Links to Your World, Tuesday March 31

The Five Best Office Pranks of All Time


An Oklahoma man who thought he was dying confessed to killing a man in 1977. He got better, and now has been charged with murder. (story)


“What if you had to kill Hitler when he was a baby? What if he was a 12-year-old boy, with an abusive dad, who had done you a kindness when you were vulnerable? What if he was a sickly kid with glasses who, if you squinted at him just right, looked like he was Harry Potter?... His purpose on the Island, [Sayid] decides, is to sacrifice his soul, surrender to his nature as a murderer, and do one more hit job. His soul is going to fall on its sword.” This was the issue raised in last week’s installment of Lost, when Sayid, tossed 30 years into the past, decides that Ben has to die before he grows up to wreak havoc. The weekly “Lostwatch” at Time Online has turned out to be one of my must-read blogs, but only after watching the episode the blog post discusses.


“The first person to live to be 1,000 years old is certainly alive today …whether they realize it or not, barring accidents and suicide, most people now 40 years or younger can expect to live for centuries” (Cambridge University geneticist Aubrey de Grey)


“No funds appropriated under this Act shall be used in conjunction with or to support research which involves the destruction of a human embryo.” An important provision the Senate Finance Committee put into its proposed budget. Opponents think that the way its worded could ban all facilities receiving state funds from doing the controversial research at all, but the aim is simply to keep taxpayers from involuntarily participating in destruction of the human embryo. (Statesman story) Earlier I wrote about why I think we shouldn’t use taxpayer money to fund this kind of research.


The latest Nightline Face-Off: “Does Satan Exist?” (HT: Creation Project)


"We must see America as a mission field. As an Episcopalian priest from South Carolina recently offered, 'A couple came in to my office once with a yellow pad of their teenage son’s questions. One of them was: What is that guy doing hanging up there on the plus sign?’” (From an article by James Emery White, who looked at the declining numbers of those who identify as Christians in our country and asked (1) What is happening? (2) What does this mean? and (3) what can be done?


Love/Hate the Facebook Redesign? “Every time you refresh the front page, there's new stuff for you to read. Much of it isn't very interesting, and because the stream moves so quickly, the little that is interesting gets drowned out by items that aren't….The effect is like being at a party of oversharers; every interesting conversation is interrupted by 10 people who'd love to tell you what they ate for breakfast.” (Farhad Manjoo, who nevertheless says we’ll all get used to the new Facebook format soon enough)


“Where the Wild Things Are,” coming in October. Oh yeah. Spike Jonze directing, Tom Hanks producing. Watch the trailer.


“A long time ago, I stopped asking where God was in the midst of torture, indefinite detention, isolation, ostracism, and the denial of social and economic opportunities. He was with those whose dignity had been taken away. He was present in their suffering, and their sufferings were his. The question was, where were we who were called to share their pain, to give food and water to Christ's thirsty and hungry representatives, and to comfort them during their ordeals?” (from Ziya Meral, a human-rights advocate, in CT’s “Standing with the Desolate”)


"The inglorious pun! Dryden called it the 'lowest and most groveling kind of wit.' To Ambrose Bierce it was a 'form of wit to which wise men stoop and fools aspire.'...[But] surely puns silence conversation before they animate it. Some stricken with pun-lust sink so far into their infirmity that their minds become trained to lie in wait for words on which to work their wickedness. They are the scourge of dinner tables and the despised prolongers of office meetings, some letting fly as instinctively as dogs bark and frogs croak, no longer concerned even with drawing applause; they simply can’t help themselves" ("Pun for the Ages" in the NY Times).


TED Talk with John Wooden: “With profound simplicity, Coach John Wooden redefines success and urges us all to pursue the best in ourselves. In this inspiring talk he shares the advice he gave his players at UCLA, quotes poetry and remembers his father's wisdom.” Worth your 18 minutes:

Wanted: Bumper Sticker Photos

Hey, I need some photos of bumper stickers you see around Austin. It will help me promote my new sermon series through Proverbs, the book of "bumper sticker wisdom."

When I first moved to Austin, one of my first impressions was the bumper stickers. I've never been in a town where so many people thought I should know their opinion on every issue at every traffic stop. Like this one:


So, help me out here. Snap some photos with your camera phone of bumper stickers you find clever. And do this even if the sticker doesn't advocate your opinion on something, like the following one I noticed:



Of course, I've also found ones I completely agree with. Like this one:



So, make good use of those camera phones and send me something. Especially those of you in Austin.

A Preacher Gets Ready for Easter Week

Prayers are appreciated: Starting today I will be writing 4 sermons over 158 verses--all to be delivered in 2 weeks. Whew!

At Hillcrest, we've been in the Gospel of Matthew for 30 months. It's all coming to a dramatic conclusion in the next 2 weeks.

We began our study of Matthew in Christmas 2006 with the nativity narratives that open the tax collector's Gospel. We'll end our study this Easter 2009 with Matthew's account of the Passion and Resurrection.

I am grateful for the promise of prayers as I prepare sermons and deliver them on the following schedule:

Sunday April 5: A review of the establishment of the Lord's Supper as recounted in Matthew 26:1-30 will prepare our church to observe the Lord’s Supper 4 days later when we gather Thursday night.

Thursday April 9: After observing the Lord’s Supper, our church will look at Matthew 26:36-56. These verses will remind us of the main truth of Gesthemane: Christ's submission to God’s plan--and the disciples' inability to do so.

Good Friday April 10: Matthew 26:57 to 27:50 will remind us of how Jesus was “despised and rejected.” He was rejected by the religious (26:57-68), by his own (Peter in 26:31-35 and 26::69-75; Judas in 27:1-10), and by a government meant to uphold justice (27:11-26). But at the cross (27:27-44) he faced the worst rejection: rejected by God as he carried away the sin of the world (27:45-54).

Easter Sunday April 12: We'll look at Matthew 27:55 to Matthew 28:20. With these verses we’ll look at the wonder of the Resurrection and two reactions to it: rejection of the story (vv.11-15) and communication of the story (vv.16-20). These are the two reactions to the story: you either come up with reasons why it’s not credible (vv.11-15) or you have to get the news out because it’s the most life-changing truth in the world (vv.16-20).

Someone asked me what I’m getting into now that our two-and-a-half-year study of Matthew is over. I said, “Well, Mark comes next!” (Kidding)

Actually, I’m going to spend a couple of months teaching the book of Proverbs at Hillcrest before heading to Zambia in mid-June for a 4-week assignment at the Baptist Seminary in Lusaka. I'll explain more about the Zambia trip down the line.

