, "because if you just take one, he'll drink all your beer."

The Texas Baptist Standard has a good article about the changing attitudes toward alcohol. We got a chance to see these changing attitudes in the 2006 SBC, where debate on alcohol dominated the resolutions report time. The result was a non-binding resolution urging "that no one be elected to serve as a trustee or a member of any entity or committee of the Southern Baptist Convention that is a user of alcoholic beverages."

The final resolution was no surprise, considering the long history of Southern Baptist opposition of alcoholic beverages. However, what was a surprise was how much time the debate on this resolution occupied. The points and counterpoints were made by men united in their biblical conservatism but who differ on this issue.

This convention debate reflects the change in the larger Baptist Family on the question of alcoholic beverages. It was once a "given" that if you were a Baptist, especially a conservative one, you were a "tea-totaller." Not the case anymore.

As for me, I've come to the conclusion that biblical faithfulness allows me to commend but not command my alcohol-free life.

I cannot command abstinence from alcohol when scripture does not command it. While scripture forbids the abuse of alcohol, of course, scripture does not forbid its use. So, I disagree with the convention resolution. I don't think we should "bind" anyone with a command that can't be clearly supported by Scripture.

But that doesn't mean you'll find a cooler of longnecks at my next backyard barbeque. While I won't command my alcohol-free lifestyle to others, I have no problem commending it. While all things are lawful for me, not all things are constructive (1 Corinthians 10:23). Since I serve as pastor in a society overrun with alcohol-related heartbreaks, living an alcohol-free lifestyle is a constructive choice.

250 Million Christians Will Be Persecuted in 2007

Some 250 million Christians around the world now face persecution because of their faith, according to persecution watchdog Release International in a recent story.

The U.K.-based group reported on growing persecution of Christians in four "zones"--Islam, Communism, Hinduism and Buddhism. But it is increasing fastest in the Muslim world.

Communism: The watchdog group said, “Despite the spectacular collapse of communism in Europe, persecution of Christians continues in China, Cuba, Laos and Vietnam, while the dubious accolade of the world’s worst persecutor of Christians goes to North Korea.” With preparations underway for China to host the Olympic Games, "western governments would do well to remember that China detains more Christians than any other country. Believers and leaders who want nothing more than to worship freely face imprisonment, torture and even death.”

Hinduism: "The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), one of India’s largest political parties, is associated with militant Hindu nationalist groups. Extremists have been involved in a growing number of attacks against both Christians and Muslims."

Buddhism: "In the Buddhist world, Christians face persecution in Bhutan, Burma and Sri Lanka. Buddhist militants regard Christianity as a threat to their national identity and unity."

Islam: According to the article, persecution of Christians is growing fastest in areas under Islamic control, and one of the world’s worst abusers of religious freedom is Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia forbids all other religions. A Muslim found “guilty” of converting to Christianity could face the death sentence for apostasy. And anyone who leads a Muslim to Christ faces jail, expulsion or execution.

“There’s a conspiracy of silence around Saudi,” said Release International’s CEO Andy Dipper, “probably because the West wants their oil and their money. But this is a government that hands out the death sentence for its own citizens who want nothing more than the freedom to choose their own faith. And while Saudi bans all Christian literature, it spends billions of dollars each year propagating Islam around the world.”

The article at The Christian Post should prompt you to pray for followers of Christ around the world.

Family Pride

Here are a few links to some things about/from my extended family:

My first sister (Nisha) has a blog about life with small boys in a 19th century Brenham (Texas) farmhouse (I've mentioned it before). In this post, she reflects on the maternal instinct she saw in a first-time longhorn mom. Nisha's a good writer, and moms of small kids will identify with her.

My second sister (Meg) is a bat biologist for Texas Parks and Wildlife in Austin. National Geographic depends on her expertise in this article.

My 15-year-old neice Riley creates custom purses. Check them out here and place an order. It started as a National Honor Society Project in response to the Hurricane Katrina Disaster. All of the money earned was donated to the American Red Cross. She is now creating "Riley Purses" to pay for her own tuition at Texas A&M where she will pursue a degree in engineering in 2012.

My 17-year-old neice Dylan is having her first art display this weekend. You can see some of her selections here.

Links to Your World--January 9

Attention College Students! If you were born after 1982 or if you owned an iPod before you had your own checking account, I have an essay contest for you to enter! If you could tell church pastors about one spiritual challenge facing your generation today, what would you say to them? How would you tell them to reach your generation? Outreach magazine and Kyros Entertainment have teamed up to give U.S. college students the opportunity to talk to pastors, be published in a national magazine and earn $500 for their winning essay. Find out more here. If you enter, let me know!

