LeaderLines: Five Essentials When Praying for the Lost, Week 6

What makes prayer effective, especially prayer for the lost? For the last several weeks in LeaderLines we’ve “camped out” in the words of 1 Timothy 2:1-8 (Msg). We’ll wrap up this series today. Look once more at these words:

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know....He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we've learned: that there's one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us -- Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. Eventually the news is going to get out. This and this only has been my appointed work: getting this news to those who have never heard of God, and explaining how it works by simple faith and plain truth. Since prayer is at the bottom of all this, what I want mostly is for men to pray -- not shaking angry fists at enemies but raising holy hands to God.

According to this text, there are 5 essentials when praying for the lost:

• The right priority
• The right perspective (Part 1) (Part 2)
• The right solution
• The right hope
• The right person

We’ve looked at four essentials already, and you can review them by clicking on the hyperlinks in the list above. Here’s one more thing that needs to be right in order for your prayers to have impact: you must be the right person.

The Scripture section concludes with this word: “Since prayer is at the bottom of all this, what I want mostly is for men to pray—not shaking angry fists at enemies but raising holy hands to God.”

If your relationship to God is not right because of impurity, or if your relationship to others is not right because of dissention, you’re not the right person to pray for the salvation of your friend. But the good news is you can become the right person. In verse 8, Paul talks about the person you need to be by describing the kind of hands you should raise up to God in your conversations with him.

First, he says our hands should be holy hands. In other words, our relationship to God should be right. In terms of our inward thoughts and outward actions, we should be the kind of people God wants us to be. Scripture after scripture connects together the effectiveness of our prayers with the purity of our life: if our life isn’t pure, our prayers won’t be effective.

Second, he turns from our relationship with God to our relationship with each other and says our hands should be united hands if we want effective prayers. He says when we pray we should be free from anger and resentment.

And though God wants us all praying, in 1 Timothy 2, it is the men God has particularly in mind. When God sees his church praying, Paul said what he wants particularly to see lifted up are holy hands, united hands, and manly hands.

Now, the Bible does not limit the work of prayer to men, but the Bible does stress the manly nature of prayer work. Paul writes, “What I want mostly is for men to pray.” The word “mostly” is connected with the word “men,” not the word “pray.” That means you don’t read it, “What I want mostly is for men to pray” but you say, “What I want mostly is for men to pray.”

I don’t think this is meant to privilege men but to provoke men. It’s been my experience that men have been much more likely to leave such things to women. Women outnumber men in most churches, and they are more likely than men to have a routine of prayer and devotional reading. I imagine it was no different in Paul’s day, and I believe he was encouraging the men to step up to the plate when it came to praying. According to the Bible, prayer is “warfare” and “wrestling,” which are images that capture the male attention. It’s manly hands that should be raised up to God in prayer.

So, as we end this LeaderLines series, ask yourself five questions:

Do I have the right priority? Am I really committed to and dependent on prayer?

Do I have the right perspective? Do I really believe people without Christ are lost? Do I really believe that God wants everyone to hear the good news?

Do I know the right solution? Do I really believe the cross is the only bridge that unites us to God?

Do I maintain the right hope? Do I expect my prayer to be answered?

Am I the right person? In my relationship to you, Lord, and in my relationship to others, do I have anything that could hinder my prayers?

Blessings on your prayer life!

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Each Thursday I post my article from "LeaderLines," an e-newsletter for church leaders read by more than 300 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "LeaderLines," sign up here.

Winning Ways: A Defining Moment

What does the word “disciple” mean?

If you need help defining the word, don’t bother turning to the new Oxford Junior Dictionary. It’s not in there any more. Along with definitions for words like “sin” and “saint,” children can no longer turn to the dictionary from the influential Oxford University Press to find out what it means to be a disciple.

Thankfully, there’s another book that can help.

London’s Daily Mail reported that Lisa Saunders, a mom in Northern Ireland, noticed that the junior dictionary was missing some familiar words as she helped her kids with homework. She then compared six editions since the 1970s and discovered that a whole range of words relating to Christianity, nature and British history had been eliminated over the years.

The makers of the dictionary said that they needed to make room for newer definitions and so some words had to go. Explaining why kids will no longer have access to definitions of words from Christian culture, Vineeta Gupta, head of children's dictionaries for the company, said, “We are much more multicultural. People don't go to church as often as before.”

On the one hand, this story may tell us more about the waning relevance of print dictionaries than the waning influence of Christianity in the West. Really, if you’ve got internet access, you need a dead-tree edition of a dictionary about as much as you need that thick phone directory that just landed on your door step last week.

On the other hand, Oxford’s abridged dictionaries still serve as authoritative resources on the words the cultural gatekeepers say we should know. When the editors leave out the definition of “disciple” from their children’s dictionary, clearly they feel the word has no relevance to children today.

As I said, though, I know another book that can help kids understand what it means to be a disciple.

The Bible was written for disciples by disciples about disciples. Its stories and precepts teach us the way of life God intends us to follow. Read it to your kids, get your kids in Hillcrest programs where they can understand it better, and prepare yourself to answer the questions they’ll ask you about the faith.

That way they’ll learn what it means to be a disciple.

Even if Oxford Press won’t tell them.

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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.

Antsy for the Palm Pre

Yeah, baby! Twenty-six minutes of Palm Pre goodness:

Links to Your World, Tuesday February 24

Dad Wonders If He Can Last All of Lent Without Facebook


The Oscars are over, but do you know who won the Golden Raspberries?


“Certainly clean films with happy endings and Christian messages are not inherently objectionable; given the alternatives, they may even signal a welcome return to sanity. But superficially happy stories may obfuscate features of the human condition that an unhappy story better illuminates. And we should be wary of labeling as ‘Christian’ a film that does no more than include a few Christian allusions. One recent phenomenon that Christians sometimes overlook is the surge in dark films of spiritual quest….An ongoing dissatisfaction with modern Enlightenment themes of progress through knowledge and power opens a path to a recovery of pre-modern conceptions of human life as a quest. What should Christians make of the preponderance of dark tales in our culture?” (“Dark Knights and Bright Lights” by Thomas Hibbs in Christianity Today. Hibbs is dean of the Honors College at Baylor University and a contributor to National Review)


"‘It's humbling to know that I have the opportunity to contribute one verse that might be read by millions of people,’ said Square, the children, youth and family minister at San Leandro Church of Christ, near Oakland. Especially gratifying, he said, was that his two teenage children would get to see his handiwork. ‘They'll be able to tell their kids that: 'I know someone who wrote that verse, a person who played a role in shaping my own life.’” (The L.A. Times, reporting on the “Bible Across America” national tour as it made a stop in Los Angeles)


Hillcrest is hosting the “Bible Across America” Austin stop! Read all about it here.


“A Baby, Please. Blond, Freckles -- Hold the Colic.” The WSJ reports that laboratory techniques that screen for diseases in embryos are now being offered to create designer children. This story made me add the excellent “Gattaca” to my Netflix Roku player so I could watch it again.


The Vatican lists women's seven deadly sins in order of frequency at confession to be pride, envy, anger, lust, gluttony, avarice, and sloth. For men, it's lust, gluttony, sloth, anger, pride, envy, and greed.


