"As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God."

This story is so interesting. It reminds me of a speaker at one of the L'Abri conferences who said that what Africa needed was not more money, food, or resources, but a different worldview: a Christian one.

Here's some excerpts:

But travelling in Malawi refreshed another belief, too: one I've been trying to banish all my life, but an observation I've been unable to avoid since my African childhood. It confounds my ideological beliefs, stubbornly refuses to fit my world view, and has embarrassed my growing belief that there is no God.

Now a confirmed atheist, I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.

I used to avoid this truth by applauding - as you can - the practical work of mission churches in Africa. It's a pity, I would say, that salvation is part of the package, but Christians black and white, working in Africa, do heal the sick, do teach people to read and write; and only the severest kind of secularist could see a mission hospital or school and say the world would be better without it. I would allow that if faith was needed to motivate missionaries to help, then, fine: but what counted was the help, not the faith.

But this doesn't fit the facts. Faith does more than support the missionary; it is also transferred to his flock. This is the effect that matters so immensely, and which I cannot help observing.

HT: Justin Taylor

thank you, emily lewis.

one reason (among MANY) i love emily lewis is because she likes a lot of the same things i do. consider this poem:

She who reconciles the ill-matched threads
of her life, and weaves them gratefully
into a single cloth—
it's she who drives the loudmouths from the hall
and clears it for a different celebration

where the one guest is you.
In the softness of evening
it's you she receives.

You are the partner of her loneliness,
the unspeaking center of her monologues.
With each disclosure you encompass more
and she stretches beyond what limits her,
to hold you.

Rainer Maria Rilke,The Book of Hours: Love Poems to God

LOVE it. thanks em.

A Calvinistic and Reformed Faith

Calvinistic does not mean reformed.... Anthony Bradley provides a good discussion for this here.

Happy Thanksgiving Santa Claus

My brother (who's six) wrote this letter to Santa on my computer over Thanksgiving break. Hilarious. In the original format, there is excessive spaces between words, but blogspot won't allow it in posting.

Happy Thanksgiving Santa Claus I love Christmas I love your presents I love you Santa Claus . Colleen wants a new computer for her. Patty would like a new car. My mom would like a new set of dishes for my mom. My dad wants a new car . Brendan wants a skateboard for me Brendan.
Santa Claus this Christmas is going to be the best
Christmas ever. This is going to be a letter
To Santa Claus from Brendan which is me Brendan.

Patient Voices: Multiple Sclerosis

The New York Times has done an excellent piece on those living with the effects of MS. Great audio and video slideshow, and lots of variation in people.


The Faces of MS

i'm a big kid now....

i just activated my first credit card in my name.



i kind of feel like i have all the power in the world!

this is brilliant: an ode to coffee

check this out, and make sure you look at the drawings. it's just fantastic.



and for kicks, i identify with so much of this. brilliant.

Study: Unhappy people watch more TV

not that this is a huge surprise, but a study came out that directly correlates TV watching with unhappiness. read it here. i still think when i have kids that i don't really even want a TV in the house at all.

and here's some excerpts:

"An extensive new research study has found that unhappy people watch more TV while those consider themselves happy spend more time reading and socializing.

The University of Maryland analyzed 34 years of data collected from more than 45,000 participants and found that watching TV might make you feel good in the short term but is more likely to lead to overall unhappiness.

Concludes the study: "These points have parallels with addiction; since addictive activities produce momentary pleasure but long-term misery and regret. People most vulnerable to addiction tend to be socially or personally disadvantaged, with TV becoming an opiate."

oh, books.

just a fun little quote i came across today:

"books are to be read and used, not collected and coddled." - al mohler.

so mark them up!

The Man Watching

The Man Watching

Rainer Maria Rilke

I can tell by the way the trees beat, after

so many dull days, on my worried windowpanes

that a storm is coming,

and I hear the far-off fields say things

I can't bear without a friend,

I can't love without a sister

The storm, the shifter of shapes, drives on

across the woods and across time,

and the world looks as if it had no age:

the landscape like a line in the psalm book,

is seriousness and weight and eternity.

What we choose to fight is so tiny!

What fights us is so great!

If only we would let ourselves be dominated

as things do by some immense storm,

we would become strong too, and not need 

names.

When we win it's with small things,

and the triumph itself makes us small.

What is extraordinary and eternal

does not want to be bent by us.

I mean the Angel who appeared

to the wrestlers of the Old Testament:

when the wrestler's sinews

grew long like metal strings,

he felt them under his fingers

like chords of deep music.

Whoever was beaten by this Angel

(who often simply declined the fight)

went away proud and strengthened

and great from that harsh hand,

that kneaded him as if to change his shape.

Winning does not tempt that man.

This is how he grows: by being defeated,

decisively,

by constantly greater beings.

_______________________________

I think I like this poem so much because it is so encouraging.  I like the image that we are being shaped, being kneaded by this harsh hand to change our shape.  This is how we grow--we are constantly put in our place, decisively.

Homeless Survival Kit Distribution

The homeless survival kit distribution was Thursday afternoon, and tons of people showed up at Speaker's Circle.  There were men waiting for us starting at 1:30, and one man said that people were so grateful, talking about this for 2 weeks!  It was incredible how many people showed up as well was how much was donated by people at the Crossing.  It far exceeded any of my expectations.  Very humbling experience.

And check out this link to see the audio slideshow that was put up by the Missourian.

i sit and look out.

I Sit and Look Out
Walt Whitman

I sit and look out upon all the sorrows of the world, and upon all oppression and shame;

I hear secret convulsive sobs from young men, at anguish with themselves, remorseful after deeds done;

I see, in low life, the mother misused by her children, dying, neglected, gaunt, desperate;

I see the wife misused by her husband--I see the treacherous seducer of young women;

I mark the ranklings of jealousy and unrequited love, attempted to be hid--I see these sights on the earth;

I see the workings of battle, pestilence, tyranny--I see martyrs and prisoners;

I observe a famine at sea--I observe the sailors casting lots who shall be kill'd, to preserve the lives of the rest;

I observe the slights and degradations cast by arrogant persons upon laborers, the poor, and upon negroes, and the like;

All these--All the meanness and agony without end, I sitting, look out upon,

See, hear, and am silent.

the sense of the beautiful

"a man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul."

-- johann wolfgang von.

Harry Potter and Richard Dawkins

Apparently, Richard Dawkins is beginning a study on whether or not fairy tales have a negative effect on children. Read the article here.

The prominent atheist is stepping down from his post at Oxford University to write a book aimed at youngsters in which he will warn them against believing in "anti-scientific" fairytales.

Prof Dawkins said he wanted to look at the effects of "bringing children up to believe in spells and wizards".

But Prof Dawkins, the bestselling author of The God Delusion who this week agreed to fund a series of atheist adverts on London buses, added that his new book will also set out to demolish the "Judeo-Christian myth".

HT: Justin Taylor

the unexamined life

"the unexamined life is not worth living."
- socrates.

thoughts?

The Richt Family Adoption

Check out this beautiful video that was broadcasted on ESPN's Gameday. Mark Richt, Georgia's head football coach, and his wife adopted two precious kids from the Ukraine. The youngest daughter has a facial deformity but has the most incredible spirit I have ever seen. It was really cool to hear the Richt's talk about how the Lord worked in their lives. You just might shed a little tear :)



HT: Jeremy Monteith, Zach Nielsen, and Justin Taylor

Forgive 77 Times

I think one of the hardest -- yet most beautiful -- teachings in the Bible is the one about forgiveness. In Matthew 18:21, Peter asks Jesus, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Essentially, Peter wants to know when enough is enough. When do you give up on a friendship? When are you hurt so many times that it's ok to just call it quits? When you can't take it anymore?

Sometimes I find myself fighting so hard against this teaching, because it goes against everything in me. It is natural for most of us, after they are continually hurt, continually sinned against, and let down time and time again, to say they are through with it. Done with the relationship, the job, the person. It's natural for me to justify those thoughts, saying that I don't deserve that, I don't deserve that treatment; in fact, I actually deserve much better.

