Song of the Week: Over the Rhine's "Here It Is"

The Committee To Save Christmas Music from Inanity has prepared a new playlist for radio stations as an alternative to holiday pablum. Last week it was "All That I Want" from The Weepies. This week, "Here It Is" from another husband-wife band, Over the Rhine. I like just about anything from their Christmas project, Snow Angels. You can listen to it online for free here.  This song was written about reconciliation after a rough patch in their marriage.  Don't you like the line about accepting love and life "as is"--

Somewhere down the road
We’ll lift up our glass
And toast the moment
And moments past
The heartbreak and laughter
The joy and the tears
The scary beauty
Of what’s right here

I cried when I wrote this
I’ll always remember
The worst kind of lonely
Is alone in December

The act of forgiveness
Is always a mystery
The melting of ice
And the future of history

Some call it obsession
I call it commitment
I make my confession
I make it in public

I hope that it’s helpful
That others can use it
That it’s more than my ego
And my need to abuse it

I’m wrappin’ up my love this Christmas
I’m wrappin’ up my love this Christmas
I’m wrappin’ up my love this Christmas
And here it is

The leaves on the oak tree
Hold on through the winter
They’re brown and their brittle
They clatter together

I can’t seem to let go
I’m so scared of losing
The deeper the love goes
The deeper the bruising

The trouble with talking
Is it makes you sound clever
The trouble with waiting
Is you’ll just wait forever

There’s a loop of excuses
That plays in your mind
And makes the truth
Even harder to find

I’m wrappin’ up my love this Christmas
I’m wrappin’ up my love this Christmas
I’m wrappin’ up my love this Christmas
And here it is

When they blow Gabriel’s horn
Rip fiction from fact
I want to get caught
In some radical act

Of love and redemption
The sound of warm laughter
Some true conversation
With a friend or my lover

Somewhere down the road
We’ll lift up our glass
And toast the moment
And moments past

The heartbreak and laughter
The joy and the tears
The scary beauty
Of what’s right here

I’m wrappin’ up my love this Christmas
I’m wrappin’ up my love this Christmas
I’m wrappin’ up my love this Christmas
And here it is

Winning Ways: Thanks Giving

Thanksgiving Day provides a chance for us to remember all the ways God has blessed us. But some of us would have to admit that gratitude doesn’t spring up spontaneously from our heart. Disappointment has darkened our heart this year.

If 2008 has been a year of heartache and frustration, I have a three-step process for developing a grateful heart in the midst of disappointment:

First, begin by thanking God for the obvious blessings that immediately come to mind. We take for granted so many things, assuming them as rights instead of as gifts from the King. As a country preacher once said, we’re a lot like hogs in an apple orchard: enjoying the good things around us but never looking up to see where they came from. To thank God for his gifts is to grasp the first rung on the ladder out of bitterness.

Second, ask God to show you how he has been at work this past year, and thank him for it. Too often heartache blinds us to all the ways God has been at work, but gratitude can restore our sight. Henry Ward Beecher said:

If one should give me a dish of sand, and tell me there were particles of iron in it, I might look for them with my clumsy fingers, and be unable to detect them; but let me take a magnet, and sweep through it, and it would draw to itself the most invisible particles. The unthankful heart, like my finger in the sand, discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day, and as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find some heavenly blessings.

Finally, claim Romans 8:28 even over your disappointments: “We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him” (NCV). While Step Two helps you see God’s work despite life’s frustrations, Step Three helps you see God at work within those very things! Here we find the highest proof of faith: to believe that even things that break our heart (and God’s) can be used of God to advance his purposes in our lives.

That’s the Winning Way! God bless your Thanksgiving Day!

___________________________________

Each Wednesday I post my article from "Winning Ways," an e-newsletter that goes out to over 950 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "Winning Ways," sign up here.

Links to Your World, Tuesday November 25

A lot of couples have written me about Ed Young’s 7-day sex challenge to the married couples of his congregation. I’m wondering if all this interest means they want me to issue the same challenge here—and I’m wondering if my sons would ever show their faces at Hillcrest if their Dad issued said challenge! John Kelso at the Statesman had his own quirky take on the matter.


“Despite undeniable similarities, all monotheisms are not alike. Many Muslims who later become followers of Christ say that they worshiped the true God all along, but only with partial knowledge. Certainly God can reveal himself to Muslims however he chooses, but Islam does not lead lost sinners to God. Only Jesus does” (Stan Guthrie at CT). I know of some organizers at Austin’s annual interfaith Thanksgiving service who should take to heart Guthrie’s words. Guthrie goes on to say, “How can we engage in conversation and still stick to our theological guns? I propose employing the Apostles' Creed—a time-tested and easily digestible template of basic Christianity.” I was glad to see someone else finds apologetic value in the Creed, seeing that my conversation with seekers, The Anchor Course, is built on the articles of the Creed, too.


At CT’s Out of Ur, Sarah Pulliam recapped the ongoing debate among bloggers on the question, “Can Obama Call Himself a Christian?” Among the comments she links to, Tony Jones and Andrew Sullivan certainly don’t speak for me; I think I’m most in tune with Alan Jacobs’ take on the matter:

When people say “I am a Christian” I accept them at their word, just as I hope that they accept me at my word when I make the same claim.  But the conversation doesn't have to end there, does it? It seems to me that, having taken President-elect Obama at his word when he claims the Christian faith, we can then go on to discuss what he thinks Christianity is, who he thinks who Jesus is, what obligations he believes a Christian takes on by virtue of being a Christian, and so on. And as that conversation proceeds we might say to him that we think his understanding of Christianity sadly limited, or the place of Christ in his theology to be insufficient and wrong-headed, or whatever.

Facebook Etiquette: Five Dos and Don'ts


A Random List of 8 Things You Should Know By Now, from how to cook perfect scrambled eggs to how to perform CPR.


Calvin Trillin’s New Yorker piece on Texas Monthly’s passion for Central Texas barbeque made me smile. You may recognize the joints in the article. This year’s Texas Monthly winner: Snow’s in Lexington, open only on Saturdays from 8am until the meat sells out.


The “broken windows theory” of crime is proven true: small neglect of antisocial behavior and physical surroundings contribute to rise in crime.


Back in February I recommended that every guy between 18-35, or anyone who knows someone in that age range, should spend some time reading “Child-Man in the Promised Land” from City Journal. Kay Hymowitz is back with a follow-up: “Love in the Time of Darwinism.” In it, she says that perhaps single white males are the louses she reported on in the Child-Man article because of the disappointments they’ve had with women: “The SYM is putting off traditional markers of adulthood—one wife, two kids, three bathrooms—not because he’s immature but because he’s angry. He’s angry because he thinks that young women are dishonest, self-involved, slutty, manipulative, shallow, controlling, and gold-digging. He’s angry because he thinks that the culture disses all things male. He’s angry because he thinks that marriage these days is a raw deal for men.” Whew! Reading Hymowitz’s two article together makes me (1) prayerful for anyone having to swim in the single adult dating pool these days, especially my sons, (2) thankful I’m not having to swim in it, (3) wondering why anyone would prefer this messed-up world to the Christian worldview with its clear gender roles in courtship and marriage, and (4) wondering how God’s churches can better serve this constituency.


What assessment would your blog get on the Myers-Briggs Inventory ? (HT: Alan Jacobs) According to this website, my blog is INTP, with this explanation:

The logical and analytical type. They are especialy attuned to difficult creative and intellectual challenges and always look for something more complex to dig into. They are great at finding subtle connections between things and imagine far-reaching implications. They enjoy working with complex things using a lot of concepts and imaginative models of reality. Since they are not very good at seeing and understanding the needs of other people, they might come across as arrogant, impatient and insensitive to people that need some time to understand what they are talking about.

Generally true, but as far as that last sentence goes it’s obvious this sophomoric reviewer can’t grasp the logic of my posts. Oh . . . um . . . never mind.


A website to help you choose your baby’s name.


