Song of the Week: "Gather Round Ye Children Come"

Across the next few editions of my Sunday feature, "Song of the Week," I want to introduce you to one of my favorite Christmas music projects. It's Andrew Peterson's Behold the Lamb of God: The True Tall Tale of the Coming of Christ. When the first song that follows the opener is "Passover Us," you know you're not in for a traditional Christmas CD. In fact, the 5 songs after the opener are all focused on the Old Testament longing for a Redeemer ("Passover Us," "So Long Moses," "Deliver Us," and "O Come O Come Emmanuel." Even the clever "Matthew's Begats" is a recap of the Old Testament salvation history that led to the Messiah).

About the closest Peterson will get to Austin for his annual Christmas tour of this project is Cleburne on December 12, but make the trip if you can.

Here's the opener, "Gather Round Ye Children Come."



Watch it here:

Thanksgiving Weekend Project

Every man needs a Thanksgiving Weekend project...and a couple of sons to help him with it. Here's Michael and Stephen helping build and level the foundation for a new garden shed. And no dad's going to pass up the opportunity to talk about taking the time to build the right foundation for life when he's with his sons building the right foundation for a shed.



Here's the finished product:

Now, does anyone have a copy of the deed restrictions for my neighborhood? Why that occured to me only after I got it built I can't fathom....

"A Boon We Do Not Expect"

"It is amazing," wrote John Calvin, "how much our lack of trust provokes God if we request of him a boon that we do not expect."

It was one of four "rules" he taught on prayer in his magisterial work, The Institutes of the Christian Religion.

But having confidence in God did not mean to Calvin a trouble-free (or troubled-free) existence.  Note the wisdom in this gem:

But "assurance" I do not understand to mean that which soothes our mind with sweet and perfect repose, releasing it from every anxiety. For to repose so peacefully is the part of those who, when all affairs are flowing to their liking, are touched by no care, burn with no desire, toss with no fear. But for the saints the occasion that best stimulates them to call upon God is when, distressed by their own need, they are troubled by the greatest unrest, and are almost driven out of their senses, until faith opportunely comes to their relief. For among such tribulations God's goodness so shines upon them that even when they groan with weariness under the weight of present ills, and also are troubled and tormented by the fear of greater ones, yet, relying upon his goodness, they are relieved of the difficulty of bearing them, and are solaced and hope for escape and deliverance. It is fitting therefore that the godly man's prayer arise from these two emotions, that it also contain and represent both. That is, that he groan under present ills and anxiously fear those to come, yet at the same time take refuge in God, not at all doubting he is ready to extend his helping hand. It is amazing how much our lack of trust provokes God if we request of him a boon that we do not expect.

Calvin's Institutes is one of my reading projects for 2009, the 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth.  60% complete....

Winning Ways: "Thanks"

Rudyard Kipling was being interviewed by a somewhat cynical reporter. “I understand that the money you make from your writings amounts to over one hundred dollars a word.”

Mr.Kipling responded with surprise. “Really, I had no idea.”

“Here’s a one hundred dollar bill,” the newspaperman retorted, “Give me one of your hundred dollar words.”

Kipling took the hundred dollar bill, quietly folded it up, said, “Thanks,” and walked away.

Yep, gratitude is precious. This Thursday is a good time to remember that.

In this chapter of our family story, as Diane recovers from surgery, we give thanks for friends and extended family members for praying for us, checking on us, and assisting us. Looking above, we are grateful for God’s faithfulness, demonstrated new every morning (Lam. 3:22-23).

What a different a heart of gratitude can make, not only for your life but the lives of those around you. Ellen Vaughn recalls an incident on the Washington subway system in which a crowded train stalled on an underground track. Groans and outbursts from the stressed commuters began immediately. Accusations were hurled against anyone and everyone they could blame for this added hassle to their already-harried lives.

And then something changed. Somewhere in that crowd a woman dropped one of her bulky packages, and a bottle of perfume shattered. As the luxurious fragrance wafted throughout the car, people smiled, relaxed, and started laughing with each other. Vaughn wrote:

Followers of Jesus have the opportunity, in life’s crowded moments when people feel stuck, to be the fragrance of Christ. We don’t need to be annoying Pollyannas (who would be thrown right off the Metro anyway), but free spirits who can lead and turn the tide, rather than follow along on the lazy downward spiral of negativity. What it takes is a purposeful, daily decision on our part to be the one. Then follows the creative question in the bad situation, a smile, compassion, a little humor that suggests that we need not take our small selves so seriously—a look upward and outward, where the vistas of God’s great love call us to come and enjoy him, now and forever.

This week, let the day of Thanksgiving return you to a life of thanksgiving. It makes all the difference in your heart and your witness.

_________________________

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

Links to Your World, Tuesday November 24

Why Exercise Helps You Deal with Stress: Scientists have discovered that exercise creates new brain cells that are designed to weather stress better than brain cells created in periods of sloth.


“I believe we are facing an inevitable and culture-determining decision on the three issues centrally identified in this statement. I also believe that we will experience a significant loss of Christian churches, denominations, and institutions in this process. There is every good reason to believe that the freedom to conduct Christian ministry according to Christian conviction is being subverted and denied before our eyes. I believe that the sanctity of human life, the integrity of marriage, and religious liberty are very much in danger at this very moment.” (Albert Mohler, “Why I Signed the Manhattan Declaration”)


This is in my “to-read” stack: In God’s Battalions: The Case for the Crusades, Baylor’s respected historian Rodney Stark reminds us that—contrary to popular notions—the Crusades were provoked by Muslim invasions of Christian lands.


GeekDad lists the top 10 bad messages from some of our favorite family-friendly flicks. See if you agree.


