January 23, 2012

Culture- Lessons from The Brothers Karamazov.

This book has been working on my brain quite a bit. After a few weeks of reflection, here are my lessons learned:

1.)    Time heals all wounds.

2.)    Eternity in heaven with God doesn’t just work forward; it works backwards, making even the most horrible evils of this world glorious in their proper perspective.

3.)    We can reason our way toward or away from God – in the end, faith is a choice.

4.)    Don’t romanticize the poor.

5.)    Don’t romanticize the rich.

6.)    Don’t romanticize children – the seed of evil is in all of us from the beginning.

7.)    Even the very best good works are often a guise for self-righteousness, pride and manipulation.

8.)    You never know the whole story about someone.

9.)    Complacency is just as evil as committal.

10.) The nature of repentance is not simply awareness of personal evil, but also a new desire to change.

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January 18, 2012

Fun: The Best Moment in Sports History

Because it really is:

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January 16, 2012

Theology: How to Get the Most Out of Your Bible Reading.

Have you ever met someone who likes eating oysters? I have. I don’t really get it. It’s not because it’s gross. I eat chicken, and I think that’s pretty gross. What I don’t get is this: where is the moment of pleasure between the .5 seconds the oyster touches your lips and then shoots down your throat? I mean, you can’t chew on an oyster. You can’t savor it. You can’t enjoy it.

Sometimes when I read God’s words in the morning, I feel like I’m eating oysters. I read the necessary daily passages, close the book, and think: “Where was the enjoyment in that?” In fact, many times I feel like I haven’t eaten anything. Maybe it’s more like eating bad Chinese food, without swallowing.

Lately, however, I’ve had about one week straight of really fantastic morning time with God. I feel full, afterward. I feel joyful, and I feel like smiling. I feel like worshiping God with my daily behavior.

I’m still reading the same stuff. I’m just reading it differently.

And the difference is this: meditation. Not the eastern kind of meditation where you purse your lips together and breathe out bad energy. I mean biblical meditation – the kind that David, the psalmist talks about when he says, “On your word I meditate day and night”.

So, here’s what goes down.

1.)    First, I read a couple of verses.

2.)    When I feel like I’ve read a complete thought, I stop.

3.)    Then, I ask the Holy Spirit to apply those passages to my heart and life – to show me where I am not being obedient, or not believing, or not following through on something I meant to do.

4.)    Then, I listen. Now, I have to be careful with that phrase, because I don’t necessarily mean that “God speaks to me” in the kind of way that most people mean. I don’t think the Bible ever promises that everyone can hear the “still, whispering voice of God”, because God’s word is in the Bible, and he doesn’t need to add anything to it. What I do mean is that the Holy Spirit is always working in my heart, and in yours. And just because you might not hear God “whispering”, that certainly doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit is being silent. You see, the Holy Spirit is always applying God’s word to our hearts – he is always taking the words and principles of scripture and convicting us, encouraging us and teaching us. And sometimes we can read God’s words without really listening to the Holy Spirit. We do this, I think, when we read through passages without stopping to ask: “God, how do You want to apply this to me?” and then letting God bring those things to mind. That might be crossing the line for some reformed folk, but I think the act of meditation is biblical, and it has to be Holy-Spirit led. I know I certainly don’t have the humility or cleverness to expose my own sin, even when I read God’s words. I can easily step right over what God wants to say to me, if I don’t stop and meditate.

5.)    I respond. I tell God that I’m sorry if He convicts me, I give him credit if He encourages me, and I worship Him if he teaches me.

And this has been a feast for my heart. I encourage you to take part.

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January 13, 2012

Marriage – Being Generous to Your Wife.

     I have a good friend who is very generous to the poor. He’s so generous with his time, energy and resources that it’s difficult not to feel convicted just by spending time with him. I love this guy, because he takes the Bible seriously, and he’s unwilling to settle for pat answers explaining away the lifestyle Jesus commands us to lead.

    He’s also recently married. Actually, he and his wife could be Christian models, if there’s such a thing- maybe for Christianbook.com. I don’t know. All I know is they’re a pretty sweet pair.