“I was raised Christian, and I was raised to believe in the idea of the Antichrist. A lot of us grow up and we grow out of the literal interpretation that we get when we're children, but we bear the scars all our life. Whether they're scars of beauty or scars of ugliness, it's pretty much in the eye of the beholder.” Stephen King, interviewed in Salon on the 30^th anniversary of his horror novel, The Stand. However, Gene Edward Veith of World magazine says: “While King, at least in his novel, recognizes God's existence, His moral order, and the spiritual warfare between good and evil, Christ, while occasionally referred to, is noticeably absent. Bringing Christ into The Stand would mean a figure who took into Himself the disease that plagued the world, who died and rose again, and who redeemed the monsters.” Also, in the interview King considered The Stand to be an American version of The Lord of the Rings. Um, that’s a pretty high aim for a pretty low product. In short, this interview captures all I like and dislike about Stephen King as a writer.


Here’s an elegant visual way to depict the interconnected nature of Scripture. This graph won an honorable mention in the 2008 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and Science journal.


We’ve been looking at ways to freshen up the look of our Hillcrest campus. Any of these 10 unique church buildings strike you as the way we should go?


“When a party suffers the kind of beating the Republicans have taken in the past two elections, the public has not rejected one of its factions. It has rejected the party as a whole. Voters have turned on pro-choice as well as pro-life Republicans, on Senators who favored amnesty [for illegal immigrants] and ones who fought it. Evidently voters did not believe that Republicans of any stripe offered solutions to the challenges America faces now” (Ramesh Ponnuru in Time)


“Postnuptial depression may not be a clinical diagnosis, but it has entered the lexicon of marriage in the past few years, and newly hitched couples will tell you it's real. The blues typically hit early in married life, psychiatrists say, as newlyweds begin recognizing that expectations of how their partner or relationship will change post-wedding are unrealistic. Worse, once the Big Day has come and gone, couples are suddenly forced to step out of their much-cherished, and often long-lived, ‘bride’ or ‘groom’ spotlight and just get on with real life” (story)


Jacqueline Salmon of the Washington Post wrote about the split among prolife groups: some want to find ways of working with the Obama administration, clinging to his claim that, despite his far-left views on abortion rights, he wants to work on provisions that would (presumably) reduce the likelihood that a woman would feel a need to choose abortion. Other prolifers, Salmon writes, feel this is a sellout. In his comments about the story, Terry Mattingly correctly points out the giant gap in the story: Obama’s pledge to sign the so-called “Freedom of Choice Act.” This is the real division between prolifers. “Progressive” prolifers are counting on Obama to ignore his 2007 pledge to Planned Parenthood that “the first thing I’d do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act.” Other prolife leaders are less confident, and bracing for widespread dismantling of provisions that have actually led to a significant reduction in abortions over the years.


“As families face layoffs, shrinking retirement funds, and credit-card debt, economic uncertainties can test marriages and relationships. Some couples are finding renewed strength and closeness. Others will head for divorce court.” (“Marriages follow the ups and downs of the economy,” CS Monitor)

Religious Mash-Up? Count Hillcrest Out

The Statesman reported on the annual “interreligious” Thanksgiving service over the weekend. I have to admit such services have always left me scratching my head. I’m in favor of “interfaith” dialogue, or Saddleback’s civil forums, or even a work project that combines different religious communities for something like making repairs for poor homeowners. But having a joint worship service? Implicit in this is the false assumption that, at the core, we’re all worshipping the same god (or Reality, or Force, or Mystery).

Ironically, while designed to build mutual respect, it diminishes it: to say that the fundamental differences between Hindus or Muslims or Jews or Christians don’t really matter is to belittle the robust particularities of these faiths in the end. I would rather stand at the back of, say, a Jewish bar mitzvah or a Hindu funeral service as a respectful visitor than to participate in these religious mash-ups known as “interreligious” Thanksgiving services. Count Hillcrest out.

Radio Nowhere

Christina Perez introduced me to this game. Try it yourself:

1. Put your iTunes or MP3 player on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!


IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
It’s Christmas Time—Various Artists, City on a Hill

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
No Other Name—Todd Fields

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Track Four--Interstates

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Brain Damage—The Austin Lounge Lizards

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Need Your Love—Jeff Berry Band

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Lord of Eternity—Fernando Ortega

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
I Just Want to Celebrate—Rare Earth

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Sons of Jubal—Walt Michael

WHAT IS 2+2?
Heart of Gold—Neil Young

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Operator—The Manhattan Transfer

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Breathe—Sixpence None the Richer

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Closer to the Heart—Rush

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
One Tree Hill—U2

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Knowing Me, Knowing You—ABBA (Um, how did that get on my iPod??)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Righteous Love—Joan Osborne

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Nice Dream—Radiohead

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Judgment Day Blues—Carolyn Wonderland

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For—U2

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Jumping Jack Flash—Peter Frampton

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Fool in the Rain—Led Zeppelin

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Lonely Without You—Joss Stone and Mick Jagger

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
From a Distance—Bette Midler

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
John’s Garden—Peter Mayer

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Owner of a Lonely Heart—Yes

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
The Color Green—Rich Mullins

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
Hello It’s Me—Todd Rundgren

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
The Soul of a Man—Monte Montgomery

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Truly, Madly Deeply—Ray LaMontagne

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Water into Wine—Bruce Cockburn

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Faithfully--Journey

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Radio Nowhere—Bruce Springsteen

Song of the Week: The Weepies' "All That I Want"

A radio station in town has already been playing 24/7 Christmas music for a week.  And that means I'm already tired of dogs barking out "Jingle Bells."  The Committee To Save Christmas Music from Inanity has met, and we're submitting a new playlist to radio stations. First up, here's "All That I Want" from The Weepies.



Out in the harbor
The ships come in, it's Christmastime
The kids all holler carols 'cross the water
Stars that shine

All that I want, all that I want

Above the rooftops
The full moon dips it's golden spoon
I wait on clip-clops, deer might fly
Why not? I met you

All that I want, all that I want

And when the night is falling
Down the sky at midnight
Another year is stalling
Far away a good bye, good night

All that I want., all that I want, all that I want

So small a turning
The world grows older every day
An ache, a yearning
Soften when I hear you say

All that I want, all that I want

And when the cold wind's blowing
Snow drifts through the pine trees
In houses lights are glowing
Likewise in your eyes that find me here

With all that I want.

Out in the harbor
The ships come in, it's Christmastime
It's Christmastime
It's Christmastime.

LeaderLines: Does God Use Me?

You see people being baptized, you clap for the new members, and you rejoice at the conversion testimonies. But do you ever wonder what part you play in those stories? Every Sunday you hand out bulletins, or make a child feel welcome, or set up and break down a room for class, or help a mom get her baby to the nursery. Would it encourage you to know how God uses those small acts to change lives? Then read Keith Manuel’s article, “Does God Use Me?” Keith is an evangelism associate on the Louisiana Baptist Convention’s evangelism & church growth team.

Tom

Does God Use Me?

by Keith Manuel

Evangelism is a process. Unfortunately, many people forget how important they are to the process. We often believe that if we weren’t the one who actually invited the person to surrender his or her life to the Lord, we had no part in that person’s salvation. But nothing could be further from the truth.

Did Grandmother Rose, who before she died sat in her rocking chair reading her Bible, have any part in the salvation of her grandson? When she told the story of Goliath to a wide-eyed 3-year-old, was God using her maternal role to plant the seeds of the Gospel?

There’s the tired, overworked church secretary who is in the middle of folding dozens of letters – numbers 48, 49, 50. Most of them are thrown away without being read. Then there’s letter 51. It’s to Carol, a 38-year-old single mother, who is alone and overwhelmed. She wants adult company and people who will help her with her children. Her young boy needs a role model because there is no dad in his life. The letter invites her to be a part of the adult choir – a “fun-loving group” that “prays together, laughs together and worships together.” Classes for children and childcare for infants will be held during practice. Some classes have male teachers. Carol’s mascara begins to run as tears fall quickly from her eyes. Three weeks later, she accepts Jesus as her Savior.

Deacon Jones is a quiet man. He can’t even pray aloud in front of a group. Behind the scenes, though, he’s speaking volumes. Little Johnny knows every week Deacon Jones will give him a “high-five” and a piece of candy if he memorized his Bible verse for Sunday School.

Widow Johnson found out what a handyman Deacon Jones is when her car broke down and she didn’t know what to do. She had just moved to the area to be closer to her daughter, and her daughter told her she should go to church to meet some people. Widow Johnson had never been faithful to any church, but now she’s found people who really care.

