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After more than two years of darkness, I've started watching TV again. My television is 13" with a built-in VCR, so the pull to sit in front of it isn't overly strong. In fact, when I do watch something, I have to slide a chair up right in front of the set in order to see the screen clearly.
Now when I say I'm "watching TV," I mean I've watched a few of the American Idol auditions. Since American Idol is now on basically every night of the week (I would hate to be all the other ugly-stepchild Fox shows that are shelved during AI), I realize I will not be able to keep up with this pace for long. I have several nights per week dedicated to church activities, mentoring, Bible studies and other schedule stuffers designed to legitimize my works-based faith (kidding...grace all the way, baby). But I've caught a few AI episodes now, and am pleased that there are less of the patently fake and over-the-top auditions featured this season. And I like that new judge, Kara.
Last night, however, I OD'd on TV. I went to my coworker's house and sat mesmerized in front of her 908" HD-whatever-flatscreen and ingested some Gospel Music Channel, HBO (the Ted Haggard special...whoa) and Larry King Live (more Ted Haggard...whoa). Then came the main attraction: Monday's DVR'd episode of The Bachelor. As host of The Boundless Show, this is necessary research for me. I need to know how a seemingly competent and handsome single dad will find true love in a sea of tanned, coiffed and ready-to-burst-into-tears-if-Molly-gets-another-one-on-one-date-with-him females. Surely he's read our Guys' Guide to Marrying Well, and is referencing it prior to each rose ceremony. I'll let you know if he calls me for advice. I'm sure he will.
The Death of Old Media -- 00:00
There used to be this stuff called paper. And it was made into books, newspapers and magazines. In this week's roundtable, we talk about the tension between old and new media. Is old media on its last legs? How do we get our news these days, and is it enough? Is new media making us dumb and dumber, or is having access to every bit of info in the world a good thing?
Bring the Rain -- 16:53
 Candice hosts Todd and Angie Smith for a frank discussion of love and loss. Todd is a founding member of the hugely popular CCM group Selah, and Angie writes and manages Bring the Rain, a blog originally created to celebrate their daughter Audrey, who died shortly after birth. The Smiths talk about this past year and their discovery of joy through pain, and how God's love and the power of community get us through when life scripts itself apart from our neatly laid out plans. There's some funny stuff here, too. Angie's a funny girl. Love that.
Too Late for Love? -- 51:46
She's 33 and single, and is starting to despair. We know that women marry in their 30s and beyond, but surely those three women found mates only after two or three religious pilgrimages and an extensive series of anointings and laying-on-of-hands, right? Not so, says Candice. God is still in the business of making good matches, and there's encouragement for the over-30 single girl in this. So turn up your hearing aids, ladies, and listen in. Guys, listen too. You're an important part of the marriage equation, remember?
Because I was too busy watching GMC, HBO, CNN and ABC last night, I missed American Idol. I guess I'll survive. I'll squeeze in AI's "Hollywood Week" somewhere between the Bible studies and checking out new blogs like Bring the Rain. I need a personal assistant to help me keep track of all of these important commitments. And to maybe get me Milk Duds whenever I want them. Anyone want to apply?
 Feb. 12 is "Darwin Day," the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birthday. It seemed the perfect time to roll out a four-part series exploring the theory of evolution, contrasting it with the biblical account of creation.
Last week we published "Now a Creationist" (we blogged about it as well), a confessional of sorts from a scientist with a Ph.D. in Chemistry who came to reject evolution in favor of biblical creation.
Today we published another conversation-starting article by Dr. Jonathan Sarfati. "What is Evolution?" explains that the General Theory of Evolution (GTE) isn't merely about change, but the direction of that change:
The main scientific objection to the GTE is not that changes occur through time, and neither is it about the size of the change (so we would discourage use of the terms micro- and macro-evolution). The key issue is the type of change required -- to change microbes into men requires changes that increase the genetic information content.
Indeed, biblical creation proposes that creatures have experienced genetic change through the millennia. The species are not "fixed," as some evolutionists mischaracterize creationists as saying.
In the blog about the first article in this series, we had some great questions and some great discussion. I look forward to more of the same here.
In the daily "Ask Amy" column, there's been quite a debate going on for the last few weeks. The conundrum: What to do when some at the table wish to give thanks to the Lord before eating and others at the table are atheists.
Some readers think that the host should determine what is done ... or not. Thus, Christians would pray in their own homes while atheists sat respectfully. Atheists would not worry about anyone's religious affiliation when hosting in their own homes.
Others thought the opposite--that the hosts should act however their guests act. Christians would not pray when atheists were guests and atheists would sit quietly while Christian guests said their prayer.
Amy's advice went beyond the host/guest debate. She felt that faith traditions should always be respected by others, whether hosts or guests.
But, Wednesday, Ask Amy published a letter from "Atheists in Alaska" who offered this solution:
"We are an atheist family, but having grown up with a prayer before each meal, I started to miss the ritual, especially since we had kids. It felt as if there was something missing, and I wanted to commence the meal with something, so now we do 'thankfuls.' Everyone (including children) states something for which they are thankful. This custom is very well received and enjoyed by all types of guests, and seems to satisfy the need to begin a meal giving 'thanks.'"
Everyone states something for which they are thankful? Thankful ... to whom?
On July 17, 2007, President Obama made a promise to Planned Parenthood: "The first thing I’d do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That’s the first thing I’d do." [Note: The legislative link posted is from the last Congress. A Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) is not currently introduced in Congress but a similar bill is expected.]
I can no longer stick my head in the sand regarding FOCA. Politics is not a realm in which I feel comfortable, but today I read the most recent version of FOCA in full — several times. If you oppose the taking of human life, you need to be aware of this extreme act.
According to the Fight FOCA Website:
The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) would eliminate every restriction on abortion nationwide.
- FOCA will do away with state laws on parental involvement, on partial birth abortion, and on all other protections.
- FOCA will compel taxpayer funding of abortions.
- FOCA will force faith-based hospitals and healthcare facilities to perform abortions.
In an article posted on Citizenlink, Dr. Paul Kengor, professor of political science at Grove City College, writes:
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) encourages Obama to plow full-steam ahead with, in effect, unrestricted abortion-on-demand at all stages of pregnancy, aided and abetted by taxpayer funding, with abortion promotion at home and abroad, and, possibly — albeit unbelievably — with the stunning elimination of freedom-of-conscience exemptions for medical personnel who choose not to participate in abortion procedures.
While the act claims to promote freedom and choice for women seeking abortions, it actually reduces freedom and choice for health care professionals and faith-based health care facilities:
FOCA is disturbing in so many ways. Most shocking, however, is the fear that FOCA would eliminate conscience exemptions enabling doctors and nurses to not participate in abortion procedures. This is a classic American tradition, and it is truly breathtaking to imagine that some abortion-rights supporters are so radical and so uncharitable that they could even consider something so coercive. The Catholic bishops in particular are aghast at this prospect; they would shut down the nation’s huge number of Catholic hospitals before submitting to this madness.
Denise M. Burke, vice president of legal affairs for Americans United for Life, writes:
More importantly, FOCA is a cynical attempt to prematurely end the debate over abortion and declare “victory” in the face of mounting evidence that the American public does not support the vast majority of abortions being performed in the U.S. each year and abortion has a substantial negative impact on women.
Further, FOCA would specifically invalidate any "statute, ordinance, regulation, administrative order, decision, policy, practice, or other action" of any federal, state, or local government or governmental official (or any person acting under government authority) that would "deny or interfere with a woman's right to choose" abortion, or that would "discriminate against the exercise of the right . . . in the regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information."
Clearly, its reach is very broad. This single piece of legislation would apply to any federal or state law “enacted, adopted, or implemented before, on, or after the date of [its] enactment.”
FOCA essentially strips away the rights of citizens who believe that abortion is wrong. And the reasonable restrictions on abortion that many Americans favor — such as parental involvement of a minor seeking abortion or conscience exemptions for doctors and nurses morally opposed to abortion — would be threatened and/or nullified by this act. This is to say nothing of the rights of preborn children themselves. There is no doubt abortion would skyrocket in the wake of this act being signed into law.
Please read FOCA for yourself and give your opinion. Even if you are politically challenged as I am, there is too much at stake to not familiarize yourself with this potential legislation. In my next post, I will take a closer look at FOCA and some of its implications.
HT: These Words of Mine
When I was three years old, Elivs Presley performed a concert in Hawaii that was beamed by satellite to a billion people. I don't remember a lot from the night my parents took us over to some friend's house to watch the concert, but I ended up getting a lot of wear out the LP version of the show. My favorite song was "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You," one that Elvis introduces as a song from the movie "Blue Hawaii." When I tried to watch the movie later, I realized it wasn't as compelling as the concert, but I did find all the Hawaiian shirts to be rather cool.
It wasn't until this past weekend that I discovered the connection between Elvis and casual clothes in the workplace. In an obituary for a man who died at age 86, the Wall Street Journal wrote, "When a lei-draped Elvis Presley posed for the cover of the soundtrack to "Blue Hawaii," he sported a red aloha shirt from the man who made the garment world-famous, Alfred Shaheen." The journal went on to describe the influence of Shaheen's shirts:
Elvis wasn't the only one wearing the wild-style shirts that signified everything from Hawaiian ethnicity to surfer cool to casual Friday. Frank Sinatra wore one in "From Here to Eternity," and Tom Selleck wore one in "Magnum PI." More recently, Hawaiian native President Barack Obama has been photographed in aloha shirts, and so has the Rev. Rick Warren, who gave the inaugural invocation.
And I found this part fascinating:
Lobbied by the Hawaiian Fashion Guild, the state senate in the early 1960s issued a proclamation recommending aloha wear for business attire all summer long, says Ms. Arthur, also a professor of apparel marketing at Washington State University. In 1966, Aloha Friday became official, according to her 2000 book, "Aloha Attire." She contends that Hawaiian shirts were the vessels that carried casual Friday around the country.
"Surfers brought [the shirts] back to the mainland," she says. "These guys then founded Silicon Valley and brought along casual Friday. It was in Hawaii 20 years before it came to the mainland."
Casual Friday has morphed into casual Monday through Thursday in many places and a survey conducted a couple of years ago implies that a majority of today's workers prefer business casual. But that survey also pointed out what employers think is too casual:
The survey uncovered that wearing revealing clothes to the office is the most common fashion faux pas (63 percent), followed closely by wearing flip-flops (62 percent). Fifty percent of executives said employees push the boundaries of office dress codes by wearing jeans. Other inappropriate fashions in the office include sleeveless shirts (44 percent), athletic shoes (42 percent), visible tattoos and piercings (37 percent) and clothing with inappropriate slogans (34 percent).