    About a year ago, these two decided to do something radical for Jesus: they decided to take into their small, one bedroom apartment, a Christian man who has been homeless for years.

    Of course, they received all sorts of criticism for that decision. My friend was told he wasn’t protecting his wife, but from what I can tell, this homeless dude is pretty legit. He’s a genuine Christian who regularly comes to church, volunteers and ministers to others. He just doesn’t have a home.

    But as the year has gone on, tension began to mount. While the idea seemed good at first, as it turns out, my friend’s wife began to feel an inexplicable frustration with the situation. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the homeless guy. It’s not that she didn’t want to be generous. It wasn’t that she thought she wasn’t being protected, or that my friend was doing the wrong thing.

    It was this: she wanted to take care of a home. And with a homeless man living on the couch, that was impossible. It was impossible to come home early and make dinner for her husband. It was impossible to take a weekend alone and paint. It was impossible, in other words, to express her desire to be a homemaker.

    So when we started talking a while ago, I had to advise my friend in a very weird sort of way. I told him I thought he should put the homeless guy back on the streets. I explained that it wasn’t because what they were doing was wrong. It wasn’t irresponsible. It wasn’t “too radical”.

    But in being radical for the poor, my friend had forgotten something: my friend, just like each one of us guys, was also called to be radically loving toward his wife.  

    That includes recognizing that our wives have certain desires that we may not see as essential, such as:

-Going out to eat for a romantic evening.

-Buying paint for the house, new curtains and decorations.

-Having new clothes, her hair done, good makeup, etc.

    Of course, these things could be excessive. But I don’t think we guys are supposed to be the judge of that. After all, how would you feel if your wife told you that you wanting a new laptop for your work was being “materialistic?” Or, how about a new lawn mower, or a new phone?

    “But those things are practical!” you protest. Maybe, maybe not. Maybe to your wife, new curtains are practical. Maybe a lawn mower isn’t practical to someone in Uganda. Maybe a laptop isn’t, either.

    Maybe loving your wife is just about the most practical thing you can do.

    “But how do I know if she’s becoming ‘materialistic?’” Well, you don’t. Now, if she’s breaking your budget in secret, that’s crossing an idolatrous line. But even if that’s the case, it’s still time to do some soul searching: are you not putting enough room in that budget for her in the first place? Yes, you do need to confront your wife about lying, but I still don’t think it’s time to pull out the “You’re being materialistic” line.

    That’s more of a heart issue.

   Thankfully, none of those things happened with my friend and his wife. They took the counsel positively, and are making plans to adjust their living style accordingly. I’m happy for them, because I think it will make their marriage better.

   And ultimately, in this case, I think withholding from the poor is what will make God more glorified.

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January 11, 2012

Parenting – What Ever Happened to Educational Programming?

    Have you seen public television lately? The other day, I was sitting with my son Caleb watching a few Saturday morning shows on PBS. We watched “The Cat in the Hat”, “Kratt’s Creatures (Ok, that’s what it used to be called, but I don’t know the new-fangled name)”, “Dinosaur Train” and a few others.

    I used to love PBS. I learned a lot – Wishbone taught me about literature, Bill Nye taught me about science, Story Time taught me how to read.

    But sitting there, I started to twitch. Something wasn’t sitting right with me. And the more I watched, the more pronounced became the twitch.

   Then, it hit me: every single one of these shows was geared toward learning one subject: animals.

   Now, if I were to make a list of things I really wanted my son to know before the age of seven, animals would probably make the list. But it wouldn’t be number one. Actually, it wouldn’t even be near the top.

     Which got me wondering: am I just weird? The answer is “yes”, but in this case, I had an instinct that other parents might feel the same way. After all, look at a typical classroom – how much teaching time in first grade is geared toward learning about animals? Some, I’m sure. But certainly not most.

    Now, last time I checked, “The Cat in the Hat” was a book consisting of simple words and pictures, intended to help children learn to read. But on PBS, the Cat in the Hat goes around teaching children about animals, which I would say is qualitatively much lower on the scale of things I would like my child to learn.

