America's Favorite Unopened Book

A sobering observation for those of us who lead churches:

As a professor of New Testament studies at Seattle Pacific University...I often begin my survey of the Christian Scriptures course by asking students to take a short biblical literacy quiz, including questions of the sort mentioned above. The vast majority of my students--around 95 percent of them--are Christians, and half of them typically report that they currently attend nondenominational evangelical churches. Yet the class as a whole consistently averages a score of just over 50 percent, a failing grade. In the most recent survey, only half were able to identify which biblical book begins with the line, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Barely more than half knew where to turn in the Bible to read about the first Passover. Most revealing in my mind is the fact that my students are generally unable to sequence major stories and events from the biblical metanarrative. Only 23 percent were able to order four key events from Israel's history (Israelites enter the promised land; David is made king; Israel is divided in two; and the people of Judah go into exile), and only 32 percent were able to sequence four similarly important events from the New Testament (Jesus was baptized; Peter denies Jesus; the Spirit descends at Pentecost; and John has a vision on the island of Patmos). These students may know isolated Bible trivia (84 percent knew, for instance, that Jesus was born in Bethlehem), but their struggle to locate key stories, and their general inability to place those stories in the Bible's larger plotline, betrays a serious lack of intimacy with the text--even though a full 86 percent of them identified the Bible as their primary source for knowledge about God and faith.

David R. Nienhuis

"The Problem of Evangelical Biblical Illiteracy: A View from the Classroom"

Modern Reformation

"Partners with the Angels"

These days the word evangelist is being used by lots of other people.  There are care salesmen that call themselves 'BMW evangelists' or "Chevrolet evangelists.' They think, eat, drink and sleep their product. Because of this marketing usage, its actually become a positive word again.

When I'm on a plane now and a churched person asks what I do and I say, "I'm an evangelist," my response is a turnoff.  But if it's a non-Christian in sales, or in any kind of business, they immediately know what I'm talking about. There's no negativity at all.  They hear it as a synonym for enthusiast. But in the minds of long-time church people, it can be a negative. But I think we need to get over it. Its biblical roots are too important.  When the angels announce the birth of Jesus, we see the Greek word from which we get evangelism--euangelion. So we are partners with the angels when we do evangelism. We are doing what the angels do. That's powerful.

Steve Sjogren, in an interview with Leadership Journal

(p 57, Winter 2010, Vol 31, No 1)

"It Was One of the More Raw Moments in My Life"

When abortion doctor Lisa Harris was 18 weeks pregnant, she performed a D&E abortion on an 18-week-old fetus. Harris felt her own child kick precisely at the moment that she severed a leg of the unborn infant:

Instantly, tears were streaming from my eyes—without me—meaning my conscious brain—even being aware of what was going on. I felt as if my response had come entirely from my body, bypassing my usual cognitive processing completely. A message seemed to travel from my hand and my uterus to my tear ducts. It was an overwhelming feeling—a brutally visceral response—heartfelt and unmediated by my training or my feminist pro-choice politics. It was one of the more raw moments in my life.

David Daleiden and Jon Shields include her story in their article, "Mugged by Ultrasound: Why So Many Abortion Workers Have Turned Pro-Life." It's a wrenching article that deserves a few minutes of your time.

Zen and Violence

Some Westerners, dismayed by aggressive acts from the religions they're familiar with, regard Zen Buddhism as a welcome alternative, seeing it as an introspective way of life pursuing peace. Marvin Olasky writes in the latest edition of World that Buddhist scholars are having to rethink that assumption in light of history.  Scholars such as:

• Zen priest Brian Victoria. In his Zen at War (Rowman & Littlefield, 2nd edition, 2006) and Zen War Stories (RoutledgeCurzon, 2003), Victoria reveals how Zen leaders in the 1930s Japanese aggression in China applauded killing.
• D.T. Suzuki, who became the leading Zen popularizer in the United States. In his book Zen and Japanese Culture (republished in 1970 by Princeton University Press), acknowledged that Zen "treats life and death indifferently" and can be "wedded to anarchism or fascism, communism or democracy . . . or any political or economic dogmatism."
• Former Zen Priest Josh Baran, who reviewed Zen violence for the Buddhist publication Tricycle magazine.

Olasky writes:

Adherents to the key Buddhist doctrine of non-attachment--to things, people, or life itself--argue that we only imagine the difference between war and peace, civilization and savagery: All are illusions. Brian Victoria shows how that doctrine hardened Japanese soldiers with Buddhist training. Others also worry about Zen teaching that, according to Buddhist Josh Baran, pushes adherents to "give up our rational thinking and intelligence."

Baran's review of Victoria's writing noted, "For too long, we have accepted all eastern teaching with childlike reverence, placing our thinking faculties on hold. Perhaps now, with these new revelations, it is time to re-honor intelligence and questioning and look more carefully at what we inherited and where we are headed." Christians have gone through such self-appraisals concerning the Crusades. Some Buddhists are ready to do the same.

My point in all this is not to suggest that Buddhism is a religion of violence--it rarely is these days--but that it can be. Buddhism gets a great press in the United States, but it is one more man-made religion that reflects our naturally sinful natures. Murderers and adulterers all need Christ.

"Some of us experienced World War II in the trenches, and others experienced it by playing Call of Duty on our Xbox."

Mollie Ziegler Hemingway doesn't attend a church that targets a single generation.  She tells us why:

Each of us learns and benefits from caring for the old, the sick, the suffering, and the dying, just as we benefit from the vitality that children, teens, and young adults bring. We all have vastly different experiences in life. By existing together in one community, we all benefit. Some of us experienced World War II in the trenches, and others experienced it by playing Call of Duty on our Xbox.

My dearest friend at my Lutheran church is a widow in her 70s. We became close after her beloved husband died following an extended battle with cancer. From Dolores I have learned how to sacrifice for one's spouse, enjoy life to the fullest, help neighbors in need, and raise children. If I were to attend a congregation where everyone was roughly my age and at my station in life, how would I learn these valuable lessons in Christian living?

Hillcrest is multigenerational, a source of our greatest strength--and a source of our greatest challenges. But its not just from a default reality: we are consciously, deliberately figuring out how to make congregational life work for all age ranges.

LeaderLines: Get Ready for "The Neighboring Faiths Interviews"

In April I will lead a project called “The Neighboring Faiths Interviews.” Four different evenings at the Hillcrest campus I will interview an imam, a rabbi, a Hindu priest, and a Buddhist monk.

The point? The connections the Hillcrest Family makes at work, at school, and in our neighborhoods likely include people from other faith backgrounds. This likelihood increases the younger you are. And real relationships cannot develop from these connections without understanding and respect. “The Neighboring Faiths Interviews” will contribute to this.

I’ve been planning the event for some time, and have already held several meetings with the men I will be interviewing. But today I read about an evangelical pastor who has already completed a similar project.

Last weekend Bob Roberts of NorthWood Church in Keller held what he called a “trialogue” with Muslims and Jews. On Friday, members of NorthWood and the Islamic Center of Irving attended the worship service of Dallas’ Temple Shalom. On Saturday afternoon, the Christian and Jewish congregations visited the mosque. And on Sunday morning, the Jews and the Muslims attended NorthWood’s worship service. After each gathering, the 3 clergymen answered questions.