Christian Aid is promoting a virtual tour of the Holy Land, Journey to Jerusalem.


“Some Americans are more loyal to their toothpaste or toilet paper than to their religious denomination, making those consumers more choosy about Charmin or Colgate than they are about church, according to a new survey. According to a Phoenix-based research firm, 16% of Protestants say they would consider only one denomination, while 22% of them would use only one brand of toothpaste and 19% would use just one brand of bathroom tissue….’When you actually think about it for more than 10 seconds, none of this is all that surprising and I don't think it's actually bad,’ [Robert] Thompson said [a Syracuse University professor]. He said the statistics demonstrate that some of the age-old rivalries between Protestant denominations have simply dissolved.” (USA Today)


“Poor sleep might actually cause some psychiatric illnesses or lead people to behave in ways that doctors mistake for mental problems.” (New Scientist)


Newly Poor Swell Lines at Food Banks


Students participating in the Simplicity Initiative have been fasting from certain types of technology in four-week increments.


Jesus People: The Evangelical “Spinal Tap”?


Four Reasons Why Media Coverage Isn’t Always Fair


“In meeting the challenges of revitalized urban neighborhoods across the country, urban churches are rethinking the ways they connect with their adjacent communities, combining an eclectic mix of edgy art and ancient Christian traditions.” (Baptist Standard)


Vatican demands closure of tax havens. I’m surprised I haven’t run across reaction from the Cayman Islands yet.


Welcome to college, where the free exchange of ideas is celebrated—whaaa? From the LA Times:

Jonathan Lopez says his professor called him a ‘fascist bastard’ and refused to let him finish his speech against same-sex marriage during a public speaking class.

When Lopez tried to find out his mark for the speech, the professor, John Matteson, allegedly told him to ‘ask God what your grade is,’ the suit says.

Lopez also said the teacher threatened to have him expelled when he complained to higher-ups. (HT: Mollie at GetReligion, which has more on the story.)

“I kind of snicker when I see people on the Youtube video [comment box] saying ‘Oh, her mother forced her to do this’—I'm like, ‘No, I'm on the other end, trying to make her pick another topic!’ But she was just really passionate about it, and she has her research on it.” The mother of the 12-year-old girl behind this video as she prepared for her controversial school speech (HT: The Brody File):

Introducing the Multicultural Refugee Coalition

My Austin sister, Meg, is the founder and director of Austin's Multicultural Refugee Coalition . Learn more about the Coalition and the refugee situation at the African Dance Party at Copa on February 28th with Rattletree Marimba Band, Hardproof Afrobeat, Tribal Moon Fire Dancers and Blu African Catering.

Oscar Winner: Man on Wire

I tend to wait for a film to come out on Netflix before seeing it, so I can't agree/disagree with most of the nominations or winners for the Oscars yet. But I definately agree with the Acadamy's pick for Best Documentary, Man on Wire:

Song of the Week: Lord of the Starfields

Reaching way back, here's Bruce Cockburn's "Lord of the Starfields"--




Lord of the starfields
Ancient of Days
Universe Maker
Here's a song in your praise
Wings of the storm cloud
Beginning and end
You make my heart leap
Like a banner in the wind

O love that fires the sun
Keep me burning.

Lord of the starfields
Sower of life,
Heaven and earth are
Full of your light
Voice of the nova
Smile of the dew
All of our yearning
Only comes home to you

O love that fires the sun
keep me burning

Jesus People: The "Spinal Tap" for Evangelicals?

I just heard of this mockumentary, but it's not available in Netflix at present. Learn more and watch some web episodes at JesusPeople.tv. The trailer:

Four Reasons Why Media Coverage Isn't Always Fair

Thankfully, the media has made great strides in fairness when covering faith-driven activists—at least compared to 15-20 years ago. But sometimes a story will reveal such astonishing ignorance or hostility toward politically-active evangelicals (e.g., some of the LA Times coverage of Prop 8 last Fall). In a recent GetReligion post Terry Mattingly does an excellent job explaining four biases that affect news coverage:

The bias of space, time and resources. Simply stated: You cannot print a story if you have little space in which to print it, time to write it, or the money to hire a professional to do so.

The bias of knowledge. Fact: You cannot write a story if you do not know that it exists.

This leads to the bias of worldview. Simply stated: It is hard to write a good story if you don’t care that it exists. The result is, at best, a blind spot on religious issues, and the people who care about them.

Finally, there is the bias of prejudice. It’s hard to produce balanced, fair coverage of people you dislike, distrust, or whom you feel are irrelevant.

And Mattingly adds:

I am convinced that the first three biases play greater roles in shaping religion coverage, with the “bias of worldview” being the most important.

Most people who study media-bias issues say that the most powerful force is bias No. 2 in this list — knowledge. However, I argue that this fails to explain why so many mainstream editors go out of their way to avoid hiring trained, experienced professionals to cover religion news, while seeking trained, experienced professionals to cover subjects such as politics, law, the arts, sports and other subjects. I argue that this points toward a larger bias. At the same time, I disagree with conservatives who blame everything on prejudice. Apathy affects religion news much more often than any kind of outright prejudice.

LeaderLines: Five Essentials When Praying for the Lost, Week 5

We’re taking several weeks in LeaderLines to “camp out” in the words of 1 Timothy 2:1-8 (Msg). These words can teach us how to pray for the lost:

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know....He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we've learned: that there's one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us -- Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. Eventually the news is going to get out. This and this only has been my appointed work: getting this news to those who have never heard of God, and explaining how it works by simple faith and plain truth. Since prayer is at the bottom of all this, what I want mostly is for men to pray -- not shaking angry fists at enemies but raising holy hands to God.

According to this text, there are 5 essentials when praying for the lost:

• The right priority
• The right perspective (Part 1) (Part 2)
• The right solution
• The right hope
• The right person

This week let’s look at the fourth essential: You are more likely to pray for your lost friends when you hold to expectant hope that your prayer will be answered.

The passage in 1 Tim. 2 continues: “Eventually the news is going to get out. This and this only has been my appointed work: getting this news to those who have never heard of God, and explaining how it works by simple faith and plain truth.”

Literally verse 6 ends with the assurance that the story of the cross will be “testified in the right time.” I like the way Eugene Peterson translates that as: “Eventually the news is going to get out.” Isn’t that a great phrase? Only those who really believe that and expect that and anticipate that are those who will see any impact from their prayers.

In his study workbook called The Disciple’s Prayer Life, I like what T.W. Hunt (PrayerLife, p. 183) said: “A helpful prayer exercise is to visualize a lost person receiving Christ, being baptized, and finally becoming a glorious light for the Lord by contributing notably to the light of the church. Close your eyes and visualize yourself presenting to God at His judgment seat some lost person you know as one you yourself brought to Christ. Think of what you would say to God and what He would say to you.”

It’s interesting what happens when you pray in this manner, genuinely anticipating an answer.

So, we need the right expectation. Each time we end our prayer and get into the business of life, we should look for the ways God is responding to our prayer, drawing the people we’ve prayed for into a relationship with him. Eventually the good news is going to get out.

Next week we’ll close this LeaderLines series with a look at what kind of person you need to be as you pray for the lost.

