The False Trinity of Noise, Hurry, and Crowds

Mark Driscoll gives us good counsel about the importance of Silence in our spiritual lives. Addicts to "the false trinity of noise, hurry, and crowds" like me will do well to consider the benefits of silence Driscoll identifies , including

hearing from God (1 Kings 19:11–13)
waiting patiently for the Lord to act (Lamentations 3:25–28)
worshiping God (Habakkuk 2:20)
knowing God better (Psalm 46:10)
praying effectively (Luke 5:16)

Recommended.

Satire on Bailouts

Daniel Henniger's brilliant satire, "The U.S. Says It Will Bail Out Christmas" is worth your reading time. It's very effective, and humbling.

MindMapping Software -- Ramp Up Your Productivity

I'm a fan of mind-mapping software, use it a lot to help me organize my thoughts and plan projects. It's also great for tracking group discussions. My last two books were actually started as elaborate mindmaps, and then I exported the map to a Word outline. There's something empowering about the non-linear format that helps me get a lot of ideas out into usable form.

I paid for MindManager Pro from mindjet.com, because it's worth it to me.

If you'd like to explore Mindmapping software, but aren't ready to spend $ yet, check out these sources:

Wikipedia (compares a bunch of tools, links to all)

Free trial of version 8 (I’m using version 7) of MindManager from Mindjet

I hear good things about FreeMind

There are a number of Youtube videos about Mindmapping if you care to browse those, bur I think a better place to begin is this page at Mindjet.com, "The Power of Visual Thinking," and looking at their gallery of maps.

On Derek Kidner

Derek Kidner recently went home to be with the Lord, at age 95. His commentary on the Psalms and Proverbs has been influential on me. For example, here is his succinct insight about Psalm 127:

"Those children who will be a quiverful are often first a handful."

I absolutely loved reading this excerpt from his funeral oratory. May we all be men of whom others would honor this way!

Responding to Newsweek on Homosexual Marriage

The recent Newsweek article, purportedly a true Biblical response about loving homosexuals and supporting homosexual marriage, is really disturbing.

Men, be prepared to respond in dialogue with proponents of homosexual marriage. Be prepared to help your families think through the issues. This is a key issue of our day.

Go here for a terrific 30 minute video presentation by Professor Robert Gagnon. Great presentation, far better than the usual "lite" presentation.

Event Scheduling Made Simpler

If you're trying to figure when a bunch of people could get together, you might want to try Doodle. Pretty slick.

Praying Hard and Working Hard

Epaphras is an outstanding model of lay leadership. Listen as his mentor, Paul, describes him:

“Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis.” -- Colossians 4:12-13

Three things characterize Epaphras here:

1. He is one of you and a servant of Jesus
2. He is always wrestling in prayer
3. He is working hard

Epaphras is identified with the Colossians, and is a servant of Jesus. There is much to think about here, but I will save that for another time.

Epaphras prays hard. “Wrestling” in prayer is active, and aggressive. It’s not a milquetoast, wimpy attitude of prayer.

I encourage you to use this model prayer for the people around you:

That each would stand firm (not sit weakly) in all (not just some of) the will of God (nothing self-centered)
That each would be mature – solid in the faith, actively growing, using gifts well, discerning between good and evil
That each would be fully assured (in Christ and truth He has revealed, and in His wonderful promises of provision, care, protection, purpose)

Please consider the positive feedback loop: We grow in assurance, and then we become better able to stand firm in all the will of God as mature disciples -- which strengthens our assurance in Christ!

None of us are as yet mature as God means for us to be. And many among us are not yet standing firm, obedient, or fully assured. There is work to be done, progress to be made, and it begins with dedicated prayer for God to transform lives.

Epaphras is working hard (in addition to praying hard) for not only the Colossians, his local congregation, but for two churches in other cities in that region. Leaders must both pray hard and work hard. And the hard work should not only be directed to our immediate family, but should serve the larger work in the kingdom of God. I believe God intends for his people to have disproportionately large impacts for the world.

Let me ask you a few questions:

* How old is Epaphras?
* What was his theological training?
* What was his occupation? Did he get good grades in school?
* Did he have godly parents in a good home? Is he married? Does he have children?
* What did he look like, and sound like?
* How much free time did he have from other responsibilities?

