Four Ways to Identify Your Idols

In his latest book, Counterfeit Gods, Tim Keller suggests four ways to identify your idols:

I am not asking whether or not you have rival gods. I assume that we all do; they are hidden in every one of us. The question is: What do we do about them? ...How can we discern our idols?

One way requires that we look at our imagination. Archbishop William Temple once said, "Your religion is what you do with your solitude." In other words, the true god of your heart is what your thoughts effortlessly go to when there is nothing else demanding your attention. What do you enjoy daydreaming about? What occupies your mind when you have nothing else to think about? Do you develop potential scenarios about career advancement? Or material goods such as a dream home? Or a relationship with a particular person? One or two daydreams are no an indication of idolatry. Ask rather, what do you habitually think about to get joy and comfort in the privacy of your heart?

Another way to discern your heart's true love is to look at how you spend your money Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there is your heart also" (Matthew 6:21). Your money flows most effortlessly toward your heart's greatest love. In fact, the mark of an idol is that you spend too much money on it, and you must try to exercise self-control constantly. As Saint Paul has written, if God and his grace is the thing in the world you love most, you will give your money away to ministry, charity, and the poor in astonishing amounts (2 Corinthians 8:7-9). Most of us, however, tend to overspend on clothing, or on our children, or on status symbols such as homes and cars. Our patterns of spending reveal our idols.

A third way to discern idols works best for those who have professed a faith in God. You may regularly go to a place of worship. You may have a full, devout set of doctrinal beliefs. You may be trying very hard to believe and obey God. However, what is your real, daily functional salvation? What are you really living for, what is your real—not your professed—god? A good way to discern this is how you respond to unanswered prayers and frustrated hopes. If you ask for something that you don't get, you may become sad and disappointed. Then you go on. Hey, life's not over. Those are not your functional masters. But when you pray and work for something and you don't get it and you respond with explosive anger or deep despair, then may have found your real god. Like Jonah, you become angry enough to die.

A final test works for everyone. Look at your most uncontrollable emotions. Just as a fisherman looking for fish knows to go where the water is roiling, look for your idols at the bottom of your most painful emotions, especially those that never seem to lift and that drive you to do things you know are wrong. If you are angry, ask, "Is there something here too important to me, something I must have at all costs?" Do the same thing with strong fear or despair and guilt. Ask yourself, "Am I so scared, because something in my life is being threatened that I think is a necessity when it is not? Am I so down on myself because I have lost or failed at something that I think is a necessity when it is not?" If you are overworking, driving yourself into the ground with frantic activity, ask yourself, "Do I feel that I must have this thing to be fulfilled and significant?" When you ask questions like that, when you "pull your emotions up by the roots," as it were, you will often find your idols clinging to them.

(Counterfeit Gods, Tim Keller, pp. 168-70)

Hope that whets your appetite enough to go out and buy it or check it out of a library. 

"A PC-free zone"

Tunku Varadarajan at Forbes:

A short time after the shootings at Fort Hood, President Obama asked us not to jump to conclusions. To many Americans, this was a grating request, of a piece with the political correctness that was responsible--it has emerged--for the hands-off treatment by the Army of Maj. Hasan. How else could he have been left in the position of treating U.S. troops, given the stories we've now heard about his incendiary statements and apparent incompetence?

This is the same mindset that led the FBI to deny the possibility that the Fort Hood massacre was linked to terrorism even before they could have had any idea that was the case. We don't have to be paranoid about Arab males; we just have to avoid the opposite: Being fearful of coming across as Islamophobic, and thereby failing to look straight at a situation.

...

The Army had a self-identified Islamic fundamentalist in its midst, blogging about suicide bombings and telling everyone he hated the Army's mission; and yet, they did, or could do, nothing about it. In effect, the "don't-jump-to-conclusions" mentality was underway long before this man killed his colleagues....

Let the first lesson of the Hasan atrocity be this: The U.S. Army has to be a PC-free zone. Our democracy and our way of life depend on it.

If you're making a Top Ten list of the must-read assessments of the Fort Hood tragedy, add Varadarajan's to the list.

LeaderLines: Hillcrest’s Volunteer Force

Three cheers for volunteers—and we need you now more than ever! Recently we sent out a letter about transitioning our “Ignite” ministry to volunteer leadership (see below). In reply, I received several notes from people saying, “You can count on me to help!” I’m grateful, because I can’t imagine what our church would do without people willing to give their time to ministry:

• The volunteers who lead PraiseHill see about 60 in their ministry every week.
• The huge volunteer force that leads Upward and Hoops sees nearly a thousand people come and go through our MPC every week in the Winter.
• Where would be without those 40-50 instrumentalists and singers on stage every week?
• How about the volunteers in our Caring Friends ministry who help our homebound members feel a little less lonely?

Of course, the list could go on. The point is, you make a huge difference when you offer your time and gifts in service at Hillcrest. I was reminded of this again as Meta Pugh and I prepared the following letter for members of Ignite, our ministry to college students and young singles. Meta chairs our Personnel Committee. Here’s the note:

Dear Friends,

We want you to know about the future plans for “Ignite,” our ministry to college students and singles in their 20s. In short, “Ignite” will continue under volunteer leadership in 2010.

Two years ago, Pastor Tom invited Courtney Carlson to lead a one-year “pilot project” to focus on building the attendance of our “college and career” group. He decided to extend that pilot project for another year, which ends in December 2009. Pastor Tom and the Personnel Committee have concluded that we do not have enough attendance to ask the church to develop a paid staff position for this area of ministry.

We want to emphasize that this decision was exclusively about the need for a paid staff position. The decision was not disciplinary. In other words, Courtney was not terminated. Courtney and Benji have expressed their love for Hillcrest and we hope they will stay on as members. The question that Pastor Tom and the Personnel Committee focused on is the need for the position of a paid staff member for Ignite. We communicated to Courtney that we would continue the terms of the pilot program through the end of January 2010, giving her 90 days of income from the time the decision was reached.

Now, what about the future of Ignite? We are talking with potential volunteer leaders who would serve under staff supervision. As you know, we depend on volunteer leadership for most ministries in the church: young married adult ministry, senior adult ministry, homebound ministry, and Upward/Hoops ministry, to name a few. Our Upward/Hoops ministry is led by an all-volunteer force that serves about a thousand people every weekend in the Winter. We are confident that God will lead us to the right volunteer leadership for Ignite as he has led us to the right leadership for all these other areas.

If you have any questions, please contact us. I know you will be praying for the Ignite ministry, for the Carlsons, and for the glory of God to be displayed through Hillcrest!

Blessings,

Tom Goodman

Pastor

Meta Pugh

Chair, Personnel Committee

So, if you’re a volunteer at Hillcrest, my hat’s off to you in deep gratitude! And if you’re not serving somewhere yet, well, what are you waiting for?

Tom

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

When Looking the Other Way Leads to Tragedy

Food for thought from James Taranto:

Some have detected in the Fort Hood coverage a return to a pre-9/11 mindset, and there is some truth to this. In particular, the left-liberal tendency to stereotype servicemen and veterans as psychopaths, suckers and victims is a return to form. But the bending over backward to explain away the role of religious fanaticism in the Fort Hood massacre is, it seems to us, something new--something distinctly post-9/11, or post-post-9/11.