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Each Thursday I post my article from "LeaderLines," an e-newsletter for church leaders read by more than 300 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "LeaderLines," sign up here.

Winning Ways: Life Beyond This Life

A man went to his doctor to find out why he had been having such severe headaches. The doctor ran some tests and after a few hours called the man into his office.

“I have terrible news,” he told the patient. “Your condition is terminal.”

“Oh, no!? the man cried. “How long do I have?”

“Ten ...” began the doctor.

“Ten what?” the patient interrupted. “Days? Months? Years?”

“Nine,” continued the doctor, “eight, seven, six ...”

Death is an inevitable fact of life. So far, your chance of dying is at 100%. But our Bibles give us a glimpse of what happens to believers after we die.

First, your soul will continue. There will still be a conscious “you” when they pronounce you dead. The Bible affirms that conscious experiences beyond death are real. Given the choice between earthly troubles and the next life, the Apostle Paul wrote, “We really want to be away from this body and be at home with the Lord.” He was confident that to be away from this body is to be at home with the Lord ((2 Corinthians 5:8, NCV; see also Philippians 1:22 and Luke 23:43).

Second, your body will be resurrected. When believers die they immediately begin to experience the joys of heaven. The operative word in that line, though, is the word “begin.” There is more to the story.

Jesus expected the final reunion of body and soul. “The time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son,” he said, “and they will rise again” (John 5:28-29, NLT)

Across my years of pastoring, I have watched believer’s bodies supported by machines, or grow thin with chemotherapy, or shake uncontrollably with Parkinson’s disease, or pant painfully for just one more breath. And then I have sat in the homes of fools who say that this life is all there is. No! It does not all end here! At Christ’s return the trumpet blast and the archangel’s shout will be loud enough to wake the dead. And from the body that has been there will spring up the body that will be!

Ecclessiastes 7:4 says (NLT), “A wise person thinks a lot about death.” This Sunday, we’ll get a little wiser as we examine the biblical truth about life beyond this life. Join us together at 10!

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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 February 17

“Unlike ALL other walks of life, [Facebook] status updates are the appropriate places for spontaneous bursts of joy and being. You shouldn’t do it at work, you shouldn’t do it in the middle of a conversation, you shouldn’t do it on the street, you shouldn’t turn to a stranger on the bus, you shouldn’t leave it on someone’s cellphone. But on this grand constantly updating Christmas card that we are all free to access or withdraw from at any time, we FINALLY have a polite space for ‘My sponge smells like a hot dog.’” (The delicate art of status updating).


By the way, my old friend from the island, Arthur McTaggart, is absolutely the best status updater out there.


“Bill Murray [of Alberta, Canada] waited in pain for more than a year to see a specialist for his arthritic hip. The specialist recommended a ‘Birmingham’ hip resurfacing surgery (a state-of-the-art procedure that gives better results than basic hip replacement) as the best medical option. But government bureaucrats determined that Mr. Murray, who was 57, was ‘too old’ to enjoy the benefits of this procedure and said no. In the end, he was also denied the opportunity to pay for the procedure himself in Alberta…. Canada's system comes at the cost of pain and suffering for patients who find themselves stuck on waiting lists with nowhere to go. Americans can only hope that Barack Obama heeds the lessons that can be learned from Canadian hardships.” (WSJ)


“It is becoming less and less likely that “gender socialization” is the reason why boys and girls prefer different toys, and more and more likely that there are some genetic, hormonal, and other biological reasons for the observed sex differences in toy preference.” (Why Boys and Girls Prefer Different Toys)


“Despite Obama’s record, some prolife Catholics and Evangelicals supported the president’s candidacy on the grounds that his policies would reduce the number of abortions….I and other pro-life activists have worked tirelessly over the years to reduce the number of abortions, but a numerical reduction is not our only goal. The prolife position is that all members of the human community, including the unborn, have inestimable and equal worth and dignity and thus are entitled to the fundamental protection of the laws. ‘Reducing the number of abortions’ could occur in a regime of law in which this principle of justice is denied, and that is the regime that President Obama wants to preserve and extend. It is a regime in which the continued existence of the unborn is always at the absolute discretion of others who happen to possess the power to decide to kill them or let them live.” (You should read this Francis Beckwith piece, and be glad he’s a Baylor prof)


Time magazine photo slideshow: “Married for 50 Years: Love Ever After.”


Marvin Olasky says we don’t need to be like the younger brother or the elder brother in Christ’s parable of the prodigal son(s); we need to be “third-brother” Christians.


How emotional distance ruins marriage: Suggestions for staying close with your spouse.


“10 Reasons Why Facebook is for Old Fogies”


“Why the Crash Will Reshape America” in the Atlantic.


Journalist Charles Platt finds out that “Wal-Mart Isn’t the Enemy.” (HT: Neatorama)


Far Side Reenactments at Flickr


Maybe we can get Gene, Herb and Jim to do the "Tithe Rap." Or maybe not. (HT: Mary Hoskins)

Song of the Week: Nobody's Fault But Mine

This song was originally written and recorded by Blind Willie Johnson in 1927. Though Led Zeppelin's tune by the same name was probably inspired by the song, the explicit Christian themes didn't make the translation. The iTunes store has the original recording of Johnson and a lot of covers, including worthy ones by Joan Osborne and the Blind Boys of Alabama. Sadly, the best cover isn't available in iTunes or anywhere as a single download: the one by Austin's own Carolyn Wonderland. Jon Renbourne takes us back to the sound of Johnson himself:

Book Review: Lost and Found

Ed Stetzer's newest book is out now: Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that Reach Them, written with Richie Stanley and Jason Hayes (B&H 2009). I was given a copy for review.

This book comes out of a LifeWay study of young adults starting in 2005 as part of their "Threads" initiative. As part of that research, they contacted young adults and did nearly 800 total surveys (254 ministry leaders, 271 churched, 272 unchurched) and nearly 100 face-to-face interviews. They also surveyed 149 churches that were reaching young adults, and then conducted telephone mterviews with fifty specific churches from the survey group.

Lost and Found is in three parts: The first part looks at the research into who young adults are. The second examines four "markers" of young adult ministry, and the third section outlines nine trends in churches reaching young adults.

In the first part, the research shows challenges and opportunities within the mindset of the newest generation entering adulthood. Among the books examining trends among young adults, Lost and Found takes the extra step of comparing the opinions of young adults with other generations. What the authors found was greater openness among twenty-somethings than among any other adult generation to discussing spiritual topics and accepting invitations to Bible study.

In the second part, the authors examine four "markers" of young adult ministry:

Marker #1: Community. For young adults, life is meant to be experienced together, and they sense a need to be connected.

Marker #2: Depth (and Content). Young adults also have interest in addressing the hard-to-talk-about" topics.

Marker #3: Responsibility, Young adults know their choices make a difference.

Marker #4: Cross-Generational Connection. They want to learn from those who have already experienced the things they are about to face.