There’s also the newlywed, military couple who forgot their umbrella when visiting the church, only to have Deacon Jones hold an umbrella for them in the rain. Why is he so different?

When that couple, the widow and little Johnny profess their faith in Christ through baptism, the whole church rejoices. Deacon Jones does, too, as he stands out of the sight of the congregation helping each of the four out of the baptistery.

Then there’s Barbra, who worked in Vacation Bible School for years. She has a physical handicap that keeps her from going up the stairs. The accident that caused her body to stop functioning like other people has also caused her not to be able to think and speak clearly. Nevertheless, the kitchen is downstairs and she loves to make punch for the kids. The children make her happy and she makes them feel special. She can’t teach the mission story, but when the pastor comes in to share the plan of salvation and numerous children respond to the message, she writes their first names down for the pastor and staff to follow up. Barbra’s smile stretches all the way across her face. She has prayed for children to come to know Christ every morning. She hugs each boy and girl who made a decision before they return to their class. Some would say Barbra does nothing in evangelism. I’m not so sure.

There are many people who engage the lost without the lost ever knowing their names. God knows their names. He is using their gifts, talents and time for a Kingdom purpose.

Sure, I think we should learn how to share our faith. I certainly think we need to find ways to be on the frontlines of the spiritual battle for the lost. But for everyone on the frontline, there must be equal support from the rear.

_________________________________________

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: Worthship

Do you live a God-oriented life?

Almost everyone I’ve met thinks about God from time to time. They wonder what he’s like, they wonder what he expects, they wonder if he’s happy with their lives, they wonder how to get him to meet their needs. But someone who lives a God-oriented life operates differently. That person . . . 

. . . is stirred by the greatness of God
     . . . is moved by the grace of God
               . . . expects the activity of God
                    . . . hungers for the word of God
                         . . . longs for the glory of God.

We have to constantly challenge each other to orient our lives to God like a compass needle drawn to the North.

God promises us, “Those who honor me I will honor.” According to Scripture, you honor God in four commitments.

We honor God with our worship. In public services and in private times, we should praise God and thank him. God said, “Giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me” (Psalms 50:23 NLT).

We honor God with our giving. The Bible says, “Honor the Lord with your wealth; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine” (Proverbs 3:9-10). When we give a portion of our income to our church, it isn’t like paying dues to a local club; it’s the way we honor God.

We honor God with our prayer. The poet of the Old Testament said to God, “I will honor you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer” (Psalms 63:4 NLT). When we’re faced with problems, pains and decisions, asking for God’s help needs to be a “first response” rather than a “last resort.” When we depend on God, we honor him.

We honor God with our lifestyle. The Apostle Paul wrote, “God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:20 NLT). From what we access on the Internet to how we react in traffic to the choices we make in entertainment to the promise we keep in a marriage—believers should aim to honor God with a life well-lived.

This Sunday we wrap up our six-week emphasis we’ve called “Together @ 10.”  Join us for one more combined service, followed by Sunday School and Common Ground.  We’ll talk about building a worship service that honors God.

_____________________________________

Each Wednesday I post my article from "Winning Ways," an e-newsletter that goes out to over 950 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "Winning Ways," sign up here.

Links to Your World, Tuesday November 18

I mentioned the “Guy’s Guide to Marrying Well” in Sunday's message. You can find it at this website, where you will find two links: one will take you to a .pdf version of the Guide, and the other will take you to an online flash version of the Guide. I expect the articles in this guide will be very useful for young men thinking about the subject of marriage. If you want to listen to last Sunday's sermon, "How to Find True Love," go to our website.


Michael Hyatt gives you four behaviors to stay on top of email. This president and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers processes about a hundred an hour this way.


I love my iPod; I hate my iTunes. It takes 10 minutes to go through the update, it splashes icons all over the place, it takes up too much space, and it crashes my Outlook program. I’m looking for an alternative to iTunes (Songbird, maybe?).


Are we skittish about race relations or what? That “noose” in a tree at Baylor after the Obama election (that generated a reprimand on CNN) turned out to be the remnants of a rope swing. Oh . . . never mind.


How tolerant are the Tolerant? An 8^th grade girl in a Chicago suburb found out when she wore a “McCain Girl” T-shirt to class. (story). James Taranto of OpinionJournal writes, "What can we conclude from Catherine Vogt's experience? That children and adolescents are often cruel and obnoxious, and also that, at least this year, many of them have been smug and self-righteous about their political preferences. The latter trait probably comes from their parents, while the former is in their nature."


In Nebraska, some parents are rushing to dump their teens and older children on the care of the state before lawmakers amend a "safe haven" law that was meant to allow parents to abandon infants at hospitals without legal consequences. Since the law passed earlier this year, five 17-year-olds, two 16-year-olds, six 15-year-olds, two 14-year-olds, three 13-year-olds and eight 11- or 12-year-olds have been dumped. And apparently there's no residency requirement: "Five of the children dropped off have been from out of state." (story)


"Evangelicalism has not died. Or converted to liberalism. But neither does religion belong to the Republican Party. . . . [W]e're certainly not going to be able to figure out the religious ramifications of this election in a matter of days” (Eileen Flynn, Austin American Statesman)


The latest issue of National Geographic has an article on the terrifying and brilliant King Herod. Read it online here. I’ve walked Masada, which is the first photo you’ll see in the article. Unfortunately, NG reflects a typical skepticism of biblical accounts, saying of the killing of infants in Matthew 2 that "Herod is almost certainly innocent of this crime, of which there is no report apart from Matthew's account." The author--no author--gives any reason for the contention that the ruthless king who murdered his own family members to stay in power would be "almost certainly innocent of this crime." So, mind the bias but read the article to get a picture of the kind of world Jesus was born into.


“David Shuster, an anchor for the cable news network, said on air Monday that Martin Eisenstadt, a McCain policy adviser, had come forth and identified himself as the source of a Fox News Channel story saying Palin had mistakenly believed Africa was a country instead of a continent. Eisenstadt identifies himself on a blog as a senior fellow at the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy. Yet neither he nor the institute exist; each is part of a hoax.” (story) The real question is why so many immediately took it as gospel and passed it along. And how many other stories have been/will be run without due diligence?


What If You Said Hello to Everyone In Your Path for a Month? Joe Kita in Reader’s Digest describes 11 things you can learn from one small change.


“Psychiatrist Ian Osborn claims the doctrine of imputed righteousness can overcome mental illness” (book review in CT)


The hard-to-peg Camille Paglia in the easy-to-peg Salon explains why Obama’s association with domestic terrorist William Ayers still matters, and why she still likes Sarah Palin. Too many good quotes in this article to single out just one.


“Late Boomers, dubbed ‘Generation Jones’ by activist Jonathan Pontell (because of in-between anonymity and lots of Joneses in popular '70s songs), make up the largest share of the voter pie—26 percent. Despite our size (the peak of the baby boom was 1957, the year I was born), we spent years feeling like generational stepchildren. It was as if we arrived late at the '60s party, after everything turned bitter. But if we weren't convincing flower children (or anti-hippies, like George W. Bush), we weren't part of Generation X either. The Gen-Xers were too cynical. Instead we became the perennial swing voters, with residual '60s idealism mixed with the pragmatism and materialism of the '80s. Even as demographers concluded that generations are really 10 to 15 years, not 20, no one represented us.” (Jonathan Alter in Newsweek back in February). I’ve been writing about this from time to time.


Also: “ThirdAge, an established non-partisan website catering to midlifers, asked 500 people born in 1961 which generation they felt a part of: 57 percent responded to Generation Jones as defined in birth years in the survey, 22 percent reported Baby Boomer and 21 percent said GenX. Further, when asked which generation they believed Obama belonged to, 51 percent responded Generation Jones, 24 percent labeled him a Baby Boomer and 25 percent said GenX." (ThirdAge)


Mommas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Pastors:

Song of the Week: Mark Heard's "House of Broken Dreams"

From his 1990 project, Dry Bones Dance, here's Christian and musician Mark Heard singing "House of Broken Dreams." File the song in the blues catalog, but there's more than just sadness here. Notice he sings, "I'll sleep in peace tonight" and "Give me the reason to go on." It is, in part, a prayer to God and not just autobiographical self-pity. Mark died in 1992 at the age of 40. I wrote more about him at this blog post.