But the answer that Jesus gives to Peter surprises me. He tells him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy seven times." Are you kidding me? 77 times? I have to forgive someone so much for hurting me that I won't even remember the number of times I've forgiven them? This is so hard when everything in me wants to give up, to stop fighting for a friendship or for a person.

I think so highly of myself that I can trick myself into thinking that I don't do the exact same thing to everyone around me. I let people down. I don't love them. And I'm not the friend or daughter or sister to others that I demand them to be to me. That is the beauty in this teaching. While my pride gets in the way so much of the time, I have been forgiven for so much. I've been forgiven not only once for all, but millions more than seventy seven times. I know that the Lord has not called it quits on me and never will--he doesn't even think it--and that gives me so much hope for myself. I have hope not only that I will be and have been forgiven, but that because I have been forgiven, I can show this same love to others. Even when my heart feels as though it will shatter into billions of tiny sharp pieces because of the pain, I have to believe that I don't truly deserve to be forgiven myself. I have to forgive despite pain. And that is such a hard concept to wrap my mind around.

College and the American Dream

Here's an old post by Anthony Bradley about Christians in college and what their true motivation is for getting a degree. After i read this, I felt both affirmed and convicted in my own education. Take a look. And here's a little taste:

"What is man's chief end? Americans answer this way: to glorify himself and live in comfort and ease forever. American evangelicals think no differently. Ask Christian college kids WHY they choose their major. And the answers at times will depress you. It's not the vocation that's the problem but the motive. So now we have Christians missing from certains sectors of society because those areas don't pay well. It's SICK!!"

"Doesn't it just make you sick to think that many Christian kids in college or soon there after do not see the purpose of their gifts, interests, and abilities to serve God and other people. That's right, Christians use what God has given to serve Him and others...."

"Nowhere in the Bible are Christians encouraged to work hard for the material rewards. I wish someone would tell this to Christians in America. The American dream in motivated by and grounded in pagan idolatry promoting material success, ease, and comfort at all cost."

"Wouldn't it be great if Christians were motivated to pursue vocations because God revealed some of the needs in the world and gives the interest and ability to meet some of the needs in the world."

"What does mean for a Christian to be living a "successful" life?"

"But the idea that "getting an education to aid in providing for your family" is what Christians need to think about more deeply. Namely, we need to ask what, then, is the purpose of education? If we look at Daniel, for example, the purpose of his education was service of God and other people, not a future economic safety net. Christians have become utilitarians with respect to education. Education from a Christian perspective used to be about learning about God's world and being broadly equipped to do whatever God might call a person to do vocationally. Even, now for Christians, education is not directed at discerning one's calling but the utility of the economic result. Is education's only value an economic one? This is exactly why kids don't want to learn information for the sake of knowledge but want to get good grades because of the long-term economic consequences. People don't care if they learn anything or not."

"I would be more comfortable if Christians thought like this, "I'm getting an education in order to pursue and prepare for God's calling in my life vocationally." If we pursue God and not economic safety then we will find that Jesus' words are true that if seek first the kingdom of God all the other material things in life will be taken care of."

possibility junkies.

mmm great blog post by ken meyers on the evangelical outpost. as an ideas person, i really loved it. here's some of my favorite sections of it, but read the whole thing here.

"Ideas, we are frequently told, have consequences. We are less often encouraged to reflect on the equally significant if more elusive relationship of ideas to their antecedents. Ideas come from somewhere, and they are able to take up residence in our lives because they find friendly surroundings. So if bad ideas are plaguing our society (and having bad consequences), we ought to ask about their origins. And we need to ask what it is about the shape of our lives that make bad ideas seem plausible."

"If Edmundson's diagnosis of the ethos of our culture is accurate, there are at least two avenues of response available to parents, teachers, clergy, and others in positions of Church and cultural leadership. One is to try to figure out how to go with the flow (although "flow" may not be the best word/semi what about "rampage" or "tsunami"?). But if the absence of thickness, depth, and commitment encouraged by fast skating is really not in keeping with the shape of human flourishing, if there is something truly unnatural about this mentality, something in it that is not consistent with our nature, then we need to attend to the maintenance of counter-cultural institutions and practices. Reading and re-reading books, slowly, keeping personal and private journals (not public blogs) which invite true introspection without the distraction of self-presentation, face-to-face conversations that linger and dwell, conversations that achieve some contrapuntal pleasure, attentive listening to musical works that require us to slow down and perceive subtle resonances and formal nuance: these are monotasking practices of closure, commitment, and contemplation. Their loss is one of the ways our contemporaries are becoming figurative widows and orphans (see James 1:27)."

"The pursuit of actuality rather than infinite possibility will not come easily, and will require repudiation of the ways of life that characterize our moment. Those Christian leaders who discourage such repudiation in the name of "cultural engagement" need to be able to explain to people like Mark Edmundson why the Church is indifferent to the plight of students who cannot stop and think."

obama and infanticide

whoa. check out this post by justin taylor, and then click on the full story to read it.

The Frugal Teenager, Ready or Not

interesting article about how the economy is affecting spending in families: the frugal teenager, ready or not.

vignette memoir

i wrote this last year for one of my teaching classes, and just got it back today. i think that this is one of my favorite pieces i've written.

The Place Mom Calls “Home”: Pacific Care Center

I remember…

Being right across the street from that small Baptist church, tarnished and tattered, but the Lord’s house nonetheless. Cheesy block-lettered quotes hung on the welcome sign, the only thing to force a smile on my face.

Walking, hesitantly, step by heavy step, up the smoke filled walkway leading to the patio, where all the nurses would be sucking that cancer into their lungs, addicted to a drug that they couldn’t really see. And content with that.

Being greeted by Pat, who would smile at us, but we didn’t know this stranger who was trying so hard to be friendly, to welcome us into foreign territory, a land whose customs we didn’t know and didn’t care to ever know.

Entering and saying hi to the receptionist, and seeing yourself in the huge mirror, with that scared look in your eyes. The young innocence, the fresh face compared to the elderly, hallowed looks that bore into you from all around.

The meals at the table that had to be tall enough for wheelchairs to fit under it. Sitting in those high, dirty, straightbacked chairs, watching food flying in all directions as if a 4 year old was eating. The floor had to be mopped every 5 minutes it seemed, the creamed corn splattered everywhere and crumbs sticking to it.

The pregnant teenager with the greasy, stringy hair covering her face serving meals in the kitchen, with the baggy, plastic gloves hanging like a sheet over her hands.

Waiting for Mom to just finish up so we could go into her room and get away from the noise and the smells and just talk there. Talk about how life had changed, how this was a new part of acceptance, and hear the complaints that ravaged my ears.

The allotted smoke time every two hours during daylight that couldn’t be missed OR ELSE, and the waiting around for life to return again.

The physical therapy room, where Mom’s stiff legs would be bent in ways that they could never do themselves, without the help of a trained professional moving them and massaging and managing the wrecked muscles that tensed permanently inside the skin.

Margaret, the lady that always wanted you to snap the device that hooked her to her walking “companion,” which really just looked like piping held together for support, just like she asks everyone who walks by her, with those drooping, pleading, fearful eyes, even though the nurses say you can’t; she’s connected for a reason; she would break a hip in her fragile state.

The universal remote that Mom kept in her wheelchair bag, giving her powerful control over the lobby and dining room TV so she could watch whatever she wanted whenever she wanted to. Those Cardinals games and court TV shows that couldn’t be skipped because they proved there was life outside of these walls.

The roommates that yell in the night, two to a room, never any privacy, the door always open. Carrie who never knew where she was, clutching that stuffed bear as if it were her child, asking for her husband every five minutes, completely taken over by that mind disease that sucks your memory into a vacuum, never to be returned or cherished again.

The service that wouldn’t show up, forced to work low-paid jobs just to feed their children because the father had left. But who really wants this job? It’s hard work to find skilled nurses and personal assistants who like their job, who don’t walk in those doors with a sour look already in their eyes and a vain conceit hardly concealed by every action in their day.

And the bedtime, ten o’clock every night, right after the smoke time. Mom’s placed into her bed, awaiting the shower that came in the morning (that’s if it even came), waking to a shuffling of feet outside her door by those few who could slowly walk on their own.