Whether or not you've ever worn the pioneering Hawaiian shirt, what's been your experience with casual clothes in the workplace?
Jenny Schroedel's "Dream Home Revisited" is a "just-in-time" article. Just in time for my latest round of stress over having to clean (again) the piles of clutter our kids have constructed (again). I thought I had my hands full-to-overflowing with housework. Then I read about Jenny's present existence.
Whew.
I feel tired just thinking about the overgrown gardens (I can imagine them creeping in through the windows) and the bathtub sized sink. Suddenly my workload feels more manageable. If you're frustrated by your too-small, under-decorated living space, I think you'll welcome her perspective. She writes:
Last summer, some of our friends had to move back to the mainland suddenly. Their beautiful home had been on the market a year, and while they wanted to keep it on the market, they didn't want to leave it empty. In Hawaii, empty homes fill with mold and pests — nature just takes over. So they asked us if we might consider living there and paying a reduced rent in exchange for caretaking the home and yard, and also being available to show it.
The house has everything we could have hoped for and imagined, and it has been a great joy to host so many guests, to watch the sun rise over the mountains and set over the Pacific, and to jump with the kids on the in-ground trampoline. We love living on a quiet mountain road, amongst the coffee fields, taking carrots to the horses down the street every evening and waking to the sound of roosters crowing.
But I have to say that within a few days of moving in, I was shocked to discover one of the harsh realities of inhabiting a luxury home: It is a lot of work! If you lack staff (or in our case, if you are the staff) you might on average have about 15 minutes a day to actually enjoy the home. Should you add an adventurous toddler like Natalie and a puppy to the mix, you might have to cut that figure down to about 4.5 minutes.
Having downsized from a home we realized we had overbought, I can appreciate the feeling that you're in over your head. Still, I can never seem to be reminded too much that whatever we have, it's enough.
Someone I love and am very close to just went through a divorce. Even though there were strong Biblical grounds for the divorce, it was painful all around. I've seen God do some redemptive work in this family, but I continue to pray for the kids involved because I realize they still have a lot of processing ahead of them.
In the past, I've written about the picture that is emerging as the generation most affected by divorce grows up and tells their stories. Their experiences continue to remind us that the promise of a "good divorce" is something of a myth. A recent story in the online publication New University captures in a raw way some of what a parent's divorce can do to a child:
My parents got divorced shortly after Sept.11. It happened, like the coup de grace of a one-two punch. So every time I think back to that October afternoon when they sat my brother and me down in the guest bedroom, I involuntarily think of burning and collapsing buildings. I don’t think I need to explain the symbolism any further. I was in seventh grade, my middle brother in fifth and my youngest in pre-school.
It didn’t really come as a surprise to me. In fact, I was expecting – and dreading – it. In the preceding months, I heard them fight more and more through closed doors and from upstairs to the point that I thought it was normal. That’s when the dreading began.
It happened again on recent Sunday. I was in church -- a congregation I've faithfully and contentedly attended for nearly a decade now -- and as we sang several songs of worship, I couldn't help but think of the book "In Christ Alone" by Sinclair Ferguson. In the foreword, the Rev. Alistair Begg writes about three things that concern him when it comes to the present generation of Christians.
First, Begg describes his experiences addressing students at Christian colleges across the country. "Their enthusiasm and creativity spur me on," he writes, "but an accompanying uncertainty and lack of definition in basic Christian doctrine are causes for genuine concern. Some cannot, for example, explain why Mormonism is not Christian because they are unsure of the doctrine of the Trinity. Many appear to be uncertain about the exclusive claims of Jesus" (especially considering what Begg calls "the prevailing emphasis on ecology and poverty").
Second, Begg considers the contemporary believer's favored reading material. "Books on self-improvement and 'how-to' texts on all matters earthly sell in abundance. We are reading about our bodies to the neglect of our souls ..."
Finally, Begg laments what he calls the loss of focus on the Gospel in our songs:
"This is no comment on musical styles and tastes, but simply an observation about the lyrical content of much that is being sung in churches today. In many cases, congregations unwittingly have begun to sing about themselves and how they are feeling rather than about God and His glory."
Sometimes I wish I had never read Begg's words, because that morning in church I could not get them out of my mind. I saw very clearly that he was right, that many evangelicals today have unwittingly embraced songs about themselves at the expense of those focusing their gaze upon Him.
Now, I want to make it clear that the church I attend is not overly "contemporary" or "seeker-sensitive" or any of the other words used to describe congregations that seem to favor (forgive the cliche') style over substance. No, my fellowship is known for its committment to expositional, systematic, verse-by-verse teaching. It's simply the case that we sing many of the same worship songs as thousands of other churches, and that the same theological vagueness Rev. Begg sees in Christian students and books is also apparent in our songs.
So what, then, is the antidote? Part of the answer, Begg concludes, is the need to consistently focus on Christ, the author and finisher of our faith.
"We are helped in the process by the work of Gospel-saturated hymn writers. Over the centuries, Isaac Watts, John Newton, William Cowper, and many others provided the church with biblical theology in memorable melodic form. Today, men such as Keith Getty and Stuart Townend are doing the same with compositions such as their contemporary hymn that shares its title with this book: 'In Christ Alone.' We should be encouraged by the fact that 'In Christ Alone' has become something of an anthem for the church in the first decade of this century. As Alex Motyer has rightly observed, 'When truth gets into a hymnbook, it becomes the confident possession of the whole church.' Perhaps all that is necessary to expose the shallowness of our songs and to cause us to praise God as we ought is for pastors and poets and musicians to drink from the same fountain. Then biblical exposition will issue in song and our hymns will be full of the Gospel."
In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all --
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
Tony Woodlief issued an important reminder that what we watch affects us. In his blog Sand in the Gears he wrote,
I posted over at World yesterday about recent horrific murders at a Belgian nursery. Now there are reports that the young killer made himself up in a fashion eerily similar to Heath Ledger’s Joker, and was obsessed with horror movies. Cultured people will cluck their tongues at such associations, however, because everyone knows movies and music and other popular entertainments don’t cause crimes. ... A wiser way of looking at things, it seems to me, is to ask whether we are nurturing the good or the evil that resides in each of us, in each of our children. Anyone who thinks he hasn’t the potential to become a monster doesn’t really know himself — or mankind — very well at all. Indeed, he is probably the one who is most likely to actually become a monster. Most of the worst creatures in history, after all, gave no indication that they ever considered themselves anything but avenging angels, up to and including Lucifer himself.
Trouble is, in our enlightened age, we don't even believe in the devil anymore. In his World column, Woodlief wrote,
... there’s no medication for evil, no policy change, no modification of machinery. The solution to the ravages of the devil is resistance in the presence of the Holy Spirit and within the protection of the one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. That’s a mouthful, and it’s indigestible for the modern materialist. Devil? The word’s so outdated that the Oxford Junior Dictionary recently deleted it. Children will find in its place words like “blog.” I suppose if the devil wants direct publicity in the future, he’ll have to open a Facebook account. And what of the people of Belgium? As one mourner said, "We are broken." And Woodlief wrote,
We are broken. It is the truth of things, and embedded in it is the right question, which is: How might we be fixed? The answer is simple, and impossible for many, and grievous beyond that, because it doesn’t promise an end to murders and heartache, only salvation in the midst of them. But that, I suppose, is everything. It is certainly, in horrible moments like this, the only thing that brings hope. Pray with me that the parents of these little ones have such hope.
A significant secondary issue has been brought up under "My Virtual Jesus," regarding intimacy with Christ.
"What if you feel Jesus is treating you as a Facebook friend?" one commenter asks.
The truth is an intimate, connected relationship with Jesus is sometimes elusive. And humanly, we cannot offer a satisfying explanation for why. Sometimes you're in the Job moment where it seems all is lost, God is far away and His promises are not trustworthy. What then?
Some of your comments reminded me of a powerful article by George Halitzka: "Kamikaze at my Back." In it, George describes one of those Job moments in his own life:
Every thought matches the low-hanging gray clouds as I watch wave after wave pound the sand. The ongoing silence of God is deafening. I finally give up and turn around; set my face towards the stream. But then I discover it's quite impossible to go back the way I came.
When I face into the wind, I'm quickly sandblasted into submission. The breeze is so strong it's transformed the sand into a million fiery darts; stinging my eyes, blowing the firmament from under my feet, and making forward progress impossible.
But when I turn my back, I'm blown along the beach, faster than I could normally walk — spurred on by the icy blasts that would be my destroyer.
Suddenly, a word flashes through my mind: Kamikaze.
At first blush, the word kamikaze seems to speak of hopelessness. After all, it is a vessel of destruction that destroys itself in the process. But George considers another meaning:
In the American lexicon, a kamikaze is a misguided suicide bomber. But in Japan, it's a sign of hope. Mongol Hordes twice tried to invade the island. Both times, huge armadas were demolished by typhoons that arrived at precisely the right moment — the original kamikazes. For the 13th century Mongols, the Divine Wind was a destroyer; to the Japanese, salvation. It all depended on whether you were trying to fight the hurricane — or surrender to its power.
Surrender ... giving in to the storm that overwhelms me ... I try to banish the thought. It returns with the force of a typhoon.
I wonder if we would ever surrender if we did not come to the end of our own resources. As I look back on my life, some of my deepest most intimate moments with the Lord came as a result of serious pain or following a season where God felt distant.
Perhaps that's why Paul offered this encouragement:
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And Job said, "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him." Sometimes we must put feelings aside and choose to believe God's truth — that regardless of how we feel, nothing can separate us from His love. George describes his own coming to terms with the storm:
The kamikaze still buffets from behind, driving me down the beach and towards a decision. With tears washing my cheeks, I finally surrender my sanity. If you want to take everything, God, I pray through gritted teeth, it's yours. Blessed be the name of the Lord. No ray of sun comes through the clouds to strike the surface of an angry lake. However, it's interesting that once I climb the hill at the end of the beach, the kamikaze fades to a whisper. By the time I walk home, it's nothing but a friendly breeze.
Feeling distant from God does not negate His presence. Neither is the storm a sign of His absence. No, God is in the fierce kamikaze as much as the warm sunshine. But we must be willing to recognize Him there.
Focus on the Family has a staff of more than 20 licensed Christian counselors available to talk with you. If you are struggling with depression or mood disorders and would like to talk with one of them, please call (719) 531-3400 Monday-Friday 9-4:30 (Mountain time), and ask for the Counseling department at extension 7700. One of the counselors' assistants will arrange for a counselor to call you back at no charge to you.
