“If you choose to spend a dollar today, you are actively choosing not to have four dollars, or six, or even eight later”

Brett Arends calculates that an iPad would really cost him $2000.

That’s how much that $500 would yield in a retirement account if he invested it instead of spending it on a new Apple product.

He says that’s how he thinks about every potential purchase these days:

Yes, I typically do these mental calculations, at least in the back of my mind, for most things. A "$50" lunch at Morton's really costs $200. A "$5,000" trip to Bali: $20,000. And so on. It tends to cut down on the spending.

. . .

If you choose to spend a dollar today, you are actively choosing not to have four dollars, or six, or even eight later.

For someone age 40, each dollar you spend is actually costing you about $4. Even if you're in your mid-50s, each dollar you spend is actually taking about $2 out of your retirement fund.

And for somebody age 20, for whom the money can grow for at least 45 years, each dollar is actually costing you nine.

This is a fantastic article.

But I’m still getting my iPad.

LeaderLines: Meet, Pray, Love

The decision to renovate our Worship Center is entirely up to you. So, here are four things you need to do right now:

First: Pray

Our deacon body has recommended that we renovate our Worship Center. The “First Impressions Team” that our church elected to develop a Campus Master Plan has seconded the motion to begin our campus improvements with the auditorium. And then our deacons wisely advised that we introduce the renovation proposal on one night and then call on our church to pray about this matter for a week. Take a moment right now to pray for the Hillcrest Family as we consider this.

Second: Get Informed

We now have the “Frequently Asked Questions” and a video recording of last Sunday night’s presentation online! The video includes all the images I referred to in the presentation. Watch it for the first time or review it again. You’ll find it at our website: www.HillcrestAustin.org/renovationproposal.

Third: Spread the Word

Let’s face it: Asking people to show up on a Sunday night for a business meeting isn’t like asking them to a pie social! That’s why you and I need to work extra hard to impress upon our people how important this is. Forward this email to your Sunday School class, your Common Ground group, and your circle of friends. It wouldn’t be a bad thing if each member got this note two or three times from all of your forwarding. Let people know how they can view the “FAQ” and the video. Do everything you can to enlist people to attend this Sunday, April 3, 6:45pm.

Fourth: Attend Sunday’s Meeting

People have asked if they can vote absentee. Sorry. That’s not an option under the governing rules for this kind of discussion. That means you have to DVR your Sunday night TV show, get your kids in childcare (we offer it up to Fourth Grade), and assemble with your Hillcrest Family.

Because of last Sunday’s presentation and the Q&A, we don’t expect this Sunday’s meeting to last more than 30-45 minutes. We start at 6:45pm this Sunday night, April 3.

The Time is Now

Take these four steps so the Hillcrest Family can do “a beautiful thing” (Mark 14) for Jesus!

_____________________

Each Thursday I post my article from "LeaderLines," an e-newsletter for church leaders read by more than 350 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "LeaderLines," sign up here.

Winning Ways: A Beautiful Thing

Perfume and cologne bottles are already starting to come in. Bring yours this Sunday.

Last week I asked the congregation to starting bringing in perfume and cologne bottles to add to a display we’re creating for the front of the Worship Center. For the next few Sundays, Margaret Miller will be available at the end of each morning worship service to collect and tag your bottles so that they can be returned to you.

On Palm Sunday, April 17, we’ll display these bottles at the front of the Worship Center. You’ll see charming antiques and elegant contemporary designs. You’ll see Old Spice and Este Lauder. You’ll see Avon bottles shaped like cars and frosted glass shaped like lilies. You may even see a Disney bottle bearing the image of Ariel from “The Little Mermaid.”

What’s this all for? The display will be used if we launch our Worship Center renovation project.

Do you remember the story of the woman who anointed Jesus with a container of expensive perfume? You can find it in Mark 14:1-9.

The apostles said, “Why this waste?”

But Jesus said, “No, she has done a beautiful thing to me.”

Now it’s our time to do a beautiful thing for Jesus.

Our Worship Center is the place we gather to praise God’s Name and to study God’s Word. The attention we give to it says a lot about how important those activities are to us! That’s why, in the days of Haggai, God expressed such strong offense at the neglect his people showed to the place of worship in comparison to the attention they gave to their own houses (see Haggai 1:1-15).

Right now, our congregation is prayerfully considering a proposal to renovate our Worship Center. The project was introduced in last Sunday’s business meeting, and we’re now in the middle of a week of prayer before voting this Sunday evening, April 3.

I can’t impress on you enough how important it is to do two things: (1) Use this week of prayer to pray, and (2) attend Sunday night’s meeting at 6:45pm. I know that it’s a real sacrifice for some of you to arrange your schedule and your kids to make meetings like this. But it’s important that our vote to renovate the Worship Center be a well-attended vote.

I’m hopeful that we’ll proceed with Worship Center renovation. Based on that hope, I’m encouraging you to bring in those perfume and cologne bottles. I can’t wait to see your contribution to our display!

____________________________________________

The renovation proposal that was presented to our church last Sunday can be viewed at our website—http://hillcrestaustin.org/renovationproposal. It includes all the slides from the presentation.

____________________________________________

Each Wednesday I post my article from "Winning Ways," an e-newsletter that goes out to 1200 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "Winning Ways," sign up here.

Links to Your World, Tuesday March 29

Four Reasons God Created Allergies

 

“According to a report published this week in American Journalism Review, 93 percent of all newspaper sales can now be attributed to kidnappers seeking to prove the day's date in filmed ransom demands” (Report: Majority Of Newspapers Now Purchased By Kidnappers To Prove Date)

 

Shaken Manchild Syndrome Is On the Rise

 

“There are aspects of Facebook that can make it a particularly tough social landscape to navigate for kids already dealing with poor self-esteem, said Gwenn O'Keeffe, a Boston-area pediatrician and the lead author of new American Academy of Pediatrics social media guidelines. With in-your-face friends' tallies, status updates and photos of happy-looking people having great times, Facebook pages can make some kids feel even worse if they think they don't measure up” (article).

 

“Their fans aren’t listening to them for solutions. They listen for solidarity. Someone else feels lost. Someone else feels like everything is too big, too fake, too plastic” (Mike Cosper, on Radiohead and their new album, “The King of Limbs”)

 

How dieting—and other forms of self-control—make you more aggressive and angry in other settings.

 

Top 10 Songs With Silly Lyrics

 

OMG! Oxford English Dictionary Adds LOL to Its Pages

 

Why Going to Church Can Make You Fat

 

How Much Money Do Spammers Rake In? $7000. Per. Day.

 

Pole Dancing for Jesus: I’ve told Amy and Marina that we won’t be introducing this in our Hillclimbers Fitness program!

 

Billions in Unclaimed Cash Just Waiting to Be Claimed: Let’s see…”Tom Goodman” in Texas, Maine, Louisiana, Maine….Nope.

 

Tour de France Extreme (via Historical LOL):

 

"I'm going to touch base with Kevin on this, and then let's loop Amy in just so we're all on the same page," said Peter McEntire…."It's important to make sure everyone's up to speed" (The Onion: Company's Employees Spend Entire Day Touching Base). Yep, I’ve used all these catchphrases—and more.

