LeaderLines: The Great Omission

Jesus told us in Matthew 28 that a large part of being disciples was making disciples. The burden falls on you and me, as Hillcrest leaders, to make sure that Great Commission does not become the Great Omission at Hillcrest. You and I have the job of mobilizing this congregation so that those in need of Christ are reached and placed on a clear path of discipleship.

“Mobilizing” a congregation to this end includes developing a congregation’s heart, eyes, and mind for the lost.

First, it involves developing a congregation’s heart for the lost. Few Christians would openly deny that our job is to reach “the lost.” But how many Christians actually build relationships with lost people, enjoy the company of lost people, respect the many admirable qualities of the lost people they know, and find ways to explain spiritual truths in a way that lost people can understand? Jesus did all of this, and the people we lead at Hillcrest are simply not following Jesus unless they are doing it, too.

Second, a congregation’s eyes also need to be developed. A congregation needs to see that lost people are not just “out there” in some distant country to where we send missionaries. Lost people are not just “out there” in some remote part of Austin vastly different from our part of town. No, there are people who need Christ who live around us and--get this--there are people in need of Christ who attend our services.

Third, mobilizing a congregation to reach the lost also involves developing our mind for how today’s lost people can be reached. You can have the right heart for the lost, you can have the eyes to see them, you can have the burden for it, but if you don’t put your mind to the work, you won’t be faithful to God. The methods and approach we use to get the good news out have to be constantly evaluated to see if they are still effective at reaching people today.

You know, sometimes I think a church is more interested in doing evangelistic things than being evangelistic. There’s a difference. Doing evangelistic things means doing things we’ve always labeled as evangelism. We do them, and even if nothing happens, we pat ourselves on the back as a church that we’ve been faithful in evangelism. That’s different than being evangelistic. There’s only one way you can be considered evangelistic, and that’s if you’re seeing results.

Stop a moment and think about the ways you can help those you lead develop their heart, eyes, and mind to fulfill the Great Commission!
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Each Thursday I post my article from "LeaderLines," an e-newsletter for church leaders read by over 300 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "LeaderLines," sign up here.

Winning Ways: “Christmas is for Missions Support”

I hope you’ll join my family in giving to the cause of international missions this Christmas. The “Lottie Moon Christmas Offering” that our church promotes each December is named for a Southern Baptist missionary who served in China in the late 1800s.

Nicknamed “Lottie” by those around her, Charlotte Moon was born to a wealthy Virginia family in 1841. She began her work as a missionary to China in 1873. Slowly, she overcame her language problems and cultural differences to connect with the Chinese people. She wrote about her experiences to churches in the United States, and her letters became popular sources of information about Christian mission efforts.

When China was swept by a famine, Lottie suffered this deprivation with those she served, refusing to eat any more than what was available to those around her. She soon became ill and she was ordered back to the States. But before the boat left port, she died. It was Christmas Eve 1912, and she was 72 years old. Now, Southern Baptists have an offering called “the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering” to honor her service.

Today, our church contributes to the support of 5,193 missionaries through our giving to the International Mission Board. Last year, these missionaries started 23,486 churches and celebrated 475,072 baptisms around the world. Their work continues, as over half of the 11,362 people groups worldwide are still unreached, meaning that less than 2 percent of the population identifies with an evangelical church.

It costs $40,866.61 a year to support an IMB missionary, which includes things like housing, food, children’s education, and retirement. About 13 percent of your regular contributions to Hillcrest already go to missions work, but at Christmas time we challenge you to give directly to missions through the Lottie Moon Offering.

This Sunday, I will introduce Grant Perkins’ parents, John and Sarah, who will speak about their experiences as missionaries to France. Join us at the 9:30am“Bold Blend” service or the 10:45am “Smooth Blend” service, or listen online Monday (iTunes; website).

Baptism: I’ve scheduled baptism into the worship service this week. If you’re ready to follow Christ in this powerful symbol of your union to him, contact me!

What to Do with The Golden Compass? I’m sure you’ve seen promotions for the film based on Philip Pullman’s fantasy trilogy. I’ve read the series, and before you drop your kids off to see the film, you might want to read my thoughts here.

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Each Wednesday I post my article from "Winning Ways," an e-newsletter that goes out to over 880 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "Winning Ways," sign up here.

Travel Tips

Planning a trip? At OneBag.com, learn how to pack only one bag for trips. Also, learn how to sleep on a plane.


This information will be useful for those who are thinking about going to Israel with me. If you want to walk with me where Jesus walked, learn more here.

Links to Your World: Tuesday, November 27

No Film for Confused Old Men: I enjoyed seeing the latest Coen flick with my eldest, but Nora Ephron’s got the audience reaction about right.

The Beloit College Mindset List: For students who started college this fall, here is a picture of the world in which they grew up.

Why Do We Lie, And How Can We Tell When Others Are Full of It?

Don’t Lose the Snooze: You can’t make up for sleep deprivation.

The Beautiful Fight: God created you to be a spiritual warrior.

Moms get in a shoving match waiting for Santa.

The Joshua Tree 20 Year Anniversary was observed last Tuesday with a re-release. It's still the most surprising and fresh project the band’s ever released. (Related: The Washingon Post examines why Bono’s so persuasive.)

Lots of blogger buzz is being generated from Paul Davies' NY Times piece, "Taking Science on Faith."

Graduating From Babylon U—With Honors

What I Want for Christmas: A hovering scooter. It’s just $15,000, so can I have it? Huh? Huh?

When making a decision, sometimes “going with your gut” can be better than long deliberation according to this author.

A way to harvest stem cells without destroying embryos: It's important. See this story in the Times and in Time.

Top 10 Coolest Ways to Avoid Using the Word "Christian" in Your Facebook "Religious Views"

How to Improve Your Social Skills: 8 Tips from the Last 2500 Years

Have you read the previous posts this week? They include the "Song of the Week" (A new series on hymns continues with "Only Hope" by Caedmon's Call), giving up on Friday Night Lights, jonesin' for an overlooked generation, why you should join me in Israel, and my take on The Golden Compass.