(P.S.: Not every song featured on "Song of the Week" mirrors my mood at the time! But I've had times when I've been in the mood Heard describes in this song, and will be again I'm sure. Haven't you? Heard doesn't play "pretend" with his Christian faith, and neither should we.)

Listen:



Hear the whistle blow
It echoes down my soul
It's something I have always known
Nothing sounds so sad
A cry to the unknown
The fundamental sigh of all who've gone this way before

Lay me down to sleep
Come and comfort me
I'll sleep in peace
In a house of broken dreams

I'm old enough to know
That dreams are quickly spent
Like a pouring rain on warm cement
Or fingerprints in dust
Nectar on the wind
Save them for tomorrow and tomorrow lets you down again

Lay me down to sleep
Come and comfort me
I'll sleep in peace
In a house of broken dreams

Give me the reasons to go on
Soften the sorrow that shatters and bends
And mend broken dreams

Sentimental hearts
Hungry for the past
Penniless at the wishing-well
Memories will last
And cover certain scars
Acquired in the daily grind of being what we are

Lay me down to sleep
Come and comfort me
I'll sleep in peace
In a house of broken dreams

Stein's "Expelled" and Baylor University

Yesterday I saw the Ben Stein film, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. Worth watching, especially since it has annoyed all the right people. Here's a short trailer:



Longer trailer:



My alma mater--and the school both sons plan to graduate from--is featured in the film. Robert Marks, who holds the title of distinguished professor of engineering at Baylor University has been using highly sophisticated mathematical and computational techniques to determine if there are limits to what natural selection can do. Walt Ruloff, executive producer of the film, wrote in the student newspaper, the Baylor Lariat:

"At Baylor, a Christian institution, this should be pretty unremarkable stuff. I'm assuming most of the faculty, students and alumni believe in God, so wouldn't it also be safe to assume you have no problem with a professor trying to scientifically quantify the limits of a blind, undirected cause of the origin and subsequent history of life?"

But, as the film points out, in 2007 Marks was told he could not use the Baylor server to host his website that reported his private research.

Marks probably didn't belong on the list with the other "expelled" professors in the film. He remains a professor at Baylor--he was simply asked to remove his website from Baylor servers. And Baylor spokeswoman Lori Fogleman took issue with Marks’ claim the site was shut down because of its intelligent design connection, saying that a professor is free to conduct any outside research “as long as he or she does not represent that work as being connected to Baylor University.”

Had the film producers wanted to highlight a high-profile ID proponent whom Baylor actually "expelled," William Dembski would have been a better choice. Dembski shows up the film, but not in connection with his past troubles at Baylor.

Logan Craft, co-executive producer of the film and chairman of the film’s production company, Premise Media, explains why a school such as Baylor needed to be included in his film. He said that though most of the expelled academics in the film are affiliated with secular institutions, ID is controversial at schools with religious roots:

“To me, the long history of religiously founded universities and colleges in the United States is typically one of the ultimate capturing of the colleges and universities by the progressive secularists. I think you see that at Baylor partly. You see that at SMU almost entirely. . . . What we see here is a struggle for a religiously founded university to maintain its credibility to the larger academic world and frequently that has come by simply being co-opted by whatever the zeitgeist of the day is, in this case, this commitment to scientific materialism.”

You can find a quick summary of Baylor's discomfort with Intelligent Design in this Breakpoint piece.

In the City, For the City

Join the city-wide celebration of what God is doing in the Greater Austin Area this Sunday, November 16, from 4-8:30pm at the Bob Bullock Tx State History Museum. Watch the video here:

LeaderLines: How is Ministry Leadership Unlike Business Leadership?

I learn a lot from journals and books that focus on business leadership, but it requires a bit of translation. Ministry leadership isn’t exactly like business leadership. Bill Hybels explains why in this 2007 column from Leadership Journal.

Tom

Leader’s Insight: Yes, Ministry Leadership Is Complex

by Bill Hybels

My friend runs a company with about 3,000 employees. He says he wants to relax after retirement and lead a church. He said, “It doesn’t have to be a Willow Creek-sized church. Maybe just 7,000 or 8,000 with some growth potential.” I told him that leading a church would ruin his retirement, because the church demands a higher and more complex form of leadership than business does. In fact, I believe the church is the most leadership-intensive enterprise in society.

I’ve been on both sides. Running a business is challenging, but the leader of a company has a clearly defined playing field and enormous leverage with his or her employees. The business leader delivers a product or service through paid staff who either get it done or get replaced.

Church leadership is far more complex than that. The redeeming and rebuilding of human lives is exceedingly more difficult than building widgets or delivering predictable services. Here’s why:

1. Every life requires a custom mold.

You don’t stop the line in a factory every time a product comes down it. In church work, we’re developing individual, custom-made lives. We stop the line for every life.

I’ve read books about Napoleon, de Gaulle, Eisenhower, MacArthur, Patton. They were all the great military leaders. I don’t want to minimize their capabilities or the courage it takes to charge a hill in time of battle, but I’ve wondered, What would it be like for some of those leaders to have to work it out with deacons before they charged up a hill? How well would they do if they had to subject their plans to a vote involving the very people they’re going to lead up the hill? How would the whole military system work if you took away the leadership leverage of the court-martial?

Anyone could build a church with that kind of leverage! I can hear the generals now: “Teach a Sunday school class or go to the brig.” “You call that an offering? Give me fifty push-ups right now.” That’s leverage!

2. The church is utterly voluntary.

But in the final analysis, we have little or no leverage, no real power over anybody we lead. At Willow Creek we’ve had people attend our services week after week, create trouble throughout the church, and tap every resource we have. Then, when they cross one too many lines and the elders bring correction or discipline, they bail out of the church or even sue.

To mobilize an utterly volunteer organization requires the highest kind of leadership. We cannot compel people; we must call them. One great writer about leadership says, “Most people are just waiting for someone to call them out so they can rise above their petty preoccupations.”

I used to play on a park district touch football team led by Don Cousins, my associate pastor for 17 years. We played against construction workers who came after work, semi-inebriated, with the sole purpose of hurting people. In one game, my job was to try to sack the quarterback; I lined up across from a guy who was supposed to prevent me from doing that. I thought, I’m going to run right over the top of you. I was breathing hard, getting all pumped, when I looked up. This guy’s eyes were bloodshot, and he was drooling. I thought, Maybe I’ll just drop back in case the quarterback passes this time.

We were smaller than most of our opponents, but we won almost every game we played. Don Cousins led that team. At the end of the season, if we had said, “Anybody want to play next season under the leadership of Don Cousins?” every person in the league would have signed on.

3. The church is utterly altruistic.

When leading a business, you can hire a bright, energetic, young employee and say, “Here’s our vision. Here’s your part in it. Here’s your salary, your perks, your car, your phone, your fax, your computer, your secretary, your office, your vacation plan. If you work hard, in five or eight years we’re going to make you a partner or invite you into the profit-sharing plan. Down the road, you’ll probably make big money. There will be more perks, more time off. And when we sell this place in fifteen or twenty years, we’re all going to walk away transcendently wealthy. Are you interested?”

Who wouldn’t be?

But as church leaders, what do we tell prospective church members? “You’re a depraved, degenerate sinner who’s in trouble for all eternity unless you get squared away with Christ.” (And that’s the good news. We call it the gospel.)

Then we say, “We’re going to ask you to commit five or six hours a week to service and two or three additional hours for training and discipleship. We’re going to ask you to get in a small group where your character flaws are going to get exposed and chiseled at. We’re going to ask you to come under the authority of the elders of the church and give a minimum of 10 percent of your money. Oh, yeah, you get no parking place, no reserved seats, no special privileges, no voting rights, no vacation or retirement program. You serve till you die. But trust us: God’s going to make it right in eternity.”

In church work, people must be motivated internally. The Scripture says unless the Lord builds the house, unless people have an internal want-to, leaders have no power, no leverage, no buttons to push.

When business people in our churches give free advice—how we should be doing it right—we need to say, with no malice, “It’s not that easy, and it’s not the same. It’s apples and oranges.”

4. The church has the highest calling.

We can no longer afford to leave people leaderless in the arena of the church. For the church ever to reach its redemptive, life-giving potential, it must be well led. It must be powerfully envisioned, strategically focused, and internally aligned. Members must be motivated; values must be established and enforced. Resources need to be leveraged.