It was quite a miracle when Kurt Warner, who had only recently been stocking shelves at a grocery store, took the St. Louis Rams from a season of only winning four games to their first Super Bowl win (and their first National Championship since 1951).
Nine years later, Warner has the potential to turn around another struggling team (that just happens to be the team that left St. Louis before the Rams came on the scene). The Arizona Cardinals won only half their games last season and only five the season before. The Cardinals have never won a Super Bowl. The Cardinals last won a National Championship in 1947 when they were based in Chicago.
Some would say, however, that the more inspirational turn around work Kurt Warner has done has been in the family arena--beginning with his own family. When Kurt met Brenda, she was a divorcee with two children including one who was blind and had brain damage. Brenda had also recently lost her parents when their home was destroyed by a tornado. Kurt 's compassion and commitment brought new hope to a family that had little. Since that time, Kurt and Brenda have welcomed five more children and have turned their money and fame into opportunities to invest in numerous other families (see KurtWarner.org).
To hear more of Kurt and Brenda's story, tune into the Focus on the Family broadcast this Friday, January 30th (more details here).
I was standing in the Chicago O'Hare Airport early one morning waiting to pick up a friend when I overheard two men chatting about Christians and the Bible.
They were standing with name placards waiting to transport some business travelers. One fellow was describing a group that still practiced the Old Testament laws, and he told his friend that they held rape victims accountable for sexual misconduct -- a misreading of Deut 22:13–30, which actually defends women who were innocently raped.
But his comment about this group was particularly striking: "Christians only read the nice parts of the Bible -- so they can finish it in 20 minutes."
So begins "Airport Eavesdropping," today's featured Boundless article, written by David Barshinger.
In his article, David wrestles with how we see Scripture: Is it weighty in our lives, an authority in our lives? Or is it merely a book that accompanies our faith, like gravy on mashed potatoes?
I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts about the Bible. Is it central, or do you find yourself apathetic about it? Is it thoroughly true, something you turn to first, or is it passé?
William Lobdell worked for eight years covering the religion beat for the LA Times. More recently, he has written a book, Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America -- And Found Unexpected Peace.
Lobdell now states that he "reluctantly, no longer believes in God." Today on his blog, Lobdell poses a question, "Do Christians and atheists act differently?" He points to stats about divorce and racism in the church, but camps more on what proclaiming Christians do with their money:
"[E]vangelical Christians give more to charity. But there’s a catch. Evangelicals believe that the Bible commands them to give 10% to the church/charity. In fact, only 8% of evangelicals tithe. And on average, they give about 3% to the church/charity (down from 6% in 1968). Yes, it’s more than atheists, but nothing to brag about."
In a World magazine article titled "Profound Witness," Lobdell is quoted as saying, "Evangelicals don't give anywhere near 10 percent of their income to charity. Only a very few, often on the fringes of mainstream or evangelical Christianity, behave with their money as if they believe the Gospel is actually true."
The article's authors point to research that shows that Lobdell is half-right. Evangelical Christians are far and away the most generous Americans, but we fall far short of the biblically commanded tithe that most churches teach.
Still, I'd have to agree with Lobdell that the church has nothing to brag about. In the World article, Randy Alcorn, the author of several books on Christians and their money, called these statistics "a shame" and said that Christians' giving is a "powerful witness of the gospel" and "the greatest form of evangelism." Alcorn believes that in tough financial times, our giving can be an even more powerful witness:
"For one thing, in tough times Christian charity is needed all the more. For another, the testimony of that giving is even more profound. Giving in tough times tells the world that it is God's providence, not a large checking account, that is the source of our sustenance and security."
There's a real temptation in financially skittish times to hold tighter to our money and give less. But, I have to ask myself, what will holding onto it accomplish? More than likely it will cultivate my love of it and send the world a very powerful testimony that I don't believe the Gospel is true. That I don't believe my God can fulfill His promise.
That would be a shame.
Well, Ryan, you got your wish. Today on Boundless Answers, John Thomas sums up the devotion he gave several weeks ago here at Focus on the Family. (I blogged about it here.)
The question is: Do you treat Jesus like a Facebook friend? John provides the analogy of a marriage relationship where the partners are not actually married. In fact, one of the "spouses" has based his entire relationship with his "wife" on her Facebook page. Absurd, yes. But this concept can be eerily true of our Christian lives. John writes:
For so much of my Christian life, I must confess that I've had more of a "profile" knowledge about Jesus than a "personal" relationship with Him. I've been content to know about Jesus in my head by collecting facts and figures from Scripture and books and sermons and songs. I've been a card carrying member of the "industry" of Christianity — all that swirls around this Person — Christian radio, para-church ministries, local churches, seminary education, etc.
I had hoped that at some point all of that information would eventually tip the scales and result in transformation. "Maybe with the next book," I'd say. "Maybe a different study," I'd think. "Maybe a new Bible is what I need." A lot of information, but not much fruit of a real relationship.
Like the girl on the computer profile in my fictional story, I agreed with Jesus on things. He and I were on the same moral and intellectual page. But giving mental ascent to some truths is not the same as having a relationship with a real, present and powerful Person.
I don't know about you, but that is so where I'm at right now. Recently I've been convicted of my Martha tendencies. Richard Foster, in Celebration of Discipline, writes, "Activity is the enemy of adoration."
Jesus loved Martha. And she was attempting to love Jesus in the best way she knew how. Service out of love for God is precious to the Lord. However, if our energy and intellect are poured into everything but our personal relationship with Jesus, we make our spiritual activities the main thing instead of the person of Jesus Christ.
John ends with this poignant challenge:
Will you allow me an out-of-fashion altar call and invite you to join me in this passionate pursuit of the Person of God? Turn off this computer, find a quiet place or quiet yourself at your work desk, open the door to Him and let Him dine with you. He waits for your invitation. Maybe you could start with this prayer from Psalm 63:
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands....
That's the kind of Christ follower I desire to be. The kind who thirsts for Him and takes time to look upon Him and behold His glory. When we have received love better than life, why settle for a Facebook version of friendship with Jesus?
As if the billion dollars stimulus package isn't boondoggle enough, now it's proposing a strange cure to what ails our sluggish economy: more contraception. In defending the addition of birth control funding to the economic "stimulus" plan, a Democratic member of the House said on This Week with George Stephanopoulos,
Well, the family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now and part of what we do for children's health, education and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs. One of those -- one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government.
Yes, there's a lot of bad news about babies being born outside of marriage. And yes, those out-of-wedlock births do cause a strain on state budgets. But this proposed solution to that problem is straight from the Planned Parenthood playbook. And it's no solution at all.
In a 2005 column in The Washington Post, Economist Robert J. Samuelson explained why the opposite is true:
It’s hard to be a great power if your population is shriveling. Europe as we know it is going out of business.... Western Europe’s population grows dramatically grayer, projects the U.S. Census Bureau. Now about one-sixth of the population is 65 and older. By 2030, that could be one-fourth and by 2050, almost one-third.
According to the Demographic Winter website,
By the mid-point of this century, 16% of the world’s population will be over 65. By 2040, there will be 400 million elderly Chinese.
If present low birthrates persist, the European Union estimates there will be a continent-wide shortfall of 20 million workers by 2030.
Who will operate the factories and farms in the Europe of the future? Who will develop the natural resources? Where will Russia find the soldiers to guard the frontiers of the largest nation on Earth?
Who will care for a graying population? A burgeoning elderly population combined with a shrinking work force will lead to a train-wreck for state pension systems.
This only skims the surface of the way demographic decline will change the face of civilization. Even the environment will be adversely impacted. With severely strained public budgets, developed nations will no longer be willing to shoulder the costs of industrial clean-up or a reduction of CO2 emissions.
This "solution" to our economic "crisis" will have the opposite effect. But even that's not the worst of it. In striving to bolster our contraceptive culture, Congress would deny millions of women the very choice that has brought leaders like those supporting this bill the most joy. Ironically, the very politician whose quote appears above once proclaimed, "Nothing in my life will ever, ever compare to being a mom."
We've seen this before. Hostility toward babies born in less than ideal circumstances. It's the mindset of Pharaoh. The mindset of Herod. And to what end? If this plan succeeds, who won't be born? Babies like this one.
 I didn't always believe the Scriptural account of how "all this" came about.
I used to believe that the variety of life emerged through time from some fantastic event that took place millions of years ago in a clump of pond scum. Later, I came to believe that God had a hand in this, that He guided that process.
Then one day I heard a convincing explanation that seemed consistent with both Scripture and the scientific evidence. After further researching biblical creation, I came to see it as true. My thoughts about it have refined over the years, but I'm more firm than ever that the Bible is true when it lays out how the Creator brought about "all this."
On Friday we published an article on Boundless Webzine from someone who had a similar story. The evidence he came across left him with no choice but to believe that the Scriptural portrayal of creation is true.
In "Now a Creationist," Jonathan Sarfati, Ph.D. brings up some of the issues that made him change his mind about the theory of evolution: missing links, real chemistry vs. chemical evolution, information theory, the "mere change" bait-and-switch, rock layers, evolution's incompatibility with Scripture, and the problem of sin and death.
There's a lot to think about. I had never considered "paraconformities," for example, or "condensation polymerization." Big words, but fairly simple concepts.
Dr. Sarfati references two blog posts I've written, "A Theory of Creation" and "Jesus Was Not A Theistic Evolutionist." If you've got real questions about the competing theories, I challenge you to read not only Sarfati's article and my two blog posts, but the numerous references embedded in each one.
When I first heard about biblical creation, I was intrigued. Could what I had believed for so long not be accurate? I wondered. But as I came to see biblical creation as true, my faith in the power and wisdom of the Creator and the veracity of Scripture has grown.
Is there a constitutional amendment so sacrosanct that it can abide no exceptions? Perhaps the First Amendment? Nope. Courts have placed reasonable restrictions on free speech and the practice of religion. (You can’t libel someone, nor can you sacrifice live animals.) Second Amendment? No again, as any number of gun laws attest.
One can find reasonable exceptions to just about every right granted in the Constitution. But 36 years ago, trawling through the penumbras and emanations of the Constitution, Justice Harry Blackmun found an inviolable right that had somehow escaped our Founding Fathers: the right to kill a child in utero—or mere inches from being fully born, for that matter—for any reason or no reason. Read the Roe v. Wade decision sometime; you’ll see it’s a conclusion in search of reasons, an exercise of “raw judicial power,” in the words of dissenting Justice Byron White.
