Old Trees

Alex Mensing:

Being in the presence of a really old tree–think 1,000 years or more–inspires awe and, hopefully, an elongating of temporal perspective. Your thoughts are led away from the familiar concerns of yesterday, today and tomorrow, and the lifespan of the tree gradually comes into focus. The rise and fall of cities and scientific paradigms become more relevant than the rise and fall of hairstyles and political buzzwords.

“Aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands”

Anthony Bradley:

Some place expectations on young people to do “awesome things for God someday,” “change the world,” “make a difference,” etc. “Move to the inner city or go into missions so you can do something substantial with your life,” we tell them. “And don’t get married too early. Marriage and kids could mess up all the cool things you can do for God.” But the Apostle Paul seems to suggest that Christians “aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands” (1 Thessalonians 4:11). Maybe one of the most radical things your child will do in this life is stay married and raise kids who love God.

“Caius really was mortal, and it was right for him to die; but for me…with all my thoughts and emotions, it's altogether a different matter”

The Death of Ivan Illyitch, Chapter 5, Leo Tolstoy:

Ivan Ilych saw that he was dying, and he was in continual despair.

In the depth of his heart he knew he was dying, but not only was he not accustomed to the thought, he simply did not and could not grasp it.

The syllogism he had learnt from Kiesewetter's Logic: "Caius is a man, men are mortal, therefore Caius is mortal," had always seemed to him correct as applied to Caius, but certainly not as applied to himself. That Caius -- man in the abstract -- was mortal, was perfectly correct, but he was not Caius, not an abstract man, but a creature quite, quite separate from all others. He had been little Vanya, with a mamma and a papa, with Mitya and Volodya, with the toys, a coachman and a nurse, afterwards with Katenka and will all the joys, griefs, and delights of childhood, boyhood, and youth. What did Caius know of the smell of that striped leather ball Vanya had been so fond of? Had Caius kissed his mother's hand like that, and did the silk of her dress rustle so for Caius? Had he rioted like that at school when the pastry was bad? Had Caius been in love like that? Could Caius preside at a session as he did? "Caius really was mortal, and it was right for him to die; but for me, little Vanya, Ivan Ilych, with all my thoughts and emotions, it's altogether a different matter. It cannot be that I ought to die. That would be too terrible."

Such was his feeling.

"If I had to die like Caius I would have known it was so. An inner voice would have told me so, but there was nothing of the sort in me and I and all my friends felt that our case was quite different from that of Caius. and now here it is!" he said to himself. "It can't be. It's impossible! But here it is. How is this? How is one to understand it?"

He could not understand it, and tried to drive this false, incorrect, morbid thought away and to replace it by other proper and healthy thoughts. But that thought, and not the thought only but the reality itself, seemed to come and confront him.

And to replace that thought he called up a succession of others, hoping to find in them some support. He tried to get back into the former current of thoughts that had once screened the thought of death from him. But strange to say, all that had formerly shut off, hidden, and destroyed his consciousness of death, no longer had that effect. Ivan Ilych now spent most of his time in attempting to re-establish that old current. He would say to himself: "I will take up my duties again -- after all I used to live by them." And banishing all doubts he would go to the law courts, enter into conversation with his colleagues, and sit carelessly as was his wont, scanning the crowd with a thoughtful look and leaning both his emaciated arms on the arms of his oak chair; bending over as usual to a colleague and drawing his papers nearer he would interchange whispers with him, and then suddenly raising his eyes and sitting erect would pronounce certain words and open the proceedings. But suddenly in the midst of those proceedings the pain in his side, regardless of the stage the proceedings had reached, would begin its own gnawing work.Ivan Ilych would turn his attention to it and try to drive the thought of it away, but without success. *It* would come and stand before him and look at him, and he would be petrified and the light would die out of his eyes, and he would again begin asking himself whether *It* alone was true. And his colleagues and subordinates would see with surprise and distress that he, the brilliant and subtle judge, was becoming confused and making mistakes. He would shake himself, try to pull himself together, manage somehow to bring the sitting to a close, and return home with the sorrowful consciousness that his judicial labours could not as formerly hide from him what he wanted them to hide, and could not deliver him from *It*. And what was worst of all was that *It* drew his attention to itself not in order to make him take some action but only that he should look at *It*, look it straight in the face: look at it and without doing anything, suffer inexpressibly.

And to save himself from this condition Ivan Ilych looked for consolations -- new screens -- and new screens were found and for a while seemed to save him, but then they immediately fell to pieces or rather became transparent, as if *It* penetrated them and nothing could veil *It*.

In these latter days he would go into the drawing-room he had arranged -- that drawing-room where he had fallen and for the sake of which (how bitterly ridiculous it seemed) he had sacrificed his life -- for he knew that his illness originated with that knock. He would enter and see that something had scratched the polished table. He would look for the cause of this and find that it was the bronze ornamentation of an album, that had got bent. He would take up the expensive album which he had lovingly arranged, and feel vexed with his daughter and her friends for their untidiness - - for the album was torn here and there and some of the photographs turned upside down. He would put it carefully in order and bend the ornamentation back into position. Then it would occur to him to place all those things in another corner of the room, near the plants. He would call the footman, but his daughter or wife would come to help him. They would not agree, and his wife would contradict him, and he would dispute and grow angry. But that was all right, for then he did not think about *It*. *It* was invisible.

But then, when he was moving something himself, his wife would say: "Let the servants do it. You will hurt yourself again." And suddenly *It* would flash through the screen and he would see it. It was just a flash, and he hoped it would disappear, but he would involuntarily pay attention to his side. "It sits there as before, gnawing just the same!" And he could no longer forget *It*, but could distinctly see it looking at him from behind the flowers. "What is it all for?"

"It really is so! I lost my life over that curtain as I might have done when storming a fort. Is that possible? How terrible and how stupid. It can't be true! It can't, but it is."

He would go to his study, lie down, and again be alone with *It*: face to face with *It*. And nothing could be done with *It* except to look at it and shudder.

Such a fine book: No wonder its regarded as Tolstoy’s best. I’m listening to a free audio version of it. Laurie Ann Walden is the reader: Interesting to hear a Russian novel read in a gentle Southern accent (Georgia? One of the Carolinas?).

Happy 90th Birthday, John Stott!

Happy 90th Birthday, John Stott!

I can’t thank you enough for your writing ministry—particularly Between Two Worlds and The Cross of Christ—both of which deeply, deeply shaped me in the opening years of my ministry.

I join you in your morning prayer:

Good morning heavenly Father,
good morning Lord Jesus,
good morning Holy Spirit.