Roberts insisted that the event was not “interfaith” but rather “multifaith,” since the former term tends to imply a kind of watered-down “we-all-serve-the-same-god” mindset. In an interview on Ed Stetzer’s weblog he said:

Interfaith is mirky, it’s more about feel-good. It doesn’t allow us to be honest about our differences….How can we build relationships if we don’t speak honestly to each other. I’m tired of having to be religiously politically correct. I’m also tired of the arrogance of some evangelicals who don’t know how to disagree and treat others with respect.

Roberts is an evangelical who believes Jesus meant it when he said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). But he believes that conviction should compel those who believe it to respectful interaction, not to separation. He told Stetzer:

I work with people of different religions all over the world-- I don't think we in the West know how to speak of faith and treat people with respect at the same time. We can come across as arrogant, superior, and sometimes condescending because we have the truth. If we have the truth - we should be the most humble of all and the most serving of all. Keeping our young people and children isolated from other religions in an attempt to keep them in our faith - is a dangerous move in the 21st century. They will hear and know, we can help with that process and help them understand why we follow Jesus above all else, and send them out equipped, or ignore or worse villify but never explain other religions and watch them turn from Jesus because we didn't live it or explain it.

Roberts acknowledged that, though he received a lot of affirmation from his church for the project, it was the younger crowd who understood the need for it right away:

An interesting note Ed, the younger people in our church below 30, were so excited. Those over 40, several were nervous. We all got to the same place. I think the worldview has changed with the younger generation and it’s up to us that are older to build the tracks for the next generation to be able to run on. Isolation has never been a good strategy for the Gospel to spread.

My project, “The Neighboring Faiths Interviews,” won’t involve attending a synagogue or mosque (though I will be attending, so let me know if you want to come along). But I’m looking forward to the hour-long discussion I’ll have with the other religious leaders.

We won’t start promoting “The Neighboring Faiths Interviews” for another month or two. But as a Hillcrest leader, start praying for this event.

_________________________

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.

"Half a God is not God at All"

Tim Keller, reviewing The Shack. Hear, hear:

Here is my main problem with the book. Anyone who is strongly influenced by the imaginative world of The Shack will be totally unprepared for the far more multi-dimensional and complex God that you actually meet when you read the Bible. In the prophets the reader will find a God who is constantly condemning and vowing judgment on his enemies, while the Persons of the Triune-God of The Shack repeatedly deny that sin is any offense to them. The reader of Psalm 119 is filled with delight at God’s statutes, decrees, and laws, yet the God of The Shack insists that he doesn’t give us any rules or even have any expectations of human beings. All he wants is relationship. The reader of the lives of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and Isaiah will learn that the holiness of God makes his immediate presence dangerous or fatal to us. Someone may counter (as Young seems to do, on p.192) that because of Jesus, God is now only a God of love, making all talk of holiness, wrath, and law obsolete. But when John, one of Jesus’ closest friends, long after the crucifixion sees the risen Christ in person on the isle of Patmos, John ‘fell at his feet as dead.’ (Rev.1:17.) The Shack effectively deconstructs the holiness and transcendence of God. It is simply not there. In its place is unconditional love, period. The God of The Shack has none of the balance and complexity of the Biblical God. Half a God is not God at all.

I read The Shack a couple of years ago and was, by turns, moved and annoyed. Maybe that's why I haven't reviewed it at Get Anchored.  I was more moved by it than I wanted to admit to my annoyed friends, and more annoyed by it than I wanted to admit to my moved friends. 

This Is the Title of a Post Telling You to Read Another Blog Post

You should take a couple of minutes with "This is the title of a typical incendiary blog post.  A sharp mocking of too many weblog rants. I admit I've fallen into some of the ruts myself in some posts. The comments section continues the cleverness.

"Christian Blogs Fit Into One of Three Categories"

From Mere Orthodoxy:

Here’s my basic hypothesis.  Christian blogs fit into one of three categories:  Christians exhorting other Christians to live Christianly, Christians talking about politics, and Christians exhorting other Christians to stop talking about politics and start reaching the lost instead.

Of course, those blogs are great....Don’t hear me saying that Christian blogs have to be oriented toward talking to non-Christians.  They don’t.

But if I was a non-Christian judging the shape and dynamic of our churches by our behavior online--a reasonable thing to do, I think--I’d probably leave a tour of Christian blogs thinking that we spend most of our time talking about how to reach people, rather than reaching people.

In other words, I don’t know of a major Christian blog that has crossover appeal.

At a Texas Intersection of Faith and Science

Want a perfect illustration of our culture’s confusion at the intersection of “faith” and “science”? Just follow the reactions to rumors that Waco’ Baylor University and Houston’s Baylor College of Medicine are merging.

Whether BU and BCM should form closer ties is the subject of another post; this post is on the reactions to merger talks--reactions that expose our culture’s misunderstanding of the faith-science relationship. (But let me add that, as a BU alum, I can’t see the upside to closer ties with the financially-troubled medical school. More at the end of this post.)

BU broke ties with BCM in the late 60s to make it easier for BCM to find federal and donor funding. The BU Board of Regents still appoints a quarter of the BCM board, and the BU board retains the rights for the medical school to use the Baylor name.

BCM sought a merger with Rice, but those talks broke down (for reasons BU needs to keep in mind, but, again, that’s not the subject of this post). When rumors began of a merger between BCM and BU, some students, faculty, staff and alumni of BCM created an online petition to register opposition. More than 500 people have signed the statement, which reads:

Our position is based on the grounds that the mission of BU is incongruous with that of BCM. As BU is a religion-affiliated institution that promotes values and teachings from religious beliefs throughout its ranks, we cannot overlook the restrictive influence that this potential merger would have on BCM, a leading biomedical research-oriented college. The religious ideologies that permeate throughout BU's academic policies may adversely affect both scientific progress and the culture at BCM, particularly in relation to issues such as evolution, embryonic stem cells, and sexual orientation. While we respect everyone's right to religion in his or her own life, we believe that science and medicine must be separate from religion, and urge you to reject any such merger.

After signing the petition, one commentator posted: “It would be the beginning of the end for the Baylor College of Medicine. It would really be a great loss for American science. The proud institution would lose the brightest minds, students and at the end reputation. Merging with the Baylor University is not the answer.” Hugo Bellen, a molecular geneticist, wrote on the petition that “an affiliation with BU will tarnish BCM's image, lower BCM's ranking nationwide and lead to the perception that BCM has ultra-conservative values.” The editors at the Houston Chronicle concur, writing in their editorial, “Although Baylor University has strong academic credentials, strengthening ties to a school with a fundamentalist reputation could challenge the latter goal.”

Many, including BU alums, wonder what school they’re referring to with descriptors like “ultra-conservative values” and “fundamentalist reputation.” Still, BCM interim president William Butler assured supporters that any new affiliation between BCM and BU will not impact BCM’s “scientific and academic freedom.”

So much for the “faith-threatens-science” side of this clash. How have those at the faith-based university responded? Mostly with reassurances that BU is harmless. The Lariat staff editorial, for example, (with a cringe-inducing cartoon of a friendly bearded cross shaking hands with a big brain) stressed that BCM had nothing to worry about because, well, BU is a really smart school despite their religious affiliation: “Although Baylor is a Christian university, it is also a nationally acclaimed teaching institution.”