 

Posts at “Get Anchored” since last Tuesday:

“We are in the thrashing time”

 

…Or Your Money Back…

 

Introducing Our Renovation Project

 

Winning Ways: It’s What You Do Right Now That Makes the Difference

 

Enduring Doubt

 

“It takes faith to be a parent”

“We are in the thrashing time”

Carolyn Arends remembers a story from her childhood told by a visiting missionary:

There is one visit I've never forgotten. The missionaries were a married couple stationed in what appeared to be a particularly steamy jungle. I'm sure they gave a full report on churches planted or commitments made or translations begun. I don't remember much of that. What has always stayed with me is the story they shared about a snake.

One day, they told us, an enormous snake—much longer than a man—slithered its way right through their front door and into the kitchen of their simple home. Terrified, they ran outside and searched frantically for a local who might know what to do. A machete-wielding neighbor came to the rescue, calmly marching into their house and decapitating the snake with one clean chop.

The neighbor reemerged triumphant and assured the missionaries that the reptile had been defeated. But there was a catch, he warned: It was going to take a while for the snake to realize it was dead.

A snake's neurology and blood flow are such that it can take considerable time for it to stop moving even after decapitation. For the next several hours, the missionaries were forced to wait outside while the snake thrashed about, smashing furniture and flailing against walls and windows, wreaking havoc until its body finally understood that it no longer had a head.

Sweating in the heat, they had felt frustrated and a little sickened but also grateful that the snake's rampage wouldn't last forever. And at some point in their waiting, they told us, they had a mutual epiphany.

I leaned in with the rest of the congregation, queasy and fascinated. "Do you see it?" asked the husband. "Satan is a lot like that big old snake. He's already been defeated. He just doesn't know it yet. In the meantime, he's going to do some damage. But never forget that he's a goner."

The story captured our imaginations then because it was graphic and gory—a stark contrast to the normally genteel sermonizing we were used to receiving. But the story haunts me because I have come to believe it is an accurate picture of the universe. We are in the thrashing time, a season characterized by our pervasive capacity to do violence to each other and ourselves. The temptation is to despair. We have to remember, though, that it won't last forever. Jesus has already crushed the serpent's head.

…Or Your Money Back…

Introducing Our Renovation Project

It’s time to renovate our Worship Center!

On Sunday, March 27, our deacons will recommend that our church take up this challenge. The members of our former “First Impressions Team” will second the motion.

The renovation will provide a clean updated look that preserves the character and heritage of Hillcrest while introducing a touch of our beautiful Texas hill country.  Major improvements include:

a striking new focus on the baptistery

state-of-the-art sound and video systems

energy efficient stage and house lighting

improved seating quality

upgraded flooring

expanded stage and instrumentalist platforms

 

Here are some answers to the questions you may have about the project . . .

 

Our church adopted a campus-wide Master Plan, and there are a number of areas that need attention. Why start with the Worship Center?

There are three reasons we should turn our attention to the auditorium at this time.

 It’s an act of worship. God expects us to give as much attention to where we worship as to where we live and work (See Haggai 1:1-15).

 It’s an act of fellowship. It is the one place our entire congregation gathers weekly.

 It's an act of outreach. First time visitors have an hour to draw an impression of our church. We want that impression to be a good one!

Shouldn’t we update the adult wing and the kitchen before working on the Worship Center?

Good news! Plans to use available funds to improve the adult wing and the kitchen will be presented to the congregation in the quarterly business meeting on April 20! The proposal includes raising the hallway ceiling, installing drywall and trim over the cinder block in the classrooms, painting, hanging new window treatments, and laying new flooring in the hallways and classrooms (including the Parlor). The kitchen will get new cabinet doors and countertops. All of this can be done with funds on hand, but renovation of the Worship Center will require capital fund raising.

How was it determined that the Worship Center will cost $1 million to renovate?

A design firm, Acoustic Dimensions, was hired to provide a clean updated look that preserves the character and heritage of Hillcrest while introducing a touch of our beautiful Texas hill country.  A contractor independently reviewed the project and concluded that the design was within a $1 million budget.

 

A $1 million project is a big challenge! Are you sure we can tackle a campaign like that?

There are two principles that good campaigns follow.

First, a church can be expected to raise at least the equivalent of its annual budget in a three-year campaign. Since our annual church budget is $1 million, we’re following the first principle by limiting our capital fund-raising to $1 million.

The second principle that good campaigns follow is “Not Equal Gifts But Equal Sacrifice.” In other words, we don’t evenly divide the total challenge by the number of families who should participate. Instead of asking for equal gifts, we ask for equal sacrifice. Each household prays about their participation in the campaign, they hear from God, and once the sacrificial giving from each household is brought together, the congregation can celebrate what God has done through us.

I understand that we have a large donation from an estate. Why not use that money for Worship Center improvements?

We are so grateful for the generosity of Bob Flaherty, who wanted his estate to go to his beloved church. After our church committed 10 percent of his donation to missions, we have about $570,000 left. However, there are two considerations to keep in mind regarding the Flaherty estate. First, we propose that $70,000 of his estate go to the renovations planned for the adult wing. This will be decided by our church in the quarterly business meeting, April 20. Second, we propose that the remaining $500,000 be retained for a little longer in hopes of entering into an agreement with Anderson High School for additional parking. As 2010 closed, we were very close to a long-term lease with Anderson that would enable us to park over 100 cars close to the Multipurpose Center. We need to be in a position to act quickly if God moves the AISD leadership to enter into an agreement with us.

So, has the church already decided to spend the estate money on additional parking?

No, and if we don’t use the Flaherty estate for the Worship Center renovation, that does not imply any obligation to use the estate money for parking. However, we believe the church should have the funds to act quickly on a land use agreement with Anderson if it can be considered in the near future.

Keep in mind that we will run out of parking outside long before we run out of seating inside. We estimate that it will only take 50 more cars before we’ll have to choose one of four options: (1) hope the city will change its mind and let us prepare our pervious ground for parking, (2) build a parking garage, (3) run a shuttle service to off-site lots, or (4) enter into a long-term lease with Anderson.

Any of these options will require funding, and we expect to ask the church to use the Flaherty estate for one of these four options very soon. However, if we enter into a capital fund-raising campaign to renovate the Worship Center and then later decide that we will not use the Flaherty estate money for parking solutions, the church can vote on the best use of the estate then. There are many areas of our facility that need improvement!

Will we be hiring a fund-raising consultant for this campaign?

No, Pastor Tom designed a capital fund-raising campaign in his last church and the church raised $1.7 million in three years. (The church’s annual budget was $1.2 million, by the way.) Our pastor has adapted this campaign for Hillcrest and is ready to lead our church through this faith-stretching experience. Miracles happen in campaigns like this: It’s time to see what God can do with a fellowship fully yielded to him!

When will renovation in the Worship Center begin?

The renovation can be done in phases, and as we’ve raised enough money for each phase, we’ll tackle the work. In other words, we don’t plan on taking out a $1 million loan in anticipation that pledges will be fulfilled. Many of you will recall that the church voted to take out a small loan at the end of the construction on the 3-story education building nearly 10 years ago. Should we need to consider an option like that to get us through a particular phase of our Worship Center remodel, the option would be presented to the church for approval.

Who will be responsible for overseeing the renovation?

Our Committee on Committees will enlist church members for a Project Committee in the next quarterly business meeting, April 20. This Project Committee will be responsible for making decisions over the upgrades to our adult wing, Parlor, kitchen, and Worship Center. They will represent the church on the design decisions and they will keep the church informed with regular updates on their work. When there are specific decisions that require the action of the entire church in a business meeting, the Project Committee will bring their recommendations to the church for approval. They will work closely with Gene Chappell and Herb Ingram, who have years of experience at leading improvements to church facilities.