Heavenly Father, I worship you as the creator and sustainer of the universe.
Lord Jesus, I worship you, Savior and Lord of the world.
Holy Spirit, I worship you, sanctifier of the people of God.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

Heavenly Father, I pray that I may live this day in your presence and please you more and more.

Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you.

Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Holy, blessed and glorious Trinity, three persons in one God,
have mercy upon me. Amen.

Winning Ways: Get Busy Living

Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies.

Ten points for Gryffindor if you tell me the source of that quote.

Okay, time’s up. It’s from The Shawshank Redemption, and it’s on my mind as I prepare for this week’s message.

The Shawshank Redemption is a story about two men. There’s Andy Dufresne, who is unjustly convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment,  and there’s his friend Red. They spend many hard years in prison, but one day Andy tells Red that if he is ever freed from Shawshank, he should go to a certain town and find a certain tree in a certain cornfield, and push aside a certain rock. There he will uncover a little tin can containing enough money to make it across the border to a little Mexican fishing village. Not long after this conversation, Andy escapes from prison and Red is paroled.  Red, dutiful friend that he is, finds the cornfield, the tree, the rocks, the tin can, and the money. He also finds a letter from Andy: “Red, never forget. Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies.” At that moment, Red realizes he has two choices: “Get busy livin’ or get busy dyin’.”

This Sunday, come and learn why hope is such a good thing, maybe the best of things. It’s part of our series, “Restoring Lost Values.” We’re looking at Faith, Hope, Love, and Generosity. Join us @ 10!

Have You Signed Up for Our “Beautiful Thing” Banquet?

Thursday, May 12, join your church family for dinner! Preschool care will be provided, and the children and the youth will have their own meal and age-appropriate stewardship challenge while adults are in the Multi-Purpose Center.

Someone asked why we’re calling it a “Family Dinner” if the “family” is in different parts of our building. The simple answer is: we can’t fit everyone in the MPC. In addition, though, we think we can make the evening more interesting for your kids and teens if we provide a meal and a brief lesson/activity for them that is more age-appropriate.

I’m amazed at the energy and creativity that the organizers are putting into this banquet! I think you and your kids and teens will find this a night to remember! It’s free, but you have to register. Sign up this Sunday at church, or go online to:

www.HillcrestAustin.info/events/FamilyDinnerTickets

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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.

What Was THAT Like?

In the 19th century, and for the first three decades of the 20th, the national government of the United States impinged less on its citizens than any in the Western world, except the Swiss. The national government, and its industrial power structure, set important national policy, but it collected almost no taxes, nor did it interfere or try to influence the citizen's daily life. It left almost all decisions affecting society to local option.

Because of this, important changes in America in this era were made by the states themselves, or not at all.

TR Fehrenbach, in "Lone Star: A History of Texas and the Texans," one of my current reading projects. Oh, how times have changed.

Review of Martin Hengel’s “Crucifixion in the Ancient World”

In 1 Cor. 1:23, the Apostle Paul speaks of the Greek reaction to the preaching of Christ crucified as “folly”—the Greek work is mania—“madness.” In his 1973 book, Crucifixion in the Ancient World and the Folly of the Message of the Cross, Martin Hengel explains why.

Years ago, watching the classic film, Spartacus, was the first time I saw crucifixion outside of the context of New Testament stories of Jesus’s crucifixion. Hengel’s survey of the use of crucifixion as a penalty in the Graeco-Roman world introduces us to the cultural and emotional background behind the New Testament preaching about a crucified Christ (and intense reactions against the same).

Reading through the book for Good Friday, I was struck by how obscenely common this form of execution was in Rome and even in the surrounding nations of the first century. It was especially useful for political enemies and common as a deterrent to slave revolts.

Hengel surveys the literature of the time that preserves the horror that most people felt about the threat of crucifixion. I was particularly struck by his reference to popular romances of the time, where a cross may be threatened but the hero is always rescued:

Crucifixion of the hero or heroine is part of their stock in trade, and only a higher form of this 'recreational literature', as represented say by Heliodorus' Aethiopica, scorns such cruelty. In the Babyloniaca written by the Syrian lamblichus, the hero is twice overtaken by this fearful punishment, but on both occasions he is taken down from the cross and freed. Habrocomes, the chief figure in the romance by Xenophon of Ephesus which has already been mentioned, is first tortured almost to death and later crucified. Even his beloved, Anthea, is in danger of being crucified after she has killed a robber in self-defence. However, heroes cannot on any account be allowed to suffer such a painful and shameful death—this can only befall evil-doers. Chariton of Aphrodisias, who was perhaps still writing in the first century AD, gives a vivid description of crucifixion as a punishment for slaves: sixteen slaves from the domains of the satrap Mithridates escaped from their lodgings, but were recaptured and, chained together by necks and feet, were led to the place of execution, each carrying his own cross… The hero of the romance is saved at the last moment, just before he is to be nailed to the cross.

Of course, in the Bible’s love story, the hero is not saved from the cross, but suffers and dies, vindicated by resurrection 3 days later.

In fact, the resurrection, in this light, becomes a powerful sign of vindication in a culture that cannot imagine such a thing as a suffering, dying divine hero. But even with the good news of the resurrection, spreading a message of a crucified Son of God was no easy job:

To believe that the one pre-existent Son of the one true God, the mediator at creation and the redeemer of the world, had appeared in very recent times in out-of-the-way Galilee as a member of the obscure people of the Jews, and even worse, had died the death of a common criminal on the cross, could only be regarded as a sign of madness. The real gods of Greece and Rome could be distinguished from mortal men by the very fact that they were immortal - they had absolutely nothing in common with the cross as a sign of shame, the 'infamous stake,’ the 'barren' or 'criminal wood,' the 'terrible cross,' (maxuma mala crux) of the slaves in Plautus, and thus of the one who, in the words of Celsus, was 'bound in the most ignominious fashion' and 'executed in a shameful way'.

But wouldn’t the lower classes have been drawn to the message of the cross, comforted that a god so identified with them? No, says Hengel:

An alleged son of god who could not help himself at the time of his deepest need (Mark 15.31), and who rather required his followers to take up the cross, was hardly an attraction to the lower classes of Roman and Greek society. People were all too aware of what it meant to bear the cross through the city and then to be nailed to it and feared it; they wanted to get away from it.