No thoughts yet on what to do when I’m back in the pulpit at the end of July.

What topics or texts do you suggest we tackle next?

Song of the Week: Elvis Costello's "Peace, Love and Understanding"

In 1979, Elvis Costello put a little punk edge to Nick Lowe's sad lament. Click to listen to "(What's So Funny About) Peace, Love and Understanding?"



As I walk through
This wicked world
Searchin for light in the darkness of insanity.

I ask myself
Is all hope lost?
Is there only pain and hatred, and misery?

And each time I feel like this inside,
Theres one thing I wanna know:
Whats so funny bout peace love & understanding?
Whats so funny bout peace love & understanding?

And as I walked on
Through troubled times
My spirit gets so downhearted sometimes
So where are the strong
And who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony?
Sweet harmony.

Cause each time I feel it slippin away, just makes me wanna cry.
Whats so funny bout peace love & understanding?
Whats so funny bout peace love & understanding?

So where are the strong?
And who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony?
Sweet harmony.

Cause each time I feel it slippin away, just makes me wanna cry.
Whats so funny bout peace love & understanding?
Whats so funny bout peace love & understanding?
Whats so funny bout peace love & understanding?

LeaderLines: Is Our Church A Place for Emerging Adults?

“There is a new and important stage in life in American culture, and it is not entirely clear that the Christian church understands or particularly knows what to do with it.”

That’s how Christian Smith opened an article on “emerging adults,” the generation currently between 18-30 years of age. Smith is a sociology professor at Notre Dame and a celebrated author of national studies on youth and religion.

LeaderLines is designed for church leaders, especially those who lead with me at Hillcrest, so I want to use 2 or 3 editions of the e-newsletter to think through Smith’s insights. Many of you will find this an important issue because . . .

. . . you minister to another age-range in our multi-generational church, but you still want to know what our church is doing to reach all generations.

. . . you’re a 20-something who cares about your generation and you want other generations in your church to understand the issues your peers face.

. . . you’re the parent of a 20-something who lives with you, and you’d like to know Hillcrest is a place they’d want to plug into.

. . . you’re the parent of a 20-something who lives elsewhere. You’re hoping some church can connect with your adult son or daughter in another town, so you’re sensitive to parents in other places who have watched their own sons or daughters move away from home to Austin. There are parents around the state—around the nation—who are desperately hoping Hillcrest can connect with their own sons or daughters. I know: I’ve talked with those parents as they’ve come to visit sons and daughters in Austin.

Many have written and commented on what makes the 20-something experience unique in our day. You’ve probably seen the labels in magazine articles: “extended adolescence,” “adultolescence,” “youthhood,” and so on. Smith prefers to call this new phase of life “emerging adulthood,” because “rather than viewing these years as simply the last hurrah of adolescence or an early stage of real adulthood, it recognizes the unique characteristics of this phase of life.”

Characteristics of this phase? “A sense of possibilities, opportunities, and unparalleled hope” Smith writes, mixed with “big doses of transience, confusion, anxiety, self-obsession, melodrama, conflict, and disappointment.”

He explains why those between 18 and 30 are facing a whole new set of realities that other generations didn’t face as they move through their twenties. Here are 4 social forces that have given rise to this emerging adulthood:

The growth of higher education. The opportunities to go to college—and the expectation of a college degree by employers—extends the years of being a full-time student and the dependence on family. And graduate studies in many fields can extend schooling years longer.

The delay of marriage. “Half a century ago,” Smith wrote, “many young people were anxious to get out of high school, marry, settle down, have children, and start a long-term career. But many youth today, especially but not exclusively men, face almost a decade between high school graduation and marriage to spend exploring life's many options in unprecedented freedom.”

The new workplace reality. The days of finding a steady, life-long career are over. “Most young people today know they need to approach their careers with a variety of skills, maximal flexibility, and readiness to re-tool as needed,” Smith writes. Because of this, “many youth today spend five to ten years experimenting with different job and career options before finally deciding on a long-term career direction.”

Parental participation in young adulthood. Partly as a sympathetic response to the first three realities, many parents are willing to extend financial aid and other support to their grown children well into their 20s and 30s. “These resources help to subsidize the freedom that emerging adults enjoy to take a good, long time before settling down into full adulthood, as culturally defined by the end of schooling, financial independence, and new family formation.”

Do you want to help Hillcrest connect with those between 18 and 30? Then understand that the only thing worse than forgetting what it was like to be in your 20s is to assume that what a 20-something faces today is simply no different than what you faced in your 20s. Smith writes:

These four social transformations together have helped dramatically to alter the experience of American life between the ages of 18 and 30. Studies agree that the transition to adulthood today is more complex, disjointed, and confusing than it was in past decades. The steps through and to schooling, first real job, marriage, and parenthood are simply less well organized and coherent today than they were in generations past. At the same time, these years are marked by an historically unparalleled freedom to roam, experiment, learn (or not), move on, and try again.

What then are some of the specific issues that we will have to address if we want to serve those in this new life phase? Stay tuned: we’ll look at a few in the next LeaderLines.

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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: Seven Ways to 'Improve' Your Baptism

The Puritans taught their people to “improve” their baptism. What they meant was that as you reflect on your baptism, it can fuel your faith, hope, love, joy, and obedience. This is a lesson we too should learn.

In a recent article, J.I. Packer outlined seven ways believers should reflect on our baptism and thus energize our faith.

First, “it was a gospel service, in which ‘the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith’ (Rom. 1:16) was set forth in symbol.” Your baptism symbolized death to sin and resurrection to new life. So, “my baptism assures me that each day I may know more of supernatural deliverance from evil.”

Second, “my baptism was a marriage service, in which I was given away to Jesus my Lord to be…his covenant-partner.” So my baptism reminds me of the love and loyalty I owe to him, and his promise to cherish me and share with me all that he has.

Third, “my baptism was a burial service,” as Romans 6:4-6 makes clear. So I must always “by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body” (Rom. 8:12ff.).

Fourth, “my baptism was an Easter festival, proclaiming both Jesus' resurrection and mine, as a believer, in and with his.” Though I have to wait for Christ’s return to experience the physical resurrection, “my baptism requires me to show forth day by day the Christ-life which now courses through me, while at the same time confirming to me that a new and better body will be mine.”

Fifth, “my baptism was a birthday celebration.” And so “my baptism should teach me constant joy at being spiritually alive in Christ.”

Sixth, “my baptism was an admission ceremony, bringing me into the family of God's adopted children so that I might share the family life of worship, witness, and work for our Father's glory.”