Song of the Week: Caedmon's Call's "Only Hope"

In my "Song of the Week" feature we're reaching back to some old hymns for a few weeks. This week's hymn was composed by Charles Wesley in 1740, rearranged and recorded by Caedmon's Call as the song "Only Hope" on their 2003 project, Back Home:

Depth of mercy can there be
Mercy still reserved for me
Can my God, your wrath forbear
Me the chief of sinners, spare

Chorus
It's my only hope
You're my only hope
It's my only hope of Heaven
At the cross forgiven

I have long withstood your grace
Long provoked you to your face
Would not harken to your calls
Grieved you by a thousand falls

There for me the Savior stands
Shows his wounds and spreads His hands
Face to face before the Son
And like Isaiah I'm undone

Depth of mercy, vast and free
So much deeper than the sea
God of love, you heard my cry
Now into your open arms I fly

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The player for the featured "Song of the Week" can be found on the upper right corner of the weblog for one week.

Navigating The Golden Compass

“So, there is a God, but he is a liar and he’s mortal.”

It’s significant that a journalist noticed this notation on Philip Pullman's writing desk because it’s the thrust of his three-volume work, His Dark Materials (HDM). New Line Cinema has spent $180 million to bring the first book of Pullman’s trilogy to screen. The Golden Compass opens December 7.

New Line is the studio that brought us The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and clearly New Line is hoping it has another Rings-style hit on its hands. They might, what with the big stars, the astonishing special effects, and the fact that the film is based on award-winning children’s books that have served as Scholastic study material in some middle schools.

But here’s the thing: while the Christian worldview infuses the Rings trilogy, it is opposition to the Christian worldview that you find in Pullman’s trilogy.

So, what should parents do? And what should culturally-savvy Christians do about this much-discussed project? That’s the subject of this post.

What Should Parents Do

The books portray such an avid and astonishing hostility to Christianity that I’m baffled anyone would recommend the material for kids.

I’ve read the trilogy, and its popularity is no surprise. Despite my contention that the quality of the story-telling meanders away in the closing chapters of the third book, it’s an intriguing work. Pullman employs interesting literary devices, not the least of which is the characters’ “daemons”— no, not “demons” but the characters’ souls, external to the body and in animal form. Warrior polar bears, flying zeppelins, a precocious 12-year-old protagonist with a destiny to fulfill, special tools like a knife that cuts openings into other worlds, the kindness of common people contrasted with the driven selfishness of the powerful, spectres that suck life from their victims, and a complicated mystery to unravel--it all makes for an engaging read.

But, as Pullman has accurately said, his books are about “killing God” (sample) and marginalizing "organised religion of whatever sort" (sample).

Of course, with 180 million of New Line’s dollars at stake, the closer we get to the opening weekend of The Golden Compass the more “toned down” Pullman has become from previous interviews. And I doubt the first film in the series will delve too deeply into these subjects.

But that’s just for now. Director Chris Weitz says he plans to stay true to the books’ anti-religious elements should New Line let him put the other books to film. Astonishingly, he said that he’s had to be “clever about it” until he builds an audience for “the overt stating of some of the themes in The Golden Compass.” But he assures Pullman fans:

Whereas The Golden Compass had to be introduced to the public carefully, the religious themes in the second and third books can't be minimized without destroying the spirit of these books. . . . I will not be involved with any ‘watering down’ of books two and three, since what I have been working towards the whole time in the first film is to be able to deliver on the second and third films. (Link.)

I don’t know whether New Line will let Weitz deliver on his promises. (This entertaining commentary says they won’t.) But if his subsequent films are able to stay true to the books, this won’t be a movie series for the kids.

What Culturally-Savvy Christians Should Do

The New Yorker is probably right, though, that more adults have read Pullman’s trilogy than kids. And I’m ready to have a conversation with grown-ups about the Oxford author’s rich story-telling and complex themes.

Let’s talk about Pullman’s “daemons”: What is he saying by portraying souls as animal characters that are the opposite sex of the person (except in the case of homosexuals), daemons that become fixed into one unchangeable form once a person becomes an adult? Let’s talk about Dust. Let’s talk about Pullman’s “god”: Does Pullman actually conceive of angels and “god” as highly-developed creatures in the continuing evolution from unconsciousness to higher consciousness? Or is “god’s” death a metaphor for Pullman’s wish to see the Christian conception of God go away? What led to Pullman’s pull-no-punches hostility to organized religion? I mean, I'll sadly grant that church history has had shameful moments where leaders have been as sinister as every single churchman in HDM, but there’s not a single counterbalancing religiously-admirable character in the trilogy’s vast cast. So, what led to Pullman’s hostility, and why has he found an audience? Is his view of death as mere annihilation of consciousness as satisfying as he puts it in the mouth of one of his characters freed from “hell”? Is his understanding of the biblical Fall accurate, and is his alternate “Fall” at the end of the series as good for the world as he envisions? As the films come out, what do Pullman fans like and dislike about the translation from books to film?

Fodder for a lot of late-night conversations.

Among grown-ups.

Send this post to a friend.

The Trailer

Winning Ways: “Take a Pilgrimage with Me!”

The more you read the Bible, the more you want to visit the places described in its pages. You have a chance to do that with me in just four months! Diane and I want you to join us on a trip to Israel March 4-11, 2008.

Imagine a gentle boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, or a walk along the Jordan River where Jesus was baptized. What does Bethlehem look like, the city of his birth? Or Nazareth, his boyhood town? Or Cana, the place where Jesus performed his first miracle? And Jerusalem, where he was executed and rose again?

I want to see the traditional site for Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, and the Mount of Olives where he outlined the events leading up to his return, and the Garden of Gethsemane where he agonized in prayer before submitting to the cross. I want to walk the Via Dolorosa (the Way of the Cross) in Jerusalem. I may even float in the Dead Sea when we visit the lowest spot on earth at 1300 feet below sea level!