Even in the first century, then, there was temptation to mitigate the offense of the cross:

For Paul and his contemporaries the cross of Jesus was not a didactic, symbolic or speculative element but a very specific and highly offensive matter which imposed a burden on the earliest Christian missionary preaching. No wonder that the young community in Corinth sought to escape from the crucified Christ into the enthusiastic life of the spirit, the enjoyment of heavenly revelations and an assurance of salvation connected with mysteries and sacraments. When in the face of this Paul points out to the community which he founded that his preaching of the crucified messiah is a religious 'stumbling block' for the Jews and 'madness' for his Greek hearers, we are hearing in his confession not least the twenty-year experience of the greatest Christian missionary, who had often reaped no more than mockery and bitter rejection with his message of the Lord Jesus, who had died a criminal's death on the tree of shame.

“Even now,” Hengel observes, “any genuine theology will have to be measured against the test of this scandal.”

The theological reasoning of our time shows very clearly that the particular form of the death of Jesus, the man and the messiah, represents a scandal which people would like to blunt, remove or domesticate in any way possible. We shall have to guarantee the truth of our theological thinking at this point. Reflection on the harsh reality of crucifixion in antiquity may help us to overcome the acute loss of reality which is to be found so often in present theology and preaching.

Thankfully, though the preaching of Christ crucified is still “madness” to many listeners today (1 Cor. 1:23), Paul assures us in the next verse that “to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks,” the message—indeed the subject of the message—is “the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

How many church leaders think gospel fishing works

(The fun really gets going about 1:50. Nineteen end up in the boat)—

So does that make the old evangelical chiding wrong, eh?

“Today’s songs are more likely be about one very special person: the singer.”

From John Tierney, “A Generation’s Vanity, Heard Through the Lyrics”"--

After a computer analysis of three decades of hit songs, Dr. DeWall and other psychologists report finding…a statistically significant trend toward narcissism and hostility in popular music. As they hypothesized, the words “I” and “me” appear more frequently along with anger-related words, while there’s been a corresponding decline in “we” and “us” and the expression of positive emotions.

…

The researchers find that hit songs in the 1980s were more likely to emphasize happy togetherness, like the racial harmony sought by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder in “Ebony and Ivory” and the group exuberance promoted by Kool & the Gang: “Let’s all celebrate and have a good time.” Diana Ross and Lionel Richie sang of “two hearts that beat as one,” and John Lennon’s “(Just Like) Starting Over” emphasized the preciousness of “our life together.”

Today’s songs, according to the researchers’ linguistic analysis, are more likely be about one very special person: the singer. “I’m bringing sexy back,” Justin Timberlakeproclaimed in 2006. The year before, Beyoncé exulted in how hot she looked while dancing — “It’s blazin’, you watch me in amazement.” And Fergie, who boasted about her “humps” while singing with the Black Eyed Peas, subsequently released a solo album in which she told her lover that she needed quality time alone: “It’s personal, myself and I.”

…

During this period, there have also been reports of higher levels of loneliness and depression — which may be no coincidence, according to the authors of the song-lyrics study. These researchers, who include Richard S. Pond of the University of Kentucky, note that narcissism has been linked to heightened anger and problems maintaining relationships. Their song-lyrics analysis shows a decline in words related to social connections and positive emotions (like “love” or “sweet”) and an increase in words related to anger and antisocial behavior (like “hate” or “kill”).

“In the early ’80s lyrics, love was easy and positive, and about two people,” says Dr. Twenge, a psychologist at San Diego State University. “The recent songs are about what the individual wants, and how she or he has been disappointed or wronged.”

John Tierney, “A Generation’s Vanity, Heard Through the Lyrics”

Links to Your World, Tuesday April 26

The Top 10 “Stuff Christians Like” Posts of All Time

 

“In a culture where it's easy to fire off a snippy email or text, most of us have a hard time honestly expressing anger face to face. If someone upsets us, often we shout, stomp off, roll our eyes, refuse to speak to the person or complain to everyone else. Or we kid ourselves that we aren't upset and subconsciously fume—until one day we explode over the seemingly littlest thing.None of this, of course, is healthy for us or our relationships. Most of us could stand to learn to express anger in a more productive, less destructive way.” Elizabeth Bernstein in the WSJ suggest some practical ways to do so.

 

Time magazine has a collection of videos on the Texas wildfires.

 

Yikes: If you think it’s neighborly to offer an unsecured Wi-Fi signal, you could have police breaking down your door and arresting you for child porn.

 

Everyone seems to be linking to today's David Brooks' piece, deservedly. A taste: "Many Americans have always admired the style of belief that is spiritual but not doctrinal, pluralistic and not exclusive, which offers tools for serving the greater good but is not marred by intolerant theological judgments....[But] vague, uplifting, nondoctrinal religiosity doesn't actually last." Read it: http://ow.ly/4Gkwh

 

“Ever wonder why French fries, potato chips and Cheetos are so appealing when you're feeling stressed? A new study suggests that elevated levels of salt in the body lower stress hormones and raise levels of oxytocin, a hormone involved in love and other social connections” (Time)

 

Wallace and Gromit’s World of Invention:

 

Posts at “Get Anchored” Since Last Tuesday:

Free Audiobook: Tolstoy’s “The Death of Ivan Illyitch”

 

Love Crucified Arose

 

“More and more am I jealous lest any views upon prophecy, church government, politics, or even systematic theology, should withdraw one of us from glorying in the cross of Christ”

 

Holy, Holy, Holy

 

“For Jennifer, hell was other people thinking she was going to hell”

 

More Than a Rhetorical Question

 

“We are wise to remind ourselves that the cross is indeed part of the story of Jesus, and to the degree we would be like him, it becomes part of our story”

 

The New “Front Porch” for Your Neighborhood

 

Winning Ways: The Family Album Relay and the Easter Encounter

 

“It would actually take more faith to maintain my atheism than to become a follower of Jesus”

Free Audiobook: Tolstoy’s “The Death of Ivan Illyitch”

Here’s a free LibriVox download of the audio version of Leo Tolstoy’s (d. 1910) masterpiece, “The Death of Ivan Illyitch.” Here’s the blurb:

The Death of Ivan Ilyitch is the story of a socially ambitious middle-aged judge who contracts an unexplained and untreatable illness. As Ivan Ilyitch is forced to face the death he fears, he asks himself whether the life he thought was so correct was, in fact, a moral life after all. Written after Tolstoy's religious conversion, the novella is widely considered to be one of his masterpieces.