“Uninvolved fathers have long been accused of lacking motivation. But research shows that many societal obstacles conspire against them. Even as more fathers are changing diapers, dropping the children off at school and coaching soccer, they are often pushed aside in ways large and small.” (NYT, on new research that suggests that women are unintentionally blocking men from greater participation in child-raising because they insist that men do it their way)


Related: The Guardian reports on a study that shows that “working women who claim partners don't pull their weight do so to feel more feminine and in charge in the home.”


“There is now a new revolution under way, one aimed at rolling back the almost comical overprotectiveness and overinvestment of moms and dads. The insurgency goes by many names — slow parenting, simplicity parenting, free-range parenting — but the message is the same: Less is more; hovering is dangerous; failure is fruitful” (Time, introducing a belated reaction against “helicopter parenting”).


“A trove of e-mails stolen from a leading climate-research group in Britain has sparked an online debate over global warming data. Bloggers claim the e-mails reveal that scientists colluded and manipulated data to support global warming theories.” (Wired)


“Islamic nations are mounting a campaign for an international treaty to protect religious symbols and beliefs from mockery — essentially a ban on blasphemy that would put them on a collision course with free speech laws in the West.” (AP Story)


“We're intensely attracted only to lovers who are hidden versions of Dad's and Mom's worst and most hurtful traits. We all have 100 percent unfailing radar systems that draw us to the people who are so wrong for us that they're right for us. It's nature's way. It's the true meaning of love” (Mark E. Smith in “The Mind-Blowing Purpose of Marriage” at MarriagePartnership.com)


“Could it be we've lost our capacity for gratitude? A successful harvest occasioned thanks back when it was all that stood between us and a long, cold, hungry winter. But now we're divorced from the seasonal rhythms of the farm, where the harvest is celebrated as the payoff of all the year's labors. Even in the midst of this Great Repression we enjoy perpetual plenty. What resonance does a cornucopia have to people who have come to expect ripe blackberries in February? If anything, we should be more grateful, but that's not our nature. Anything we struggle for, we hold dear; anything that comes easy, we take for granted” (from a WSJ article on why our culture skips right from Halloween to Christmas without much thought of Thanksgiving)


“More than just an annual turkey fest, the Puritans gave America a pedagogy of work and an attitude toward life that upsets the modern notion that a person's occupation equals his value. A man's worth, the Puritans might advise the unemployed Steve Lee, lay in his service to God and to his fellow man, not in titles or financial portfolios. Rather than seeing life as a series of random events, the Puritan's belief in Providence imputed a profound sense of a loving God's purpose for him, a purpose that left very little room for despair.” (“Some Puritan Advice for the Unemployed,” WSJ)


Catholic Mass: The Video Game. I expect this will be the must-have toy this Christmas--Not:

Song of the Week: Jars of Clay's Cover of "It is Well"

The tragedy that led to one of the most beloved hymns took place 136 years ago this past Friday. You may be aware of the story behind “It is Well (With My Soul).” After the great Chicago Fire of October 1871 ruined him financially, Horatio Spafford lost all four of his daughters when the ship they were in collided with another. Spafford’s wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, “Saved alone.” Several weeks later, as Spafford’s own ship passed near the spot where his daughters died, Spafford wrote the song.

Here’s an image of the handwritten lyrics (source: http://spaffordhymn.com/):



And here’s a great video of Spafford’s biography from Mars Hill Church:



There are over 600 renditions of "It is Well" at lala.com. The following rendition is from the Jars of Clay project, Redemption Songs. It has a sort of ‘George Harrison’ feel to it, huh?



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(HT on the image of the handwritten lyrics and the Mars Hill video: Justin Taylor)

"It is Better to Transmit Our Possessions Thither"

John Calvin, Institutes:

If what Christ says is true--"Where our treasure is, there resides our heart" [Matt. 6:21]--as the children of this age are wont to be intent upon getting things that make for delight in the present life, so believers ought to see to it that, after they have learned that this life will soon vanish like a dream, they transfer the things they want truly to enjoy to a place where they will have life unceasing.

We ought, then, to imitate what people do who determine to migrate to another place, where they have chosen a lasting abode. They send before them all their resources and do not grieve over lacking them for a time, for they deem themselves the happier the more goods they have where they will be for a long time. But if we believe heaven is our country, it is better to transmit our possessions thither than to keep them here where upon our sudden migration they would be lost to us.

Two Ways Christians Should Respond to the Threat of Radical Islam

Jim Dennison:

Whatever the motives behind the Fort Hood tragedy, it is clear that radical Islam is the challenge of our lifetime. How should Christians respond?

First, pray for Muslims to turn to Jesus as their Lord. More Muslims are becoming Christians today than at any time in Islamic history. The Quran teaches that Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, ascended to heaven and will return at the end of history. Now thousands of Muslims are seeing visions and dreams of Jesus and trusting him as their Savior. Pray for millions more to follow him as their Lord.

Second, support Muslim-background believers (MBBs) in prayer and personal encouragement. Muslim converts to Christianity frequently face intense persecution for their new faith. At the same time, they are often our best missionaries to the Islamic world. Look for ways to help MBBs in your community and around the globe.

Winning Ways: Hillcrest at Prayer

As a pastor, I’m usually the one promising prayer. Now I’m the recipient of the promise of prayers from others. Since we announced the news of Diane’s cancer, we’re grateful for so many notes letting us know you’re praying for us.