We’ll do all of this and more. We’ll visit Caesarea, Capernaum, Jericho--and Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, one of the most important archaeological discoveries of our time. We’ll stop at the Western (Wailing) Wall and the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount. We’ll view the excavations of 20 civilizations in Megiddo and see the Dead Sea Scrolls. We’ll visit the Knesset (Israel’s Parliament Building), and the Holocaust memorial. We’ll tour Masada, the fortress where from AD 70 to 73, Jewish revolutionaries took their stand against Rome.

Roger and Carol Lawhon have taken this trip with Maranatha Tours numerous times and highly recommend it. In fact, they are organizing this trip that I’m leading on March 4-11, 2008. The basic cost is $1599. Additional fees and detailed information about the trip can be found in our brochure, including information on extended tours that many of our group will take. You can download the brochure about the trip here or just contact the church office for a printed copy.

To reserve your place on the trip, your deposit of $300 needs to be mailed to Maranatha Tours before Christmas. The registration form and address is in the brochure. For more information, contact Roger and Carol Lawhon at (512) 250-0655 or email them.

I hope you’ll join me on this chance to walk where Jesus walked!

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Each Wednesday I post my article from "Winning Ways," an e-newsletter that goes out to over 880 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "Winning Ways," sign up here.

More Jonesin' for an Overlooked Generation

Morley Safer at the CBS program 60 Minutes filed a report about the newest generation of young adults--the Millennials. It begins:

Stand back all bosses! A new breed of American worker is about to attack everything you hold sacred: from giving orders, to your starched white shirt and tie. They are called, among other things, "millennials." There are about 80 million of them, born between 1980 and 1995, and they're rapidly taking over from the baby boomers who are now pushing 60.

Now, leave alone whether he's accurate in his subsequent portrayal of Millennials as pampered 20-somethings whose only goal is self-fulfillment--a description that he assumed, I guess, would delight his 60 Minutes demographic. Besides that loaded description of the Millennials, there's something missing in his first paragraph--and in the whole report.

Notice it? In Safer's world there are Boomers and then, lo, there appeared the Millennials. It leaves me Jonesin' for recognition.

Friday Night Soap Opera

Well, I'm about done with Friday Night Lights--anyone else? The plot lines have devolved into the sensational (manslaughter) or the titillating (they started their third--count 'em, third--story of teen-adult romance last week). Sadly, I've yet to see the "anchor" that Eric and Tammy Taylor provided in the first season that made me (cautiously) recommend the show. I think their Austin film location and my curiousity about where Lyla's conversion was going to go made me slow to realize that this show has jumped the shark.

Links to Your World, Tuesday, Nov 20

NPR reports on Southern Baptist’s newest hymnal: Hymnal Update Stirs Debate Across Baptist Church


In “Answering the Atheists,” Stan Guthrie responds to the recent spate of anti-theistic bestsellers with 10 reasons why he is a Christian. It’s a quick read, and worth passing along to others.


In “What I Learned from Wilberforce,” Bob Beltz explains five things he learned about changing the world from the man who abolished slavery in Britain. The popular film about the work of Wilberforce, Amazing Grace, was released last Tuesday.


Man Collapses in His Car; Meter Maid Tickets It


This guy is nostalgic about the old way of communicating--you know . . . e-mail: “While IMs and text messages have a throwaway quality, e-mail is for the sentimental. I still have some of the first flirtatious e-mails I exchanged with my wife in college. I have thoughtful monologues from friends in the midst of crises. I have e-mails from my parents that I envision showing to my children someday. Aw.”


“Being poor sucks. It's hard to figure out the secrets of the universe when you're trying to figure out where you and your girlfriend are going to sleep next month.” Read about the “surfer dude” who spends most of his time surfing and snowboarding but is wowing scientists with his theories.

The tradition is alive and well: National Geographic examines 21st Century cowboys.


Girls get extra school help while boys get Ritalin


“The most persuasive conversion narratives recount not merely emotional surrenders to faith but also intellectual grapplings with it. . . . The Road to Damascus is paved with theology not therapy.” Which Way to the Damascus Road?


Lost in Translation: Men and women communicate differently.


Most adults who attended religious services as a child are glad they did


Every little boy’s dream! This kid saved his sister from a fire . . . while wearing his Spiderman suit. (HT: Susan)


“Well, I think the church is a wonderful place for social experiments,” McLaren said. “My Dodge Dart isn’t.” (Progressive Christian Leaders’ Wives Allowed Behind Pulpit, but Not Behind Wheel)


It's too early to say if I'll vote for Mike Huckabee when the time comes, but he's sure making the race fun:




Have you read the previous posts this week? They include the "Song of the Week" (A new series on hymns continues with "O Worship the King" by Chris Tomlin), a worthy Christmas project to support, and a post about podcasts I like to listen to.

Support This Worthy Project for Austin-based Refugees

Here's a worthwhile project you should support. Meg Goodman, my "Austin sister" (I have another in Brenham) works with African refugees. As Christmas approaches, she wants to do something special for them. You can help: contact her. Here is her recent letter about the project:

Dear Friends and Family:

As many of you know I am working with some African refugees who have resettled to a new life in Austin and it brings me great joy. This is going to be their first Christmas here in America and I would love to provide them with some Christmas gifts. If any of you are looking to donate to a charitable cause this Christmas I am looking for gift cards in any amount to places such as Target, HEB, the Gap, Best Buy etc for these folks. Any gently used clothes or toys would also be great. The families that I work with are from Burundi, Congo and Eritrea and range in age from 2-70!

On a related note, I have the great honor to be working with some refugees who have been here already for a couple of years to form a non-profit to help all of the African refugees that have settled in Austin. It is called the African Society of Austin (site under construction) and we were featured in the Austin American Statesman on Thursday. Some of the things we will be doing include teaching job skills, computer skills, driving and many other things that will help them to adjust to their new life in America. So- there will be many more opportunities to help if now is not a good time.