May the church be the one place where people who come out of leaderless homes and schools and jobs and athletic teams discover, maybe for the first time in their lives, the excitement of being valued, of being included, of being told that they are indispensable for the achievement of a common vision.

These things are the business of leaders. Which is why Paul cried out in Romans 12:8, “Men and women, if you’ve been given the gift of leadership, for God’s sake, lead.” For the world’s sake, lead. For the sake of lost people, lead.

Winning Ways: Finding the Love of Your Life

Is there a “Christian” way to date? An online dating company that caters to Christians suggested the following “chat up” lines as conversation-starters among Christians. I think they were kidding, but if you’re single, tell me if the lines work for you:

“Now I know why Solomon had 700 wives. He never met you.”

“Is this pew taken?”

“I just don’t feel called to celibacy.”

“You float my ark.”

“I didn’t believe in predestination until tonight.”

“How many times do I have to walk around you before you fall for me?”

“The name is Will. God’s Will.”

Whether there’s a “Christian” way to strike up a relationship or not, there’s a more important question to answer. What qualities should you look for in a potential marriage partner?

I think you should look at the matter like a traffic light at an intersection. A red light means “stop,” a yellow light means “proceed with caution and be prepared to stop,” and a green light mean, “go.” Likewise, there are red light issues, yellow light issues, and green light issues as you decide whether to proceed in a romantic relationship.

One “red light” that should stop you is when you find your friend is not a believer. Though we will—and should—have friendships with all kinds of people, a marriage relationship requires more discernment. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6:14 (NIV), “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.”

And then there are some “yellow lights” that should make you proceed with caution and be prepared to stop your relationship. Marrying too young, deciding to marry too soon in the relationship, planning to marry without the blessing of your family—these are some cautions that come to my mind. None of these things are “deal breakers,” but issues like this should give you pause before running headstrong to the altar.

But don’t forget the “green light,” too! In your car, there’s no point in idling forever at an intersection: A traffic light lets you know when it’s safe to proceed! I think too many young adults have idled too long instead of finding and committing to another.

This Sunday, join us as we look at these things. We’ll examine the dumb choices Samson made in his romantic relationships in hopes of avoiding the same. We meet together @ 10!

___________________________________

Each Wednesday I post my article from "Winning Ways," an e-newsletter that goes out to over 950 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "Winning Ways," sign up here.

Links to Your World, Tuesday November 11

Veterans Day is today. Be sure to watch the video clip at the end of this post and thank a vet!


“We have to end adolescence as a social experiment. We tried it. It failed. It's time to move on. Returning to an earlier, more successful model of children rapidly assuming the roles and responsibilities of adults would yield enormous benefit to society. . . . Early adulthood, early responsibility, and early achievement were the norm before the institution of adolescence emerged as a system for delaying adulthood and trapping young people into wasting years of their lives.” (Newt Gingrich, writing in Newsweek)


The Bible or the Bard: When famous quotes from Shakespeare's plays are listed beside lines from scripture, can you tell which is which? Take the quiz here. (Arg! I missed one, forgetting a phrase from Ecclesiastes 11:7. In my defense, though, it’s been a long time since I’ve read the Bible in King James English!)


“An intoxicated British college student badly damaged his new Mini Cooper by trying to replicate a stunt from the film The Italian Job. The student, whose parents had given him the car the day before, tried to drive down a set of church steps—unsuccessfully. By the time the Mini reached the bottom of the stairs, its radiator and two front tires had exploded and both front airbags had deployed.” [foxnews.com, 10/29/08] (HT: Culture Clips)


How to Make a Personal Chocolate Cake in a Mug in the Microwave


A top 10 of irritating expressions has been compiled by researchers at Oxford University


Paul Bloom in Slate grudgingly acknowledges, “There is evidence within the United States for a correlation between religion and what might broadly be called ‘niceness.’” But, he says, it’s because atheists aren’t included in the main form of building community in the U.S.—religious involvement. So, you see, it’s the fault of the faithful that the faithless aren’t better people. Got it?


“If just the ‘committed Christians’ (defined as those who attend church at least a few times a month or profess to be "strong" or "very strong" Christians) would tithe, there would be an extra 46 billion dollars a year available for kingdom work. To make that figure more concrete, the authors suggest dozens of different things that $46 billion would fund each year: for example, 150,000 new indigenous missionaries; 50,000 additional theological students in the developing world; 5 million more micro loans to poor entrepreneurs; the food, clothing and shelter for all 6,500,000 current refugees in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East; all the money for a global campaign to prevent and treat malaria; resources to sponsor 20 million needy children worldwide. Their conclusion is surely right: ‘Reasonably generous financial giving of ordinary American Christians would generate staggering amounts of money that could literally change the world.’” (Ron Sider, reviewing the book, Passing the Plate)


Post-Election Reaction and Reflection:

“Among democratic peoples each generation is a new people.” Alexis de Tocqueville


“Richard Cizik, vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals, said evangelicals have serious disagreements on certain issues with Obama, but thinks the president-elect understands evangelicals better than any Democrat since Jimmy Carter. ‘I have a strong confidence that evangelicals will find a willing ear here by this new president," Cizik said. ‘We need to respond.’” (ChristianityToday.com)


“Who will President-Elect Obama turn to when he wants to hear what the evangelical community is thinking?” (Rice sociologist Michael Lindsey asks—and attempts to answer. HT: Of Sacred and Secular)


Newsweek presents Joel Hunter as a key leader of the “New Evangelicals” who want a wider social agenda in addition to sanctity-of-life and defense of marriage. Hunter doesn’t think Obama will keep his promise to sign the “Freedom of Choice Act.” But this phrase caught my eye: David Van Biema of Newsweek describes the divisive Freedom of Choice Act as merely “a bill that could wipe out many of the inroads conservatives have made into strict interpretation of Roe v. Wade.” That’s just about the oddest phrase I’ve ever read. Conservatives are committed to “interpreting” Roe? I thought we were committed to wiping out this poorly-argued case. And I didn't know ours was a “strict” interpretation of the Supreme Court decision. Does that mean that President-elect Obama’s is middle-of-the-road to claim that the Roe decision means abortion should be legal at every stage of pregnancy, performed on a minor without parental involvment, and funded by the government?


I wrote my own reflections on Barack Obama’s election, but Michael Gerson did a much better job in the Washington Post: “This presidency in particular should be a source of pride even for those who do not share its priorities. An African American will take the oath of office blocks from where slaves were once housed in pens and sold for profit. He will sleep in a house built in part by slave labor, near the room where Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation with firm hand. He will host dinners where Teddy Roosevelt in 1901 entertained the first African American to be a formal dinner guest in the White House; command a military that was not officially integrated until 1948. Every event, every act, will complete a cycle of history. It will be the most dramatic possible demonstration that the promise of America — so long deferred — is not a lie. I suspect I will have many substantive criticisms of the new administration, beginning soon enough. Today I have only one message for Barack Obama, who will be our president, my president: Hail to the chief.”


Well, that was a short honeymoon. Peter Hitchens in London’s Daily Mail reacts to President-elect Obama’s election: “If you can believe that this undistinguished and conventionally Left-wing machine politician is a sort of secular saviour, then you can believe anything.” So, what does Hitchens believe the election signifies? That America has switched sides in the culture war: “The United States, having for the most part a deeply conservative people, had until now just about stood out against many of the mistakes which have ruined so much of the rest of the world. Suspicious of welfare addiction, feeble justice and high taxes, totally committed to preserving its own national sovereignty, unabashedly Christian in a world part secular and part Muslim, suspicious of the Great Global Warming panic, it was unique. These strengths had been fading for some time, mainly due to poorly controlled mass immigration and to the march of political correctness. They had also been weakened by the failure of America’s conservative party – the Republicans – to fight on the cultural and moral fronts. . . . How sad. Where now is our last best hope on Earth?”


“The Republican Party retains a remarkably strong pulse, considering that McCain's often chaotic campaign earned 46 percent of the popular vote while tacking into terrible winds” (George Will). Charles Krauthammer said the same thing: “Even a Ronald Reagan could not have survived [in the economic uncertainty surrounding this election]. The fact that John McCain got 46 percent of the electorate when 75 percent said the country was going in the wrong direction is quite remarkable.”