Although? One could think of other words--better words--there. Try “Because” in place of “Although” in that sentence and see the difference.

Besides, these reassurances really don’t touch on the concerns of the petition, which have to do with various fronts of the culture war: “BU academic policies,” the petition states, “may adversely affect both scientific progress and the culture at BCM, particularly in relation to issues such as evolution, embryonic stem cells, and sexual orientation.”

One can understand how some scientists would find it a nuisance to have to engage with a faith-based university on the ethics of research into, say, embryo-destructive stem cell research. Still, the ethics conversation is necessary: an entirely value-free science is a horror to consider (Experiments on Chinese prisoners, anyone?). A faith-based university like BU could contribute careful thought on the ethics surrounding the very topics BCM raised. BCM might even be surprised at the stance thoughtful Christians—even “ultra-conservative” ones—would take on, say, evolution or the biological basis of sexual orientation.

And so we have a perfect illustration of the faith-science debate in this Texas story. Stay tuned.

________________

As I said, this post isn’t about the value of a BU-BCM merger, but as a BU alum I just can’t see the upside for BU. Interim BU president David Garland assures us that “such a strengthened affiliation could be helpful to the University's continued growth and advancement,” which “has encouraged us to think broadly about some exciting new opportunities for the faculty and students of Baylor University.” That tells us exactly zip about what BU would gain from this action. BU officials should look carefully at the reasons why Rice University turned down a tie-in with BCM.

_______________

Online Resources for this Post:

Baylor University, Baylor College of Medicine consider closer ties

Baptist Standard

Ken Camp, Managing Editor

Published: January 25, 2010

Baylor University: Let's separate fact from fiction

Houston Chronicle

Editorial By R. DARY STONE and DAVID E. GARLAND

Jan. 26, 2010, 11:51PM

Baylor Med's new partner talks greeted with petition

By TODD ACKERMAN

HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Jan. 19, 2010, 9:02PM

Medical matchmaking

Baylor College of Medicine should think twice before strengthening ties with Waco

HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Jan. 23, 2010, 8:21PM

January 12, 2010

Rice U. and Baylor College of Medicine Break Off Merger Talks

By Katherine Mangan

The Chronicle of Higher Education

Group sees BU as 'restrictive influence'

Jan. 26, 2010

BCM director says online petition distorts talks as possible merger

By Sara Tirrito

Baylor Lariat

Editorial: Reasoning against affiliation appears faulty in light of Baylor's research

The Lariat staff

Jan. 26, 2010

Resistance is Fertile

For me, the resistance disguises itself as important, even urgent work that could and should be put aside. The resistance most often looks like checking my email. Email is the perfect distraction for me, because it’s fresh, new and bite-sized. When I turn off email, even for an hour, my productivity triples.

Seth Godin, in an interview with Steven Pressfield. In Godin's new book, Linchpin, he talks about the need to overcome resistance [i.e., self-sabotage] in order to make your mark.

Winning Ways: What Impression Are You Making?

I read about sandals with treads that leave the words “Jesus” and “Loves You” as you walk along sandy or muddy ground. The sandals can be ordered for about $25 from a website called “Shoes of the Fishermen.” The company also sells snowboots for those who want to leave their mark while walking in the snow.

I’ll leave it up to you to decide if this is a worthwhile use of your money. But as I read the story about sandals that leave the words “Jesus Loves You” wherever the owner walks, it made me think. I couldn’t help but ask what kind of “impression” I’m making in the lives of others.

In 1 Thessalonians 2:8 Paul said, “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.” I’ve memorized that verse, and you should, too.

Paul said he shared two things with them. First, he shared the gospel with them. He wanted them to know Jesus, to know Jesus’ forgiveness and guidance and power for living. But Paul said he shared not only the gospel with them but also his life: his time, his energy, his heart. He was enthusiastically connected with them.

You go to enough churches enough times and you’ll hear a challenge to share the gospel. The problem for too many of us is that even if we finally get up the nerve to share the gospel, we’re hardly effective because we’re not sharing the other thing that Paul listed: We’re not sharing our lives with them.

Maybe the missing ingredient that keeps us from being effective witnesses is friendship. We need to nurture authentic relationships with those who need the Lord. Mark Mittleberg of Willow Creek Church calls it the “Barbeque First Principle.” Invite them to a barbeque in your backyard before you invite them to church. In other words, socialize, be real, and develop a no-strings-attached friendship with those around you.

You can buy some sandals that leave the Christian message as an impression in the sand. But what are you doing to leave the Christian message as an impression in someone’s life?

Come this Sunday at 10 and let’s learn more about this important work!

______________________________________

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 January 26

Kids 8-18 spend 7.5 hours a day on smartphones, computers, television, or other electronic devices.


50 Tricks to Get Things Done Faster, Better, and More Easily


Austin economy on the road to recovery, analysts say


“ ‘We are the pro-life generation,’ said signs carried by the crowd, about half its members appearing to be younger than 30.” (Robert McCartney of the Washington Post, reporting on the March for Life in the nation’s capital.)


Don’t Take This Sitting Down: “In a provocative look at the impact of sedentary behavior on health, a new study links time watching television to an increased risk of death. One of the most surprising findings is that it isn't just couch potatoes who were affected—even for people who exercised regularly, the risk of death went up the longer they were in front of the TV. The problem was the prolonged periods of time spent sitting still.”


“Antispanking advocates say that physical discipline isn't just immoral but also detrimental to a child's long-term adjustment. Yet a new study by Calvin College's Marjorie Gunnoe found no evidence to support the claim. In fact, it found that those adolescents who were spanked as young children actually ended up having a sunnier outlook and were better students than those who were never spanked.” (Mollie Ziegler Hemingway in the WSJ)


According to Dunbar’s Number, named after British anthropologist Robin Dunbar, the cognitive limit to the number of people you can be friends with is 150. According to a study, it also applies to Facebook. So about a hundred of you are going to have to defriend me.


Sleep Routine Makeovers: Read expert advice for three common sleeping issues


Ten Updated Colloquialisms For The Modern Age


Posts at "Get Anchored" since last Tuesday:

The Power of Half
Wired: Ten Updated Colloquialisms For The Modern Age
"When a Puny Man Speaks in God's Name"
You Know, Like When God Turned Stone to Bread...
LeaderLines: On the Good Ship Hillcrest
Drawn...And Not Sure Why
Update on Haiti Disaster Relief
Winning Ways: Godly Influence
"His Bride Has Made Herself Ready"

The Power of Half

Nicholas Kristof:

It all began with a stop at a red light.

Kevin Salwen, a writer and entrepreneur in Atlanta, was driving his 14-year-old daughter, Hannah, back from a sleepover in 2006. While waiting at a traffic light, they saw a black Mercedes coupe on one side and a homeless man begging for food on the other.

“Dad, if that man had a less nice car, that man there could have a meal,” Hannah protested. The light changed and they drove on, but Hannah was too young to be reasonable. She pestered her parents about inequity, insisting that she wanted to do something.

“What do you want to do?” her mom responded. “Sell our house?”