The legacy of that decision, Roe v. Wade, and its lesser-known companion case, Doe v. Bolton, is a 36-year flight from reason and a political system distorted beyond recognition by the contortions it takes to accommodate such a horrendous “right.”
Chuck Colson wrote, “The right to an abortion has proven to be a jealous god. In exchange for sexual freedom, it demands everything else: cherished ideals, right priorities, the First Amendment, and even decency. It insists that nothing be spared in its defense.”
This state of affairs is not surprising, considering both cases were based on lies. Norma McCorvey, the “Jane Roe” of Roe v. Wade, lied to her lawyers about being raped. But she at least was pregnant and seeking an abortion. Sandra Cano, the “Mary Doe” of Doe v. Bolton, wasn’t even pregnant. She was a homeless mother seeking a divorce and custody of her children. Her legal-aid attorney, recognizing a poorly educated sucker when she saw one, filed the case under false pretenses.
Those weren’t the only lies. One of the rationales cited in Roe was the supposed number of women dying from illegal abortions—allegedly in the tens of thousands. But Bernard Nathanson, founder of the National Abortion Rights Action League, later said the numbers were simply made up. During the debate over partial-birth abortion a few years ago, the pro-abortion side claimed the procedure was rare—as if even one case of puncturing the skull of an infant and sucking out its brains would be acceptable. (Imagine the outcry from the folks at PETA if someone were to do that to, say, a rat.) But Ron Fitzsimmons of the National Association of Abortion Providers later admitted, “We lied through our teeth.” The gruesome procedure was performed more than a thousand times a year, sometimes for a “birth defect” as minor as a cleft palate.
Here in Colorado we’re victims of this monomania. The U.S. Supreme Court, in Hill v. Colorado, upheld a “bubble law” that forbids any person within 100 feet of a “health-care facility” to come within 8 feet of another person to hand out leaflets. They may not display a sign or “engage in oral protest, education, or counseling with that person.”
Justice John Paul Stevens disingenuously said the law is “content-neutral.” It regulates, not speech, he wrote, but merely certain places “where some speech may occur.” This is the same Justice Stevens who thundered in an Erie, Pa., case that the city had “totally silenced a message the dancers at [the strip club] want to convey"—by regulating the location of strip clubs.
Make no mistake: there is only one kind of “health-care facility” Hill v. Colorado was written to protect. Do you honestly think someone protesting against amalgam fillings outside a dentist’s office—yes, there are people who think they’re dangerous—would be hauled in under this law? Moreover, imagine if such a statute substituted “place of business” for “health-care facility.” The unions would go berserk, and rightly so.
Justice Antonin Scalia, in his dissent in Hill, called the court an “ad hoc nullification machine that pushes aside whatever doctrines of constitutional law stand in the way of that highly favored practice” of abortion.
That court decision 36 years ago has led to many distortions in our law and society:
- The FDA approved the abortifacient drug RU-486 under less-stringent testing intended for medicines that, according to FDA rules, are meant to treat “serious or life-threatening conditions"—something pregnancy most assuredly is not.
- Several investigations have shown that abortion clinics violate mandatory reporting of suspected statutory rape by hiding pregnancies allegedly caused on teenage girls by adult men.
- The efforts to preserve this "right" have turned bork into a verb, named after the vicious smear campaigns used against Supreme Court nominees such as Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas, all in an effort to protect a Supreme Court ruling that might not stand up to democratic scrutiny. Live by the Court, die by the Court.
With the present administration and Congress, we’re guaranteed at least another four years of this insanity. Set aside for the moment the tens of millions of babies who have been denied the right to life guaranteed in our Constitution. Consider simply what this poorly reasoned and extra-constitutional decision has done to our society. If that’s not enough to make you weep, I don’t know what is.
I just joined the Boundless team on Monday, so my cubical is still a little sparse. I haven't put up pictures of my roommates or my boyfriend and there are pitiful little books for someone who works at a Webzine on my shelves. It's safe to say that my cube looks unoccupied.
So, I didn't blame the custodial crew on Tuesday when they left me without a trash bag for my trash can or again on Wednesday when they took my trash can altogether. I did, however, tape a note to my trash can (that I recovered from another set of empty cubicles) saying my cube was, in fact, occupied.
I expected my little note would end the trash can dilemma, but what I did not expect was that the custodian would write me back. I found this note on my desk this morning:
Thank you,
It is a pleasure to serve you! God bless!
Your custodian
God did bless me by this anonymous employee who did their work "as unto the Lord." I was moved almost to tears. He or she reminded me, on a Friday when I'm thinking about weekend plans and trading in heels for sneakers, that I'm to commit every task and every hour of work to the glory of the Father.
May you wait tables, cash checks, install satellite dishes, write blogs, sweep floors, or whatever it is you do with a deep gratitude for the work God has given you.
Blessings to you this weekend!
What a crazy week. It has moved ridiculously slowly, yet it's been packed with activity. Do you have those times in life where everyone around you seems to be moving on and changing, yet you're standing still? I've mentioned before that I'm in a season where ten of my close friends are getting married. I'm serious. Ten! I'm moving through these events like clockwork, and am actually having a lot of fun celebrating with these girls.
But sometimes life sneaks up on me. Earlier this week, I was unpleasantly surprised to discover that not only is my friend Carol getting married this weekend, but she is jetting off to Mexico for her honeymoon, then moving to Maine immediately upon her return. I am not ok with this. I knew she was moving to Maine, of course, but it always seemed to be sometime in the future. Alas, the time has come. We have not had time to say our goodbyes. We didn't go on any final hikes up in the mountains. I haven't fully vetted her fiance by grilling him with exceedingly personal and inappropriate questions. I'm now left with having to fly to Maine sometime in the coming months to catch up on all that Carol and I have missed in the busyness of the last few whirlwind weeks. Carol, you heard it here first. Leave the light on. I'm coming out there.
We're in a new year and a new administration. "Change" is our mantra. And usually, I'm all about change. But now I just feel left behind. The train left the station, and I wasn't on it. My friends are embarking on new life chapters, and I'm at home filling my dishwasher, sifting through junk mail and figuring out how to say yet again, "Oh totally, when life settles down for you, let's get together!"
Is anyone else in the same spot? What do you do to look ahead while you're standing still? How do you maintain hope in a future you can't see?
Hail to the Chief -- 00:00
This week we inaugurated our 44th United States President. According to his staff, he's already rolling up his sleeves and getting to work. Many Christians and pro-family folks are concerned about what that work will be. We'll soon find out. In this discussion, the team takes apart the inauguration, from Rick Warren's prayer to Aretha's hat to the speech that outlined Obama's intent for our nation in the coming months.
Fatal Addiction -- 19:08
Today marks the 20th anniversary of Dr. Dobson's landmark interview with serial killer Ted Bundy. Bundy was executed on January 24, 1989 -- the morning after the interview. Focus' media and sexuality analyst, Daniel Weiss, joins me for a look back on that interview and Bundy's telling words about the impact violence and pornography in the media had on his addiction to sexualized violence. Daniel talks about the impact of porn on society, not just in making "monsters," but in systematically destroying individuals, marriages and families.
Conviction Confliction -- 40:25
I grew up in a home where alcohol was taboo. So did the subject of this week's Inbox question. Should she marry someone whose convictions about alcohol are different from hers? When are convictions dealbreakers, and when is there room for compromise and/or disagreement? What kind of problems can differing convictions present in a marriage, and what do you do about them? Focus' Glenn Lutjens uses Biblical truth and experience from years as a professional counselor to give this listener practical advice in tackling her drinking dilemma.
I'm in a study at church called How People Change. I can tell it's going to be good as it focuses on letting God change us by His grace. I'll keep you posted. Maybe I'll become more grace-filled. Maybe you'll hear a new-found sweetness in my voice on the show. Hey, God is a God of miracles. :)
A year ago I mentioned a group of top-notch Christian CCM artists who were collaborating on an album whose profits would be given to various ministries around the world. Their album (which shares the name of their ministry), Compassionart, has just been released. Musicians included Steven Curtis Chapman, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Tim Hughes, Martin Smith, Stu Garrard, Michael W. Smith, Darlene Zschech, Paul Baloche, Israel Houghton, Graham Kendrick and Andy Park.
Tonight I'll be playing organ and synth at a free "Worship and Compassion Concert" led by the last guy in that list, Andy Park. If you live near Colorado Springs, please feel invited. And if you do show up, please introduce yourself to me. I'll be behind the two keyboards, trying to look like Mac Powell.
Information can be found on Andy's Web site, or my church's Web site.
Thanks to everyone who prayed for our friends Motte and Beth -- and their four adopted children -- on their journey home to Colorado from Ethiopia. They have arrived in the States and are en route to Denver now. Cause for much praise!
Please do keep praying for their endurance. The flight was rough with little sleep and much (non-stop) crying. I hear the kids were cranky, too.
Seriously, for anyone close to a foreign adoption, you know the flight home can be the hardest part. Or one of them.
Please keep supporting them in prayer. Thank you.
President Barack Obama signed an executive order yesterday calling for "a task force to look at closing the detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within the year."
The consequence is that the 245 inmates at Gitmo would be transferred to other prisons within the United States.
A number of more conservative groups decry this decision. The Heritage Foundation, for example, explains that it's a meaningless symbolic gesture, as all the prisoners would remain imprisoned somewhere.
Hm. I actually think this could be an extremely good thing.
Right now, prisoners at Gitmo are treated very well. They are "given culturally sensitive diets, freedom to worship, exercise opportunities, and the best available medical care." Moving them away from such a "model prison, where people are better treated than in Belgian prisons," would result in a less coddled incarceration experience for these alleged enemy combatants. I think making them a part of the general prison population could be a good thing.
Currently, the prisoners at Gitmo are all (I assume) fanatical Muslims. Their peers are Muslim, and they reinforce each other in their faith. By splitting them up from each other, distributing them among other U.S. prisons, it's likely that they'll gain peers who are Christians. Who knows? -- maybe they'll hear the gospel for the first time by living in a different location. And maybe some will turn from their sin to the Truth of Christ.
Currently, reporters don't have a great deal of access to Gitmo prisoners. If they're moved to within the U.S., then these reporters may have more access to them. While this could be a bad thing, in that they could get their twisted messages out to a broad audience, this could be a good thing -- more people would become aware of who they really are: radical Islamists bent on killing Americans. Sentiment could change from pure sympathy for these mysterious prisoners to confidence that their imprisonment is just.
I suspect that many of these prisoners currently at Gitmo are violent, specifically toward non-Muslims. If they happened to kill someone while in their new prison, their fate (which seems largely uncertain at this point) would become clarified: They'd either be executed or sentenced to life behind bars.