   It made me realize something that stuck an arrow in my inner child’s guts: PBS Kids, like everything in America, is a business. In other words, while PBS says that they are trying to produce unique ‘educational’ programming, I have a feeling that a more tangible bottom line is coming into play. And if the bottom line is measured in dollars, then ultimately, PBS can’t be about education. In other words, PBS is trying to produce the same thing as every other station: stuff kids will watch. After all, the more kids that watch, the more parents like PBS. And the more parents like PBS, the more dollars come in every week for PBS. The higher agenda, as always, seems to be personal income.

    What’s sad is, all the while here I am flitting around satisfied with myself because my child isn’t wasting his time watching silly cartoons – no, he’s spending his time being educated. I can see it now – first grade rolls around, and Caleb’s home-schooled friend Arnold already knows how to spell “pterodactyl,” and Caleb proudly responds, “Hey, that’s a dinosaur!”

Great.

 Thanks, PBS, for educating my child on the complete non-essentials of life. Good luck with your bottom line.

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January 9, 2012

Toolbox 1/09/12

The very best of last week:

Money

12 Tips on Eating Out and Spending Wisely Who says you can’t have fun when you’re broke? Actually, there are so many great deals on eating out these days that often it’s just as frugal  for Brenna and I to eat out together as eat in.

Health

3 Easiest Diets to Follow in the New Year Because let’s be honest – you aren’t going to stick with anything else.

Theology

Justification and Sanctification (A Response to Tullian’s book)  Even Kevin DeYoung’s guest posts win for theology of the week. I’ve wondered about this issue for a long time, and I think it will become a central debate for the YRR crowd in the coming years.

Family

No Devle! How much can we learn from the simplicity of children?

Marriage

The 52 Love Notes Challenge - This post reminds us how great men are great letter writers (ah, the lost art) – especially to their wives. I love what this man has done for his wife in the last year, and the challenge he makes to other men.

Leadership

One Overlooked Key to Achieving Goals. We all know failure is the key to success – but how do we go about using our failure to help us succeed? This post has a helpful tip.

Culture

10 Predictions for 2012. Not that I necessarily agree, but the guys at Scriptorium are way smarter than I am. Good political insight, here.

Mission

John Wesley’s 21 Questions While George Whitefield was a master of evangelism, John Wesley was a master of discipleship. Here are the 21 accountability questions he used for his infamous “holiness club”. Challenging, no doubt.

Fun

Apparently, this isn’t as uncommon as you might think:

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January 4, 2012

Money – Should We Give to the Undeserving Poor?

    What percentage of people do you think respond with genuine faith to the gospel? Most? Half? 25%? 10%? 1%?

     Let’s say that it’s 25%. That’s pretty good – after all, Jesus said the road was wide that let to destruction, and the road that leads to eternal life is narrow, and few find it. So, let’s say that for every four people you share the gospel with, one will respond positively.

    Now, let me ask you this: isn’t it true that 75% of the time you share the gospel, you are wasting your time? After all, if 75% of the people you share the gospel with are only going to take that message and squander it, isn’t there a better way? Why waste all of that time?

    The same thing goes with forgiveness. Of the amount of people who you forgive for their sins, what percentage do you think are actually going to change their ways? How many people are actually going to see your forgiveness, repent of their sin, and reconcile their relationship with you?

     I don’t know about you, but if you interact with a lot of sinners on a daily basis, I would say the odds are even less than 25%. So wouldn’t it make more sense to only forgive the people who you know are going to respond with repentance? Otherwise, wouldn’t you just be wasting lots of pain and emotional energy if you started forgiving everyone who took advantage of you? What if you even started forgiving your enemies? Wouldn’t that just enable bad behavior?

     Of course, you may have objected to this line of thought. It’s absurd after all, because Jesus never says the point for forgiveness is that it will change people and make them treat you better. We forgive, because Christ forgave us. In other words, we forgive for the glory of God.