Warning! Never suggest a grand gesture to an idealistic teenager. Hannah seized upon the idea of selling the luxurious family home and donating half the proceeds to charity, while using the other half to buy a more modest replacement home.

Eventually, that’s what the family did. The project — crazy, impetuous and utterly inspiring — is chronicled in a book by father and daughter scheduled to be published next month: “The Power of Half.” It’s a book that, frankly, I’d be nervous about leaving around where my own teenage kids might find it. An impressionable child reads this, and the next thing you know your whole family is out on the street.

Many of us are looking for ways to "live within our means." What impresses me about this story is the family cut back not just to live within their means but to give more.

Wired: Ten Updated Colloquialisms For The Modern Age

• Hindsight is always 1080p.
• One #hashtag does not a trending topic make.
• Too many hosts spoil the podcast.
• That’s a hard act to unfollow.
• 140 characters to the wise is sufficient.
• The bandwidth is always greener on the other side of the firewall.
• Email, Twitter, and Facebook are three best friends and three worst enemies.
• People who live in glass houses shouldn’t check their address on Google Street View.
• A fool and his passwords are soon parted.
• He’s 10 bits short of a byte.

GeekDad at Wired

"When a Puny Man Speaks in God's Name"

This is the best and most useful exercise in humility, when he accustoms us to obey his Word, even though it be preached through men like us and sometimes even by those of lower worth then we. If he spoke from heaven, it would not be surprising if his sacred oracles were to be reverently received without delay by the ears and minds of all. For who would not dread the presence of his power? Who would not be stricken down on the side of such great Majesty? Who would not be confounded at such boundless splendor? But when a puny man risen from the dust speaks in God's name, at this point we best evidence our piety and obedience toward God if we show ourselves teachable toward his minister, although he excels us in nothing. It was for this reason, then, that he hid the treasure of his heavenly wisdom in weak and earthen vessels [2 Corinthians 4:7] in order to prove more surely how much we should esteem it.

John Calvin, Institutes, Book IV, Ch 3

You Know, Like When God Turned Stone to Bread...

A cover of "We Are the World" is in the works to raise funds for Haiti.  Let's hope they correct the misreading of the Bible in the original lyrics:

Send them your heart
So they'll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stone to bread
So we all must lend a helping hand

Always liked that heartfelt reminder of the time God turned stone to bread when Jesus was on his 40-day fast.  No wait.

LeaderLines: On the Good Ship Hillcrest

You are a Stowaway, a Passenger, a Crew Member, or a Pirate. Every member of Hillcrest falls under one of these labels.

That’s an image Will Mancini provides in his book, Church Unique. What label a person wears depends on their answer to two questions: do they embrace the church’s vision, and do they want to be a contributor to the vision. Depending on how those two questions are answered makes you one of the following:

Stowaways are people who don’t buy the vision and don’t want to participate.

Passengers are people who buy the vision and don’t want to participate.

The Crew is made up of people who buy the vision and do want to participate.

Pirates are people who don’t buy the vision and do want to participate.

As to the last category—Pirates—Mancini acknowledges that not everyone has ill intent simply because they don’t buy the vision but still want to influence the organization. Nevertheless, he says, “to want to contribute and to not agree with the vision is an act of piracy, whether the person has harmful intentions or not.”

I think this is a helpful way to identify the people in an organization, including a church. In my experience, the vast majority of any church is made up of Passengers and Crew. Though the Pirates can cause a lot of trouble—intended or not—a leader’s focus shouldn't be on what to do with the Pirates. Instead, as leaders our passion should be about turning Passengers into Crew. I’m grateful for people who can at least articulate our church’s vision (Passengers), but we want an ever-growing body of people who lend a hand to actually accomplishing that vision (Crew).

Our vision? We want to be a gathering of people finding and following Jesus together. That’s one reason for our iINVITE Campaign that begins this Sunday. As we begin the effort, look for ways to get more Passengers to be Crew Members.

__________________________________

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.

Drawn...And Not Sure Why

Brian Eno, producer of (among others) Bowie, U2, and Coldplay:

"[Growing up,] the music I liked the most, singing in church, was done by a group of people who were not skilled – they were just a group of people, I knew them in the rest of the week as the coal man and the baker."

...

"[Today] I belong to a gospel choir. They know I am an atheist but they are very tolerant. Ultimately, the message of gospel music is that everything's going to be all right. If you listen to millions of gospel records – and I have – and try to distil what they all have in common it's a sense that somehow we can triumph. There could be many thousands of things. But the message… well , there are two messages… one is a kind of optimism for the future rather than a pessimism. Gospel music is never pessimistic, it's never 'oh my god, its all going down the tubes', like the blues often is. Gospel music is always about the possibility of transcendence, of things getting better. It's also about the loss of ego, that you will win through or get over things by losing yourself, becoming part of something better. Both those messages are completely universal and are nothing to do with religion or a particular religion. They're to do with basic human attitudes and you can have that attitude and therefore sing gospel even if you are not religious."

Update on Haiti Disaster Relief

More information on Haiti from the IMB. Remember, the Hillcrest Missions Team will match every dollar given to Haiti disaster relief through Hillcrest offerings, up to $6000.

Winning Ways: Godly Influence

You know that Christ’s call to be his witness applies to you, but you don’t know how to get started.

There’s an app for that!

The Hillcrest “INVITE Evangelism Strategy” introduces you to six clear applications designed to invest your life with others and introduce them to the gospel:

IDENTIFY your THEMs

NURTURE an authentic relationship with THEM

VERIFY their spiritual condition

INVOLVE THEM with your church family

TELL THEM your Faith Story, and

ENCOURAGE THEM to cross the line of faith

This Sunday, January 23, our congregation will begin a 6-week focus on this strategy.

“Been there, done that,” some of you are saying. But hold on. There are two reasons to spend 6 weeks on this effort.

First, any subject that’s worth knowing is worth repeating. Imagine only hearing about missions one time in your Christian life. Or forgiveness. Or Christ’s Second Coming. We have to cover these subjects repeatedly to keep us focused on the right things. It’s the same with evangelism. Sure, you’ve heard us talk about evangelism before—maybe you’ve even heard us talk about the INVITE acrostic at Hillcrest before. But we have to repeatedly return to subjects like this because it is so important for our Christian discipleship.

There’s a second reason to engage in this effort starting January 23: you may have heard us talk about the INVITE Strategy before, but not like this!

Each week during the sermon I will show you what God’s Word says about each of these steps. Then your class or group will discuss the message (some classes will take a few minutes to reinforce the truths of the sermon, while others will use a discussion guide for the entire hour). Then you’ll have daily readings to amplify the focus each week. This alignment of materials is designed to give you the training and motivation you need to share your faith with your world.

We’re calling the campaign iINVITE. That’s a hat tip to the iPhone and its famous apps, of course. But there’s a more important reason for the name. You and I need to remind each other to take personal responsibility for Christ’s Great Commission. It’s not a Sunday night “training course” to complete but a lifestyle to own. I must invite others to Jesus.

Pray that it will have a powerful impact in the lives of our members—and in the lives we’re all meant to impact with the gospel!

___________________________________

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.