Hillcrest is a congregation that knows the importance of prayer, and I hope you will take advantage of all the ways we pray for each other. Let me mention three:

First, the most important place to pray for each other is in our small-group settings. We don’t tend to lift up specific, intimate items by name in our Sunday morning services. Instead, we lift people up by name in our Common Ground groups and Sunday School classes. If you haven’t plugged in to a small group yet, I encourage you to spend an extra hour after this Sunday’s worship service and start making some new friends in one of our groups. You’ll hear them praying for each other by name, and they’ll be glad to include your concerns in their prayers as well.

Second, we send out prayer alerts via email. If you want to receive these alerts, contact my assistant, Jami Dismukes, at the church office. These email blasts go out every day, sometimes several times a day, to keep our members informed about prayer needs. You can submit items for the prayer alerts by contacting Jami or completing a Connection Card on Sundays.

Third, prayer is an important part of what we do in our midweek service. We encourage you to make this a part of your routine, 6:30 p.m. every Wednesday.

Paul’s command to the early church was, “Be constant in prayer” and “Pray without ceasing” (Romans 12:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:15). You can help us make sure Hillcrest remains that kind of church.

“Think of the prayer warriors in our midst,” wrote Tony Snow in the midst of his fight with cancer. “They change things, and those of us who have been on the receiving end of their petitions and intercessions know it. It is hard to describe, but there are times when suddenly the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and you feel a surge of the Spirit. Somehow you just know: Others have chosen, when talking to the Author of all creation, to lift us up—to speak of us!”

Thanks to you, I know what he’s talking about.

____________________________________

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

Links to Your World, Tuesday November 17

Want someone to watch your pet post-rapture? This guy says since he’s going to be “left behind” he’ll do it for $110. Sigh….


“We stopped buying all the stuff we didn't need that was supposed to make us happier, and we seem to be happier for it. And who would have expected that?” (Nancy Gibbs of Time asks, given the current economic woes, why do polls show Americans so cheery?)


“Once the abortion procedure began, [Abby] Johnson saw the child ‘crumple’ under the pressure of the vacuum and then in an instant the child was gone. The reality of seeing the baby moving struck her as she stood in shock and dropped the ultrasound probe, she recalled: ‘My heart was racing. I kept thinking about my daughter.’” (Coverage of the Planned Parenthood director who quit after assisting in an abortion)


Interesting WSJ piece on conducting business overseas as a part of a Christian missionary strategy.


An Italian inventor has devised an electronic holy-water dispenser to reduce exposure to the H1N1 virus in Catholic churches.


“Long dismissed by researchers as trivial and fleeting, teen romance is emerging as a powerful factor in kids' development—one in which parents have a major role to play, new studies show. The romantic ties kids form between middle school and college are important markers of progress toward adulthood; their choice of partners as early as middle school actually shapes their development to a surprising degree. And while parents' dating advice may seem about as welcomed by teens as the swine flu, the research suggests the opposite—that young people not only value parental input, but tend to have healthier relationships when they receive parental advice” (Story).


“Words that previously were rarely heard on television suddenly turn up everywhere, while once unspeakable slurs become passé from overuse” (NYT).


Reaction to the Fort Hood Shooting:

From the National Association of Evangelicals: “A tragedy caused by the act of one individual should not be compounded by generalizing actions to a culture, ethnicity or religion. The NAE calls on all Americans to build stronger relationships of understanding and reconciliation with their neighbors of different faiths and backgrounds. Chaplain Paul Vicalvi, Executive Director of the NAE Chaplains Commission, said, ‘We should be clear: The actions of this one man do not reflect the beliefs or values of the vast majority of American Muslims.’”

John Mark Reynolds says that we should not object to those who say that they are Muslims first and Americans second. We are, in fact, Christians first and Americans second. Reynolds says what we must object to is a virulent version of Islam that poses itself against the social contract that is at the heart of the American Experiment.

Terry Mattingly reports on his conversation with a Muslim who cautions that making a sweeping defense of any and all Muslims is just as irresponsible as making a sweeping accusation of any and all: “Understanding requires analyzing, not sanitizing. I’m not interested in hysteria. It’s clear that we have to be careful not to reduce this story to Islam but the corrective to that is not to whitewash Islam from public discussion of the story altogether. It’s to put the role of religious conviction in its proper perspective. And by the way, we won’t know what that proper perspective is until all the details have come in. But in and among those details has to be the detail that Major Hasan visited radical Islamist web sites, that he had email exchanges with an extremist preacher, that he reportedly shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ before he opened fire on comrades, that he told fellow community members that he did not wish to fight fellow Muslims. So my point simply is that this is a complex case but complexity is not served by, you know, excising certain factors out of the equation merely because you’re uncomfortable with them.”

“The tragedy at Fort Hood last week raised many fears among Christian political advocacy groups. For some groups the shooting provoked a fear of a Muslim "fifth column" in the military. For others groups it provoked a fear of anti-Muslim backlash in the American populace.” (Read the varying reactions from evangelicals collected by Christianity Today)

“The admonition not to rush to judgment or jump to conclusions might sound fair and prudent enough, perhaps even statesmanlike when uttered by the president, as long it's borne in mind that such advice is itself a judgment that is more than halfway to a conclusion. What it plainly implies in the present case is that the actions of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan should not be assumed in any meaningful way to be related to his Muslim faith….In order to demonstrate the absence of a connection, however, the following facts would have to be regarded as relatively random or secondary.” Christopher Hitchens proceeds to list “seven salient facts” about Major Hasan’s radical Isalmic affinity.

I’ve already posted comments that grabbed my attention from James Taranto and Tunku Varadarajan.

Song of the Week: "Sweet Pea" by Amos Lee

Here's a fun one from a few years back--"Sweet Pea" by Amos Lee:

Four Ways to Identify Your Idols

In his latest book, Counterfeit Gods, Tim Keller suggests four ways to identify your idols:

I am not asking whether or not you have rival gods. I assume that we all do; they are hidden in every one of us. The question is: What do we do about them? ...How can we discern our idols?

