Links to Your World, Tuesday May 31

“We envision it as Lord of The Rings, but set in a world of candy.” Glenn Berger, on his forthcoming movie based on the Candyland board game.

Jews Ordered Back to Egypt for Pyramid Duty.

UK Christian doctor who prescribed faith in Jesus fights for his job. Appalling.


Noreen Malone for Slate says the em dash--that pause to insert--or extend--a related thought--is used way too much by writers--and not always for good reason.






- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

"Let us hear these arguments of Christ, whenever we feel ourselves grow dull and careless"

I've always loved Richard Baxter's great 1656 book, The Reformed Pastor. It's really one long exposition of Paul's charge to the Ephesian pastors in Acts 20:28--"Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood."

Reflecting on that verse, Baxter wrote to those of us who serve as pastors:

Oh then, let us hear these arguments of Christ, whenever we feel ourselves grow dull and careless: 'Did I die for them, and wilt not thou look after them? Were they worth my blood and are they not worth thy labor? Did I come down from heaven to earth to seek and to save that which was lost; and wilt thou not go to the next door or street or village to seek them? How small is thy labour and condescension as to mine? I debased myself to this, but it is thy honor to be so employed. Have I done and suffered so much for their salvation; and was I willing to make thee a co-worker with me, and wilt thou refuse that little that lieth upon thy hands?'

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

COEXIST: Four Ways to Actually Accomplish It

"COEXIST," the driver in front of me preaches from his bumper pulpit.

That's one of Austin's favorite bumper stickers, using the symbols of the world's major religions to spell the word: The Muslim crescent moon, for example, becomes the "C," the Star of David serves as the "X" and the cross stands in for the "T."

No doubt there is a range of motivations behind someone's decision to post this on his or her car. But its hard to ignore the scold, complete with a touch--more or less--of moral superiority on the part of the bearer. He or she is, after all, passing judgment on the less-enlightened of us who just won't acknowledge the irrelevance of our religious differences and admit that all religions are basically the same.

But do all religions teach basically the same thing? Not so. Ed Stetzer suggests we take the conception of God for starters. "According to the four largest world religions," he writes, "God is one with creation and takes on millions of forms [Hinduism], God may or may not exist [Buddhism], God is one and absolute [Islam], and God is one but exists in three persons [Christianity]. If we cannot agree on even the basic definition of God or his character, how can we say that all the major religions are on the same path toward the truth about God?"

But that doesn't mean we can't live together in mutual respect--to "COEXIST" as the bumper sticker demands. How so? In this article, Ed Stetzer suggests four ways forward:

Let each religion speak for itself.

Talk with and about individuals, not generic "faiths."

Respect the sincerely held beliefs of people of other religions.

Grant each person the freedom to make his or her faith decisions.

Read the whole thing. It's not exactly what most bearers of the COEXIST bumper stickers have in mind. But it is sure more likely to get us there.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Processing Failure

Tali Sharot reported on a study demonstrating that how you regard yourself has a major impact on how you weather failure:

The problem with pessimistic expectations, such as those of the clinically depressed, is that they have the power to alter the future; negative expectations shape outcomes in a negative way. How do expectations change reality?

To answer this question, my colleague, cognitive neuroscientist Sara Bengtsson, devised an experiment in which she manipulated positive and negative expectations of students while their brains were scanned and tested their performance on cognitive tasks. To induce expectations of success, she primed college students with words such as smart, intelligent and clever just before asking them to perform a test. To induce expectations of failure, she primed them with words like stupid and ignorant. The students performed better after being primed with an affirmative message.

Examining the brain-imaging data, Bengtsson found that the students' brains responded differently to the mistakes they made depending on whether they were primed with the word clever or the word stupid. When the mistake followed positive words, she observed enhanced activity in the anterior medial part of the prefrontal cortex (a region that is involved in self-reflection and recollection). However, when the participants were primed with the word stupid, there was no heightened activity after a wrong answer. It appears that after being primed with the word stupid, the brain expected to do poorly and did not show signs of surprise or conflict when it made an error.

A brain that doesn't expect good results lacks a signal telling it, "Take notice — wrong answer!" These brains will fail to learn from their mistakes and are less likely to improve over time. Expectations become self-fulfilling by altering our performance and actions, which ultimately affects what happens in the future.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Running Definition

It took more than 9 months to define "run" for the forthcoming Oxford English Dictionary because "run" has so many meanings. For variety in meanings, the word now outstrips "set," which has 200 senses. The NYT reports:

Her birthday: must set plans in motion. Run a bath, put on cologne, set the table. High anxiety. Run down list: set watch again, put water in glasses, set flowers. Run to the window — phew! Watch her put a finger to the doorbell. Such joy! What timing! And just as the sun sets, too!

Thus does an evening beckon, full of pleasantry and promise. But as described here it notes events in a manner of considerable interest for the lexicographer. For scattered within the vocabulary of this 54-word drama are 11 uses of the three most complex verbs in the English language: “set,” “put” and “run.”

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

"Driving the gospel deeply into our hearts, imaginations, and thinking"

Tim Keller:

The gospel doesn't change us in a mechanical way. To give the gospel primacy in our lives is not always to logically infer a series of principles from it that we then "apply" to our lives. Recently I heard a sociologist say that, for the most part, the frameworks of meaning by which we navigate our lives are so deeply embedded in us that they operate "pre-reflectively." They don't exist only as a list of propositions and formulations, but also as themes, motives, attitudes, and values that are as affective and emotional as they are cognitive and intellectual. When we listen to the gospel preached, or meditate on it in the Scripture, we are driving it so deeply into our hearts, imaginations, and thinking that we begin to "live out" the gospel instinctively.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Five Tips for Slow Readers

I'm a slow reader. Considering how many books I cite in sermons, conversations and blog posts that may come as a surprise, but it's true. One reason I can get thru so many books is because of practices like these tips from John Starke.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Preaching and the Church's Outreach

Church leaders debate between a so-called "attractional" model of evangelistic outreach and an "incarnational" model. Tim Keller says that, if you're committed to preaching, you can't help tilting the debate to one side:

In our time a whole body of work has grown up around the distinction between "attractional" ministry versus "incarnational" ministry. The attractional model consists of Christians bringing people in to hear the gospel preached inside the church walls. The incarnational model is dispersing and going out beyond the walls of the church to love and serve in the community and talk to people about the gospel on their own turf. (See Alan Hirsch, Michael Frost, The Shape of Things To Come.)