Latinos and blacks who came out in record numbers for Obama in California were also in the ballot booth to defend marriage. Gays were hoping African-Americans would see gay marriage as a civil rights issue. But Derek McCoy, African American outreach director for the Protect Marriage Campaign, said, “The reason I feel they [African-Americans] came out so strong on the issue is one, for them, it's not a civil rights issue, it's a marriage issue. It's about marriage being between a man and a woman and it doesn't cut into the civil rights issue, about equality. The gay community was never considered a third of a person.’”


“Let those who deal with the world do it as though they had no dealings with it. Yes, we deal with the world. But there are unseen things that are vastly more precious than the world. The full passions of our heart are attached to something greater—God and His purposes. We will inherit the world soon enough. For now we deal with it to show that Christ, not the world, is our treasure.” (John Piper, reminding us of 1 Corinthians 7:29-31, a passage that seems to say “Don't flee the world. Marry. Cry. Rejoice. Buy. Deal. But then: Do it all as if you weren't doing it.”)

Finally, for your Veterans Day, here's the video I showed in last Sunday's service:

Song of the Week: Trace Adkins' "Then They Do"

This custom has developed over the 2 years of this blog to post (and comment on) a "Song of the Week" each Sunday. Call this one "Confessions of a First-Year Empty Nester." Both boys are in college this year, 90 minutes away in Waco. Three months into their absence, more and more childhood recollections come more and more to mind. In no chronological order, I recall:

Three year old Michael insisting our newborn Stephen can talk " a little bit."

Walking around the neighborhood as preschool Michael rode his "Ninja-Turtles-theme" bike with the training wheels (and convincing him I saw a Ninja Turtle in the storm drain).

Pushing preschool Michael in the baby swing on back porch in Baton Rouge after getting home from the office. I'd try to "sneak read" a few articles from my Time magazine while pushing him and listening to him sing, but he'd notice and reach back every time the swing came to me to swipe at the magazine and say, "No, listen to me!"

Laying with preschool Stephen in an Eastland hospital bed watching Blues Clues. Recurrent allergies and asthma complicated much of his babyhood and preschool years. What I remember most about his learning-to-talk years was an 0ften-raspy and squeaky voice.

I also remember Stephen having trouble with his "L's" when he learned to talk, so his favorite friend Link would be "yink," Link's sister Libby would be "yibby," and the color yellow would be "yeyo."

Michael had his unique words, too. Diane and I still prefer to suggest a "sammich" for lunch, and remark on the "papartments" near our house, and enjoy "blanas" (bananas).

I recall the first scene in a movie that provoked baby Michael's laughter: the moment Tramp in Lady and Tramp shook himself clean after being doused with water.

I remember running the chains for Michael's 1st grade flag football team, and seeing him run for 20 yards on first time he got the ball.

The time comes to mind when Stephen soundly beat me in checkers to hold me to the promise to teach him chess only after he could beat me in checkers. He was in kindergarten. He went on to be a real competitor in chess in elementary school.

More and more of these stories come to mind in this quiet house. So this week, Trace Adkins fits my mood. Here's "Then They Do"--




Then They Do Trace Adkins

In the early rush of morning,
Trying to get the kids to school:
One's hanging on my shirt-tail,
Another's locked up in her room.
And I'm yelling up the stairs:
"Stop worrying 'bout your hair, you look fine."

Then they're fightin' in the backseat,
And I'm playing referee.
Now someone's gotta go,
The moment that we leave.
And everybody's late,
I swear that I can't wait till they grow up.

Then they do, and that's how it is.
It's just quiet in the mornin',
Can't believe how much you miss,
All they do and all they did.
You want all the dreams they dreamed of to come true:
Then they do.

Now the youngest is starting college,
She'll be leavin' in the Fall.
And Brianna's latest boyfriend,
Called to ask if we could talk.
And I got the impression,
That he's about to pop the question any day.

I look over at their pictures,
Sittin' in their frames.
I see them as babies:
I guess that'll never change.
You pray all their lives,
That someday they will find happiness.

Then they do, and that's how it is.
It's just quiet in the mornin',
Can't believe how much you miss,
All they do and all they did.
You want all the dreams they dreamed of to come true:
Then they do.

No more Monday PTA's,
No carpools, or soccer games.
Your work is done.
Now you've got time that's all your own.
You've been waitin' for so long,
For those days to come.

Then they do, and that's how it is.
It's just quiet in the mornin',
Can't believe how much you miss,
All they do and all they did.
You want all the dreams they dreamed of to come true:
Then they do.

Ah, then they do.

So Many Books, So Little Time

I usually have more than one book at a time going, but I think reading six at a time is overboard:

• I'm reading Dreams from My Father, Barack Obama's memoir, because I want to know more about our new President.
• I'm reading Arminian Theology by Baylor prof Roger Olson because I sometimes need to be a guest in another's perspective. (I'm a Calvinist as taught by Baptist theologian Millard Erickson.)
• I'm reading The Prodigal God, Tim Keller's latest book.  Excellent!
• Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell has been sitting on my shelf for a couple of years.  I had every intention of finding out what the hubbub was about Bell, but only now getting to reading him.
• I'm reading The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris, in hopes of getting to the second volume, Theodore Rex, before the third and final volume of the biography is released.
• And I'm almost done with The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger, having bought it 3 summers ago for $4 at a Brenham book store.

I'm thinking about joining Readers Anonymous: "Hi I'm Tom and I'm a bookaholic."  Time to pare back down to no more than three at a time!

LeaderLines: Multi-Generational Worship

Last week the Monitor published an article about the return of the multi-generational family called “All the Family Under One Roof.” Marilyn Gardner wrote:

The multi-generation household is making a comeback as Mom, Dad, kids, and grandparents live under one roof. The number of parents age 65 and older moving in with adult children increased by 62 percent between 2000 and 2007, the Census Bureau reports. Those under 65 who did so grew by 75 percent.

As I read the article, I thought of our multi-generational church. During this six-week emphasis called "Together @ 10" we’ve got “all the family under one roof,” too.

I want to make the arrangement permanent.

As promised, “Together @ 10” ends after 6 weeks. On Sunday, November 30, we’re back to the 2-service format we’ve had the last two-and-a-half years. But I plan to return us to a single multi-generation service as soon as possible.

Why? Because “all the family under one roof” is the best way to pass the baton.

Four weeks ago I began a series in this LeaderLines e-newsletter on passing the baton. It’s one of the most critical lessons a church body has to learn. Three weeks ago we “de-coded” our church’s ZIP code to discover that our mission field is chock-full of those in the first half of adulthood. Two weeks ago we looked at how to inspire those in the first half of adulthood to the high calling of life in Christ. Last week we examined “reverse mentoring.” I’ll end the series today on the subject of multi-generational worship, because it’s a highly-effective way to pass the baton when done right.

What is “done right”? What our multi-generational church needs is the approach to worship we find in the Bible. I find three phrases that describe biblical worship--and all the generations need this kind of worship:

First, biblical worship includes songs of celebration AND songs of contemplation. Some don’t think a church service is reverent enough if the music is loud and boisterous; others don’t think a church service has life if the music is reflective and earnest. But when I read about worship in God’s Word, sometimes I read about loud instruments and shouts of praise and sometimes I read about bowing in hushed reverence in God’s presence. Seems to me God is pleased with both. Multi-generational worship “done right” will sometimes use guitars and drums that burst forth with joyous rhythm and it will sometimes use the sweet strains of orchestral instruments.

Second, biblical worship includes songs that express simple trust AND songs that express profound truth. I remember a man in a former church who always berated me for the praise choruses that occasionally showed up in our order of worship. He belittled the songs by calling them “little ditties.” I had enough one morning and said in reply, “You know, brother, God must like little ditties because he put a lot of little ditties in his Book!”

In your Bible reading, I’m sure you’ve run across these “little ditties”--brief psalms that express love to God in simple, childlike ways.

On the other hand, what could be more profound than one of the earliest New Testament hymns found in Philippians 3:6-11? Most commentators believe Paul is quoting a hymn that the early church sang, and it’s thick with weighty concepts of the pre-existent Christ divesting himself of divine privileges to die on a cross in humble service to God’s people before being raised in vindication and glory. That song is a hearty theological meal!