One way requires that we look at our imagination. Archbishop William Temple once said, "Your religion is what you do with your solitude." In other words, the true god of your heart is what your thoughts effortlessly go to when there is nothing else demanding your attention. What do you enjoy daydreaming about? What occupies your mind when you have nothing else to think about? Do you develop potential scenarios about career advancement? Or material goods such as a dream home? Or a relationship with a particular person? One or two daydreams are no an indication of idolatry. Ask rather, what do you habitually think about to get joy and comfort in the privacy of your heart?

Another way to discern your heart's true love is to look at how you spend your money Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there is your heart also" (Matthew 6:21). Your money flows most effortlessly toward your heart's greatest love. In fact, the mark of an idol is that you spend too much money on it, and you must try to exercise self-control constantly. As Saint Paul has written, if God and his grace is the thing in the world you love most, you will give your money away to ministry, charity, and the poor in astonishing amounts (2 Corinthians 8:7-9). Most of us, however, tend to overspend on clothing, or on our children, or on status symbols such as homes and cars. Our patterns of spending reveal our idols.

A third way to discern idols works best for those who have professed a faith in God. You may regularly go to a place of worship. You may have a full, devout set of doctrinal beliefs. You may be trying very hard to believe and obey God. However, what is your real, daily functional salvation? What are you really living for, what is your real—not your professed—god? A good way to discern this is how you respond to unanswered prayers and frustrated hopes. If you ask for something that you don't get, you may become sad and disappointed. Then you go on. Hey, life's not over. Those are not your functional masters. But when you pray and work for something and you don't get it and you respond with explosive anger or deep despair, then may have found your real god. Like Jonah, you become angry enough to die.

A final test works for everyone. Look at your most uncontrollable emotions. Just as a fisherman looking for fish knows to go where the water is roiling, look for your idols at the bottom of your most painful emotions, especially those that never seem to lift and that drive you to do things you know are wrong. If you are angry, ask, "Is there something here too important to me, something I must have at all costs?" Do the same thing with strong fear or despair and guilt. Ask yourself, "Am I so scared, because something in my life is being threatened that I think is a necessity when it is not? Am I so down on myself because I have lost or failed at something that I think is a necessity when it is not?" If you are overworking, driving yourself into the ground with frantic activity, ask yourself, "Do I feel that I must have this thing to be fulfilled and significant?" When you ask questions like that, when you "pull your emotions up by the roots," as it were, you will often find your idols clinging to them.

(Counterfeit Gods, Tim Keller, pp. 168-70)

Hope that whets your appetite enough to go out and buy it or check it out of a library. 

"A PC-free zone"

Tunku Varadarajan at Forbes:

A short time after the shootings at Fort Hood, President Obama asked us not to jump to conclusions. To many Americans, this was a grating request, of a piece with the political correctness that was responsible--it has emerged--for the hands-off treatment by the Army of Maj. Hasan. How else could he have been left in the position of treating U.S. troops, given the stories we've now heard about his incendiary statements and apparent incompetence?

This is the same mindset that led the FBI to deny the possibility that the Fort Hood massacre was linked to terrorism even before they could have had any idea that was the case. We don't have to be paranoid about Arab males; we just have to avoid the opposite: Being fearful of coming across as Islamophobic, and thereby failing to look straight at a situation.

...

The Army had a self-identified Islamic fundamentalist in its midst, blogging about suicide bombings and telling everyone he hated the Army's mission; and yet, they did, or could do, nothing about it. In effect, the "don't-jump-to-conclusions" mentality was underway long before this man killed his colleagues....

Let the first lesson of the Hasan atrocity be this: The U.S. Army has to be a PC-free zone. Our democracy and our way of life depend on it.

If you're making a Top Ten list of the must-read assessments of the Fort Hood tragedy, add Varadarajan's to the list.

LeaderLines: Hillcrest’s Volunteer Force

Three cheers for volunteers—and we need you now more than ever! Recently we sent out a letter about transitioning our “Ignite” ministry to volunteer leadership (see below). In reply, I received several notes from people saying, “You can count on me to help!” I’m grateful, because I can’t imagine what our church would do without people willing to give their time to ministry:

• The volunteers who lead PraiseHill see about 60 in their ministry every week.
• The huge volunteer force that leads Upward and Hoops sees nearly a thousand people come and go through our MPC every week in the Winter.
• Where would be without those 40-50 instrumentalists and singers on stage every week?
• How about the volunteers in our Caring Friends ministry who help our homebound members feel a little less lonely?

Of course, the list could go on. The point is, you make a huge difference when you offer your time and gifts in service at Hillcrest. I was reminded of this again as Meta Pugh and I prepared the following letter for members of Ignite, our ministry to college students and young singles. Meta chairs our Personnel Committee. Here’s the note:

Dear Friends,

We want you to know about the future plans for “Ignite,” our ministry to college students and singles in their 20s. In short, “Ignite” will continue under volunteer leadership in 2010.

Two years ago, Pastor Tom invited Courtney Carlson to lead a one-year “pilot project” to focus on building the attendance of our “college and career” group. He decided to extend that pilot project for another year, which ends in December 2009. Pastor Tom and the Personnel Committee have concluded that we do not have enough attendance to ask the church to develop a paid staff position for this area of ministry.

We want to emphasize that this decision was exclusively about the need for a paid staff position. The decision was not disciplinary. In other words, Courtney was not terminated. Courtney and Benji have expressed their love for Hillcrest and we hope they will stay on as members. The question that Pastor Tom and the Personnel Committee focused on is the need for the position of a paid staff member for Ignite. We communicated to Courtney that we would continue the terms of the pilot program through the end of January 2010, giving her 90 days of income from the time the decision was reached.