Seventh, “my baptism was a commissioning service, entering me upon a life wholly given to serve Christ and his cause.” We are Christ's errand-boy, as John Berridge, the eighteenth-century evangelical leader, called himself.

Reflect on how your life matches the life that baptism promises. And if you need to take this step in demonstration of your commitment to Jesus, contact me!

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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 March 24

“There are five minutes to go and your team has a 15-point lead. You start to flip the channel but then have a moment of doubt—is there a chance that the other guys could come back and win? From now on, you'll never have to wonder. Last year, Bill James, a lifelong Kansas Jayhawks fan, shared his personal formula to determine when a lead in a college hoops game is safe. If you're thinking about switching to another game during March Madness, just keep this page open and plug the current score into the Bill James Lead Calculator.” (Find it here)


‘American Idol’ Spotlight On Christian Singers Reels In Religious Viewers: “More than half of this year's crop of finalists — including Danny Gokey, Michael Sarver, Kris Allen, Scott MacIntyre, Matt Giraud and Lil Rounds — either have a strong affiliation with the church or are worship leaders in their communities.”


“The vast majority of parents hope their children grow up to live good lives but, for many, parental success does not include faith in God -- even among parents who are evangelical Christians, according to a new study from LifeWay Research, the research arm of LifeWay Christian Resources.” (BP)


“Beach Reach,” a Spring Break ministry at South Padre, was covered in Saturday’s Statesman.


Depressed? Angry? Your Heart May Suffer As a Result


“A cafe owner in Ohio has taken an innovative approach to boosting business: He lets his customers pay whatever they think their meal or drink was worth. Since dropping prices from the menu, Java Street Cafe owner Sam Lippert says his sales and customer count are up between 50 percent and 100 percent.” (Kristin Chapman at World)


The Internet is Graying: “While fewer older Americans were online than their younger counterparts, people ages 55 and up accounted for nearly one-third of Web audiences in late 2008, and typically spent more time online than young adults. What sets older Americans apart is their online activities….More boomers and matures go online to get health information, visit government Websites and look for religious information than members of younger age groups.”


“Baptists may be the grayest of any major religious group in America, according to a study released March 9 by Trinity College of Connecticut….21 percent of the people who identify themselves as Baptists are 70 and older. That compares to 12 percent of the general population, 13 percent of Catholics, 14 percent of mainline Christians and 10 percent of Mormons who fall in that age range. Forty percent of the national population is 50 or older, while 58 percent of Baptists fall into that age bracket. ” (story)


“Nothing brings women and especially men into the pews like marriage and parenthood, as they seek out the religious, moral and social support provided by a congregation upon starting a family of their own. But because growing numbers of young adults are now postponing or avoiding marriage and childbearing, they are also much less likely to end up in church on any given Sunday. America's houses of worship would have about six million more regularly attending young adults if today's young men and women started families at the rate they did three decades ago.” (WSJ)


“Why haven't the atheists embraced Peter Singer? I suspect it is because they fear that his unpalatable views will discredit the cause of atheism. What they haven't considered, however, is whether Singer, virtually alone among their numbers, is uncompromisingly working out the implications of living in a truly secular society, one completely purged of Christian and transcendental foundations. In Singer, we may be witnessing someone both horrifying and yet somehow refreshing: an intellectually honest atheist” (“Staring into the Abyss, Dinesh D'Souza in CT)


“Anyone with a television remote can find scores of ‘health and wealth boys’ who claim that true believers will avoid pain and strife altogether….Get a clue. God’s will for your life is to make you into the image of His Son, and that only happens through the heartaches and trials of life.” (Al Meredith, pastor of Wedgewood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, speaking to the congregation of First Baptist in Maryville, Illinois. A gunman killed 7 and wounded 7 others at Wedgewood a decade ago; a gunman killed the pastor while he was preaching on Sunday, March 8).


“Until recently some watchers thought Texas could dodge the downturn altogether. The state began 2008 in fighting form. In January 2008 unemployment was just 4.4%, according to the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). Important parts of the economy such as manufacturing, exports and energy were soaring. The state added thousands of jobs each month, more than any other state, although unemployment kept inching upwards. The housing crisis looming over much of the country seemed manageable; home prices had never reached stratospheric levels. Then things changed.” (The Economist explains what’s threatened and what’s still strong in the economy of the Lone Star state)


Polls show that a majority of Americans support embryonic-destructive stem cell research. But polls also show that Americans know very little about this issue. It might be because the people bringing them the news know very little about it. (HT: Between Two Worlds)


“Obama declares a false unity. He claims that all Americans share in his goal ‘to prevent unintended pregnancies, reduce the need for abortion, and support women and families in the choices they make.’ Obama is suggesting that abortion is a human need, which can be reduced but never eliminated.” From a CT Editorial that points out how the actions of the White House will have the opposite effect of the (presumed) desire of the White House to reduce abortion.


“Centrist evangelicals like me embraced Barack Obama’s campaign pledge to help bridge the gaps of the culture wars. Instead, the president’s short record on abortion-related issues is familiar- and disappointing - rather than revolutionary.” (David Gushee, USA Today, “Mr. President, we need more than lip service”. David Gushee, distinguished university professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University and president of Evangelicals for Human Rights, reflecting on President Obama’s deeply disappointing executive orders and presidential appointments. (HT: Moral Accountability)

Song of the Week: Hard Livin' by Railroad Earth

Here's "Hard Livin'" by Railroad Earth:



You can download the song here.

You can watch the video here.

LeaderLines: 10 Reasons You’re Probably Going to Fail

On his blog, Tony Morgan mused about the common reasons why failure happens. If you’re headed for failure, he wrote, it’s probably because of one of ten reasons:

1. You’re not doing what makes you passionate. “If it doesn’t make your heart beat fast or cause your mind to race when you’re trying to sleep,” he wrote, “you’re probably doing the wrong thing.”

2. You’re not working from a plan. “You need a vision, and you need to identify specific steps to make that vision become reality. That includes a financial plan.”

3. You’re expecting everything to be perfect. Morgan writes, “Test-drive it. Beta-test that new idea. You’ll fall into the trap of inaction if you think it has to be absolutely right from day one.”

4. You don’t want to work hard. “Everything worth pursuing in my life has involved discipline and perseverance.”

5. You’ve stopped growing. “Keep learning. Keep growing.” And, because projects worth your time are bigger than you are, “build a team of people including leaders that can be who you’re not.”

6. You’re resting on your laurels. Ironically, success in the past can lead to failure in the future. “I’ve watched organizations hang on to a good idea for too long. Time passes. Momentum fades.”