Why demand either/or when God wants us to worship with both? In our services, sometimes we need those simple, childlike expressions of trust as we sing with the praise band—

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord

We will wait upon the Lord

We will wait upon the Lord

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord

We will wait upon the Lord

We will wait upon the Lord

And sometimes we need those songs that plumb the theological depths, like the Getty hymn Gene leads us in with that stirring last stanza—

No guilt in life, no fear in death—

This is the pow'r of Christ in me;

From life's first cry to final breath,

Jesus commands my destiny.

No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,

Can ever pluck me from His hand;

Till He returns or calls me home—

Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.

Third, biblical worship includes songs that are new AND old. In the Book of Revelation John described heaven’s worship service. At one point he saw God’s redeemed people holding harps “given them by God” and they “sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb . . .@ (15:2-3, NIV). But John also saw 24 elders bowing down before the Lamb. They too had harps “and they sang a new song” (Revelation 5:9, NIV).

So, in heaven, John heard “the song of Moses” and “a new song.” I think the best earthly worship services sing the old familiar standards as well as the new expressions of praise, too.

The good news is that it’s easier to sing old songs and new songs together in 2008 than at any other time in the long, sad history of the “worship wars.” Why? Because people not only need old and new songs--they want them!

Don’t assume that younger adults only want praise choruses and older adults only want hymns. Younger adults as well as older adults like the durable songs. (But understand that by “durable songs” I mean “really old” not “recently old”!) Surveys of favorite religious music among young adults reveal a great love for stately songs like “A Mighty Fortress,” roots/folk songs like the Celtic “Be Thou My Vision,” and songs that authentically reveal struggle, like “Come, Thou Fount” (“Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it”). I don’t know if you’ve noted the popularity of CDs of traditional hymns. Jars of Clay released a project called Redemption Songs, and it was all folk-rock arrangements of old standards. Then there was the Passion project Hymns: Ancient and Modern. Alan Jackson’s country CD Precious Memories became a surprise hit when it was released a few years ago: it’s a simple recording of hymn favorites accompanied by an upright piano.

So, today’s churches are arguing about the wrong thing in the debate between old hymns or new choruses. All the generations want, and need, both.

I hope you’re seeing that multi-generational worship isn’t about doing a few songs to satisfy senior adults and then doing a few songs to satisfy the younger crowd. No, multi-generational worship is about being biblical:

• It’s about shouts of celebration and bowing in contemplation

• It’s about expressing simple trust and profound truth

• It’s about lifting up new musical expressions as well as old familiar standards.

All the generations need all of these elements!

Oh, gathering all the generations together for worship isn’t easy. In the Monitor article on multi-generational families, Gardner reported on the benefits that families gained but she was careful not to gloss over the challenges that families faced in these arrangements. “You just have to let some things slide, pick your battles, and hope you're doing the right thing,” said one mom who moved her dad in to join her husband and kids.

She could have been talking about the household of God, not just her own household. But I want Psalm 145:4 (Msg) to be a description of what happens in our worship services:

“Generation after generation

stands in awe of your work;

each one tells stories of your mighty acts.”

Let’s figure out how to do that!

_____________________________________

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.

Generation Jones Makes it to the White House

One of the things that's been interesting about this election is the reference to Barack Obama as "post-Boomer." It showed up again in the Chicago Tribune's wrap-up of the Senator's win:

Obama is the first president to come of age after the Vietnam War era, following two Baby Boomer presidents whose political identities were shaped in large part by their opposite responses to the bitter turmoil of the 1960s. . . .

Do ya think folks will quit referring to those of us born in the early 1960s as Boomers now? (Obama was born in my birth year--1961). Still jonesin' . . .

Winning Ways: H-E-L-P for a Spiritual Mismatch

Are you in a spiritual mismatch? If you’re growing in Christ but your partner isn’t, you’re probably wondering, “What do I do? How can I get the most important person in my life to understand the most important part of my life? Will my unbelieving partner stifle my spiritual growth? Am I missing out on all that God wants for me because I’m united with someone who isn’t interested in God?”

God’s Word offers practical H-E-L-P on coping with a spiritual mismatch.

Honor your marriage. The Bible says, “If you are a man with a wife who is not a believer but who still wants to live with you, hold on to her. If you are a woman with a husband who is not a believer but he wants to live with you, hold on to him” (1 Cor. 7:13, Msg). The Greek word translated “hold on” means “don’t give up.” Stay affectionate, attentive, and appreciative. You may be frustrated that your partner doesn’t share your enthusiasm for Bible study and worship, but don’t let that frustration make you fail as a good partner.

Exercise restraint. The Bible says, “If you are asked about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it . . . in a gentle and respectful way” (1 Peter 3:15-16, NLT). Understand that you are not responsible for your mate’s eternity; you are one of several tools God is using to influence your partner, but you are not single-handedly responsible for his or her conversion. So, speak of your faith but don’t push.

Live your faith. The Bible says, “In the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands, even those who refuse to accept the Good News. Your godly lives will speak to them better than any words.” (1 Peter 3:1-2, NLT). A transformed life is what will make your partner sit up and take notice, so pay attention to your spiritual growth.

Pray! Lee Strobel has persuaded thousands to consider Christ with books like The Case for Christ, but he was an atheist in his younger years. When his wife became a believer, the spiritual mismatch created stress. Privately, though, his wife was praying for him. She prayed that God would do for Lee what God promised in Ezekiel: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” (Ezekiel 36:26-27, NIV).

If you’re frustrated in a spiritual mismatch, join us this Sunday, November 9, at 10am. We’ll look a little deeper at the Bible’s H-E-L-P for believers whose partners aren’t interested in spiritual growth.
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President-Elect Obama

America elected Barack Obama her 44th president last night. Whether or not you pulled the lever for him, Scripture is clear about your obligations to him: honor him (1 Peter 2:17), don’t speak evil of him (Acts 23:5), and pray for him (1 Timothy 2:1-2).

For about 30% of our church that will come easily, since you voted for Senator Obama. Many, however, will need to remember that, as Nathan Trice wrote in World magazine this week, “There’s nothing Christian about joining in on the national sport of lampooning the leaders you voted against.”

I did not vote for Senator Obama, but I went to bed last night filled with hope at the end of this historic election. Five reasons.

First, I am hopeful because I have a (guarded) admiration for Barack Obama himself. America has elected her first black president, a point especially dear to those old enough to remember racial segregation. Martin Luther King, Jr., looked into the future and saw him when in 1963 the Baptist preacher stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and declared, “I have a dream . . . .” Though not an evangelical, President-elect Obama has openly professed his faith in Christ. He is, by all accounts, an exemplary husband and father of an intact family. Those who know him describe him as a disciplined man in a time when we need some real discipline in government. If he governs like he campaigned (an important "if"), he will build consensus, listen to all sides, and resist the leftist forces of his party. While some of his most enthusiastic supporters need a reminder that America has not elected the Messiah, neither has she chosen the Antichrist.

Second, I am hopeful because of the diversity among congressional Democrats. It does not appear that the Democrats took the 60 seats needed to make the Senate filibuster-proof. This means that some bipartisan negotiations will have to take place to get things done. What’s more, look for the influence of the so-called “blue dog” Democrats in the months and years ahead--a breed mostly from the South, fiscally conservative and even pro-life. Politically-active evangelicals should build relationships with these potential allies.

Third, I am hopeful because of the soul-searching this election will summon. Conservatives in general--and conservative Christians in particular--should ask what can be learned from this election defeat. Has our agenda been too narrow, our rhetoric too polarizing? Have we mongered fear to a country more hungry for hope? Is there a better way to frame the convictions we know are good for our country so our country can see them as good?

Fourth, I am hopeful because I have the long view when it comes to building a culture of life. My greatest concern about Senator Obama’s candidacy has always been his atrocious voting record on abortion. I do not know if he will keep his promise to Planned Parenthood to sign the Freedom of Choice Act. I do not know what kind of judges he will put on the Supreme Court and other federal benches. But I do know that justice sometimes takes a long time to come to full flower. William Wilberforce struggled for decades before England brought the evil of slave trading to an end. Even a two-term presidency is less than one of those decades Wilberforce endured. The fragile culture of life we’ve slowly been building may likely suffer the next few years, but justice for God’s little ones will ultimately prevail.