"His Bride Has Made Herself Ready"

Andree Seu regarding the timing of the Second Coming:

We tend to look at this timing “problem” as God’s problem, something that God is doing wrong. But what if the delay in Christ’s return is our problem? Our fault? Exhibit A:

“Let us rejoice and exult, and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready” (Revelation 19:7).

If the Bride hasn’t yet bothered to clean herself up and make herself ready, and put on Christ in her attitudes and lifestyle, I don’t see why the Groom should be in any particular rush to come to the ceremony. Do you?

Links to Your World, Tuesday January 19

The NYT examines why college professors are a mostly liberal bunch: “Instead of looking at why most professors are liberal, they should ask why so many liberals — and so few conservatives — want to be professors. A pair of sociologists think they may have an answer: typecasting. . . . Journalism, art, fashion, social work and therapy are dominated by liberals; while law enforcement, farming, dentistry, medicine and the military attract more conservatives.”


Not Much Football in a Football Game: “Here's something even dedicated students of the game may not fully appreciate: There's very little actual football in a football game. According to a Wall Street Journal study of four recent broadcasts, and similar estimates by researchers, the average amount of time the ball is in play on the field during an NFL game is about 11 minutes.” And cheerleaders? "We make it a point to get Dallas cheerleaders on, but otherwise, it's not really important," says Fred Gaudelli, NBC's Sunday Night Football producer. "If we're doing the Jets, I couldn't care less." Ouch!


“James Cameron's completely immersive spectacle "Avatar" may have been a little too real for some fans who say they have experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film because they long to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora.” (CNN)


“We don’t know how to use aid to reduce poverty. Over the past few decades, the world has spent trillions of dollars to generate growth in the developing world. The countries that have not received much aid, like China, have seen tremendous growth and tremendous poverty reductions. The countries that have received aid, like Haiti, have not.” David Brooks, explaining that its Haiti’s culture that best explains its dire poverty, exacerbated by the recent earthquake. We should give to relief efforts following the earthquake, but long term development in Haiti involves changes to the culture.


How the Things You Own End Up Owning You


Study: 56% of young lovers are infected with HPV


“Known by various names around the world — including funky chicken, space monkey, sleeper hold and the blackout, choking or fainting game — the activity involves applying pressure to the neck to stop the blood flow to the brain and then releasing the pressure to create a temporary sense of euphoria. It isn't new: French medical books mention the scarf game as early as the 18th century, and deaths in Britain, Canada and the U.S. have occasionally made the headlines over the years. What is new — and frightening — is that teenagers are now uploading instructional videos to the Internet that glamorize the potentially deadly practice.” (Time article)


“Get Anchored” posts since last Tuesday:

Matching Funds for Haiti Disaster Relief
Any Takers for the Next Pleasure Cruise to Haiti?
Review of God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades
Redneck Fire Alarm
The Coming Tax Burden for Being Married
Learning to Live God's Word and Not Just Protect It
Are Young Adults Really Abandoning Churches?
EW's Coverage of "The Lost Supper": Eww
Giving to Disaster Relief in Haiti
"Overeager to Accept Tribute from Popular Culture"
LeaderLines: There's an App for That
"Reading Someone Else's Mail"
Chemist and Christian
Winning Ways: Even If . . .

Matching Funds for Haiti Disaster Relief

This was sent out to all our "Winning Ways" subscribers this afternoon:

 

You are well aware of the tragic situation in Haiti.  We all want to do something, but we also have concerns about how to give in the most effective way.  Our Missions team has voted to match any monies given through Hillcrest for Haiti up to $6,000.  This will allow the church to participate and to make our personal gifts go further.  Already, $1,364 has been given, and the church will match that.  That means that $4,636 remains in the matching fund.

The matching funds will be divided evenly between two Baptist relief organizations...

Baptist Global Response.  Partnering with the International Missions Board, BGR is a global Southern Baptist relief and development organization with a heart for seeing the poor and suffering have the opportunity to experience a full and meaningful life.  It is well equipped to deal with disasters such as this.
Texas Baptist Men.  Many in our congregation have been a part of this group over the years.  Texas Baptist Men trains volunteers and coordinates efforts in providing prompt assistance to disaster victims.  Texas Baptist Men maintains a fully-equipped mobile disaster relief feeding unit and works to coordinate with the Regional units throughout the state.

Both BGR and TBM are currently fully engaged in providing relief to the people of Haiti.  Dividing contributions between these two groups will allow us to be supportive through both a state and a national organization.

How to Give

Checks should be made to Hillcrest Baptist Church.  Write "Haiti" on the envelope or in the check's comment field.  We will take care of the rest.

You can drop by the office this week, contribute during the offering time in the service, or mail the check to the church at 3838 Steck Ave., Austin, Texas 78759.

Any Takers for the Next Pleasure Cruise to Haiti?

From The Guardian:

Sixty miles from Haiti's devastated earthquake zone, luxury liners dock at private beaches where passengers enjoy jetski rides, parasailing and rum cocktails delivered to their hammocks.

...

The decision to go ahead with the visit has divided passengers. The ships carry some food aid, and the cruise line has pledged to donate all proceeds from the visit to help stricken Haitians. But many passengers will stay aboard when they dock; one said he was "sickened".

"I just can't see myself sunning on the beach, playing in the water, eating a barbecue, and enjoying a cocktail while [in Port-au-Prince] there are tens of thousands of dead people being piled up on the streets, with the survivors stunned and looking for food and water," one passenger wrote on the Cruise Critic internet forum.

"It was hard enough to sit and eat a picnic lunch at Labadee before the quake, knowing how many Haitians were starving," said another. "I can't imagine having to choke down a burger there now.''

Some booked on ships scheduled to stop at Labadee are afraid that desperate people might breach the resort's 12ft high fences to get food and drink, but others seemed determined to enjoy their holiday."I'll be there on Tuesday and I plan on enjoying my zip line excursion as well as the time on the beach," said one.

Review of God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades

"Remember the days just after 9/11 when many claimed the West was finally paying for its crimes against Muslims during the Crusades?  They were wrong – and they weren’t the first to misunderstand what happened during the years of fighting between Christian Crusaders and Muslim soldiers. Rodney Stark’s newest book, God’s Battalions: The Case for the Crusades, helps explain and dispel several of the most common myths about the crusades – and he has quite a few myths to choose from."

--from the opening of Rachel Motte's review of Stark's book. 

I read it in 2009 but didn't review it, so get introduced to the book through her post.

Redneck Fire Alarm

The Coming Tax Burden for Being Married

Marriage is a revered institution in America but not apparently under the Congressional health care legislation, which contains steep "marriage penalty" taxes, i.e. tax burdens that only get heavier when a couple says, "I do." Under the Senate bill, if family income rises above a certain level, couples lose benefits or have to pay higher taxes. That's an incentive for dual-income couples to skip the marriage ceremony altogether and continue to file as singles. For cohabitators, the savings could amount to thousands of dollars a year.

Stephen Moore: ObamaCare vs. Marriage - WSJ.com

Learning to Live God's Word and Not Just Protect It

In an earlier post I quoted from the tepid review of The Book of Eli from The Village Voice, mostly because of the critic's comments about "overeager clergy."  The CT review is more positive, and intriguing:

Washington's character in the film is intensely violent—severing the limbs of bad guys at every turn—but begins to soften when he meets an innocent girl (Mila Kunis) who reminds him that we can get so caught up in protecting God's Word that we sometimes forget to live by it. [Emphasis mine]

Are Young Adults Really Abandoning Churches?