 

Do you remember the story of the woman who anointed Jesus with a container of expensive perfume? You can find it in Mark 14:1-9.

The apostles said, “Why this waste?”

But Jesus said, “No, she has done a beautiful thing to me.”

Now it’s our time to do a beautiful thing for Jesus.

Our Worship Center is the place we gather to praise God’s Name and to study God’s Word. The attention we give to it says a lot about how important those activities are to us!

Winning Ways: It’s What You Do Right Now That Makes the Difference

“I can’t go back out there.”

Have you ever wanted to say that? We all hit tough moments where we say, “I’ve had enough.” Maybe you’re at that point in your job, in your marriage, in your parenting.

On October 3, 1993, it was a battle-weary Army Ranger who said it. As recounted in the book and the film, Black Hawk Down, 123 elite soldiers were dropped by helicopter deep into the capital city of Mogadishu to capture two top lieutenants of a Somali warlord. This led to a large and drawn-out firefight between the U.S. forces and hundreds of Somali gunmen in which two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters were shot down. A military operation meant to last an hour turned into a 22-hour rescue.

To mount the rescue, however, would require returning through the same hail of bullets they had just escaped. And Jeff Struecker, then a sergeant and one of the humvee drivers, knew that he had to rally the men for the task at hand.

“I can’t go back out there,” one of the men told him. “Everyone feels the same way you do,” he replied, “But it’s what you do right now that makes the difference. It’s your call.”

As the convoy pulled away, the reluctant Ranger gathered himself, hopped aboard, and re-joined the fight.

From time to time we’ve all needed someone to remind us to shake off our fears and engage again with some responsibility. Jeff Struecker will issue that challenge to us at Hillcrest this Sunday, March 27. Since the Somalia operation, this decorated combat veteran went on to army chaplaincy and retired as a major. He his now an associate pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Columbus, Georgia.

Struecker will speak at a men-and-boys breakfast at 8:30am in our gym, and then at the 10:00am service. The breakfast costs $3 and you can purchase tickets by clicking here. You can learn more about the even at our website. Complete information on Jeff Struecker can be found by clicking here.

What a perfect opportunity to invite someone to join you at Hillcrest! Why not click the “forward” button on your email program and forward this edition of Winning Ways to a friend along with your personal invitation?

Here’s a clip from the Oscar-winning 2001 film, Black Hawk Down, featuring Struecker’s challenge to a reluctant soldier:

 

Tom

______________________

Each Wednesday I post my article from "Winning Ways," an e-newsletter that goes out to 1200 subscribers. If you want to subscribe to "Winning Ways," sign up here.

Enduring Doubt

Mollie Ziegler Hemingway:

Scripture is full of stories of people, from Eve to Thomas, who doubted the promises of God. But just because it's human to doubt and we all do it does not mean it should be celebrated so much as endured.

In Praise of Confidence

“It takes faith to be a parent”

Amy Julia Becker:

I sat in the chair with a sleeping baby on my lap. I held her close, and I prayed. I prayed about the things I wanted to be doing — responding to e-mail, taking a shower, writing an essay. And I admitted my fears to God: Those things feel so much more important than this. Yet I saw the lie I was succumbing to, and I looked once more at my daughter’s round face, and I prayed that I would have faith in the importance of holding my child.

It takes faith to be a parent. It takes faith for me to care for our three children day after day. It takes faith to believe that this 30-minute episode of crying, or this midnight, bleary-eyed feeding, or this time-out for hitting your sister, or this poopy diaper — that these will bear fruit. That they matter, and even eternally.

The Divine Grace of Diapers and Dirty Laundry

Links to Your World, Tuesday March 22

80% of Toddlers Use The Internet Regularly, Study Says

 

The world record in shallow-water diving: A dive 36 feet into 1 foot of water. Video here.

 

“A comprehensive digital cataloging system that keeps track of its customers' car maintenance history, oil-change needs, and past fuel-filter replacements puts Karl's Lube & Go's computerized record- keeping an estimated six years ahead of the medical industry's, sources confirmed Friday” (The Onion)

 

Does giving your child a biblical name enhance the child's spiritual development?

 

Seven Water Towers Transformed into Houses

 

Microsoft Word Now Includes Squiggly Blue Line To Alert Writer When Word Is Too Advanced for Mainstream Audience. Hey, that would be salutary for me.

 

Gmailers: Skinnier and smartier than Yahoo! users? A new study shows that Gmail users are more likely to be young, thin, career-minded men, while Yahoo! is more typically home to overweight, older women.

 

Police raid the wrong man's house more than 40 times

 

Kitchen-Table Bible Scholar: Serious personal Bible study is both less intimidating than it sounds and more challenging than you might expect.

 

Posts at “Get Anchored” since last Tuesday:

“Scads of us don't know how to teach our own sons and daughters not to give away their bodies so readily”

 

LeaderLines: The Best Way to Remember Saint Patrick

 

Japan Updates from the IMB Family

 

Annoyed

 

Winning Ways: Attending to the Building We Attend

 

“You don’t have to go”

“Scads of us don't know how to teach our own sons and daughters not to give away their bodies so readily”

In the WSJ, Jennifer Moses asks:

Why do so many of us not only permit our teenage daughters to dress like this—like prostitutes, if we're being honest with ourselves—but pay for them to do it with our AmEx cards?... It has to do with how conflicted my own generation of women is about our own past, when many of us behaved in ways that we now regret. A woman I know, with two mature daughters, said, ‘If I could do it again, I wouldn't even have slept with my own husband before marriage. Sex is the most powerful thing there is, and our generation, what did we know?’…Scads of us don't know how to teach our own sons and daughters not to give away their bodies so readily. We're embarrassed, and we don't want to be, God forbid, hypocrites. Still, in my own circle of girlfriends, the desire to push back is strong. I don't know one of them who doesn't have feelings of lingering discomfort regarding her own sexual past….We wouldn't dream of dropping our daughters off at college and saying: "Study hard and floss every night, honey—and for heaven's sake, get laid!" But that's essentially what we're saying by allowing them to dress the way they do while they're still living under our own roofs.

Complete article

LeaderLines: The Best Way to Remember Saint Patrick

Today is Saint Patrick’s Day. While some celebrate his day with green beer, probably the best way to remember him is by witnessing.

Chuck Colson tells us about Patrick of Ireland in his book, The Body:

Kidnapped by pirates as a teenager, Patrick was taken from his well-to-do home in Roman Britain in 405, transported to Ireland, sold to a farmer, and given responsibility for the man’s livestock.

Patrick had grown up in a Christian home; his father was a deacon in the church, his grandfather an elder. But the faith had not been real to him until one day, tending sheep in the barren hills of Ireland, he encountered the Great Shepherd and purposed to follow Him.

Eventually Patrick escaped from slavery and returned to Britain, where he became a priest. Then in a dream he heard an Irish voice pleading with him: Holy boy, we are asking you to come home and walk among us again.

Return to the land of his servitude? An unlikely mission. But Patrick was a slave to Christ now, and the Lord gave him a sense of compassion for the Irish. I was struck to the heart, he wrote later.

Patrick returned to primarily pagan Ireland, determined to bring the gospel to people enslaved by superstition and Druid worship. Traveling through the land, he baptized thousands of new converts and discipled new believers, trained church leaders, ordained pastors, exerted discipline on unrepentant church members, and commissioned more evangelists. He started scores of churches and witnessed to kings and their courts, farmers and peasants. He also forcefully protested injustices against the common people. By the time he died, about 461, he had started a movement of the church that transformed ancient Ireland.

