ICYMI Thursday

Thankfully this is not my experience among Hillcrest’s deacons:

In Case You Missed It:

"Never marry someone who lacks a good sense of humor. She will need it. It is a challenge to live intimately with your best-informed critic." And other Keillor advice here. 

“Reporters in The Times UK's newsroom are working under a constant soundtrack of (artificial) typewriter clatter. It's an experiment to "increase energy levels," and for a generation of reporters who grew up on word processors, it's probably torture. Times journalists walked into the newsroom today to find loudspeakers on podiums broadcasting the long-forgotten sound of newsprint being hammered out on mechanical typewriters. The Woodward and Bernstein soundtrack starts out with one quiet typewriter, then grows in number and volume as writers' print deadline approaches.” (story)

 

When Prayer Makes Anxiety Worse: The Atlantic reports on several new studies that show that praying might help alleviate worries—but only if the person has a secure relationship with God.

 

Agnes Howard explains why the real selfies were taken by Puritans.

 

At death, here’s a proposal to compost your body, turning it into soil-building material for nearby farms and community gardens, so people literally become part of the city they once lived in. Would you have this done yourself?

 

Really grateful for those asking pesky questions about where #IceBucketChallenge donations go. We support research looking for a cure to ALS, but we don’t want our dollars going to experiments on embryonic stem cells. Learn more at our ERLC website.

 

Does a college education weaken faith? The Atlantic says that’s a myth.

Join Our Social Media Blitz

God heals families!

We’re going to claim that promise during a special 2-Sunday emphasis called “Mend.” We’re going to spread that promise through a social media blitz.

“Mend” takes place on September 7 and 14. Guest speaker Heath Peloquin will lead us to claim the promise found in the last verse of the Old Testament: “He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents” (Malachi 4:6).

That’s a promise worth sharing as well. Let’s generate a “social media blitz” to spread the word that God heals families. Sometime between Monday and Saturday, September 1-6, use the following tools. Most of these items will be available online starting September 1 at www.HillcrestAustin.org/MendBlitz.

Postcards: Your Bible study group can send postcards to prospects and absentees encouraging them to attend “Mend.”

Impact cards: These are the size of business cards, small enough for a shirt pocket or a purse pocket. Pick up a stack on Sunday or in the church office, and hand them out during the week.

Evite card: You can email an “evite” to your friends from our website.

Text invitation: We’ll have an image promoting “Mend” you can save among the photos on your mobile device. Text this image to friends with an invitation to join you.

“Share” a Facebook Image: We’ll have images promoting “Mend” that you can share with your Facebook friends.

Forward “Winning Ways”: Most of you receive this devotional from me in your email inbox each Wednesday. The one we send September 3 will be designed for you to forward to friends. Add an invitation for them to join you.

Your chance to join this “social media blitz” is for a limited time. Just the six days of Monday through Saturday, September 1-6. Don’t think of it as some kind of sales campaign. Instead, think of it as spreading some wonderful news: God heals families! It’s a promise worth sharing as well as claiming.

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Upcoming Activities

The Fall Semester of the Hillcrest Institute is Starting! Learn more about our short-term classes and sign up at www.HillcrestAustin.info/discipleship.

Get Anchored! If you're exploring Christianity, or if you want to better explain it to others, The Anchor Course can help. The "Get Anchored" Dinner will introduce you to this 8-week study through a book I've written called The Anchor Course: Exploring Christianity Together. Learn more about the course at our website.

3:16

Some of the most significant Bible verses are at the third chapter and sixteenth verse of a Bible book. Have you ever noticed this?

I’m not saying there’s anything mystical about this. It’s just an intriguing point.

John 3:16 is probably the most famous scripture reference. Read it and you learn the message we should embrace and then share with others: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Read Colossians 3:16 and you learn the importance of worship: “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”

Read 1 John 3:16 and you discover the nature of Christian fellowship: “Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”

Read 2 Timothy 3:16 and you find out why Bible study is so important: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”

Some creative person could probably create a discipleship course based upon the “3:16” passages. It’s all there. At our church, we use the acronym “HILL” to remember the four actions that disciples should develop to perfection. Notice how the “3:16” passages correspond:

Honor the Lord of Life (Colossians 3:16)

Invite Your World to Life (John 3:16)

Love the Fellowship for Life (1 John 3:16)

Live the Word in Life (2 Timothy 3:16)

In our Sunday morning “Back to Basics” series, we’ve been working through this acronym. This Sunday we’ll work through that last line. Following Jesus includes cherishing and obeying the Word of God. Join us @ 10!

ICYMI Thursday

 

In Case You Missed It:

A Christian woman forced to flee Mosul describes the terror there. This Irish Times article is worth your while.