And then we walked out, punched in the code in the steel double doors so we could escape, out to fresh air and trees and a parking lot full of cars that had the freedom to leave any time they wanted to—just like we did. And we had to leave her there, to fend for herself because we couldn’t take her with us.

top 10 reasons i love fall

in honor of today being the first day of fall (and the fact that i love it so much!) here are the top 10 reasons i love fall:

1. the leaves start to crunch under your shoes! i go out of my way to step on a particularly crunchy leaf.
2. the harvest moon. mm.
3. perfect temperature. long sleeves and shorts for a jog is a must. just perfect.
4. watching the leaves fall. especially when you are sitting in kaldi's at the window seats, drinking hot tea or coffee, reading a good book while gazing out the window every now and then.
5. football. sometimes i go to the games on a saturday, and sometimes i like to do number 4, because no one is around and i can have kaldi's all to myself and my thoughts.
6. driving with the windows down, music turned up. i know you can do this in the summer too, but it is just particularly pleasant in the fall.
7. fall wreaths on front doors. yep.
8. halloween! this means carved pumpkins on front door steps, little (and big) kids in costumes, and really funny jokes (especially when they are about a turkey told by my brother).
9. playing in the backyard. you know that winter is coming, so you must make an effort to play outside during any and all free time--it won't last long!
10. christmas music! fall is a sign of winter. therefore, christmas music is acceptable. (but i did start listening to it about 2 weeks and 3 days ago. oops)

The Fall and Its Effects on our Relationships (2)

So if we know what relationships are supposed to be like (see post one), how they are designed by God for Creation, then why are they so hard? I think the answer is found in Genesis 3, where we encounter how sin is brought into the marriage relationship. The hearts of Adam and Eve were turned away from God when they sinned against him, and Satan’s goal was realized. After Eve was deceived and ate of the forbidden tree, Adam was faced with a dilemma, and he must make a choice that is only possible when living in a world where sin has entered. “He must, he thinks, either obey God and lose his beloved Eve or enter with her into rebellion and lose his own standing before God. The choice was between the gift and the Giver, between Even and the blessed Creator.” Adam ate the fruit, and the choice was irrevocably made.

I don’t think Adam was right, though. We don’t have to choose between the gift and the Giver. Instead of turning in faith to God to help him, Adam turned away from him and that’s why he fell into sin. “He gave Eve the place in his life reserved for God alone. He made her the ultimate object of his worship… Eve was not designed to do this. She was made to be a suitable helper for him, not a goddess.” They listened to a lie; despite what Satan tempted them with—-that they would be like God—-they found that only God can be the source for blessing in our lives. His love is given to us with the intent that we enjoy it, but their rebellion ruined what was once good.

More effects of sin:

1. Alienation: The man and the woman could no longer be in a right fellowship with God, and could therefore no longer enjoy the intimate fellowship and love they previously had with each other—-no longer were they pure and innocent. Genesis 3:7 says, “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin cloths.” “Gone were the days of open disclosure; Adam and Eve now had something to hide, something to cover up, something wrong at the core of their beings.”

2. Fear: God enters the scene, Genesis 3:8-9: “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”’ Adam states that he was afraid, and then he hid himself from the Lord. The presence of the holy God was a threat to him, when in a right relationship with God, His presence should be loving and Fatherly.

3. Self-centered concern for oneself instead of commitment to another. Adam is the first blame-shifter in a “long, long line of men to put down his wife for his own sin.” He points fingers both at Eve and at God. When questioned by God about his sin, Adam replies, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate” (Gen. 3:11-12). Adam is desperate to remove his guilt from himself. And when God demands an answer from Eve, she too does not respond completely truthfully: “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (Gen. 3:13).

How often we blame others-—and even circumstances-—for our sin. Instead of owning up to our own hardness of heart, we try to push God’s wrath onto other things. I think if we really saw our sin for what it was, and openly admitted to it, relationships would be so much easier. We wouldn’t be trying to cover ourselves up and hiding all the ways in which we sin. “Sin corrupts intimacy with shame and offers secrecy in its place. It twists commitment into selfishness, intimacy into secrecy and shame, and interdependence into conflict.”


Next: The curses God put individually on all men and women, and what that means for today.

a good season with God and his Word

George Muller commented regarding his reading of the Bible: "I look upon it as a lost day when I have not had a good time over the Word of God. Friends often say, 'I have so much to do, so many people to see, I cannot find time for Scripture study.' Perhaps there are not many who more to do than I. For more than half a century I have never known one day when I had not more business than I could get through. For four years I have had annually about thirty thousand letters, and most of these have passed through my own hands. Then, as pastor of a church of twelve hundred believers, great has been my care. Besides, I have had charge of five immense orphanages; also, at my published depot, the printing and circulating of millions of tracts, books, and Bibles; but I have always made it a rule never to begin work until I have had a good season with God and His Word. The blessing I have received has been wonderful."

HT: john currid.

awkward questions.

i read these two blog posts (one and two) today about godly friends and tough questions we need to be asking each other.. here's some excerpts:

"Hebrews 3:13 says, ” But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” Godly friends exhort one another to pursue godliness. They ask tough, awkward, probing questions that dig deep into the heart and expose sinful desires. Truly godly friends aren’t afraid to get down and dirty.

Why do godly friends exhort each other? Why do my godly friends ask me tough questions about my struggles with sin? Because they care for me, and they don’t want me to be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Sin is deceitful, and many times we fail to see our sin accurately. For example, I recently confessed to the guys in my small group that I had been struggling with worry. Thanks to their insightful, and awkward questions, they were able to help me see that my sin went deeper than just worry. I was failing to trust God, and I was being self-sufficient. Their exhortation helped me to see my sin as it truly was. Godly friends help each other see their sin accurately by asking tough questions."

my prayer lately has been to have the courage to be vulnerable, and to expose my sins, because ultimately i know this is the best thing for me--and one of the ways the Lord's goodness blesses me over and over again. i see myself so easily hardened by my sin, and i want to fight that. i want to be faithfully pursuing the Lord, and i want to be pointing my friends towards the Lord. check out the original posts for some good starter questions.



[p.s. the next men and women post is coming soon, i promise! still in draft stages.]

God's Design for Men and Women (1)

Earlier this afternoon, I finished reading a book that was filled with lots of great, biblical wisdom—all about God’s original design for men and women, what happened to that design because of the Fall, and how relationships between the two can be redeemed because of Christ. And all of this was eventually tied to implications for the big ‘D’ word that no one likes to actually read about – dating.

So that’s what this upcoming blog series will be about. Let’s start with God’s design in Creation….

Basically, God created everything—and He said it was good… until you keep reading to Genesis 2:18, when God suddenly says that everything was not good. God is talking about a man without a woman, so He provides a woman for the well-being of the man. A woman is formed out of Adam’s rib (Gen. 2:21-23)… and the first relationship between a man and a woman began. God’s purpose in creation envisioned a relationship (practically: marriage). Without this, life is not good for the man.

The woman was not merely the same flesh and bone for Adam, and she was not merely different from Adam in the sense that we realize daily, but she was “suitable” for him, a “helper fit for him.” They fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, evidenced in Genesis 2’s comparison between the animals and birds (created from nothing) and the woman whom God made from Adam’s own flesh.

If we focus on that word helper, it’s easy to see how in our fallen world it can have connotations of something weak and devalued. But if we see what the word looks like biblically, even God was called a helper. He was the helper of Israel; he is called a helper when he feeds a prophet, a widow, and her son; and look at Psalm 121: “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” A woman is not superfluous, but “essential to Adam’s condition and to God’s purpose in the world. Helper is a position of dignity given to the woman by God himself.”

Matthew Henry puts it this way: “The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved. Adam lost a rib…but in lieu thereof he had a helpmeet for him, which abundantly made up his loss.”