We aren’t told any of these things, because they aren’t relevant. Prayer and hard work are not spiritual gifts – they are for all of us!

If Epaphras had a headstone or grave marker, did they write on it, “He wrestled in prayer and worked hard for us”? Let’s recommit to prayer and work, and leave a wonderful legacy.

A Delightful Madeup Word

Apparently this isn't "real," but it sure if fun.

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
Definition: "the fear of long words"

Try saying it out loud to your kids.

We Have But One Rule Here...

Robert E. Lee became President of Washington College (now Washington & Lee) after the US Civil War. There were only men in the College of course, and President Lee referred to them as "his boys." He took an active interest in their lives and held them to high standards.

Before his arrival there was apparently a thick book of rules. One of his early acts was to throw out this rulebook, and declare "We have but one rule here, and it is that every student must be a gentlemen."

The "boys" soon discovered that being a gentlemen was a very high standard indeed! I suspect some of them wished for the rule book to be returned, because it was probably easier to live up to the letter of the rule book than the ideal of a gentlemen :-)

As we work with our boys, we do well to think about guiding them to become gentlemen. Gentleness is strength under control.

Here is how Lee described a gentleman:

"...the manner in which an individual enjoys certain advantages over others is the test of a true gentlemen. The power which the strong have over the weak, the magistrate over the citizen, the employer over the employed, the educated over the unlettered, the experienced over the confiding, even the clever over the silly -- the forbearing or inoffensive use of all this power or authority, or a total absence from it when the case admits it, will show the gentleman in plain light. The gentleman does not needlessly or unnecessarily remind an offender of a wrong he may committed against him. He can not only forgive, he can forget; and he strives for that nobleness of self and mildness of character which imparts sufficient strength to let the past be the past. A true gentleman of honor feels humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others."

Consider, men, how Lee describes the forgiving and forgetting character of a gentleman the way the Bible tells us about the character of God.

Since we're concerned about shaping our boys into gentlemen, we must first be gentleman ourselves.


Note: My primary source for this is the wonderful biography Robert E. Lee by Emory M. Thomas. An excellent book for husbands, fathers, and leaders!

How Christiantity Shaped the West

Dinesh D'Souza has an outstanding essay about the role of Christianity in shaping Western history -- moral equality, equal rights, elevating women, abandoning slavery, and political engagement by citizens.

His quick summary of Nietzsche's insight (destroy Christianity and you cannot retain these ideas that are the basis of Western civilization) is excellent.

Recommended. You need this kind of information to help your family understand the war.

An Encouraging Thought

Sometimes we need visceral encouragement in difficult times.



Frodo: “I wish the ring had never come to me — I wish none of this had ever happened.”
Gandalf: “So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you also were meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.”

Why is Psalm 2 such a favorite for the NT writers, who cited it nine times, matched only by Psalm 110?

"Psalm 2 provides a text-prayer for personally realizing and internalizing, feeling in our gut an din our muscles, the umbridgeable abyss fixed between the ways of this world -- its Herod and Caiaphas and Josephus ways, and also the counter ways pursued by the Pharisees and Essene and Zealot sects -- and the Strong God and His Messiah: 'Don't you know there is a King in Zion?' (Ps 2:6) " -- Eugene Peterson, from The Jesus Way

What Do the Bumper Stickers in Your Church Parking Lot Say?

Are these bumper stickers in your church parking lot? (Don't miss the extras suggested in the Comments.)

First Thanksgiving Day Proclamation (1777)

Here is the country's first Thanksgiving Day proclamation on Dec. 18, 1777:

"That at one Time and with one Voice, the good People may express the grateful Feelings of their Hearts, and consecrate themselves to the Service of their Divine Benefactor; and that, together with their sincere Acknowledgments and Offerings, they may join the penitent Confession of their manifold Sins, whereby they had forfeited every Favor; and their humble and earnest Supplication that it may please GOD through the Merits of JESUS CHRIST, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of Remembrance; That it may please him ­graciously to afford his Blessing on the Governments of these States respectively, and prosper the public Council of the whole." -- Henry Laurens, President of the Continental Congress

People just don't write like that anymore!