Politically correct sensitivities have, of course, long been with us. But as we noted Monday, journalists and political leaders really seem to be going to extremes to avoid acknowledging the evident religious motivations for Hasan's alleged crimes. We'd suggest that there are three reasons for such denial, all of which grow out of 9/11:

First, the liberal left has embraced the notion that America overreacted after 9/11, was beastly toward Muslims, and now needs to "reach out" and atone. There is very little truth to this. President Bush constantly reminded the world that we were not at war with Islam, which he called a religion of peace. But Bush-was-too-aggressive rhetoric is a much better fit with liberals' natural inclination toward inaction than the Bush-wasn't-aggressive-enough rhetoric that Barack Obama occasionally used while still a candidate.

Second, it is comforting to think that 9/11 was a one-off rather than the most horrific example (so far) of a continuing threat. From this standpoint, it's psychologically preferable to emphasize that the Fort Hood suspect appears to have been a lone nut rather than that he seems to have espoused an ideology similar to that of the 9/11 terrorists.

Third, the impulse to protect a religious minority from prejudice and discrimination is a noble one. Muslims are not collectively guilty for the worst crimes of their coreligionists. We've encountered enough anti-Muslim prejudice to say that fears of it are not unfounded.

But the denialist attitude is counterproductive on all three grounds. Willful ignorance of the enemy's ideology is of no help in fighting the enemy--or preventing future attacks. In any case clarity, not obfuscation, is the enemy of prejudice.

The Prosperity Gospel and the Economic Crash

You should read Hanna Rosin's coverage of the so-called Prosperity Gospel in the December edition of the Atlantic Monthly. "America’s mainstream religious denominations used to teach the faithful that they would be rewarded in the afterlife," she wrote. "But over the past generation, a different strain of Christian faith has proliferated—one that promises to make believers rich in the here and now. Known as the prosperity gospel, and claiming tens of millions of adherents, it fosters risk-taking and intense material optimism."

Rosin claims it "pumped air into the housing bubble" and thus the article's title: "Did Christianity Cause the Crash?"

Regardless of whether "Christianity"--at least that dubious version known as the Prosperity Gospel--"caused" the economic crash, it's unsettling how vigorous this movement is:

In the past decade, it [the prosperity gospel] has produced about a dozen celebrity pastors, who show up at White House events, on secular radio, and as guests on major TV talk shows. Kirbyjon Caldwell, a Methodist megapastor in Houston and a purveyor of the prosperity gospel, gave the benediction at both of George W. Bush’s inaugurals. Instead of shiny robes or gaudy jewelry, these preachers wear Italian suits and modest wedding bands. Instead of screaming and sweating, they smile broadly and speak in soothing, therapeutic terms. But their message is essentially the same. “Every day, you’re going to live that abundant life!” preaches Joel Osteen, a best-selling author, the nation’s most popular TV preacher, and the pastor of Lakewood Church, in Houston, the country’s largest church by far.

Among mainstream, nondenominational megachurches, where much of American religious life takes place, “prosperity is proliferating” rapidly, says Kate Bowler, a doctoral candidate at Duke University and an expert in the gospel. Few, if any, of these churches have prosperity in their title or mission statement, but Bowler has analyzed their sermons and teachings. Of the nation’s 12 largest churches, she says, three are prosperity—Osteen’s, which dwarfs all the other megachurches; Tommy Barnett’s, in Phoenix; and T. D. Jakes’s, in Dallas. In second-tier churches—those with about 5,000 members—the prosperity gospel dominates. Overall, Bowler classifies 50 of the largest 260 churches in the U.S. as prosperity. The doctrine has become popular with Americans of every background and ethnicity; overall, Pew found that 66 percent of all Pentecostals and 43 percent of “other Christians”—a category comprising roughly half of all respondents—believe that wealth will be granted to the faithful. It’s an upbeat theology, argues Barbara Ehrenreich in her new book, Bright-Sided, that has much in common with the kind of “positive thinking” that has come to dominate America’s boardrooms and, indeed, its entire culture.

Separated at Birth?

Funny stuff. Skyebox has a post called "Church Leader Look-Alikes." Here are two:

Tim Allen and Joel Osteen:






Patrick Stewart and Tim Keller:





One correction, though. Skyebox says Mark Driscoll looks like Bob's Big Boy when he's the spitting image of David Denman, Pam's boyfriend in Season One of The Office:

Winning Ways: “Of Walls and Witness”

“If these walls could talk, what a story they would tell!”

I’m sure you’ve heard that statement before. There’s only one thing wrong with the statement: walls actually do talk.

What does our church campus “say” to our neighborhood? People draw conclusions about our ministry from the facility.

In our last business meeting, we appointed 18 church members to a committee to lead our church through a process that will result in a renovation plan for our campus. As I mentioned in the meeting, the cost for the Master Plan process has been covered by a special financial gift, and we are grateful for the donor’s generosity.

The Heimsath Architects firm has been hired for this effort. The firm has led many churches through this process—most recently Woodlawn Baptist Church and the First Baptist Church of Dripping Springs. I’ve talked with the leaders of these churches and they express excitement about what God has done through their planning process.

We will be seeking your input in the weeks and months ahead, and I encourage you to participate. The process will give us a chance to look ahead, to look around, and to look above.

First, we have a chance to look ahead. Someone once said that you know you’re at the end when you have fewer dreams than you do memories. That’s true for churches, too. A planning process gives us a chance to think afresh about the future God is calling us into. I look forward to hearing your hopes and dreams for our church!

Second, we have a chance to look around. When done right, plans to renovate a facility turns our eyes outward to the community God has called us to reach. It helps us become more sensitive to the impressions we’re making upon others.

Third, we have a chance to look above. In Haggai 1:1-9, the living Lord of the universe actually said we should pay attention to the building where he is worshipped “so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored.” God says we honor him by paying attention to the place where we praise his Name and study his Word! God goes on to say he was dishonored by those who paid more attention to their houses and business than to their place of worship. We don’t want to make that mistake.

Be an active participant in this chance to look ahead, around, and above!

_____________________________________

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

Links to Your World, Tuesday November 10

“I am a lost soul looking for refuge in a land that is familiar to me. To the one who finds this ... please find me and help this lost sheep.” One of the many anonymous notes found in bottles washed up on the shore. USA Today has the story on a man who has collected the bottles over the years.


“Imagine a banker in the current financial crisis objecting when you name her job description. ‘I’m not a banker, I’m a cashier.’ You would be unimpressed. Or a Major League Baseball player seeking distance from the steroid scandal this way: ‘No no no, I’m not a baseball player, I’m a second baseman.’” That’s Jason Byassee, commenting on the futility—and the error—of those who say, “Oh, I’m not a Christian, I’m a follower of the Way.” Some good thoughts on “owning” the Body of Christ, flaws and all, past and present.


Bears are going bald in a German zoo. Maybe that’s why they killed those boys making fun of Elisha….


Onion: Oversensitive Quarterback Reads Too Much Into Defense


“Rejection can dramatically reduce a person's IQ and their ability to reason analytically, while increasing their aggression, according to new research." (New Scientist)


Roland Emmerich has destroyed a lot of landmarks in his career as a movie director, including the Vatican and the "Christ the Redeemer" statue over Rio de Janeiro in the recent flick 2012. But he won’t destroy Islamic sites in his films for fear of a fatwa. (Read the story here; and James Taranto of the WSJ Best of the Web has some worthy observations on Emmerich’s timidity here.)


“I now have faith in those who say they represent a faith. I finally met people who walk the walk.” Sandra Bullock, on the Christian faith of Leigh Anne Touhy, whom she plays in the new film The Blind Side.

Song of the Week: This Thorn

I'm not always in the mental/spiritual place Twila Paris was when she wrote this. But it's my goal. From 1990, here's "This Thorn."