“A woman was given to man not for his whims but for his character. She elevates a man in true masculinity. In a perfect paradise not touched by sin, God’s people delighted in his design. Helper was not a position for Eve to fight, but a function for her to fulfill. It is God’s design, bearing his fingerprints for his glory and our good, a design we tamper with at our own peril. As the man delighted in the woman, so also she delighted in her calling and fully embraced it. That is why she is called his “glory” (1 Cor. 11:7). She brings beauty into the world for him. She ministers to him in light of the struggles and trials of his life. She stands beside him. She makes demands on him that God intends for him to fulfill.” And only after she was made from the man and given to Adam could the Bible finally say, "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good" (Gen. 1:31).

And what about the guy? What was he created for? Adam was granted lordship in the Garden, under God’s ultimate sovereignty. This wasn’t emphasizing a privilege, though; it was a lordship of obligation. Male leadership in the home and in the church is also talked about in the New Testament, looking back on the events in the Garden (see 1 Cor. 11:3 and 1 Tim. 2:12-14).

Genesis 2:15 says that “the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” These two key verbs in the Hebrew refer to Adam’s lordship to take the form of nurture and protection—not stoic and unfeeling. He was called to a servant-lordship, while Eve was the servant-helper—complementary ministry according to God’s design. The result of God’s design was perfect companionship.

But we have to remember that this is not a man and woman’s only relationship and often not their only ministry. Most significant is their own relationship to God and the calling to serve him with their gifts and talents. Without this right relationship to God, there is no hope for a right relationship between a man and a woman in God’s design.

Next post: the Fall and its effects on our relationships.

i love the olympics!

the US men dominated in the swimming relay yesterday; this is easily my favorite moment of the olympics thus far.

here's the story:

BEIJING -- The U.S. men's 4x100m free relay team won gold Monday in the most exciting, most record-breaking, most amazing, thrilling, unbelievable relay anyone could ever imagine, evidence of exactly what Jason Lezak, who swam the greatest anchor leg in relay history, had to say when it was all over:

"People always step up and do things out of the ordinary at the Olympics."

This was even so much more. Extraordinary in every regard.

check out the complete story here.

if you missed it, watch the video!

The Journey of Life

This was posted on Pastor John Currid's blog a while ago, and I thought it was interesting:

Today one hears a lot of talk about how each one of us is on a "journey", that is, a journey of life, an adventurous journey, or even a spiritual journey. Indeed, Buddhists talk about the journey of life, and so do astrologers, witches, numerologists, Muslims, and all sorts of religions, pseudo-religions, and even atheists. The language of "journey" has taken over the business world; one can rarely open the newspaper and not hear a bank spouting "we will help you on your journey". But I think, as Christians, we need to be very careful in using such language as "our journey" and "our story" -- for most people today, such language simply reflects a meandering, rambling path that has no purpose, end, or goal. For a post-modern generation there is no telos, that is, no end or purpose. There is no specific destination, but many are simply on the waves of time and chance, and they are being taken wherever circumstances take them. This type of journey has no climax; these people simply do not know where they are going.

The Christian is not on that type of journey. As Thomas Carlyle said, "The man without purpose is like a ship without a rudder." Christians do have an end, a purpose, and a telos: we are on a pilgrimage. We have a definite end and destination. We are heading for the celestial city, the city with foundations, that is, the land that will never perish or fade away (1 Peter 1:4). And even more than that, our pilgrimage is not meandering or wandering or out of control because the steps of our pilgrimage have been set by the very sovereignty of God. We are on a pilgrimage and not an unknown journey. We "follow in his steps" (1 Peter 2:21).

HT: John Currid

time remains, it does not pass.

there's a great chapter in the knowledge of the holy by a.w. tozer called 'God's infinitude.' to not at all do it justice, infinitude means limitless, and it is obviously impossible for a limited mind to grasp the Unlimited. the depths of the riches both of the knowledge and wisdom of God is incredible, yet this chapter reveals to me just how "unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out." it reminds me of my own limits, or, rather, what i think are limits. this really strikes a nerve along the subject of what i've been learning lately, about time and busyness and rest. tozer says:

"because God's nature is infinite, everything that flows out of it is infinite also. we poor human creatures are constantly being frustrated by limitations imposed upon us from without and within. the days of the years of our lives are few, and swifter than a weaver's shuttle. life is a short and fevered rehearsal for a concert we cannot stay to give. just when we appear to have attained some proficiency we are forced to lay our instruments down. there is simply not time enough to think, to become, to perform what the constitution of our natures indicates we are capable of.

how completely satisfying to turn from our limitations to a God who has none. eternal years lie in His heart. for Him time does not pass, it remains; and those who are in Christ share with Him all the riches of limitless time and endless years. God never hurries. there are no deadlines against which He must work. only to know this is to quiet our spirits and relax our nerves. for those out of Christ, time is a devouring beast; before the sons of the new creation time crouches and purrs and licks their hands. the foe of the old human race becomes the friend of the new, and the stars in their courses fight for the man God delights to honor. this we may learn from the divine infinitude."

this is such a good reminder of my riches in Christ. i should never treat time as a "devouring beast," for i have been given eternity. i want the satisfaction that lies in turning to a limitless God. as fallen creatures, we have limits. we live in a world where time passes and moves on, yet we're still not of this world. for us, time is eternal and therefore it doesn't end. tozer goes on to say, "in God there is life enough for all and time enough to enjoy it. whatever is possessed of natural life runs through its cycle from birth to death and ceases to be, but the life of God returns upon itself and ceases never." we are given life by God, and it doesn't cease. how thankful we should be, for we don't have to look at time the way that the world does. we are given a gift of time from God, but it's a gift that is eternal, and we should treat it as such.

it's ok if we don't get everything done we have planned for a day, a week, or a year. if time is really eternal, if time really "remains," then we will have time enough for all, and time enough to enjoy God as we should.

what a sabbatical.

you may have noticed i took a short sabbatical from the blogging world from june 3rd up until right now. my mind was overloaded and rest was needed and had. i didn't feel like there was anything i was learning that was really worthwhile to post. but i'm back in action! refreshed and ready to go for a new season of life.

here's a little snippet of what i've been learning this summer. i presented it as my independent study for project: columbia, so when you read this, know that there are many things in it that i wish i had time to develop more.

"I did my study on busyness and the Sabbath because it’s something that I continually struggle with, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly—it never ends, and it’s something that I continually wrestle with. So why am I a slave to busyness, and a slave to something that I have been freed from in Christ? Knowing that I am a slave to it, it’s still something that I like, something that I don’t necessarily want to be freed from. It gives me pleasure, it gives me worth, and ultimately busyness is something in which I find a part of my identity—my identity apart from Christ. That’s not what I was made for and I want to desire to live differently and live obediently to the holy calling of Sabbath and to rest and refreshment in the Lord. Because it is a direct disobedience to God.

I did a lot of study on the Sabbath and learned a lot from looking at this area that I purposely don’t ever think about (even though I want and need my soul to be continually rejuvenated). God gives us the gift of rest in the fourth commandment in Exodus. It is a privilege that I keep it, and I want to think of this as more of a gift, something that benefits me, rather than another religious duty or something that I should do legalistically. Because of the fall, work has been polluted and is described as a painful toil, but God, in his love, wants us to be able to work hard without being worn down by worry—thus the Sabbath. God knew when he was writing these commands that we need rest, and it shows how devoted our God is to loving us despite how foolish we are that we even need a command. The commandment requires rest both physically and spiritually. There is a gladness that comes from relief of the body and according to Genesis 2:3 (“So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”), there was an inactivity—a simple enjoyment of the world that God made, a delight and thanksgiving in his Creation.

One article I read talked about rest and work as a rhythm that God built into the world when He made it.

I wanted to look at my life and see what this means for me and my busyness that I hold onto. If I know the way God made it, that I am supposed to rest, to seek that out and to make that a holy priority in my life, then why don’t I do it? Ultimately it stems from my own unbelief in the gospel—an unbelief in the Lord’s promise to control my life despite my actions, and an unbelief in the Lord’s sovereignty. It also shows my lack of love for the Lord, because I am not obeying Him in this area, and shows my lack of trust that he will take care of me. God is sovereign over time. One article I read stated, “God sets boundaries of time for our activities, and our submission to those limits represents our trust in him to take care of us. One entailment of God as Lord of time is that we are to recognize time as a gift. We do not control the time we have—God has given it to us and can do with it as he pleases.” We can only humbly receive time from him, and we must be good stewards of it. So there is a tension between using that time wisely for good, and using it to rest. The practice of this in my life is hard. Wisdom is taking every opportunity and fully using the time granted us. It’s in Scripture to both make the most of evangelistic opportunities and also to seek God’s will and cultivate holiness. “To redeem the time means to fill it with divine purpose, not just with any and every activity.”