...

People who are dedicated to the incarnational model are anti-institutional, sometimes naively so. They not only eschew buildings but strong, central leaders, organization, and large-scale gatherings. But without some institutionalization there is no permanence or stability. (And indeed, the knock on churches in the incarnational model is that they are tiny and don't last more than a few years.) However, people dedicated in the American context to the attractional church can pander to our culture's consumerism, attracting people through lots of polished programs which provide the "customer" with an enticing selection of choices to meet felt needs.

...

in the end, if you make preaching central to your ministry, you are indeed expecting that the public ministry of the Word will be attractive and draw people in.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Good Advice on Credit Card Debt

Christianity Today has some good advice from Christian leaders on credit card debt. Highlights--

Ron Blue says dependence on credit card debt point to deeper issues that a believer needs to address:

Financial choices and predicaments are always symptomatic of other issues. Some of the more common issues that lead to credit card debt include a lack of contentment, a lack of self-discipline, the search for security, and the search for significance.

John Stackhouse distinguishes between credit and credit cards:

Credit card borrowing is among the very worst ways to borrow any significant amount of money. We all know why. It's too easy—just hand over the card. It's too accessible—almost anyone can obtain a card, and most of us can get quite a few. It's too extortionate—interest rates are shockingly high relative to almost any other kind of loan. That's why they print them in the tiniest possible fonts. So I have a mortgage. I have had educational loans, and my sons have them now. I have made use of car payment plans. And I have a line of credit. But I never, ever incur credit card debt. I pay off my cards every month, so the companies make not a dime off me in interest. While debt isn't necessarily immoral, credit card borrowing is dangerous—for everyone.

Mary Hunt says we should answer one question before making use of credit cards:

Am I able to pay the entire balance in full in a single month? If the answer is no, you need to put that card far, far away until the day you've reached a level of financial stability.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Smokin’ What God Made

Longview should fire their State Representative, David Simpson. Not only did he effectively kill a bill designed to protect our youth, but he did so with the nuttiest argument possible. From the Statesman:

Simpson, a Longview Republican with a penchant for surprising his colleagues, today effectively killed a bill to ban salvia (or to the botanist: Salvia divinorum). The legal plant and its extract — which can have the effect of marijuana or LSD when smoked or ingested — burst into mainstream conversations last winter when Cyrus appeared to be smoking the leafy green stuff in a YouTube video.

But Simpson didn’t make his move for the Hannah Montana star, nor did he do it because of a taste for salvia. (He said he doesn’t approve of mind-altering substances.)

Instead, Simpson, a Reformed Baptist, said it wouldn’t be right to make it illegal to be “possessing a plant that God made,” particularly if it is sometimes used for religious purposes.

“I don’t want somebody curbing my religious freedom because it sounds weird,” he said. “I don’t want my religious freedom inhibited.”

Geez Louise.

Winning Ways: Raising Ebenezers

At Hillcrest we’re raising an Ebenezer!

There’s a story from 1 Samuel 7 about the old prophet Samuel. The Philistines were threatening to attack Israel and when the people prayed, God helped them win. To honor that victory, the prophet Samuel set up a stone and called it “Ebenezer,” which in Hebrew means “stone of help.” He explained the marker to the people, saying, “This marks the place where God helped us” (verse 12).

That’s the biblical story behind that strange stanza from the old hymn, Come Thou Fount—

“Here I raise mine Ebenezer

Hither by thy help I’m come.”

God’s people need to raise more Ebenezers. After each crisis is resolved, after each prayer is answered, after each project is over, after each journey is completed, and after each goal is accomplished we need to set aside time raise an Ebenezer stone and say, “This marks the place where God helped us.”

Hillcrest is raising an Ebenezer in celebration of our “Beautiful Thing” campaign. For the last six weeks we’ve worked together toward the goal of raising a million dollars for much-needed renovation of our 40-year-old Worship Center. We distributed a brochure through a “Family Album Relay,” and we fellowshipped around a fantastic banquet, and we prepared ourselves spiritually through 30 days of devotionals written by our own members and through a 60-Hour Prayer Vigil. You can view the long list of campaign workers here.

If you missed the big announcement on Sunday, here’s how we did. Our cash and commitment offerings totaled $827,232!

I’m proud of this church for such strong support! Given the economy and our church’s size, that’s an amazing total to launch our 3-year renovation project. We’ll need every bit of a million to get our 40-year old building in the shape it needs to be in. And I’m confident that the remaining $173,000 of our goal will come in across the next 3 years of the fund-raising effort. This often happens in campaigns like this and, God being our helper, we’ll see that happen here.

So, I’m proud of you, Hillcrest! More than that, we praise God who so powerfully worked through our congregation! We can say the same thing Samuel said to his people, “This marks the place where God helped us!”

To God be the glory!

______________________________

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 May 24

So sad: While celebrating that the world did not end, his life did. There's a sermon illustration in there...