7. You’re unwilling to stop doing something else. “Complexity is easy. Simplicity takes discipline.” Morgan compares it building a healthy marriage: you can’t if you’re unwilling to give up dating other women. In your organization, he asks, “who/what do you need to stop ‘dating’?”

8. You consider those around you in the organization to be co-workers but not friends. “Anyone can hire from a resume. You need to find people you want to share life with. In the long run, great relationships will get you out of bed in the morning.”

9. You avoid the tough conversations. Boy, do I need this reminder (I think it’s a liability for pastors, who are always supposed to be “nice”). Morgan writes, “When breakdown happens (and it always does), someone needs to put on their big-boy pants and initiate the difficult conversation that leads to relational healing.”

And the tenth reason you will probably fail:

10. You’re afraid of failure. Ironic, huh? “When fear consumes you, it will cause you to do stupid things. You’ll let negativity distract you. You’ll embrace the known, and grow comfortable with mediocrity. The more often you fail, though, the more often you’ll find success.”

Of course, Morgan wrote his “10 Reason” to be provocative. In other words, we shouldn’t resign ourselves to the prophecy that “you’re probably going to fail.” Instead, you and I should look over this list, identify any tendencies that sound like ours, and then ask for God’s help to change them. In doing so, we reduce the likelihood that the title of his blog post becomes a prophecy.

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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: Living Today in Light of the Future

Stephen Covey said the first habit of highly effective people is to begin with the end in mind. If you know clearly the results you want, you’re more likely to use your resources more effectively today.

In a way, that’s why you should study biblical prophecy. That’s the ultimate way to begin with the end in mind! But we should study the biblical picture of the future not to create it but to adjust to it.

The disciples once asked Jesus, “What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24) Jesus answered them, and we’ll look at his teaching this Sunday at 10am. But, just as important, we’ll look at how to live today in light of events in the future.

In other words, life can start working better today if you’ll begin with the end in mind.

Take verses 6-8 of Matthew 24, for example. There Jesus warned that before his return nature and society will become unstable. How do we live today in light of that truth? By putting our highest trust only in things that will endure. If the last years of our history will be a time of instability in the natural order and the social order, then we should not be disillusioned when we get glimpses of that same instability now. It’s time we learned to put our trust only in the kingdom of God.

There’s more about the future from Christ’s teaching in Matthew 24, and all of it applies to how you should live now.

The thought of Christ’s return motivated the first Christians to make the right moral choices, to be patient, and to keep their faith during persecution. Because it so deeply impacted their view of life, they often referred to their Lord’s return in scripture. There are more than 500 references to the return of Christ and they occur in 23 of the 27 books in the New Testament; in fact, his return is mentioned on nearly every page of the New Testament.

The Apostle Paul even summarized the expectations of the Christian life as simply “to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven” (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10).

This Sunday at 10am, you can learn how to make that a perfect description of your own 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 March 17

Used couch for $27; cat included.


Dubious Honor: Austin “ranks sixth for heavy drinkers, eighth for binge drinkers, and tenth for overall drinking.”


“10 Annoying Habits of a Geeky Spouse.” I’m sometimes guilty of 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9. (Of course, specifying what parts of a blog list you’re guilty of is the 11th annoying habit of a geeky spouse.)


Britney Spears under orders to read the Bible every day.


“ [C]ollecting Facebook friends is the equivalent of being a cat lady, collecting numerous Himalayans, which you have neither the time nor the inclination to feed” (Matt Labash in “Down with Facebook!” in the Weekly Standard).


Michael Spencer says an anti-Christian chapter in Western history is about to begin and out of the ruins a new vitality and integrity will rise. Mark Galli at CT says, well, yes and no. He expects cultural evangelicalism to fade (though not in 10 years), but never evangelicalism itself.


Cool arrangements of some old songs: Page CXVI (HT: Between Two Worlds)


“Ever since the Internet made itself indispensable, experts have observed its unmatched potential for facilitating good and evil. When we desperately need teachers who relate biblical truth to current thoughts and trends, the Internet provides them with an effective and efficient forum. Yet the Internet also demolishes safeguards that formerly suppressed our sin nature….Since we can't ignore the Internet's opportunities, we must learn to minimize its vices. That starts with asking whether our Internet personalities reveal more about ourselves than we'd like to admit” (from Collin Hansen’s “Blogs: A Window to Our Souls” in CT)


“Until my encounter with conservatism I had only known the racial determinism of segregation on the one hand and of white liberalism on the other -- two varieties of white supremacy in which I could only be dependent and inferior. The appeal of conservatism is the mutuality it asserts between individual and political freedom, its beautiful idea of a free man in a free society. And it offers minorities the one thing they can never get from liberalism: human rather than racial dignity.” (Shelby Steele)


“Since Obama began running for president, researchers have made some rather amazing strides in alternative stem cell research. Science and ethics finally fell in love, in other words, and Obama seems to have fallen asleep during the kiss. Either that, or he decided that keeping an old political promise was more important than acknowledging new developments. In the process, he missed an opportunity to prove that he is pro-science but also sensitive to the concerns of taxpayers who don't want to pay for research that requires embryo destruction.” (Everyone should read Kathleen Parker’s commentary on stem cell research. I wrote about Obama’s decision to fund this research here.)


“Earlier this week, when President Obama lifted the ban on federal funding of stem-cell research using destroyed human embryos, I said the moral dilemmas in this field would become increasingly difficult. Buckle up. We're on our way.” (That’s how William Saletan, an author hardly mistaken for a right-winger, opens a chilling article in Slate, an e-zine hardly mistaken for a right-wing publication. The article is called “Drill Babies, Drill,” about an Oxford professor who seriously recommends that we begin harvesting organs of aborted fetuses. Yikes. But when we’re letting “science” and not “ideology” drive our ethics, as President Obama declared in his plans to fund embryonic-destructive stem cell research, what’s stopping us from moving from harvesting fetuses after harvesting embryos?)


To those who would say that there are there are myriad pro-life issues, including the environment and health care, David Brooks writes, “It is true that nearly every political issue concerns the preservation of human life. But not every issue concerns the definition of the human community -- whom we count as one among us, and whom we cast beyond our protection” (article).