From the research in Part One and the review of necessary "markers" for young adult ministry in Part Two, the authors look at nine ways churches are successfully engaging twenty-somethings:

How Churches Are Creating Deeper Community

How Churches Are Making a Difference Through Service

How Churches Are Leading Young Adults to Experience Worship

How Churches Are Delivering Content

How Churches Are Connecting Young Adults

How Churches Are Being Cross Generational

How Churches Are Being Authentic

How Churches Are Leading with Transparency

How Churches Are Leading with Team

In this third section, I was particularly interested in the chapter on cross-generational ministry, since this is a necessary action we've been working on for years at Hillcrest. With our recent decision to combine our contemporary and traditional services into one service it has become even more important to keep cross-generational ministry on the front burner.

The one complaint I would have of the book is that it began with the dullest part: stats and research findings. Only sociologists and researchers could find this an interesting way to begin a book. It would have been better for the book to be "driven" by the actionable items required for churches to engage young adults, using the research findings as support material to reinforce the importance of these points. Readers might want to start with Part Three and then back up and read the research in Part One and the "markers" in Part Two.

Aside from this caveat, church leaders will find Lost and Found helpful as they shape their churches to reach younger adults.

Five Essentials When Praying for the Lost, Week 4

We’re taking several weeks in LeaderLines to “camp out” in the words of 1 Timothy 2:1-8 (Msg). If you’re a regular subscriber, you’ve seen the following words for a month now, and, as the old saying goes, “familiarity breeds contempt”—or at least complacency. But take a pause in your busy schedule and read these words once again, slowly, as if you’re reading them for the first time. These words can teach us how to pray for the lost:

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know....He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we've learned: that there's one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us -- Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. Eventually the news is going to get out. This and this only has been my appointed work: getting this news to those who have never heard of God, and explaining how it works by simple faith and plain truth. Since prayer is at the bottom of all this, what I want mostly is for men to pray -- not shaking angry fists at enemies but raising holy hands to God.

According to this text, there are 5 essentials when praying for the lost:

• The right priority
• The right perspective (Part 1) (Part 2)
• The right solution
• The right hope
• The right person

This week let’s look at the third essential: You are more likely to pray for your lost friends when you know the right solution to their lost condition.

What is the right answer to their problem? What is the right response to what is keeping them from God?

The Scripture I quoted above says, “There’s one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us—Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free.”

Our world’s greatest problem is sin, which separates us from God. The cross was God’s way of laying a bridge across that deep ditch. According to the Scripture we’re looking at today, the cross was the place where a great trade took place: Christ offered himself in exchange for us. He put himself in our place and took on the penalty we deserved for the ways we’ve rebelled against God.

In his 1908 book, The Russian Conquest of the Caucasus, John Baddeley described the fierce leader, Shamil, who led the Caucasian resistance against imperial Russia in the area that is now Chechnya. Even as he led daring guerilla strikes against the Russians, he had to fight the spirit of defeatism among his own countrymen. He once made a proclamation that whoever advocated any capitulation with the Russians would be beaten with a hundred heavy lashes. Shortly after the severe edict, an offender was caught and brought before Shamil. To the warlord’s shock and grief, it was his own mother who had called for a treaty with the enemy.

He retreated into solitude for three days to decide what to do. Due to the blatant disregard of his order and its potential impact on morale, he instructed that the penalty should be carried out. After the fifth stroke ripped into his mother’s back, however, he called a halt to the lashing. Then something remarkable took place: He stripped to the waist, knelt down by his mother, and took the remaining ninety-five strokes upon himself.

The story of Shamil's actions wound its way up the mountain passes, carried in astonished whispers from village to village. Impressed by their leader’s uncompromising justice and costly compassion, none of his tribesmen ever again mentioned negotiations with the enemy. It’s a story that resonates in the region to this day.

God did the same thing for us. He bore the punishment himself, in the person of his own Son, “so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26). The cross became that place where God showed both his justice and his love.

When you bow in prayer for lost people, it should be with the hope and the expectation that those you know will come to the same conclusions about the cross that you have come to. You need to know the right solution.

In next week’s LeaderLines, we’ll examine the next essential in praying for the lost.

(The story of Shamil can be found at “Are You Seeking God?” This section of our website provides an outline of the gospel message to share with your friends.)

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Each Thursday I post my article from "LeaderLines," an e-newsletter for church leaders read by more than 300 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "LeaderLines," sign up here.

Winning Ways: What Jesus Thinks of the 1040

I got an audit notice in the mail last year. It simply read, “Our records show that you still have some money left after paying your taxes. How do you explain that?”

If you’ve started working on your 2008 taxes, you’ll probably appreciate the truth in that old joke.

Two thousand years ago, men who liked neither Jesus nor taxes asked Jesus about taxes. According to Matthew’s report (22:15-22), they were trying to trap him into saying something that would get him in trouble. “Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” they asked. Jesus replied with that now-famous answer, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

With that response, Jesus didn’t simply explain what he thinks of your 1040. He also established what our attitude should be to political involvement as a whole.

First, he told us to fulfill our obligations to our earthly citizenship. The “Give to Caesar” principle includes a lot more than taxation. As other Scripture passages show us, we’re to honor the king, pray for those in authority, fulfill our obligations if we are agents of the state, and work for the welfare of the city. In short, Christ-followers are not to withdraw from the world into our own little holy huddles. Our nation, and especially our community, should be a better place because of our involvement in its culture and politics.

Second, he told us to fulfill our obligations to our heavenly citizenship. Paul reminded us in Philippians 3:20 that “our citizenship is in heaven.” So, even as we “Give to Caesar,” we are also to “Give to God.” No government should expect our ultimate allegiance, every government should expect our respectful critique, and any government that violates our conscience should expect our firm resistance. The same apostle who told us to “submit to every authority” (1 Peter 2:13) also said, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). Though he was willing to give to Caesar what belonged to Caesar, he was not willing to give to Caesar what belonged to God.

This is a profound teaching. It will help you invest yourself in political change and yet keep you from the lie that political change is the only, or even the most, important thing our world needs.

Join us this Sunday as we apply Christ’s great principle to life!
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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 February 10

"When is it worship?" Help me answer that question here.


“On Facebook, the apparent epicenter of the craze, nearly five million notes on people’s profiles have been created in the last week, and many of them are lists of “25 Random Things.” The note-creation figure is double the previous week and larger than any other single week in Facebook history, and Facebook executives say that the “Random Things” craze is driving it.” (The NY Times reports on the “25 Random Things” craze.


Thursday is the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. Read “200 years later, Lincoln’s faith remains an enigma.” Also, William Safire reviews the worthy Lincoln books. I’m reading Ronald White’s excellent new book A. Lincoln: A Biography right now. Yep, I plopped down $35 to own it, thanks to a Christmas gift card. Yeesh! Hey BN, don’t you know there’s a recession going on?


According to the Parenting magazine article, “Mad at Dad,” it’s official: Moms are mad at dads. 30 to 50 percent of moms surveyed are mad at dads for violations such as not knowing what needs to be done at home, not knowing the best way to care for kids, not being able to multi-task, not sharing household chores equally, not having parenthood affect him as much as it has her, and getting more time to himself than she does. (HT: WorldMag)


“Evolution of the Household,” in Woman’s Day.