Another article talked about something called “holy busyness.” It is okay to be busy if it is a balance of working hard as a manifestation of trusting God and cultivating times of rest, but not if we are busy to justify ourselves. It must be grounded in the gospel: Who we are comes before what we do, and we must remember that our relationship with God precedes the activity we do for him. God has provided the gifts of time and work, and we can trust that each is sufficient for the other. Therefore, holy busyness foes not complain about not having enough time, for ultimately such grumbling is directed against God—He has given us our time. But when it comes to rest, we have to remember that God made us creatures before he made us Christians.

Our priority has to be relationship with God, and out of that should flow our activity. “Too much busyness today is not rightly oriented, even if it has good motives, because it has lost sight of the primacy of knowing God.” One question my mind continually comes back to is ‘Do I love my works/ministry/job/people (and even doing these things in the name of the Lord) more than I love Christ Himself?’ I think that hits the heart of the issue. I love what I am doing more than I love Christ, and that is why it is a struggle for me to rest."

The Journey in the New York Times!

Yesterday, the New York Times published an article on The Journey in St. Louis. Here's an excerpt:

"ST. LOUIS — Southern Baptists, as a rule, do not drink. But once a month, young congregants of the Journey, a Baptist church here, and their friends get together in the back room of a sprawling brew pub called the Schlafly Bottleworks to talk about the big questions: President Bush, faith and war, the meaning of life, and “what’s wrong with religion.”

“We go where people are because we feel like Jesus went to the people,” said the Rev. Darrin Patrick, founder of the Journey.

“That’s where people are having their conversations about things that matter,” the Rev. Darrin Patrick, senior pastor and founder of the Journey, said about the talks in the bar. “We go where people are because we feel like Jesus went to the people.”

The Journey, a megachurch of mostly younger evangelicals, is representative of a new generation that refuses to put politics at the center of its faith and rejects identification with the religious right.

They say they are tired of the culture wars. They say they do not want the test of their faith to be the fight against gay rights. They say they want to broaden the traditional evangelical anti-abortion agenda to include care for the poor, the environment, immigrants and people with H.I.V., according to experts on younger evangelicals and the young people themselves."

life update.

from an e-mail i wrote to a friend:

"i am good - i am currently sitting on the king size bed that has recently inhabited my old room in st. louis, taking a break from reading gone with the wind, and listening to rain drops pelt my window. it is glorious. i've been on a much needed retreat home since saturday night and it has been so restful! some castlewood time, some Y time, some family time, and lots of reading.

this past semester was really tough, hopefully the toughest one i will ever have school-wise, but looking back on it, i've learned so much about myself that it's incredible. first, i changed my major this semester, from english education to just english. my heart just wasn't in it anymore and i should have realized it a while ago.
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i've been shown my sin to an infinite degree this semester, and i've been shown just how much i rely on myself instead of trusting in the Lord and his promises, which has really been a huge blessing. it's true: one of the greatest acts of love that the Lord can do for us is to show us our sin and to make it blatantly clear, and it is always for the best. i fall short in loving people and loving them the way they need to be loved, how they are best loved; i fall short in spending my time sacrificially, much less even desiring to do that; i continually blame others and other things for my sin, whether it's "oh, that's just how my personality is" or "i don't have the time, money, resources, mindset, etc." i love with conditions, not unconditionally, and i've lost sight of the importance of Scripture in my life. i've forgotten that i myself am loved unconditionally, in the image of God, a glorious ruin but glorious nonetheless.

but i'm being rebuilt and continually being reminded of how great my Creator is. remember that book authentic beauty (this makes me think of it--not that i want to date jesus--ha.)? well all cheesiness aside, i truly am his beloved and i can rest in that. i'm somehow becoming more aware of the sin that has blinded me for the past couple months and i'm realizing how hard my heart has become. and it sucks. it makes me want to just say ok that's it, i give up, i'm retreating to where i am content and comfortable, but i can no longer do that without a pull on my heart. and for that i am so grateful.

other things new (and for sure lighter):

i'm staying in columbia again this summer and interning for veritas, the crossing's college ministry. i'll be leading a summer girls bible study and i guess doing some of the event planing. not too sure what else. i'm excited about the people who will be here, old friends and new, and i'm excited to spend another summer in columbia--a city that is becoming my home. i'm also nannying for a family with two older girls part-time (aka i'm swimming, cooking, and going on hikes--and getting paid for it!).

some of my friends and i formed a co-ed softball team in a wednesday night league, which has been a huge highlight. we're 4-1 right now and it is a BLAST! so good to be back on the field and getting dirty again! i forgot how much i missed softball.

i also started watching LOST with a couple people. we just finished season one, and it is incredible, let me tell you. i hope that you watch it, but if you don't, you may want to think about starting :)"

Scripture

John Willison, an 18th century pastor from Scotland, spoke of the importance of the Bible for the believer, as follows: "We should look upon it as a golden epistle, indited by the Spirit of God; we should receive it as a love-letter from heaven, opening up God's designs of love to our souls; we should go to it as for our daily food and substitence, and daily enquire in it for the will of God, and hereby consult with God about our duty in all cases . . . We should read with faith, reverence, and application to ourselves, as if we were particularly named in the precepts, reproofs, threatenings, and consolations of it . . . and in reading every part, we should still keep Christ in our eye, as the end, scope, and substance of the whole scriptures."

This reflects the Testimony of the Seceders (1736) that states, "the Word of God contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments is not only a sufficient rule, or a principal rule, but it is the only rule to direct us how we ought to glorify God and enjoy him."

HT: John Currid

Introverts and Extroverts in the Church

Anthony Bradley posted a really interesting blog post mostly about introverts in the church.

I'm still in the process of thinking this through but Reformed theology draws introverts primarily and engages spirituality in a very introverted way some would say. Introverts do not typically live missional lives because they would rather read theology books than talk to non-Christians about the gospel or engage local culture with the Kingdom as some might argue.

Many would argue that introverts will want small churches (and will baulk at the suggesting that the church be otherwise), not care so much about being local missionaries, prefer "studying and teaching" over discipleship, see the church as a refuge and haven from the world, will be largely sectarian, will equivocate "kingdom" and "church," will do college ministry not directed at reaching non-Christians and/or bringing shalom to the campus, talk about being "missional" at not live that way at all, prefers blogging over talking to real people, etc.

the points he makes are really interesting, but i think he only hits on one side of the issue. someone commented:

Speaking as an introvert, I don't know that we can glean a whole lot from that one aspect of personality. True, I think it is fair to say that introverts tend to reflection and extroverts to action, but neither personality type does one or the other exclusively.

Many of the most missional pastors/thinkers around are introverts: Tim Keller, Greg Johnson, George Stulac, Nelson Jennings, just to name a few.

I think when you get into the extremes of each personality, you get problems with the kind of thing you are talking about. Like I said, I'm an introvert, but I also have a passion to live missionally. My introversion, though, makes me want to have a good theoretical base for my missional superstructure.

check out the whole thing, and be sure to read the comment discussion at the end.

another blog to check out.

i've just discovered a great blog by sean michael lucas, a professor at covenant seminary in st. louis. every post that i've read of his lately has been incredibly insightful, especially this last one on the need to preach the gospel to ourselves. here's an excerpt:

At the end of it all, the Spirit must use his word of gospel grace every day to confront my heart, to kill this sin of pride that manifests itself as self-pity and boasting, and to silence the voices. Only then, only then, will I hear the sweet voice of the Spirit say, "You are not a deserving servant; you are a beloved son. Rest in that and find in me the satisfaction, security, and significance for which your heart longs."