Now, what about the future of Ignite? We are talking with potential volunteer leaders who would serve under staff supervision. As you know, we depend on volunteer leadership for most ministries in the church: young married adult ministry, senior adult ministry, homebound ministry, and Upward/Hoops ministry, to name a few. Our Upward/Hoops ministry is led by an all-volunteer force that serves about a thousand people every weekend in the Winter. We are confident that God will lead us to the right volunteer leadership for Ignite as he has led us to the right leadership for all these other areas.

If you have any questions, please contact us. I know you will be praying for the Ignite ministry, for the Carlsons, and for the glory of God to be displayed through Hillcrest!

Blessings,

Tom Goodman

Pastor

Meta Pugh

Chair, Personnel Committee

So, if you’re a volunteer at Hillcrest, my hat’s off to you in deep gratitude! And if you’re not serving somewhere yet, well, what are you waiting for?

Tom

___________________________________

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.

When Looking the Other Way Leads to Tragedy

Food for thought from James Taranto:

Some have detected in the Fort Hood coverage a return to a pre-9/11 mindset, and there is some truth to this. In particular, the left-liberal tendency to stereotype servicemen and veterans as psychopaths, suckers and victims is a return to form. But the bending over backward to explain away the role of religious fanaticism in the Fort Hood massacre is, it seems to us, something new--something distinctly post-9/11, or post-post-9/11.

Politically correct sensitivities have, of course, long been with us. But as we noted Monday, journalists and political leaders really seem to be going to extremes to avoid acknowledging the evident religious motivations for Hasan's alleged crimes. We'd suggest that there are three reasons for such denial, all of which grow out of 9/11:

First, the liberal left has embraced the notion that America overreacted after 9/11, was beastly toward Muslims, and now needs to "reach out" and atone. There is very little truth to this. President Bush constantly reminded the world that we were not at war with Islam, which he called a religion of peace. But Bush-was-too-aggressive rhetoric is a much better fit with liberals' natural inclination toward inaction than the Bush-wasn't-aggressive-enough rhetoric that Barack Obama occasionally used while still a candidate.

Second, it is comforting to think that 9/11 was a one-off rather than the most horrific example (so far) of a continuing threat. From this standpoint, it's psychologically preferable to emphasize that the Fort Hood suspect appears to have been a lone nut rather than that he seems to have espoused an ideology similar to that of the 9/11 terrorists.

Third, the impulse to protect a religious minority from prejudice and discrimination is a noble one. Muslims are not collectively guilty for the worst crimes of their coreligionists. We've encountered enough anti-Muslim prejudice to say that fears of it are not unfounded.

But the denialist attitude is counterproductive on all three grounds. Willful ignorance of the enemy's ideology is of no help in fighting the enemy--or preventing future attacks. In any case clarity, not obfuscation, is the enemy of prejudice.

The Prosperity Gospel and the Economic Crash

You should read Hanna Rosin's coverage of the so-called Prosperity Gospel in the December edition of the Atlantic Monthly. "America’s mainstream religious denominations used to teach the faithful that they would be rewarded in the afterlife," she wrote. "But over the past generation, a different strain of Christian faith has proliferated—one that promises to make believers rich in the here and now. Known as the prosperity gospel, and claiming tens of millions of adherents, it fosters risk-taking and intense material optimism."

Rosin claims it "pumped air into the housing bubble" and thus the article's title: "Did Christianity Cause the Crash?"

Regardless of whether "Christianity"--at least that dubious version known as the Prosperity Gospel--"caused" the economic crash, it's unsettling how vigorous this movement is:

In the past decade, it [the prosperity gospel] has produced about a dozen celebrity pastors, who show up at White House events, on secular radio, and as guests on major TV talk shows. Kirbyjon Caldwell, a Methodist megapastor in Houston and a purveyor of the prosperity gospel, gave the benediction at both of George W. Bush’s inaugurals. Instead of shiny robes or gaudy jewelry, these preachers wear Italian suits and modest wedding bands. Instead of screaming and sweating, they smile broadly and speak in soothing, therapeutic terms. But their message is essentially the same. “Every day, you’re going to live that abundant life!” preaches Joel Osteen, a best-selling author, the nation’s most popular TV preacher, and the pastor of Lakewood Church, in Houston, the country’s largest church by far.

Among mainstream, nondenominational megachurches, where much of American religious life takes place, “prosperity is proliferating” rapidly, says Kate Bowler, a doctoral candidate at Duke University and an expert in the gospel. Few, if any, of these churches have prosperity in their title or mission statement, but Bowler has analyzed their sermons and teachings. Of the nation’s 12 largest churches, she says, three are prosperity—Osteen’s, which dwarfs all the other megachurches; Tommy Barnett’s, in Phoenix; and T. D. Jakes’s, in Dallas. In second-tier churches—those with about 5,000 members—the prosperity gospel dominates. Overall, Bowler classifies 50 of the largest 260 churches in the U.S. as prosperity. The doctrine has become popular with Americans of every background and ethnicity; overall, Pew found that 66 percent of all Pentecostals and 43 percent of “other Christians”—a category comprising roughly half of all respondents—believe that wealth will be granted to the faithful. It’s an upbeat theology, argues Barbara Ehrenreich in her new book, Bright-Sided, that has much in common with the kind of “positive thinking” that has come to dominate America’s boardrooms and, indeed, its entire culture.

Separated at Birth?