Eerie Similarity between US and British Economic Situations

KT McFarland, former Deputy Asst. Secretart of Defense points out the eerie similarities of the current US economic situation and what happened in Britain in the 1950's. They chose to nationalize all the major industries, valuing jobs over stronger businesses competitive. It cost them dearly.

To see this short video, go here:


http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html


Scroll down and under Opinion, select "DefCon3 by KT" and select the video titled "American Economy in Trouble."

I haven't found a way to link directly to the video... there are other KT McFarland videos on YouTube, but not the one above.

What's the Opportunity Today?

In some business "leadership" literature I reviewed at the library, there was a suggestion to wake up each day and answer this question:

"What's the opportunity today? What great thing will I do today?" And then you're supposed to commit to that, getting it done as early as possible in the day.

Not bad counsel, but my heart is restless at the suggestion. I believe that's because the suggestion is focused on me, myself, and I.

Let's put Christ at the center, keeping Him enthroned in our lives. There's a war on, gentlemen. As Voddie Bauchum, Jr. says, "If there's a conflict between Christ and something else, Jesus wins all day, every day, and twice on Sunday!"

Perhaps the question we need to ask each day is

"How will obey my Lord, Master, Teacher, Savior, and Friend today?"

Ben Hur Gets More Than Water

This scene moves me to tears. Ben Hur prays for God to help him, Jesus tenderly provides him water, and the centurion is powerless in gaze of God incarnate!

Arguments for God's Existence

Thanksgiving is coming up here in the US. It's a time to get together with families. For many of us, we'll again be Christians among not-yet believers.

Suggestion: review this blog post, "Ten Arguments for God's Existence," before the big celebration.

Reagan on "God-fearing" public servants

"So, I tell you there are a great many God-fearing, dedicated, noble men and women in public life, present company included. And, yes, we need your help to keep us ever mindful of the ideas and the principles that brought us into the public arena in the first place. The basis of those ideals and principles is a commitment to freedom and personal liberty that, itself, is grounded in the much deeper realization that freedom prospers only where the blessings of God are avidly sought and humbly accepted.
The American experiment in democracy rests on this insight. Its discovery was the great triumph of our Founding Fathers, voiced by William Penn when he said: "If we will not be governed by God, we must be governed by tyrants." Explaining the inalienable rights of men, Jefferson said, "The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time." And it was George Washington who said that "of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports."

Source: Ronald Reagan's address to the NAE in 1983

Questions about "Emergent" Churches

I've gotten several questions recently like this one: "What do you think about the emergent church movement?"

It's nice to see people excited about God and addressing the culture, trying to reach out to people that "traditional" churches are not reaching. My concern is that at least some of the leading pastors in this "movement" appear to me to be walking away from the clear Gospel message and orthodox theology.

I think Mark Driscoll has some useful insights. Here's a short video where he explains some of the variants of "emerging" churches. He also outlines some of the theological positions of "streams" within the movement in this PDF document.

So there are some positives, and some dangers. My counsel: Guard yourself! Stay true to the Gospel! Depend upon God's grace!

In David Wells' book “God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams”, he makes the following observation about modern society:

“It is one of the defining marks of Our Time that God is now weightless. I do not mean by this that he is ethereal but rather that he has become unimportant. He rests upon the world so inconsequentially as not to be noticeable. He has lost his saliency for human life.

Those who assure the pollsters of their belief in God’s existence may nonetheless consider him less interesting than television, his commands less authoritative than their appetites for affluence and influence, his judgment no more awe-inspiring than the evening news, and his truth less compelling than the advertisers’ sweet fog of flattery and lies. That is weightlessness. It is a condition we have assigned him after having nudged him out to the periphery of our secularized life. . . . Weightlessness tells us nothing about God but everything about ourselves, about our condition, about our psychological disposition to exclude God from our reality.”

You can't manage time, only your focus. By focusing more on Jesus, we give Him more weight in our thoughts and questions and actions. It's telling that the word "Remember" is so frequently used as a command in Scripture! We're commanded to do the things which we tend NOT to do naturally.


HT: Matt Capps