The Uneven Playing Field: Girls' Sports Injuries

After years of soccer and softball and hundreds of games, this article in the New York Times hits home. Here's an excerpt:

This divergence between the sexes occurs just at the moment when we increasingly ask more of young athletes, especially if they show talent: play longer, play harder, play faster, play for higher stakes. And we ask this of boys and girls equally — unmindful of physical differences. The pressure to concentrate on a “best” sport before even entering middle school — and to play it year-round — is bad for all kids. They wear down the same muscle groups day after day. They have no time to rejuvenate, let alone get stronger. By playing constantly, they multiply their risks and simply give themselves too many opportunities to get hurt.
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PARENTS OF TEENAGE GIRLS who play sports have grown accustomed to what seems like entire teams battling injuries — and seeing those who do make it onto the field wrapped in Ace bandages or wearing braces on various body parts. Hannah Cooper, a star soccer player at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Maryland, sat out several games early in the 2007 season with a severe ankle sprain, one of many she has suffered since her years in middle school. “The left one never fully recovers, so I play in a brace,” she told me not long ago. “I also have shinsplints, so that hurts all the time, but I’ve just learned to ignore it. I also tore my meniscus, or I think I did,” she said, referring to knee cartilage. “I’ve probably had concussions because I’ve had hard collisions where I was disoriented and had headaches afterward, but I’ve never missed a whole game because of one. If I have to sit out, I always come back in.”

"the table" -- karis sermon

check out this great sermon (it's the text) from last Sunday at Karis. it's all about hospitality and how that builds community. here's the intro:

"Two hit sit-coms of the 80s and 90s were Cheers in the 80s and Seinfeld in the 90s. Cheers, if you know the show, featured guys like Sam and Woody and Norm and Cliff sitting around a bar sharing life, having laughs. “Where everybody knows your name” was the theme song and the tag line. Seinfeld, which I’m sure most of you know, showed Jerry and Elaine and Kramer and George hanging out together, mainly either in Jerry’s apartment or in the local diner. It was the “show about nothing,” but it was really about everything—all the mundane, yet quirky details of life as experienced by four friends living life together. Well, both shows express a longing we all have as human beings. It’s a deep longing for community. But, of course, to experience community, there has to be a certain degree of hospitality. You had to have the Cheers bar, of course, for them to hang out. Jerry had to open up his place to his friends. Without a common place to share and converse with one another, these friendships wouldn’t have happened.

Today, in our individualistic, consumeristic world, we’re isolated people. I think we can watch reruns of those shows and long for what these people have together and experience none of it at all. But community takes hospitality; it takes us opening up our homes and lives with one another. Today, we’re taking a break from our study of Luke for the second part of a brief, three-part series. Today we’re looking at the table—not the Lord’s Supper, but rather the “tables” in our home. We’ll discuss the sphere of ministry found in the home. We’ll take a look at biblical hospitality. We’ll look at the importance of hospitality, the definition of hospitality, the practice of hospitality, the impact of hospitality, and the hindrances to hospitality. Let us pray."

Multiple Blessings -- Eight Kids!

Kate Gosselin is now writing a book! Check it out here.

Also check out all of these full interviews... listen to the Gosselins on marriage, family, how they deal, and a lot more.

P.S. this is one of my favorite families. :)

Books can Change our Destiny.

It's true. I really think the impressions that books make on us happen because we identify so strongly with a character. They lead us to change our wardrobe, appearance, or destiny. I have no doubt that my early days of spying on people with my black notebook and pencil was because I wanted to be just like Harriet the Spy. After we read it, my sister and I would sit on my top bunk bed (bunk beds were soo cool) and write in our notebooks about people in the neighborhood--who could be the neighbor that houses deadly weapons? Or who secretly has a crush on the mailman? Better yet, I bet Mrs. G has buried treasure under her flowerbeds. I was just trying to make sense of life's absurdities, right? But it was all so real. And I think that's why I really love books--because they hold a power over us that nothing else can, especially when real life just doesn't measure up.

A Meal Says More Than You Think

Check out this great article on a biblical theology of hospitality. It reminds me a lot of a lecture I went to at L'Abri which talked about how important and exciting practicing hospitality is in our lives.

Here's the closing remarks of the article:

So let’s return to my original quandary: Why is hospitality (1) a virtue Paul says is central to Christianity, (2) a qualification for elders of the church and older women, and (3) a practice to be cultivated as the end approaches?

Answer: With hospitality, we proclaim to the world the incarnation of Christ, God’s grace in salvation, the unity of the church, and a Christian’s participation in the life of Christ. And to Christ himself we say, "I love you, because you have identified yourself with the least of these brothers." We must preach the words of Christ’s gospel, otherwise we draw attention and glory only to ourselves. But we must also preach with our lives so that those both inside and outside the church see that the power of God for salvation begins today, as Christ’s people begin to image him from one degree of glory to the next.

Working at Being Humble

How do you pursue humility? Justin Taylor posts a link to an article by John Piper on working towards humility. Here's an excerpt that I really like:

I said to our staff yesterday morning, when we were talking about reputations of the church, etc., to pray that we as a staff would daily be stunned by grace in our lives. Because if we aren't amazed by grace towards us, we will be a finger-pointing church mainly.
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We should be amazed that God has treated us so generously. Laboring to see that means we must know our sin and know the cross well.

Great reminders that we all need.

Faithful in the Present

I've been thinking a lot lately about living in the present. What does this mean, what does this look like, how do we even do this? Sometimes I feel as if my mind is in five different places at once. I'm watching a movie, but I'm also doing homework, texting friends who live 100 miles away, and checking my e-mail. I'm always thinking about what's next, what else I can be doing to make my time productive and efficient to the highest degree. But I'm finding that as I do this, I'm not getting joy out of simple things. If I'm out to lunch with a friend, and I'm also thinking about the next text message I will be sending (or even texting at the table!), then I'm not fully focused on the person that is in my life at that moment, who God has placed right in front of me. Because there is a reason for the "now" in my life, am I being completely faithful to what I've been given? I hope that I can be, because I'm never going to get those moments back.

summer reading roster.

there are tons of books that i want to read this summer; here's a list of just a few of those:

- artificial happiness: the dark side of the new happy class, by ronald dworkin
- east of eden, by john steinbeck
- a widow for one year, by john irving
- the god delusion, by richard dawkins
- the master plan of evangelism, by robert coleman
- persuasion, by jane austen
- the mark of a christian, by francis schaeffer
- the weight of glory, by c.s. lewis
- the god who is there, by francis schaeffer
- future grace, by john piper
- the bruised reed, by richard sibbs
- the mortification of sin, by john owen
- a theology as big as the city, by ray bakke
- the american city and the evangelical church: a historical overview, by harvie conn

what are the chances i will get through all of these? well.. chances are slim, but i'm excited for the challenge.

Autism & Learning

Yesterday in class, we had a guest speaker from the MU Thompson Center, which is a research-based center at Mizzou that works with Autism and other Neurodevelopmental Disorders. The speaker presented on the lessons that she does with kids who have autism. Kids between the ages of 6 and 14 come in after school to be prepared for the "real-world": how to engage in a conversation, how to make eye contact, what different facial expressions mean (happy, sad, frustrated, angry), etc. I thought it was interesting because all of the work that the kids and teachers are doing is based on research--to the best of their ability, teachers make lessons that the research shows will work, at least to the point where the research is at today. More research is constantly going on to find out the best possible ways to teach these kids vital information that they need in life. But because there is so much research going on, it means that not every single person with autism can be reached, not until the capacity of the center increases and they begin to help kids at a faster rate with a better end result. Right now, the research is focusing on how best to reach the kids and to do it efficiently.

It made me think of a parallel to ministry: there has to be both a "doing" and a "learning," searching deeper and deeper to find out more and more the reality of truth. We could choose not to do the "research" and help people, serve them, love them, but then is it being done 1. with the outcome that we feel it should have, and 2. effectively? Or we could do all "research," knowing more and more, but never interact outside of that sphere and serve no one. In this case, the research is dead, there is no point to the learning. There are millions of people who need to be reached that aren't, and they never will be in this scenario. I guess I see theology and learning as a tool to do the "doing" better than we could have before. Ministry is definitely a search--a search for more truth, and a craving for this, because there IS more and more truth to know. But this search must lead to practice. The more we come across, the more questions we have; the more questions we have, the more we want to know; and the more we want to know leads to a seeking to develop a greater understanding of God and the world, a better alignment with his desires. And the more in line we are with those desires, the more the fire is kindled in our hearts to reach the world.