Funny stuff. Skyebox has a post called "Church Leader Look-Alikes." Here are two:

Tim Allen and Joel Osteen:






Patrick Stewart and Tim Keller:





One correction, though. Skyebox says Mark Driscoll looks like Bob's Big Boy when he's the spitting image of David Denman, Pam's boyfriend in Season One of The Office:

Winning Ways: “Of Walls and Witness”

“If these walls could talk, what a story they would tell!”

I’m sure you’ve heard that statement before. There’s only one thing wrong with the statement: walls actually do talk.

What does our church campus “say” to our neighborhood? People draw conclusions about our ministry from the facility.

In our last business meeting, we appointed 18 church members to a committee to lead our church through a process that will result in a renovation plan for our campus. As I mentioned in the meeting, the cost for the Master Plan process has been covered by a special financial gift, and we are grateful for the donor’s generosity.

The Heimsath Architects firm has been hired for this effort. The firm has led many churches through this process—most recently Woodlawn Baptist Church and the First Baptist Church of Dripping Springs. I’ve talked with the leaders of these churches and they express excitement about what God has done through their planning process.

We will be seeking your input in the weeks and months ahead, and I encourage you to participate. The process will give us a chance to look ahead, to look around, and to look above.

First, we have a chance to look ahead. Someone once said that you know you’re at the end when you have fewer dreams than you do memories. That’s true for churches, too. A planning process gives us a chance to think afresh about the future God is calling us into. I look forward to hearing your hopes and dreams for our church!

Second, we have a chance to look around. When done right, plans to renovate a facility turns our eyes outward to the community God has called us to reach. It helps us become more sensitive to the impressions we’re making upon others.

Third, we have a chance to look above. In Haggai 1:1-9, the living Lord of the universe actually said we should pay attention to the building where he is worshipped “so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored.” God says we honor him by paying attention to the place where we praise his Name and study his Word! God goes on to say he was dishonored by those who paid more attention to their houses and business than to their place of worship. We don’t want to make that mistake.

Be an active participant in this chance to look ahead, around, and above!

_____________________________________

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

Links to Your World, Tuesday November 10

“I am a lost soul looking for refuge in a land that is familiar to me. To the one who finds this ... please find me and help this lost sheep.” One of the many anonymous notes found in bottles washed up on the shore. USA Today has the story on a man who has collected the bottles over the years.


“Imagine a banker in the current financial crisis objecting when you name her job description. ‘I’m not a banker, I’m a cashier.’ You would be unimpressed. Or a Major League Baseball player seeking distance from the steroid scandal this way: ‘No no no, I’m not a baseball player, I’m a second baseman.’” That’s Jason Byassee, commenting on the futility—and the error—of those who say, “Oh, I’m not a Christian, I’m a follower of the Way.” Some good thoughts on “owning” the Body of Christ, flaws and all, past and present.


Bears are going bald in a German zoo. Maybe that’s why they killed those boys making fun of Elisha….


Onion: Oversensitive Quarterback Reads Too Much Into Defense


“Rejection can dramatically reduce a person's IQ and their ability to reason analytically, while increasing their aggression, according to new research." (New Scientist)


Roland Emmerich has destroyed a lot of landmarks in his career as a movie director, including the Vatican and the "Christ the Redeemer" statue over Rio de Janeiro in the recent flick 2012. But he won’t destroy Islamic sites in his films for fear of a fatwa. (Read the story here; and James Taranto of the WSJ Best of the Web has some worthy observations on Emmerich’s timidity here.)


“I now have faith in those who say they represent a faith. I finally met people who walk the walk.” Sandra Bullock, on the Christian faith of Leigh Anne Touhy, whom she plays in the new film The Blind Side.

Song of the Week: This Thorn

I'm not always in the mental/spiritual place Twila Paris was when she wrote this. But it's my goal. From 1990, here's "This Thorn."



Her reference to "this thorn" is from 2 Cor 12:7-10. Lyrics:

Thank you for this thorn embedded in my flesh
I can feel the mystery, my spirit is made fresh
You are sovereign still and forever wise
I can see the miracle opening my eyes
To a proud heart so quick to judge
Laying down crosses and carrying grudges
The veil has been torn
And I thank you for this thorn

Thank you for this thorn--
fellowship of pain--
Teaching me to know you more
never to complain
Thank You for this love planted in my side
Faithful patient miracle opening my eyes

I never thought I'd say it without reservation
But I am truly grateful for this piercing revelation
Of a proud heart so quick to judge
Laying down crosses and carrying grudges
The veil has been torn
And I thank you for this thorn

And if You chose to take it, I will praise You
And thank You for the healing in Your name
But if it must remain, I thank You for Your rod
Evidence of Father-love for a child of God

I join You in the sorrow
So much less than You have borne
And I thank you, really I thank You
Lord I thank You,
I thank You for this thorn

Yawning at the Word

Whenever the Bible is read, a hush should come over us. We should be inching toward the edge of our seats, leaning forward, turning our best ear toward the speaker, fearful we'll miss a single word—the deeds and words and character of Almighty and Merciful God are being revealed! In a world of suffering and pain, of doubt and despair, of questions about the meaning and purpose of existence, we are about to hear of God's glory, forgiveness, mercy and love, of his intention for the world, of his promise to make it all good in the end, of the way to join his people, of the means to abide with him forever! And there we sit, tapping our feet, mentally telling the preacher to get on with it.

Mark Galli
"Yawning at the Word"

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/novemberweb-only/144-41.0.html

LeaderLines: Ignore Your Critics

 

I drop in on Seth Godin’s blog every now and then. Recently he gave some sound advice:

Ignore your critics.

This sounds counterintuitive. Aren’t we supposed to do exit interviews with those who are dissatisfied? Aren’t we supposed to learn from everyone, even our enemies? Haven’t we been told that our critics are helpful for self-evaluation because our friends will only tell us what we want to hear?