Israeli Couple Name Their Baby ‘Like'--as in Facebook's 'Like' Button


Facebook Scams You Need To Know About: The 9 Most Common Hacks And Attacks


"A life-sized tiger stuffed animal caused a huge scare in Britain after residents of Hampshire mistook it for real. Police readied a team with tranquilizer darts, dispatched a helicopter with thermal imaging, and shut down play at the local cricket stadium" (story). HT: Daily Beast


"Facebook Pages like “Jesus Daily” and “The Bible” fall above American pop stars and much beloved sports teams as the “Most Engaging Pages" [on Facebook], demonstrating that religious faith is still much a part of the culture today, regardless of what many believe or rather, don’t believe" (story)


This is really disturbing for a dad of a recent grad: "Over four years, we followed the progress of several thousand students in more than two dozen diverse four-year colleges and universities. We found that large numbers of the students were making their way through college with minimal exposure to rigorous coursework, only a modest investment of effort and little or no meaningful improvement in skills like writing and reasoning....Not surprisingly, a large number of the students showed no significant progress on tests of critical thinking, complex reasoning and writing that were administered when they began college and then again at the ends of their sophomore and senior years." (story)


The NY Public Library introduced a cool new iPad app May 17: "It is with great excitement that I welcome you to The New York Public Library for the 21st century with the re-launch of our distinguished journal Biblion, now completely rethought and redesigned for the iPad. The Greek word biblion originally meant "a strip of papyrus"; in the Middle Ages, it was applied to collections of fragments of ancient texts. Today, NYPL’s digital Biblion transforms texts — ancient and modern — into a new format for new generations of readers.


Islamists Kill Nigerian Pastor's Wife, Kids


May their tribe increase: Hundreds of Indonesian Muslim Clerics to Fight Radicalism


One Professor’s Attempt to Explain Every Joke Ever, complete with Venn diagram.


Five Signs the Pro-Life Cause Is Winning

Honor Roll: Thanks to All Who Made Our “Beautiful Thing” Campaign a Success!

This was in the Hillcrest worship bulletin last Sunday. It deserves to be distributed via Get Anchored too:

Pastor Tom Wishes to Thank
All Who Helped with Our Campaign!

Ministry Staff, Assistants, Custodial:  Karen Raulie, Herb Ingram, Gene Chappell, Steve Cloud, Melanie Clonts, Betty Morgan, Jami Dismukes, David Littlestar, Martha Zuniga, Denise Zuniga

Relay Leaders:  Pat Brown, Mark Chambers, Edward Delgado, Karl Dismukes, Jim Fountain, Allen Funderberg, Murray Graham, Denise Hall, Josh Hallman, Steve Holt, Rucker Hoskins, Lance Karm, Amy Koch, Tyler Krehbiel, Julie Millegan, Bill Miller, Ron Molleur, Paul Rusch, Gary Smalley, Dan Stivers, Jimmy Wray, Don Young

Office Help:  Beenu Abraham, Natasha Littlestar, Judy Hyden, Cindy Buescher, Susie Miller, Amy Cloud, Lois Terrell, Joan Terrell

Devotional Writers:  Gene & Lynn Chappell, Jim & Carolyn Johnson, Lance & Amy Karm, Brent & Melissa McKanna, Jim & Pat Sessions, Victor & Lisa Livingston, Mike & Kathy Wiederkehr, Rick & Pam Barry, Liz Bartlett, Jennifer Adams, Jackie Ogilvie, James & Melanie Watkins, Brent & Ann Blaha, Mike & Susan Steedley, Mark & Julie Chambers, Patrick & Amy Koch, Tom & Lynda Johnson, Don Young, Bernard & Juliette Ndri, Barbara Fowler , Robert & Janice Felps, Steve & Dawn Esche, John & Nikki Cameron, Steve & Amy Cloud, Becky Bolling, Denise Hall, Jim McGuire, Jim Steed, Gabriel & Christina Perez, Byron & Cindy Buescher

Prayer Vigil Sign-Up:  Bruce Murray (director), Paul Waldo, Judy Hyden, Sheila McHargue, Jean Murray, Erin Waldo

Prayer Vigil Participants:  Herb Ingram, Steve Cloud, John Alvis, Paul Waldo, Lewis Aven, Bruce Murray, Mark Chambers, Edward Delgado, Ellen Johnston, Kathy Aven, Patty Waldo, Amy Cloud, Karen Raulie, Clarence Cossey, Andre Shomba, Mae Simmons, Lois Fullerton, Dave Miller, Glenda Miller,  Jack Morgan, Erin Waldo, Franny Mezger, Cheryl Selby, Paul Rusch, Karl & Jami Dismukes, Barbara Fowler, Curtis Roberts, Byron Buescher, Cindy Buescher, Jim Johnson, Don Young, Randal & Saundra Preston, Tom Goodman, Christina Perez, Carolyn Johnson, Diane Goodman, Katie Cline, Terry O'Daniel, Susie Miller, Sharron Ingram, Betty Merritt, Pat Sessions, Earl Cossey, Dawn Esche, Deonna Gallup, Robert Gurley, Melanie Watkins, Pam Dahl, Rick Dahl , Bernard & Juliette Ndri, Alicia Kirven, Lance Karm, John Cameron, Lewis Aven, Paul Waldo, Jim Sessions, Wayne & Rivanna Crew, Gene Chappell, Lynn Chappell, Debbie Marett

Special Thanks to Dana Spivey who coordinated all the elements of our Banquet: 

Banquet Hostesses:  Carolyn Johnson (director), Cindy Buescher, Kathy Aven, Bonnie Lowe, Debbie Wuthnow, Suzanne Syptak, Lynn Chappell, Pam Dahl, Pam Barry, Janice Phelps, Cheryl Avis, Ann Blaha, Jami Dismukes, Sharron Ingram, Ann Swimme, Geneva Canon, Elishea Smith, Jodena Smith, Melinda Johnson, Melissa McKanna, Elaine Molleur, Marilyn Monroe, Amy Karm, Sue Hoke, Wyn Imboden, Jan Dunn, Rue Johnson, Amy Cloud, Denise Hall, Jean Murray, Tamara Shaffer

Banquet Hostess Helpers:  Frannie Mezger, Mae Simmons

Banquet Media:  Daniel Raulie

Banquet Set Up:  Dana Spivey (director), Barbara Fowler, MaryLou Draughon, Minnie Bell Draughon, Ron Spivey, Rucker Hoskins, Norvel & Iris King, Jim Johnson, Bill Miller, Dan Stivers, Mike Miller, Jim Sessions, Lynn & Pat Fears, Joyce Koncak, Margaret Miller, Susie Miller, Mary Hoskins, Nila Brown, and all who helped to break down and reset the MPC after the banquet.