At first glance, the autism center doesn't seem to be "doing" much. There are kids out there who aren't being taught everything they need to know to develop another stage of independence. There's a wait list to be taught by these professionals. But the center is filled to capacity with what they can do because they do value research, and they are willing to invest in an ongoing process because they know that in the long run, the research needs to be done in order to take the next step...and then the next.

Jazzed About the Big Screen

Blue Like Jazz: The Movie -- here's an excerpt from an interview with Donald Miller and Steve Taylor

So without giving too much away, what would you say is the basic story arc?

Miller: It's a movie about coming out of the closet regarding who you are as a person. The character happens to be a Christian and is very ashamed of that, but he's able to come out of the closet by the end of it. It's really a film more about a human being than it is about Christianity. Christianity is really just the thing that this human being is dealing with.
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Do you feel like you're making a movie with universal appeal, or one that will be targeted primarily to a Christian audience?

Miller: We want it to have a universal appeal, but honestly I think it will be mostly Christians who go to see it. People bought cases of the book to hand to people who weren't Christians and many people have come to know Christ through reading the book, and I think the movie is very similar. It's the sort of film I could bring my friend who's not a Christian to, not to introduce them to the gospel or to Jesus, but to introduce them to me. This is my life, this is my struggle and this is how I feel. I think the movie will be kind of a relational tool for Christians to help them be understood in an American culture. And to me that's a very powerful tool. Many people come to know Christ through their relationships with believers, and this is a tool that enhances and deepens those relationships.

Worship & "Blokey Blokes"

Matt Redman comments in an interview about whether some worship songs are simply too "over-romanticized" for men to sing.

true treasure.

something else from john currid:

John Newton, the famed Reformed hymn writer, was one day called to visit a family that had suffered the loss of all that they had due to a devastating fire. Newton found the pious mistress of the house and he saluted her with the statement, "I give you joy, madam!" Surprised and offended, the woman replied, "What! Joy that all my property has been consumed?" "Oh no," Newton answered, "but joy that you have so much property that fire cannot touch." This allusion to her real treasure checked the woman's grief, and she wiped away her tears. She, as a Christian, knew what Newton said was true.
What is your heart most taken with? What is your chief desire? Do you love something more than Christ? I fear that many of us miss the spires of the heavenly city because we are so busy building our earthly mansions. May we not be like the King of France, who when asked about an eclipse that had occurred, that he said, "I have so much business in the earth that I take little notice of the things of heaven." Rather, may God give us eyes to see the things of heaven, and loosen our grip on this world.

7 Counterfeit Gospels

Justin Taylor posted this on his blog yesterday, and I think it is a great reminder of how we so easily and without realizing it make the Gospel into something that it is not, something that just meets our needs; in these cases, it is never a true Gospel.

Jonathan Leeman posts on a schema of seven counterfeit gospels, as cited in How People Change by Tim Lane and Paul Tripp.

1. Formalism. “I participate in the regular meetings and ministries of the church, so I feel like my life is under control. I’m always in church, but it really has little impact on my heart or on how I live. I may become judgmental and impatient with those who do not have the same commitment as I do.”

2. Legalism. “I live by the rules—rules I create for myself and rules I create for others. I feel good if I can keep my own rules, and I become arrogant and full of contempt when others don’t meet the standards I set for them. There is no joy in my life because there is no grace to be celebrated.”

3. Mysticism. “I am engaged in the incessant pursuit of an emotional experience with God. I live for the moments when I feel close to him, and I often struggle with discouragement when I don’t feel that way. I may change churches often, too, looking for one that will give me what I’m looking for.”

4. Activism. “I recognize the missional nature of Christianity and am passionately involved in fixing this broken world. But at the end of the day, my life is more of a defense of what’s right than a joyful pursuit of Christ.”

5. Biblicism. “I know my Bible inside and out, but I do not let it master me. I have reduced the gospel to a mastery of biblical content and theology, so I am intolerant and critical of those with lesser knowledge.”

6. Therapism. “I talk a lot about the hurting people in our congregation, and how Christ is the only answer for their hurt. Yet even without realizing it, I have made Christ more Therapist than Savior. I view hurt as a greater problem than sin—and I subtly shift my greatest need from my moral failure to my unmet needs."

7. “Social-ism.” “The deep fellowship and friendships I find at church have become their own idol. The body of Christ has replaced Christ himself, and the gospel is reduced to a network of fulfilling Christian relationships.”

Lying Down in Sorrow

“That Christian who has free grace, who has free justification, who has the mediatorial righteousness of Christ, who has the satisfaction of Christ, who has the covenant of grace most constantly in his sight, and most frequently warm upon his heart—that Christian, of all Christians in the world, is most free from a world of fears, and doubts, and scruples which do sadden, sink, perplex, and press down a world of other Christians, who daily eye more what Christ is a-doing in them, and what they are a-doing for Christ, than they do eye either his active or passive obedience.

Christ has done great things for his people, and he has suffered great things for his people, and he has purchased great things for his people, and he has prepared great things for his people; yet many of his own dear people are so taken up with their own hearts, and with their own duties and graces, that Christ is little eyed by them or minded by them!

This is the great reason why so many Christians, who will certainly go to heaven—do walk in darkness, and lie down in sorrow.”

- Thomas Brooks, A Cabinet of Choice Jewels

Suffering as an Offering

Dr. John Currid has a great blog, bookmark it and check it out! In the meantime, here's some highlights from his post today that really made me think:

...since loneliness/hardship comes from the hand of God, it is a gift. And so, am I going to accept the gift? That is, will I accept these circumstances as the will of God for now and thank Him for it? Am I, by God’s grace, willing to die to self and walk the way of the cross like our Savior?

Perhaps one of the most intriguing ideas is that we offer our suffering back to God. What does this mean? Well, when Paul says in Romans 12:1 that we are to present our bodies a living and holy sacrifice, he means everything we have is to be offered to God. We may be walking through the valley of the shadow of death and presently have little else to offer but our loneliness and pain. So be it. “What I lay on the altar of consecration is nothing more and nothing less than what I have at this moment, whatever I find in my life now of work and prayer, joys and sufferings…To make that gift an offering may be the most costly thing one can do, for it means the laying down of a cherished dream of what one wanted to be, and the acceptance of what one did not want to be.” Let us offer it up nonetheless. “Let our offering be free, humble, unconditional, given in the full confidence that His transforming energy can fit it into the working of His purposes.”

His posts will certainly bless you--everyday, he reminds the reader of the power of the Gospel and the grace of God--something we constantly need to be reminding ourselves of daily.

Dining Noise & Hospitality

I don't know if you've noticed lately, but whenever you go somewhere for a nice meal out with a friend or two, the noise level has been rising considerably! People can't hear each other and the strain of conducting a conversation takes all the pleasure out of eating out. There was a story in the Washington Post on Sunday about this: "No Appetite for Noise," and it describes why the noise levels in restaurants have been rising. Here's an excerpt:

"A certain level of noise people consider to be exciting or good energy," says Tim Zagat, the guide's founder. "Once it gets so loud you can't hear yourself chew, it's over the top."

The cause of the clatter is just about everywhere a diner glances these days. In a restaurant's hard floors. On its naked tables. At the high ceilings. In other words, the blame for all the noise comes from the clean, slick and modern look favored by so many restaurant operators and their customers . . .