Thanks so much for your consideration!!

Meg

Song of the Week: Chris Tomlin's "O Worship The King"

In my "Song of the Week" feature we're reaching back to some old hymns for a few weeks. This week's hymn is "O Worship the King." The words are by Robert Grant in 1833, a reworking of a composition that dates back to 1561. The rendition I'm featuring this week is by Austin's Chris Tomlin from the Passion Band project, Hymns: Ancient and Modern. It includes a chorus added by Tomlin:

O worship the King, all glorious above
O gratefully sing His wonderful love
Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days
Pavilioned in splender, and girded with praise

O tell of His might, O sing of His grace
Whose robe is the light and canopy space
His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form
And dark is His path on the wings of the storm

O measureless might, ineffable love
While angels delight to worship above
Thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end
Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend

Chorus:
You alone are the matchles King
To You alone be all majesty
Your glories and wonders, what tongue can recite?
You breathe in the air, You shine in the light

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The player for the featured "Song of the Week" can be found on the upper right corner of the weblog for one week.

LeaderLines: “What I’m Listening To”

During my 25-minute commute to church and back every day, and during my daily walks for exercise, I benefit from a number of podcasts. If you have an iPod or another MP3 player, you can subscribe to these free programs, too. You can also download iTunes to your computer without having to purchase an iPod and then listen to these podcasts at your desk.

I listen to the half-hour Albert Mohler Program (iTunes; RSS), a talk show hosted every weekday nationwide by Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. The program is designed for radio broadcast on stations nationwide, but I listen when I want to with my MP3 player. The show is devoted to “engaging contemporary culture with biblical truth.” He usually begins each program with commentary on issues in the news, and then moves into a single topic for the day. He will sometimes interview interesting authors and news makers. I generally quit listening when he starts taking calls on the subjects, but his midweek “Ask Anything Wednesdays” show is always entertaining and informative as he fields questions from listeners.

I enjoy the half-hour World Vision Report (iTunes; RSS), a newsmagazine about “the world’s most vulnerable people and those who make a difference in their lives.” It’s funded by World Vision and hosted by Peggy Wehmeyer, a former ABC World News Tonight correspondent. As I listen, I find my heart opens wider to the global family.

I receive three short NPR programs to my iPod. The first one is called “Hmmm” (iTunes; RSS). The energetic and sometimes quirky science correspondent Robert Krulwich “demystifies what's dense and difficult -- even if you feel lost when it comes to science.” Most recently, I enjoyed his little segment called “Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter.” As the description puts it: “In the late 1800s, the hottest chef in Paris created a spectacular liquid that deepened the flavor of everything it touched: veal stock. But its flavor wasn't any combination of the four recognized tastes. And it took 100 more years--and a Japanese soup lover--for scientists to acknowledge a fifth taste: umami.” Hmmm.

Then there’s “Driveway Moments” (iTunes; RSS) described as “compelling NPR stories suggested by listeners.” Man, I got choked up listening to Kenneth Harbaugh get choked up reading his own report--“A Grandfather’s War Stories.”

And then there’s NPR’s “StoryCorps” (iTunes; RSS) where everyday people interview one another about their lives at recording booths across America. Some sweet stuff here.

I usually subscribe to one sermon podcast at a time, and for a short time. Currently I’m listening to the sermon podcasts from First Baptist Church Hendersonville, TN (RSS) where Ed Stetzer is interim pastor. Stetzer is an important voice in SBC leadership right now. In the past, I’ve spent a few weeks “visiting” other churches: The Austin Stone, The Village Church in Denton, Prestonwood Baptist Church in Dallas, and Mars Hill Church (both Rob Bell’s Mars Hill in Michigan and Mark Driscoll’s Mars Hill in Seattle).

I enjoyed Rick Warren’s Ministry Podcast (iTunes; RSS), billed as “a weekly conversation with pastors from around the world offering insight, wisdom and best practices from their own experiences.” However, Warren hasn’t posted anything since the summer so I’ll probably have to remove this from my podcast list. If you’re a church leader, you might find it useful to download the five or six podcasts he recorded before he quit producing anymore, though.

One more free offering you might consider: Reformed Theological Seminary has select classes available online. I just downloaded “The History of the English Puritans” (iTunes), a series of lectures by the renowned J.I. Packer.

Of course, don’t forget about Hillcrest “Bold Gold” (Volume 1 and Volume 2). These “iMixes” were created to introduce you to some of the favorite worship songs by our Hillcrest praise band. You can preview these songs at iTunes, but downloading them will cost 99 cents a piece.
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Each Thursday I post my article from "LeaderLines," an e-newsletter for church leaders read by over 300 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "LeaderLines," sign up here.

There will not be a LeaderLines published next Thursday, which is Thanksgiving Day.

Winning Ways: “A ‘Gladiator’ Seeks Baptism”

“I started thinking recently, ‘If I believe it is important to baptize my kids, why not me?’”

That’s 43-year-old Oscar-winner Russell Crowe, discussing his faith with Men’s Journal. “I do believe there are more important things than what is in the mind of a man,” he says. “There is something much bigger that drives us all. I'm willing to take that leap of faith.” As a result, he’s making plans to participate in baptism.

Maybe it’s time you took this step, too. Once we have made a commitment to Christ, the Bible directs us to seek baptism. Our immersion down into the water is a symbol of our union with a Savior who died for our sins and rose again to give us new life (Romans 6:3-4). In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus laid out a sequence we are to follow: “make them my disciples,” then “baptize them,” and then “teach them to do everything I have told you.” So, after you have decided for yourself to become a disciple, you need to look for an opportunity to be baptized.

One of those opportunities is coming up this Sunday morning. I hope you give me the privilege of baptizing you. Contact the church office right away if you want to follow Christ into baptism.