Banquet Tickets:  Dana Spivey (director), Shirley & Shelby Hulett, Berthie Weirich, Pat Sessions

Student Leadership for the Banquet:  Steve Cloud, Shirley Sears

Children Leadership for the Banquet:  Karen Raulie, Pat Stivers, Margaret Miller, Rhonda Williams, Donna Rivera, Mike & Kathy Wiederkehr, Andre Shomba, Mike Miller, Lisa Livingston, Steve Williams, Debra Morgan, Shawna Williams

Perfume Table:  Margaret Miller (director), Wyn Imboden, and everyone who let us use their perfume bottles!

Advance Gifts Dinner:  Patrick & Terry O’Daniel (hosts), Sharron Ingram, Michele Roberts, Debbie Marett, Alice Ash, Kathy Aven

Special Thanks To:  Paul Waldo for designing and managing the on-line sign-ups for the Banquet and Prayer Vigil, Debra Morgan for creating our A Beautiful Thing logo, Rebekah Fountain for photographing staff and members for the brochure, MadCakes, Mike Hutton at Texas Y’all BBQ (he prepared it at-cost), UPWARD & Hoops, Mother’s Day Out, Bible Study Fellowship, and Casner Christian Academy

Reinforcing Our Biases

We hear what we want to hear, we believe the sources we want to believe, and along the way we reinforce our biases. Now technology is inadvertently making that easier.

In this WSJ review of Eli Pariser's The Filter Bubble: What the Internet is Hiding From You, you can learn more about how sites like Facebook and Google "personalize" your feeds and search results based upon what you already tend to click on. It's a welcome way to bring a little order to the Interwebs, but it has a downside: What you tend to already believe and already want gets reinforced.

So fans and haters only get news that validate their convictions. Even their information on other viewpoints comes through the filter of reactions from opponents of those viewpoints. From the article:

"Personalization isn't just shaping what we buy," he writes. "Thirty-six percent of Americans under thirty get their news through social networking sites." As we become increasingly dependent on the Internet for our view of the world, and as the Internet becomes more and more fine-tuned to show us only what we like, the would-be information superhighway risks becoming a land of cul-de-sacs, with each of its users living in an individualized bubble created by automated filters—of which the user is barely aware.

I try to keep current with writers I don't tend to agree with by putting them in my feed readers along with writers who share my world view. But automated 'personalization' may be putting us all in a scenario we all gravitate toward by nature: hearing only what we want to hear.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The Last of the Grown-Ups

Nation Down To Last Hundred Grown-Ups:

According to alarming new figures released Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau, the nation's population of mature adults has been pushed to the brink of extinction, with only 104 grown-ups remaining in the country today.

The endangered demographic, which is projected to die out completely by 2060, is reportedly distinguished from other groups by numerous unique traits, including foresight, rationality, understanding of how to obtain and pay for a mortgage, personal responsibility, and the ability to enter a store without immediately purchasing whatever items they see and desire.

Read the rest


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

“In any study of Christ’s promised return, make sure you keep to a path between two extremes”

It seems that every media outlet I turn to has something to say about the oddity of Harold Camping predicting that the End of the World will take place May 21. 

As believers, while we should rightly shake our head at Camping’s predictions, we should never be embarrassed about Christ’s promises. Jesus said he would return. He said it often. The Apostles Jesus commissioned to communicate his message said he would return. They said it often. Comments about Christ’s return in 500 places in the New Testament: in 23 of the 27 New Testament books.

In my book for seekers, The Anchor Course: Exploring Christianity Together, I outline four ways that life is better when you believe in the return of the King. Here’s how that chapter ends:

It changes the way you view life when you look forward to the return of the King. You know you’re wanted and valued, you know that things will be set right, and you live with a commitment to faithfulness, knowing that a thorough review is coming. Because of these advantages, the Apostle Paul told us to “eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:7 NLT). Jesus taught us to pray for his arrival. In fact, that’s what you’re praying when you say, “Thy kingdom come,” as you recite the Lord’s Prayer. However, in any study of Christ’s promised return, make sure you keep to a path between two extremes: speculation and skepticism.

On the one extreme, we must avoid speculation. The same Jesus who told us to hope and pray for his return also told us not to try to predict it. Faithfulness in following him is the proper response of believers, not idle conjecture. Sadly, though, there’s no shortage of those who speculate about the timing of Christ’s return. When such wild predictions make headlines, people turn away from the rest of the Christian message.

Don’t let fanatical speculations about Christ’s return make you cynical. Jesus himself warned against predicting a date for his return. “No one knows about that day or hour,” he said, “not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:32). During his time on earth, under the limitations of being human, he admitted that even he did not know this information. So, it’s the height of arrogance for some to claim to know what Jesus himself said he could not know.

On the other extreme, we must avoid skepticism. We need to make sure that the embarrassing incidences of failed speculations don’t make us turn away from a serious look at Christ’s frequent promises to return.

A few decades after Christ’s earthly life, Simon Peter wrote, “It is most important for you to understand what will happen in the last days. People will laugh at you. . . . . They will say, ‘Jesus promised to come again. Where is he?’” The Apostle went on to point out that, “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” (2 Peter 3:3-4, 8 NCV). In other words, though it’s been nearly two millennia since Jesus left with his promise to return, from the perspective of eternity, beyond the confines of time, it’s been little more than a couple of days.

Some would say that Christ’s promised return has lost its relevance after so many years, but that reminds me of what a research scientist said after the eruption of the Philippine volcano Pinatubo. Hundreds of people lost their lives, in part because they had built their homes and businesses on the side of this active volcano. When asked why so many had built up a domestic life on the slopes of a volcano, the scientist said the matter had an easy explanation. For six hundred years, Pinatubo had shown no signs of activity. “They forgot it was a volcano,” he said, “and they began treating it like it was a mountain.”

Likewise, we can build our lives within a universe that has remained the same for many centuries, forgetting that our homes, our businesses, and our nations are all in the realm of a King who has promised to return.