Jesus never guaranteed that every seed you sow, or even most seeds you sow, are going to reap fruit. Of course we pray for fruit in gospel-sowing, and repentance for our enemies, but we are never told we are off the hook if our enemies don’t forgive us, or someone isn’t going to respond to our evangelistic efforts. No, we are told to do these things because Jesus did them. We are told to do these things, because Christ did them for us, not because it will change the people around us. We do them because they glorify God.

    Now take that a step further. How many times have you justified withholding money for the poor because you thought, “Oh, they’ll squander it.” Now, wait just a moment. Maybe they will squander it. But, does Jesus distinguish between the poor who squander and the poor who don’t squander? Only in the same way he distinguishes between those who squander forgiveness and those who don’t. Too bad for them, but it’s not really any of our business.

   I think one of the biggest lies we Christians have bought into is that the reason we give to the poor is so that the poor will reform. We think we’re to give to the poor because that will make this world a better place. Jesus never said giving to the poor would make the world a better place. He never said poor people would stop getting drunk if we gave to them. He simply said to give to the poor.

    “Well, if they’re not going to change, then it’s not really for their good.” Really? It’s really not any good to them to see the character of God in your generosity? It’s really not any good for the poor to be forgiven for their squandering? It’s really not any good for you to demonstrate the unconditional love of God to the most undeserving of people?

     Maybe not if the point is to solve world hunger.

    But if the point is to glorify God, then I say – demonstrating God’s undeserved grace is never a wasted activity. No matter how people react, the point isn’t the reaction – it’s the action of demonstrating God’s love.

     And that, my friend, is most glorifying to God.

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January 2, 2012

Leadership – Clarifying Expectations

     Years ago, an experiment was conducted on dog behavior. Each dog was given a specific course they were to run with specific tricks to perform – sitting, lying down, barking, etc. The dogs were divided into two groups and trained to make their way through the course in two different ways.

1.)    The first would be punished for their bad or misguided behavior.

2.)    The second was to be rewarded for their good behavior.

    Which group of dogs do you think succeeded?

    The second group, as it turns out, was far superior to the first in learning speed and overall competence. Why?

    There are many lessons to be learned through this little study, but one of the clearest to me is this: clarity of expectations. After all, there are always hundreds of ways to go wrong in any given task or relationship. However, there is often only one or a few ways of doing something right.

    Lately, there have been a few times when I’ve caught myself becoming upset with someone I manage, and stopping, thinking:

“Did I tell them I expected them to do that?” And if I did, the next question is:

“Did I put it on paper for them, as a clear reminder?” After all, I’m human, and I forget these things. Furthermore:

“Was I consistent in making them accountable for those expectations?” The truth is, people might agree with your ideas, but they follow through with the ideas that they’re held accountable for.

    So, before you blow up at your kid, or your co-worker, or your class-mate, stop and think:

“Do they know I expect them to do that?” or, “Do they know that behavior is unacceptable?”

And if not, it’s time to write out what you want – exactly what you want. Don’t assume anything.

And then, possibly, it’s time to apologize.

 

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December 23, 2011

Culture: My Top Ten Reads of 2011

Did I read 10 books in 2011? I think so.

    You’ve probably wondered your whole life: “What sort of books could possibly be of interest to a presbyterian youth pastor?” And I admit, publishers aren’t exactly birthing books for my type by the droves. So, I find my own little niches, and work from there. I guess when I think about it…the list is pretty weird.

 (These aren’t necessarilly books published in 2011. Just the books I read this year:)

10. Ender’s Game. I don’t like science fiction all that well, but with such great accolades, I had to give this series a try. In it, I found some of the most compelling characters, great plot twists and comprehensive worlds I’ve ever stumbled across. So, if you’re not a sci-fi kind of guy, think again on this one.

 

 

 

9. Lectures to My Students. Charles Spurgeon is like Winston Churchill, Martin Lloyd Jones and Charles Dickens roled into one incredible dude. His advise to his students is timeless (except for the bit about preachers needing to have a big chest as a prerequisite for a call to ministry…I think microphones have fixed that problem.)