CiS (“Christians in Science”) has a video of a public lecture given 9 November 2006 by Alister McGrath on the topic of Dawkins' God. Click here to see it.

Albert Mohler makes an important distinction in his article, “A Nation of Christians, Not a Christian Nation.” See if you agree.

Interested in keeping up with the missionaries affiliated with our church? Check out the webpages from Jason Torres and Paul/Martha Buford.

Find here the book summary for Ron Luce’s talked-about book, “Battle Cry for a Generation: The Fight to Save America’s Youth.”

I liked “What is a ‘Good Christian Movie’ Anyway?” written for Christianity Today by David O. Taylor from Austin’s Hope Chapel. Links to Parts 2, 3, and 4 are on this same page.

Is There More to Life Than This?

This is the winning entry from a "viral competition" at The Alpha Course. The two runners-up are pretty good too (see them here). The Alpha Course is an international phenomenon designed by Nickey Gumbel, an Anglican minister in England. It's a course designed to introduce the Christian faith to those who are asking, "Isn't there more to life than what I'm experiencing?"

Gumbel's approach to interacting with seekers is the approach I intend to take with my study course, The Anchor Course (a happy accident that the names sound so similar!). I introduced the book by giving it away during a 9-week sermon series at Hillcrest in the Fall, but all along it was written to be a textbook for small-group study. I am planning to lead a couple of small-group studies this Spring. Want to be a part of one? Contact me!

Christian Resurgence

"God is back in Europe's most notoriously liberal country. Or rather: The Dutch are moving back to God."

That's what Joshua Livestro wrote in The Weekly Standard’s "Holland's Post-Secular Future." According to the article:

When the "corporate prayer" movement first started in 1996, few people in Holland took any notice. Why should they have done so? After all, Holland's manifest destiny was to become a fully secularized country, in which prayer was considered at best an irrational but harmless pastime. That was then. Cue forward to 2006, when prayer in the workplace is fast becoming a universally accepted phenomenon. More than 100 companies participate. Government ministries, universities, multinational companies like Philips, KLM, and ABN AMRO--all allow groups of employees to organize regular prayer meetings at their premises. Trade unions have even started lobbying the government for recognition of workers' right to prayer in the workplace.

The idea that secularization is the irreversible wave of the future is still the conventional wisdom in intellectual circles here. They would be bemused, to say the least, at a Dutch relapse into religiosity. But as the authors of a recently published study called De Toekomst van God (The Future of God) point out . . . Holland is on the threshold of a new era--one we might call the age of "post-secularization." In their book, Adjiedj Bakas, a professional trend-watcher, and Minne Buwalda, a journalist, argue that Holland is experiencing a fundamental shift in religious orientation: "Throughout Western Europe, and also in Holland, liberal Protestantism is in its death throes. It will be replaced by a new orthodoxy."

I've been reading several articles like this recently--articles pointing out a resurgence in Christian faith in secular Europe.

In the Weekly Standard article, the author states several reasons why Christianity is returning to Holland, but he points especially to the phenomenon of The Alpha Course. This course was designed by Nickey Gumbel, a minister in the Anglican Church in England, and has become a worldwide phenomenon. Evangelical churches in the U.S. aren't familiar with it, but it's a hit in mainline churches (at least in the ones that still preach the gospel).

Gumbel's approach to interacting with seekers is the approach I intend to take with my study course, The Anchor Course (a happy accident that the names sound so similar!). I introduced the book by giving it away during a 9-week sermon series at Hillcrest in the Fall, but all along it was written to be a textbook for small-group study. I am planning to lead a couple of small-group studies this Spring. Want to be a part of one? Contact me!

Dismounting a Dead Horse

Take a look at the photo to the left. Why is that elegant man in a tophat sitting on a dead horse? And does it say anything about your life?

This black-and-white photograph was taken in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, between 1876 and 1884 and it has led to nationwide curiosity, speculation and jokes.

The Sheboygan County Historical Research Center has had the picture in its collection for at least 20 years. The Center's director, Beth Dipple, said no one knows who the man is or the circumstances surrounding the photo--only that the city had laws that required people to stay with their dead horses until they were picked up and disposed of.

Does the photo say anything about your life?