Finally, and most important, I am hopeful because God is on his throne. A couple of days ago I read an intriguing article in Time by David Van Biema. One day in New York City he saw bright red words scrolling across the electronic ticker high above the street. The words demanded immediate attention about the state of the market, the status of the election, the latest on the war and so on. And yet Van Biema wrote that at street level, “a cheery twentysomething Evangelical with red hair and a discreet nose stud is concerned with more timeless words.” She was part of a unique promotional effort connected with the 30th anniversary of the New International Version (NIV) of the Holy Bible. Zondervan, the publisher of the NIV, has sent two young couples around the country in a donated RV to enlist Americans to copy all 31,173 Bible verses, one verse at a time, in their own hand-writing. (The RV will be in Austin December 19.)

A fascinating image: Below a big electronic ticker urgently demanding attention to the news of the day, at street level were two young evangelical couples turning attention to the eternal Word of God.

And that, in the end, is why Hillcrest exists at the corner of Steck and Greenslope in the heart of Austin. The task hasn’t changed since Isaiah heard it millennia ago (40:6-8):

A voice says, "Cry out."
And I said, "What shall I cry?"
"All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the LORD blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God stands forever."

As fellow believer and UT professor J. Budziszewski reminds us, “Citizenship is an obligation of the faith, therefore the Christian will not abstain from the politics of the nation-state. But his primary mode of politics must always be witness.”

Links to Your World, Election Day, Tuesday November 4

Election Day Reflections:

Gary Thomas writes an excellent piece in Boundless on why we must stay committed to building a culture of life:

Environmentalism? Now that's cool. All of Hollywood, every left-leaning educator, even the New York Times will celebrate Christians who feel called to "save" the environment. Socially speaking, that's a pretty easy cross to carry.

AIDS and Africa? While it may have carried a stigma 20 years ago, fighting AIDS is now practically a badge of honor. From Elton John to Bono to Kay Warren, there are a lot of popular people doing some wonderful things to fight a terrible disease. (And may God increase their number.)

But abortion . . . ? No thanks, God, I think I feel called to something else.

Something cool.

But here's the thing about being a Christian: We don't get to choose what we should be concerned about. The Bible not only tells us what to believe, it tells us what we should care about, and it stresses that our motivation shouldn't have anything to do with the news media, Hollywood or even popular church opinion.

“I think pro-choice people in this culture have absolutely no idea of the depth and intensity of the moral outrage of the people who are pro-life. They think that conservatives use it only as a wedge issue.” That’s Richard Land, in response to why Senator Obama failed to reach more evangelicals than Kerry or Gore in the last two elections, despite Obama’s outreach. According to a Politico news piece, Obama is backed by 28 percent of white voters who attend church at least once a week — a group that makes up a roughly a third of all voters. That’s less than Democrats John Kerry and Al Gore garnered (29 percent of these voters) in the previous two presidential elections.


"Eighty-five percent of evangelicals under 39 plan to vote for McCain compared to the 13 percent who plan to vote for Barack Obama, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll." And the central issue is abortion: "While young evangelicals - and the public - have become more liberal on other social issues like gay marriage," Pollster Anna Greenberg said, "we do not see the same movement towards a liberal position on abortion." (CT Politics Blog)


“Evangelical women view Palin as role model, stereotype breaker.” That the title of a worthy article at the Pittsburg Post-Gazette. For the record, I’m much more comfortable with Larry Kroon’s position on the role of women than Mimi Haddad, at least as the article presents the positions of both. Kroon is the pastor of Wasilla Bible Church where Governor Palin attends, and Haddad is the president of Christians for Biblical Equality.


“Broadly speaking, the challenge for the Republican Party is not to jettison social conservatives but to find a way to deepen the social conservative, pro-family message beyond just the classic culture-war debates. What would it mean to have a pro-family tax policy? What would it mean to have a pro-family health-care policy? . . . The decline of the two-parent family in American life is one of the biggest challenges for the U.S. going forward, and it's at the root of a lot of issues such as growing economic inequality and social immobility” (Ross Douthat, in an interview at ChristianityToday.com. Douthat is senior editor for The Atlantic magazine and coauthor of Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream)


In “The Next New Deal,” John Heilemann of NY Magazine reports on why Senator Obama is in a better position than Bill Clinton ever was to bring about a Reagan-sized sea change in the American political landscape.


“Citizenship is an obligation of the faith, therefore the Christian will not abstain from the politics of the nation-state. But his primary mode of politics must always be witness. . . . Ah, God, help us let go of the heights and the depths, the thrones and dominions, the powers and principalities; to be not conservatives, nor yet liberals, but simply Christians.” Election Day would be a good day to reflect on J. Budziszewski’s critique of conservatism and liberalism. Budziszewski (pronounced Boojee-shef-skee) is professor in the departments of government and philosophy at the University of Texas. Both articles first appeared in First Things in the mid-90s: “The Problem with Conservatism” and “The Problem with Liberalism.”


Other articles and comments of note:

“Infidelity appears to be on the rise, particularly among older men and young couples. Notably, women appear to be closing the adultery gap: younger women appear to be cheating on their spouses nearly as often as men” (NY Times)


Margaret Talbot has an intriguing article on teen pregnancy among those who label themselves evangelical. I may return to write a blog post on what she got right--and what she missed--in reporting on the world of evangelical teens.


Texting Exceeds Phoning: “For the second quarter of 2008, American mobile subscribers sent and received on average 357 text messages per month, compared with making and receiving 204 phone calls a month, according to a Nielsen Mobile survey. In the first quarter of 2006, Americans sent and received 65 text messages per month. The surge in text messaging is being driven by teens 13 to 17 years old, who on average send and receive about 1,742 text messages a month. Even kids under the age of 12 are also heavy text users, averaging about 428 messages per month” (Leadership Network)


“Researchers at the Rand Corporation . . . found that teens exposed to the most sexual content on TV were twice as likely as teens watching less of this material to become pregnant before they reach age 20” (Time magazine)


“Despite the gut-wrenching financial crisis; the billions of dollars Americans lost in retirement savings over the last month; and dismal consumer confidence, Wall Street analysts don't expect competitive cable operators to lose much business as a result of the economic downturn. ‘Video and broadband are no more discretionary for most families than running water or electricity,’ said Berstein Research analyst Craig Moffett” (“Americans Can’t Live Without Their Cable TV” from Wired)


"I feel like I was really kind of saved--when my son died--by faith and by the grace of God, and that's very much on my consciousness.” Brit Hume, in an LA Times report on Brit Hume’s impending retirement from Fox. Hume says he plans to get more involved in his wife's Bible study group. (The quote has been edited: the Times had a rather sloppy version: “I feel like I was really kind of saved when my son died by faith and by the grace of God.” Huh?)


“I'm convinced that we have mostly given up on male sexuality. We are led to believe the best thing we as men can do is rein it in, ride it out and apologize again and again. In the end we alienate men — and women — from the connection we were created to make in mystery. Would it be controversial to say men are supposed to be the way we are? That, despite the sin we struggle with, there is something good and God-like lying dormant in our sexual wiring?” (From Mike Ensley’s piece, “When Pigs Fly” in Boundless)


“The multi-generation household is making a comeback as Mom, Dad, kids, and grandparents live under one roof.” (from a Christian Science Monitor article)


Find of Ancient City Could Alter Notions of Biblical David. This is an important NY Times piece about a recent archaeological discovery that could have scholars re-thinking their bias against the biblical presentation of ancient Israelite history.


In “Move Over, My Pretty, Ugly is Here,” Sarah Kershaw of the NY Times says that the concept of beauty has been studied for centuries but the concept of ugliness is a new topic of investigation.


“Offended by bawdy ads? Take a stand.” A mom writes in the CS Monitor: “Fighting for my child's right to innocence, I have been surprised at how effective one phone call can be.”


The Courier Mail has a simple test to determine if you’re right-brained or left-brained in your thinking. The article said that “most of us” would see the dancer turning anti-clockwise. Really? Try as I might, I can’t see the girl spinning any way but clockwise, and the article tells me that means I’m right-brained. What about you?


Finally, since I'm in a series of studies on marriage enrichment at Hillcrest, I thought this video would provide some wise advice for married men (HT: The Thinklings):