I Am Part of A Lost Generation (HT: Joe Carter’s Commonplace):

Song of the Week: U2's "White as Snow"

One more U2 track for "Song of the Week" before Bono Fatigue sets in. Again, off their No Line on the Horizon, click to listen to "White As Snow." Yes, that's the tune to "O Come O Come Emmanuel" running through--



Where I came from there were no hills at all
The land was flat, the highways straight and wide
My brother and I would drive for hours
Like we had years instead of days
Our faces as pale as the dirty snow

Once I knew there was a love divine
Then came a time I thought it knew me not
Who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not
Only the lamb as white as snow

And the water, it was icy
As it washed over me
And the moon shone above me

Now this dry ground it bears no fruit at all
Only poppies laugh under the crescent moon
The road refuses strangers
The land the seeds we sow
Where might we find the lamb as white as snow

As boys we would go hunting in the woods
To sleep the night shooting out the stars
Now the wolves are every passing stranger
Every face we cannot know
If only a heart could be as white as snow
If only a heart could be as white as snow

Fashion Conscious NeoCalvinists

Time magazine lists “The New Calvinism” among “10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now” (HT: Between Two Worlds). Theologically, I’m right there with them, and have been for over 30 years since I first embraced the doctrines of grace. But there is a subculture of American-style neoCalvinism that doesn’t consider you gonzo for God unless you like—and hate—the right things. You’re suspect if you don’t carry the ESV*, if you preach topical sermons occasionally*, if you find Rick Warren helpful sometimes*, and if you use the phrase “seeker-sensitive” in your ministry*--which is, dude, so last-decade. They pride themselves on being countercultural, but they can be as fashion conscious about the outer trappings of their movement as teen girls in a mall.

*Yes, the ESV is a fine translation; yes, an exposition of one text is my “default setting” for preaching; yes, Rick Warren misses the point sometimes; yes, some pastors who call themselves seeker-sensitive are nothing more than marketers.

The Prodigal Sons

This Sunday night I conclude a study series called "Modern Parables" with the Parable of the Prodigal Son(s). Join us in the Parlor next to the gym from 5:30 to 6:45 on March 15. Check out the trailer of the video lesson:

What's Wrong with the Statesman's Endorsement of Obama's Stem Cell Funding Decision

The Statesman editorial today praised President Obama for opening the door to taxpayer-funded research on embryo-destructive stem cell research Monday.

Where to begin.

“Getting Rid of a Restrictive Ban”

First, like most coverage of this story, the editors presented Obama as “getting rid of a restrictive ban”--as if no stem cell research has been going on in privately-funded endeavors until Monday, and as if federal funding of such research had once flowed to stem cell research before President Bush. In fact, President Bush was the first to release taxpayer money to this research. But he did so through a carefully-crafted compromise designed to respect the objections of opponents.

This compromise is what has been removed. Ironically, the compromise has been removed from a President who wants to be known as a pragmatic consensus-builder on the complex issues over which good Americans happen to disagree.

There are plenty of success stories in stem cell research that does not require the destruction of human life at its earliest stage. If President Obama really wanted to support a compromise with taxpayer money, he should be promoting these alternative sources. As Ryan T. Anderson points out, "The dispute is not about whether stem-cell science should proceed; it is about how it will proceed. Will it go forward in a way that respects all human life? Or will it regard the taking of human life in its early stages as justified by the desire to advance biomedical knowledge and seek therapies?”

Sadly, Obama’s action on Monday revoked “not only the Bush restrictions on embryo destructive research funding, but also the 2007 executive order that encourages the National Institutes of Health to explore non-embryo-destructive sources of stem cells” (story).

“Ideological Concerns”

Second, the Statesman editors approved Obama’s insistence “that ideological concerns that produced the ban be discounted in federally funded research.”

This is curious, since “ideological concerns” are precisely what we are supposed to debate in a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, before the people fund anything. As Robert George and Eric Cohen write:

The question of whether to destroy human embryos for research purposes is not fundamentally a scientific question; it is a moral and civic question about the proper uses, ambitions and limits of science. It is a question about how we will treat members of the human family at the very dawn of life; about our willingness to seek alternative paths to medical progress that respect human dignity.

But now, as David Brooks writes in the NY Times, researchers “have been freed from the vulgar moralism of the masses, so they can operate according to the vulgar utilitarianism of their own social clique -- the belief that some human lives can be planted, plucked and processed for the benefit of others.”

Now, it's important to note that President Obama is in no way consistent when he objects to “ideological” concerns interfering with scientific research. While in Monday’s announcement the President claimed that the former ban on embryonic-destructive stem cell research was “ideological” and “political,” he nevertheless laid out an equally-ideological assurance that his government would never be involved in cloning which, he said, is “profoundly wrong and has no place in our society, or any society.”

So let’s get this straight: objections to the destruction of human life at its earliest stage is an “ideology” that should not be “imposed” artificially on scientific research. But cloning: well, we can impose our ideological squeamishness upon scientific research in that field. Why is the first objection an imposition of irrational sentiment upon science and not the other? And, if neither President Obama--nor the Statesman editors--can answer this question, how long will moral objections to cloning last?

It’s not just prolife writers who have raised eyebrows over the idea that objecting to embryo-destructive stem cell research is simply imposing “politics” over scientific freedom. Pro-choice writer, William Saletan wrote in Slate:

Think about what’s being dismissed here as “politics” and “ideology.” You don’t have to equate embryos with full-grown human beings—I don’t—to appreciate the danger of exploiting them. Embryos are the beginnings of people. They’re not parts of people. They’re the whole thing, in very early form. Harvesting them, whether for research or medicine, is different from harvesting other kinds of cells. It’s the difference between using an object and using a subject. How long can we grow this subject before dismembering it to get useful cells? How far should we strip-mine humanity in order to save it?

“Mindful of the Ethical Issues”

Third, the Statesman editorial fails to acknowledge exactly how objections to embryo-destructive stem cell research should be included in policy matters. President Bush opened the door to federal funding with a compromise meant to take seriously these moral objections. All President Obama has done is acknowledge that good people have concerns while failing to include those concerns in any actionable way. “In lifting Bush’s ban,” the Statesman editors write, “Obama noted the thorny religious and ethical issues surrounding embryonic stem cell research. Many people consider the embryos the beginning of life and oppose research that destroys them.”

Well, perhaps we should be impressed that Obama “noted” the concerns before running past them. But what a curious phrase the editors chose: “Many people consider the embryos the beginning of life.” Many people? Does anyone challenge that the embryo is the beginning of human life? It doesn’t require religious conviction to say so.

No, what we’re debating is not whether the embryo is the beginning of human life but whether it’s ethical to exploit human life for the possible betterment of other human life. “The stem-cell fight wasn’t a fight between ideology and science,” the prochoice author William Saletan wrote, “It was a fight between 5-day-olds and 50-year-olds. The 50-year-olds won.”

But the 50-year-olds won while assuring us that they would remain somehow mindful of the moral objections. “Science needed to be freed from the ban,” the Statesman editors write, “but should be ever mindful of the ethical issues involved in stem cell research.” The editors have yet to inform us on what those ethical issues are and what being “ever mindful” of them looks like.