Her reference to "this thorn" is from 2 Cor 12:7-10. Lyrics:

Thank you for this thorn embedded in my flesh
I can feel the mystery, my spirit is made fresh
You are sovereign still and forever wise
I can see the miracle opening my eyes
To a proud heart so quick to judge
Laying down crosses and carrying grudges
The veil has been torn
And I thank you for this thorn

Thank you for this thorn--
fellowship of pain--
Teaching me to know you more
never to complain
Thank You for this love planted in my side
Faithful patient miracle opening my eyes

I never thought I'd say it without reservation
But I am truly grateful for this piercing revelation
Of a proud heart so quick to judge
Laying down crosses and carrying grudges
The veil has been torn
And I thank you for this thorn

And if You chose to take it, I will praise You
And thank You for the healing in Your name
But if it must remain, I thank You for Your rod
Evidence of Father-love for a child of God

I join You in the sorrow
So much less than You have borne
And I thank you, really I thank You
Lord I thank You,
I thank You for this thorn

Yawning at the Word

Whenever the Bible is read, a hush should come over us. We should be inching toward the edge of our seats, leaning forward, turning our best ear toward the speaker, fearful we'll miss a single word—the deeds and words and character of Almighty and Merciful God are being revealed! In a world of suffering and pain, of doubt and despair, of questions about the meaning and purpose of existence, we are about to hear of God's glory, forgiveness, mercy and love, of his intention for the world, of his promise to make it all good in the end, of the way to join his people, of the means to abide with him forever! And there we sit, tapping our feet, mentally telling the preacher to get on with it.

Mark Galli
"Yawning at the Word"

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/novemberweb-only/144-41.0.html

LeaderLines: Ignore Your Critics

 

I drop in on Seth Godin’s blog every now and then. Recently he gave some sound advice:

Ignore your critics.

This sounds counterintuitive. Aren’t we supposed to do exit interviews with those who are dissatisfied? Aren’t we supposed to learn from everyone, even our enemies? Haven’t we been told that our critics are helpful for self-evaluation because our friends will only tell us what we want to hear?

But Godin says, “The critics are never going to be happy with you. That's why they're critics. You might bore them by doing what they say but that won't turn them into fans….Changing your act to make them happy is a fool's game.

Of course, your critics aren’t the only ones to ignore. “You should ignore your fans as well,” Godin writes. “Your fans don't want you to change, your fans want you to maintain the essence of what you bring them but add a laundry list of features. You fans want lower prices and more contributions, bigger portions and more frequent deliveries.”

So, who should you listen to? “You should listen to the people who tell the most people about you,” Godin says, “Listen to the people who thrive on sharing your good works with others. If you delight these people, you grow.”

Godin’s writing to business leaders, but there’s some wisdom here for those of us who lead churches. From organizing activities to teaching lessons to leading music to setting the pace and direction of a church—well, you’re going to get your share of criticism.

We’d like to sound super-spiritual and say that the only one we aim to please is the Lord. At one level, of course, that’s absolutely true. But the Lord assigns us to lead people, and if what we do isn’t resonating with anyone, we’re not doing any real leading.

As someone famously put it, “He who thinketh he leadeth and findeth no one following is only taking a walk.”

So, you have to pay attention to how people are reacting to you. But ignore the critics. Ignore the fans. Pay attention to those who thrive on sharing with other what they like about what you do.

__________________________

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

Links to Your World, November 4

Ian McKellen, the openly gay actor most famous for his role as Gandalf in the LOTR films, says every time he stays in a hotel he takes the Bible from the nightstand and tears out the page condemning homosexuality in Leviticus 18:22. (World magazine, linking to Details magazine.) Apparently he leaves the New Testament passages on the same subject intact….


A wonderful story about a Planned Parenthood director who leaves the abortion business, citing a change of heart.


“The exceptional moments of life aren’t a test of a man’s mettle, the question is, how does he handle the ordinary moments? A man’s worth and character is revealed in his attitude and commitment toward common, ordinary, everyday things. Not when he’s on stage or in the limelight, but in the often lonely grind time. And the truth is there are many more mundane moments in leadership than there are mountaintops.” (The Glory of the Grind)


You mean, I could be paid by the government for visiting the hospital and praying for people? Hmm…. “As the health care battle moved forward last week, Phil Davis, a senior Christian Science church official, hurriedly delivered bundles of letters to Senate offices promoting a little-noticed proposal in the legislation requiring insurers to consider covering the church's prayer treatments just as they do other medical expenses.” (story) By the way, most evangelical Christian leaders consider Christian Science like Grape Nuts: neither grape nor nuts….


Fun with Google Suggest


Some good advice on financial planning for retirement from Time magazine, broken into decades: your 20s, your 30s, your 40s, your 50s and your 60s. This link will take you to the start of their advice for your 40s, my decade. Look on the bottom of the web page and you can work backward or forward from there if you don’t share my birthdate….


Desiring God by John Piper is the free audiobook download for November


“For the money it takes to save one life with carbon cuts, smarter [malaria] policies could save 78,000 lives” (WSJ) Is the focus on global warming distracting us from things much more important?


“What it means to live missionally, then, is to have authentic friendship with people in these networks. That’s it. If Jesus is truly important to you, and if you have real friendships with people, then Jesus is going to come up sooner or later in the natural course of sharing life. You shouldn’t have to artificially shoehorn Jesus into every conversation, nor should you feel the need to hide or downplay your affection for him. Those in your oikos will get to know Jesus as they get to know you.” (http://www.cdomaha.com/blog/?p=1711)



Did you see “V”? last Tuesday? “The show's chief cautionary voice is Father Jack, an Anglican priest. He is skeptical of the Vs—indeed, of the existence of aliens. "I don't see any basis for this in Scripture," he tells his elder priest, who has quickly concluded that the aliens are part of God's plan—not because of miracles as much as increased attendance at worship. Surely, he thinks, God is in this. Besides, the Vatican—which the show mistakenly puts at the head of the Anglican Church—has officially endorsed the Visitors as part of God's creation. So Father Jack is initially the lone skeptic, preaching that people should fully explore anything they are tempted to believe in. They must compare claims to what they know is true: Scripture. It's refreshing for a strong Christian character—especially one facing his own existential crisis—to speak for informed, intelligent belief…. Father Jack and other characters form a small band of freedom fighters who meet secretly to dissect false teachings and spread the truth.” (CT)


“You may be surprised at what many prominent women’s groups are protesting as “anti-choice propaganda.” It’s not a new book, or a graphic display; it’s a recent episode of NBC’s Friday night staple, Law & Order. The show, which often rips its story straight from the headlines, recently aired an episode clearly based on the murder of late-term abortion provider George Tiller. The episode, titled “Dignity,” offered sensitive portrayals of pro-life views that result in two characters who originally take the pro-choice side to reconsider their views” (CT Movies).

To Speak of Us to the Author of All Creation!

"When our faith flags, he throws reminders in our way. Think of the prayer warriors in our midst. They change things, and those of us who have been on the receiving end of their petitions and intercessions know it. It is hard to describe, but there are times when suddenly the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and you feel a surge of the Spirit. Somehow you just know: Others have chosen, when talking to the Author of all creation, to lift us up—to speak of us!"

