Welcome, Curtis Michael!

Curtis Michael was born November 18th at 7:24 PM. He was 20.5 inches and 8 pounds, 7 ounces. Laura and Curtis are doing well. (John Mark also seems to be doing well.)

Wesley and I have been hanging out with Owen at home and we came back to the hospital this afternoon to "go see Mommy, Daddy, and baby brother" as Wesley has been saying since we drove home last night. Wesley is a pretty flexible little guy and is taking all of these changes very well too.

I came in from L.A. last night just an hour before Curtis came into the world, which was near perfect timing to whisk Wesley away for dinner. We got a call while at dinner that the baby brother came much quicker than expected!

-Lela

Is the Gospel about the Kingdom or Salvation?

Have you heard anyone say that Jesus preached the 'good news about the kingdom of God' but Christians seem stuck on the good news about forgiveness for our sins through Jesus' death?

I don't think the average tract, average Christian book, or average church goer produces the right picture about the good news. It's often a 2-for-3 score.

Here is what I taught my church's basic Christianity class:

The gospel is the Jesus story with explanation.
1. his death – as the worthy substitute
2. his resurrection – human victory, God’s ancient promises fulfilled, judgment by Jesus is certain
3. his kingdom plan – bringing mankind & creation back into submission to God

I suggested a few easy ways to remember and to explain these three points to others. I also cautioned against letting things replace these three points - things like human response, God's character, blessings received through the gospel, or evidence for the truthfulness of these three points. All these things are important and good, but they must not overshadow these three points.

Our Little Lion and Other Fall Fun

Here's our little lion! He's been a lion at least part of the day every day since Halloween, by request. And he always wants to "yook in miwwow" (mirror).

I don't know if I've had many pregnant pictures on here. Here I am at 37 weeks!

Misha came to visit and got to join in on the Halloween fun.

Our church went to the Main Street celebration in our town again to pass out Bibles and candy to the kids. Wesley got to get a few pieces of candy this year and liked seeing all of the other costumes.

Wesley likes posing on this pumpkin whenever I get the camera out. This was a cold day a couple of weeks ago.

Two Sundays ago we had a hayride and weenie roast with our church. Wesley got a big kick out of the hayride and kept his hands in his pockets the whole time. He seemed pretty laid back. It was cute. He LOVES wearing his little baseball hat.

Gifted Hands: Good Film

We watched it on my whim, and it was surprisingly good. Not a documentary, it is about one man's life, based on a book by the same name. Cuba Gooding, Jr. does a good job, and the others are good enough to make the film work. This is not a Christian movie, but Ben Carson became (some sort of) a devout Christian, and the director let this fact come through plenty. The film was a clean, fun look at how an inspiring man got to be who is today and a little bit of what he has done as a surgeon. No foul language, no sex or sensuality, only some isolated violence.

He Called Me Moderate

...in (probably) the first time I've ever been quoted in any newspaper. Three pastors are quoted - a Roman Catholic priest, a Christian Church minister, and a Southern Baptist pastor, and I'm the moderate on this issue. I chuckled.

The quotation comes from a piece I wrote about logical, clear thinking, using the wet/dry vote as a thoroughgoing example. I wrote it for the religion column, but the newspaper editor decided to run it as a letter to the editor. My church and several pastor-friends told me they couldn't tell whether my original "letter to the editor" was for or against making our small county a 'wet' county in the upcoming vote (Oct. 20). I was encouraging people to think clearly about the issue and to ignore 'red herrings;' it was not an opinion piece.

I'll dig out my 2-page piece and post it in the comments.

Wesley Turns Two

Wesley turned two last Monday, August 31st. Sunday night after church we had a little celebration with cake and ice cream. I made the obligatory "dorky mom cake." Wesley chose to have red as his color while I was picking out plates and napkins at Target. He's usually an orange man, so I had those selections already in the cart. I decided to ask Wesley what color he would want out of the options in front of him, and he chose red! He liked all of the attention despite the look on his face in the first picture.

Singing Happy Birthday

For his actual birthday, we started off the day with waffles. He thought that was pretty fun! After a haircut (much needed), bath and good nap, we headed to Louisville for Waterfront Park which is right next to the Ohio River and has lots of playgrounds and a little shooting water play area. It was actually a little cool that day, so the water experience didn't last long, but Wesley had a grand ol' time. We have some fun video of Wesley in the water...maybe someday we'll set up a You Tube account so we can post some video.