So, we must chart a course between the extremes of speculation and skepticism as we try to understand what this great moral teacher named Jesus said about his return.

Believers are convinced that, in the words of the Creed, “he shall come to judge the living and the dead.” We have concluded that since we cannot run from God we should run to him, asking him to be our Forgiver and Leader. “I am coming!” Jesus said. In the last words of the Bible, we are given the right reply to this news: “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20 HCSB).

Winning Ways: "Three...Two...One...Lift-Off!"

The countdown to a rocket launch takes days, but excitement builds as the clock counts down to the final few seconds.

We feel that way as we near the launch of our renovation effort! Here's how you can count down with me to this Sunday's official launch:

"Three!"

It's not too late to turn in your commitment to our "Beautiful Thing" campaign. Our Commitment Sunday on May 15 was a great success, but uwe're still collecting offerings and pledge cards. You can drop by the church office between 8:30am-4:30pm through Thursday, or contact our Financial Secretary, Betty Morgan, by phone (345-3771) or email (betty@hbcaustin.org).

Of course, pledges can be turned in weeks and months after the renovation begins, but we want to launch our remodeling effort with a strong grand total of offerings and pledges. We'll report that grand total this Sunday, May 22. Make sure you're included by contacting the church office right away!

"Two!"

Write me with your comments or stories about how God has spoken to you during this campaign. I'll read as many as I can this Sunday, May 22. Is there some new conviction you've reached? Did a devotional grab your heart? Did a song or a sermon touch you in a special way? How did God speak to you as you prayed about your "Beautiful Thing" offering? Write me at tom@hbcaustin.org.

"One!"

We need your help with a very special bulletin insert this Sunday. We're compiling a list of all who helped with any part of this campaign--no matter whether their role was large or small. Please turn in the names of everyone you feel should be included in that bulletin insert. We'll have to go to print by noon on Thursday, so hurry!

"Liftoff!"

When a space shuttle is launched more energy is spent the first few minutes of lift-off than is used over the next several days to travel half a million miles. That's true in our renovation efforts, too. In a way, all this energy and prayer and focus the last six weeks was just to achieve lift-off. While we still have a lot of work ahead of us, though, it will be a lot more successful because of how hard we all worked these last six weeks. A grateful pastor says, "Thank you!"

Tom

_________________

Every Wednesday I post my enewsletter, Winning Ways. To subscribe to this weekly enewsletter, go to www.HillcrestAustin.org.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

"The fact is, many people are reading and talking about the afterlife these days"

Scott Lamb for World:

Eight? How could Walmart stock eight different books, non-fiction books to be precise, all on the topic of the afterlife?

The kind of books that Walmart sells are the kind of books that sell. The discount retailer moves a heap of books out the door by stocking titles with “buzz” already surrounding them.

Lined up face-out on the shelf, they each promised to give me something I needed to know about heaven or hell. I scanned and skimmed them, and found four variations on the theme:

Heaven exists. I’ve seen it. Or, my kid has seen it.

Heaven exists. I’ve read about it in a sacred book.

Hell exists. I spent 23 minutes there.

Hell (sort of) exists. But love wins in the end.

...

Whatever happened to secularism? The fact is, many people are reading and talking about the afterlife these days. This is consistent with survey results that report more than 80 percent of Americans believe in some sort of life after death. This belief may take Buddhist, Baptist, or Oprah Winfrey form, but the belief is out there nonetheless.

One may counter by saying that this conversation exists because these books are published, and I would agree with you to a point. On the other hand, shrewd publishers find and print books in response to existing cultural chatter and consumer desire.

Either way, Christians must not miss taking note of and acting upon this very simple leading cultural indicator: People really want to know what happens after death.

Links to Your World, Tuesday May 17

"The conventional line about Christianity and (rock) music being a contradiction in terms is about as inaccurate as a positive review of a Creed album. It's music without God that is, historically, an anomaly." (A History of Christian Rock)


And Joe Carter has "A Brief Defense of Christian Pop Music with 80 Awesome Examples."


"According to UrbanDictionary.com, 'If 60 is the new 40 then GlamMa is the new Grandma, a woman with a sense of self and style.'" (from A NYT piece on Boomers' resistance to identifying with old age.)


Austin is considering weekend service for Metro rail (story). Let's hope this develops.


What to Do When Your Adult Kids Are Terrible With Money: Recent studies have shown that many children are not fully financially independent from their parents until past the age of 30. Here are 10 smart ways — from tax tips to student loans — to help your grown kids with their finances, without raiding your retirement fund.


Are Handshakes a Window into One's Soul?


Twitter’s New Comedy Genre: The 140-Character One-Liner


The Internet sensation of the 'praying' blue heeler is a northwest Austin story--and a touching one



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

People of the Nook

Leslie Leyland Fields:

It's true: I'm a dying breed. I've been lugging around this doorstop version of the Scriptures partly for its inconvenience. It reminds me of its import and my commitment to the words I so laboriously carry. But…I've downloaded the Bible on my iPhone, and, like millions of others, have begun to use it, which has caused me to wonder: Are we Christians still people of the book? And if we're becoming instead people of the Nook, does it matter?

. . .

This unprecedented ability to carry the words of God almost weightlessly everywhere I go, and to read them on the same device that helps me manage my life, strikes me as utterly theologically fitting. I am reminded of the priesthood of all believers, and the Scriptures' self-definition as the "words of life"—meaning, surely, at least this: words that are to inform and infuse every part of our lives, commingling with [other things I pull from my purse—] breath mints, photos, and phone calls.

Christian Refugees in Austin

Christianity Today has a piece on Bhutanese refugees in Austin. the piece includes information on Multicultural Refugee Coalition, which my Austin sister is a part of. The article begins:

On a hot summer sunday morning, 30 people gather in a small apartment in Austin, Texas. Primarily refugees from Bhutan and Nepal, they range in age from 3 to 106. Some arrived in the U.S. 10 days ago. All leave their shoes in a pile by the door. They begin by singing an enthusiastic chorus of Kati Mahan—"How Great Thou Art," in Nepalese—from a handwritten folder of songs.