And who knows? -- maybe the international community will see this symbolic gesture as the sensitive thing to do. They may find us kinder and gentler, and become more supportive of the civilized world's struggle against Islamofascist terrorism.
Of course, there may be dangers in transferring these prisoners out of Gitmo. They may recruit other disaffected prisoners to their ideology, they may take advantage of our court system and learn sensitive information which they'd then pass along to their friends, they may exploit legal loopholes that results in their being freed, they may effectively manipulate reporters into broadcasting sympathetic stories about their plight, the international community may see the U.S. as pushovers, and so on.
But I do see a lot of benefits in closing Gitmo. I'm therefore kind of excited to see it shut down.
Last week on the podcast we talked about the issue of "fetus fatigue." This is the trend of young evangelicals taking a step back from the issue of pro-life, either because we feel there's nothing more we can really do or we're hesitant to associate with an unpopular, uncool, unsavory issue. I was convicted. There are definitely issues I feel more comfortable discussing than abortion. I had a wonderful professor in college who had a lot of passion for this issue. I never doubted that his fervor was holy. His heart burned for protecting the preborn. And, more than that, he was willing to put his conviction into action. Today I was discussing with a friend what that fervor should look like for us. How do we, as young adults, need to be involved in protecting life? Whatever your level of enthusiasm for the issue of pro-life, if you believe that preborn children are as valuable to God as yourself and that they have the God-given right to live, this conviction should compel you to do something. Focus on the Family has Option Ultrasound, which provides ultrasound machines to pregnancy resource centers. The provision of an ultrasound to women at-risk for abortion doubles the potential number of babies saved versus counseling alone. That I can get behind. Justin Taylor reports on another opportunity: Option Line is a national calling center (plus IM and email) fielding calls from women actively considering abortion, taking the time to understand the pressure or fear they face, and directly and immediately connecting them to the Pregnancy Help Clinic best able to serve them locally.
The cost of one hour of this helpline? $50. That I can get behind. Today, on the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision to legalize abortion on demand, I find myself wanting to do something—rather, wanting to understand what God would have me do. As I admitted to Motte on the podcast, there really is no excuse for fetus fatigue. Either life is at God's heart or it is not. Once that decision is made, I am responsible to act accordingly. I'm thankful that God does not experience fatigue in His passion for the oppressed. And as His child (who has experienced the joy of being alive), I should follow suit.
Anyone wondering what's up with Motte and Beth in Ethiopia? Motte had every intention of blogging from Africa on his new iPhone; he even suggested he might call during the podcast recording. Unfortunately the only way they've been able to send updates has been through Facebook. But in light of recent developments, I just had to blog on their behalf and ask for your prayers.
Motte said he was prepared for pain. And from the looks of things, he's right smack dab in the midst of it. And they haven't even begun the long flight home. Some of the things he and his wife have endured:
- Missing bags, the ones with the baby stuff and formula;
- Barking dogs that kept them awake when it was finally time to sleep;
- Showers that didn't work;
- E-mails that wouldn't send;
- Phones that wouldn't connect;
Now comes a new challenge. One of the twins is really sick with a high fever and pneumonia (and the other baby appears to be coming down with something). The challenge is lack of adequate medical care and the possibility that the airline won't let her fly Friday when they're all supposed to head home.
Please pray for healing for the twins, especially Olivia, as well as for grace and physical stamina and strength and wisdom for Motte and Beth. They really need our prayer support over the next 24 hours! This is a God-sized opportunity.
Thank you, faithful readers. And pray-ers.
Between the time I started writing this post and now, there's been an encouraging update: Olivia's fever broke and all had a good night's sleep. Praise the Lord. They are planning to fly home Friday. Please pray them home safe and sound.
Inflation in Zimbabwe has bumped up a bit, to 6,500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 ... let me take a breath here ... 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 ... and another breath ... 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 percent, according to Forbes Asia. Prices double every 24.7 hours.
That's more than a googol. That's an octillion times the number of atoms in the observable universe, I think. It's a lot.
It really is remarkable what Robert Mugabe has done to the Breadbasket of Africa. May it soon return to its former greatness.
When I first moved to Colorado several years ago, I can remember something catching my eye. It was long stretches of, what appeared to me, random fencing alongside the highways. You'd be driving along and all of sudden there were several hundred feet of mesh wire fencing, held in place by large metal stakes running alongside the highway.
"What on earth are those for?" I asked a new Colorado friend.
"The snow," she answered.
My quizzical look made her smile. It was a bright autumn day without a cloud in the sky.
"The snow?" I asked. "There's no snow."
"But there will be," she said. She went on to explain that the fencing was placed in strategic positions so that when hard snows came, they would drift behind the fencing rather than landing on the highway and shutting it down.
I thought of that when reading a financial article the other day. It was one of those "Handling finances amid hard times" kind of things--giving advice on how to make it through tough economic times. But as I read one bullet point after another, I kept thinking, "It's a little late to be telling people to build the fences when the snow is already coming down."
Still. There was some good financial advice there--along with some questionable. So, here's the author's bullet point suggestions and the running dialogue in my head:
- Eliminate debt. Always good advice, but much easier to do in the fat times than the lean ones. It makes me think of carrying around a 50 pound weight on my shoulders. It's easier to carry when I'm well fed and healthy. Not so easy when I'm malnourished and weak. Better to throw it off when I've got the strength. Either way, it needs to be gone.
- Track your spending. Agree. Ever have the feeling, "I just don't know where all my money goes?" Then it's important to take control of your spending. My hubbie and I have all thirteen years of our married spending on computer. Some is encouraging. Some is not. When my "Dining Out" budget is staring me in the face, I suddenly know exactly where my money is going--to chicken chimichangas. But you can start smaller--like with a notebook and a commitment to record every dime you spend for 30 days.
- Build an emergency fund. Do this yesterday. Without a cushion, any fall you take is going to be a hard one.
- Consider refinancing. Not so sure about this one. In full disclosure, I have refinanced my mortgage (about two years ago). If you have little debt, are giving, have savings, plan to stay in your house 5 more years, and refinancing will save you money, go for it. If not, refinancing may not be your solution. Downsizing may be your solution.
- Invest in yourself and your family. "Go back to school, get an advanced degree or continue your professional education," the article proclaimed. "You can never go wrong investing in yourself." Not necessarily. Take the guy on the radio yesterday who "invested" $90,000 in student loans to get a bachelor's degree in Spanish. Now he pays $750 a month for 20 years for a degree that is only earning him about $30K. Every investment has to be carefully weighed against its return. This did not sound like a good one. I'm all for continuing education, but I do a lot of mine through the public library. Learning new skills and staying marketable while working hard seems wise. Getting layed off and deciding to let Sallie Mae finance your furlough, maybe not so much.
The thing about those Colorado snow fences is that they stood useless until needed. But good financial stewardship reaps rewards in the good times and the challenging ones.
I've been caught up in the "life will be better when" trap. You know the one.
Life will be better when I move out of my parents' basement.
Life will be better when I get a "real" job.
Life will be better when I pay off my student loans.
Life will be better when I'm in a relationship ... engaged ... married.
The last one, that's me. A few nights ago as I was making the third trip from my car to my kitchen lugging in groceries, I thought, "Life will be better when I'm married; then I'll have help carrying in groceries."
Unloading groceries is the absolute bane of my existence. A little silly? Sure, but these small, silly thoughts have been adding up and stealing my joy in the present. I'm dating a great guy and instead of enjoying where we are, I'm always thinking about how life will be better when we take the next step. God has been using little things like bags of flour and bagels to bring to light my sin of living in the future.
He has also been using a well-known Christian classic. C.S. Lewis makes an eye-opening point in The Screwtape Letters that illuminates the dangers of living in the future.
Our business is to get them away from the eternal, and from the Present.... It is far better to make them live in the Future. Biological necessity makes all their passions point in that direction already, so that thought about the Future inflames hope and fear. Also, it is unknown to them, so that in making them think about it we make them think of unrealities. In a word, the Future is, of all things, the thing least like eternity. it is the most completely temporal part of time -- for the Past is frozen and no longer flows, and Present is all lit up with eternal rays ... nearly all vices are rooted in the future. Gratitude looks to the past and love to the present; Fear, avarice, lust, and ambition look ahead.
It makes sense that Paul would admonish us to put on love above all other virtures as it looks to the present, the place "lit up with eternal rays." And so today I'm committing again to a life in the present, a life of love.
In what ways are you tempted to live in the Future? How does it steal your joy in the Present?
Every week or so we hear from a reader who has gotten married, but still finds a lot to enjoy about Boundless. The question they tend to ask a lot, however, is "Where's the Boundless-like resource targeting young married couples?" Well, that's one of our big projects for this year.
But we need your help. If you're among the 10% or so of our readers who are young married couples, would you post a comment letting us know how you think we could best serve, (encourage, inspire, support) you?
Yesterday I wrote a silly little blog post in which I admitted that I found it disturbing that President Obama carries in his pocket a monkey god good luck charm. Though I knew about this story for months, I waited until yesterday to publish it so I could use the clever headline I came up with, "Good Luck, Mr. President." There were also legal reasons why I couldn't publish it while he was a presidential candidate.
The reaction to my frivolous blog post, frankly, stuns me. The following words were used to describe either my blog or myself:
ranting, lacking journalistic integrity, sophomoric, grumpy, immature, fear mongering, pointing the finger in judgment of Obama, petty, annoying, questioning Obama's faith, retarded, embarrassing, smacking of bitterness and anger and fear, bordering on gossip, exposé based on conjecture, trivial, ridiculous, get over yourself, big fuss, offensive, ridicule, disrespect, condescension, insolent child, hate-filled and exclusionary, divisive, sour grapes, lack of graciousness that is befitting Christians, poor witness, extreme judgment, condescending attitude, shortsighted, lacking in a true demonstration of Christ-like character, bash, silly, attack on the man, slanderous, unfair....
All because I was disturbed by this man's lucky charms. And apparently because I wasn't supposed to say anything that did not sufficiently laud President Obama on His Holy Day. (That last phrase, to be clear, is chiding those whose defensive adoration of our President is over-the-top; it's not a demeaning of the President himself.)
The Line really should not facilitate such uncivil, reactionary communication as we witnessed in the comment thread following yesterday's blog post.
I witnessed, to a lesser degree, some of this "assuming-the-worst" attitude in the comments following something I wrote on Monday. My wistful desire to be able to access my money to educate my kids was misinterpreted as a denunciation of government-funded school systems, or of grumbling about having to pay taxes, or even disrespect for teachers. Folks shouldn't assume that I have such a negative outlook. As someone who's earned a master's degree in Education, and whose sister has been a public school teacher for a couple of decades, I've come to have great respect for those in the teaching profession.