We got to watch a huge barge pushing coal down the river while we were there, and Wesley watched very intently.
Wesley's main present was his big boy bed! We got that set up a few days ago, and he's done great so far. We were a little worried about him getting up and roaming around the house in the middle of the night, but he has been perfect. He makes his little waking noises every morning and after naps, and when we walk in to get him, he's sitting patiently in bed with a smile and says, "Up, please!"
He also got this little spiderman cape from Mexico that my Dad and sister bought on their recent trip to Cancun. He calls it his helmet and laughs when we help him put it on. :)

"Go, Send, or Disobey"

Wesley summer pics & Quotes

Wesley learned many of the 'regulars' at church several months ago, but he noticed about 6 weeks ago that people kept talking to "John Mark." There were a couple of times he repeated that name after someone else had said it in a full room. We all stopped talking and one of us asked, "Where's John Mark?" After going through everyone's name in the room (including "Daddy"), Wesley was baffled about John Mark's identity.

Wesley with his second cousins. Three kids, a small pool with a slide = collisions.

One day this week the "Who is John Mark?" gig broke down - he figured it out. Today he pointed at me and said, "My John Mark."

He's gotten past some of his former hilarious pronunciations, but new ones have arisen. One of our favorites is "blue babies" or sometimes "blue beebees."

Yesterday the whole fam (minus dog) was sitting on the couch, each doing his own thing. Wesley broke that pattern by forcefully saying, "No, no! Stop it!" and swatting Laura's leg. After repeated corrections from us, I gave him his final warning before punishment. I reasoned with him - his responsibility is to obey Jesus, which in turn, means he must obey his parents. He may not tell us what to do. Jokingly, I added that he was permitted to boss the dog around if he could get the animal to pay attention. Wesley climbed off the couch, walked directly to the dog, leaned down toward where he lay, and said, "Obey Jesus!"

How Serious is Lying to Your Church?

Remember the weird story at the beginning of Acts 5 about the man & wife who play along with the trend in their church (to sell one's home and give the proceeds for the congregation's general benefit)? Both husband and wife were struck down by God for the whole plot. What does this teach us?

"So completely is the church the organ of his [i.e., the Holy Spirit's] vitality that an attempt to deceive the church is an attempt to deceive the Spirit--in other words, to deceive God himself."
-F. F. Bruce, The Acts of the Apostles (3rd ed., 1990) p. 61.

Sermon on the Mount Outline (it's long!)

I taught through the Sermon on the Mount over about 7 months for my church. Here's my take on the flow of thought:

1. Background - I think Matt. 1:21 sets the agenda in Matthew's Gospel: (a) who Jesus is, (b) who Jesus' people are, (c) how Jesus saves 'his people from their sin'. This third theme has two parts, as I see it, in Matthew's Gospel - Jesus atones for sin and he transforms sinners (discipleship).

2. Immediate Context - The 'kingdom of heaven' is the thematic vehicle Jesus uses to encompass almost everything about his identity, mission, and his people. Leading into the Sermon on the Mount, Matt. 4:17-5:1 contrasts Jesus' disciples (who are truly his people) with the crowds he attracted.

3. The Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3-12) function as commands about the disciples' character, motivated by promises of rewards and happiness. With this character, the disciples will/must influence others (Matt. 5:13-16).

4. Jesus' purpose (remember Matt. 1:21 above) is not to replace the Old Testament but to fulfill it (Matt. 5:17-48). Matthew carefully shows in the whole Gospel how Jesus keeps the Law and fulfills direct and typological predictions. But here, Jesus focuses on the deep transformation he intends to effect in his disciples, enabling them to keep the Law (part of saving them from their sins). In fact, the Sermon on the Mount is almost exclusively about the transformative element of Jesus' mission; or, you might say this is training for 'his people' on how to live as his disciples.

5. The disciples' entire lives are meant to be worship (Matt. 6). Jesus urges his followers to do three typical (for Jews) works of 'righteousness' (notice 6:1 picks up the same idea as 5:20) with a Godward orientation by aiming at the Father's reward, instead of doing these things with a man-centered orientation (6:1-8, 16-18). Jesus stops in the middle (6:9-15) to describe how (not what) he wants his disciples to pray, as well as to reiterate the essential practice of forgiveness (the activity of meek & merciful character).