Tony Snow

7 Doubt-Inducing Assumptions and 4 Ways to Counter Them

According to JP Moreland and Klaus Issler, there are 7 assumptions we absorb from our culture that make it hard to nurture faith--and there are 4 ways to battle these assumptions (In Search of a Confident Faith: Overcoming Barriers to Trusting in God):

Doubts are unknowingly fed by ideas absorbed from the plausibility structure of the surrounding culture….Even though such assumptions are usually easy to answer, finding such answers does not, by itself, resolve the doubts. This can only be done by making these cultural assumptions explicit, by exposing them for the intellectual frauds they actually are, and by being vigilant in keeping them before one’s mind and spotting their presence in the ordinary reception of input each day from newspapers, magazines, office conversation, television, movies and so on. Said differently, it is not enough to find good answers to these doubts as it is for more specific intellectual problems. The real solution here is the conscious formation of alternative, countercultural ways of seeing, thinking and being present in the world. If this is not done, these background assumptions will bully us Christians to live secular lives, and they will squeeze the spiritual life out of us.

Here are seven of the main doubt-inducing background assumptions of our culture:

1. It is smarter to doubt things than to believe them. Smart people are skeptical. People who find faith easy are simplistic, gullible and poorly educated. The more educated you become, the more you will become a skeptic.

2. University professors are usually unbelievers because they know things unrecognized by average folk that make belief in the Bible a silly thing to have.

3. Religion is a matter of private, personal feelings and should be kept out of debates—political and/or moral—in the public square.

4. Science is the only way to know reality with confidence, or at least it is a vastly superior way of knowing reality than other approaches, e.g., religious ones. And science has made belief in God unnecessary.

5. We can know things only through our five senses. If I can see, touch, taste, hear or smell something, then it’s real and I can know it. But if I can’t sense it in one of these ways, I can’t know it’s real and I must settle for a blind, arbitrary choice to believe in it.

6. If we can’t get the experts to agree on something like the existence and nature of God, abortion, or life after death, then we just can’t know anything about it.

7. Enlightened people are tolerant, nonjudgmental and compassionate. They are unwilling to impose their views on others. Defensive, unenlightened people are the dogmatic, ugly polar opposites of enlightened folk.

These ideas are seldom stated this explicitly, but we absorb them daily through conversation and largely through the media. This is a conspiracy. That would be intentional. It’s far worse than that. With genuine exceptions, these ideas have so permeated our society that media folk govern their work by them without having the lightest idea of this fact. How do we erase the impact of these background assumptions on our confidence in God and the Christian worldview?

Here’s a four-step procedure that will remove this kind of doubt if you internalize it as a habit through conscious repetition:

Step 1: Spot the activating source (e.g., the evening news, TV show, movie, conversation at work) and be alert while being exposed to it.

Step 2: Explicitly state to yourself exactly the doubt-inducing cultural assumption that lies beneath the surface of the activating source (start with the list of seven above).

Step 3: Challenge and question the truth of the cultural assumption. Is that really true? Doubt the doubt!

Step 4: Replace the cultural assumption with a biblical truth—the correct alternative way of seeing reality—and make it your goal grow in God-confidence about the alternative.

(Pages 47-49, In Search of a Confident Faith: Overcoming Barriers to Trusting God, by JP Moreland and Klaus Issler)

Winning Ways: Making it Right

Few United States governors will ever be as immortalized in popular culture as the late Alabama populist, George C. Wallace. The rock band Lynyrd Skynrd praised him in Sweet Home Alabama (“In Birmingham they love the guv-nah!”). Then Forrest Gump introduced new generations to his infamous stand at the school house door, attempting to block blacks from admission to the University of Alabama in 1963.

In fact, the Forrest Gump news footage is the only picture most people have of the Governor today—a defiant obstructionist with jutted jaw and curled lip, shouting “Segregation forever!”

But there’s another picture of Wallace. While campaigning for president in 1972, Wallace survived an assassination attempt; but the bullet fired into him left him paralyzed in the legs. His brush with death got him to thinking about eternity, and he gave his life to Christ in 1983.

As the heavenly Ruler began to influence him, the earthly ruler began to change. One day, Wallace appeared unannounced at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. This is the church Martin Luther King, Jr., was pastoring when he launched the civil rights movement in the 50s. Mr. Wallace wheeled his way to the front of the church where three hundred black ministers were concluding a day-long conference.

A hush fell over the crowd.

“I never had hate in my heart for any person,” he said, “but I regret my support of segregation and the pain it caused the black people of our state and nation.” Amid cries of “amen” and “yes, Lord,” he continued. “Segregation was wrong, and I am sorry.”

Two images of George Wallace. Hopefully the enduring image will not be the segregationist but the humbled, wheelchair-bound penitent, saying “I was wrong, and I am sorry.”

Jesus said, “Settle matters quickly with your adversary. Do it while you are still with him on the way [to judgment]” (Matthew 5:25). The last and lasting image you want to bring before the throne of God is that of a humbled penitent saying to the one you hurt, “I was wrong, and I am sorry.”

This Sunday, we're going to learn some practical things about making amends to those we've harmed. It's the Ninth Step in our walk through the Twelve Steps to Victory. See you at 10!

____________________________________

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

Biopsy

We would appreciate your prayers for Diane: Today’s biopsy revealed she has breast cancer. A mastectomy has been scheduled for November 18.

We are sharing this news across a variety of platforms (email, Facebook, and my blog) because we can’t possibly telephone everyone we want to inform.

However, in reply we’d love to have your e-mails, text messages and letters instead of phone calls or visits. Phone calls and visits down the line, but not right now, please.

Our prayer is to see and reveal Jesus at work in our lives in the weeks and months ahead. We’re confident that includes his gracious healing.

Love,

Tom and Diane

Song of the Week: To You Be the Glory

If you liked the "Glory Revealed" project, you'll probably like "Glory Revealed II," another collection of Scripture-based songs set to, well, "roots" tunes. Here's a good message among some nice harmonies on the final track. Listen to "To You Be the Glory"--

How to Make a God

What is an idol? It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give. 

A counterfeit god is anything so central and essential to your life that, should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living. An idol has such a controlling position in your heart that you can spend most of your passion and energy, your emotional and financial resources, on it without a second thought. It can be family and children, or career and making money, or achievement and critical acclaim, or saving 'face' and social standing. It can be a romantic relationship, peer approval, competence and skill, secure and comfortable circumstances, your beauty or your brains, a great political or social cause, your morality and virtue, or even success in the Christian ministry.  When your meaning in life is to fix someone else's life, we may call it 'co-dependency' but it is really idolatry.  An idol is whatever you look at and say, in your heart of hearts, 'If I have that, then I'll feel my life has meaning, then I'll know I have value, then I'll feel significant and secure.' There are many ways to describe that kind of relationship to something, but perhaps the best one is worship.

Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods

 

This week I bought--and finished--Tim Keller's new book, Counterfeit Gods. Excellent challenge to center life on the living God--and an exposition of what happens when we center life on anything else. 

"This One’s for You Jesus, Glory to the One Who Died and Rose From the Grave"

From Jonathan Dodson's review of U2's latest tour:

If you listen closely, there’s an unmistakable refrain in Bono’s lyrics, a refrain of worship that points to God, even to Christ. During the 360 Degree Tour, just before he sang ‘Where the Streets Have No Name,” Bono sang “Amazing Grace,” a grace that saves “wretches like me.” Apparently Bono isn’t going PC on that lyric. Now, this grace could be attributed to a lot of things, but Bono sticks with the author of Grace—Jesus. After Amazing Grace, he introduced Where the Streets Have No Name,” with this statement:

“This one’s for you Jesus, glory to the one who died and rose from the grave.”

Whether we agree or not, like it or not, the worship emanating from Bono’s vocal chords, from his soul, is praise to his Magnificent Creator and Redeemer. To Jesus.