“The national conversation on the economy is frozen, and has been for a while. Republicans say tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts. Democrats say spend, new programs, more money. You can't spend enough for the Democratic base, or cut taxes enough for the Republican. But in a time when all the grown-ups of America know spending is going to bankrupt us and tax cuts without spending cuts is more of the medicine that's killing us, the same old arguments, which sound less like arguments than compulsive tics, only add to the public sense that no one is in charge.” (Peggy Noonan)


Consumer Reports Picks the Best Cup o' Brew: Eight O’Clock Columbian is rated the best—and half the cost of many other ground coffee brands. I’m still in an exclusive relationship with Organic Double French beans from my local “Daily Grind.” A half-pound purchase every 2 weeks, and I grind at home. And now you only need “24 More Random Things You Didn’t Know About Me.”


Lots of commentators are glowing over President Obama’s willingness to admit he “screwed up” on the nomination process for Tom Daschle as HHS Secretary. If only he could make that mea culpa on his first act on abortion policy. Gallup reports that 58% of Americans think he screwed up when he ordered the funding of abortion and abortion advocacy in overseas family planning agencies on his 3rd day in office, but most media outlets didn’t report the poll findings.


UT professor J. Budziszewski writes about Christians who think it’s wrong to point out what’s wrong with the Obama administration.


On the plus side, President Obama has decided not to implement his campaign promise to strip federal funding from faith-based social organizations whose hiring policies differ from the surrounding culture. As a candidate, Obama declared that "if you get a federal grant, you can't use that grant money to proselytize to the people you help and you can't discriminate against them -- or against the people you hire -- on the basis of their religion." President Obama, to the dismay of his liberal supporters, has now reversed himself. For now. (LA Times)


A baby unexpectedly born alive during an abortion was bagged and tossed. The state’s attorney general’s office is determining whether to file criminal charges. One wonders why, considering that the incident took place at an abortion clinic where the mother had gone for the purpose of terminating her 23-week pregnancy. Wasn’t the intention fulfilled, no matter how unprofessional the clinic seemed to perform the work? Or is there something within our culture that recoils from the fundamental “not-rightness” of all this?


24 Things About to Disappear in America


“Only in America could the prospect of dying be promoted as a motivational tool to rack up frequent-flier miles. Bookstores and Web sites abound in self-help guides listing the 10 (or 100, or 1,000) things and places you must do and visit before you die (there’s even a 100 Birds to See Before You Die catalogue), as if life were a race through the supermarket aisle to grab as many experiences off the shelves as possible before collapsing at the checkout line. Breadth of experience rather than depth is what’s being peddled.” (“Final-Exit Strategies,” James Wolcott in Vanity Fair)


Insisting that "races are real" is a self fulfilling and overt racist act. So stop it now, please:

If you focus on categorizing people into races at the expense of recognizing variation within these alleged racial groups, you will a) get 'good' at categorizing races, b) get bad at recognizing individual differences within the "other" races (other = not you), and c) become more racist.

If, on the other hand, you focus on ... learn, train, etc. ... recognizing individuals at the expense of learning to place people into these sacred racial categories, you become better at seeing individuals for being the individuals that they are, and you will become less racist.

“10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know”


Take a few minutes with this video: “Makoto Fujimura: Art and Creativity.” Christian artist Makoto Fujimura is the creative director and founder of the International Arts Movement.


“The Web has become the biggest store in history and everything is 100% off.” (WSJ: “The Economics of Giving It Away”)


7 Dumb Things We Do And 8 Tricks To Keep Errors at Bay


“Office Space,” filmed in Austin in 1998, was panned by critics but is now a cult classic.


What were the top 40 songs 25 years ago this week? What was the #1 song on ...
- the day you were born?
- the day you graduated from high school?
- the day you were married?
- the day your child was born?
Find out here.


“About nine out of 10 US consumers ages 12 to 24 use the Internet. That is not surprising. But more than one-half of those ages 65 to 69 are online as well, and Internet-using 70-to-74-year-olds make up 45% of people that age, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project.” (story)


ABBA exists to connect Christians in Austin for the purpose of impacting the city. View YouTube videos of ABBA here.

When Is It Worship?

Help me with a major project. I've been invited to teach a 4-week class at the Baptist Seminary in Zambia. My subject: worship. My question to you: When it's "worship" that you're doing, what are you doing?

I was excited for the invitation to teach in Zambia, but initially reluctant to take on the topic they gave me because worship is so culturally contextual. But I'm into this thing heart-and-soul now, and for two reasons. One, I'm looking forward to what I'm going to learn, and, two, I'm looking forward to what I'm going to teach.

The part about "what I'm going to teach" is where you come in.

First, I'm looking forward to what I'm going to learn. I expect to learn a lot as I put the lesson plans together (I always do). But I'm going to learn a lot in Zambia, too. Since worship expression is so culturally conditioned, I've asked for a Zambian national at the seminary to help me teach the class. In addition to his comments, I'm looking forward to what the students will tell me about worship expressions in Zambia. When I taught a one-day leadership seminar at the Zambian seminary back in 1996, the guys I was teaching taught me so much.

Second, I'm looking forward to what I'm going to teach. I think we can distinguish between the expression of worship and the definition of worship. Surely there is a definition of worship that transcends one's culture?

Now, that's where you come in, dear reader. No matter what culture you visit or live in--in Honduras, Cuba, Los Angeles, Cayman, Lusaka (Zambia), Austin, Toronto, etc.--if you concluded that "worship" had taken place, what would you point to?

Comments for this blog are disabled since most of you tend to reply via Facebook or my email, anyway. So reply through these means and tell me what you think. When is it worship? What portions of the Bible have helped you understand worship? And what other books have taught you the most about worship?

Make a link to this post on your own blog or in a Facebook note and let's get a real conversation going. You can write me at this address or locate me on Facebook here.

Apps for Tom's iPhone

Despite Tom’s complaints in the last post about his iPhone’s limitations, he loves himself some apps. If you’re an iPhone owner who’s done more than just make your Phone flatulent*, write Tom and let him know what apps you’ve found useful. Here are his favorite apps so far—and how they could be improved:

Maps: The maps feature that came with the phone has the great advantage of being tied to the GPS system. It has the great disadvantage of being tied to Google Maps instead of the superior MapQuest. Google Maps has a history of sending people on odd routes: Tom was told to travel down a one-way service road the other day.

Weather: The Yahoo weather app that comes with the Phone allows Tom to store one-page forecasts for various cities. He has created weather pages for Waco, Houston, Zambia, and the Cayman Islands. However, Tom has added the mobile version of the Weather Underground website to his iPhone home page, which is more accurate and detailed than the native iPhone app.

Social Networking: Tom prefers the iPhone Facebook app to the desktop version, though he wishes it would announce upcoming birthdays like the desktop version. Tom has missed sending a few greetings to people on their birthday because he accesses Facebook through the iPhone app.

Netflix: PhoneFlix is Tom’s choice for reviewing his Netflix account. He wishes the app would let him rate movies and watch movie previews like he can on the desktop version of Netflix.