Their host, Bhim Monger, delivers a sermon, alternating between English and Nepalese. Monger, who has gone by "John" since becoming a Christian 18 years ago, tells his living room congregation that they are now free from oppression, free to live openly in Christ.

Read the rest


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

“We’re the best-kept secret out there”

From the NYT feature piece on Southern Baptist disaster relief. Yes, the NYT. Good piece:

Some couples spend retirement playing the nation’s best golf courses or hopping cruise ships. Not Marteen and Wiley Blankenship. They collect disasters the way other retirees collect passport stamps.

The minute they got the call from Southern Baptist Convention disaster relief leaders that tornadoes had ripped through the South, the Blankenships grabbed their sleeping bags and sturdy shoes and headed out from their home in Decatur, Ala.

Together, they have cleaned up after Hurricane Katrina, mucked out flooded homes in Atlanta and built houses in Sri Lanka. And for the past week they were camped out here in a rural part of northeastern Alabama where 48 lives were lost and thousands more disrupted in the storms.

Mr. Blankenship, 70, and Mrs. Blankenship, 69, heated up chili and Salisbury steak, handing it out to people who drove through a church parking lot and packing it into Red Cross vans that carry meals into the remote countryside.

And they did it all for God.

“I thought when we were done working that I wanted to travel,” said Mrs. Blankenship, a former flight attendant. “I just never thought it’d look like this. But it’s our calling.”

With the ability to feed 20,000 people from one mobile kitchen, and a chain of command so tightly run it would make a military officer proud, the Southern Baptist teams are the backbone of disaster relief here.

Nearly 95,000 Baptists across the country are trained to handle disasters like hurricanes and floods. After the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, the Baptist group is the biggest disaster relief organization in the country.

“We’re the best-kept secret out there,” said Ron Warren, cleanup and recovery coordinator for the Alabama Southern Baptist disaster relief group.

Of course, thousands of church members are doing their part to help the South recover from the tornadoes. They raise money, sort clothing donations and hand out water.

They are what the veterans of large faith-based relief efforts call S.U.V.’s — spontaneous untrained volunteers. The efforts are welcomed, but they have nothing on what the Southern Baptists bring to a disaster.

From an elaborate “war room” in a church building in Montgomery, Ala., to direct lines of communication with federal and local emergency agencies, the Southern Baptist disaster ministry is a model of efficiency.

Its renowned chain-saw crews were cutting fallen trees so medical crews could get to the injured in the hours after the tornadoes hit. They had an enormous mobile kitchen, complete with a hot-water heater for dishwashing and five convection ovens, set up here a day before the Red Cross arrived.

Read the rest.

Start with the Bright Spots

I got this reminder from Chip and Dan Heath's e-newsletter today. Good advice for those of us who lead:

We know from psychology that people focus instinctively on problems. Meetings are often dominated by problem-solving (or, less charitably, frustration-airing). By indulging that instinct to dwell on problems, we miss a chance to analyze what IS working. (That's a philosophy we call "finding the bright spots.") To correct this bias, some groups (in organizations ranging from Jack in the Box to Kaiser Permanente) are now starting their meetings with a discussion of bright spots. To try it, start your next meeting with this question: "Since the last time we met, what has worked well, and how can we do more of it?" Not only will you harvest lots of great ideas, you'll create a more positive tone for the meeting.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Winning Ways: A Praying Church

What a great church family I get to lead! Thank you so much for the party you threw for my 50^th birthday! It was a lot of fun to endure the teasing, and I’m still in blissful shock over the gift of the iPad from my Common Ground group! I should have gotten a pretty big hint it was coming when I saw Jean Murray’s famous “iPad cake” (you can see a photo of it on my blog).

Prayer Vigil

As we turn our attention to this upcoming weekend, one way to prepare our church spiritually is to bring Hillcrest to God in prayer. I hope you’ll go online right away and sign up for one of the remaining spots in our Prayer Vigil (www.hillcrestaustin.info/abtprayervigil). We want an unbroken chain of prayer rising up from our Prayer Room during the sixty hours between our “Beautiful Thing” banquet and the start of our Commitment Sunday worship service.

Some of you might be thinking, “I’d never be able to pray a whole hour. I have a hard enough time sticking to a 10-minute devotional in the morning.”

Don’t worry. When you arrive for your “sweet hour of prayer,” you will push “Play” on an audio player and you will be given step-by-step directions. You will be led through a process of spiritual preparation, and then you will be directed to pray for specific neighborhoods and concerns and ministries. You will even be asked to “consecrate” a prayer kneeler that will later be put in my office as a symbol of my prayer ministry on behalf of the church.

An hour of prayer for our church may be the start of greater faithfulness to the work of prayer. Have you noticed how often the Apostle Paul spoke of this work? He used phrases like “without ceasing” and “always” and “steadfastly” and “constantly” and “night and day” when he spoke of his labor in prayer for God’s people. (See Romans 1:9-10, 1 Corinthians 1:4, Ephesians 6:18; Colossians 1:9 and 4:2 and 4:12, 1 Thessalonians 1:2 and 3:10, 2 Thessalonians 1:11, and 2 Timothy 1:3, for a few examples.)

Your Stories

We’re almost through with the 30 days of devotionals from our members. But now it’s your turn! Do you have a story of how God has spoken to you during this campaign? Write me at tom@hbcaustin.org right away. I want to read as many of your stories as I can in next week’s sermon!

iPad Cake

Jean Murray must have worked a long time on this. It’s an “iPad Cake” for my 50th birthday party last Saturday! (It was a tie-in to the birthday present from my Common Ground group.)

Links to Your World, Tuesday May 10

A 40-year old man made a vow after 9/11 to remain unshaved until Bin Laden was brought to justice. He’s now 50 and clean-shaven. (story)


Two new “Q” words for Scrabble: QIN and FIQH. I’ll have to remember that when I play “Words with Friends.”