Remembering Paul Meyer

Paul Meyer died on Monday at 81 after a battle with cancer.

I met Paul and Jane while serving in the Cayman Islands. He was very supportive of the church I led, and surprised Diane and me with generous expressions of appreciation from time to time. My boys will remember working out with me in Paul and Jane's gym, climbing in their sea grape trees before a seaside baptism at their home, and staying in his Colorado home for skiing.

Our ministry was only a small part of his philanthropy, though. As the editorial in the Waco Tribune Herald reminds us, the Paul & Jane Meyer Family Foundation "has given away $65 million since 1984. And no more than 15 percent of that money has gone to groups outside of Waco. In fact, each month, the Meyers donated about $200,000 to McLennan County causes."

Paul was also a writer, and some of his most influential material was about challenging others to find the joy that he had found in generosity.

Diane and I plan to be at the funeral this Friday and express our condolences to Jane.

(photo from Waco Tribune Herald, which reported Paul's passing here)

Winning Ways: A 193-Year-Old Apology

“Murder, robbery, rape, adultery, and incest will openly be taught and practiced [sic], the soil will be soaked with blood, and the nation black with crimes.”

So said an editorial in the Connecticut newspaper, the “Courant.” The year was 1800 and the editor feared the worst for America if Thomas Jefferson was elected President.

Nearly 200 years later, in 1993, the paper marked the 250th anniversary of Jefferson's birth with an apology. Now called the Hartford Courant, the newspaper editorial remarked, “It's never too late to admit a mistake.”

Indeed.

This Sunday we're going to take the Eighth Step to Victory in our morning series through the Twelve Steps used by many recovery groups. In the Eighth Step, we make a list of those we have harmed with a willingness to make amends to them all.

Two hundred years is probably too long to wait before taking the Eighth Step. So, see you and your Bible this Sunday at 10 a.m.!

Nine Point Plan: In last week’s study of Step Seven, I promised to give you a 9-point plan for putting the Step into practice. (You can listen to the sermon online.) Here is the 9-point plan, adapted from a book called The Path to Serenity. (You can find more detail about the plan here.)

Continue to name your basic character defects.

Hand the defects back over to God's care.

Specify very carefully what needs to be changed for just this one day.

Ask God to touch the parts of you that need to be changed.

Act your way into a new way of thinking and feeling.

Be willing to bear discomfort.

Think secure thoughts.

Develop new habits with repetition.

At the end of the day, stop and thank God for any and all of the smallest changes.

Craft Show: I hope you’ll come out for our “Labor of Love” Craft Show Friday and Saturday. People bring their entire office out for the enchiladas on Fridays (but come early!). If you haven’t had the famous “Margaret’s Chocolate Cake,” trust me, it’s time you tried it.

Pumpkin Party: Bring your kids or grandkids to this fun and safe indoor event!

Daylight Savings Time Ends: “Fall Back” an hour before you go to bed this Saturday night. Get an extra hour of sleep Sunday morning and come physically refreshed to be spiritually refreshed!

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

Links to Your World, Tuesday October 27

Gary Haugan’s book, Just Courage, is a free audio download for the rest of this month. Download here.


Two percent of the population are compulsive hoarders.


Men are seven times more likely than women to leave a seriously ill partner.


This guys says that the Florida rock band, Creed, deserves a second listen and belated respect.


John Mark Reynolds says its okay to just let entertainment be no deeper than, well, entertainment.


The more housework you do, the more often you are likely to have sex with your spouse.


Snarky, snarky, snarky: “The secret to [Rick] Warren's success is that he found people responsible for their own success in life and convinced them that it was all due to God.” (from a Slate article reviewing a book on Rick Warren’s life.)


You should read Bart Barber’s respectful response to James Denison, the official theologian of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Denison wrote an attack upon inerrancy entitled, ‘The Errancy of Inerrancy.’ Barber replies. (HT: Russell Moore)


Good to see Hillcrest drummer and Baylor freshman, Scott Smith, serving at Baylor chapel in this clip.


Studies show that “people remember things better, longer, if they are given very challenging tests on the material, tests at which they are bound to fail” (Scientific American)


David Powilson gives guidance on breaking pornography addiction: Part 1; Part 2.

Fatal Accident on the Way to Church

Diane and I passed the aftermath of this wreck on our way to church service yesterday. So sad. Another fatality from a driver under the influence. Go to article in the Statesman.

A Nine Point Plan for Recovery

At Hillcrest we're finding biblical guidance for working the 12 Steps of recovery groups.  I've had several goals for the series: (1) encouragement for those in recovery--or who need to be; (2) greater sensitivity for believers to addictions and compulsions within our mission field; (3) a challenge to us all, because even if we're not struggling with addiction we are all broken in some way.

Last Sunday we examined Step Seven (you can listen to the sermon here).  I promised to provide the congregation a little 9-point plan for putting Step 7 into daily practice, so here it is.  It's adapted from a book called The Path to Serenity:

(1) Continue to name your basic character defects. You need to re-state these to yourself as a way of pushing back the veil of denial that has kept you from seeing these defects in the first place. Return to the moral inventory you took in Step 4, and review the patterns of thought that led you to say in Step 6,"Yes, I'm ready."

(2) Hand the defects back over to God's care. And the reason the word "back" is in that sentence is because we can safely assume that you and I will have to get into practice at turning our shortcomings over to God. Sometimes in my prayers I picture myself kneeling before God's throne, and visibly handing my sin to God, saying, “God, I cannot get rid of this under my own power. Please remove it from me, please remove from my nature anything that causes me to return to it.”

(3) Specify very carefully what needs to be changed for just this one day. What this means is that, if I wake up in the morning and say, for example, 'I should never ever be compulsive again and I promise I never will,' I am doomed to disappointment. It just isn't going to work. First, we must specify what needs to be changed. Instead of asking, 'Make me a better person,’ we focus tightly on the specific personality defects that need correcting. Second, instead of making a blanket request that covers an indefinite amount of time, we break our requests down into small digestible bits of personal effort--today, this morning, the next thirty minutes, or even, 'the next sixty seconds.'

(4) Ask God to touch the parts of you that need to be changed. Again, it's praying not only that God would remove the sin, but that God would change that part of your soul that keeps drawing you back to that sin. For example, ask God to remove not only a lustful heart, but that God would touch that part of your soul that doesn't know how to relate to the opposite sex in any other way but the physical.

(5) Act your way into a new way of thinking and feeling. An informal slogan used in many Twelve-Step recovery groups is, 'Fake it until you make it.' You may not be able to control your thoughts or your feelings, but you can control your muscles. I remember that account of Jesus healing the 10 lepers in Luke 17. “As they went, they were healed.” Upon the request of the lepers for healing, Jesus had told them, “Go, show yourselves to the priest.” A leper was to return to the priest who had pronounced him unclean only when the symptoms of leprosy had disappeared. The local Jewish priest would examine the man and then allow him back into the community or return him to the lonely outskirts of the city depended on whether or not the leper had been cured. When Jesus commanded them to show themselves to the nearest priest, he was in effect saying, "Consider your request fulfilled."

Verse 14 says, “As they went, they were healed.” Ultimately their confidence in Jesus as a healer is not seen in the fact that they asked him to heal them but that they acted on his words. They must have wondered at his confusing command: Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priests and there had not yet been any word of healing or any symptom that the leprosy had been cured. Their confidence in the Master transcended any demand for concrete evidence: they knew that their need would be met because Jesus had spoken. They had a simple confidence that Jesus's words could be counted on: "As they went, they were healed." It’s as we go about life in obedience to Christ that we slowly find healing taking place.