For more information on Patrick of Ireland, I recommend Stephen Lawhead’s historical novel, Patrick: Son of Ireland. At the recommendation of worthy reviewers, I have Philip Freeman’s St. Patrick of Ireland: A Biography on my “to read” list. For lighter fare, the Veggietales gang has created this entertaining 8-minute presentation of Patrick’s life:

Japan Updates from the IMB Family

Doug Shepard was an MK in Japan (“missionary’s kid”). He forwarded me some messages from mission "family" updates distributed by retired IMB missionaries who served in Japan. As we continue to read and watch news from the earthquake and tsunami, remember the connections we have to the island nation through our mission agency.

____________________________________

PRAYER REQUESTS

March 13

FROM LANA AND TAK OUE -

  Last night the mission leadership met with Baptist Global Response leader of the IMB here at our house to see how we can do relief work in Tohoku. how we can help with our Convention churches as well as  those in need to meet physical and spiritual needs. Thursday more people from BGR are coming to Japan to asses the situation, how we can help with the number of personnel we have. Right now the experts are in there looking for survivors and bodies, but soon we will be able to get people in to the area.  Richard and some others will be going to Sendai to check on our personnel. They are working on the logistics today. We have to have a pass to get into the area, and today they are going to the embassy to get it. This is a one time pass. They have all the roads into the area closed so you have to have a pass to get in.

  Tak is taking the guy from BGR and Sam Stallings in the morning to meet with the convention leaders to talk about how we can cooperate to help the churches and those in need in Tohoku. Richard has been in touch with Kato Sensei, General Secretary of the Convention, and others since Saturday regarding expediting some volunteers who have already come in to help. The group includes two from North Carolina. Southern Baptist will be sending response teams and the BGR will help in setting up plans for that.

  Thanks for praying! There are so many needs, and I'm sure all of you are watching the TV and seeing the devastation. It is just hard to imagne. Tak was on the ground in Kobe right after that quake, and he said that being there and watching it on TV were totally different!! I can't imagine the pain of those who watched their loved ones being washed away. I pray that my heart will be broken for the lost as those folks hearts are broken for those they lost. Pray that all of us will take the great commission more seriously as we think about all of those who went into eternity without Christ in that brief period of time.

  We will be having rolling blackouts here in Tokyo to help take the pressure off the power plants in Fukushima. The situation at the plants is still unstable. Pray for wisdom for those working on the problem.  The radiation level rose again this morning and they are determining the cause. There is shortage of food and gas in the Kanto area, but we have enough for now.

  We are praying for this to become a catalyst for a great response to the gospel. Thanks for praying with us.

 

FROM ED AND NAN JORDAN IN KYOTO (Central Japan) -

  "The words 'once more' indicate the removing of what can be shaken--that is, created things--so that what cannot be shaken may remain." (Heb. 12:27) Ask God to raise up Japanese Christians to be bold helpers and share Jesus as they go. Pray that they will take the Seed of the Word of God to plant or be watered in their hearts. Right now, the entire world is focused on Japan. Millions of Christians are praying for the people of Japan. When the news media gets tired of this story, please keep Japan in the forefront of your prayers. It is the tsunami of prayer and God's Holy Spirit who can bring revival to Japan.
  Please continue to pray for the people of Japan to turn their hearts to Jesus Christ.

 

March 12

FROM THE JAPAN BAPTIST CONVENTION

   Pray for the efforts to rescue the many isolated people who are suffering in the freezing cold, waiting to be saved from the debris wrought by the earthquakes, aftershocks, tsunami, and fires.

   Pray that the Lord will provide His peace, comfort, and hope for the thousands of persons experiencing grief, despair, and emotional pain.

   Pray that the Lord will provide a means for dedicated Baptist men and women to serve in the disaster area.

   Pray that the Lord' church will know and follow God's leadership during this crisis and faithfully serve the victims of this disaster, to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

FROM DELINDA LEMIRE BRADFORD AT MISAWA (US Air Force base, North Japan) -

  Pray for all of Japan---but Tohoku or Northern Honshu in particular.  Our biggest concern is the 5 nuclear reactors near Sendai (Fukushima Daiichi) that were hit by the quake and knocked off line and their generators were then swamped by the huge tsunami.  There are dangerous cooling issues with two of them.....that could be disastrous if one should explode or meltdown.  PRAY PRAY PRAY......

   Thank you for your prayers and concerns........we covet them

 

FROM JACK AND CATHY GARROT IN NAGASAKI  (Southwest Japan)

  We still have not made contact with our dear friends, the Hayasakas, in Sendai. We called the local church where he was pastor for several years and asked if anyone there had heard from them. The latest word (around 2pm) was that a message had gone out from the central headquarters (for that church's denomination) asking for prayer as no contact could be made with the church, the pastor, or any of the members. We are very concerned for our friends.  (NOTE: A LATER UPDATE REPORTED THAT THE MEMBERS OF THE BAPTIST CHURCHES IN SENDAI ARE ACCOUNTED FOR AND SAFE.)

  As I watched the waters flood over and wipe out entire townships, neighborhoods, areas I could not help but think about the people in those places whose lives were gone in seconds. If they had known in advance, would they have paid any attention ... would they have done anything differently ... would that have been a "business as usual" day for them? Bucket lists are temporal - what are we doing to prepare for the eternal???

  It makes our work even more urgent, needed, important! Pray for us to have wisdom and boldness to follow through on what we are feeling and dealing with right now. We may not have tomorrow!

 

FROM CARLTON AND CORNELIA WALKER IN CHIBA (near Tokyo)

  It is disturbing to watch the news with reporters reporting with safely helmets on. The toll of those dead and missing is at the 1,500 mark. Aftershocks up to 6.3 continue. It was a cold night without heat for so many people. Fear and pain is etched particularly on the faces of the elderly of which there is a high concentration in the hardest hit areas.

   Our nation is wounded, our people are hurting, but all our personnel are OK. Richard Oue writes, "For now, our ministries will be primarily local, helping people make sense of these tragic events in the light of God's love and compassion, leading them to think beyond the temporal to eternal things, and introducing them to the love of our solid and unmovable rock, Jesus Christ. As the immediate crisis abates, we will begin taking advantage of other opportunities to meet needs and minister."
   We deeply appreciate the tsunami of prayer that is coming our way. May the Lord use this concentrated prayer to soothe and move the heart of the nation to Himself.

 

March 11

FROM JOHN & NANCY NORTON IN FUKUOKA (Southwest Japan)

   TV is showing huge lines of people at large stations, waiting for a bus, with almost no taxis available. In many areas there is no electricity.Reports at this time are of 28 deaths, unknown numbers of injuries, people missing, and varieties of physical damage to people's property. Many people have evacuated for safety to local schools or hospitals.

   Please pray right now for those whose lives have been affected in all of these ways. Pray especially for those who have no way to get home tonight, and will have to find a hotel or return to the office and figure out a way to have a warm place to stay. Pray for patience for all of these people. It is not only inconvenient, it is cold.

   Pray that people will be reminded of the brevity of life, and that hearts will be open again to the Lord who is their only salvation.