The disciples' attitude toward what is entrusted to them (money, resources, time) should bring eternal reward and 'light' (vibrant life here and now) because they will make use of God's gifts to help others, to sustain themselves, and for any other God-honoring function. If anyone uses God's temporary gifts for ultimate satisfaction, this amounts to worshiping a false god and will bring temporary 'darkness' and eternal destruction.

6. Jesus' community of disciples must practice his commands together, making progress in character and righteous acts with these two helps: humble accountability to one another (Matt. 7:1-6) and desperate prayer for God's transforming power (Matt. 7:7-11).

7. The Golden Rule is a positive, proactive summary of the whole Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 7:12).

8. Jesus concludes with four illustrations (Matt. 7:13-27) about the urgency of responding to him with obedience; Jesus offers no category within 'his people' for folks who are forgiven of sin but do not submit to his every command. Forgiven people are disciples who are being transformed (produce fruit).

9. Matthew's opinion of Jesus' teaching is summarized by the reaction of the crowd (that has gathered since the Sermon began, compare Matt. 7:28-29 to 5:1-2).

Take Time to Think

In contrast to projects in your life, learning is much more open-ended.
I study every week to understand the particular text(s) from the Bible that I plan to teach each weekend. Some parts are easier for me to understand than others, and so there can be wide variations in the time necessary just to follow the ideas in the passage (=research). Once I know the basic stuff I can get from just careful observation and using appropriate resources, there is still thinking to be done. And thinking time must not overlap with other activity, it seems. When I'm too busy to think in my normal routine (and when I entertain myself in my free time), then the bathroom becomes the place where new ideas come. You've had a good idea in the shower, right? It might mean that we need more intentionally to devote time to thinking, meditating, not adding new inputs to our maxed-out mental processors.

Matt Perman cites a book to this effect:

Don’t confuse busyness with efficiency. An organization’s best people sometimes spend their most productive time seemingly daydreaming.

Busyness may, in fact, be counterproductive.

I love the next part.
“It is necessary to be slightly underemployed if you are to do something significant,” says James D. Watson. He is a Nobel laureate who shared the prize with Francis Crick for successfully discovering the genetic code of DNA.

They had corn on display at the TX capitol. I don't get it.

happy

Wesley before 2

Here is the famous castle in Versailles, KY. It made such an impression on him that he thinks big hotels must be castles, too.









Is the TX senate ready for this?







Wesley was almost as surprised as Santa Ana that the TX army attacked during siesta.



He takes his falls pretty well.

High five, George.

Define your Results

Several months ago, my friend Ben Reed led a crash course on developing a small group ministry in any church. A key point was define a 'win'. This was sage advice! No matter which of your responsibilities you are addressing, you should always define what results you want to achieve before you busy yourself with hard work that may or may not lead to a desirable result.

Seth Godin recently said too many people in business let "tactics drown out strategy." (His blog cracks me up and cuts me deep in 6-10 sentences.) Here's the potent insight:

Most of us are afraid of strategy, because we don't feel confident outlining one unless we're sure it's going to work. And the 'work' part is all tactical, so we focus on that. (Tactics are easy to outline, because we say, "I'm going to post this." If we post it, we succeed. Strategy is scary to outline, because we describe results, not actions, and that means opportunity for failure.)

BTW: Thanks for your thoughtful interaction in the comments. I hope to have a few fun Wesley posts up in the next day or two.

The Armor from God: Who's Got My Back?

If you've been around evangelical churches a few years, I imagine you have heard about the armor of God that Christians are supposed to put on our person. Maybe you have heard the observation that usually is shared with appropriate gravitas: all the parts of the armor are for the front part of the body. Therefore, the observation goes, God has designed Christians always to be on the offensive, never to retreat.

It occurred to me this morning (call it an impression, maybe) that God inspired Paul to describe the armor from God at the end of the letter to the Ephesians. The previous parts of the letter address our vulnerable spots. First, the Spirit of wisdom and revelation guides us into knowing the Lord, transforming our inner man. Also, the unity of the Spirit among those who belong to Christ is the basis for speaking the truth in love to one another. It's not that I am a lone soldier who must always be on the offensive in order not to be vulnerable (though there is something to that idea); the picture is more like I'm one soldier in the ranks of God's army, and to attack my vulnerable spots the enemy must break through the line of Jesus' mighty saints.

Hey Christian - whose back you got?

M'Cheyne on Talking to Acquantences about Jesus

Robert Murray M'Chenye gives advice on talking with people about following Jesus, real conversion & salvation:

"Speak boldly. What matter in eternity the slight awkwardness of time!"