 

Study Finds Blame Now Fastest Human Reflex

 

Your Whole Foods Tote Could Be More Harmful Than a Plastic Bag

 

How to Stop Fighting on Facebook: Dealing with divisive issues on social media

 

You’ve noticed that people are, like, ending their sentences with an inflection that makes it sound like a question? Where did that begin?

 

The "Left Behind" view is popular in America, but there is a more historic take.

 

Sermon Illustration Alert: “Never Let a Good Scar Go to Waste”

 

“Liberal sexual beliefs work, in the long run, to make fewer Christians.” From a report on Mark Regnerus’ recent study. Mark is a professor at UT: We hosted him at a “Winning Ways” Banquet last year.

 

How an Extremist Buddhist Network Is Sowing Hatred Across Asia. Wait: “Extremist?” “Hatred?” Those words don’t match the West’s romantic version of Buddhism.

 

Lots being written about the launch of WWI these days. C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien both served on the battlefield of that war.  In the WSJ piece, “Of Hobbits, Narnia and Postwar Belief,” Loconte discusses how their faith and their novels were shaped by this.

Encouraging Encouragement

His parents called him Joseph, but his friends had another name for him.

Barnabas.

The nickname means "Son of Encouragement."  People looked at Joseph and said, "If Encouragement itself had a son, Joseph's a chip off the old block!"  Every time we meet him in the pages of Scripture, he's cheering someone on.

We are commanded to “build one another up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11), “spur one another on” (Hebrews 10:24), “encourage the fainthearted” (1 Thessalonians 5:14), and to do so “daily” (Hebrews 13:3).

So what does it take to be a Barnabas?

First, seek out new or unconnected church members.  Barnabas did this in Acts 9:26-27.  When Paul quit persecuting the believers and joined them instead, the other believers were slow to receive him.  It was Barnabas who took him in.  When was the last Sunday you stepped outside the tight circle of those you already know at Hillcrest to befriend someone new?

Second, offer special attention to new believers. Barnabas did this in Acts 11:22-23.  People today are coming to Christ with little church background or knowledge of the Bible.  Do you look for ways to cheer them on?

Third, encourage Christian workers to keep going. Barnabas did this in Acts 11:23.  Not only did he build up the new believers in Antioch, but he strengthened the Christians who had led them to the Lord.  When was the last time you thanked someone for serving at Hillcrest?

Fourth, employ uninvolved kingdom citizens. Barnabas did this in Acts 11:25-26.  When he looked at the new Christians in Antioch, he said, "I need someone to help me -- and I know just the person!"  He traveled to Tarsus to get Paul, and he introduced him to what would become Paul's lifelong ministry to Gentiles.  Do you bring out the full potential of those you know?

Fifth, encourage those who need a new opportunity after failure. Barnabas did this in Acts 15:36-41.  John Mark, an immature young man, had deserted Paul and Barnabas in the middle of their first missionary journey.  As they planned their second trip, Barnabas wanted to give the young man a second chance.  How quickly do you give up on people?

If you're grateful for those who have encouraged you, learn to be a Barnabas to others!  This Sunday, August 17, we'll dig a little deeper into these five challenging qualities of Barnabas.  Join us @ 10!

ICYMI Thursday

In case you missed it:

I’d encourage you to read this article on the value of pessimism, but you probably won’t, so I won’t get my hopes up.

 

“If private religious organizations have the right to define their communities in terms of doctrine, does this First Amendment right no longer apply to doctrines linked to sex?” GetRelgion’s TMatt asks a critical question for our Times.

 

From the “No, Duh” Department: Studies show that men regard women who pay attention to them as more attractive while women aren’t necessarily attracted to men who pay attention to them.

 

Your Edgy Billboard Is My Kid’s Nightmare

 

Do churches in the American South still maintain an implicit policy against interracial marriage? Romesh Wijesooriaya knows the answer first-hand. 

 

New technology has always received complaints that its ruining us. In 1858, People Said the Telegraph Was ‘Too Fast for the Truth.’

 

It's healthier to see love as a journey two people undertake rather than as a union of two people who are destined to be together.

 

"Women love to invade guy spaces – but men avoid gal spaces." David Murrow explains why the design choices of our church buildings will either draw men or repel men.

 

Which form of contemporary Christianity is best suited to living out the time of exile that is fast approaching American Christians? Rod Dreher started a fascinating online discussion off a Carl Truman article. 

 

“Most people in the West would be surprised by the answer to the question: who are the most persecuted people in the world? According to the International Society for Human Rights, a secular group with members in 38 states worldwide, 80 per cent of all acts of religious discrimination in the world today are directed at Christians.” The Independent

 

Chilling: “An Australian couple rented a Thai woman’s womb, and in due course, she delivered twins. But one of the babies has Down syndrome, and that just wouldn’t do. So, they simply left the disabled baby behind with no means of support except the love of the surrogate mother.”