(6) Be willing to bear discomfort. Any time you're trying to change something as ingrained as a personality defect, it will feel awkward and even bad for a certain period of time.

(7) Think secure thoughts. That is, remind yourself that this time of change and pain will bring something far better.

(8) Develop new habits with repetition. You may need to fake it until you make it day after day, week after week, and, in some cases, month after month, until you can really see results.

(9) At the end of the day, stop and thank God for any and all of the smallest changes. It’s important to take time at the end of the day to acknowledge to yourself even the tiniest sense of progress.

Song of the Week: "Praise the Lord" from the Sovereign Grace Psalms CD

You can get today's song for free--and the entire project it came from is on sale this week for $6.00 (click here). Psalms was selected as one of 2009’s “Best of the Best” by Worship Leader Magazine. Here's "Praise the Lord" from that project:

Do Musical Styles Have More Power to Divide Than the Gospel Has to Unite?

Bob Kauflin asks how we can possibly pass on the biblical values of worship if we can't even sing in the same room together. Do "musical styles have more power to divide us than the gospel has to unite us"? Good stuff--about 3 minutes:

Physical and Moral Cleansing

See if you can catch what doesn’t belong in the follow sentence. It’s from an otherwise interesting article in Time magazine called “Do ‘Clean’ Smells Encourage Clean Behavior?”

Catherine Elton covers a fascinating subject about the interplay between physical cleanliness and moral purity, including ties to religious rituals of cleansing. And then she shoehorns in an unsubstantiated personal bias. Take a look-see:

Nevertheless, both morality researchers and olfactory scientists agree that people do strongly associate physical cleanliness with purity of conscience. It is the notion at the heart of adages like ‘cleanliness is next to godliness’ and evidenced by the widespread use of cleansing ceremonies to wash away sins in various religions around the world. (Truth be told, that practice is merely an extrapolation of an evolutionary strategy to avoid disease.)

Ah, well, now the truth has been told.

What authority does our writer quote to back up her contention that cleansing ceremonies—like, oh, let’s say, baptism—“is merely an extrapolation of an evolutionary strategy to avoid disease”? For that matter, what authority could she quote for a view that is easy to suppose and impossible to prove?

Yeesh.

That little flash of pop-anthropology aside, the article is worth a read. I'm always fascinated with stories of links between soul and body. And, of course, Scripture has so much to say about the purity/aroma link, including this: "Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him" (2 Cor. 2:14).

Book Summary: Made to Stick

If you're in the persuasion business, Chip Heath and Dan Heath have done you a great service.

Come to think of it, that includes just about anyone reading this post. As a pastor, most of my job involves persuasion: in the pulpit, in counseling, in staff meetings, issuing a vision/challenge, and so on. But if you're a parent shaping the child(ren) God has given you, or an manager raising the morale of your office, or a teacher in front of a class, or a lawyer in front of a jury, you're in the persuasion business, too.

In Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, the Heath brothers explain why persuasion is hard--and how to make it work:

Getting a message across has two stages: the Answer Stage and the Telling Others Stage. In the Answer Stage, you use your expertise to arrive at the idea you want to share. Doctors study for a decade to be capable of giving the Answer. Business managers may deliberate for months to arrive at the Answer.

Here’s the rub: The same factors that worked to your advantage in the Answer Stage will backfire on you during the Telling Others Stage. To get the Answer, you need expertise, but you can’t dissociate expertise from the Curse of Knowledge. You know things that others don’t know, and you can’t remember what it was like not to know those things. So when you get around to sharing the Answer, you’ll tend to communicate as if your audience were you.

They suggest six ways to improve the "stickiness" of your ideas. Turn your idea into a

Simple
Unexpected
Concrete
Credible
Emotional
Story

A nice recap of the book here.

What I Need From an E-Reader

I'd love an Amazon Kindle or BN's new Nook, but something's missing from e-readers as far as I can tell. I want to be able to copy quotes or segments from any e-book I'm reading. That way I can paste the chosen text into a blog post to comment on it, or paste it into my illustration database for later reference in my sermon prep or article writing.

So, anyone know if any of the e-readers allow that? Drop a line to tom-AT-hbcaustin.org.

LeaderLines: You Are God’s Instrument in Conversion

Changing minds is our job.

Of course, Scripture tells us that changing minds is a supernatural work of the Spirit. But you and I are God’s instruments in conversion.

And that means that if we’re not actually converting people to Jesus we’re, well, failing.

As church leaders (volunteer and paid), we can fall into thinking, “My job is to prepare a program, show up on time, and run it.” But God is looking to see if our leadership is resulting in anyone’s conversion.

How do I know this is what God is looking for? Because of the way he calls and commissions people in the Bible stories. John Piper wrote a helpful column about this today. He outlined 5 ways the Bible talks about our role in the conversion of others:

• “I am sending you to open their eyes,” the risen Christ said to Paul (Acts 26:17-18). Opening the eyes of the spiritually blind is God’s work (2 Corinthians 4:6), but Jesus sends Paul to open their eyes.

• “I have become all things to all people,” Paul wrote, “that by all means I might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22). He knew that God does the saving (Jeremiah 24:7), and yet Paul said he did whatever it took to “save” people.

• “Whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering,” James wrote, “will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:20). Isn’t God the one who brings people back to himself (Jeremiah 31:18; Isaiah 57:18)? And yet the Bible calls us to bring people back from sin and death.

• “He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,” the angel said of John the Baptist, “and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just.” (Luke 1:16-17). Again, though God works to turn hearts to himself (2 Thessalonians 3:5), John the Baptist was commissioned to turn hearts to God.

• “You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God,” Peter wrote, adding, “And this word is the good news that was preached to you” (1 Peter 1:23-25). So, the same Bible that says the Spirit of God causes new birth, blowing where he wills (John 3:8), also says that the new birth comes from someone preaching the gospel.

So, according to the texts above, we are to “open their eyes,” “save some,” “bring back” sinners from their wandering, “turn many” to the Lord, and see people born again through announcing the good news to them.

Our purpose is to be a community where people can find and follow Jesus together. Are you deliberately aiming any of your leadership activity toward helping people find Jesus, or are you just focusing on helping believers follow Jesus?

“God is the decisive, ultimate cause of conversion,” Piper writes, “But we are his agents, and he calls us to join him in this goal. Not to aim at it is to put ourselves out of step with his command and his Spirit.”

So . . . are you in step?

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

Googling "Evangelical"

Jesus knew what he was talking about when he said his followers are aliens and strangers. Start a Google search for "evangelical" and see what you get:

(HT: Jared Bridges)

Here are some "laws" that are so true...

Here are some "laws" that are so true...

Law of Gravity:
Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.

Law of Probability:
The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.

Law of Random Numbers:
If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal and someone always answers.

Law of the Alibi:
If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the very next morning you will have a flat tire.

Variation Law:
If you change lines in a queue, the one you were in always will move faster than the one you are in now (works every time).

Law of the Bath/Shower:
As soon as the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone rings.

Law of Close Encounters:
The probability of meeting someone you know increases dramatically when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.

Law of Machination:
When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will.

Law of Biomechanics:
The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.

Law of the Theatre:
At any event, the people whose seats are furthest from the aisle arrive last.

The Starbucks Law:
As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.

Murphy's Law of Lockers:
If there are only two people in a gym locker room, they will have adjacent lockers.

Law of Physical Surfaces:
The chances of an open-faced sandwich landing face down on a floor covering are directly correlated to the newness and cost of the carpet/rug.