I'd like The Line to be a safe and enjoyable place for Christians and for those inquisitive about Christ to explore ideas, to talk about current events and ancient truths. I want it to be a place where we assume the best about people, where we're slow to form negative judgments about them. I don't want it to be a place for folks to express angry judgmentalism; such a tone is really out of place here.
Thanks for understanding!
I've never understood good luck charms. Sure, I had a rabbit's foot when I was a kid (how gross is that!) and a rock that we'd run through our rock polisher. But I can't think of any other items that I religiously carried around to help me through the hard times.
I'm relieved to know that President Obama doesn't have a rabbit's foot. He does, however, carry around a number of lucky charms, including a tiny Madonna and child, a gambler's lucky chit, some coins ... and a tiny statue of a monkey god (likely the Hindu god Hanuman).
Why a monkey god?
The tiny monkey god has been interpreted to be none other than the Hindu god Hanuman. Why would he choose this lucky charm? It is widely reported that Obama, whose father was a Kenyan and mother a white woman from Kansas, spent initial days of his life in Indonesia where Hinduism is a popular religion. So is this an influence from his Indonesian childhood?
Hanuman is the god that Hindus, especially young children, are taught to turn to when they are afraid of something or get bad dreams at night. Hanuman is said to be the protector who keeps evil away. This extremely powerful son of the wind god is said to be incredibly strong, invincible, the most intelligent being on earth, and immortal. Known as the "remover of distress" Hanuman is especially known for relieving difficulties. In Hindu mythology, Hanuman is also considered the incarnation of Shiva, the destroyer of all evil.
Usually the image of Hanuman is seen with only two arms, but as with Obama's charm, the monkey god is also represented with four arms in some regions of Southeast Asia, like Thailand. The Chinese also are reported to have a monkey god. But while neither Obama nor his aides have said anything about this or his other good luck charms, all inferences assume his little monkey charm to be Hanuman.
I just have to say that I find this disturbing, a grown man carrying around a tiny four-armed monkey statue for good luck. And I'll leave it at that.
I didn't vote for the incoming president, but today, we'll watch him take the Oath of Office and celebrate. Why? Because we live in the greatest country on earth. For all the bombs lobbed against us -- figuratively and literally -- we will witness again the transfer of power from one ruling ideology to another, all without a single shot being fired. Our system of government makes this possible, a system that derives its authority from the people. As long as our leaders swear allegiance to our Constitution, and are true to their oath, we value liberty and freedom enough to support our leaders, even when we interpret that Constitution differently. Because we live in a country whose government is built on a Declaration that says, We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted
among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,
Now, 233 years since Thomas Jefferson penned those words, and 148 years since President Lincoln went to war to prove them true, we will be inaugurating the first black president. I believe Presidents Jefferson and Lincoln would rejoice over such progress. Because I believe President Obama is God's man for the job at this time. Scripture says, God "sets up kings and deposes them" (Daniel 2:20-22) The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD;
He directs it like a watercourse wherever He pleases. (Proverbs 21:1-3) Everyone must submit
himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except
that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been
established by God. Consequently,
he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has
instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For
rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do
wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then
do what is right and he will commend you. For
he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for
he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent
of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore,
it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of
possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give
everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue,
then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. (Romans 13:1-7) And so we will pray that our new president will ask of us only what is rightly due Him. And that he will heed the warning of Psalm 2: Therefore, you kings, be wise;
be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear
and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry
and you be destroyed in your way,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him. And we will rest in the sovereignty of our heavenly King. The King over all kings. The one of whom the Psalmist said, The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD;
he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases. Grant us O Lord your favor. May this incoming "king's" heart be directed toward righteousness.
This morning I was reading the online version of our city's newspaper, and came across the following sentence about a local school district:
Falcon has an $80 million budget and 12,700 students.
I did the math. That's $6,300 per student per year.
My wife and I are going to be homeschooling our three-so-far kids. What could we do for over $18,000 per year, I wonder.
Then I did a bit of googling. The average national cost of educating kids is reported to be $9,295 per pupil per year.
And then I discovered that this $9,295 figure is inaccurately low; it doesn't take into account, for example, money spent on teachers' retirement programs, school building depreciation and repair, teacher preparation programs, and so on.
The Cato Institute crunched the numbers and found the cost of public education to be closer to $11,000 per student. In Washington, D.C., they found costs to be over $24,000 per student.
I don't know if this is relevant to you. You may not have children yet, or may not pay much in taxes. Some day, though, you probably will.
As for me, someone with three girls destined to be educated, someone who pays thousands of dollars per year in taxes of all kinds, I'm stunned. And left thinking More money for public education? I don't think so.
Again, I find myself wondering what I could do with that much money per year for each of my children.
I found last week's article "Looking For My Birthmother" to be a fascinating look into the issues adoptees experience, from dealing with incomplete medical records to wrestling with the grueling decision of whether to find their biological parents.
After 12 years of prayer, Boundless author Kimberly Eddy decided to begin the search.
I'd be interested in hearing from those of you who've been adopted: Does Kimberly's experience mirror your own? And from those who haven't been adopted: How does her article give you insights into what adoptees go through? And from those who have either adopted, or are wanting to adopt: Has Kimberly's story helped you better understand some of the tensions an adoptee feels?
"It must be God's will for you to be single." "Be content where you are." "It's better to be single and wish you were married, than married and wish you were single." If you're over a certain age and still single, you've probably heard one or more of these sentiments, or a variation thereof. I know I did. But I say it's never too late to hope for marriage! And now Wang Guiying is proving my point. She's a 107-year-old Chinese woman (that's one hundred and seven!) who's decided the time is now right to get married. I can't say that I blame her for staying single so long. In her culture, her singleness spared her the traumas of wife-beating, feet binding, scolding, and low social standing, according to one Reuters report. In any event, she's looking for a groom who's at least 100. She wants to be sure they have something to talk about.
Many of us regularly deal with what a friend of mine describes as "first-world problems." These are inconveniences; petty concerns. I had a couple of those this week. I spent 10 minutes on my hands and knees in my bathroom looking for my missing contact lens -- only to discover it was still in my eye. Last night I got stuck in a car wash. Both doors closed, but nothing happened. I backed up and recentered my car about six times. Nothing. I was pretty sure I would die from carbon monoxide poisoning when a college guy came and helped me. He reset the codes and assured me that none of this was my fault (yeah, right). To top it all off, today I'm not feeling too well on account of eating a ridiculous number of Red Vines for breakfast. That one I definitely have to blame on myself.
My problems are miniscule. There are many bigger things going on in the world. As we head into Sanctity of Human Life Week (January 18-25) and the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we address a couple of big things on The Boundless Show -- abortion and human trafficking. Before I talk about these specific segments, let me encourage you to check out Focus' Faces of Option Ultrasound. Option Ultrasound (OU) is our effort to get ultrasound equipment and services into pregnancy medical clinics around the nation. Abortion-minded women who receive counseling services and see an image of their preborn baby are more than twice as likely to say they will keep the baby. Since OU's launch five years ago, over 400 grants have been approved in 49 states, resulting in an estimated 63,000 babies saved. Yes, you read that right. That is crazy exciting. Check out the site and get the whole scoop.
Fetus Fatigue -- 00:00
Our generation seems weary of talking about abortion. We're tired of the fight, the anger, the injustice, the politics and the players. But defending the unborn is still Biblical, so how do we inject passion into a calling that we know is worthy, but after 35 years is still so daunting?
The Courageous Fight Against Sex Trafficking -- 24:07
DO NOT MISS THIS SEGMENT. Congresswoman Linda Smith (R-WA) is in the studio to update us on the world of sex trafficking and what she and her organization, Shared Hope International, are doing to fight it. Also joining us is Renu, a Nepalese girl whom Linda helped after Renu was rescued from a brothel overseas. Renu tells her incredible story of being sold into slavery, losing all hope, being found by Christ, and ultimately embracing redemption for herself and the brother who betrayed her.
I'm No Brad Pitt -- 50:44
We've talked about unattractive women, but what about the guy who feels he asks women out, but gets turned down repeatedly? Is it him, or are women looking through the wrong lens when searching for potential husbands? Steve, Suzanne and I help a listener separate fact from fiction on the subject of attraction.
Here's to the preborn. Here's to the elderly. Here's to everyone in between. Here's to life!
An e-mail I received this morning begins, "It kind of disgusts me that the evangelical core seems to naturally question global warming." Another simply reiterated points from Al Gore's error-filled film, "An Inconvenient Truth." Another dismisses the article because it wasn't written by a "scientist."
These are some of the e-mails we've received in reaction to today's featured Boundless article, "Question Global Warming."
The thing is, none of them address the point of the article: to encourage us to thoughtfully evaluate this issue, rather than simply repeat what the cool people are saying about it.
Author Jay Richards begins his article affirming our responsibility to care for the earth:
Most thoughtful Christians these days have spent time considering how to be good stewards of the environment. After all, even if environmentalism weren't so fashionable, Christians have a solid biblical motivation to be good stewards of the environment.
He then goes on to challenge us how to evaluate the competing ideas behind climate change:
To think clearly about this issue, we have to tease apart this bundle of claims and consider each one. For each claim, there is a corresponding question we need to answer. And it's only after answering these questions that we can be in a position to determine what, if anything, we ought to do about global warming.
He then provides four central questions that we might ask.
I expect some comments will dismiss this article as anti-science, as pro-pollution, as the kind of mindlessness expected from Boundless. I expect some to agree with the first letter above, that it's disgusting to question what we've been told; for others to follow the pattern of the second letter above by copy-pasting the global warming alarmists' talking points; for others to file ad hominem complaints against the author, not even considering what he's said because none of his degrees (Ph.D., Th.M., M.Div.) is in a field of science. (They, of course, will see their opinions as valid, though they're less credentialled than the author.)
But I hope that you will mull over the four questions posed in that article: Is the earth indeed warming, are we at fault, is it necessarily bad, and would the "solutions" actually solve anything?
If you'd like to become more informed about "the other side" of the global warming argument, consider reading through some of the following:
At the very least, these resources should lead us to be less confident that we're causing the earth to heat up to dangerous levels, and that we must consequently raise taxes and hinder personal liberty to rein things in.