"A lady asked if this was the end of Smithville. I told her, 'You don't understand Smithville. We're not going anywhere. This is our home. And faith is the vehicle in which we travel.'" (Time magazine reports on the abiding faith of Southern towns ransacked by late-April tornados.)


New York Times: “Helping with disaster relief is not just aid, it's a calling for Southern Baptist teams.” (Yes, the New York Times)


Japanese Lab Develops E-Kissing Device. Um…Okay….


“It wasn't until the twentieth century that most people took a bath, washed their underwear, flushed a toilet, saw their own reflection in a mirror, or stopped dying at atrocious rates every time they gave birth to a child.” (kottke.org)


A grocery bill that’s under $20 a month? That’s Extreme Couponing. In addition, this family has donated $100,000 worth of stuff to food banks in the last quarter. (video)


The best of the Situation Room LOL pics.


The world’s oldest newlyweds, the 91 year old bride married her man on his 100^th birthday.


Camel Stuffed with Lamb which has Been Stuffed with Chickens which has Been Stuffed with Fish or Eggs. Mmmm…. Where can I get this in Austin?


In a recent study, participants who saw God as compassionate were more likely to cheat on a test than those who believed in an angry, punitive God (LA Times)


How Rembrandt Reinvented Jesus


Michelangelo’s “The Hand of God”, made out of 12,090 Rubik’s Cubes


I have no strong opinion of Ron Paul as a presidential candidate, but he is one of our most articulate politicians when it comes to explaining the pro-life position.


One suburban dweller found The Eye of Sauron shining through the front door of his suburban home:



Posts at “Get Anchored” since last Tuesday:

Obama—I mean, Osama—uh…

The “Aunt Edna Objection” to Hell

“We end up having to use the very symbols and rituals whose meanings we have rejected” 

Winning Ways: Love is the Thing 

“A God I never would have discovered without my affliction”

Obama—I mean, Osama—uh…

Let’s just go with “bin Laden,” eh?

The “Aunt Edna Objection” to Hell

John Ortberg calls it “The Aunt Edna Objection”--

When the subject of Hell comes up, often someone will say something along these lines:

What about my Aunt Edna?
She’s a nice old lady.
She’s never hurt anyone.
She pays her taxes.
She bakes cookies for the grandkids.
She’s kind to stray cats.
I think she’s a good person.
She’s just never gone in much for the church thing,
or the Bible thing,
or the God thing.
So, do you mean to tell me that because she’s not a Christian,
she has to spend an eternity frying in Hell?
I believe in God, but my God—the God that I believe in—
is a God of love,
a God of compassion,
and He would never send someone like my Aunt Edna to Hell.

So, I want to think for a moment about Aunt Edna, because here’s what has happened in her life. When she was young, every once in a while—maybe at Christmas or at Easter—she would hear the story of the God who loved her. God would whisper to her through the story of Scripture,

You can learn more about Me,
if you want to.
I’d love for you to.
I’d love for you to be my child.

But she made a little decision. It may not have been overt; she may never have verbalized it; it may not have been real conscious; but she made a little decision:

I’m not going to do that.
I will use my mind to pursue other things, not God.

And then there would be times in her life when she would look at a sunset, or a tree or the ocean, and God would whisper to her through Creation,

I made this.
I made you.
You didn’t get here by yourself.
You know that, and you can know Me.
You can say “Thanks.”

She made a little decision:

No.
I will not acknowledge You.
I will not give thanks.

There were times when she did something wrong, because Aunt Edna is no more perfect than you or I. God would whisper to her through her conscience,

You know you can be forgiven.
You know you need it.
You can get a fresh start.
I’ll do that,
if you’ll confess and acknowledge and repent.

Jesus said that there is a presence of God, and that one of the things the Holy Spirit does is convict us of sin. But she made a little decision:

No. I will not bend my knee.
I will not repent of sin.

As she grew older, more of the people she knew began to struggle with health issues, and they began to die. At every funeral, she was confronted with her own mortality, and God whispered to her through her experience,

You cannot beat death,
but I have planted Eternity in your heart.
This fear of death and the longing for something more…
it’s there in every human being.
And if you ask Me—if you say “Yes” to Me—
you can be with Me forever.

But she made a little decision:

I will not ask. I will not say “Yes.”
I will be the captain of my own little ship.

She gets to the end of her life. Maybe she never said it outwardly, but the truth is that she has said “No” to God a thousand times. She has locked the door of her heart over and over again. She doesn’t want to confess to Him, submit to Him, worship Him or serve Him. All she wants is to be left alone by Him, and being left alone by God is what the Bible calls “Hell.”

Read the whole thing.

“We end up having to use the very symbols and rituals whose meanings we have rejected”

James Emery White:

The bride wore a white gown, and a veil demurely covered her face. The groom slipped a ring on the bride’s finger. After a lavish reception, the newlyweds flew off on their honeymoon.

Yet the person attending the wedding found it all shallow and without meaning.

For example, the white wedding gown symbolizes the purity of the bride. And yet all in attendance knew that the bride and groom had lived together for three years.

The ceremony took place in a church, even though the two were agnostics.

When the minister invited the groom to kiss the bride, everybody laughed. They all knew he’d already slept with her, so it seemed silly for someone to be giving him permission to kiss her.

The couple promised to stay married “till death do us part,” but just in case, they had signed a binding pre-nuptial agreement.

As for the honeymoon – the traditional start of a couple’s sex life – it was a case of “been there, done that.”

Given that the average wedding costs around $30,000, why do people bother with all this? Why don’t people go to the courthouse and skip the rituals which are so obviously empty?

It’s because we’re not being honest with ourselves. We long for what God offers through sex, even though we have rejected it for our lives. When it comes time to marry, we search for the sacred, grasp for significance, and end up having to use the very symbols and rituals whose meanings we have rejected.

James Emery White. It’s a dilemma for pastors who want to lead others toward sexual purity. We’re thrilled when a cohabiting couple finally decides to “make it right” and yet we know many who stand before us don’t necessarily see that they’re setting something right that has been, up to that point, wrong.