From Ed Stetzer's article in CT on statistics-abuse:

My book Lost and Found included a 1972-2006 GSS chart that showed that the percentage of 20-somethings attending weekly worship services has been rising since 2000, after a serious dip in the mid-1990s. My co-authors and I admitted that only time would tell if the rising trajectory would continue. Since then, the 2008 data showed another uptick, bringing attendance among evangelical 20-somethings back to what it was in 1972. Among non-evangelicals there was indeed a decline: Just fewer than 25 percent attended weekly in 1972. In 2008, it was just over 12 percent. Listening to some commentators, you might conclude that young adults had left the church. But that is not what the data tell us.

EW's Coverage of "The Lost Supper": Eww

ABC created this version of "The Last Supper" to promote the return of Lost. And Entertainment Weekly offered the following explanation to their readers who may not be familiar with the Christian practice. Yuk-yuk-yuk . . . or just yuk?

FUN FACT! The Last Supper — Jesus’ final meal with his disciples before his crucifixion — is commemorated by Christians through the sacrament of Communion, the eating of bread and drinking of wine in remembrance of Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection. Some Christians believe that when you eat the bread and drink the wine, the stuff actually converts into the body and blood of Jesus during digestion, although their appearances remain the same. (Which explains the weird carpentry aftertaste.) This miraculous conversion is known by a fancy term: Transubstantiation, ”the conversion of one substance into another.” Example sentence: ”If Jack’s ”Jughead” plans works, he and the castaways will be transubstantiated into a new reality.”

Unlike the Catholic understanding of transubstantiation, churches like ours find the Lord's Supper to be a memorial of Christ's sacrifice. Still, this is an astonishing insensitivity. (HT: Terry Mattingly)

Giving to Disaster Relief in Haiti

If you have trouble viewing the video, click here.

Here's a link to the Baptist Global Response website.

"Overeager to Accept Tribute from Popular Culture"

"It remains to be seen how the clergy, often overeager to accept tribute from popular culture, will receive this gory simony."

--from Nick Pinkerton's review of "The Book of Eli" in The Village Voice. If you've seen the film, what's your opinion?

LeaderLines: There's an App for That

You know that Christ’s call to be his witness applies to you, but you don’t know how to get started.

There’s an app for that.

The Hillcrest “INVITE Evangelism Strategy” introduces you to six clear applications designed to invest your life with others and introduce them to the gospel:

IDENTIFY your THEMs
NURTURE an authentic relationship with THEM
VERIFY their spiritual condition
INVOLVE THEM with your church family
TELL THEM your Faith Story, and
ENCOURAGE THEM to cross the line of faith

Next Sunday, January 24, our congregation will run a 6-week emphasis on this strategy.

“Been there, done that,” some of you are saying. But hold on. There are two reasons to spend 6 weeks on this effort.

First, any subject that’s worth knowing is worth repeating. Imagine only hearing about missions one time in your Christian life. Or forgiveness. Or Christ’s Second Coming. We have to cover these subjects repeatedly to keep us focused on the right things. It’s the same with evangelism. Sure, you’ve heard us talk about evangelism before—maybe you’ve even heard us talk about the INVITE acrostic at Hillcrest before. But we have to repeatedly return to subjects like this because it is so important for our Christian discipleship.

There’s a second reason to engage in this effort starting January 23: you may have heard us talk about the INVITE Strategy before, but not like this!

Do you remember how meaningful our “Purpose-Driven Life” campaign was a few years ago? This effort is similar. It involves a weekly message from me, a discussion guide based on that message, and six daily readings to amplify the focus each week. This alignment of materials is designed to give you the training and motivation you need to share your faith with your world.

Each week a booklet will be available to each youth and adult in the morning service rather than the normal “bulletin.” The booklet contains sermon notes, discussion guide, and daily readings for that week. These booklets will be used in the Bible study hour for a discussion/application time and also during the week for daily study. A portfolio will be available at campaign central in the foyer. You can use it to collect the six weekly booklets into a reference for your study or library. A special “key chain tag” will be a constant reminder of the INVITE strategy and its “key” elements.

Past materials will be available at campaign central for those who miss any week and want to complete their set. Other resources will also be available at campaign central to assist as we are encourage our THEMs toward the line of faith. In addition, digital copies of INVITE materials will be on special website for this campaign.

We’re calling the campaign iINVITE (with a hat tip to the iPhone and its famous apps, of course!).

Since LeaderLines is designed primarily for those who partner with me in leadership at Hillcrest, I wanted you to have a “heads up” on this important campaign. Pray that it will have a powerful impact in the lives of our members—and in the lives we’re all meant to impact with the gospel!

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.

"Reading Someone Else's Mail"

The problem is that "Christians just don't really believe the Old Testament is their Bible in the same way the New Testament is. For them the Old Testament teaches the law and the New Testament the gospel. The Old Testament is about Israel and the New Testament is about the church. They may not say it in so many words, but it's there, especially on those rare occasions when the preacher asks them to turn to an Old Testament passage. For them it's like reading someone else's mail. They feel they need to ask permission to obey its laws. Remember this: What we call the 'Old Testament' today was the only 'New Testament' Jesus and Paul ever had. All the evangelism we read about in the book of Acts was the result of the gospel they proclaimed from the pages of the 'Old Testament.'"

John Sailhamer, in an interview with Collin Hansen.  Sailhamer is a professor at the Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary (SBC) and author of The Meaning of the Pentateuch.

Chemist and Christian

Premier chemist, passionate Christian. And the Houston Chronicle ran a story on him.

Jim Tour: Rice University chemist. Nanotechnology expert.  Among the the 10 most cited authors of more than 720,000 scientists who authored chemistry papers in academic journals during the last decade.

Jim Tour: Messianic Jew who attends West University Baptist Church. Up at 3:30 a.m. every day to read his Bible for 2 hours, and a 20-minute break from his grueling schedule at midday in the university chapel.

"Though Tour is clearly passionate about chemistry," Eric Berger writes, "he is passionate about God. In a world that increasingly associates scientists with atheism or agnosticism, Tour derives his inspiration from deep faith."

Avatar and Lewis' Space Trilogy

“Right-wing attacks on Avatar,” explains Ann Marlowe at Forbes, “show a frightening tone-deafness to what most Americans find inspiring…”

In "Avatar and its Conservative Critics," Matthew Milliner quotes Marlowe and goes on to critique the conservative critiques of Avatar. He compares it to C.S. Lewis's space trilogy, which I haven't read since college.

I have expressed mostly negative reactions to Avatar (its story, not its visual effects), but Milliner's post will make me re-think my position.

Winning Ways: Even If . . .

It’s one thing to give God the glory when things go right; its another to continue to lift everyone’s eyes to God when the wheels fall off.

Colt McCoy was injured early in last Thursday’s national championship game, which contributed to a Longhorn loss to the Tide. A camera crew found the quarterback on the sideline and asked him what it all meant to him.