Games, Tunes, and Fluff: The iPhone shines when it comes to games and tunes (as one would expect from a beautiful toy). The Sudoku game put out by Mighty Mighty Good Games is Tom’s game of choice. Tom would like his Sudoku game to give him the option of working from a blank screen so he could enter on the screen games he finds in print. He had a game like that on his Treo. Pandora lets Tom set his own radio stations, just like the desktop online version. Tom paid 99 cents for Koi Pond, a silly little app that simply replicates a serene koi pond. There’s nothing better to show off the beauty of the iPhone device. Also, Tom downloaded a free app called “Ambiance” that sets ambient noise to drown out the surrounding noise to allow concentration or rest.

Location Apps: Urbanspoon is a clever device, but AroundMe is better. Showtimes is a cool app for telling you what’s playing in the theaters around you, and when. The app has links to movie reviews at Rotten Tomatoes and movie previews at YouTube.

Knowledge Apps: QuickPedia accesses Wikipedia articles. Shazam is an amazing little app that identifies whatever song is playing around you. Craigsphone lets you review Craigslist on your iPhone. Sportacular helps Tom keep up with his favorite teams. Tom is using the Bible Reader app from Olive Tree and, while he’s currently using the New Living Translation because it’s free, he’s thinking he’ll download the ESV Study Bible onto his iPhone. Though the study bible ain’t cheap, it’s certainly a lot lighter way to carry around the ESV Study Bible than the massive dead tree edition.

Mobile Web Pages: More and more websites are creating versions of their web pages friendly to mobile phones. Tom has added to his iPhone screen icons from Bible Gateway, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Google. To add these to your iPhone, go to the mobile version of the website on Safari, click the plus sign at the bottom of the screen, click “Add to Home Screen” and an icon designed for the iPhone will be added to your screen.

Outlook Interface: As Tom has mentioned before, he was annoyed to discover that his iPhone only syncs with half the productivity power of his desktop Outlook program. The iPhone pulls in Tom’s Outlook Calendar and Outlook Contacts, but the boys at Apple decided Tom didn’t need his many, many Outlook Tasks and Outlook Notes—and they didn’t give him any comparable alternative on the iPhone. So Tom spent the month of January looking among 10,000 offerings in the App Store to find a solution. A new $10 app called iMExchange is the best solution for now. The biggest downside is when setting a due date. If Tom wants to set a task due date for, say, next Thursday, Tom has to remember which date in February next Thursday falls. On his Treo, when Tom clicked the due date, a drop-down menu would appear with the next 7 days listed by day and date, or he clicked on “Choose Date” at the bottom of the drop-down menu and a calendar page would appear so he could click a date. The iPhone date-and-time chooser is done by this image of spinning reels like a Vegas slot machine. This means Tom has to already know the date that a particular day of the week falls, then scroll, scroll, scroll until the dial lands on that number.

If you’ve found some useful apps, let Tom know. The comments feature is turned off on this new version of Get Anchored, so e-mail him.

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* One of the top-rated programs in the App Store is iFart. I kid you not. The cool dude in the “I’m a Mac; I’m a PC” commercials? Think about it: statistically, he probably has iFart loaded on his iPhone. Classy.

Final Episode of "Will Tom Keep His New iPhone?"

Welcome to the final episode of the 30-day game show in the Goodman household: “Will Tom Keep His New iPhone.”

The contestant has decided to keep his iPhone, but he’s a reluctant customer who’s hoping the Palm Pre will be available for his office cell phone plan when his current 2-year contract with AT&T is up.

Tom decided to keep his beautiful toy because he felt he should put a toe in the new waters of mobile internet browsing and web apps. His Palm Treo is a superior business tool to his iPhone in several ways, but Tom knows nothing presently on the market that can compete with the iPhone when it comes to internet applications and web browsing.

Tom remains a reluctant iPhone owner, however, for the following reasons:

First, there’s no cut-and-paste. The other day, his son texted him asking for a relative’s phone number. Tom went to his Contacts program, found the 10-digit number, wrote the dang thing on his hand so he’d be able to remember it after punching back through all the steps to return to the texting program. On any smartphone other than the iPhone, Tom could have simply highlight the desired information from one application, copied it, and then pasted it into another application. The fact that the iPhone cannot perform this function is one of several signs that it was not built to be a productivity device. It is, fundamentally, a beautiful iPod that can place phone calls.

Second, there’s no native ability to sync Outlook Notes and Tasks with the iPhone. The iPhone has a Notes feature (cue the laugh track), but it’s not tied to Outlook like the Contacts and Calendar features. And the Notes you create on iPhone can’t be accessed or edited on a desktop PC or Mac. Tom has always used the Notes and Tasks features of Outlook and his Palm products for Getting Things Done. On Day One of his iPhone, Tom was flabbergasted to discover that his new toy pulled in his Outlook Contacts and Outlook Calendar but the boys at Apple decided he didn’t need his Outlook Tasks or Notes. For any other iPhone customers stuck with the same problem to solve, Tom recommends the independent app, iMExchange, for $10. It’s not perfect (explained in the next post), but at present it’s the only way to sync both your Outlook Tasks and Notes through your Exchange server.

Third, while Tom’s iPhone pulled in his Outlook Contacts, his iPhone failed to sync his distribution lists created in Outlook Contacts. So, if Tom wants to send an email from his iPhone to his entire staff (one of his many distribution lists), he has to enter each name individually…or just wait til he’s sitting at his computer.

Fourth, Tom knows he cannot replace the iPhone battery himself when the time comes. That thin, seemingly seamless body on iPods and iPhones come at a price: Tom has already had the experience of returning an iPod to Apple so they could replace the inaccessible battery once it no longer held a charge. The process was painless, but of course Tom depends on his phone more than his music player. Within the next two years when his iPhone gets to the point where it no longer holds a charge and he has to mail it in to Apple for them to install a new battery, he will be without a phone for a week. Yet another reason Tom cannot regard the iPhone as a business productivity device.

Fifth, Tom finds something as simple as “date picking” in most iPhone apps annoyingly more complicated than it needs to be. For those of you who haven’t used an iPhone, the iPhone date-and-time chooser is done by this image of spinning reels like a Vegas slot machine--like you would expect of a pretty toy, come to think of it. This means you have to scroll, scroll, scroll until the dial lands on the right month or date or hour that you’re picking. *Sigh*

For these reasons, Tom is a reluctant iPhone owner who will likely move to the anticipated Palm Pre as soon as he can. Wired, Engaget and Newsweek explain why techies are drooling over the Pre and it’s not even available yet. You can do some drooling yourself over images of Palm’s resurrection device from Gizmodo or MobileCrunch.

Instead of Apple’s threat to sue Palm for supposedly ripping off their multitouch screen Apple should do a little ripping off from the Palm and imitate some of the features that has made Palm the once (and future?) king of business devices.

International Justice Mission in the New Yorker

Lots of good buzz out there about the New Yorker piece on Gary Haugen, founder and president of the International Justice Mission. It's been in print for a few weeks, but now it's available online.  His talk at this year’s Willow Creek Leadership Summit was absolutely compelling. Here’s an excerpt from the article:

In 1994, Haugen took a short leave to direct the United Nations’ investigation of genocide in Rwanda, gathering the preliminary evidence needed in order to set up a war-crimes tribunal….He was sickened to come across charred piles of bodies in a church where Tutsi had expected to find sanctuary. He took down the testimony of a father who saw his three small children hacked to death with machetes. At one massacre site, Haugen rolled back the decaying body of a woman and found the corpse of her child beneath her.