 

March 13

FROM ED AND NAN JORDAN IN KYOTO (Central Japan)

   We are living in Kyoto Prefecture about 500 miles from the earthquake tragedy. Even so, our house rolled for about 20 minutes like we were in a boat on a lake. We are safe, have internet connections, food and water. When we do something simple like turn on a light or use the toaster, we are reminded of those in the earthquake area who are without basic necessities. We have been glued to the TV. We immediately contacted our Deaf friends via cell phone text messaging to alert them of what was happening. All our Deaf acquaintances in Tokyo are safe as well as all our Southern Baptist missionary colleagues. JEMA (Japan Evangelical Missionary Association, which includes all evangelical denominations) as of Sunday evening, has not heard from any missionaries in the Aomori area. Communications in that area are weak or non-existent. No one has received communication from a pastor who is Deaf in Sendai.

  "The words 'once more' indicate the removing of what can be shaken--that is, created things--so that what cannot be shaken may remain." (Heb. 12:27) Ask God to raise up Japanese Christians to be bold helpers and share Jesus as they go. Pray that they will take the Seed of the Word of God to plant or be watered in their hearts. Right now, the entire world is focused on Japan. Millions of Christians are praying for the people of Japan. When the news media gets tired of this story, please keep Japan in the forefront of your prayers. It is the tsunami of prayer and God's Holy Spirit who can bring revival to Japan.
  Please continue to pray for the people of Japan to turn their hearts to Jesus Christ.

Blessings and peace

 

FROM LANA AND TAK OUE

  I wanted to let you know that all of IMB personnel in Japan are ok.  Saturday Tak talked with the Renmei office. Even though they have not been able to make contact with all of the churches in Tohoku at that point, the churches they did contact seemed to have avoided major damage such . But they were concerned for Baptist Domei (Union) churches that are located closer to the sea coast.

  As you have seen on the news, many cities, towns and villages up and down the coast in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima are virtually wiped off the map. Fortunately members of the families in our house churches in Chiba who live in Tohoku are all safe. We're praising God for that.

   Yesterday afternoon some of our leadership met with CRASH and got good information from this organization that has much experience in disaster relief.  They were told that the first stage after the disaster is rescue stage when experts are going into the most affected areas, which lasts a week or so.  Then, comes the relief stage when volunteer teams begin to come in to do assistance.

  Last night the mission leadership met with Baptist Global Response leader of the IMB here at our house to see how we can do relief work in Tohoku. how we can help with our Convention churches as well as  those in need to meet physical and spiritual needs. Thursday more people from BGR are coming to Japan to asses the situation, how we can help with the number of personnel we have. Right now the experts are in there looking for survivors and bodies, but soon we will be able to get people in to the area.  Richard and some others will be going to Sendai to check on our personnel. They are working on the logistics today. We have to have a pass to get into the area, and today they are going to the embassy to get it. This is a one time pass. They have all the roads into the area closed so you have to have a pass to get in.

  Tak is taking the guy from BGR and Sam Stallings in the morning to meet with the convention leaders to talk about how we can cooperate to help the churches and those in need in Tohoku. Richard has been in touch with Kato Sensei, General Secretary of the Convention, and others since Saturday regarding expediting some volunteers who have already come in to help. The group includes two from North Carolina. Southern Baptist will be sending response teams and the BGR will help in setting up plans for that.

  Thanks for praying! There are so many needs, and I'm sure all of you are watching the TV and seeing the devastation. It is just hard to imagne. Tak was on the ground in Kobe right after that quake, and he said that being there and watching it on TV were totally different!! I can't imagine the pain of those who watched their loved ones being washed away. I pray that my heart will be broken for the lost as those folks hearts are broken for those they lost. Pray that all of us will take the great commission more seriously as we think about all of those who went into eternity without Christ in that brief period of time.

  We will be having rolling blackouts here in Tokyo to help take the pressure off the power plants in Fukushima. The situation at the plants is still unstable. Pray for wisdom for those working on the problem.  The radiation level rose again this morning and they are determining the cause. There is shortage of food and gas in the Kanto area, but we have enough for now.

  We are praying for this to become a catalyst for a great response to the gospel. Thanks for praying with us.

March 12

FROM DELINDA LEMIRE BRADFORD  AT MISAWA (US Air Force base, North Japan)

  In the midst of it: Wow!  It is now 2:15 am on Sunday morning and the electricity came on about an hour ago but the TV says it will only last a couple of hours.  So, we are heating the house and taking showers and running a load of wash right now. We have had NO ELECTRICITY, INTERNET, TV, RADIO, CELL PHONE COVERAGE since Friday afternoon at about 5 minutes into the first quake.  So we have been literally in the dark about the damage to our south except what our kids and friends have told us who called us.  The international line OUT of Japan are down and cell phone towers are down but we have an old ANALOG home phone so we are directly in the phone line. 

   Misawa is about 190 miles north of Sendai (and the epicenter)----I have counted about 57 aftershocks that have shaken my entire house since the first one on Friday afternoon.  The expected Tsunami for Misawa port (only about 2 miles from the base and about 1.5 from our house) did not materialize---Praise the Protective Hand of our Lord Jesus Christ!  However, one did hit Hachinohe port---25 minutes to the south of us.  The toll road to Tokyo is closed,  all airports in N. Japan are closed as are Haneda (downtown Tokyo) and Narita (the International)---until further notice.  All rail lines in Tokyo and to the north are halted.  5 trains that were on the coastal lines have disappeared--they are still looking for them and 1 boat with about 100 people on it also disappeared from near Sendai.  I know you are getting pictures and news but you can go to Stars and Stripes.com and get the No. Japan pictures--they will curl your hair.

  The water was about waist high in some of Hachinohe after the tsunami hit and of course, the gigantic tsunami that hit 45 minutes after the quake in Sendai----went 6 miles inland at 500 miles per hour.  Not a lot is standing in the path of the tsunami in Sendai----pray--pray ---for them  ---our hearts are breaking---we have churches and friends in Sendai and Miyagi prefecture.

  The Misawa Base is basically unhurt----superficial damages--inside my house, pictures on the walls, spices, angels from the shelves, books, dvds, all over the house, closed shelves dumped---but nothing I can't clean up or do without.

  I want to make this short so it will go out while I have the Internet connection.  Pray for all of Japan---but Tohoku or Northern Honshu in particular.

   Our biggest concern is the 5 nuclear reactors near Sendai (Fukushima Daiichi) that were hit by the quake and knocked off line and their generators were then swamped by the huge tsunami.  There are dangerous cooling issues with two of them.....that could be disastrous if one should explode or meltdown.  PRAY PRAY PRAY......

  Thank you for your prayers and concerns........we covet them

 

FROM CARLTON AND CORNELIA WALKER IN CHIBA (near Tokyo)

   We are awaking to more fully understand the dimensions of the earthquake and tsunami. Like most of you, there was little sleep... But we did have our own bed, which many didn't. And warmth & electricity and many didn't. With all the rocking and rolling that we are still feeling here,    I can't even imagine what it is like for those closer to the epi-center.

Images on the television are deeply disturbing - they look like scenes
from a war. Last night I watched and prayed until tears and sleep
overcame me. At this point, over 400 are dead and 700 are missing
nationwide. We each in our own ways, continue the vigil of prayer for the nation and the healing & helping of the Lord.

   We continue to hear amazing stories of what people who could did to get home to their loves ones last night. One friend literally walked more than the distance a marathon to reach home. If a human father would consider this a light thing to confirm the safety of his wife and baby daughter, think about what our Heavenly Father is doing to bring the suffering home to Himself.

   Our inboxes are packed out with people wanting to know that we are safe and promising their prayers. Praise the Lord that a tsunami of water is meeting a stronger tsunami of prayer and concern!