An International Fellowship. Did you know you were worshipping in an international fellowship at Hillcrest? Among the 21 people in last Sunday’s “Discover Hillcrest” membership classes, we had friends from Puerto Rico, Scotland, Iran, and Holland. In addition, each Sunday we worship with friends from Congo, Singapore, China, Germany, Ivory Coast, Mexico, and India. (Am I missing someone?)

Veterans Day. I forgot to recognize military vets in our worship services Sunday, and I apologize. I missed a chance to say it publicly, but I’m grateful to all of you who have served our country so well!

Clarence and Eileen Cossey. Speaking of giving thanks, be sure to thank Eileen Cossey for 26 years of teaching Sunday School. She recently gave up her class to assist her husband, Clarence, as he continues into his 10th year of leading a Sunday morning Bible study at a local retirement center.

Israel Trip. The December deadline is fast approaching to turn in your $300 deposit for our springtime trip to Israel. I’ll tell you more about it in next week’s Winning Ways. Download the brochure about the trip here.

Judas. This Sunday we end our series through the Apostles with a caution from the life and suicide of Judas. Join us at the 9:30am “Bold Blend” service or the 10:45am “Smooth Blend” service, or listen online Monday (iTunes; website).
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Each Wednesday I post my article from "Winning Ways," an e-newsletter that goes out to over 880 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "Winning Ways," sign up here.

Links to Your World--Tuesday, Nov 13

Trust now comes in a bottle: “Liquid Trust is the world's first atmosphere enhancement spray, specially formulated to increase TRUST in YOU.”


Clearly Judas has staying power in pop culture and academic circles 20 centuries later. See this report. We'll examine the sad life and suicide of Judas this Sunday, November 18. If you're in Austin, join us at Hillcrest 9:30am or 10:45am, or listen online Monday (iTunes; website).


“Suppose the dollars in your next paycheck lost almost half their value. Would you be able to pay the bills – much less buy anything extra? That's the discouraging reality some Southern Baptist missionaries face as the U.S. dollar continues its steep fall in value against overseas currencies.” (story)


Use the Teen Chat Decoder to understand all those chatroom and text message abbreviations (HT: Presurfer)


“Often as Christians we say "I know the answer...now what's the question?" Read four ways to better listen to our community.


Forget Guitar Hero III. Get your Accordion Hero II this Christmas!


Boy Pays Hitman to Off His Parents After Taking His Playstation Away.


A $25,000 chocolate sundae. (HT: Courtney Carlson)


American Haristocracy: Time magazine finds that the public wants a president with good hair. I guess that mean’s it’s down to Romney and Edwards.


RAOCK your world and change it.


Steep decline in oil production brings risk of war and unrest, says new study.


”Comeback Churches” pay attention to specific keys to revitalization.


If You Want to Change Your Life, Change Your Thoughts.


Maximize Your Concentration.


Download some wallpaper for your computer of spectacular National Geographic photos.


Clever: Animation vs Animator.

Have you read the previous posts this week? They include the "Song of the Week" (A new series on hymns continues with "Amazing Grace" by Twila Paris), and a LeaderLines report on how churches can overcome our culture's isolation (last of a five-part series).

Song of the Week: Twila Paris' "Amazing Grace"

In my "Song of the Week" feature we're reaching back to some old hymns for a few weeks. This week's hymn is probably the most pop­u­lar song in the Eng­lish lan­guage. "Amazing Grace" was writ­ten in 1772 by John Newton, most famous for his conversion from slave trading to preaching the gospel. At 82, Newton said, "My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things, that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Saviour." His story plays a minor role in the film about William Wilberforce, "Amazing Grace" (trailer), now out on DVD.

Austin's Chris Tomlin has a version of the song used to promote the Wilberforce film (music video). But the rendition I've chosen is from Twila Paris, off her 1998 project, Perennial--

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!

Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.

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The player for the featured "Song of the Week" can be found on the upper right corner of the weblog for one week.

LeaderLines: “Five Cultural Struggles: Aloneness”

We are a mobile society today. In the past, when people tended to stay in one place all their lives, they experienced a wide network of parents, grandparents, siblings, neighbors, and friends to support them. Now that we no longer tend to live in any one place for long, that network doesn’t exist anymore.

And that provides “a tremendous opportunity for the church,” says John Burke. A church can be the family that many people no longer have--or perhaps never had. In his book, No Perfect People Allowed, the Austin pastor says that churches have to be ready to deal with five main issues as we serve our community:

Trust
Tolerance
Truth
Brokenness
Aloneness

We’ve already looked at the first four struggles in previous editions of LeaderLines, and I posted a great response I received from last week’s coverage of brokenness (click here to read it).

Now, what about the concern with aloneness? The reality is, Burke says, “people long for community but they are afraid to get close.” For many, their disappointment with trusting others from their past contributes to this, added to the transient nature of contemporary life, especially in city settings:

We live in a highly fragmented, relationally isolated society. People move, change jobs, get divorced, commute hours each day, travel around the country weekly, then spend all their free time surfing through 1700 cable channels and millions of Internet sites, and all of the cost of relationships. We have increased our financial capital, but it has cost us relational capital.

But Burke says this is the point where the church has a great opportunity. According to Scripture, the church is to function like a family. And church leaders that focus on other things and neglect to develop their church into a supportive community will fail:

Emerging generations, like never before, crave this sense of community inside a spiritual family. If they don’t experience hope for authentic relational support, I don’t care how hip the service, or how rippin’ the music, or how vintage the vibe, they won’t stick. The challenge for leaders is first to learn how to live in community with others, and then to provide ways to ensure that nobody stands alone.

One of the most fundamental things church leaders can do to overcome our culture’s experience with aloneness is to develop an effective small-group ministry. No matter the size of the Sunday worship attendance, people really experience “church” when they regularly meet with a group of no more than 10-15 people. Bible study, encouragement, accountability and service happen here.

The Hillcrest small-group ministry is Sunday School at 9:30am and Common Ground at 10:30am. Though we have other small-groups as well (the Hillcrest Institute, the Anchor Course, handbells, orchestra, etc.), the best place to experience the kind of community that helps our culture overcome aloneness happens in Sunday School or Common Ground.