Here’s a news flash: “If the horse you’ve been riding has died, dismount.” You don’t keep beating a dead horse, and you don’t keep trying to work a method that doesn’t work. But instead of following this advice, we do a number of other things first. Someone sent this list to me by e-mail. Instead of dismounting a dead horse we:

• buy a stronger whip (discipline)
• buy a new saddle (get some new toys and technology)
• tighten the cinch (control)
• say things like, “This is the way we’ve always ridden the horse.” (tradition)
• switch riders (it must the leader)
• ride the horse for longer periods of time (more meetings, harder work)
• appoint a committee to study the horse
• arrange a visit to other sites where they ride dead horses more efficiently
• write a policy manual for riding (in other words, improve the technique of a process while ignoring that the process isn’t getting you any results)
• buy some air fresheners and fly strips so we can pretend that the horse we’re riding isn’t really dead

Well, you get the idea. Bottom line, “If what you’ve been trying isn’t working, be willing to try something else.” Proverbs 18:15 (LB) is true: “The intelligent man is always open to new ideas. In fact, he looks for them.”

Are you riding a dead horse?

Longhorns + Small Boys = 1 Great Blog

There are 200 million blogs which are no longer being updated, say technology analysts. Thankfully, my sister still updates hers when she gets a moment. She's a talented writer with some hilarious stories of life in a 19th-century ranch house with 3 small boys inside and livestock outside. Appropriately, her web journal is called, "Allow Me to Explain . . . ." I usually get to hear her stories at family gatherings long before she has time to post them on her blog. When she gets around to posting her story about the "cat litter lunch" or the time her son embarrassed her in front of his class, I'll be sure to let you know!

Links to Your World--January 4

If you’ve made New Year’s Resolutions, you might want to read about the most famous resolutions of all time: Jonathan Edwards 70 resolutions that he used to guide his life. Find out more here and here.

Time magazine reports on the faith of our late President Gerald Ford in “The Other Born-Again President?”

“They writhe and strut, shake their bottoms, splay their legs, thrust their chests out and in and out again. Some straddle empty chairs, like lap dancers without laps. . . . They are in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades.” That’s from Lawrence Downes New York Times piece, “Middle School Girls Gone Wild.” He says, “Suburban parents dote on and hover over their children, micromanaging their appointments and shielding them in helmets, kneepads and thick layers of S.U.V. steel. But they allow the culture of boy-toy sexuality to bore unchecked into their little ones’ ears and eyeballs.”

From the Hubble: The ten most amazing space photos in the universe here.

In this article, John Cornwell imagines God’s response to Richard Dawkins The God Delusion. Clever.

Don't Be a Pew Potato!

By the time you read this, the game will be over. What game, you ask?

The Texas Tech game that gave Bobby Knight his 880th win?
The UT bowl game squeaker?
The amazing, amazing Boise State win over the Sooners?

None of the above. I’m talking about the Ultimate Couch Potato Contest in Chicago’s ESPN Zone sports bar. Last year’s winner, Jason Pisarik, is back to defend his title. As I write this, the accountant and three challengers have to sit in recliner chairs in front of a 15-foot screen tuned to college football bowl games and inane pre- and post-game commentaries. They are allowed a 5-minute break every hour, but otherwise have to keep their stare on a TV screen and get served food and drink.

The only woman in the competition is holding her own against the men. “I don't know how guys do it,” said Stacy Gleason, a 39-year-old mother of three. “I’m doing this for girls everywhere who don't get to do this while their husbands morph into the furniture watching sports on TV.”

The last man standing--uh, sitting--gets a prize package valued at almost $5,000, including a 42-inch high-definition television, a recliner, gift certificates, and a trophy featuring a live spud.

Pisarik won last year at the 30 hour mark, but the world record is held by Canadian Suresh Joachim who watched TV for an unbroken 69 hours and 48 minutes in September 2005.

Kind of reminds me of the old definition of football: a game played by a bunch of men in desperate need of a break being watched by a bunch of men in desperate need of exercise.

Reading about couch potatoes got me to thinking about another kind of potatoes: the pew potatoes. Every church has an abundance of these sedentary saints who do little more than offer commentary on what others need to do.

Make a new year’s resolution that you won’t be a pew potato in 2007! Get involved in Sunday School or Common Ground on Sunday mornings . . . sign up for a Hillcrest Institute class on Sunday nights . . . attend the “Success to Significance” retreat . . . commit to a mission trip . . . take a volunteer position at church . . . renew your personal prayer life. In other words, put your Christian convictions to work!

God bless your 2007 with him!

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