Love Crucified Arose

Long ago, He blessed the earth
Born older than the years
And in the stall the cross He saw
Through the first of many tears

A life of homeless wandering
Cast out in sorrow's way
The Shepherd seeking for the lost
His life, the price He paid

Love crucified arose
The risen One in splendor
Jehovah's sole defender
Has won the victory

Love crucified arose
And the grave became a place of hope
For the heart that sin and sorrow broke
Is beating once again

Throughout Your life You've felt the weight
Of what You'd come to give
To drink for us that crimson cup
So we might really live

At last the time to love and die
The dark appointed day
That one forsaken moment when
Your Father turned His face away

Love crucified arose
The One who lived and died for me
Was Satan's nail-pierced casualty
Now He's breathing once again

Love crucified arose
And the grave became a place of hope
For the heart that sin and sorrow broke
Is beating once again

Love crucified arose
The risen One in splendor
Jehovah's sole defender
Has won the victory

Love crucified arose
And the grave became a place of hope
For the heart that sin and sorrow broke
Is beating once again

Love crucified arose
The One who lived and died for me
Was Satan's nail-pierced casualty
Now He's breathing once again

“More and more am I jealous lest any views upon prophecy, church government, politics, or even systematic theology, should withdraw one of us from glorying in the cross of Christ”

Man’s fall, his need of a new birth, forgiveness through an atonement, and salvation as the result of faith, these are our battle-ax and weapons of war. We have enough to do to learn and teach these great truths, and accursed be that learning which shall divert us from our mission, or that willful ignorance which shall cripple us in its pursuit. More and more am I jealous lest any views upon prophecy, church government, politics, or even systematic theology, should withdraw one of us from glorying in the cross of Christ.

Lectures to My Students, Charles H. Spurgeon (mid-1800s)

Holy, Holy, Holy

Neither love, grace, faith, nor sin have any but a passing meaning except as they rest on the holiness of God, except as they arise from it, and return to it, except as they satisfy it, show it forth, set it up, and secure it every where and for ever. Love is but its outgoing; sin is but its defiance; grace is but its action on sin; the cross is but its victory; faith is but its worship.

P.T. Forsyth, The Cruciality of the Cross

“For Jennifer, hell was other people thinking she was going to hell”

Eileen Flynn, who has been kind to me and to our church across the years in her articles, did a good job with her faith column in the Statesman today. Probably the best (and most telling) headline and turn-of-phrase I’ve ever read on the subject. The headline: “Hell Matters Even to Those Who Don’t Believe It.” The turn-of-phrase:

Jean-Paul Sartre's tortured character in "No Exit" determined that "hell is other people." For Jennifer, hell was other people thinking she was going to hell.

Oh, that’ll show up in my writing/speaking somewhere down the line.

That said, I want to comment on a few questions raised in the article, and maybe I’ll get those thoughts worked into a useful post when I get some time beyond Easter weekend. In the mean time, here’s Eileen’s article online. Please don’t feed the trolls in the Statesman comments section of her article, but write me and let me know what you’d want me to address in a “Get Anchored” post on the subject.

Until the post, here’s the late great Johnny Hart:

More Than a Rhetorical Question

‘It is not surprising that Perry, and all people of faith, should turn to prayer to seek relief from the drought (though isn't that appealing to the power that people of faith also think created the drought?).'’

That’s Ken Herman, in his Statesman commentary regarding the gubernatorially proclaimed "Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas.”

It may have been a rhetorical question, but the answer is “yes.”

“We are wise to remind ourselves that the cross is indeed part of the story of Jesus, and to the degree we would be like him, it becomes part of our story”

Mark Galli:

We often glibly say that we want to be like Jesus. We want our lives to be like his life. We want our values to be shaped by his values. We want our relationship with God to be like his relationship with God. So we pray to be like Jesus. But we're generally blind to the full reality of who Jesus is. We want be shaped by the glorious Jesus. We want to heal the sick and raise the dead; we don't want to feel his grief at the unbelief of Jerusalem. We want to speak eloquent words of wisdom, but we don't want to say to anyone, "Get thee behind me, Satan," or "You brood of hypocrites!" We want to be raised to new life, but go to great lengths to avoid the cross. We want an intimate life with God, but never want to know the experience of being forsaken….

We are wise to remind ourselves that the cross is indeed part of the story of Jesus, and to the degree we would be like him, it becomes part of our story.

Read the whole thing. It will help you rise to Paul’s desire as expressed in Phil. 3:10-11, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

The New “Front Porch” for Your Neighborhood

“Reformissionary” Steve McCoy calls it a “Front Porch Hack.” Front porches used to be places to engage neighbors, but since most suburban homes don’t have front porches these days, McCoy suggest 3 steps to “hack” your garage so that it serves as your front porch:

1. Clean It Out. Toss stuff in the trash. You don't need some of that stuff. Give stuff away. Find another place for it. Tidy up whatever you need to leave in there. Make as much space as possible. If you think you can't, you're wrong.

2. Fill It Up.  If you don't have one in there already, put in a fridge (even if only a college-sized one). Put yummy stuff in that fridge. Drinks, snacks, more drinks. Can't afford that, at least put cold stuff in a cooler. Then get a dart board, a bags set, iPod speakers/radio, chairs, basketball hoop, frisbee, or whatever you and others find fun. Keep the door wide open. Let the sound & fun bleed out into the neighborhood. Take the grill from the back porch and put it in the driveway.

3. Invite & Be Inviting. Start right after work. Wave at folks in as they drive home from work. Ask them over. Wave them over. Yell as they get out of their car, "Come on over!" Give them an special invite, if that's helpful. Offer them something to drink and ask about their day. Play a game. Stuff will happen naturally as neighbors feel welcome and stop by regularly.

Read the whole thing.

Winning Ways: The Family Album Relay and the Easter Encounter

I want to make sure you know about two important opportunities for fellowship, outreach, and personal spiritual growth.

The “Easter Encounter” is this Weekend!

Take time to remember the sacrifice of our Lord this Good Friday, April 22, through a special worship service at 7:00pm. The music, the message, and the Lord’s Supper will help you “cherish the old rugged cross.” If you’re able, commit to fast on Good Friday so that the first food to touch your lips that day is the bread of the Lord’s Supper. You can review our Bible study on fasting at www.HillcrestAustin.org/Sermons. Joining with us on Good Friday will make your Easter Sunday even more significant: On April 24, celebrate the resurrection of our Lord with your church family at 10:00am!

The Family Album Relay is Underway!

Some time within the next 3 weeks, a Family Album will arrive at your home. The Family Album will be clearly marked with four steps you can take to make the relay a success:

Step 1: Flip through the Family Album. You’ll find out about the improvements we can make to our Worship Center as the Hillcrest Family works together. You’ll also get answers to some “Frequently Asked Questions.”

Step 2: Read some of the testimonies that are already coming in from members of the Hillcrest Family.

Step 3: Remove the packet that has your name on the label.

Step 4: Take the Family Album to the next person on the list found at the back of the Album. Don’t plan on staying long: a “doorstep visit” is all that’s needed as you relay your Family Album to them.