But Godin says, “The critics are never going to be happy with you. That's why they're critics. You might bore them by doing what they say but that won't turn them into fans….Changing your act to make them happy is a fool's game.

Of course, your critics aren’t the only ones to ignore. “You should ignore your fans as well,” Godin writes. “Your fans don't want you to change, your fans want you to maintain the essence of what you bring them but add a laundry list of features. You fans want lower prices and more contributions, bigger portions and more frequent deliveries.”

So, who should you listen to? “You should listen to the people who tell the most people about you,” Godin says, “Listen to the people who thrive on sharing your good works with others. If you delight these people, you grow.”

Godin’s writing to business leaders, but there’s some wisdom here for those of us who lead churches. From organizing activities to teaching lessons to leading music to setting the pace and direction of a church—well, you’re going to get your share of criticism.

We’d like to sound super-spiritual and say that the only one we aim to please is the Lord. At one level, of course, that’s absolutely true. But the Lord assigns us to lead people, and if what we do isn’t resonating with anyone, we’re not doing any real leading.

As someone famously put it, “He who thinketh he leadeth and findeth no one following is only taking a walk.”

So, you have to pay attention to how people are reacting to you. But ignore the critics. Ignore the fans. Pay attention to those who thrive on sharing with other what they like about what you do.

__________________________

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.

Links to Your World, November 4

Ian McKellen, the openly gay actor most famous for his role as Gandalf in the LOTR films, says every time he stays in a hotel he takes the Bible from the nightstand and tears out the page condemning homosexuality in Leviticus 18:22. (World magazine, linking to Details magazine.) Apparently he leaves the New Testament passages on the same subject intact….


A wonderful story about a Planned Parenthood director who leaves the abortion business, citing a change of heart.


“The exceptional moments of life aren’t a test of a man’s mettle, the question is, how does he handle the ordinary moments? A man’s worth and character is revealed in his attitude and commitment toward common, ordinary, everyday things. Not when he’s on stage or in the limelight, but in the often lonely grind time. And the truth is there are many more mundane moments in leadership than there are mountaintops.” (The Glory of the Grind)


You mean, I could be paid by the government for visiting the hospital and praying for people? Hmm…. “As the health care battle moved forward last week, Phil Davis, a senior Christian Science church official, hurriedly delivered bundles of letters to Senate offices promoting a little-noticed proposal in the legislation requiring insurers to consider covering the church's prayer treatments just as they do other medical expenses.” (story) By the way, most evangelical Christian leaders consider Christian Science like Grape Nuts: neither grape nor nuts….


Fun with Google Suggest


Some good advice on financial planning for retirement from Time magazine, broken into decades: your 20s, your 30s, your 40s, your 50s and your 60s. This link will take you to the start of their advice for your 40s, my decade. Look on the bottom of the web page and you can work backward or forward from there if you don’t share my birthdate….


Desiring God by John Piper is the free audiobook download for November


“For the money it takes to save one life with carbon cuts, smarter [malaria] policies could save 78,000 lives” (WSJ) Is the focus on global warming distracting us from things much more important?


“What it means to live missionally, then, is to have authentic friendship with people in these networks. That’s it. If Jesus is truly important to you, and if you have real friendships with people, then Jesus is going to come up sooner or later in the natural course of sharing life. You shouldn’t have to artificially shoehorn Jesus into every conversation, nor should you feel the need to hide or downplay your affection for him. Those in your oikos will get to know Jesus as they get to know you.” (http://www.cdomaha.com/blog/?p=1711)



Did you see “V”? last Tuesday? “The show's chief cautionary voice is Father Jack, an Anglican priest. He is skeptical of the Vs—indeed, of the existence of aliens. "I don't see any basis for this in Scripture," he tells his elder priest, who has quickly concluded that the aliens are part of God's plan—not because of miracles as much as increased attendance at worship. Surely, he thinks, God is in this. Besides, the Vatican—which the show mistakenly puts at the head of the Anglican Church—has officially endorsed the Visitors as part of God's creation. So Father Jack is initially the lone skeptic, preaching that people should fully explore anything they are tempted to believe in. They must compare claims to what they know is true: Scripture. It's refreshing for a strong Christian character—especially one facing his own existential crisis—to speak for informed, intelligent belief…. Father Jack and other characters form a small band of freedom fighters who meet secretly to dissect false teachings and spread the truth.” (CT)


“You may be surprised at what many prominent women’s groups are protesting as “anti-choice propaganda.” It’s not a new book, or a graphic display; it’s a recent episode of NBC’s Friday night staple, Law & Order. The show, which often rips its story straight from the headlines, recently aired an episode clearly based on the murder of late-term abortion provider George Tiller. The episode, titled “Dignity,” offered sensitive portrayals of pro-life views that result in two characters who originally take the pro-choice side to reconsider their views” (CT Movies).

To Speak of Us to the Author of All Creation!

"When our faith flags, he throws reminders in our way. Think of the prayer warriors in our midst. They change things, and those of us who have been on the receiving end of their petitions and intercessions know it. It is hard to describe, but there are times when suddenly the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and you feel a surge of the Spirit. Somehow you just know: Others have chosen, when talking to the Author of all creation, to lift us up—to speak of us!"