If you’re new to the stem cell debate, this “Q&A: Frequently asked questions about stem cell research“ will give you a start.

Winning Ways: Woeful Ways

What does Jesus hate?

Now, there’s a question to provoke some squirming. If your childhood Sunday School classes were like mine, you may have grown up with the impression that Jesus was just Mr. Rogers with a beard. And some of us have grown into adulthood still preferring that image of Jesus as kindly, soothing, reassuring, and harmless.

So what do you do with Matthew 23?

In this chapter, Jesus lowers the boom on the religious establishment of his day. Seven times he begins a statement with the prophetic phrase “Woe to you!” It was a statement mixed with both condemnation and sadness. Condemnation, because choices have real consequences. Sadness, because things could have—should have—been very different.

So, what does Jesus hate? We need to look at his seven “woes” because part of loving Jesus means avoiding the things that disappoint him.

This Sunday we’ll examine the seven things that Jesus hates so we can clear our lives of them. Two weeks ago we discovered that our entire focus should be on love for God and for others. This week you’ll discover what life looks like when we take our focus off that target. Every one of the seven “woes” in Matthew 23 involves either a neglect of love for God or a neglect of love for others.

“Bible Across America.” My thanks to all who volunteered for the “Bible Across America” tour stop at Hillcrest last Sunday! Karina Kling at News 8 and Bob Banta at the Statesman did a fine job covering the event, and you can find the following names in their stories: Aimee Johnson, Isaiah Davis, Randal Preston, Lauren Duffin, Melissa Juranek, Rucker Hoskins, Jim Varnado, Amanda Huffman, Karen Raulie. You’ll also see images of the Watkins family, Earl Cossey and his mom, Ruth Ann. Click here for the story and click on the "Hand Written Word" in the video section. The Statesman also ran a story. Read it online (and see photos here).

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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 March 10

Here is media coverage of the “Bible Across America” tour stop at Hillcrest. Recognize any names from your Hillcrest Family?


On Facebook, more than 900 groups use a variation of ‘follower of Jesus’ instead of ‘Christian’ to identify themselves. “It doesn't carry baggage,” Lisa Miller reports for Newsweek.


Flashback to a Nov 2007 “Links to Your World”: Check out the tongue-in-cheek Top 10 Coolest Ways to Avoid Using the Word "Christian" in Your Facebook "Religious Views"


“During 24's run…[Jack] Bauer has killed 201 people in seven days (and a two-hour special)—so far. By way of comparison, Friday the 13th's Jason Voorhees murdered just 146 people in the franchise's 29 years.” (“Jack Bauer’s Seven Really Bad Days”)


I have a recommendation for Baylor’s next president.


If David Brooks’ math is right, we’re on track for national deficits of “$1 trillion a year and stretch as far as the eye can see.” Want to know what one TRILLION dollars look like?


The Statesman reports that 1 of every 22 adults in Texas is in prison, on parole or probation. The national average is 1 in 33. Hillcrest is involved in getting people back on track after incarceration.


“When it comes to [what God wills], many display monstrous foolishness. They subject the works of God to their reasoning, presume to know his secret counsels, and pass premature judgment on things that are ultimately a mystery. What can be more preposterous than to insult the hidden judgments of God? It's no wonder that so many today tear at the doctrine of providence with venomed teeth, or assail it with their bark. We Christians are rightly criticized for not being content with obeying God's commands, in which the will of God is more clearly comprehended, and for not simply maintaining that the world is governed by a wise God” (John Calvin, from a bi-monthly CT column running throughout 2009 in celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformer’s birth)


“A Texas-sized battle over scrapping a longtime requirement that Lone Star State students be taught weaknesses in the theory of evolution has split politicians, parents, and professors who teach biology at the state's Christian universities” (CT story). This includes professors at Baylor University can also be found on both sides. Some professors at Christian universities have signed a 21st Century Science Coalition petition that supports new curriculum standards for Texas public schools that advocate Darwin’s theory as unassailable. Others have signed a petition titled “A Scientific Dissent from Darwinism.”


“If history and demographics are on the side of same-sex marriage, one wonders why journalists, Hollywood executives, and gay activists didn't just sit tight and wait. Why voluntarily sabotage their cause with a coordinated campaign of bigoted, violent, and hateful reactions to recent public votes on the matter?” (Mollie Ziegler Hemingway at CT)


President Obama will reverse the carefully-crafted compromise on stem cell research that has been in place since 2001. Your federal dollars will go to research that destroys human embryos in an effort to find medical breakthroughs. It’s a step backward for a culture of life. If you are prolife evangelical who voted for him, what are you going to do about it?


Obama aides clear clergy prayers before rallies. Um, on the unlikely chance that I’d ever be asked to lead a prayer for any president’s event, here’s a head’s-up: no one’s vetting my prayers.


“Can't we English-speakers just agree upon a gender-neutral pronoun?” (story) Each reader will have his or her reaction to this story, and s/he will get a chance to reply in the comments section where men and women from around the country can read what she or he has written.


From Today’s Christian Woman: “The Day I Left My Marriage (And the unusual advice that challenged my decision)”


Modern life can allow little time to maintain meaningful relationships, so what's the optimum number of friends? Between six and twelve, according to this BBC article.


Clint Eastwood: "People have lost their sense of humor. In former times we constantly made jokes about different races. You can only tell them today with one hand over your mouth, otherwise you will be insulted as a racist. ... I find that ridiculous. In those earlier days every friendly cliché had a 'Sam the Jew' or 'Jose the Mexican'—but we didn't think anything of it or have a racist thought. It was normal that we made jokes based on our nationality or ethnicity. That was never a problem. I don't want to be politically correct. We're all spending too much time and energy trying to be politically correct about everything." —ain an interview with Germany's Der Spiegel magazine [dailymail.co.uk, 2/26/09] (HT: Culture Clips)

Bible Across America Media Coverage

News 8 Austin covered the "Bible Across America" tour stop at Hillcrest yesterday. Click here for the story and click on the "Hand Written Word" in the video section.

The "Bible Across America" RV will be at the UT campus tomorrow (Tuesday). They will be next to the Baptist Student Ministry building on San Antonio, one block off the Drag behind the Co-op.

Update: The Statesman also ran a story. Read it online (and see photos here). However, ignore the comments section. While you can’t be anonymous in the “letter to the editor” section of the print edition of the paper, the online version allows anonymous comments. Don’t reply to those who, while hiding behind anonymity, lower the civil discourse of our community.

My thanks to Karina Kling at News 8 and Bob Banta at the Statesman for doing a fine job covering the event.

You can find the following names in their stories: Aimee Johnson, Isaiah Davis, Randal Preston, Lauren Duffin, Melissa Juranek, Rucker Hoskins, Jim Varnado, Amanda Huffman, Karen Raulie. You’ll also see images of the Watkins family, Earl Cossey and his mom, Ruth Ann.

By the way, the verse I was assigned to write was Isaiah 28:6, "He [the Lord Almighty] will be a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, a sourse of strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate."

Song of the Week: U2's "Magnificent"

Here's a song from U2's latest, No Line on the Horizon. On track 2, "Magnificent," Bono and the Edge declare why they were born: "Justified till we die, you and I will magnify The Magnificant." The reference to being "justified" is a biblical concept “Since we have been justified through faith," Paul wrote in Romans 5:1, "we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Click here to listen:



Lyrics here.

My Recommendation for Baylor's Next President

Baylor regents have asked for input and recommendations in their search for the university's next president. If you're an alum, a faculty member, or the parent of a student, you really should take advantage of their invitation.

I hope the regents will take a serious look at Ken Hemphill. A Wake Forest football star and Cambridge scholar (PhD in New Testament), Hemphill has served as pastor of Baptist churches and as president of Southwestern Seminary.

Diane and I had lunch with Dr. Hemphill and his wife, Paula, after I spoke at a chapel service at Southwestern about 11 years ago. One lunch doesn't do any more than establish a first impression, but my first impression was a good one. I hope the search committee adds him to the list.

Regardless of the candidates they consider, what qualities should they look for? The next president doesn't have to be Baptist to lead the world's largest Baptist university, though the regents should find a man or woman with noted commitment to evangelical faith and values (i.e., someone whom an avid reader of Christianity Today would consider one of their own).

However, if the search committee tries to find someone from within the Baptist family, they should avoid someone who has played any key role in the CBF-SBC trench warfare of the last 30 years. While it will be impossible to find any Baptist leader who's been completely unaffiliated in either the SBC or the CBF, the search committee should avoid foot soldiers from either side.

Beyond that, the Baylor family needs a president with a good track record in both teaching and administration. Someone who's taught in the classroom or a pulpit (or both) can better appreciate the Baylor vision, and someone who's got a good track record in administering an academic program will provide the leadership the Baylor family needs.

My two-cents: I think Ken Hemphill fits this bill.

A Sermon Listener's Guide

Pastor Eric Smith provided this Sermon Listener’s Guide to his congregation. Good questions to ask after every sermon you hear:

What was the biblical text of the sermon?

Do I better understand this passage now than I did before?

What was the main point or main points of the sermon?

How did this message teach me about Christ and the Gospel?

What truths do I need to believe because of this sermon?

What application points were made in this sermon?

What further personal application can I make for myself?

What actions am I called to take this week because of this sermon?

How did this sermon rebuke me or convict me of sin?

How did this sermon bring me joy and hope?

What questions do I still have about the biblical text or the sermon?

How will this message impact my praying this week?

Was I able to receive this word with gladness and a clear conscience, or is there some sin or distraction in my life that robbed me of the joy of hearing God speak to me?

LeaderLines: Three Essential Activities for Your Class or Group

Can an over-emphasis on Bible study actually hurt your Sunday School class or Common Ground group? Bill Search thinks so.

But, he says, so can an over-emphasis on fellowship to the neglect of good Bible study. Likewise, an over-emphasis on service projects to the neglect of fellowship can harm your Sunday School class or Common Ground group.

In this article, Search discusses three core tasks every class or group should fulfill: connecting, changing, and cultivating. He says that “we should try to harmonize them and avoid letting one pattern become the obsession of the group that swamps all the others.”

But some groups or classes get obsessed with one task to the neglect of the other two.

First, there are the “Connecting-Obsessed Groups.” This is a group that simply wants fellowship to flourish among their members. “A group that is obsessed with connecting,” Search writes, “might start strong but end with a fizzle,” because “the connecting pattern alone will not hold a group together for long.”

Second, there are the “Change-Obsessed Groups.” These groups “usually have an insatiable thirst for intense ‘Bible study’ that leads to becoming more like Jesus in a particular area.” Isn’t that what we want of our Sunday School classes or Common Ground groups? Well, Search says if the only reason you’re gathering is to gain biblical information, your group won’t last. For example, he recalls moving hundreds of people through an excellent curriculum on financial stewardship but only a few groups ever continued after the material ended:

The material was highly structured. Side conversations had to be kept to a minimum and discussion was discouraged, since the limited time was to be spent answering the questions in the book and watching the video. The closest thing to relational development was the one potluck night and a brief time to share prayer requests….That ultimately squashed the little community that was beginning to form. In the long run, change might have been even more significant if we journeyed with the same people beyond ten weeks.

Third, there are the “Cultivating-Obsessed Groups.” These groups focus on “developing a missional life focused on serving and sharing the faith.” Again, the passion is commendable, but the group won’t last without harmonizing this passion with the work of building fellowship (“connection”) and engaging in Bible study (“change”). “Some cultivation groups are designed to last only for a season,” Search notes, “but many people lament forming relationships only to lose them when the project is over.”

Does your Sunday School class or Common Ground group harmonize these three activities, or do you find a particular activity dominating your class or group? Lift up a prayer for your leaders and do your part to help your class or group pursue all three priorities.

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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.

Prison and Ministry

The Statesman reports that 1 of every 22 adults in Texas is in prison, on parole or probation. The national average is 1 in 33.

Hillcrest is involved in getting people back on track after incarceration.

Winning Ways: A Celebration of the Bible

By the age of 18, she had abandoned her belief in God. At 20, she married a fervent atheist. For the next 30 years she became one of the best-read authors in America, writing books about vampires and witches that “reflected my quest for meaning in a world without God.”

And then Anne Rice came to Christ.

It began by studying the Bible during her frequent periods of depression. But even after placing her faith in Jesus, she wondered about the reliability of the Bible.

Maybe you can identify.

Maybe you’re stalled in your spiritual search or your spiritual growth because you doubt the Bible’s dependability. This Sunday, I’m going give you 5 reasons you can trust the Bible for reliable information about the life and teaching of Jesus. And then I want to give you a chance to participate in a national event in celebration of the Bible.

As a new believer, Rice began to research the New Testament era through the writings of skeptical and liberal historians. She said she “expected to discover that their arguments would be frighteningly strong, and that Christianity was, at heart, a kind of fraud.”

The opposite occurred. “What gradually came clear to me,” she wrote, “was that many of the skeptical arguments--arguments that insisted most of the Gospels were suspect, for instance, or written too late to be eyewitness accounts--lacked coherence....Absurd conclusions were reached on the basis of little or no data at all.”

In the end, she discovered firm evidence for the reliability of the biblical record. I want to show you some of that evidence. This Sunday, join us at 10am to learn five reasons you can trust the Bible.

And join us anytime between 11am and 5pm for a celebration called “Bible Across America.”

On Sunday, you’ll see a huge blue RV parked in front of our church. Hillcrest is one of 90 stops in 44 states for the RV, which has set up in places as diverse as New York’s Times Square and NASCAR races.

Participants will be given one of the 31,173 verses from the NIV Bible to write out in their own handwriting. The original edition of the completed project will be submitted to the Smithsonian while copies will be sold nationwide by Christmas 2009. You’ll be able to see your handwritten verse—and your name in the index.

Join us for a special Sunday in celebration of the Bible!

(For more information about “Bible Across America” click here)

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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 March 3

The new U2 project, “No Line on the Horizon,” drops today:

Listen here by clicking on No Line on the Horizon on the music player.

The Best Line from Any Review of U2’s New Album: “These are songs that could only have been written by Bono, the aging, iconic rock star in love with Jesus and himself in equal measure, and bothered by the incongruity. They are great spiritual and human songs” (Christianity Today)

“30 Years of U2”--Time magazine’s photo gallery.

"Drowning Man" from U2s 1983 album, War, is this week's Song of the Week.

Why are there so many English Bible translations? This is a good introduction. Personally, I think a “dynamic” translation (like the NIV) is a more realistic aim for conveying Greek and Hebrew into English. And those who claim the “formal equivalent” translations (like the NASB or the ESV) aren’t “functional equivalent” in many places are fooling themselves.


Hillcrest is the host site for the NIV “Bible Across America” national tour when it stops in Austin this Sunday, March 8. More information here.


Check out my Austin sister’s new non-profit organization, the Multicultural Refugee Coalition at http://www.mrcaustin.org/. Meg writes, “Things are going really well with it all and we are hosting a Thursday night community night where we teach drivers ed and computer skills. Soon we will also be teaching sewing! We are looking for a community center of our own but are blessed to be able to use the community space at a YMCA which works really well for now. It's the same place where I teach English to refugees which I absolutely love.”


A retired farmer has spent more than 30 years building an enormous scale model of Herod's temple (Photo Gallery)


What is a ‘spiritual’ movie?


“Not worth his salt”? “Top banana”? “Cut the mustard”? 12 Food Phrases Explained


Justin Case, Barb Dwyer and Stan Still. Real—and unfortunate—names parents thought were cute.


The 15 Strangest College Courses in America


“Young people aged 6-17 who attend religious services weekly are linked to positive developmental outcomes, according to a report entitled Marriage, Religion and the Common Good, which is based on the National Survey of Children’s Health.” (Story)


Long working hours may raise the risk of mental decline and possibly dementia, research suggests. (HT: Neatorama)


A 15-year-old wants to establish a “Cuss-Free Week” in Los Angeles every first week in March.


How to Pray for Joni Earekson Tada.


For presenters in business settings—and increasingly for pastors in church settings—you need to know how to speak while people are Twittering. This article outlines the advantages and advice for doing so.


“We are all either very young, young, or still young. Everyone at every age believes, despite full-length mirrors, that they are hip, cool, hot, with it, and where it’s at…This is not fair. Most of us looked forward to a time when we would be able to sit in an easy chair and explain to our know-it-all kids just why they didn’t know it all….We eagerly anticipated the moment when our grandchildren would hop on our lap and let us tell them the story of ordering our first McDonald’s hamburger. (‘And it was 15 cents!’) Now we text message them to see if they want to come over and play Wii” (Chuck Cohen)


Erich Bridges highlights some predictions from the World Future Society, including the coming yottabyte, the delay of major life decisions, and the continued shrinking of organized religion.


Fascinating NYT interview with Dambisa Moyo, a Zambian with advanced degrees in public policy and economics from Harvard and Oxford, who is publishing Dead Aid, an attack on West aid to her African continent. The NYT provocatively calls her “the Anti-Bono.” When asked, “What do you think has held back Africans?” she answered, “I believe it’s largely aid. You get the corruption — historically, leaders have stolen the money without penalty — and you get the dependency, which kills entrepreneurship. You also disenfranchise African citizens, because the government is beholden to foreign donors and not accountable to its people.”


I’ll be spending a month teaching at the Baptist Seminary of Zambia this summer. You can help me plan my seminar.

Song of the Week: U2's "Drowning Man"

U2's new album, No Line on the Horizon, drops Tuesday. So let's go back to when they first landed on the scene. From 1983's War, here's "Drowning Man." Excuse the pops and scratches: you're getting this from my well-worn album (exposing my ancient-ness):



I was just out of college and heading to seminary when this punk-tinged album showed up in record stores. You would have had to lived thru the 70s to know how revolutionary it was to hear any devotional reference to Jesus anywhere outside the self-imposed ghetto of the nascant evangelical subculture.

"It's a mind-blowing concept," Bono, U2's lead singer once told a journalist, "that the God who created the universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with people, but the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between grace and karma."

When the journalist asked him what that difference was, Bono said that the idea of karma is central to all religions: "What you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics—in physical laws—every action is met by an equal or an opposite one. It's clear to me that karma is at the very heart of the universe. I'm absolutely sure of it. And yet, along comes this idea called grace to upend all that 'as you reap, so you will sow' stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I've done a lot of stupid stuff....It doesn't excuse my mistakes, but I'm holding out for grace. I'm holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don't have to depend on my own religiosity" (Michka Assayas, Bono: In Conversation, Riverhead Books, 2005.

Lyrics to "Drowning Man"--

Take my hand
You know I'll be there
If you can
I'll cross the sky for your love
For I have promised
Oh, to be with you tonight
And for the time that will come
Take my hand
You know I'll be there
If you can
I'll cross the sky for your love
And I understand
These winds and tides
This change of times
Won't drag you away
Hold on, and hold on tightly
Hold on, and don't let go
Of my love

The storms will pass...the storm will pass...
It won't be long now...it won't be long now...
His love will last
His love will last...forever

Take my hand
You know I'll be there
If you can
I'll cross the sky for your love
Give you what I hold dear

Hold on, hold on tightly
Hold on, hold on tightly
Rise up, rise up
With wings like eagles
You run, you run
You run and not grow weary

...Take my hand, take my hand...
Hold on, and hold on tightly
Hold on, hold on tightly
To this love...last forever
To this love...last forever

Take my hand