I love this game, I have a passion for this game, I’ve done everything I can to contribute to my team and we made it this far and it’s unfortunate that I didn’t get to play. I would have given everything I had to be out there with my team….I always give God the glory, I’d never question why things happen the way they do. God is in control of my life and if nothing else I know I’m standing on the Rock.

Beautiful! McCoy has often said he “gives God the glory” in these sideline interviews after a win, but its even more powerful to hear it after missing the biggest game of his career.

What does it mean to “give God the glory”? As John Piper famously puts it: “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.” When we can, even in our losses, exhibit satisfaction in God, we’re giving him glory.

Of course, this touches Diane and me personally these days. Surgeries and chemotherapy will force you to ask where real satisfaction lies.

Centuries ago, the prophet Habakkuk stubbornly said (3:17-19):

Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Some of us would have to admit that we “edit” Habakkuk’s famous statement, however:

As long as the fig tree buds
and there are grapes on the vines,
as long as the olive crop does not fail
and the fields produce food,
as long as there are sheep in the pen
and cattle in the stalls,
only then I will rejoice in the LORD,
and be joyful in God my Savior.

What brings you your satisfaction? Your job? Your spouse? Your looks? Your financial security? Your health? God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

And sometimes the only way we can prove that to the world—and to ourselves—is when the fig tree does not bud.



_____________________________
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 January 12

Did Hume “diss” Buddhism? Hume was blasted for comments on Fox News Sunday 9 days ago. He was asked as a commentator what he thought Tiger Woods should do now, and he said he should consider the Christian faith. “I don’t think that [Woods’ Buddhism] offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith,” and, “My message to Tiger [Woods] would be: Tiger, turn to the Christian faith, and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.” Tom Shales, Buddhist scholar Washington Post media critic said Hume “dissed about half a billion Buddhists on the planet.” But Buddhism does not, in fact, offer “the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith.” Buddhism is based on the assumption of karma says Stephen Prothero in USA Today. According to the law of karma, says Prothero, Boston University professor on Buddhism, “no matter what Woods says or does, he is going to have to pay for whatever wrongs he's done. There's no accountant in the sky wiping sins off your balance sheet, like there is in Christianity.” In the same USA Today article, Brad Warner, a California-based Zen priest and the author of the book Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate, said, “The problem is something he [Woods] has got to work out for himself.” Working out one’s problems for oneself is vastly different than “the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith.”


The Hidden Benefits of Exercise: Even Moderate Physical Activity Can Boost the Immune System and Protect Against Chronic Diseases


“‘It was nice to get some chores out of the way,’ Oberlin told reporters later, acknowledging that for more than half an hour he experienced no regrets, despair, or frustration of any kind. ‘Felt really good.’…Monday's incident marks the first time the 37-year-old has had his life in order in more than six years.” (The Onion: Man Gets Life In Order For 36 Minutes)


“There's yet another post-apocalyptic film on the horizon, which should be reason enough for skepticism: Haven't there been enough already? But The Book of Eli, releasing Jan. 15, looks pretty interesting, if for no other reason than its central character: The Bible.” (Mark Moring, Christianity Today)


A spanked child may be a better adult: study


The Onion: Attractive Woman, Wealthy Man Somehow Making It Work


In the future, there will be no more…well, lots of things. Bottled water, Christmas cards, cell phone contracts: Here’s the list from Time.


Related: 10 Things Not to Buy in 2010


All posts

"Supporting Actors in Our Self-Admiration"

"It’s just escapism, obviously, but benevolent romanticism can be just as condescending as the malevolent kind — even when you surround it with pop-up ferns and floating mountains."

That's David Brooks, who observes in his NYT piece that James Cameron's "Avatar" is the same "White Messiah" fable we've seen in years of film-making--and its ultimately offensive:

It [the White Messiah fable] rests on the stereotype that white people are rationalist and technocratic while colonial victims are spiritual and athletic. It rests on the assumption that nonwhites need the White Messiah to lead their crusades. It rests on the assumption that illiteracy is the path to grace. It also creates a sort of two-edged cultural imperialism. Natives can either have their history shaped by cruel imperialists or benevolent ones, but either way, they are going to be supporting actors in our journey to self-admiration.

As I've already said in my "Twitter-length" review, Avatar has eye-popping visuals and an eye-rolling story.

Dave Barry's Year-End Review

"It was a year of Hope -- at first in the sense of 'I feel hopeful!'' and later in the sense of 'I hope this year ends soon!' It was also a year of Change, especially in Washington, where the tired old hacks of yesteryear finally yielded the reins of power to a group of fresh, young, idealistic, new-idea outsiders such as Nancy Pelosi. As a result Washington, rejecting 'business as usual,' finally stopped trying to solve every problem by throwing billions of taxpayer dollars at it and instead started trying to solve every problem by throwing trillions of taxpayer dollars at it."

In case you missed it, here's Dave Barry’s “Year in Review”--always good for a chuckle.

Five Seasons of 'Lost' in 8 Minutes

Encourage a Missionary

Click here for details on 10 ways to encourage a missionary, with comments from missionaries on the field:

1. Pray for them and let them know that you are doing so frequently.

2. Send “real mail.”

3. Pray for the people the missionaries serve and not only for the missionaries and their families.

4. Recruit others to pray for the missionary’s area of service (city, people group, etc.) or for the missionaries themselves.

5. Go visit them with the purpose of serving and encouraging them in their work.

6. Send them updates and pictures of you and your family (by mail or email).

7. Ask questions about their work.

8. Continue to be a Christian friend and continue to minister to them.

9. Support them financially.

10. Seek to encourage them when they are on stateside assignment.

Healing with Sugar Pills

“Placebos Are Getting More Effective. Drugmakers Are Desperate to Know Why.”

This is an interesting Wired article on how placebos (sugar pills) are becoming as effective as pharmaceuticals in some cases. The pill’s size, shape, branding, and price all can influence its effect on the body, as well as whether or not it is disbursed by a sympathetic and attentive authority figure who expresses confidence in the patient’s future. Thought-provoking--especially this line: "[As placebo began to be used to test the effectiveness of a drug,] the fact that dummy capsules can kick-start the body's recovery engine became a problem for drug developers to overcome, rather than a phenomenon that could guide doctors toward a better understanding of the healing process and how to drive it most effectively."

The Pastor as Distiller

"If I as a pastor want to help both believers and inquirers to relate science and faith coherently, I must read the works of scientists, exegetes, philosophers, and theologians and then interpret them for my people. Someone might counter that this is too great a burden to put on pastors, that instead they should simply refer their laypeople to the works of scholars. But if pastors are not ‘up to the job’ of distilling and understanding the writings of scholars in various disciplines, how will our laypeople do it?

"This is one of the things that parishioners want from their pastors. We are to be a bridge between the world of scholarship and the world of the street and the pew. I’m aware of what a burden this is. I don’t know that there has ever been a culture in which the job of the pastor has been more challenging. Nevertheless, I believe this is our calling."

Tim Keller

"Creation, Evolution, and Christian Laypeople"

 

Take a little time with this 14-page article, especially if you're a pastor or a Bible study leader.  Keller does a good job addressing the issue of evolutionary theory and biblical authority.

Winning Ways: Three Ways to Build Your Life on God’s Word

Here are three steps that will help you value your Bible in 2010.