I think this raises an important point and shows a reason why hospitality is so important. Shouting at each other in groups is OK every now and then, but when you want to have a good, serious conversation, sometimes you just can't do that at a restaurant. There are definitely times when you go somewhere for great food and and deep conversation might not necessarily be a priority, but most of us go out because we want to be spending quality time with someone over food, investing in them and in the relationship. I think it's just something to think about, and to ask ourselves if what we are expecting is really going to occur at certain restaurants. My hope is that I can be more open in my own life to have others over, share a meal, and engage in deep truth conversation that arises because we are honoring Scripture and giving our hearts a rest in a noisy world.

the college hook-up culture.

there's an interesting article in the wall street journal about sex education and what college students really see as the "wonderful fantasy land." here's a quick excerpt:

When last semester I taught Wendy Shalit's "A Return to Modesty," in a class at Boston University called "Spirituality & Sexuality in American Youth Culture," I assumed that my mostly left-leaning students would reject her arguments about the terrible effects that the hook-up culture has on young women and the positive effects of traditional religion and morality on young women's well-being. Instead, my students ate up her critique and were fascinated by her descriptions of modesty as a virtue, especially within the context of faith. One student said that she felt empowered to stop tolerating vulgar remarks about sex made by peers in her presence.

The class was equally attracted to some evangelical dating manuals, like "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" by Joshua Harris and "Real Sex" by Lauren Winner, that I asked them to read. They seemed shocked that somewhere in America there are entire communities of people their age who really do "save themselves" until marriage, who engage in old-fashioned dating with flowers and dinner and maybe a kiss goodnight. They reacted as if these authors describe a wonderful fantasy land. "It would be easier just to have sex with someone than ask them out on a real date," one student said, half-seriously.

the relevancy of francis schaeffer

check out this blog for reasons that francis schaeffer, who lived from 1912-1984, can still teach us much today.

"Schaeffer was a pastor, prolific writer, prophetic generalist, apologist, and primarily an evangelist. That latter is how he typically described himself. Schaeffer inspired a generation of evangelicals--including me—to honor the Lordship of Christ over all of life and to reclaim the mind and culture for Kingdom causes."


here's the main points the author makes and expounds on:

1. Schaeffer had a deep passion for God and for truth.
2. Schaeffer cared deeply about the lostness of modern people.
3. Schaeffer was an unapologetic generalist for the cause of Christ.
4. Schaeffer was not a self-promoter, but sought God for life and ministry.
5. Schaeffer loved the arts, could recognize aesthetic goodness even in nonChristian (or anti-Christian) art, and gave Christian artists permission and vision for artistic endeavor.
6. Schaeffer had a deep knowledge of and love for Scripture.
7. Schaeffer was "a man of the Reformation," who, nevertheless, was not doctrinaire or haughty about his Calvinism.

community & "brotherly affection"

Romans 12:9-21 is all about marks of the true christian, and one of my favorite parts of this is what this means for our community. verse 10 says to "love one another with brotherly affection." other translations say to "be devoted to one another in brotherly affection." this is huge. think about your relationships with your blood-related family members. even if our parents or siblings have radically different values and lifestyles from us, there is still a tie that stays, that is permanent. we say "well, they are still my dad," or "still my sister," because they will always be connected to us. we are supposed to love one another in this way. especially for Christians who share common values with us, we are to be as patient and doggedly devoted to one another as family members.

what else does this mean? verses 11 and 12 go on to say: "do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." while it is easy to say that this seems to only be about our relationship with God, i think the reason they stand in the very middle of numerous directions about Christian relationships is important. we can't give up on our brothers and sisters around us, we must keep our hope and be patient in all the troubles that we meet. and be constantly praying for each other with a fervor that stems from love. this is how we meet the troubles and tribulations of those relationships around us--with patience and prayer. i think it is hard work to be deeply involved in peoples' lives, and it is a scary, scary thing. C.S. Lewis said that they only way to be sure not to have your heart broken is never to give it to anyone. we must give our hearts away though because this is where hope lies. the triumph of Christ becomes our hope, giving us a structure in which to share ourselves with each other--and a reason to do so.

war of words

a couple quotes from chapter 6 of war of words:

"to the degree that you have based your life on something other than the Lord, to that degree God's love and the hope of the gospel will not comfort you," (98).

"God is willing to compromise physical things--a satisfying job, encouraging friendships, a pastor who really seems to care about you, or a budget that seems to be working--to produce something greater, fuller, and deeper in us: genuine faith. this is what God is after in the experiences that make us wonder if he really loves us, if he hears our prayers, experiences that cause us to envy other believers, or maybe even people who don't know him... the struggles are not a mistake. they are tokens of redemptive love. trials should not lead us to doubt the love of the King; they should convince us of it," (94).

Smuggling in Character

a great quote to think about:

"The glory of the gospel is that God has declared Christians to be rightly related to him in spite of their sin. But our greatest temptation and mistake is to try to smuggle character into his work of grace. How easily we fall into the trap of assuming that we can only remain justified so long as there are grounds in our character for justification. But Paul’s teaching is that nothing we do ever contributes to our justification."

The Walls We Have Built

In the Apologetics & Outreach course that Jerram Barrs teaches at Covenant Seminary in St. Louis, Jerram discusses barriers we create between ourselves as Christians and the world:

1. Intimidation or fear: Are we intimidated by the culture in which we live? We look at our society and we see that much of it is deeply hostile to the Christian faith, whether that is in universities or in popular culture. If we are terrified of the people around us, afraid of the non-Christians in our community, and afraid of the cultural products of our world, the consequences are disastrous. This creates an enormous divide from each other.

2. Condemnation: A constant judging of those who are out there. "Let us say three or four of you are sitting at a table in the coffee shop any day of the week, or anywhere, and you are sitting discussing something in culture, let us say homosexuality or political leaders or candidates. How do you talk about people, how do people overhear you, and what kind of language do they hear you using? Do they hear you using the language of condemnation and of self-righteousness? What do people hear from us?" We shouldn't delight in attacking and condemning people. It matters how I talk about the human beings involved in the issues.

3. Cultural retreat: "We can become so distressed by the world because it is so worldly, as if that should surprise us, that we try to create our own distinct evangelical culture so that we can avoid the sinful society as much as possible." Examples of this could be Christian country clubs, Christian sports facilities, Christian teams, schools, etc. Not that these are bad things, but turning our churches into havens from the world is not what we are called to do. Christ didn't redeem us by living in a haven that was completely retreated from the world.

4. Personal separation: The insistence that what it means for us to be holy and set apart from sinners, as the Scripture calls us to, as Jesus was, is that we must be personally separated from them, in the sense of keeping ourselves apart from them and having nothing whatsoever to do with them. This is generally a thinking that the only way we can grow in the faith and continue in the faith is by keeping ourselves personally separate from the unbelievers and the sinners around us, because of a possible "contamination."

If we build these walls, our model of evangelism becomes incredibly unbiblical. "Do we think of evangelism as raids that we undertake for a brief moment or two, or an hour or two? We go always in groups of two or three, never alone, to make sure that we are secure. We go in groups of two of three from the church into the world, hoping that we can grab somebody and bring them back with us." Jesus came into the world to relate to us; He challenges us to not be afraid, and to trust that our Heavenly Father would care for us and protect us. We may feel overwhelmed, but God is greater. We serve the Creator of heaven and earth.

It is easy to think that our calling is to judge everybody all the time. Even on Christian radio and television, you hear constant scorn, condemnation, criticism, and judgment of the culture and even of unbelievers by name. Our calling is not to condemn the culture in which we live, but to be merciful toward it. And it does not matter if people hate Christ, the Church, and the Gospel; we are called to love them still. We are to bless them and to pray for them. God has shown time and time again that He delights in saving people who make themselves enemies of His law, His Word, and His Son. We shouldn't be surprised if people hate the Gospel, the Church, the faith, and us personally, because they hated Christ. But our response to them is to serve them and pray for them, to pray God's blessing on the world.

ask a pastor.

you know all those questions you just wish you could ask your favorite pastor... all of those practical questions like what do your morning devotions look like? what books are you reading? how do you best meet with the Lord? what do you do if your soul feels weary? how do you personally grow spiritually?

well... now you can listen in on these questions with answers plus much more on a new podcast called the sovereign grace leadership interview series. it's a roundtable discussion among three great pastors, including c. j. mahaney, author of the book, "humility: true greatness." what surprised me the most was how practical and real they got--i learned a ton and was very encouraged. their passion for the Lord is so evident, and it comes across through this podcast.

you can subscribe to the podcast by going to the itunes store and searching for "sovereign grace leadership interview series" or download the two discussions that are out so far here.