Now, there will be 10-12 households on your list, so it’s important that you move the Family Album to the next household on the list within 48 hours of receiving the Album. The relay is underway, so be listening for a phone call from one of your church family asking when they can just run by and drop off the Family Album at your doorstep.

There are 22 relay teams, and the first three teams to “win” the relay will get a special recognition at our Family Dinner, May 12! Let’s have fun with this!

Significant Days

These are significant days in the life of the Hillcrest Family! Take advantage of these opportunities for fellowship, outreach, and spiritual growth!

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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.

“It would actually take more faith to maintain my atheism than to become a follower of Jesus”

In the end, after I had thoroughly investigated the matter, I reached an unexpected conclusion: it would actually take more faith to maintain my atheism than to become a follower of Jesus.

And that’s why I’m now celebrating my 30th Easter as a Christian. Not because of wishful thinking, the fear of death, or the need for a psychological crutch, but because of the facts.

Lee Strobel explains his faith journey in a WSJ article, “How Easter Killed My Faith in Atheism.”

Links to Your World, Tuesday April 19

8 once-amazing sci-fi devices now inferior to real-life gadgets

 

Multitasking Takes Toll on Memory, Study Finds, Leading to those “Senior Moments”

 

You can now have favorite authors provide an e-autograph on your e-book.

 

“Teens who reported listening to music more often — rather than using other types of media like TV and books — were at higher risk of having major depressive disorder (MDD), compared with teens who listened to music less frequently. With each level increase in music use, teens had an 80% higher risk of depression, the study found….’At this point, it is not clear whether depressed people begin to listen to more music to escape, or whether listening to large amounts of music can lead to depression, or both,’ said Primack in a statement. By contrast, researchers found that reading books had the opposite association: with each level increase in time spent reading, teens' risk of depression dropped 50%” (Time).

 

The emergency network was designed for landlines. Land-what? Why our safety depends on modernizing 911 for the mobile age. Time magazine reports.

 

A pro golfer takes a 16 on a Texas par-4—and becomes a folk hero for tenacity and honesty. (NYT)

 

“A male friend told me he thought he understood why pornography could be preferable to some people; watching pornography, he said, is like going to a Wikipedia page. You search for a specific thing, a specific feeling, a specific result, and that’s exactly what you find.” Meg Wolitzer

 

How Little Sleep Can You Get Away With?

 

8 logos of major brands redesigned to be more honest

 

Your 2010 Federal Taxpayer Receipt: In his State of the Union Address, President Obama promised that this year, for the first time ever, American taxpayers would be able to go online and see exactly how their federal tax dollars are spent. Just enter a few pieces of information about your taxes, and the taxpayer receipt will give you a breakdown of how your tax dollars are spent on priorities like education, veterans benefits, or health care.

 

For $900K you can have a condo in this decommissioned missile base. Perfect for surviving an alien invasion.

 

Not only are longer life expectancies allowing people to postpone retirement, they feel less rushed to make peace with God, a new study suggests.

 

Religious Affections is Jonathan Edwards’ most famous work, and an epub version is available for free if you have an electronic book reader. It’s now on my Kindle. (HT: Free Christian Resources)

 

A six month journey along the 2,200 mile long Appalachian Trail, condensed and reinterpreted into five minutes of stop-motion:

Green Tunnel from Kevin Gallagher on Vimeo.

 

Posts at “Get Anchored” since last Tuesday:

“Let's go sit at His feet for a while and listen to His fresh spoken Words for today”

 

Book Review: Andy Stanley’s “The Principle of the Path”

 

“It has made it fashionable to be rude”

 

The Last Two Speakers of a Dying Language Refuse to Speak to Each Other

 

Bell’s Hell

 

Pay-for-Pray

 

“I let myself be carried on the stream of devotion”

 

Winning Ways: Restoring Lost Values

 

“His focus is not on a loving communion with his father, but simply what he can accomplish for his father”

“Let's go sit at His feet for a while and listen to His fresh spoken Words for today”

From my friend’s blog, “Martha Sitting at His Feet”--

My husband could not stand the taste of coffee for the first 18 years of our marriage, while I would go the proverbial extra mile to get the perfect cup of coffee. The thought of heating up yesterday's left over coffee in the microwave nearly made me gag. Some of that has changed as Paul now drinks coffee every morning but we have been spoiled with a fresh ground cup of fresh brewed coffee every morning and we think it is the perfect way to start the day, sipping in the mellow mood of mornings, kick-starting the thoughts that will take us through the day.

The other day I was having my perfect cup when a still small voice reminded me, that as much as I like my coffee fresh, I am often content with yesterday's Word. I would never be content with yesterday's coffee, yet I often let my feet hit the floor and point myself into the day with yesterday's Word of God vaguely resting on my memory. Why is that habit of starting fresh with Him every morning so easy to side step…?

Good Morning coffee! Let's go sit at His feet for a while and listen to His fresh spoken Words for today.

Book Review: Andy Stanley’s “The Principle of the Path”

In The Principle of the Path, Andy Stanley wants the reader to understand why, in spite of what may be the best intentions, some don't end up where they hoped to be. He writes:

Direction--not intentions, hopes, dreams, prayers, beliefs, intellect, or education--determines destination. I know it's tempting to believe that our good intentions, aspirations, and dreams somehow have the ability to do an end run around the decisions that we make on a daily basis. But at the end of the day, the principle of the path determines the outcome. Simply put, you and I will win or lose in life by the paths we choose.

Direction determines our ultimate destination with our finances, our marriages, our careers, and our dreams. Stanley wrote The Principle of the Path as a road map to proper direction and discipline.

Many need the bracing wake-up call the book provides. I'm concerned, however, that many others will wilt under the relentless insistence that any and every destination is soley the result of the direction one has chosen to take. While much of the book of Proverbs warns the unwise of poorly-chosen paths, the Bible's wisdom literature also acknowledges divinely-directed circumstances beyond our control (e.g., Eccl. 9:11). I'm not sure the closing chapter, meant to comfort those who choose the right direction and yet do not reach their destination after all, is enough to counter the message throughout the rest of the book that failure to reach one's destination is thoroughly the result of a poorly-chosen direction.

“It has made it fashionable to be rude”

If she is looking over your shoulder at a room full of potentially more interesting people, she is ill-mannered. If, however, she is not looking over your shoulder, but into a smartphone in her hand, she is not only well within modern social norms, but is also a wired, well-put-together person.

Add one more achievement to the digital revolution: It has made it fashionable to be rude.