I love it when I see God's kingdom in everyday things — like high school football games. My friend Becky posted this story on her blog. "I think Kris Hogan makes God smile," she wrote. I agree. Consider this story on ESPN: They played the oddest game in high school football history last month down in Grapevine, Texas. It was Grapevine Faith vs. Gainesville State School and everything about it was upside down. For instance, when Gainesville came out to take the field, the Faith fans made a 40-yard spirit line for them to run through. Did you hear that? The other team's fans? They even made a banner for players to crash through at the end. It said, "Go Tornadoes!" Which is also weird, because Faith is the Lions. It was rivers running uphill and cats petting dogs. More than 200 Faith fans sat on the Gainesville side and kept cheering the Gainesville players on—by name.
This unusual behavior took place at the request of Faith's head coach, Kris Hogan. You see, Gainesville is a maximum-security correctional facility and every game they play is on the road. Hogan wanted to do something kind for the team. So Hogan had this idea. What if half of our fans — for one night only — cheered for the other team? He sent out an email asking the Faithful to do just that. "Here's the message I want you to send:" Hogan wrote. "You are just as valuable as any other person on planet Earth."
The parents agreed. And though Faith beat Gainesville 33-14, the Gainesville players acted like they'd just won state, giving their coach a celebratory squirt-bottle shower. After the game, both teams gathered in the middle of the field to pray and that's when Isaiah [Gainesville's quarterback] surprised everybody by asking to lead. "We had no idea what the kid was going to say," remembers Coach Hogan. But Isaiah said this: "Lord, I don't know how this happened, so I don't know how to say thank You, but I never would've known there was so many people in the world that cared about us." And it was a good thing everybody's heads were bowed because they might've seen Hogan wiping away tears.
Well done good and faithful servant.
Lord,
I thank you for your calling Motte and his wife to go out of their comfort zone and adopt four children from Ethiopia. Thank you for the good counsel he's received, the donations he's received to cover most of the costs, favor from bureaucrats and legal people both internationally and within the United States.
But most of all, thank you for your promise to support those, like the Browns, to whom you've given a great calling.
Please give him and his wife a strong sense of your favor and presence as they make the very long flight from Colorado to Ethiopia. Please keep them both from illness, and invigorate them for the adventure ahead of them. And calm the questions and fears that might arise as the time approaches that they meet their children for the first time.
Also, please nudge people who hear their story to donate money to cover costs, which are currently at over $40,000.
I also pray for their six children -- that their two biological children would quickly adapt to having four new siblings, that their four adopted children would quickly adapt to a new culture, new foods, a new language, a new family, a new brother and sister.
And Lord, please touch my heart to live as lovingly and as sacrificially as the Browns.
Amen.
I appreciate the conversation going on in response "The Faithful, the Marriable" based on the article "10 Ways to Be Marriable." Several who made comments stressed that perhaps the term "marriable" is misleading, because even if a person embodies all 10 characteristics, he or she may not currently be married or have any guarantee of getting hitched in the future. I agree. Although, I don't think it ever hurts to work on character. But that got me thinking about the opposite. Is it possible to be "unmarriable" or at least marriage-resistant? I think so. Consider in reverse the list provided in the article, and ask yourself if you would have any interest in a person who displayed these characteristics: discontentment, laziness, cruelty, inconsistency, negativism, inability to commit, spiritual apathy, pride, doubt, indecision. I understand that a list like the one included in the article is not some magic formula for marriage. However, I stand by the article's title. These are indeed — at least in the opinion of several couples who are close enough to the "pairing up" season to remember — 10 ways to be marriable. Not the only 10 ways, of course. But 10 ways nonetheless. Developing these 10 character qualities will not make you less marriable. Now what about the issues of attraction and confidence? I'm glad Mike Theemling brought this up. General rules of attraction do dictate that men prefer females who are easy on the(ir) eyes and women gravitate toward confident fellas. I purposefully did not hide this fact in my article. Almost every guy's story included something about the physical appearance of his now-wife: her smile, her hair, even beauty of which she was unaware. Many of the women's stories about their now-husbands demonstrated that confidence was involved. For example, Josh's comfort level stepping into ministry at Lindy's church or Andrew's boldness in approaching Sarah at the ice cream social. Attraction is always a factor. Confidence is always a consideration. But something I took from reading all of the stories was that each of the people involved was a delight to others in some way, whether through a humble spirit, a strong faith or a genuine kindness. I hope what you take away from the article is that any work you allow God to do on your character can only remove barriers between you and others — including, but not limited to, your future spouse.
Some see them as a pragmatic way to protect yourself in case your marriage falls apart. Others see them as an expression of doubt -- in both the person and the institution -- something that may actually facilitate divorce.
Boundless Answers columnist John Thomas received a question about it a couple of months ago, and responded to it in his column.
It's pretty easy to figure out what he thinks about these things. In his first paragraph, he writes, "Pre-nups are, in my opinion, a tragic sign of the devaluing of the institution from covenant to contract."
What do you think? Are there possible benefits for some people? Are there dangers that John didn't even bring up?
HT: Mike Theemling and Christina (in green).
He won't get the chance to hoist the Vince Lombardi trophy this year, but Tony Dungy is still going out on top following his retirement from NFL coaching this week. I was moved by how effusive journalists have been in praising Dungy during this departure, both in commentaries and even straight up newswire stories.
One of my favorites was a Wall Street Journal blog:
Tony Dungy is known almost as much for his devotion to family and faith as he is for his 13 seasons as head coach in the NFL, six in Tampa Bay and seven in Indianapolis. It was in the Hoosier State that Dungy became the first African-American coach to win a Super Bowl, when the Colts defeated the Bears 29-17 in 2007.
“Simply, his NFL legacy will be that he won football games the right way. He won them while maintaining his humanity,” Bob Kravitz writes in the Indianapolis Star. “He won them while insisting his players connected with their community. The NFL has long been the province of petty tyrants, of control freaks who rule through intimidation and fear. Or they sleep in their offices and live myopic existences, unaware of the world beyond their walls. Dungy wanted to change all that, or at least show the world that a coach could win a different way. He succeeded.”
“Too often coaches act like lunatics as they stomp the sideline in over-the-top rage. Dungy, often in his Colts blue sweater vest, was a neighborly exception. It was never about him, just the team,” Dan Wetzel writes on Yahoo Sports. “You can’t be a NFL head coach without ego and ambition, but this was not about the glory of Tony Dungy. He was not a look at me, look at the genius, kind of figure. He proved that you could win by working with players, not just shouting at them.”
If Dungy wanted the glory, you could expect his ego to give him no other option than to come back next year and find a way to beat those pesky Chargers in the playoffs the way he finally overcame the pesky Patriots in 2007 -- but he's fine to leave that challenge to Jim Caldwell while he pours himself into more meaningful pursuits.
I wrote this post two years ago and just noticed that it's getting a lot of referrals from Google. So I thought I'd post it again for our daily readers. Sadly, I don't think we'll be seeing another presidential proclamation for some four to eight years, maybe more. I hope I'm wrong though.
* * *
In 1983, an organization named Christian Action Council (now known as Care Net), founded with the help of Francis Schaeffer and former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, "asked President Ronald Reagan to create a special day to focus on the intrinsic value of human life." That same year, "President Reagan issued a proclamation establishing a National Sanctity of Human Life Sunday."
Here's a portion of President Reagan's proclamation the following year marking the anniversary of Roe v. Wade as "fitting ... [to] reflect anew" on our responsibility to "care for the lives and freedoms of even the weakest of our fellow human beings."
Since 1973, however, more than 15 million unborn children have died in legalized abortions -- a tragedy of stunning dimensions that stands in sad contrast to our belief that each life is sacred. These children, over tenfold the number of Americans lost in all our Nation's wars, will never laugh, never sing, never experience the joy of human love; nor will they strive to heal the sick, or feed the poor, or make peace among nations. Abortion has denied them the first and most basic of human rights, and we are infinitely poorer for their loss.
We are poorer not simply for lives not led and for contributions not made, but also for the erosion of our sense of the worth and dignity of every individual. To diminish the value of one category of human life is to diminish us all. Slavery, which treated Blacks as something less than human, to be bought and sold if convenient, cheapened human life and mocked our dedication to the freedom and equality of all men and women. Can we say that abortion -- which treats the unborn as something less than human, to be destroyed if convenient -- will be less corrosive to the values we hold dear?
We are poorer still. The 15 million "lives not led" President Reagan referred to has now grown to 50 million. And such a number can numb us into believing that nothing we do matters. But I saw hope today.
During Focus on the Family chapel, we were given a chance to honor the staff and volunteers of local pregnancy centers and see face to face the women they care for and the babies they have saved. And thanks to Care Net's Option Line 24 hour call center and programs like Focus's Option Ultrasound, more and more women facing unplanned pregnancies are seeking their help.
Today, President George W. Bush continued the national observance Reagan began by proclaiming this Sunday, January 21, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. Please take an opportunity this weekend to consider how God may be calling you to "care for the lives and freedoms of even the weakest of our fellow human beings."
If you're single, you may have had a moment (or 16) where you wondered if you were "marriable." I know I have. That was the inspiration for today's article, "10 Ways to Be Marriable." In it, you'll discover a dozen stories of matches made. Some of the couples met in college. Others were in their thirties before they tied the knot. All of them cited fairly standard character qualities as the things that drew them to their spouses.
Something I noticed was the overlap between singleness and marriage. Good qualities cultivated in singleness paid off in marriage. Josh described it this way:
"Some girls I knew were sitting around waiting for this wealthy, good-looking man to take care of them," Josh says. "Danielle was living life to the fullest and that attracted me to her.
"I thought, If a girl is sitting on the couch at home all day at her parents, will she sit on the couch all day as my wife? In Danielle, I could see a glimpse into the future and knew she would carry the same passion and energy she had for God, our church and her job into marriage. As it turns out, I was right."
Being a good candidate for marriage comes back to faithfulness. How faithful are you with the opportunities God has given you right now? You never know where that faithfulness will lead. I hope you'll find the stories in the article uplifting. If you're married, what drew you to your spouse?
The saddest part isn't that Natalie Dylan (not her real name) is auctioning off her virginity to the highest bidder.
The saddest part isn't that the San Diego student is using the auction to help raise money to pay for her graduate studies.
The saddest part isn't that the 22-year-old got the idea from her sister, who spent three weeks working as a prostitute at a Nevada brothel to fund her own college education.
The saddest part isn't that some 10,000 men have already bid on the young woman's chastity.
The saddest part isn't that, four months after Howard Stern helped her launch the auction, Dylan has now reportedly received an offer of $3.7 million.
The saddest part isn't even that the money she hopes to raise will fund an advanced degree in marriage and family therapy.
No, the saddest part is all of it.