First, read it. Set aside time to read it daily. Read it when there’s nothing worthwhile on TV. Read it while you’re waiting in an airport terminal. Listen to recordings of scripture readings while you’re driving.

Now, maybe you doubt you’ll get anything out of Bible reading because you tried it before and concluded, “I’m never going to understand it!” You will if you keep at it. A few years ago, I bought a CD drive for my computer, and when I opened the instruction manual to install the thing, I saw all kinds of language I had never seen before. The instruction manual told me to locate the primary IDE channel, secondary IDE channel, 40-pin IDE cable, and a shunt. I said to myself, “Uh-oh.” Then when I opened the computer case, I saw all these wires running everywhere and I thought, “What have I gotten myself in to?” But I kept working with it and I soon had the thing installed and working perfectly.

Keep working with your Bible and what is currently strange and foreign will eventually become rich and beautiful to you. When reading a book that was written several thousand years ago in a Near Eastern culture very different from yours, it takes time to understand the ancient customs and idioms and theological concepts. But as you consistently read Scripture your understanding will grow.

Second, think about it. Take time to reflect on what you’re reading. Get in Bible study groups that will help you understand your Bible. Read books that will answer the questions that come up during your reading times. As you study the Bible, keep a journal of your reactions and questions.

Third, live it. James Emery White described believers who do not grow in spiritual maturity as “saved but not seized.” It’s not enough to simply read the Bible and think about it. We need to let ourselves be seized with conviction by the scriptural challenges. When we discover changes that need to be made or habits that need to be started, we need to take action, depending on the power of the Spirit and the encouragement of other believers.

The Old Testament poet said, “Oh, how I love your word! I think about it all day long” (Psalm 119:97, LB). Let that be your testimony when 2010 is through!

___________________________________

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.

Review of "Putting Jesus in His Place"

The New Testament presents Jesus as divine--and in more than a couple of proof texts. The concept is the warp and woof of the entire New Testament tapestry.

Robert M. Bowman Jr. and J. Ed Komoszewski serve the church well by highlighting this truth in their book, Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ.

The book is designed for wide popular audience, and the authors use an acronym, H.A.N.D.S. as a memory device to group the case for Christ's divinity into five categories. The acronym recalls the experience of Thomas in John 20:24-29. When the doubting apostle saw the marks in Jesus' hands left by the nails of the crucifixion, he fell at Christ's feet exclaiming, "my Lord and my God!" "Just as an examination of the nail prints convinced Thomas he was beholding the hands of deity," the authors say, "a closer look at the Bible reveals that Jesus shares the HANDS of God:

• Honors: Jesus shares the honors due to God
• Attributes: Jesus shares the attributes of God
• Names: Jesus shares the names of God
• Deeds: Jesus shares in the deeds that God does
• Seat: Jesus shares the seat of God's throne

It's a helpful book, and I recommend it with certain qualifications (below). The acronym will likely show up in my teaching on this subject, and it's a good resource to show people that the idea of Christ's divinity is found throughout the New Testament and not simply in a few isolated claims. The authors make good use of scholarly resources and the book is well footnoted.

I do think the authors could have included a chapter defending the early dating of the New Testament documents. This is where the battle lies today: in the end, there is a certain futility in patiently explaining to people that the New Testament presents a divine Jesus if people have it in their heads that the New Testament was written long after Jesus lived.

I also think that the authors could have included a chapter answering the "so what" question. What difference does it make to accept the claim that Jesus was divine? The longer that pastors and professors spend discussing these things, the more "obvious" the implications seems to us--and thus the more likely we are to leave them out of our discussions. I tried to address the "so what" question in my book for seekers, The Anchor Course, and so I always notice when this question is left alone in so many treatments of Christian truth.

There's a third qualification I make to my endorsement of the book. I cringed over the authors' efforts to be "cute" in the use of pop references to explain Christ. Start with the book's title: Does one really want to "put Jesus in his place"--a reference in our culture to putting someone down? Is it because God "cared enough to send the very best" that Jesus came (85; a reference to an old, old Hallmark commercial)? Is it best to refer to Jesus as "God's right hand man" (243) who keeps "going and going and going" (195; like the Energizer bunny) because he has "the right stuff" (103; like a 60s astronaut)? Should we celebrate because "he's got the power" (198; a reference to a getting-older-by-the-year pop tune) and is now in his exaltation "on top of the world!" (255; a reference to a really old pop tune). Christ's eternal nature is discussed under the heading "Older Than Dirt--Literally!" (99) and his return is covered under the heading "Here Comes the Judge!" And, really, am I more likely to pray to Jesus because he is the answer to the question "Who Ya Gonna Call?" (49; yes, as in "Ghostbusters")?

Come to think of it, I'm not sure if the crime is using some really cheesy and easy pop references, or in using some really old cheesy and easy pop references. At any rate, the relentless "cute" phrases were a distraction. I'm guessing it was in an effort to make an academic discussion more accessible to a lay audience, but it lowered the treatment of such an exalted subject.

Beyond these observations, though, its never a bad thing to spend time in a book that reminds you of who Jesus really was. And is.

Links to Your World, Tuesday January 5

What book do shoplifters take more than any other? The Bible.


You can turn a Bible reading plan into a daily podcast: Here’s how.


A new international review of seven papers on “the Michelangelo phenomenon” shows that when close partners affirm and support each other's ideal selves, they and the relationship benefit greatly: “When deciding on a life partner, we consider many factors. But we frequently neglect to think about whether the person I hope to be in 10 years is consistent with the person you want me to be in 10 years. When our partners can chisel and polish us in a way that helps us to achieve our ideal self, that's a wonderful thing” (article).


The Lake Superior State University released their 35th annual List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness.


“In an age of mixed-race malls, mixed-race pop-music charts and, yes, a mixed-race President, the church divide seems increasingly peculiar….But in some churches, the racial divide is beginning to erode, and it is fading fastest in one of American religion's most conservative precincts: Evangelical Christianity” (Time magazine explores the phenomenon, and focuses on Bill Hybels’ Willow Creek Community Church).


“The brain, as it traverses middle age, gets better at recognizing the central idea, the big picture. If kept in good shape, the brain can continue to build pathways that help its owner recognize patterns and, as a consequence, see significance and even solutions much faster than a young person can….‘The brain is plastic and continues to change, not in getting bigger but allowing for greater complexity and deeper understanding,’ says Kathleen Taylor, a professor at St. Mary’s College of California, who has studied ways to teach adults effectively. ‘As adults we may not always learn quite as fast, but we are set up for this next developmental step’” (NYT).


This is just an odd way to word this: “Anti-abortion legislators in Kansas are pushing again this year to rewrite state restrictions on late-term procedures and for other initiatives, despite the murder of Dr. George Tiller.” Does the reporter assume that prolife efforts should end because of the misguided and tragic murder of the nation’s most notorious abortion doctor?


10 Words You Need to Stop Misspelling. (Every time you misspell “weird” a dolphin gets run over by a jet ski.)


A new study coming out of Lifeway Research shows that “Protestant pastors in America are working long hours, sometimes at the expense of relationships with church members, prospects, family and even the Lord.” (From a post by Ed Stetzer)