Tony Snow

7 Doubt-Inducing Assumptions and 4 Ways to Counter Them

According to JP Moreland and Klaus Issler, there are 7 assumptions we absorb from our culture that make it hard to nurture faith--and there are 4 ways to battle these assumptions (In Search of a Confident Faith: Overcoming Barriers to Trusting in God):

Doubts are unknowingly fed by ideas absorbed from the plausibility structure of the surrounding culture….Even though such assumptions are usually easy to answer, finding such answers does not, by itself, resolve the doubts. This can only be done by making these cultural assumptions explicit, by exposing them for the intellectual frauds they actually are, and by being vigilant in keeping them before one’s mind and spotting their presence in the ordinary reception of input each day from newspapers, magazines, office conversation, television, movies and so on. Said differently, it is not enough to find good answers to these doubts as it is for more specific intellectual problems. The real solution here is the conscious formation of alternative, countercultural ways of seeing, thinking and being present in the world. If this is not done, these background assumptions will bully us Christians to live secular lives, and they will squeeze the spiritual life out of us.

Here are seven of the main doubt-inducing background assumptions of our culture:

1. It is smarter to doubt things than to believe them. Smart people are skeptical. People who find faith easy are simplistic, gullible and poorly educated. The more educated you become, the more you will become a skeptic.

2. University professors are usually unbelievers because they know things unrecognized by average folk that make belief in the Bible a silly thing to have.

3. Religion is a matter of private, personal feelings and should be kept out of debates—political and/or moral—in the public square.

4. Science is the only way to know reality with confidence, or at least it is a vastly superior way of knowing reality than other approaches, e.g., religious ones. And science has made belief in God unnecessary.

5. We can know things only through our five senses. If I can see, touch, taste, hear or smell something, then it’s real and I can know it. But if I can’t sense it in one of these ways, I can’t know it’s real and I must settle for a blind, arbitrary choice to believe in it.

6. If we can’t get the experts to agree on something like the existence and nature of God, abortion, or life after death, then we just can’t know anything about it.

7. Enlightened people are tolerant, nonjudgmental and compassionate. They are unwilling to impose their views on others. Defensive, unenlightened people are the dogmatic, ugly polar opposites of enlightened folk.

These ideas are seldom stated this explicitly, but we absorb them daily through conversation and largely through the media. This is a conspiracy. That would be intentional. It’s far worse than that. With genuine exceptions, these ideas have so permeated our society that media folk govern their work by them without having the lightest idea of this fact. How do we erase the impact of these background assumptions on our confidence in God and the Christian worldview?

Here’s a four-step procedure that will remove this kind of doubt if you internalize it as a habit through conscious repetition:

Step 1: Spot the activating source (e.g., the evening news, TV show, movie, conversation at work) and be alert while being exposed to it.

Step 2: Explicitly state to yourself exactly the doubt-inducing cultural assumption that lies beneath the surface of the activating source (start with the list of seven above).

Step 3: Challenge and question the truth of the cultural assumption. Is that really true? Doubt the doubt!

Step 4: Replace the cultural assumption with a biblical truth—the correct alternative way of seeing reality—and make it your goal grow in God-confidence about the alternative.

(Pages 47-49, In Search of a Confident Faith: Overcoming Barriers to Trusting God, by JP Moreland and Klaus Issler)

Winning Ways: Making it Right

Few United States governors will ever be as immortalized in popular culture as the late Alabama populist, George C. Wallace. The rock band Lynyrd Skynrd praised him in Sweet Home Alabama (“In Birmingham they love the guv-nah!”). Then Forrest Gump introduced new generations to his infamous stand at the school house door, attempting to block blacks from admission to the University of Alabama in 1963.

In fact, the Forrest Gump news footage is the only picture most people have of the Governor today—a defiant obstructionist with jutted jaw and curled lip, shouting “Segregation forever!”

But there’s another picture of Wallace. While campaigning for president in 1972, Wallace survived an assassination attempt; but the bullet fired into him left him paralyzed in the legs. His brush with death got him to thinking about eternity, and he gave his life to Christ in 1983.

As the heavenly Ruler began to influence him, the earthly ruler began to change. One day, Wallace appeared unannounced at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. This is the church Martin Luther King, Jr., was pastoring when he launched the civil rights movement in the 50s. Mr. Wallace wheeled his way to the front of the church where three hundred black ministers were concluding a day-long conference.

A hush fell over the crowd.

“I never had hate in my heart for any person,” he said, “but I regret my support of segregation and the pain it caused the black people of our state and nation.” Amid cries of “amen” and “yes, Lord,” he continued. “Segregation was wrong, and I am sorry.”

Two images of George Wallace. Hopefully the enduring image will not be the segregationist but the humbled, wheelchair-bound penitent, saying “I was wrong, and I am sorry.”

Jesus said, “Settle matters quickly with your adversary. Do it while you are still with him on the way [to judgment]” (Matthew 5:25). The last and lasting image you want to bring before the throne of God is that of a humbled penitent saying to the one you hurt, “I was wrong, and I am sorry.”

This Sunday, we're going to learn some practical things about making amends to those we've harmed. It's the Ninth Step in our walk through the Twelve Steps to Victory. See you at 10!

____________________________________

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

Biopsy

We would appreciate your prayers for Diane: Today’s biopsy revealed she has breast cancer. A mastectomy has been scheduled for November 18.

We are sharing this news across a variety of platforms (email, Facebook, and my blog) because we can’t possibly telephone everyone we want to inform.

However, in reply we’d love to have your e-mails, text messages and letters instead of phone calls or visits. Phone calls and visits down the line, but not right now, please.

Our prayer is to see and reveal Jesus at work in our lives in the weeks and months ahead. We’re confident that includes his gracious healing.

Love,

Tom and Diane

Song of the Week: To You Be the Glory

If you liked the "Glory Revealed" project, you'll probably like "Glory Revealed II," another collection of Scripture-based songs set to, well, "roots" tunes. Here's a good message among some nice harmonies on the final track. Listen to "To You Be the Glory"--