David Carr for the NYT, reporting from Austin’s SXSW. Lots of good stuff here, including:

William Powers, the author of “Hamlet’s BlackBerry,” a book about getting control of your digital life, appeared on a panel at South by Southwest and wrote that he came away thinking he had witnessed “a gigantic competition to see who can be more absent from the people and conversations happening right around them. Everyone in Austin was gazing into their little devices — a bit desperately, too, as if their lives depended on not missing the next tweet.”

The Last Two Speakers of a Dying Language Refuse to Speak to Each Other

The Last Two Speakers of a Dying Language Refuse to Speak to Each Other

The language of Ayapaneco has been spoken in the land now known as Mexico for centuries. It has survived the Spanish conquest, seen off wars, revolutions, famines and floods. But now, like so many other indigenous languages, it’s at risk of extinction.

There are just two people left who can speak it fluently – but they refuse to talk to each other. Manuel Segovia, 75, and Isidro Velazquez, 69, live 500 metres apart in the village of Ayapa in the tropical lowlands of the southern state of Tabasco. It is not clear whether there is a long-buried argument behind their mutual avoidance, but people who know them say they have never really enjoyed each other’s company.

Oh, oh, oh, there’s a sermon illustration in there somewhere…

(HT: Joe Carter’s 33 Things)

Bell’s Hell

So far I’ve read 2 reviews of Jon Meacham’s Time cover story, “What If There’s No Hell"?”--a sympathetic treatment of Rob Bell’s dance with universalism in Love Wins. Albert Mohler’s review is curiously far more sympathetic to Meacham than Mollie Ziegler Hemingway’s reaction at GetReligion, and Molly captures my frustration with the piece far better—especially that Inherit the Wind silliness and the curiosity about the Salvation Army (read Response #2 after her piece).

My reaction to the Bell hoopla here.

Pay-for-Pray

Someone let me in on the joke. Here’s a website advertising its prayer services. “Services,” not in what time and day they hold a service, but “services” as in what they offer based upon what you’re willing to pay:

When you sign up with The Prayer Company you choose which areas you want us to concentrate on in prayer: Business, Ministry, Family and Marriage. Then for as many hours per week as you choose, we diligently and determinedly pray through these areas according to your requests and what we hear from the Heart of God as we approach the Throne of Heaven on your behalf! We provide a detailed outline of what we pray into each area, plus we give you a personal prayer contact to share your requests and feedback with.

And how much does it cost for this prayer service. Well, the website says that’s up to you:

You choose the amount of prayer cover you would like, then we send you a monthly invoice. It is that simple!

1 HOUR of prayer cover per week
$150 / month

2 HOURS of prayer cover per week
$250 / month

3 HOURS of prayer cover per week
$350 / month

1 HOUR of prayer cover per day
$500 / month

2 HOURS of prayer cover per day
$1000 / month

Um….

“I let myself be carried on the stream of devotion”

“When I feel I cannot make headway in devotion, I open the Psalms and push out my canoe and let myself be carried on the stream of devotion that flows through the whole book. The current always sets toward God and in most places is strong and deep.”

James Gilmour, a Victorian missionary to Mongolia, quoted in Leslie Allen, Psalms, Word Biblical Themes Series (Waco: Word, 1987).

Winning Ways: Restoring Lost Values

Hundreds of ancient stone markers dot the coastlines of Japan to warn future residents of tsunamis—one is nearly 600 years old. The markers instruct readers to get to high ground after earthquakes, or caution future generations not to build homes and businesses at elevations below the markers.

The Associated Press reported on these warnings from past generations, suddenly relevant as Japan recovers from the devastating tsunami last month. Reading about the ancient markers reminded me how vital it is to draw on the wisdom handed down to us.

“High dwellings are the peace and harmony of our descendants,” one stone slab reads near the village of Aneyoshi. “Remember the calamity of the great tsunamis. Do not build any homes below this point.”

The village grew up as a collection of homes built uphill of some of the markers specifically to be safe. Residents of Aneyoshi are raised knowing of the stones and their meaning. The hamlet survived last month’s flood.

“Everybody here knows about the markers. We studied them in school,” said Yuto Kimura, 12, who guided a recent visitor to one near his Aneyoshi home. “When the tsunami came, my mom got me from school and then the whole village climbed to higher ground.”

Why would such life-saving knowledge from the past be neglected? “People had this crucial knowledge, but they were busy with their lives and jobs, and many forgot,” said Yotaru Hatamura, a scholar who has studied the tablets. Another university teacher, Fumihiko Imamura, a professor of disaster planning, said, “It takes about three generations for people to forget. Those that experience the disaster themselves pass it to their children and their grandchildren, but then the memory fades.”

Through the prophet Jeremiah, God said, “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it” (Jeremiah 6:16). It’s profitable to draw from the wisdom of those who’ve learned how to make life work.

This Sunday, we’ll begin a new study series called “Restoring Lost Values.” Particularly, we’ll look at the most fundamental values in Scripture: faith, hope, love, and generosity. This sermon series will help us prepare spiritually during our renovation campaign, “A Beautiful Thing.” Keep up with the latest news of the camapaign at www.HillcrestAustin.org/WeeklyUpdate. See you and your Bible this Palm Sunday @ 10am!

________________________________

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.

“His focus is not on a loving communion with his father, but simply what he can accomplish for his father”

Skye Jethani puts words to the unease I’ve felt upon reading and hearing calls for a “radical” Christianity to replace the consumerism we find in our Western version of Christianity:

I’m reminded of the parable of the lost sons (Luke 15). The self-centered younger son only cares about his father’s wealth and squanders it on debauchery. He is an extreme model of consumer Christianity in which we focus on our Heavenly Father’s gifts, not the Father himself. But in the parable Jesus shows that the older, obedient son is just as lost as his wayward brother. His service for his father, his tireless activism, results in an equally estranged heart. In the end his focus is not on a loving communion with his father, but simply what he can accomplish for his father.

Are our calls to radical missionalism, to use Gordon MacDonald’s word, simply making younger son into older sons? Are we exchanging one false gospel for another…? Consumer Christianity is a pandemic in the American church, on that I agree. But a prescription of radical activism is not the remedy. It robs people of their joy, burdens them with guilt, and fails to draw people into a passionate communion with Christ.

Read the whole thing.

Links to Your World, Tuesday April 11

NPR interviews “Soul Surfer” Bethany Hamilton.

 

“So there is a debate about whether Christians are obsessed with homosexuality and abortion. Well, some people seem to be obsessed with homosexuality and abortion, but is it Christians?” Robert P. George suggests a good answer.

 

“Setting the Right Tone with Your Cell Phone”--Your ringtone, voice message, and cell-phone etiquette say a lot about you.

 

“America’s population of white children, a majority now, will be in the minority during this decade, sooner than previously expected, according to a new report” So, can we kill affirmative action? (NYT article here).