Six weeks later, after returning home, Haugen felt disoriented. In church, his mind drifted into calculations of how long it would take a machete-wielding gang to wipe out the congregation. Although the Salvation Army, World Vision, and other Christian organizations fed the hungry and sheltered the homeless, no Christian organization that he knew of had heeded the Bible’s appeals for justice (“Break the arm of the wicked and evil man; call him to account for his wickedness that would not be found out”). He resolved that Christians serving God had to do more than pray for the victims of cruelty; they had to use the law to help rescue them. “This is not a God who offers sympathy, best wishes,” he later wrote. “This is a God who wants evildoers brought to account and vulnerable people protected—here and now!”

Haugen decided to form an independent justice agency, and his original mission statement laid out the four functions that drive the organization today: victim relief, perpetrator accountability, victim “aftercare,” and structural prevention of violence. He wanted the organization to be explicitly Christian, because the ministries and relief groups in poor areas would be quicker to trust and refer cases to a Christian group; it could mobilize a grassroots constituency of American Christians; and, as he saw it, the prayers offered by the church community had proved to “make a difference in human history.”

LeaderLines: Five Essentials When Praying for the Lost, Week 3

I believe God is preparing our congregation to be his “power tool” to reach Austin with the Gospel. To that end, across the next five weeks of LeaderLines I want us to “camp out” in the words of 1 Timothy 2:1-8 (Msg). These words can teach us how to pray for the lost:

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know....He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we've learned: that there's one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us -- Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. Eventually the news is going to get out. This and this only has been my appointed work: getting this news to those who have never heard of God, and explaining how it works by simple faith and plain truth. Since prayer is at the bottom of all this, what I want mostly is for men to pray -- not shaking angry fists at enemies but raising holy hands to God.

According to this text, there are 5 essentials when praying for the lost:

• The right priority
• The right perspective
• The right solution
• The right hope
• The right person

On the first week we looked at the first essential: the right priority. Last week we began to examine the second essential: the right perspective. Today, let’s spend some more time on the perspective required for evangelistic praying.

“He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know,” Paul wrote to Timothy, “everyone to get to know the truth we’ve learned.” Paul said that God wanted “everyone saved.” Both of those words are important: everyone . . . saved. Without the right perspective that both of those words provide, you won’t have the kind of prayer life that makes any sort of impact.

In last week’s LeaderLines we looked at that word “saved.” Now let’s reflect on that word “everyone”—God wants “everyone saved.”

Usually, discussions about this verse revolve around the extent of God’s responsibility for saving the lost. But this verse inspires you to address your responsibility; it wasn’t meant as simply kindling to debate God’s responsibility.

Now, I’m not evading the debate most folks have over this verse. You see, Scripture is clear that we are spiritually deaf, spiritually blind, and spiritually dead—other than that we’re okay! Only God’s intervention saves. Even the faith that we place in him is a gift of God and not of ourselves (Ephesians 2:8-9). So, those who know this to be true get to 1 Timothy 2 and they want to know, “If God’s call is effectual and if God wants everyone saved, then why isn’t everyone saved?”

This is a vital question, and the answer lies in the harmony between divine sovereignty and human responsibility—a harmony we can’t see now but we’ll eventually understand.

But, as I said, this verse inspires you to address your responsibility; it wasn’t meant as simply kindling to debate God’s responsibility.

That word “everyone” in our Scripture text expands the scope of my prayer work and my witnessing work. I should lift up in prayer the name of every single person around me who does not have a vital relationship with Christ.

That word “everyone” stands in judgment over many of us, because we can allow ourselves to believe that there are people around us for whom we are not responsible—in other words, we do not feel it is our job to share the gospel with them. Maybe you’ve decided that you are not responsible for those who are not in your income level, or those who are not in your education level, or those who are not of your nationality.

The opposite can happen, too. We can make it our job to share the gospel with those who are not like us and leave alone those who are closest to us. I’ve seen people go off on mission trips to share the gospel and go into prison to share the gospel but neglect those they see every day. We’ll readily acknowledge that the “bad” people need saving. We’ll share the gospel with people “over there” (wherever “over there” is), but not with our neighbors, not the people we take lunch breaks with at work.

The Oxford professor C.S. Lewis said something interesting about that. He said, "A world of nice people, content in their own niceness, looking no further, turned away from God, would be just as desperately in need of salvation as a miserable world--and might even be more difficult to save." Lewis probably described a lot of people in your world: nice, but content in their niceness and looking no further.

So, we all have our ways of categorizing people, determining which ones need to be the subject of our prayers for salvation. But then one word from the scripture comes out of the sky like a guided missile and destroys all our categories—that word is “everyone.” God wants us to pray for everyone we know because God wants everyone saved.

Isn’t it refreshing to read in Scripture that God wants everyone saved? We have to admit that we are indifferent toward some of people around us—in fact, we have to admit that sometimes we’re indifferent toward all of the people around us. But not God. Rest assured that the moment you start praying for the lost, God will bend down toward you with intense interest in what you have to say.

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone and you get the impression they are just politely tolerating you until you get on to a particular subject and suddenly you have their full attention? They lean toward you, elbows on the table, eyes suddenly alive—you’ve found a topic they’re passionate about!

I hope I’m not misunderstood when I say this, but I believe that sometimes in our prayers, God just politely tolerates us. We’re late for a meeting and we mutter, “O God, let there be a parking space next to the building.” Or we’re selling our car and when we hear on the voice mail that someone has responded to our ad, as we return the call we whisper, “O God, let this person be the one to buy my car!” And in heaven I imagine God just politely tolerates our prattle. But on the authority of 1 Timothy 2 I can assure you that when you start praying for every lost person around you to become a saved person, you’ll have God’s full attention. Because God wants everyone saved—and when you gain that correct perspective on things, you’re prayers will have impact.

Next week we’ll look at a third thing that needs to be right so that your prayers will have impact: You must know the right solution to a lost person’s condition.

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Each Thursday I post my article from "LeaderLines," an e-newsletter for church leaders read by more than 300 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "LeaderLines," sign up here.

Winning Ways: Sunday Nights at Hillcrest

Adults, Students, and Kids: Hillcrest is where you need to be on Sunday nights!

For adults, our new semester of the Hillcrest Institute starts this Sunday evening, February 8. You can choose from a variety of classes designed to help you apply biblical principles to life.

There’s “Hill Climbers,” a Christ-centered wellness program for men and women of all ages. Or maybe you’d like to improve your prayer life with “The Advocates.”

If you haven’t taken “The Disciples Cross,” now’s the time. You’ll learn how to experience life in Christ through practicing six biblical disciplines. Those who have completed this class can enroll in the next-level course, “The Disciple’s Personality.” Topics include doing God's will, renewing the mind, mastering the emotions, presenting the body, and being filled with the spirit.

Everyone should take Herb Ingram’s class, “Finding Your P.L.A.C.E. of Service.” You will get a clearer picture of how God has designed you for ministry as Herb leads you to identify your unique mix of Passion, Leadership gifts, Abilities, Character traits, and Experience.