Grace and Peace,

The Prayer Walkers

 

FROM JOHN AND RHONDA WRIGHT  (near Tokyo)

   This was apparently the big earthquake we have been waiting
for. The upgraded construction standards after the Kansai
earthquake have enabled buildings and structures to hold up
with no problem. Tsunami damage is the serious concern,
along with a few fires. CNN is reporting that this was the
7th strongest earthquake in recorded history. It is amazing
that the damage is so limited, considering.

  The earthquake went on and on in Hachioji--at least 12-15
minutes of very strong movement, with continued aftershocks
every few minutes since then that feel like most earthquakes
I have experienced so far in my life. The extremely
prolonged nature of this one was deeply disturbing and
disorienting--like nothing we have ever known.

   All in all, we are fine here in Hachioji, with no
disruption in any services other than overloaded mobile and
landline phones. No worries.

   Probably the best way to communicate with us is by e-mail
for the time being. We will call you from our end when the
phone lines open up.

Love,

John and Rhonda

Annoyed

I’ve got a pretty good way to evaluate how someone processes the points being made in a religious controversy. See if he/she uses the words “annoyed” and “denounce” to speak of one side of the debate and you can make a pretty educated guess as to which side he/she thinks has the weaker argument. “Annoyed” and “denounce” are dismissive words. One is not described as being merely “annoyed” at Al-Qaeda’s position on terrorism, for example, and when someone is said to “denounce” something, you start looking for Inquisition racks.

We can apply this to this morning’s entry in the Statesman’s “Of Sacred and Secular”--

Rob Bell, the megachurch pastor with a huge following, has been getting a lot of attention lately for a book that I haven’t seen yet, “Love Wins.” (The book’s publication date has been moved up to today, but was originally scheduled to be released at the end of the month.)

Presumably, a few people saw review copies and galleys and started raising hell in the blogosphere, denouncing him for heresy and twisting God’s word.

In “Love Wins,” USA Today reporter Cathy Lynn Grossman reports, Bell annoys some segments of the Christian population.

Curiously, in the blog post Bell can call the traditional view of eternal judgment “toxic” without being regarded as expressing mere “annoyance” or hyper-sensitive “denunciation.”

Ah well.

Reacting to an influential pastor’s dance with universalism is so much more than mere annoyance at a naughty provocateur. This is such an important issue. It involves definitions of God’s love—and also God’s justice. It involves evaluation of God’s competence to save. It involves the question of how significant this life is as a time to come to terms with God. It involves the question of how urgent and sacrificial believers should be in personal evangelism and global missions.

So, thank God for Martin Bashir at MSNBC, who seems to “get” how weighty the whole subject is as he interviews the influential pastor. Or maybe he’s just annoyed:

Winning Ways: Attending to the Building We Attend

No one calls the East Seventh Street Baptist Church in New York City by that name. The neighborhood knows it as “The Graffiti Church.”

Why that nickname? When Southern Baptists began their work in that location in 1974, the place was covered with spray-painted artwork, slogans, and gang signs. Anytime they painted the walls, more graffiti would appear. So, the church decided if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, and they began adding their own sanctified spray-paintings, filling the walls with Bible verses and Christian artwork.

Now that’s what I call “evandalism!” (Groan!)

When I read about the Graffiti Church, it made me think: what does our church building “say” to our neighborhood? Fair or not, people draw conclusions about our ministry from the first impression they get from our facility.

Last August, our church approved a Master Plan to guide future improvements to our campus. Let’s begin with our Worship Center. Your Hillcrest Family will decide on a proposal to renovate our auditorium in a special called business meeting Sunday, March 27, at 6:45 p.m.

When a church rallies together for things like this, it gives 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 building project gives us a chance to think afresh about the future God is calling us into.

Second, we have a chance to look around. When done right, plans to renovate a facility turn 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 businesses 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.

“You don’t have to go”

There’s a lot of (deserved) chatter about Rob Bell’s latest, Love Wins, a book that dances with universalism. Mark Galli has a review (here) that is both generous and critical.

Here’s my stab at addressing universalism in my book for seekers, The Anchor Course:

When hearing the Christian claim that a decision needs to be made now, in this life, some question the fairness of such an arrangement. They wonder why a merciful God wouldn’t give a second chance to people who end up regretting their decision in the next life. But would anyone too rebellious to yield to God in this life actually respond to a second chance in the next life? Jesus knew that many preferred darkness and would remain in that state. “God-light streamed into the world,” he said, “but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God” (John 3:19 Msg). C.S. Lewis said,

I have heard a story of how certain small monkeys in South Africa put their paw through a small hole to get nuts stored there deliberately for the purpose and how the monkeys are captured and killed because they refuse at all hazards to release the handful of nuts in their grasp. Hell exists because men similarly clutch their private interests at any cost.

As someone once vividly described it, hell is locked from the inside. I can conceive of people regretting the consequences of their rebellion in the next life; I cannot conceive of anyone doing what is necessary to overcome those consequences if the chance were even offered. Someone who spent this lifetime with little or no regard for what was important to his Maker will not suddenly become interested in these matters in the next.

Besides, to assume that a second chance in the next life would be a fitting display of God’s mercy is to assume that God isn’t doing enough for people to make this decision in this life. God has given us a Bible we can understand, he pursues us with his Spirit, and he patiently extends his invitation. God “is being patient for your sake,” Simon Peter wrote. “He does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more time for everyone to repent” (2 Peter 3:9 NLT). This life is the chance to take God seriously, and everything is being done to give people that chance.

. . .

Death is an inevitable reality for us all, and after that comes the judgment, where some “will wake up to have life forever” while others “will wake up to find shame and disgrace forever” (Daniel 12:2 NCV).

“Shame and disgrace forever” does not have to be our future. Back in the 1920s in the U.S. Senate, an argument between senators became particularly ugly and one man told a colleague to go to hell. The astonished senator appealed for a sanction from Vice President Calvin Coolidge, who was presiding. Coolidge, who had been idly leafing through a book, looked up and said to the offended senator, “I have been checking the rules manual, and you don't have to go.”

Indeed.

Links to Your World, Tuesday March 15

The 27 worship songs that have made the hymnal cut time and again.

 

Marriage Enrichment: 3 Tips for “Date Conversations”

 

Teaching kids to develop SMART goals.

 

Full Bladder, Better Decisions? Controlling Your Bladder Decreases Impulsive Choices.

 

10 Signs You’re a Geek Dad

 

Emona Lisa:

 

Herring Break Wind to Communicate

 

21 Scathingly Witty Insults By Famous People

 

12 Sky-High Abandoned Buildings: The list includes the Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells, Texas.

 

List of former atheists and agnostics

 

TED 2011: Print-on-Demand Organs the Future of Medicine

 

Posts at “Get Anchored” since last Tuesday:

“Subject to geological consent”

 

“I walk into church hoping to be a worshiper and leave a curmudgeon.”

 

LeaderLines: Let’s Hear It For Plodding Visionaries

 

Winning Ways: The Priority of Prayer

“Subject to geological consent”

“Mankind inhabits this earth subject to geological consent—which can be withdrawn at any time.” (Newsweek)

Newsweek: The tsunami violently surges ashore in Natori, Japan

Information on Baptist Global Response relief efforts can be found here.

“I walk into church hoping to be a worshiper and leave a curmudgeon.”

When the worship leader reminds me that worship "isn't about me," I try to take it to heart. I really do. Nevertheless, more often than not, I walk into church hoping to be a worshiper and leave a curmudgeon. A chastened curmudgeon. A repentant curmudgeon. But a curmudgeon nonetheless.