Effective small-group ministry has to constantly deal with the tension of building closeness while also reaching out. Burke acknowledges that it is no different at Gateway:

When groups get larger than 10 to 15 people, it becomes difficult for people to feel is connected and known. A very real tension develops the emerging churches must struggle to resolve. We’ve fought hard against the idea of splitting a group into two when it reaches a certain size. In a generation fearful to trust due to failed relational connections in the past, once they feel like they’ve found a family of friends, to insist on splitting the group due to size feels destructive, like a divorce. On the other hand, when groups become ingrown for years and years and never reach out to others, never provide connection and support to others, generally they stagnate and disband because the individual members are not growing to be more Christlike by extending life to others.

Their solution is to look for “apprentice leaders” within the existing small groups who can be trained to the point where they can take a few people who want to start new group for outreach. It’s something we promote at Hillcrest, too. We don’t want to “split” a class or a Common Ground group, but we do want our Sunday morning groups to look for ways of “giving birth” to new groups so we can keep the average attendance of each small group to around 10-15.

Of course, all of these things are simply part of small-group strategy. The point is that church leaders must build a sense of “family” in their church. It’s the way we address one of the crying needs of our culture: the need to find connection in an isolated world.

This concludes our five-week series through the major cultural issues that Burke says today’s churches have to address. Reviewing the list with you has given me a chance to think about how well we’re accomplishing this task at Hillcrest. God bless your continued work for him in this mission outpost at Steck and Greenslope!
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Each Thursday I post my article from "LeaderLines," an e-newsletter for church leaders read by over 300 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "LeaderLines," sign up here.

Winning Ways: “Discover Hillcrest -- and a Free Lunch!”

If you’ve been thinking about membership at Hillcrest, this Sunday would be a perfect time to attend. On November 11, I will lead the Discover Hillcrest class during a free lunch. The class is for those who want to become members, and for those who just want to learn more about Hillcrest.

About twenty percent of those who attend Hillcrest haven’t joined, and this is normal. These days, people will attend a church for several months--or even several years--before deciding to join. Actually, I’m not disappointed in this trend. I’m glad that people are giving careful thought to joining a spiritual family instead of just joining on impulse.

If you’re part of that twenty percent, this class is for you! I’m so glad you participate in the life of Hillcrest and support our ministry. In fact, I’m far more interested in your continuing involvement than in just your membership. Still, membership is important. Rick Warren, the author of the best-selling book, The Purpose-Driven Life, said that there were five biblical benefits to joining a church:

It identifies us as genuine believers (Ephesians 2:19; Romans 12:5)

It provides a spiritual family to support and encourage us in our walk with Christ (Galatians 6:1-2; Hebrews 10:24-25)

It gives us a place to discover and use our gifts in ministry (1 Corinthians 12:4-27)

It places us under the spiritual protection of godly leaders (Hebrews 13:17; Acts 20:28-29)

It gives us the accountability we need to grow (Ephesians 5:21)

If you could benefit from these biblical advantages, join me for my Discover Hillcrest class this Sunday. As I said, lunch is provided and we dismiss around 2:15 p.m. Topics include:

The most important thing you need to know about Jesus

Four fundamentals of spiritual growth, using the acronym "H.I.L.L."

Our church's key values and strategy

How to "connect" with others in the church

While I teach the adult class, our Children’s Minister teaches "Discover Hillcrest Kids" for children ages 8-12, and our Youth Minister teaches "Discover Hillcrest Youth" for students in grades 6-12. Childcare is provided for children under the age of 8.

Pre-registration for the class is encouraged but not required. You can register by clicking here.
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Each Wednesday I post my article from "Winning Ways," an e-newsletter that goes out to over 880 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "Winning Ways," sign up here.

Links to Your World--Tuesday November 6

• Lord of the Rings origami: Each of these statues was made from a single sheet of paper (HT: Neatorama)

• “Building on generations of work to distribute the printed Bible, Christian missionaries said new multimedia presentations in hundreds of languages are vastly expanding the Bible's audience.” (Plugging the Planet Into the Word)

• “Feeling like playing hooky, but nervous about getting caught? The Excused Absence Network has got your back. For about $25, students and employees can buy excuse notes that appear to come from doctors or hospitals. Other options include a fake jury summons or an authentic-looking funeral service program complete with comforting poems and a list of pallbearers.” (link)

• In their cover story, “In God's Name,” The Economist says that religion will play a big role in this century's politics and asks how we should deal with it.

• One young woman’s discovery that gender differences in marriage are part of God’s plan.

• Why we like to get scared.

• Just in case there’s someone who doesn’t know the difference, there are a lot of flavors of “Baptist,” and the deeply-offensive Fred Phelps isn’t our kind of “Baptist.” I’m grateful for the GetReligion weblog and the Washington Times for pointing out the difference.

• "To says that you can't be a thinking, intellectually fulfilled scientist and embrace faith is bunk." M.I.T. professor Rosalind Picard at the University of Waterloo’s Pascal Lectures. She was raised an atheist until someone challenged her to read the Bible as a young adult. "I thought, 'OK, if I'm going to be a well-educated atheist, I should at least read the book that I think is bogus." In the process, she became a believer.

• Imagine getting a knock on the door in the middle of the night. Fire’s approaching and you have 10 minutes to leave. You close the door and consider the question that is becoming an existential ritual for hundreds of thousands of people around the world every year: What do I save from the fire?

• “I never thought there was going to be any sort of nostalgia for childhood in the 1970s, a time of skyrocketing divorce, ‘latch key kids’ and newly liberated adults who sometimes behaved rather badly toward their much less with-it offspring. Yet now, with middle age encroaching upon the girls who cut their hair like Dorothy Hamill and carried lunchboxes that sported the face of the original Bionic Woman, the seventies are coming back to life, and looking a whole lot better in retrospect.” Celebrating girlhood from the 1970s, the author says, is the solution to today’s “toxic girlhood.” (Seventies Something)

• Terry Mattingly does a good job explaining what’s behind the 15-year war for the soul of my alma mater, Baylor University, and why the outcome is so important.