Law of Logical Argument:
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.

Brown's Law of Physical Appearance:
If the shoe fits, it's ugly.

Oliver's Law of Public Speaking:
A closed mouth gathers no feet.

Wilson's Law of Commercial Marketing Strategy:
As soon as you find a product you really like, they will stop making it.
(from TIPS newsletter. Copyright (c) 2009, all rights reserved. U.S. Library of Congress ISSN: 1529-059X. Contact Philip E. Humbert at:www.philiphumbert.com  or email to  Coach@philiphumbert.com

From PreachingNow

Winning Ways: In the Master’s Hands

Maybe you’ve heard the old song about the auctioneer holding up an old, beat-up violin. “How much do I hear for this antique? One dollar? Give me two. Two dollars? Who has three?” He was able to get the bidding up a few dollars more, but that’s where it stalled.

That is, until a violinist stepped up to the stage, tuned the strings, and began to entrance the crowd with music. Suddenly, people were shouting out bids in the hundreds to buy the violin. In the hands of a skilled master the violin came alive.

A few years ago, Ken Ulmer closed a Pastor’s Conference with the same vivid image:

“A violin in my hand will get you some squeaky noise; but a violin in Itzhak Perlman’s hand will get you the music of the masters.

“Marble in my hand is just a piece of ugly, dirt-covered stone; but marble in Michelangelo’s hand will get you a magnificent David.

“A peanut in my hand is just a small snack; but a peanut in George Washington Carver’s hand is peanut butter and shoe polish.

“A basketball in my hand is worth about $29.95; but a basketball in Shaquille O’Neal’s hand and in Kobe’s hand and in Michael’s hand with hang time is worth about $30 million.

“A tennis racquet in my hand is a dangerous weapon; but a tennis racquet in the Williams sisters’ hands is a tennis champion.

“A golf club in my hand means “look out, there’s trouble coming”; but a golf club in Tiger Woods’s hand wins the Masters. It all depends on whose hand it’s in.

“Spit and clay in my hand will get you a little mud cake; but spit and clay in Jesus’ hand will open blinded eyes. Two fish and five loaves of bread will get you a couple of fish sandwiches in my hand; but in Jesus’ hand it will feed the five thousand. Nails in my hand might get you a little birdhouse; but nails in Jesus’ hand hanging on the cross between two thieves on a hill called Calvary is salvation for the world, because it all depends on whose hand it’s in.”

How true.

So, whose hands hold your life?

Join us this Sunday at 10 a.m. as we learn how to place our lives in the Master’s hands. The youth group will serve the Lord’s Supper in the service.

_________________________________________

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

Links to Your World, Tuesday October 20

Life magazine presents 30 dumb inventions. I like the sea-shoes and the machine gun that can shoot around corners. What’s your favorite?


“Tom Krattenmaker suggests that Tim Tebow should adopt a ‘more generous conception of salvation.’ And now we all know the price of being seen as ‘more generous.’ Just abandon the Gospel. I am confident that Tim Tebow will withstand this pressure. He has shown enough theological maturity and strength of conviction to earn that confidence. But, we have to wonder, how many others will fold under the intimidation?” (Albert Mohler)


After years of delays and billons of dollars, the particle supercollider has yet to yield a thing. These physicists suggest it may be the future world coming back to impact the present day so that the supercollider will not be built. And I thought Terminator was just a fun flick….


“In a study of more than 3,000 mustard seedlings, scientists discovered that the young plants recognize their siblings — other plants grown from the seeds of the same momma plant — using chemical cues given off during root growth. And it turns out mustard plants won’t compete with their brethren the way they will with strangers: Instead of rapidly growing roots to suck up as much water and minerals as possible, plants who sensed nearby siblings developed a shallower root system and more intertwined leaves” (Wired).


It’s the Barack Obama Bible Cover! (HT: MMI)


Study: Majority Of 'Calm Downs' Ineffective


Having an Ephesians 5:33 marriage isn’t easy. Some good articles for wives here and here. (Yes, I’ll continue to supply articles for the men, too!)


“Much as we may assent to the idea that we are but matter in motion, seldom do we act that way. We love. We fight. We distinguish between the good and noble and the bad and base. More than just religion, our literature and our politics and our music resonate precisely because they speak to these things” (WSJ)


“A survey of 16 to 24 year olds has found that 75% of them feel they ‘couldn't live’ without the internet” (BBC).


What happenned when they turned a stairwell into a piano keyboard (HT: Curtis):

Here Comes the Bride

This video is approaching 29.5 million views on YouTube--and caught the attention of the creators of The Office, who used the idea for Jim and Pam's wedding on the season opener:


Dancing is par for the course for my young Baptist friends in Zambia. They gather for months of rehearsals to create a one-of-a-kind dance for each wedding celebration they are asked to participate in. Of course, the dances in Zambian celebrations usually take place at the reception, not the wedding ceremony.

If you're planning a wedding at Hillcrest and the video gives you any ideas, let me remind you that the officiant for the wedding wasn't part of the line! I've performed an underwater ceremony, but you wouldn't want me part of a dancing processional....

The famous YouTube video was referenced in a good article posted today at CT, "Lord of the Wedding Dance." The article reflects on what's right--and often wrong--about modern wedding ceremonies.

What is an Evangelical?

In an interview with CT, John Stott was asked to define the essence of evangelicalism:

An evangelical is a plain, ordinary Christian. We stand in the mainstream of historic, orthodox, biblical Christianity. So we can recite the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed without crossing our fingers. We believe in God the Father and in Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit.

Having said that, there are two particular things we like to emphasize: the concern for authority on the one hand and salvation on the other.

For evangelical people, our authority is the God who has spoken supremely in Jesus Christ. And that is equally true of redemption or salvation. God has acted in and through Jesus Christ for the salvation of sinners.

. . . [W]hat God has said in Christ and in the biblical witness to Christ, and what God has done in and through Christ, are both, to use the Greek word, hapax—meaning once and for all. There is a finality about God’s word in Christ, and there is a finality about God’s work in Christ. To imagine that we could add a word to his word, or add a work to his work, is extremely derogatory to the unique glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Justin Taylor linked to this CT interview, and called attention to a lecture in which Stott outlined evangelicalism in four points:

1. The claim of evangelicalism
2. The distinctives of evangelicalism
3. The concern of evangelicalism
4. The essence of evangelicalism

I'll listen to the lecture during my next workout.

By the way, the JT post is on a new blog at First Things called "Evangel." Check it out.

Song of the Week: Joe Henry's "The Man I Keep Hid"

This one seemed fitting during our "Get a Life" sermon series (archived here). Joe Henry sings about the man he keeps hid. Listen:

Next Steps for the Pro-Life Movement

Christianity Today says, "Political change is giving the abortion lobby an upper hand. What's the best action for pro-life Christians to take next? Melinda Delahoyde, president of Care Net, Clenard H. Childress Jr., founder of BlackGenocide.org., and Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, suggest the next steps for the pro-life movement."

• Volunteer at a Center (Melinda Delahoyde)
• Speak Out Publicly (Clenard H. Childress Jr.)
• Pass More State Laws (Charmaine Yoest)

On the federal level, your tax dollars will fund abortion through the health care proposals being discussed. As Charmaine Yoest points out in the WSJ : "Democratic leaders claim that all they want is to maintain the 'status quo' on abortion. In reality, maintaining what we have now isn't even on the table. To do that, a health-care bill would have to explicitly prevent federal dollars from being used for elective abortions. Provisions that would have done that were killed by all five committees that have handled health-care reform bills this year."  So why, Yoest asks, is health care reform "being sold on the false premise that it would maintain the status quo? Because otherwise the American people would not go along with it."

