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.