I was catching up on my blog reading yesterday when I came across an article that gave me pause: "Adult Women Play House with Fake Babies."
According to the article:
"Many people like to stop and play with newborn babies, but now some adult women are playing house with fake babies. Some women are even going as far as taking day trips with the fake babies to the park, out to eat and even hosting birthday parties for them."
The dolls -- referred to as "Reborns" -- are incredibly lifelike (so much so that one of the dolls fools a passer by in this ABC clip) and can cost from a hundred dollars up to a few thousand dollars.
Now there are a lot of potential topics to unpack here, but I want to restrict my comments to one statement that particularly caught my attention. It was from Reborn owner, Lachelle Moore, who has grown children and grandchildren: "What's so wonderful about Reborns is that, um, they're forever babies," Moore said. "There's no college tuition, no dirty diapers ... just the good part of motherhood."
"The good part of motherhood." That theme was echoed by another "Reborner" who giggled about how she feels like she has a real baby because she changes the baby and dresses it up to look cute, but who said that she could never adopt a real baby because of the expense.
Now, I can relate to these women to some degree. Though they are not actually mothers to these dolls, these women understand that there is joy in motherhood. And there are certainly parts of motherhood that are more fun than the others. In some of my early mommy days, it was a major accomplishment if I managed to get a cute outfit on my daughter and keep it clean for a consecutive sixty minutes. Going to the park was (and is) a welcome break for my kids and myself from the demands of a household.
But I think I would have to disagree that those are "the good part of motherhood" and that my new responsibilities, sacrifices and the demands on me are necessarily the "bad." I probably thought that way before I had kids -- that there were "good" things about parenting and "bad" things about parenting and that you simply prayed and hoped that the first would outweigh the second in the end. Now, I'm learning more and more that those things I dreaded--the financial sacrifice, the mess, the bother, the "loss of me"--are, in truth, some of the best parts about being a parent.
Boundless contributor Gary Thomas says it this way in his book, Sacred Parenting:
"Without sacrificing ourselves, we can't really appreciate Christ's sacrifice -- which means that children, with all the demands that they place on us, usher us into a deeper understanding of and even an astonishment at what God has done on our behalf....
Every mother has walked this road. To offer life to another, she literally shares her body for nine months, and then even risks her life and health to bring this child safely into the world. Once the child is born, other sacrifices present themselves. Both men and women can rise to the demands and have their souls shaped accordingly. If we embrace these great and small tests with our spiritual eyes opened, we may even come to cherish the sacrifice required of us, so rewarding do we find the spiritual blessings that follow."
So, just a word of encouragement. The fun parts of motherhood are, yes, amazingly joyous. But there's no need to fear the hard tasks of parenthood or arrange your life so that you try to avoid them. Yes, they're difficult. Yes, they will stretch you and grow you and tire you until some days all you can do is call upon the name of the Lord. But they are not the bad parts of motherhood. So very far from it.
HT: Tim Challies
In hard economic times, people give things up: eating out, lattes and...divorce. According to this article on MSN fewer people are splitting up in a slow economy.
The recession and economic turmoil is creating a new class of casualties: married couples who can't afford to get divorced. In these tough times, many people are finding it's cheaper to stay together, even when they can't stand each other.
"The reason that the economy has such an enormous impact on divorce is that most people in the middle-income brackets are getting by on whatever income they have. They're just getting by," said Bonnie Booden, a family-law and divorce attorney in Phoenix.
A major factor in the divorce downturn, Booden said, is that divorcing couples have to establish two households with current funds -- sometimes a prohibitive factor in hard economic times.
I find it sad that the author refers to those who can't afford divorce as casualties. I'm not naïve to his meaning, but excluding abusive situations, casualty -- "a person or thing injured, lost, or destroyed" according to Websters -- seems like the wrong word. This perspective views a difficult marriage as a threat to personal happiness. Well, yeah. But that's why vows include "for better, for worse."
My friend who posted a link to this article on his Facebook page noted how it's troubling that the author would speak of marriage in such a disposable and unflattering way. I agree. God commands lifelong covenant marriage for a reason. The true casualties are the men, women and children affected by the pain of divorce.
Traditionally, incoming U.S. Presidents spend a couple of nights in the Blair House a few days before their inauguration. That simplifies moving into the White House, as the 119-room mansion is right across the street.
Both President-Elect George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush stayed there two or three days before their inauguration, for example.
Other Presidents-Elect (e.g., Reagan, Clinton) spent a couple of nights at the home earlier than the traditional Jan. 15, but not more than a few consecutive days at a time.
President-Elect Barack Obama asked to stay at the Blair House during the 15 days before his inauguration for personal reasons (so it would be more convenient for his daughters to begin school). But former Australian prime minister John Howard was scheduled to stay there on Jan. 12, so Obama's bold request was denied.
Cyberspace is infuriated at this so-called last-minute snub by current President G.W. Bush. The Australian comes out and declares that the Obamas are entitled to be at the Blair House: After all, it is "their place."
Well, no it is not. As the "official guest house of the President of the United States," it is under the stewardship of President Bush, not Sen. Obama. It is a place to honor visiting dignitaries, presidents, prime ministers, or reigning monarchs; It's not primarily a place to make a politician's job transition more comfortable.
To my knowledge, no politician since Truman has stayed 15 consecutive days at the Blair House. Doing so would be highly unusual. And so we shouldn't be surprised when such an unprecedented request is denied. Certainly we shouldn't be outraged.
The fervor over this situation makes me wonder how long will it be before someone makes the correlation between it and that experienced by the Messiah, whose family was also told that there was no room in the inn for them.
It's my first post of 2009! To kick off the new year with incredible professionalism, yesterday my coworker, Sara, and I bought glitter-filled bounce balls at Borders, which we promptly started bouncing at our desks, much to the annoyance of others in the office. We've even developed bounce "signals" for certain behaviors, inside jokes or comments, or when we feel the need for a coffee or snack break (which is, unfortunately, a bit too often). My bounce ball is of the "Magic 8 Ball" variety, having a cube inside with various responses to "yes" or "no" questions. This is especially exciting because it's the ghetto version, so the responses run along the lines of "True Dat," "Fo Sho" and "Not Gunna Hap'n." Sara and I have already determined the outcomes of the coming year thanks to Magic 8 Glitter Bounce Ball wisdom.
Seriously though, I've been thinking a lot about growth and change this week. Last week's sermon at church was on Genesis 2 and the all-too-familiar story of Adam and Eve taking matters into their own hands. We always use the front end of a new year to talk about how we're going to improve our lives, usually by implementing some amazing plan or program that promises to revolutionize us inside and out. But my pastor reminded me that my general failure at self-metamorphosis isn't due to a lack of willpower, but a lack of ability. True change happens only when God transforms us through His grace.
Oh.
So it's January 9th and the Magic 8 Glitter Bounce Ball has already failed me. Its answers were a bit vague and unhelpful. Instead I'm going to get further into God's Word and trust that not only does He actually know some stuff (um, like my entire life story, what's best for me, what my true hangups are beyond issues with meat and an unhealthy attachment to Bill Gaither), but He wants to change me for the better -- starting now. So today begins my "I'm Totally Incompetent But God Isn't" Change Challenge. Who's in?
Faith First! -- 00:00
The last installment in the Guy's Guide to Marrying Well series centers on spiritual compatibility. You no doubt know it's important, but how important is it? Is marrying a Christian enough, or are doctrine, church preferences and worship styles worth some thought as well? What about someone's spiritual maturity? Listen in as the team talks about evening up those pesky yokes!
Boomerang Living -- 22:03
John Thomas, of Boundless Answers and The Hungry Years fame, decided to visit Colorado. We lured him into the studio to talk about leaving your roots to launch a career, then returning home to start a family. What are the pros and cons? What was it like for him to live the big-city life, then pack up and return to his small hometown and ever-so-eager extended family? And what if you're about to marry someone and move to his or her turf? John gives us a lesson in trusting God when geography is involved.
Too Much, Too Soon? -- 45:38
She just got out of a relationship, and he wants to make his move. Is the timing right? And he has a few concerns ... should he put them all on the table immediately? Steve Watters joins me this week for the Inbox as we help Mr. All-Or-Nothing navigate what to say and do, and when to say and do it.
That's it, folks. Happy New Year -- I'm looking forward to seeing what God will do in us as we give up control in 2009. I asked the Magic 8 Glitter Bounce Ball if it's possible. The answer? "Word."
Are you an entrepreneur or someone who dreams of launching out on an entrepreneurial venture? If so, how are today's economic challenges hitting you? Are they making you more cautious or on the flip side, are they making you more motivated?
If you're looking for some fresh motivation for the risk and hard work of starting something new, consider watching "The Call of the Entrepreneur" on The Fox Business Channel tomorrow, January 10, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. EST.
This program was created by our friends at Acton Media and ColdWater Media -- some of the most creative and Biblically engaging media producers we know. In case you miss the show or just want to find out more, you can find a trailer and related information at The Call of the Entrepreneur Website.
What's so bad about the pill? According to Carl Djerassi, plenty.
Djerassi, the Austrian chemist who helped create the earliest contraceptive pill, is on a mission to help Austrians who "[want] to enjoy their schnitzels while leaving the rest of the world to get on with it" to "wake up" to the looming disaster.
According to one LifeSiteNews.com, "Djerassi explained that Austria, which is now home to more seniors over 65 than children under 15, would soon enter 'an impossible situation' as the lopsided population would result in a working class too small to support the needs of elderly pensioners."
For all the predictions of population explosions, the pill has nearly ensured the opposite: a population implosion; something Djerassi never imagined. "'Not in our wildest dreams' had [we] expected the chemical to be used for contraception," said Djerassi in the December issue of Austria's Der Standard. "Lamenting that there is now 'no connection at all between sexuality and reproduction,' Djerassi said, 'This divide in Catholic Austria, a country which has on average 1.4 children per family, is now complete. Most Austrians enjoy sexual intercourse without thereby wanting or begetting a child.'"
At least they have their schnitzels.
Consider the contrast with Rachel Starr Thompson's experience of growing up as one of 12 children. (Thanks to families like hers, the dire predictions of too-few people may not come true after all.) She writes in today's Boundless article, More and Merrier, In recent years, more and more parents have started to open their lives to more and more children, conceived or adopted — to seek a full quiver, as many term it. These parents may not know it yet, but they are giving their children invaluable gifts of training, community, and lifelong ministry — and though they may not see their actions in such grand terms, they are giving a future to us all.
I have to believe Djerassi would agree. With the benefit of hindsight, hopefully he'd applaud.
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