Just before the election last year, I outlined "Three Things that Pro-Life Obama Supporters Must Do." It's time to review that list.

Faith in His Faithfulness

"Unbelief is so deeply rooted in our hearts, and we are so inclined to it, that not without hard struggle is each one able to persuade himself of what all confess with the mouth: namely, that God is faithful."

John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, a reading project for 2009, the 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth.

Winning Ways: “I Yam What I Yam”

Popeye was a philosopher.

Well, sort of. Actually, he was a sailor man who loved the sea and spinach straight from the can. He had a thing for a skinny gal named Olive Oyl and a soft spot in his heart for a kid named Sweet Pea.

But from time to time Popeye would wax philosophical. He accepted his life as it was, and he expected others to do the same. He would say, “I yam what I yam.” Sometimes he would add, “And that’s all that I yam.”

We really have two ways to react to our imperfections. We can imitate Popeye or Paul. In Philippians 1:13, referring to the goal of Christ-likeness, Paul said, “I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold if it. But this one thing I do: I press on.”

Had some of us written that verse, we would have said instead, “I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But, hey, I’m only human, so what do you expect? Don’t get your hopes up. I yam what I yam.”

This is why some of us never reach our full potential in Christ. We never become “entirely ready” to let go of the habits and attitudes that keep us in defeat. We come to a kind of tired truce with our weaknesses and simply accept that we can’t make things any better.

This Sunday at 10:00 a.m., we’ll learn to quit saying, “I yam what I yam and that’s all that I yam.” Join us!

Take the Prayer Tour! This Sunday, come 45 minutes earlier than normal for a Prayer Tour through our facility. It will begin and end in the auditorium, and it will take 45 minutes to complete. You can begin anytime between 8:15 and 9:15 a.m., depending on what activities you have to get to. Many of our people will choose to begin the Prayer Tour at 9:15 a.m. and end at 10 a.m. in the auditorium in time for the worship service to begin.

You can choose the start-time that works best for you because the Prayer Tour will be self-guided. When you arrive in the auditorium you will be given a map of our facilities and a prayer guide. The guide will tell you where to stop in the building and what to pray for at each stop.

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The Popeye reference is adapted from a book by John Ortberg.

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

Links to Your World, Tuesday October 13

“Two Gordon College professors, based in Massachusetts, authored a recently published study, “Pulling the Mask Off of Facebook: The Impact of Social Networking Activities on Evangelical Christian College Students,” which studied the use of Facebook in more than 1,300 students at Christian colleges. Their main premise is that many students who are using Facebook and other social media technology are doing it so much that they don’t have time for the reflection that Christians should engage in.” (Joshunda Sanders, Of Sacred and Secular)

 

Related: I wrote about our need for self-control in a wired world and linked to a clip from a great sermon on the subject here.

 

Those between the ages of 16-24 are having a hard time finding a job. BusinessWeek says it’s a crisis, both now and in the future, and both for young adults and the society at large.

 

Two young women are still being held in Iran's notorious Evin Prison after refusing to deny Jesus Christ and return to the religion of peace.

 

“Eating a Mediterranean-style diet — packed with fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, olive oil and fish — is good for your heart, many studies have found. Now scientists are suggesting the diet may be good for your mental health, too” (NYT).

 

“What if Jesus Christ showed up in the 21st century? What would he look like? What would he do? Michael Belk, a Florida fashion photographer turned biblical chronicler, decided to find out.” (Read about Belk’s project to photograph Jesus in modern settings; view his images at his website.)

 

“The most au courant thing about Hayley Williams [lead singer and singwriter for Paramore] might be her upbringing—she grew up in a Christian household outside of Nashville, Tenn., a background she shares with fellow pop-rock superstars Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift (who moved to the state at age 13). From Cyrus and Swift to Katy Perry and Kelly Clarkson, there's clearly something in the baptismal water these days—the top of the pop heap is crawling with Christian girls” (Slate).

 

“Disorientation begets creative thinking, though it can also lead people to embrace bizarre conspiracy theories....When [normal] patterns break down — as when a hiker stumbles across an easy chair sitting deep in the woods, as if dropped from the sky — the brain gropes for something, anything that makes sense. It may retreat to a familiar ritual, like checking equipment. But it may also turn its attention outward, the researchers argue, and notice, say, a pattern in animal tracks that was previously hidden. The urge to find a coherent pattern makes it more likely that the brain will find one” (NYT).

 

The Most Annoying Phrases: “In a recent Marist poll, nearly half of Americans – 47% – said they find ‘whatever’ most annoying. The other sayings weren’t quite so loathed. 25% say they find ‘you know’ most grating; 11% can’t stand “it is what it is”; 7% would like to ban ‘anyway’ from all verbal exchanges; and 2% reported that they could do without hearing ‘at the end of the day.’” (story)

 

Related: "Totally like whatever, you know?" happens to be one of my favorite poems.

 

Good-bye, Email: “Email has had a good run as king of communications. But its reign is over. In its place, a new generation of services is starting to take hold—services like Twitter and Facebook and countless others vying for a piece of the new world. And just as email did more than a decade ago, this shift promises to profoundly rewrite the way we communicate—in ways we can only begin to imagine.”

 

Reaction to Awarding President Obama the Nobel Peace Prize:

“This ill-concealed crusade is clearly damaging the prestige of the Nobel; the winners are supposed to be honored for their achievements, not for symbolizing the committee's grudges. And it probably won't do Obama any favors; he wants to be a leader, not a symbol, and honoring him for his rhetoric about a new American approach to diplomacy only reinforces the meme of his critics that he's merely a man of rhetoric.” (Time)

“Let's face it: this prize is premature to the point of ridiculousness. It continues a pattern that holds some peril for Obama: he is celebrated for who he is not, and for who he might potentially be, rather than for what he has actually done” (Swampland).

“Mr. Obama’s aides had to expect a barrage of churlish reaction, and they got it. The left denounced the Nobel committee for giving the prize to a wartime president. The right proclaimed that Mr. Obama sold out the United States by engaging in diplomacy. Members of the dwindling band of George W. Bush loyalists also sneered — with absolutely no recognition of their own culpability — that Mr. Obama has not yet ended the wars in Afghanistan and in Iraq” (NYT Editorial). Wow, these guys don't read the same websites I read. Criticisms from the right and left, yes (well, more mystified bemusement). But not for the reasons the NY Times gives.

The Austin-American Statesman defends the choice of President Obama for the award: “It doesn't say anything about results. It's about effort. And, though a work in progress, Obama has made a bold effort to reposition the U.S. among the family of nations.”

Slate says you really can't take the decisions of 5 people in the most eccentric and provincial country in the world too seriously.

Fun with Photoshop: Time magazine photoshopped Obama receiving other awards.

An Award for Not Being Someone

Mike Grunwald at Time magazine gets it right: Today's Nobel to President Obama is the 89th Nobel Prize for Peace, as well as the fourth Nobel Prize for Not Being George W. Bush. He warns:

"This ill-concealed crusade is clearly damaging the prestige of the Nobel; the winners are supposed to be honored for their achievements, not for symbolizing the committee's grudges. And it probably won't do Obama any favors; he wants to be a leader, not a symbol, and honoring him for his rhetoric about a new American approach to diplomacy only reinforces the meme of his critics that he's merely a man of rhetoric."

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1929433,00.html?xid=rss-topstories

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