Winning Ways: Love is the Thing

Reagan’s speechwriter, Peggy Noonan, said it well. The most important thing in life really is love:

We're locked in a funny arc, most of us, in terms of what we know. When you are goony and fourteen years old you think the most important thing in life is love. Then you mature, become more sober and thoughtful, and realize the most important thing in life is achieving, leaving your mark—making breakthroughs in the field of science, or winning an Academy Award in recognition of a serious body of work, or creating security for yourself and your family through having a good house and sending your kids to good schools. And then you get old and realize...the most important thing in life is love. Giving love to others and receiving it from God. All the rest, the sober thoughtful things, are good and constructive...but love is the thing. The rest is just more or less what you were doing between fourteen and wisdom.

This Sunday, we’ll look at four characteristics of real love in our continuing series, “Restoring Lost Values.” How fitting to examine this value on Mother’s Day!

Get Your Tickets for the "Beautiful Thing" Banquet Today!

Next Sunday, May 8, is the last day to secure a ticket to our “Beautiful Thing” Banquet, held Thursday, May 12. You should get your ticket today! 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. The banquet is free, but you have to register. Call the church office TODAY, or register for the banquet online at http://www.hillcrestaustin.info/events/FamilyDinnerTickets.

Sign Up for the 60-Hour Prayer Vigil

From the end of our May 12 banquet to the end of our Commitment Sunday service May 15, we want an unbroken chain of prayer lifted up from our Prayer Room! If you’ve participated in our past Prayer Vigils, you know what a powerful experience this can be. Inside the Prayer Room, you’ll find instructions and various stations to lead you through a “sweet hour of prayer.” The hours in the middle of the day and the middle of the night are hardest to fill, so take those if you can. Call the church office TODAY to find the available times, just go online to http://hillcrestaustin.info/abtprayervigil.

Tom

The Peggy Noonan quote is from her book, Simply Speaking, pages 53-54.

___________________________

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.

“A God I never would have discovered without my affliction”

David Weiss was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in the spring of 2005. An excerpt from his CT article, “God of the Schizophrenic”--

A year before my treatments, I went to see the best psychiatrist I have ever known. He was a professor who oversaw the resident students at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. He always told me the truth and did his best. He was one of the select few who made a real difference. He was a Catholic. I know because he wore a saint around his neck.

I talked about how I felt and the slow but steady progress I had made toward the illusion of normalcy. I mentioned that I found it easier to pray.

"You believe in God?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied.

He sat forward, this tall Mexican man. He didn't meet my eyes, but asked, "Why?"

I didn't have an answer then. I still don't. Perhaps I can't cope with the prospect of meaningless absurdity. Perhaps I am a coward. I am certainly not brave. Perhaps I am just wishing for a better existence.

I have a group of three friends. We call ourselves the "bipolar buddies." We all went to the same church, and we were the nerds, the kids with straight As and college scholarships. With a 3.8 GPA, I was the underachiever. Within a few years, we were all diagnosed with serious mental illness. We lost our scholarships and our dreams. We each also had a crisis of faith.

While some members of our conservative church were supportive, it was amazing how often our questions were met with skepticism and hostility: "Are you secretly gay?" "Do you have some unconfessed sin?" "Are you possessed by a demon?" "How dare you question God!" The range of suspicions was staggering.

My parents deflected the ugliest overtures. When my mom had cancer, some friends tried to ascertain a spiritual cause, so she understood how sincere people could give harmful advice. But despite her protective efforts, the questions and interventions persisted. More than once I went to a prayer meeting where people laid hands on me and asked God to heal me—but also to increase my faith, make me more like Christ, and so on.

My faith in God has always been an important part of my life. I am not a saint. I have prejudices and flaws. But as a Christian, I wish fellow churchgoers would refrain from passing judgment and recommending a fix after two minutes of conversation.

…

Though my illness persists, I have finally met the God I had heard about but never truly experienced. A God who heals. A God who loves. A God I cannot logically explain to my psychiatrist. A God who manifests his genius by salvaging good from the evil in our lives. Someone unlike me. Someone unlike the well-meaning inquisitors who judged me and sought to spiritually cure me. Someone I never would have discovered without my affliction.

A God who calls himself Emmanuel—God with us.

Links to Your World, Tuesday May 3

A Tourist Trip Around the Moon Can Be Yours for $150 Million

 

Prince William Might Be Second in Line to the British Crown, but Karin Vogel, at No. 4,973, Still Has a Shot - WSJ.com http://ow.ly/4I08a

 

“For the first time, the international organization has set a date for the moment when the “Age of America” will end and the U.S. economy will be overtaken by that of China. And it’s a lot closer than you may think. According to the latest IMF official forecasts, China’s economy will surpass that of America in real terms in 2016 — just five years from now.” (Market Watch)

 

The Civil War Today is an iPad app that for the next 4 years will follow the events of the Civil War in real time. Cool.

 

How to Turn Your iPod Touch into an iPhone

 

Here’s a map indicating which metro areas of the country have the highest risk in terms of natural disasters. Most are in Texas: The Metroplex is first; Austin is seventh. Yikes. The lowest: Corvallis, Oregon.

 

Scientists fiind way to wipe out painful memories

Four things Christianity and capitalism have in common.

 

The (possible) story behind “Mudflap Girl.”

 

“Top Gun” turns 25. Wired collects some of the best Top Gun cultural references of the last 25 years.

 

“Two years after his discovery by a team of developmental psychologists, David Sullivan, a man raised by a pair of mated parents, is still struggling to adapt to normal human society, sources confirmed Friday. According to researchers at the University of Minnesota, Sullivan, 25, has made significant progress since moving into his own apartment in 2009, but the decades he spent being reared by parents has made joining civilization a desperately difficult task” (Man Raised By Parents Struggling To Adjust To Human Society)

 

Posts at “Get Anchored” Since Last Tuesday:

Old Trees

 

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

 

“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”

 

Happy 90th Birthday, John Stott!

 

Winning Ways: Get Busy Living

 

What Was THAT Like?

 

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

 

How many church leaders think gospel fishing works

 

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