Have you read the previous posts this week? They include the "Song of the Week" (A new series on hymns continues with "It Is Well With My Soul" by Jars of Clay), updates on Lori Shepard's Latvia mission trip (here and here), my review of the little film Bella, a LeaderLines report on how to minister to broken lives in our culture (fourth of a five-part series), as well as a great reaction to the LeaderLines piece.

Song of the Week: Jars of Clay's "It Is Well With My Soul"

In my "Song of the Week" feature we're reaching back to some old hymns for a few weeks. This week's hymn, "It is Well With My Soul," was writ­ten by Horatio Spafford in 1873 and remains one of the most popular congregational songs to this day.

You may be aware of the story behind the song. Af­ter the great Chi­ca­go Fire of Oc­to­ber 1871 ru­ined him fi­nan­cial­ly, he lost all four of his daughters when the ship they were in collided with another. Spaf­ford’s wife Anna sur­vived and sent him the now fa­mous tel­e­gram, “Saved alone.” Sev­er­al weeks lat­er, as Spaf­ford’s own ship passed near the spot where his daugh­ters died, Spafford wrote the song.

This rendition is from the Jars of Clay project, Redemption Songs. It has a sort of "George Harrison" feel to it, huh?

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though the devil will ruin, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And He shed His own blood for my soul.

It is well with my soul
It is well, it is well, with my soul

My sin--oh, the bliss of this glorious thought,
My sin--not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

It is well with my soul
It is well, it is well, with my soul

It is well with my soul
It is well, it is well, with my soul

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

It is well with my soul
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

It is well with my soul
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

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The player for the featured "Song of the Week" can be found on the upper right corner of the weblog for one week.

Latvia Mission Trip Update #2

Hillcrest is sponsoring our own Lori Shepard on a 10-day mission trip to Latvia. I'll post the team's updates as I get them. Read the first here. Here's the second update we've received:

Dear Latvia Prayer teams,

We are having a great time and seeing the Lord work in a variety of ways! On Wednesday we attended the Vilandes Baptist preschool for the second time. The ladies are professional women who gather together for a play/enrichment time with their toddlers and for friendship. Teresa did a great job of leading the crafts and the women loved the cards and stamping which they had never seen before. Latvians are very artistic and thei handiwork was amazing. They were less reserved than the group the day before and we had a lot of good conversations with them. None of these ladies are Christians and this is an important ministry for this church and several families have come to Christ through this ministry. One of the ladies heard about the Christian Women's Job Corps and offered to teach computer skills once the program gets started. Please pray for this church as it ministers to the Riga community in many ways.

Nicole went to a women's Bible study and shared "Identity in Christ" and "Resting in the Lord" with these ladies for 5 hours. Many lives were touched by the message and the majority of ladies made counseling appointments later with Nicole. It has been wonderful to see the response to her messages and to see what the Lord is doing through this ministry.

In the afternoon the rest of the team went to meet women who lead Latvia's women's mission organization, called Mary and Matha. Virginia shared about WMU and Christian Women's Job Corps which they found very interesting and a great possibility for Latvia. She left them with lots of information and contacts. Please pray for the founding of this ministry in Latvia as it would bring the love of Christ and practical working and life skills to the women of Latvia.

Wedneday evening we all went back to Vilandes for the second evening of Parenting seminars. This evening the message was "Expressing Love to Your Children" and there were twice as many people as the first night. People were actively engaged in sharing and Nicole concluded the evening with a gospel pesentation. Many people shared how encouraged they were with the new information they learned.

The rest of the team was having a exciting time in the Fall Festival for the children with carnival games, prizes, caramel apples, popcorn, and two different gospel presentations through the Slipdisc frisbees and the pumpkin story. They all had a great time and went home very sticky!

Today was the first day it rained which we had expected all along. Nicole had a full day of counseling appointments and many people became aware of the need to share feelings and seek out Christian counseling. Nicole has seen many needs for the need for relationship healing.

The rest of the team went to the countryside to visit families with the Humanitarian aid ministry, called GAIN. The first family we visited turned out to be a family that Kathy had met in 2005. They now live in 2 rooms with 6 children and a mother and grandmother. (The grandmother had experienced deportation during Soviet times and had made her way back to Latvia from Siberia.) We shared gifts with them and talked about Jesus while they served us tea, coffee, and sweets. No matter what they have they always show hospitality. Teresa brought a craft for the girls which they painted canvas tote bags with very artistic designs. At the very end we pulled out yarn and knitting needles for the mother and grandmother to see if they could use it and they were very excited to have this since they knit and can make things for their children. Before we left they gave us a huge traditional Latvian pastry made by the grandmother as a gift for all us!

We also visited 2 other families that had a total of 14 children and then we had a big surprise. We were taken to a center where we met with a group of about 30 people who were expecting to hear us talk to them. We had no idea we were supposed to do this. THis group meets for support because they all have lots of children and large families are considered a bad thing in Latvia. They are looked down upon by society and so the local Christian social worker put together a support group for them. We all introduced ourselves and then they asked us questions about families. Teresa came up with just the right craft and God provided all the materials for us to do it. Some of us also shared our testimonies as well as one father. It was a very powerful discussion time. Daina, the GAIN staff member, said that she had never seen these women open up so much and she felt the presence of Jesus there.

Tomorrow we will all be going to Parliment to prayerwalk. In the afternoon Nicole has more counseling sessions while the rest of the team will be going to the countryside for more humanitarian aid familiy visits. Pray for these sessions and the visits and Christ's love to be shared openly with ereyone. Pray for God's direction and wisdom in everything as we share God's love with people.