The root of my problem is one of vertigo, not aesthetics. What I need is not a change of tune so much as a reorientation along worship's true trajectory. I have concluded that the root of my problem is one of vertigo, not aesthetics. What I need is not a change of tune so much as a reorientation along worship's true trajectory. Like most churchgoers, I tend to view worship as something that moves from earth to heaven. We think of worship as something that originates with us, our gift to God. Perhaps this is why so many of us are conflicted about it. We consider worship to be an expression of our personal devotion. So when the musical style or some expression gets in the way, we don't feel like it is our worship at all. It is someone else's idea of worship. Perhaps the worship leader's or that of the majority. But not our own.

The biblical portrait of worship moves in the opposite direction. The trajectory of heavenly worship begins with God and descends to earth….

Worship is by nature answering speech.

John Koessler, “The Trajectory of Worship”

LeaderLines: Let’s Hear It For Plodding Visionaries

Hillcrest is a church of plodders.

Thank God.

Kevin DeYoung introduced the term “plodding visionaries” to the blogosphere:

It’s sexy among young people — my generation — to talk about ditching institutional religion and starting a revolution of real Christ-followers living in real community without the confines of church…[But] what we need are fewer revolutionaries and a few more plodding visionaries. That’s my dream for the church — a multitude of faithful, risktaking plodders. The best churches are full of gospel-saturated people holding tenaciously to a vision of godly obedience and God’s glory, and pursuing that godliness and glory with relentless, often unnoticed, plodding consistency.

Instead of falling for the mirage of overnight revolution, plodding visionaries know that the kind of change Christ brings comes through a long obedience in the same direction. And that means joining a congregation and sticking with it even when you find her dull, predictable, and oh-so-imperfect. “If we truly love the church, we will bear with her in her failings, endure her struggles, believe her to be the beloved bride of Christ, and hope for her final glorification,” he says. “The church is the hope of the world — not because she gets it all right, but because she is a body with Christ for her Head.”

To close out his “Next 2010” conference message on this subject, Kevin DeYoung gave a list of suggestions for how to be a plodding visionary:

• Find a good local church.

• Get involved.

• Become a member.

• Stay there as long as you can.

• Put away thoughts of a revolution for a while.

• Join the plodding visionaries.

• Go to church this Sunday and worship in Spirit and truth.

• Be patient with your leaders.

• Rejoice when the gospel is faithfully proclaimed.

• Bear with those who hurt you.

• Give people the benefit of the doubt.

• Say “hi” to the teenager that no one notices.

• Welcome the old ladies with the blue hair and the young men with tattoos.

• Volunteer for the nursery.

• Attend the congregational meeting.

• Bring your fried chicken to the potluck like everybody else.

• Invite a friend.

• Take a new couple out for coffee.

• Give to the Christmas offering.

• Sing like you mean it.

• Be thankful someone vacuumed the carpet for you.

• Enjoy the Sundays that “click.”

• Pray extra hard on the Sundays that don’t.

• And in all of this, do not despise the days and weeks and years of small things (Zechariah 4:8–10).

Here’s to plodding visionaries. May our tribe increase.

_______________________

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

Winning Ways: The Priority of Prayer

Jim Blades was a commercial fisherman. He and six-year old, Clint, had spent a chilly December day, fishing for king salmon off Cape Edgecumbe, Alaska. As dusk closed in on the 26- foot wooden troller, he determined not to try to make it in that evening. When he radioed his wife, Jill didn’t like the thought of her husband and son anchored 12 miles offshore overnight, but Jim had done it many times before.

Later, Jill’s quiet evening was disturbed when a hard wind slammed into her house and five-foot breakers began washing up to the outside wall. Unexpected gale-force winds had suddenly descended on the area. She raced to the radio calling out the name of the fishing vessel, “Bluebird? Bluebird?”

Getting no answer, she switched to the Coast Guard channel and immediately heard Jim’s voice calmly saying, “I’m taking in water, I’m not sure where I’m at.” The Coast Guard radioman asked, “Can you tell us how to reach your wife?” Jill took the microphone, “This is Bluebird’s base. Jim, please take care!”

She then turned to another channel and radioed her friends Ben and Laura Hubbard who attended her church. The Hubbards began relaying the message through the church’s prayer chain. Soon, half the membership of Trinity Baptist Church was tuned in to Coast Guard channel 16. Throughout the evening, they prayed as they listened to the conversation between Jim Blades and the rescue helicopter. At the risk of their own lives, the rescue team battled wind blasts and 3-story waves to bring the fisherman and his six year-old to safety.

The crew received numerous honors for their brave and heroic rescue, but Lieutenant Commander John Whiddon admitted, “The truth is, we flew the helicopter beyond our limitations. I used all the skill I had, and we used up our luck. It took something extra. I’m not a guy who normally preaches, but there was that prayer chain. We got the awards, but any credit goes to God.”

The Blades can be grateful that they belonged to a church with a priority on prayer. You are connected to a church with a priority on prayer, too. This Sunday we’ll look at a Scripture passage that gives you the words you need as you lift up other people to God. It’s Colossians 1:1-14 if you want to read ahead, and then join us Sunday @ 10 for this important study!

___________________________________

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

Links to Your World, Tuesday March 8

Five Acronyms for ACRONYM.

 

Are You Smarter Than an Eighth Grader (From 1895)?

 

The 10 Geekiest Ways to Hide Your Age

 

The Pocket Hipster will scan your iTunes library, and offer snarky opinions and suggestions about your music taste.

 

“Data over the years on intercourse among never-married adolescents shows a steady decline since 1988. That seems to be in sync with other CDC studies showing an overall drop in teen pregnancy….The leading influence on sexual activity among young adults is what parents teach and what peers are doing, experts said.” (Statesman)

 

Do you have "the friend who assumes you’ve read every one of their tweets or Facebook status updates"? Funny stuff

 

The research suggests that giving ourselves a break and accepting our imperfections may be the first step toward better health.

 

Apparently exercise really can keep you young, according to a NYT wellness article.

 

Posts at “Get Anchored” Since Last Tuesday:

But What Do Fedoras Have to Do With It?

 

Review of Steve Turner’s “The Band That Played On”

 

Gospel = Good News

 

Hello

 

LeaderLines: Andrew and Barnabas and You and Me

 

The Bible’s Own Conspiracy Theory

 

The Attic Film Festival

 

The Reynolds Number

 

Update on the BGR Home Health Care Kits

But What Do Fedoras Have to Do With It?

“Are moviegoers watching John Calvin caught in ‘The Matrix,’ wrestling with caseworkers from ‘Men in Black’?"

Terry Mattingly re: The Adjustment Bureau

Review of Steve Turner’s “The Band That Played On”

As the Titanic sank, it was widely reported, a band of musicians played the hymn “Nearer My God to Thee.” Steve Turner writes about the incident, and the musicians, in his new book, The Band That Played On. There was some discrepancy among the eyewitnesses as to the particular tune the men last played, and in what manner they played it (Standing? Kneeling? Even as water rushed over them?). But Turner explains why the popular imagination was captured by the idea of musicians faithfully playing a hymn as the Titanic sank beneath the waves:

The story of their gallantry came to epitomize a spirit of courage, duty, and self-sacrifice. It was held up as proof that manhood wasn’t withering away through self-indulgence, frivolity, and lack of religion. Although the disaster itself was widely regarded as a comeuppance for the powerful and wealthy who had become fixated on speed, luxury, and the domination of nature, the behavior of the musicians showed that worthy ‘old-fashioned’ values of chivalry, fortitude, and love of neighbor still persisted.

Turner does a serviceable job collecting the biographies of the musicians and recreating the cultural context that found inspiration in the story of their last song. In the end, though, the book has the feel of an assignment completed at the request of a publisher for the 100th anniversary of the famous sinking, which in fact the book was.

Gospel = Good News

"The essence of other religions is advice; Christianity is essentially news. Other religions say, 'This is what you have to do in order to connect to God forever; this is how you have to live in order to earn your way to God.' But the gospel says, 'This is what has been done in history. This is how Jesus lived and died to earn the way to God for you.' Christianity is completely different. It's joyful news."

Oh so good. From Tim Keller's new one, "King's Cross," an overview of the life of Jesus.

Hello

LeaderLines: Andrew and Barnabas and You and Me

There are times we need to be an Andrew and there are times when we need to be a Barnabas. Herb Ingram has challenged every Sunday School leader and Common Ground host to be a “Barnabas” as we go into this weekend.

How? All the leaders of our Bible study groups should contact their class roll and get every member in attendance this Sunday, March 6. The Lord’s Supper will be served, we’ll welcome Steve Cloud on his first Sunday to our leadership team, and I’ll challenge all of us as leaders to four re-commitments.

Andrew reminds me that I need to reach out and enlist new people to discover the riches of worship and Bible study at Hillcrest. Barnabas reminds me that I need to reach in to the lives of those already connected and encourage them to stay connected.

I follow Andrew’s example when I practice the INVITE Strategy. I follow Barnabas’ example when I call the members of my Bible study group to make sure they stay involved with us.

You remember Andrew and Barnabas from their stories in the Bible, right?

Andrew was the first disciple Jesus called to follow him, and the first thing Andrew did was tell someone else. Andrew’s reaction to finding the Messiah can be found in John 1:41-42. The opening phrase nearly jumps off the page: “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah.’ . . . And he brought him to Jesus.”

The first recruit became the first witness; the first disciple became the first missionary; the first evangelized became the first evangelist; the first harvested became the first harvester. And from then on, when we see him as the initiator of action, the action is one of introducing people to the Lord. In John 6, we see that in the feeding of the 5000, it was Andrew who found the little boy with five barley loaves and two fish and brought him to Jesus. Moving from John 6 to John 12, some Greeks were in Jerusalem for the Jewish feasts, and these men asked, “We would like to see Jesus.” And it was Andrew who suggested that he and Philip bring them to Jesus.

There are times to follow Andrew’s example and reach out to those who are not connected to a Forever Family. Then there are times to follow Barnabas’ example and reach in to the lives of those already connected to encourage them along.

As you can see from the first appearance of the man in Acts 4:36, “Barnabas” was not a name given to him by his parents. His parents called him “Joseph.” No, it was the apostles who nicknamed him “Barnabas” after observing his actions. You see, the name Barnabas means “Son of Encouragement.” Haven’t you ever heard someone say of a boy, “He’s just a miniature version of his father.” “He has his father’s temper,” “He has his father’s receding hairline.” To call Joseph “Barnabas,” was like saying, “If Encouragement itself was embodied in a man, and that man had a son, Joseph would be that son”--he walks and talks as if he had been fathered by the very embodiment of Encouragement.”

And everywhere the man appears in the book of Acts, he’s being a Barnabas. In one place he’s welcoming a man into the church that every one else was ignoring (9:26-27), in another place he’s encouraging new Christians in Antioch (11:22-23), in yet another place he’s helping a man find his place of service in the kingdom of God (11:25-26), and finally we see him giving another man a new opportunity after failure (15:36).

You’ve received plenty of challenges from Herb and me to be an Andrew and reach out to those without a church family. I join Herb in challenging you to be a Barnabas and reach in to your Bible study group. Encourage those who have connected with your group to show up this Sunday, March 6!

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

The Bible’s Own Conspiracy Theory

Imagine if a journalist called a Christian leader to ask about [Dan]Brown's latest Rome-based conspiracy theory, and the leader said, "That's a pretty tame theory. The Bible's own conspiracy theory is much wilder. It says that God is plotting to overthrow every worldly power and establish his own rule once and for all. And the entire Christian church is in on it."

Christopher Hays

The Attic Film Festival

The Attic Film Fest will be held at the “For the City” center here in Austin:

The Reynolds Number

Stephen, my 20-year-old, played the drums and engineered the recordings for these 3 songs with his new band, The Reynolds Number:

Update on the BGR Home Health Care Kits

Last summer, Hillcrest packed 85 home health care kits in partnership with Baptist Global Response.

From Franklin and Paula Kilpatrick’s newsletter, here’s the latest update on your kits:

God has answered our prayers for the safe arrival of a shipment of Baptist Global Response home-care buckets in Zambia. The buckets were finally received in Lusaka yesterday (22 February 2011). Thank the Lord that the buckets have arrived and pray for their effective distribution. The home-care buckets contain basic supplies to help in the care of bed-ridden patients who are not expected to live. The BGR website has a home-care bucket page that tells more about the project. To read this page go to:

http://www.baptistglobalresponse.com/new/involved.php?id=2

After reading this page pray about what God would have you and your church to do about providing more home-care buckets. The demand is much greater than the supply and many more buckets are needed in Zambia. The BGR website says that 6000 more buckets have been requested. The website also says: "By putting together at least one kit, you will help provide a physical and spiritual touch to those in sub-Saharan Africa who are dying from AIDS and other illnesses.  Our local partners in Africa will distribute the buckets in a way that gives dignity and hope to each family receiving a kit."

Links to Your World, Tuesday March 1

Middle-earth according to Mordor: A newly translated Russian novel retells Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" from the perspective of the bad guys. I downloaded the edition formatted for my Kindle.


It crops up in our speech dozens of times every day, although it apparently means little. So how did the word "OK" conquer the world? The answer here.


For you parents with young ‘uns: GeekMom has Ten Sanity Saving Tricks with Tape


Five myths about the suburbs.


Here’s an interesting conversation on the remarkable Christian athlete, Albert Pujols, of the St. Louis Cardinals. It’s also interesting because of the conversation it generates on when its ever appropriate for a Christian to play hard with contract negotiations. My take: Play hard, children, play hard.


The Six-Legged Meat of the Future: The WSJ reports that insects are nutritious and easy to raise without harming the environment.


Juan Sanchez has begun a series of posts on our Austin mission field. Looks like a promising series!


WSJ: Now you can wirelessly download electronic books from your local library using the Apple iPad or an Android tablet. Has this—will this—come to Austin libraries?


Casual video gaming can reduce depression and anxiety, study shows.


Many Consumers Believe 36 Months Is Longer Than 3 Years


Oklahoma Town Sees 100-Degree Temperature Shift in One Week


Posts at “Get Anchored” in the last 2 weeks:

What Makes a Film Christian?

Jakarta Trip, Wrapping Up

In Not Of

“Safe” Race-Based Districts for Austin

A Good App to Be Addicted To

LeaderLines: Is Your Leadership Resulting In Anyone’s Conversion?

Winning Ways: Stubborn in Rebellion—Stubborn in Faith

The Cowboy’s Ten Commandments

Don’t Pay Attention

The Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands

Jakarta Trip, First Update

Why the Afterlife is Box-Office Poison

LeaderLines: A Visit with Donna Houser, Anderson High School Principal

Winning Ways: Jakarta Mission Trip