 

All about those who run on 3-5 hours of sleep, known as “short sleepers”—and those who only think they are.

 

“In general, if a pastime is not classy, those who love it are ‘addicted.’ Opera and poetry buffs are ‘passionate.’” Virginia Heffernan has a well-written challenge to worries over Internet “addiction.”

 

Slate has a slide-show essay about some of the most enigmatic cryptographs that still elude the code breakers

 

Are the foundations of moral value natural or supernatural? At the University of Notre Dame last week, William Lane Craig and Sam Harris debate the topic: Is Good From God? For video of the debate, go here. Full Debate MP3 Audio here. (HT: Apologetics 315)

 

“Considering the expense, precision and difficulty of manufacturing computer chips, you would think the engineers designing them are pretty serious people. But it’s not all business inside a chip fab, as these microscope photos reveal. In fact, the designers of microchips frequently hide tiny cartoons, drawings and even messages alongside the super-tiny circuits and semiconductors they create.” (Wired has a gallery)

 

When did “disinterested” (originally meaning “impartial”) start to mean the same thing as “uninterested”? And how long do you continue to use a word for its original meaning when what it means to people is undergoing change? Ben Yagoda suggests an algorithm.

 

 

“It’s time to redefine the meaning of the word “failure.” On the road to invention, failures are just problems that have yet to be solved.” (Sir James Dyson, inventor of the Dyson cyclone vacuum technology, in a Wired article in praise of failure.

 

Posts at “Get Anchored” since last Tuesday:

“They would be ‘less likely to hire’ a person they knew to be an evangelical”

 

LeaderLines: Volunteers Needed!

 

“Arise, O Lord, fulfill thy grace, while I thy glory sing”

 

Winning Ways: Think F-A-S-T!

“They would be ‘less likely to hire’ a person they knew to be an evangelical”

A study reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education reveals 2 out of 5 sociologists (39 percent) said they would be "less likely to hire" a person they knew to be an evangelical. (HT: Houston Chronicle’s Kate Shellnutt). Peter Wood, who wrote the Chronicle of Higher Education article, was not pleased:

Bias by academics against Christian conservatives does not register very strongly if at all as a transgression against the principles of intellectual honesty and fair-mindedness. These groups are academic pariahs, frequently characterized as stupid, anti-intellectual, doctrinaire, ill-disposed towards the values of liberal learning, and deserving of their ostracism. It isn't particularly hard to find academics willing to give voice to these attitudes….Those who indulge in cartoon caricatures of conservative Christians or act with bias against individuals who they fit to this category are just as guilty of bias as they would be if they engaged in anti-Semitism, racism, sexism, or homophobia….

I have several members of Hillcrest with degrees in social work, and they would have had to run this gauntlet in order to graduate. None of them has yet to pursue master’s work in their field. Big surprise.

LeaderLines: Volunteers Needed!

Lace up those running shoes, because the starting pistol is about to fire for our campaign, “A Beautiful Thing!” Let me give you a list of the major events during the 6-week emphasis, and a list of the helpers we’ll need.

Major Events

Kick-Off Sunday (Palm Sunday, April 17): We’ll launch a new 6-week sermon series called “Restoring Lost Values.”

Daily Devotionals (April 18 to May 14): Monday through Saturday every week, you’ll receive short devotionals prepared by our own members.

Family Album Relay (April 17 to May 11): A “Family Album” is being prepared with information on our Worship Center renovation and a packet of information with your name on it. When the album gets to your home, you'll have 48 hours to look through it, remove the packet that has your name on the label, and then relay the album to the next family on the list provided. We'll only have 3-1/2 weeks to complete this Family Album Relay, so do your part to help us move quickly!

Easter Sunday (April 24)

Mother’s Day (May 8)

Family Dinner (Thursday, May 12): We’re aiming for 100% participation at this special banquet. Preschool care will be provided, and youth and children will have their own activities while the adults are in the MPC.

60-Hour Prayer Vigil (May 12-15): We want an unbroken chain of prayer lifted up from our Prayer Room immediately after the May 12 banquet, and for 60 straight hours to the end of our worship service on Commitment Sunday, May 15.

Commitment Sunday (May 15): We’ll bring our first-time gifts and our 3-year pledge cards as an offering to the Lord on this day. Expect it to be one of the “highlight Sundays” of your year!

Follow-Up Calls (May 16-18): Life is busy, and a few people will not be able to attend our special service on Commitment Sunday, May 15. So, Monday through Wednesday, May 16-18, we’ll make follow-up calls to those who missed Commitment Sunday. We want to make sure that everyone’s pledges get included in the final report on Victory Sunday, May 22.

Victory Sunday (May 22): A day to celebrate what God has taught us!

Here Are Some Ways You Can Help

Loan Your Perfume and Cologne Bottles: Have you seen the perfume and cologne bottles that have already come in? Add yours to the display for the front of the Worship Center! THE DEADLINE IS NEXT SUNDAY, April 17. Bring them this Sunday, April 10, or bring them by the church office, or bring them to the auditorium BEFORE the 10:00 a.m. worship service next Sunday, April 17! The bottles will be tagged so that you can get them back in May. 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." The display will be a wonderful reminder of the story of the woman who did A Beautiful Thing to Jesus by pouring out her perfume to anoint him (Mark 14:1-9).

Write a Devotional: We’ll need 30 Devotional Writers. Monday through Saturday, from April 18 to May 14, everyone will receive a daily devotional to prepare us for next week's message. These devotionals are being written by our own members.

Help with the “Family Album Relay”: We need 30 Relay Leaders immediately. Starting on Sunday, April 17, we’re going to do a Family Album Relay! Inside each “Family Album” will be information on our Worship Center renovation and a packet of information with your name on it. When the Family Album gets to a member’s home, that member will have 48 hours to look through it, remove the packet that has their name on the label, and then relay the album to the next family on the list provided. We need 30 Relay Leaders for this work. There will be 30 Family Albums, and each Album will be relayed through 10 households. A Relay Leader does NOT have to make home visits to “sell” the campaign. The Relay Leader simply makes sure that one copy of the Family Album is being relayed smoothly through 10 households.

Serve at the Family Dinner: On Thursday, May 12, your church family is having dinner together! Dana Spivey is our Family Dinner Director. She’ll need people to serve at the ticket table for the 4 Sundays before the Family Dinner (the dinner is free but a ticket is needed). She’ll need hostesses at each table. She’ll need decorators and a crew to set up and clean up. She’ll need people to help with preschool care, children’s activities, and youth activities. This is an “all-hands-on-deck” call!

Pray During our 60-Hour Prayer Vigil: We need 60 Prayer Warriors. We want an unbroken chain of prayer lifted up from our Prayer Room immediately after the May 12 banquet, and for 60 straight hours to the end of our worship service on Commitment Sunday, May 15. We’ll need 60 of you to cover those hours. The early morning hours will be the hardest to fill, so occupy them if you can.

Make Follow-Up Calls: We need 10 Follow-Up Callers. Life is busy, and a few people will not be able to attend our special service on Commitment Sunday, May 15. So, Monday through Wednesday, May 16-18, we’ll make follow-up calls to those who missed Commitment Sunday. We want to make sure that everyone’s pledges get included in the final report on Victory Sunday, May 22.

Help in the Office: You can imagine that a campaign of this size requires a lot of copying, folding, stapling, envelope-stuffing, and so on. We need office volunteers!

Whew!

People are being enlisted for these positions even now. But don’t wait to be asked. If you have any interest in serving in our ABT Campaign, contact my assistant, Jami (345-3771 or e-mail).

“Arise, O Lord, fulfill thy grace, while I thy glory sing”

Fine remake of the old 17th century Isaac Watts song, “Death Has Lost Its Sting” here:

Death-Has-Lost-Its-Sting by TomIsAnchored

Learn more about the new Sojourn album “The Water and the Blood” here.

Lyrics:

My God, how many are my fears!
How fast my foes increase!
Conspiring my eternal death,
They break my present peace.

The lying tempter would persuade
There’s no relief in heav’n;
And all my swelling sins appear
Too big to be forgiv’n.

But thou, my glory and my strength,
Shalt on the tempter tread,
Shalt silence all my threatening guilt,
And raise my drooping head.

What though the hosts of death and hell
All armed against me stood,
Terrors no more shall shake my soul;
My refuge is my God.

Arise, O Lord, fulfill thy grace,
While I thy glory sing;
My God has broke the serpent’s teeth,
And death has lost his sting.

Winning Ways: Think F-A-S-T!

Fasting: Jesus practiced it. So did the Apostle Paul. The first-century church often joined it with their fervent prayers. Those of us in the twenty-first century church need to restore this biblical discipline to our spiritual lives.

Why fast? This Sunday I’m going to explain four reasons that people fasted in biblical times. We’ll use the acrostic F-A-S-T to remember the reasons.

First, we should fast whenever there is need of forgiveness. In the Bible, people fasted because they were heart-broken over their own sins (see Joel 2:12-13), and also when they grieved over the condition of people they loved (see Nehemiah 1:3).

Second, adoration leads to fasting. We often think of fasting only in the context of grief or dire need or earnest, urgent prayer. But fasting can also be a way of celebrating our relationship with God (see Luke 2:36-38). Fasting can be a way of saying, “God, spending time with you is even more important than food!”

Third, people fasted in the Bible days when they needed God to supply something they lacked (see Esther 4:3; Judges 20; 2 Chronicles 20; Ezra 8:21-23). Andrew Murray said: “Fasting helps to express, to deepen, and to confirm the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything, to sacrifice ourselves to attain what we seek for the kingdom of God.”

Finally, we should fast as a way to train ourselves in the real priorities of life. Fasting is a way of reminding us that there are things more important than food. The worship of God (see Acts 13:2), the work of God (see John 4:34); and the word of God (see Matthew 4:2-4) are all more important than food.

Forgiveness, Adoration, Supply, and Training. Do you have any of those same needs? Do you need to lay out some brokenness before the Lord and ask his forgiveness? Do you need to spend time in adoration? Do you need something—rescue, guidance, healing? Do you need to train yourself to put the worship of God, the work of God, and the word of God above everything else? If you have these same needs, the same resource to meet these needs still exists. Fasting is a discipline we should restore in our day and in our church.

This lesson will lead to a practical challenge to fast on Good Friday, April 22. On that day we remember the crucifixion, let’s arrange our day so that the first food to touch our lips is the bread of the Lord’s Supper at our 7:00pm worship service.

____________________________________

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 April 5

Youth Pastor Breaks Record for Braveheart References

 

“The Cloud Collector’s Handbook,” a serious yet charming field guide to clouds. “His goal, Mr. Pretor-Pinney said in an interview, is to help readers escape the tyranny of ‘blue sky thinking’ and to understand and appreciate the beauty of a cloudy day.”

 

A student in a California public school was not prohibited from bringing his Bible to school or sharing his faith among his peers because of the "separation of church and state."

 

The Last Laugh: At Funerals, Families Add Humor, Foibles to the Eulogy

 

 

Slide Shoes: Pretty Much the Coolest High Heels Ever

 

GeekMoms discuss the childhood books that meant the most to them and that they look forward to introducing to their kids.

 

Posts at “Get Anchored” since last Tuesday

Donald Miller’s Take On “Love Wins”

 

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

 

LeaderLines: Meet, Pray, Love

 

Winning Ways: A Beautiful Thing

Donald Miller’s Take On “Love Wins”

Okay, this was funny. Lots of reviews of the controversial book, Love Wins (my comments here and here). Here’s Donald Miller’s review of Love Wins:

I confess I read this book because of all the hoopla on the internet. John Piper hates it, Mark Driscoll wants to say how much he hates it but is tired of launching his enemies onto the New York Times Bestsellers list so talks about it without talking about it. Man, I’m a sucker for controversy so I placed my order. Surprisingly, the book has been out of print for a while and I could only get this used, battered copy, and it cost me more than the sale price from twenty years ago. Two words: WORTH IT!

Love Wins is a romance novel by Barbara Cartland (who knew John Piper reads this stuff. Even if he hates it, we are SO BESTIES NOW!)

Love Wins: Caught in a fierce love triangle, Joan June is torn between her dentist and her chiropractor. The dentist has more money, obviously, but is less open to the spiritual ideas and natural practices of the chiropractor. One gives her security and the other pops her back for free and introduces her to the ancient practice of smelling plants and rubbing oils abd bird poo on your face. And whale music. What ever shall she do?

Thinking she’s made her choice, and on her way to tell the Chiropractor he’s the one, June doubles over on the street with a severe tooth ache? Is it a sign? You’ll have to read the book to find out that, in fact, she chooses the dentist. And the chiropractor turns out to be two-timing her anyway. Occasionally she looks back on a life that could have been, but each time she thanks the God in heaven for the good man she’s found, even if in moment so temptation she spreads a little dried bird poo on her lips.

Man this book was good. John Piper has no idea what he’s talking about. Read it. Love it. Feel it. Live it. Thank you Barbara Cartland.

Thank you Donald Miller. Read it at his site.