It is a joy to also see the results of the Lloyd's ministry in Latvia. Several of the children we met had heard about Jesus through their school through the Christian Morals and Ethics cirruculum which the Lloyd's originally wrote and ;introduced in Latvia. What at blessing to see the fruit of their work!

Love to all,
The Latvia Ladies

Reaction to Today's LeaderLines: On the Right Track

It's always great to get affirmation that we're on the right track. I received this e-mail from a friend and Hillcrest member after she had read today's LeaderLines. I edited the e-mail to keep it anonymous and got her permission to post it here:

Wow. I was feeling pretty okay and then realized that in the indented paragraph, only the substance abuse and smoking haven't at some point applied to me. Heck, I even have a history of the problem men struggle with. (If Burke updated his book, he'd probably edit it to note that women now look at almost as much online pornography as men).

The good news, though? I was welcomed at Hillcrest with open arms. I think Hillcrest welcomes everyone, of all income levels and histories, in a warm, beautiful way.

No sin or poor choice any of us make is more powerful than what Jesus did on the cross for us. If we keep that in mind, loving everyone becomes less of a chore.

I hope her experience with Hillcrest is typical for everyone who walks in our doors! We want to be a place to "find and follow Jesus together."

Sweet "Bella"

Diane and I got a chance to see Bella on Monday. The little independent film won a standing ovation and People's Choice award at the Toronto film festival. It's a simple film about redemption after loss and a strong affirmation of life. It's hard to say much more about it without giving away the simple plot. Check the paper to see if it's still playing, or put it on your Netflix queue.

The male lead is played by Eduardo Verástegui, who also co-produced the film. Frederica Mathewes-Green introduces him in her review of the film:

For years he was a hugely successful soap opera star and singer, "the Brad Pitt of Mexico." But after experiencing a deeper commitment to his Roman Catholic faith, Verástegui began to regret his part in reinforcing adulterous "Latin lover" stereotypes. In a speech this past May to the annual pro-life Rose Dinner in Ottawa, Verástegui said that some of his earlier work had sent messages that are "poisoning society." He went on, "It broke my heart. I realized that I was offending God." He summed up, "I wasn't born to be famous or rich. I was born to know and love and serve our Lord Jesus Christ." In a chance encounter at his church, he met movie producer Leo Severino, and they formed Metanoia Films.

"Metanoia" is a Greek word that means "to change one's mind" or--as is often translated in English Bibles--"to repent."

Considering that backstory behind the film, some might think Bella would be simply a vehicle for an overtly religious message. But there's a difference between a "Christian film" and a film produced by Christians. Bella is the latter. Check it out.

CitizenLink has an interview with Eduardo Verástegui, and World and Plugged In have reviews of the film. Watch the trailer here.

LeaderLines: “Five Cultural Struggles: Brokenness”

Update: Read a reaction to today's LeaderLines here.
In his book, No Perfect People Allowed, Austin pastor John Burke says that churches have to be ready to deal with five main issues as we serve our community:

Trust
Tolerance
Truth
Brokenness
Aloneness

We’ve already looked at the first three struggles in previous editions of LeaderLines. Now, what about the struggle with brokenness? Burke writes: “Trust issues may make them cynical, tolerance issues may make them unwilling to listen, truth issues may confuse them, but acting out of brokenness will destroy them.”

Think of the statistics for the generation currently between the ages of 30-45. Burke provides a mash-up:

More than likely, one out of every three women you interact with will have had an abortion. One or even two out of six women you talk to will have been sexually molested. More than six out of 10 people you speak with will think living together before marriage is the wisest way to prevent divorce, and five out of those 10 will already have lived with someone. Most will have been sexually active, and the thought of waiting until marriage will sound totally foreign and will need explaining. Most men will have struggled with pornography or serious problems with lust. One in five to 10 people will struggle with substance abuse. At least one in five and as high as two out of five people who come to your church will smoke.

These are the people Christ came to seek and save. They are lawyers, construction workers, and doctors, blue-collar and white-collar, light skinned and dark skinned, from the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ sides of town. Are they welcome in your church? Are they safe in your small group?

Nothing poses a greater challenge and opportunity to Austin-area churches than these destructive choices and the emotional pains behind the behavior.

To serve in this time and place in which the sovereign God has arranged the Hillcrest family, we have to create a culture of hope. Our sermon topics, song selections, small- group interaction and even our casual conversations after services--it all contributes to creating a place where people find hope to move toward the better choices in life. “People do not change without motivation,” Burke writes, “And there’s no greater motivation than the hope of being all we were intended to be.”

At least two things contribute to creating this kind of community. “A large part of creating a culture of hope,” says Burke, “has to do with painting accurate, compelling pictures of the loving, compassionate nature of God toward hurting, wayward people. . . . As we provide outlets for their real questions, doubts, and struggles, they can better see how doing life with God navigates them into the life they desire.”

In addition, we need to be willing to share what God has done--and is doing--to restore our own brokenness. After all, we don’t sing--

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like you.
Last time I sang that song, I think it went--”that saved a wretch like me.” So, in order to reach our community, “they have to see how we too are broken and in need of a Savior. We must show others how our brokenness leads us to daily dependency on a merciful Savior who brings healing for our souls and hope for our futures.”

Our study of the Twelve Apostles on Sunday mornings can help us at this point. Think of all their failures, setbacks, and doubts on the road to becoming Christ’s representatives. If Jesus’ closest disciples struggled, what makes us think that we won’t, or that others who get involved in the life, ministry and leadership of our church won’t struggle? But as we all yield to the molding hands of the Potter, like Peter we can become the rocks on which he builds his church.

So, let’s be a place where Austin residents can “find and follow Jesus together,” a community that’s helping each other become all we’re meant to be.
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Each Thursday I post my article from "LeaderLines," an e-newsletter for church leaders read by over 300 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "LeaderLines," sign up here.

Dog Shoots Man. Here's Why.

An Iowa man is recovering after being shot by his dog. Looks like dogs are starting to fight back after being subjected to this: