Song of the Week: Bob Dylan's "Forever Young"

It's graduation time, so this one seemed fitting. Here's Bob Dylan singing "Forever Young"

LeaderLines: Leadership in the Reactive Zone

“Ultimately, one of the key tasks of leadership that has been entrusted to us is this--helping churches move beyond what they may WANT to be and do so that they can become all that they NEED to be in Christ. That’s leadership.”

That’s an important word that Hillcrest leaders need to hear. About a year ago, Ed Stetzer posted an article from Rev! magazine about how to lead churches through necessary change. “Many times, churches must face the reality of not living up to their God-given potential,” he wrote. “They may need to feel the pain of having children who no longer come to their parents’ church or friends and neighbors who want nothing to do with the church. In a loving way, we may need to help them see that staying the same will not lead to making a Great Commission impact. Change is not only important but necessary.”

But leading a church through change will inevitably mean a sojourn in what Stetzer calls the “Reactive Zone.”

“When faced with the reality of needing to change, many established congregations will function in…the Reactive Zone,” he wrote. “People will react to change by adopting the attitude that, ‘We don’t really need to change. We just need to work harder at what we are already doing….’ They try to regulate their way out of the situation rather than really dealing with the change process that is needed.”

While the biblical objectives of a church should never change, the way in which we fulfill those objectives must always be reviewed. When the review finds changes that need to be made, however, many people will fall into a Reactive Zone where they insist that the church’s effectiveness lies in simply working harder at (or reinstituting) a particular program, schedule, or music style that was in place many years ago.

And the longer a church has been around, the more likely that church will fall into the Reactive Zone when changes are proposed. Stetzer wrote:

One of the challenges in changing a church is its history. Not because its history is bad but because it provides an idealized memory of what things once were rather than a path into a future that must be. And, the more successful a past was, the more likely people want to return to it-- which is why those who were most successful in a past paradigm have the most difficulty transitioning to the next.

When you’re leading people who are in this Reactive Zone, “attention needs to be given to developing people’s awareness and understanding of the situation, not to strategic plans or organization.” In other words, leaders can’t just proceed with program changes without helping their people understand the need for change. This requires patience, listening, and continual relationship building.

“This is usually not the first instinct of reactive zone leaders in crisis,” Stetzer observed, “who often address their own anxiety by coming up with some form of bold plan.”

This urgency by church leaders is understandable even if it is misguided. “As pastors and leaders, we often see the need for change long before those we are leading,” Stetzer admitted. “Remember, as you observe the need for change and spend hours or days at a time contemplating and wrestling with needed changes, the people in your congregation have not had the benefit of all that reflection and thought process that has already gone on in your heart and mind. Often, it will be helpful for you to ‘unpack’ change more slowly than you desire to unpack it. This will give people time to think through the impact of needed changes and adjust.”

Bottom Line: It takes time and trust to move people through the Reactive Zone into much-needed changes. It’s a good reminder to all of us who lead.

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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.

Facebook's Big Failing

If you're on Facebook, tell me if this has ever happened to you.

Come to think of it, unless you've signed up for e-mail notifications from Facebook, it may be happening to you and you don't even know it.

I'm speaking about Facebook's failure to notify you when people make a "friend request."

I checked the option to receive email notification when there's action on my account (like a message, or a wall note, or a friend request). So, I get emails when someone makes a friend request. It looks like this:

"[Name] added you as a friend on Facebook. We need to confirm that you know [name] in order for you to be friends on Facebook. To confirm this friend request, follow the link below."

On three occasions in the last two days I dutifully click the link and...nothing, nada, zip. No notice anywhere on my Facebook pages that anyone has requested anything of me.

This occasionally happened when I first began on Facebook. It's happened 3 times in the last two days.

I'd really like to keep up with Paul Drake, and I'd like to re-connect with Jackie Hansen and Jimmy Daniel. My email notification service from FBook says they've tried to friend me, but there's absolutely no indication on my site that they've done so, so I can't reply to them. They will simply assume their friend request is being ignored--and I have absolutely no other contact information on one of them, so that's a shame.

What gives? What's the solution?

Has this happened to you?

And . . . if you aren't signed up for email notification, do you even know how many friend requests you've unintentionally ignored?

Drop me a line if you have a similar story--or a solution!

4 Hours in London: Suggestions?

Enroute to Zambia I will have an 8-hour layover at Heathrow in London.  That should give me about 4-5 hours in London.  Suggestions on where to go are welcomed!

Winning Ways: Become a Wise Guy

Are you a paroemiologist? It would be wise to become one, because a paroemiologist is the formal name for someone who studies proverbs.

Wolfgang Mieder of the University of Vermont is considered the world’s foremost paroemiologist. Smithsonian magazine reported that Mieder owns “the world’s most extensive private proverb library—5000 books, dissertations, monographs and articles, plus an 8000-slide archive of proverbs in art, advertising and elsewhere, including on dish towels.”

Much of his work has involved sifting through archives to get to the earliest use of a proverb.

“Proverbs are crystallized bits of wisdom,” Mieder says. “A proverb is a concise statement of an apparent truth that has currency.”

He estimates that there are close to 20,000 proverbs in popular use in the United States today, and one of Mieder’s goals has been to establish a “proverbial minimum”—the 300 or so most used American proverbs. Among other uses, he believes that such a proverbial minimum will help immigrants learning English.

What modern proverbs do you think should belong among his privileged 300? “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”? Or “The early bird catches the worm”? Or “Charity begins at home”? How about “Garbage in, garbage out,” coined by computer programmers?

Why did Mieder decide to make it his life’s work to study proverbs? “It just clicked with me,” he told the magazine, “How they work, how they’re constructed, their history, and how they’re everywhere—from poetry to art, psychology, politics, and advertisements.”

We would all do well to become paroemiologists, too. And I think we should become astute scholars of a specific set of proverbs: those found in the Old Testament book called Proverbs.

That’s why we’re taking a couple of months to work through that biblical book in my Sunday morning sermons. The series is called “Bumper Sticker Wisdom,” and this week we’ll look at the God-breathed advice about our finances. Investors on Wall Street are said to be either “bullish” or “bearish” in their approach to the market, but Proverbs 6:6-11 says we really need to be “buggish.”

In April this year, USA Today asked adults ages 22-28 what they considered the most important issues facing young adults. Far, far ahead of every other response, 52 percent said, “making better money management decisions.” I don’t think that the need for sound financial advice is limited to just young adults. Come this Sunday @ 10 and get some “Financial Advice from a Bug.”

We’ve created an “e-vite” on our website for you to send to your friends. Or you can just forward this email to your friends.

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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 May 26

Having a little too much drama in your life today? Then click “The Drama Button.”


“If you want to understand the state of American religion, you need to understand why so many people love Dan Brown….He’s writing thrillers, but he’s selling a theology….In the Brownian worldview, all religions have the potential to be wonderful, so long as we can get over the idea that any one of them might be particularly true. It’s a message perfectly tailored for 21st-century America.” Ross Douthat writing in the NYT. He concludes: “You can have Jesus or Dan Brown. But you can’t have both.” So true.


“[You’re] the girl back home that I am fighting for.” The late Donna Reed kept and responded to over 300 letters from WW2 G.I.’s. Reading them now reveals a bygone era. Swell article.


“A week after releasing a poll for the first time showing a majority of Americans describe themselves as pro-life, the Gallup Organization reported new numbers showing public opinion moving to the right on a number of other social issues as well.” (story)


Seven out of 10 people who drop out of the church will do so between the ages of 18 and 22. If your son/daughter or grandchild is in that age range, here are some things you can do about that.


“The worst recession in a generation is disrupting migration patterns and overturning lives across the country. Yet, cities like Portland, along with Austin, Texas, Seattle and others, continue to be draws for the young, educated workers that communities and employers covet. What these cities share is a hard-to-quantify blend of climate, natural beauty, universities and -- more than anything else -- a reputation as a cool place to live. For now, an excess of young workers is adding to the ranks of the unemployed. But holding on to these people through the downturn will help cities turn around once the economy recovers.” (“'Youth Magnet' Cities Hit Midlife Crisis” in the WSJ)


“What information consumes is rather obvious: It consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” Polymath economist Herbert A. Simon, quoted in Sam Anderson’s excellent NY Magazine piece, “In Defense of Distraction.” You really should read this; the problem is, the ones who most need it are already to distracted to read it all the way through….


Teenagers send an average of 80 text messages a day. “The phenomenon is beginning to worry physicians and psychologists, who say it is leading to anxiety, distraction in school, falling grades, repetitive stress injury and sleep deprivation” (NY Times)


In BC’s “Not Too Late to Find Lost,” Tyler Charles contemplates the cult TV sensation in the wake of its penultimate season finale.

How to Teach Your Wife Stuff

So I got this note today in reply to my message on "The Ideal Husband" from last Sunday: 

Pastor Tom,   

I decided this week, that it would be an encouragement to you to show you how I've attempted to live out your message from last Sunday, and provide feedback that may lead to more sermons that hit us where we need them.  I'm considering making this a weekly habit, so you can know how deeply you are impacting my life. 

What I took away from last week is that I should love my wife the way Christ loved the church.  So throughout the week, I thought to myself, if Emily were the church, and I were Christ, what would Christ do.   

At several points throughout the week, Emily wanted me to do something around the house.  I tried to explain to her, that I don't think Christ would help the church with the dishes.  If anything, from his example with Mary, we know that Christ discourages doing dishes in his presence.  Emily then told me, "You aren't Jesus, get in here and help me with the dishes".  Similar interactions happened throughout the week. 

Maybe it was because she was volunteering in Sunday school, and missed the sermon, but now I'm in a situation I don't know how to deal with.  Maybe you should do a sermon on how to teach your wife stuff, so I can get her on board with your teachings on the bible.

Song of the Week: Kim Hill's "Round and Round"

Here's one of the best songs the CCM industry ever produced, from the 1991 Grammy-nominated Brave Heart. (1991?!) Listen to Kim Hill singing "Round and Round." Have you figured out what she's figured out?

LeaderLines: Hillcrest's Formerly Unchurched

What does it take to reach unchurched people, and how are we doing in that effort?

To find out, I invited a few formerly unchurched people for pie and coffee at my house a few weeks ago. One was a 20-something woman who had no connection with any church before starting to attend ours about three years ago. Another was a young professional who was raised in another religion before placing her faith in Christ after personal Bible study in her university years. Hillcrest has been the first church experience she’s ever had. In attendance was a median-aged couple who started attending Hillcrest after being out of church for 30 years, having dropped out in high school. I also had a retired lawyer who had connected to Hillcrest after raising his family out of church for the last 40 years. One middle-aged single and a senior adult couple were reached by our telephone campaign after no church participation in 40 years.

Each of these persons has been at Hillcrest almost every Sunday since they’ve begun to attend 2-4 years ago. They have made their profession of faith here or they have renewed their love and loyalty to Jesus after years of little spiritual growth.

The reason I wanted to visit with them was to simply find out what “clicked” for them at Hillcrest after years without a commitment to Christ and to a church. Here are some of my conclusions from the meeting, in no particular order of importance.

First, I’m grateful for the “Connection Campaign” that Herb Ingram led the last two years in the Fall. God clearly used the Campaign to reach into the lives of several unconnected people.

Second, the Anchor Course has played a key role in the lives of the formerly unchurched. The eight-week study with me has given people a chance to ask their questions about Christianity and to gain more confidence about Christian basics.

Third, the formerly unchurched find Hillcrest to be a very welcoming church. All who visited with me at my house had stories to tell about those who befriended them, called them, remembered their names on subsequent visits to the church, and invited them to activities outside the church program. Keep up the good work!

Fourth, the formerly unchurched feel that Hillcrest really is a place where people can “find and follow Jesus together.” Before walking into Hillcrest, they assumed they would be the only ones who were new to the place, unfamiliar with the Bible, or plagued with personal problems. Instead, they quickly found others who, like them, were newcomers still learning their way around Hillcrest. They found others who, like them, were willing to admit what they didn’t know about the Bible. And they found others who, like them, confessed the heartbreak of personal problems. In other words, the formerly unchurched appreciated the level of honesty they found here.

Fifth, as I talked with the formerly unchurched I was reminded again that God is in charge of this process of salvation and spiritual growth! Of course, we should never stop examining our church’s ministry to ensure we’re as welcoming to those who need to find Jesus as we are to those who are already following him. Still, God cares more for the lost and unchurched around us than we ever could, and he’s the one awakening them to his glory and grace—not us. We simply need to make ourselves available as instruments in his hand as he does his sovereign work in lives around us.

So, as you gather with your Hillcrest Family this Sunday, keep in mind how many unchurched people that God has turned into formerly unchurched people through the work of Hillcrest. And keep praying for that work to continue!

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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: Six Worship Music Principles

It is both a pleasure and a challenge to plan worship services for a church family with such a wide age range. Here are six principles from God’s Word that guide us as we plan the music.

First, biblical worship uses a variety of musical instruments. We should “sing joyful songs, accompanied by musical instruments” (1Chronicles 15:16). Think of the wide variety of musical instruments in the Bible: drums and tambourines, “clashing” cymbals, stringed instruments, “loud” trumpets, wood instruments, and even a cappella singing (see 1 Chron. 13:8; 15:16; 2 Chron. 5:13; Isaiah 38:20; Psalm 150; Matthew 26:30).

Second, biblical worship includes untrained congregational singing AND trained skillful singing. God wants the whole congregation to sing (Colossians 3:16), even while certain people are to be set aside to sing “skillfully” (1 Chronicles 25:6-7).

Third, biblical worship is expressive AND orderly. As you read the Word, have you noticed how expressive people are in worship? They’re clapping and shouting (Ps. 47), lifting hands (1 Tim. 2:8), bowing down (Ps. 66), and responding with a verbal "Amen" (1 Cor. 14:17). At the same time, the Bible says, “God is not a God of disorder,” and thus “everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way” (1 Corinthians 13:33, 40). So, we don’t want to be a church that’s expressive but not orderly. Neither do we want to be a church that’s orderly but not expressive.

Fourth, biblical worship includes songs of celebration AND songs of contemplation. Some don’t think a church service is reverent enough if the music is loud and boisterous; others don’t think a church service has life if the music is reflective and earnest. But in God’s Word, sometimes I read about loud instruments and shouts of praise and sometimes I read about bowing in hushed reverence in God’s presence. Seems to me God is pleased with both.

Fifth, biblical worship includes songs that express simple trust AND songs that express profound truth. In our services, sometimes we need to sing simple, childlike expressions of trust, like the one sung in heaven’s worship service in Revelation 4:11. On the other hand, sometimes we need those songs that plumb the theological depths, like the ancient hymn Paul quoted in Philippians 2:6-11.

Sixth, biblical worship includes songs that are old and songs that are new. In the Book of Revelation John described heaven’s worship service where he heard “the song of Moses” (15:2-3). Talk about your old songs! But he also heard “a new song” (5:9). So, I think we need songs that have endured through the generations as well as songs that express the faith in contemporary ways.

Gene and Jim and I want services at Hillcrest to help you respond in biblical ways to the biblical truths about God. It’s a privilege for us to serve you in this way!

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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 May 19

“What appears to be an airport sign (J33-3) on the cover of U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind is a biblical reference to Jeremiah 33:3” (Wired’s “Musical Mystery Tour: Messages Embedded in Your Favorite Album”).


An invitation from a family member or friend is the most effective way to get people to attend church, a new survey shows, casting doubt on several time-tested methods used by churches to attract new members. (story)


“Who are you upsetting? Who are you connecting? Who are you leading?” (3 questions in a fascinating TED Talk by Seth Godin)


Want to stay healthy? Wash your hands more often. The WSJ shows how and why.


“Is marriage on its way to becoming the relationship equivalent of our appendix (in that it's no longer needed but can cause a lot of pain)?” Lisa Davis, in Time magazine, on the rise of couples doing what she’s doing: forgoing marriage.


The NY Times says that on abortion President Obama is being “drawn into [a] debate he hoped to avoid.” How so? Sheryl Gay Stolberg says Obama has tried to walk the tightrope between the prochoice and prolife camps, but in what way? One would expect Stolberg to come up with grumbles from prochoice people to illustrate how Obama is caught in the middle. Instead, she quotes Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, who told allies that their movement was emerging from “eight years in the wilderness.”


“A new Gallup Poll, conducted May 7-10, finds 51% of Americans calling themselves ‘pro-life’ on the issue of abortion and 42% ‘pro-choice.’ This is the first time a majority of U.S. adults have identified themselves as pro-life since Gallup began asking this question in 1995.” The organization explains:

With the first pro-choice president in eight years already making changes to the nation's policies on funding abortion overseas, expressing his support for the Freedom of Choice Act, and moving toward rescinding federal job protections for medical workers who refuse to participate in abortion procedures, Americans -- and, in particular, Republicans -- seem to be taking a step back from the pro-choice position. However, the retreat is evident among political moderates as well as conservatives.

It is possible that, through his abortion policies, Obama has pushed the public's understanding of what it means to be "pro-choice" slightly to the left, politically.

Join the 2009 Day of Prayer and Fasting for World Evangelization May 31.


Understanding Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses is now available on iTunes for free. (HT: Between Two Worlds).


Charles Colson cites disturbing examples of how the insistence on gay marriage is leading to a restriction on religious liberty.


“First, the silver lining: people of faith are better citizens and better neighbors….Now, the cloud: young Americans are ‘vastly more secular’ than their older counterparts.” That’s the opener for a USA Today piece about the upcoming book by Robert Putnam and David Campbell. “Religious people are three to four times more likely to be involved in their community. They are more apt than nonreligious Americans to work on community projects, belong to voluntary associations, attend public meetings, vote in local elections, attend protest demonstrations and political rallies, and donate time and money to causes — including secular ones.” A key factor in the difference: the relationships that are built. “‘It's not faith that accounts for this,’ Putnam said. ‘It's faith communities.’ But many of those faith communities are dwindling, according to numerous studies of religious membership in the U.S., and those pews are not being replenished by young Americans, Putnam and Campbell said.” (story)


Baylor baseball has just tanked since mid-April. What gives?


A Christianity Today editorial says that evangelicals now have the “mainline” mantle once owned by what are still referred to as “mainline denominations.” They write, “So how do we, the new mainline, avoid becoming like the old mainline? While the factors in the decline of the old mainline (what some now call the sideline) are many, certainly theological compromise in a misguided pursuit of relevance at all costs played a major role. A rigorous and public recommitment to the unchanging truth of the gospel is essential if we are going to continue in bringing more people to the foot of the Cross and assist them in becoming fully devoted followers of Christ.”


. . . But Cathy Lynn Grossman of USA Today asks, “Will this work? Several evangelical groups, notably the Southern Baptist Convention, have been sharply focused on clear doctrine -- but have no growth to show for it. The biggest church in the USA, Joel Osteen's massive congregation in Texas, makes no mention of doctrine. Do you think churches will be able to reel back in those people who have found a level of comfort with spirituality on their own? Can unchanging truth stem the drift?” Hmm. . . .


News of two longitudinal studies appeared in major news venues this week. According to The Atlantic, the men of the Grant Study are now in their 80s, and they’ve been studied since they were sophomores at Harvard in research to determine what makes us well-adjusted to life. “Perhaps in this, I thought,” concludes the author, “lies the key to the good life—not rules to follow, nor problems to avoid, but an engaged humility, an earnest acceptance of life’s pains and promises.” (David Brooks opines about the Atlantic piece here.) Also, a famous study on the origins and development of self-control appeared in the New Yorker.

Song of the Week: Anniversary Song by the Cowboy Junkies

Today's my 29th wedding anniversary. We met at 16 and got married at 19 just after our freshman year at Baylor. Here's "Anniversary Song" from the Cowboy Junkies--

Handmade Jewelry

Here's my shameless plug for Diane's new project. She has teamed up with a local jewelry maker who wants to expand her business beyond the craft shows. Click here to view some of the pieces. And go to the main website here.

LeaderLines: Cultural Conversation Starters, Part 3

Acts 17 gives us a three-point outline for how to use the surrounding culture to begin conversations about Jesus:

Know your world.

Respect your world.

Inform your world.

How are we to interact with the culture? Books and films and music often touch on the same subjects that the Bible does: forgiveness in the midst of betrayal, failure, hope in the midst of suffering, redemption in the midst of failure, and so on. So, the books and films and music around us can be “cultural conversation starters.”

The Apostle Paul shows us how: We must know the culture we want to reach for Christ, respect the people, and inform them.

We’ve already looked at the first two points, and you can review our coverage of the first point here and the second point here. In this edition of LeaderLines, let’s reflect on the third point. To be on mission requires that we inform our world of the exclusive and life-changing truth of Christ.

In Acts 17, we find Paul waiting in Athens for his friends to catch up with him. As Paul walked around the city, he started conversations about Jesus with anyone who would listen, and soon someone said, “You need to present your views at the Areopagus.” That’s a Greek word that means Mars Hill, and it was a place where the philosophers of ancient Athens gathered to hear various opinions and then discuss them.

Notice how he actually used one of the many idols within the city as a reference to start his message, and he even quoted from two of their familiar pagan poets as a way to support what he was trying to say. Look at verses 22-28:

Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

Notice in Paul’s speech how he respectfully started with the spiritual interest represented by all the idols, and he focused on that one admission of mystery and ignorance in the idol with the inscription, “To an unknown God.” And then he said, “Let me tell you about that God.”

He told about how God created the world, about how people search for God, and about what God expects of us. And then he begins to introduce the subject of Jesus. The speech continues in verses 29-31:

“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man’s design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”

Now, obviously that was not the conclusion of his speech.  But when he started to turn the conversation to Jesus, this whole idea of a dead man alive from the grave brought the whole conversation to an end for the time being. Verse 32 says, “When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, ‘We want to hear you again on this subject.’” That was the end of the conversation for that day, but some of them expressed interest in hearing more later, and verse 33 says some came to believe.

Knowing your world and respecting the people you want to reach isn’t the end of the missional process. We have to inform our world about the exclusive and life-changing truth of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, Acts 17 gives us a three-point outline for how to use the surrounding culture to begin conversations about Jesus: Know your world, respect your world, and inform your world. As a result, some will sneer, some will say, “Let’s keep talking,” and some will say, “I’m ready to cross the line of faith.”

Let’s ask God for his blessing as we lead Hillcrest on an “Acts 17 mission” in Austin.

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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.

The Christian Husband

How can we men learn to be the husbands we ought to be? This is an especially important question for those of you who grew up in a home without a good model of Christian manhood. Philip Yancey wrote:

One couple I talked to described a horrible two-year period of angry quarrels, temper tantrums, and walkouts. The wife, Beth, had come from a troubled family. Her father had left and her mother had died. Beth used the first few years of marriage to unleash her pent-up anxieties. She would fly into irrational rages over insignificant details. Somehow Peter rode out the violence of those first few years and continued to show her love. Today they have one of the happiest marriages I know of.

I asked him, ‘Peter, how did you do it? What kept you from cracking in those long months of giving a lot and getting very little in return?’

He then told me the story of his conversion, when God tracked him down after months of angry rebellion. ‘The most powerful motivating force in my life,’ he concluded, ‘was the grace of God in loving me and giving himself for me. When I hated coming home to face Beth, I would stop for a moment, think of God’s sacrifice on my behalf, and ask him for strength to duplicate it.’

Did you know this is exactly the way the Bible tells husbands to live? We men are to look at the way God loves us and then reflect to our wives what we experience from God. Ephesians 5:25 (NLT) says, “You husbands must love your wives with the same love Christ showed the church.” We simply need to look at the way we are loved by God and then mimic that in our own marriage.

This Sunday we’ll look at the four ways God loves his Bride—four things that we husbands are to mimic in our own marriages: unconditional love, covenantal love, incarnational love, sacrificial love.

After last Sunday’s message on the ideal wife, it’s time to review what the Bible says about the ideal husband. Join us together @ 10am!

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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 May 12

“Star Trek just may find itself on the leading wave of a zeitgeist shift--away from bleak, brooding blockbusters and toward the light. ‘In a world where a movie as incredibly produced as The Dark Knight is raking in gazillions of dollars, Star Trek stands in stark contrast,’ Abrams says. ‘It was important to me that optimism be cool again’” (story)


Man, why didn’t I see the application for this one? A Tourism Queensland campaign has awarded Brit Ben Southall a six-month contract to do little more than laze in the sun, snorkel, and write a weekly blog about the experience of being a “caretaker” of an Australian tropical island. (story)


I found “Where Are You in the Movie?” An interesting take on lifespans. If a movie started on the day you were born and stretched over your lifespan, find out where you'd be in that movie. Yesterday was my birthday, so I made a visit. At Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, I’d be at the parade.


30 Rock’s “central tension remains the tug of war between Fey's Liz Lemon and Jack Donaghy. Their head butting doubles as an argument about the viability of liberal ideals and the allure of a pragmatic, colder-eyed conservatism—and it's remarkable how often the show sides with the latter….The show, ever slippery, is poking simultaneous fun at the flimsiness of Liz's liberal values, at Jack's callous hawkishness, and at the way both perspectives collude to make the world a worse place” (Slate nails why I like this show).


“New research into the idea of ‘maternal gatekeeping’ shows how attitudes and actions by the mother may promote or impede father involvement” (USA Today)


“Common Sense Media is dedicated to improving the media and entertainment lives of kids and families. We exist because media and entertainment profoundly impact the social, emotional, and physical development of our nation's children. As a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization, we provide trustworthy information and tools, as well as an independent forum, so that families can have a choice and a voice about the media they consume.”


10 of the Most Irritating Phrases in the English Language


According to a study reported in Scientific American, a group of children as young as 5 years were able to predict the outcome of elections in another country, based only on photos of the candidates (story).


I’ve mentioned Wordle before. It’s a website that takes a collection of words and turns them into an image, giving prominence to the most frequently-used words. There’s a Wordle of my book, The Anchor Course, here. Well, the satire site Tom-in-the-Box created a few Wordles using what they insist are sermons from various churches. Funny stuff.


To Drink or Not to Drink: “Even in denominations and traditions that championed prohibition and railed against those who drink, smoke, or chew (or go with those who do) many leaders see such restrictions as inappropriate today.” Eric Reed explores the contentious issue of alcoholic beverages in “Trouble Brewing,” Leadership Journal.


The nation is getting more conservative on abortion, primarily because men are getting more conservative on the issue. This article reaffirms my conviction that Barak Obama was elected in spite of, not because of, his radical record on abortion policy. (story)


“As Putnam says, ‘more people are very religious and many are not at all.’ And these beliefs have become ‘correlated with partisan politics.’ ‘There are fewer liberals in the pews and fewer unchurched conservatives.’ The political implications are broad. Democrats must galvanize the ‘nones’ while not massively alienating religious voters -- which is precisely what candidate Barack Obama accomplished. Republicans must maintain their base in the pew while appealing to the young -- a task they have not begun to figure out. But Putnam regards the growth of the ‘nones’ as a spike, not a permanent trend. The young, in general, are not committed secularists. ‘They are not in church, but they might be if a church weren't like the religious right….There are almost certain to be religious entrepreneurs to fill that niche with a moderate evangelical religion, without political overtones.’ In the diverse, fluid market of American religion there may be a demand, in other words, for grace, hope and reconciliation -- for a message of compassion and healing that appeals to people of every political background. It would be revolutionary -- but it would not be new” (Michael Gerson, commenting on Robert Putnam’s forthcoming book).


“The question of evil and where it lurks has been largely ignored by the scientific community, which is why a recently released study titled ‘The Spatial Distribution of the Seven Deadly Sins Within Nevada’ is groundbreaking: Never before has a state’s fall from grace been so precisely graphed and plotted.” (story)


“ ‘Multitasking is a myth,’ Ms. Gallagher said. ‘You cannot do two things at once. The mechanism of attention is selection: it’s either this or it’s that….People don’t understand that attention is a finite resource, like money. Do you want to invest your cognitive cash on endless Twittering or Net surfing or couch potatoing? You’re constantly making choices, and your choices determine your experience.’” (NY Times)


The Independent reports on studies that find links between mental illness and creativity. Toward the end of the article, studies show the link between depression and comedians, too.

Song of the Week: Stephen Bruton's "Bigger Wheel"

Singer-songwriter Stephen Bruton passed away yesterday after a battle with cancer. He was 60. An Austin favorite. Here he sings about how he once thought he was a big wheel but now he's "giving it up to the Bigger Wheel." (Photo from The Austin Chronicle: find it here.)




This old world’s a crazy planet
Nothing goes the way you plan it
Seems like it’s got a mind of its own

All I know is that something’s missing
When I talked no one would listen
My poor heart had all but turned to stone.

I lost my job and spent my youth
My alibis are hundred proof
All I knew was women, song and wine

I lost the one love of my life
I wonder where she is tonight
I bet you I don’t even cross her mind

I ain’t no good at this—I’m tired of being afraid
It took a long time getting to the decision that I made
White flag . . . surrender
Right here, right now
I’m out, game over
This down-and-out high roller has found a better deal
What I got left from here on out
I’m giving it up to the Bigger Wheel

I thought I’d have it all by now
Who’s in charge here anyhow?
For a man that knew it all I know I don’t

Seems like I been here forever
Getting down to now or never
I could keep on hurting but I won’t

I ain’t no good at this—I’m tired of being afraid
It took a long time getting to the decision that I made
White flag . . . surrender
Right here, right now
I’m out, game over
This down-and-out high roller has found a better deal
What I got left from here on out
I’m giving it up to the Bigger Wheel

I ain’t no good at this—I’m tired of being a slave
It took a long time getting to the decision that I made
White flag . . . surrender
Right here, right now
I’m out, game over
This down-and-out high roller has found a better deal
What I got left from here on out
I’m giving it up to the Bigger Wheel

. . . to the Bigger Wheel
. . . to the Bigger Wheel

White flag . . .
Surrender . . .
Right here . . .
Right now . . .

I’m out . . .
Game over . . .
Surrender . . .
Right now . . .

. . . to the Bigger Wheel.

LeaderLines: Cultural Conversation Starters, Part 2

Acts 17 gives us a three-point outline for how to use the surrounding culture to begin conversations about Jesus:

Know your world.

Respect your world.

Inform your world.

How are we to interact with the culture? Books and films and music often touch on the same subjects that the Bible does: forgiveness in the midst of betrayal, failure, hope in the midst of suffering, redemption in the midst of failure, and so on. So, the books and films and music around us can be “cultural conversation starters.”

The Apostle Paul shows us how. In Acts 17, as Paul walked around Athens, he was “greatly distressed” at the idols he saw. When he was given a chance to present the gospel to the leading intellectuals of the city, he set an example for us to follow. We must know the culture we want to reach for Christ, respect the people, and inform them.

Last week we looked at the first point. In this edition of LeaderLines, let’s reflect on the second point. To be on mission requires that we respect the people we hope to reach.

Verse 16 says Paul was deeply disturbed by all the idolatry he saw in Athens, and verse 18 says that some people derided him and misunderstood him. But when he was given a chance to present the gospel, he spoke with great respect.

Not all of us are as spiritually mature. If we’re disturbed by what we see and hear, and then if we feel we’re being made fun of or patronized by those around us, it’s hard to speak respectfully. We get defensive and let our conversation be a vent for our frustrations.

Not Paul. He was internally distressed and yet externally respectful. He said, “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.” Now, I know that some Bible teachers mistakenly think that Paul was being sarcastic there—probably to justify their own rudeness! But I don’t think of Paul’s words as sarcasm. The man who wrote in 1 Corinthians 13, “Love is not rude,” would not act in rudeness when given the chance to present the gospel. No doubt he points out that they have fulfilled their religious impulses in the wrong way, but he acknowledges their spiritual hunger as a starting point for what he wants to say.

This respect extended to accurately quoting from an idolatrous statue and from their pagan poets. We Christians can be infamous for spreading urban legends about the culture instead of checking the facts. We show our respect not only by what we say but also by the accuracy with which we talk about someone else’s views.

As Hillcrest leaders, we’re developing a congregation that God can use to reach our Athens. It requires the same things we see in Paul when we read Acts 17: knowledge of our surrounding culture and respect for the many things that can be respected.

Such an approach will give us a hearing to share the King’s message. Next week we’ll look at the third way to interact with the culture: Inform your world.

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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: Tuning to God's Pitch

Out of the NY Philharmonic Symphony comes a story about its conductor and a lonely Wyoming shepherd. The shepherd wrote a letter to Toscanini, saying, “Each Sunday night I enjoy listening to you conducting the orchestra in New York City. It’s lonely out here. My only comfort is my battery radio and my old fiddle. Winter is coming and then I won’t be able to get into town. My batteries will be dead by spring. This means that soon my only comfort will be my fiddle. However, it desperately needs a tuning. Would you be so kind as to sound the note of ‘A’ next Sunday night so I can be sure my fiddle is up to standard pitch?”

The next Sunday, Toscanini’s announcer read the letter over the radio and said, “Now, ladies and gentlemen, for the man in Wyoming, here is the note of ‘A.’”

The pianist sounded the note and in their minds listeners visualized a lonely man in the wilderness busily tuning four strings to match the pitch being sounded in New York City.

In Proverbs 31, God did the same thing for wives. He sounded a note by which married women could tune their lives. Verses 10-31 discuss the married woman’s relationship to her spouse, as well as her strength, her sympathy, her sphere, and her spirit. Think of these five things as five strings that have to be in tune and played well in order hear beautiful music.

This Sunday we’ll look at these verses as a part of our series, “Bumper Sticker Wisdom,” a study through the Proverbs. (Don’t forget, we’ve created an “e-vite” about our sermon series on our website for you to send to your friends.) This Sunday is also Mother’s Day, so it’s fitting to take this Sunday to encourage and challenge the women in our congregation who are wives and moms. Make sure to honor your mom and the mother of your children this weekend, and include worship at Hillcrest a part of your celebration! Our morning service starts at 10am.

Looking ahead, mark your calendars for Sunday night, May 17. The praise band is putting together an hour of worship in the gym. This will be a great night to boldly celebrate our great God!

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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.

Annoyed with Netflix

Is anyone else getting frustrated with Netflix? Here's the status on the top of my queue:

Slumdog Millionaire . . . long wait

Australia . . . long wait

Bolt . . . long wait

Battlestar Galactica: Caprica . . . very long wait

Frost/Nixon . . . now

The Wrestler . . . short wait

Quantum of Solace . . . long wait

Marley and Me . . . very long wait

Links to Your World, Tuesday May 5

Creepy . . . opulent . . . sad: Items on auction from Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch.


Really? Are there really people who don’t realize that Stephen Colbert is mocking conservatives with his faux conservative character?


The Ferris Bueller Fight Club Theory


Popular Mechanics lists “50 Tools Every Man Needs.”


Calvin Saw This Coming: “The Protestant Reformer, born 500 years ago, could teach us a thing or two about fiscal idolatry, diplomacy and democracy. But would we listen?” USA Today


Fascinating: The Jerusalem Post reports on “Jesus’s Zionists” in Israel.


“President Obama has made a few moves that have upset the pro-life Evangelical community. But he’ll really be playing with fire if he ends up reversing the Hyde Amendment which bars the use of federal funds to pay for abortions….David Gushee, a centrist Evangelical scholar who backed President Obama during the presidential campaign says if the President ever decided to overturn the Hyde Amendment that would pretty much be the end of common ground talk on abortion.” The Brody File has an interview with David Gushee here.


Mollie Ziegler Hemingway is concerned about the restrictions the current administration may put on religious organizations that take federal monies to help poor people: “Everyone acknowledges that the nation's congregations and religious charities have an unparalleled track record of helping feed, clothe, and comfort the needy, especially compared with federal programs. Regulations that force religious charities to obscure or ignore their doctrine not only decrease their life-changing capabilities but also diminish enthusiasm among their staff, volunteers, and donors….Soon, charities might not be able to ensure that faith motivates their employees. No word yet on whether the program will be renamed Somebody-Here-Used-to-Have-a-Faith-Based Initiative.”


“Instead of reminding worshippers to silence their cell phones, a small but growing number of churches around the country are encouraging people to integrate text-messaging into their relationship with God.” (Time)


How to Work the Room


CT’s Books and Culture interviews Ronald White, author of A. Lincoln: A Biography.


“More Americans have given up their faith or changed religions because of a gradual spiritual drift than because of disillusionment over their churches' policies, according to a study released yesterday that illustrates how personal spiritual attitudes are taking precedence over denominational traditions…. At the same time, the large and growing number of people who report having no religious affiliation are surprisingly open to religion, researchers said. Unlike the popular perception that many have embraced secularism, a significant percentage appeared simply to have put their religiosity on pause -- having worshiped as part of at least one faith already, about three in 10 said they have just not yet found the right religion. ‘We tend to think that when people leave [religion] they leave,’ said Stephen Prothero, chairman of the religion department at Boston University. ‘But a lot of these unaffiliated are unaffiliated for now. . . . It's not a one-way street. It's not like after you've left a religious affiliation, you can't get back in.’” (WaPo)


Time magazine explains “Why Your Co-Workers Act like Children.”


“The key factor separating geniuses from the merely accomplished is not a divine spark. It’s not I.Q., a generally bad predictor of success, even in realms like chess. Instead, it’s deliberate practice. Top performers spend more hours (many more hours) rigorously practicing their craft.” (David Brooks)


SugarStacks.com shows you how many sugar cubes you’re popping in your mouth with your favorite soft drink or breakfast food. Wow.


The iBible:

Song of the Week: Jonny Lang's "That Great Day"

Young blues sensation, Jonny Lang, turned to Christ in 2006 (I wrote about it here). On "That Great Day" he puts his faith in song--