I highly recommend “Love and Respect.” Whether you’re married or dating, discover what a man and a woman each need in a relationship.

You can also select from a list of courses that help you understand particular parts of the Bible. Choose the Bible Overview classes: we have an Old Testament and a New Testament class. The second part of the Fall Precept class on Daniel continues this Spring. Also, women can gather together for the new Beth Moore study, “Esther: It's Hard Being a Woman.” And I’m teaching a class called “Modern Day Parables,” a unique look at Christ’s parables through short dramatic films that explain the teachings of Jesus in a modern setting.

Finally, you can choose to attend “Praise Hill” and join in gospel hymns and a devotional challenge, led by Jim Sessions and Dave Miller.

While adults are involved in these activities, there’s something for students and kids as well. For middle school and high school students, Rock Solid is now meeting on Sunday nights. For kids in grades 1-5, there’s Kids Choice Camp. This is an exciting and interactive curriculum with lots of games, activities, and fun. Kids from 3 to kindergarten enjoy Mission Friends, and there’s nursery care for those under 3.

Everything runs from 5:30 to 7:00pm. Join us!

Learn more about the Hillcrest Institute online, where you can find out how to qualify for diploma plans, and register for classes!

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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 February 3

“I love a good hamburger. But, the hamburger doesn’t come from my front pasture.” My Brenham sister found it tough to bring her longhorn steers to the butcher.


“It’s a great blessing when a man of God is leading your team,” defensive end Nick Eason said. “It’s like a godly father in the household.” (from a BP article about Mike Tomlin, head coach of the Pittsburg Steelers, this year’s Super Bowl champions)


Review and vote for your favorite Super Bowl ads at Hulu. I kinda liked Bridgestone, the ETrade talking babies, the Clydsdale retrieving the stick,


Hackers Crack Into Austin Texas Road Sign, Warn of Zombies Ahead (KXAN)


Watch it: Facebook ID theft is the new target of scam artists. Just ask this guy and his friends. (Here’s another article about malware spread thru Fbook.)


Round Rock is #7 on Money magazine’s list of 100 best places to live.


Eric Metaxas “criticizes those who ‘hide in a separate Christian subculture’ and ‘lose the ability to communicate effectively with those who are outside. We . . . become less and less able to speak to those who are different from us. That, of course, is the enemy of evangelism. We grow more and more fearful and suspicious of those outside the camp, until we slowly begin to think of them as a hostile ‘other’ whom we must destroy, rather than broken and exiled parts of our own selves, whom we are commanded by God to heal and restore.’” (From World magazine. Metaxas is founder of “Socrates in the City,” NYC forums designed to expose the Christian worldview to cultural elites)


“More than half of all [film] releases included ‘positive Christian characters’ last year, up from just 6% in 1991, according to the Christian Film & Television Commission, in Camarillo, Calif.” [“What Christians Watch” in the WSJ]


“I grew up in . . . the church of my mother and her parents. I’m deeply grateful for my Southern Baptist heritage. It provided me a beautiful foundation that my life sits firmly upon today. There were precious men and women who loved, taught, nurtured and guided me for 18 years.” When an opinion piece starts off with this kind of patronizing pat on the head, you know where it’s going—and in Saturday’s Statesman, it doesn’t long for the writer to get there, as she speaks of growing out of all that after her happy discovery of people with a new kind of faith with “much less certainty and rigidity.” *Sigh*


“A nurse has been suspended from her job for offering to pray for an elderly patient’s recovery from illness.” (London’s Telegraph)


“This blog serves as an opportunity to follow us (Austinites Blanca Garcia and Liz Rivas), as we make our way around the world in an effort to educate ourselves about the issues and struggles facing those thousands of miles away, as well as the work that people are doing to help the poor and the suffering. Our desire is to then come back to the states and help raise awareness on these issues, and mobilize people to take action. We will be traveling through Africa, Northern Iraq, India and SE Asia in a period of about 45 days. Please bookmark our blog, leave comments, etc.!”


“In these most recent 20 years -- the alleged winter of our disrespect of the Islamic world -- America did not just respect Muslims, it bled for them. It engaged in five military campaigns, every one of which involved -- and resulted in -- the liberation of a Muslim people: Bosnia, Kosovo, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq.” (Charles Krauthammer)


And so it begins: Maybe you missed it, but in his third day in office President Obama ordered the nation to start funding international organizations that provide abortions and abortion advocacy as a part of family planning. Reagan withdrew this funding under the so-called “Mexico City Policy.” Clinton eliminated the policy, Bush restored it, and it was no surprise that Obama struck it down once again. It won’t be the last act of abortion advocacy from this administration. If you’re a pro-life evangelical who voted for him, what are you going to do about it?


And so it begins II: Looking for new direction under a new leader, the RNC has elected as their chairman a former member of the Republican Leadership Council, which CNN describes as “a group that sought to curb the influence of social conservatives in the party.” In describing Steele and the RLC, is the operative word “former” or “member”?


Ten Simple Things We Should All Say More Often


Boys With Unpopular Names More Likely to Break Law


“Can you explain to me how, 10 years later, mobile phones have replaced PDAs utterly and completely, yet there’s hardly a phone on the market that can do what PDAs once did even half as well?....The average cell phone really sucks at managing contacts, calendars, tasks, and notes….The reality is that gesture-based handwriting (like Palm’s Graffiti) was brilliant. Easy to learn, 100% accurate, and as fast as handwriting. I’d give a spare lung for that kind of input on a modern smartphone. Imagine if the iPhone had information manager apps and text input like the old Palm V. I’m dizzy just imagining it.” (The Mobile Phone Paradox)


Guys set up a hockey game on the frozen water in an abandoned building’s basement in Detroit. Find legs of a dead body sticking out of said frozen water. Continue to play hockey. (story)


“In trying to communicate the church as community to my two-year-old son, I have changed the way I talk about church. Instead of telling him that we are “going to church,” I tell him that we are going to be with the church, to sing and eat with them. Once Christians repent of reducing church to buildings and programs and begin to cherish the people God has given them to live with, warts and all, community will increase.” (Jonathan Dodson, an Austin church planter, in Resurgence)


“Social services have removed two young children from the care of their grandparents and arranged for them to be adopted by a homosexual couple.” Agency officials decided that the grandparents, who are aged 59 and 46, were “too old” to look after their grandchildren. What’s more they were “informed they would be barred from seeing the children altogether unless they agreed to the same-sex adoption.” Now “the cost of legal bills forced them to drop the case and relinquish their rights.” The shape of things to come? (London’s The Telegraph)


“The greatest opposition to what God is doing today comes from those who were on the cutting edge of what God was doing yesterday.” (R.T. Kendall in The Anointing; HT: Charles at Connexion)


Five minute Nightline video on Seattle pastor, Mark Driscoll. I just wish Nightline didn't get so hung up on what Driscoll said about sex; there's so much more that makes him interesting.


Guitar World ranks the 50 greatest solos in rock and roll history.

Song of the Week: How Great Thou Art

This week I read the story of the song, "How Great Thou Art." You should read it, too, and listen to Paul Baloche's version of the 125-year-old song--



O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Chorus

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

Chorus

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"

Chorus