 

 

 

8. Genesis Unbound. I’ve always been confused by the Genesis debate. This approachable book un-confused me. If you’re interested at all in the interpretation of Genesis, pick up this book. It will settle your queries.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

7. Getting Things Done/Making it All Work. So I’m not the most organized person in the world. But when I’m in a stressful pinch, the principles in this book pull me out every time. Basically, a crash course on how to live a life with 1,000 demands and know you’re doing exactly what you’re supposed to.

 

 

 

6. Sticky Teams. A book on church leadership that ought to be required in every Seminary. Larry Osborne’s wisdom is profound, practical, and biblical. Well worth the read – changed my leadership style, hands down. I’ll probably browse through it once a year.

 

 

 

5. The Trellis and the Vine. I know, it’s so 2010, but did anyone follow its advice? I’ve not heard a word about it since a year ago at the conference. I find myself re-examining my ministry as I think through these important principles

 

 

 

4. Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands. I should have read this book long ago. I wish I had. It has changed my ministry, my teaching and my life. Wonderful, wonderful book that every single Christian needs to read.

 

 

 

3. The Two Towers and The Return of the King. I can’t believe I’m confessing this, but I started the series several times and never made it through. Wow – I don’t know of any author who can make good look so good, and evil look so evil.

 

2. Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, Vol. 1. Stop complaining that everyone’s telling you to read it, and just read it. It’s actually very approachable. Amazing stuff in here. Calvin knows scripture like a child knows its mother. Incredible.

 

 

 

1. The Brothers Karamazov. It has been said that there is “life before Karamazov, and life after Karamazov.” I’ve never read a fiction book that hit me so hard as “The Brothers”. Dostoevsky is simply a genius, and his insights on the problem of evil in the world are so brutally honest that some have called the “Brothers” a case against God. In the end, though, Dostoevsky answers the objections (in my opinion) succesfully, but it’s in such a complex manner that it took about 900 pages to accomplish it. And yes, it was worth every last page.

 

And there it is.

Honorable mentions:

Doctrine. Mark Driscoll and Gary Breshears set out to write a book on basic Bible doctrines that is readable for the average guy. Unfortunately, I think they tried to compact so much information into this book (striving to make it “readable”) that they actually made it too dense for the average Joe. Still, I got a lot out of it.

The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - One of the funniest books I’ve ever read.

Watership Down – Awesome read. Although, I’ve always been told it’s an allegory, and the author makes it pretty explicit that it’s not…So, why do people keep insisting?

What were some of your favorite reads of 2011?

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December 22, 2011

Leadership: My 14 Goals in 2012

     Following in the footsteps of our good brother Jonathon Edwards, here are some resolutions I’ve made for the coming year. Some of them are just nuts, and some of them are realistic. Feel free to call me out on any one of them:

1.) Have consistent devotional times with Caleb 5x a week.

2.) Pray with my wife on a daily basis.

3.) Go wheat free and soda free for the year, and vegetables with every meal (not Sundays)

4.) Complete 12 credits toward a degree at Gordon Conwell, with a GPA of 4.0 or above.

5.) Pay off Brenna’s school loan, and my smaller school loan.

6.) Commit one day each week to fasting and prayer

7.) Memorize year one of Desiring God’s “Fighter Verses”

8.) Practice my 5 servanthood “pillars” every week with others: Generosity, Teaching (using spiritual gifts), Quality Time, Affirmation and Service (helping others accomplish what their goals).

9.) Complete a fiction book and publish it or self publish it by the end of 2011.

10.) Be serving at least 100 e-mail subscribers at The Radical Journey by 2012.

11.) Train 3 youth leaders in biblical counseling

12.) Create a 4 year youth curriculum for 180.

13.) Pray for 5 180 students daily, and contact them.

14.) Ensure that each student in 180 is contacted outside of youth group once a month by their core-mentors.

     There is my heart on my sleeve for you.

A man does what he must – in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures – and that is the basis of all human morality. – Winston Churchill

What are some of your goals for the new year?

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