Maybe there was some king named David

When I first heard that trendy Old Testament scholarship has claimed (for several decades) that Kings David and Solomon never existed as recorded in the biblical accounts (2Samuel-1Kings, 1-2Chronicles), I was only mildly surprised. The trend seems to be what scholars call the 'minimalist' approach to biblical history - a presumption that all the details of the story should not be trusted until they can be independently verified.

Various powerful interests in the Israel/Palestine region make it difficult to carefully dig up much that might verify the biblical accounts. For instance, the most likely site for uncovering ruins of the First (Solomon's) or Second (Herod's; where Jesus worshiped) Temple has been controlled by Islamic interest since 1967, apparently. The Koran (I've been told) claims that the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures have been corrupted, and the true history must be obtained through Islam's corrective accounts of biblical history. So, Islamic interests have reason to hope that the Hebrew Scriptures cannot be independently verified. Enter Dr. Eilat Mazar, a Jewish archaeologist. She claims to have discovered part of a massive wall that is likely David's magnificent palace, constructed with the help of Hiram, king of Tyre (2Samuel 5; 1Chronicles 14). The article is from 2005, so more might now be known.

Maybe there was some king named David who was a regional power around the 10th century BC.

Robert Murray M'Cheyne's sense of calling

Here's a line from Andrew Bonar's biography of his good friend, Robert Murray M'Cheyne:

"Must there not be somewhat of this missionary tendency [i.e., M'Cheyne's willingness to leave his homeland or to labor for Christ at home] in all true ministers? Is anyone truly the Lord's messenger who is not quite willing to go when and where the Lord calls? Is it justifiable in any to put aside a call from the north, on the ground that he wishes one from the south?"


Christian, where is God calling you to serve him?

Christians and Higher Education

Please at least read the last paragraph and contribute to my wonderings!

A month or so ago I finally finished reading The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today's Students. I was unaware of the controversy surrounding the book's assertions about philosophical roots of cultural trends and their (negative) effect on higher education. I picked it up because it was recommended by a few former profs. Allan Bloom was either loved or hated for this book.

I can guess from the Wikipedia article and from the associated books on Amazon that The Closing of the American Mind has come to be seen as a "conservative" book on politics, philosophy, culture and higher education. The first review on Amazon says a little bit of what I think about the book: it's not necessarily friendly to (political) liberals, (political) conservatives, (theologically conservative) Christians, or most any other major viewpoint in America. I found it an incredibly challenging book (not least because I spaced my reading of it over 10+ months), and I would enjoy hearing what you folks thought about it (maybe someone out there read it?). You could find a copy, read it in the next few months, and revisit this post for a comment.

So, the issue Bloom raised that is sticking with me is this: (1) We live in a liberal democratic society (in contrast to conservative societies with true aristocracies) where free speech and free inquiry are precious, hard-won freedoms we enjoy. The goals of higher education embodies (or should embody) the self-evident truths that are protected by our Constitution - we are free not only to live and engage in affairs of our choice, but we also have a fighting chance to improve our socio-economic status (again, in quite a contrast to aristocratic or even caste societies). Education is the noblest way to 'improve oneself.' (2) But I am a confessional & creedal Christian. I am biased already in the search for truth. Free inquiry ought to lead one to the truth I already affirm in the Bible and in well-written creeds and confessions of faith. (3) The rub is the idea of the quest for truth - free inquiry that is truly up to the discretion of the student does not always or even usually lead him to biblical Christianity. Therefore, can a Christian really affirm 'liberal arts education' in the sense that we have no reins on where the quest leads students?

Everyone is welcome to weigh in!

How Can David Beat Goliath?

I just preached 1 Samuel 17 last night in my sermons series through that book. Kids' books make the lesson of this story to be courage in the face of insurmountable odds based in trust that God controls our circumstances and cares about us. My congregation wisely added that God's concern for his own name factors large in David's courage/victory as well. God doesn't like it when he is slighted - even indirectly.

An article by Malcolm Gladwell in the New Yorker a few weeks ago helped me see another important component of the story: self-knowledge. David did not fight a conventional duel (as in, going out dressed in Saul's armor, looking like a half-sized Goliath); David fought like David - as he had practiced on quite a few daunting foes as a shepherd. Goliath plodded forward with his "caddy" carrying his shield & extra weapons for the various stages of a duel. There would be no stages - David ran at Goliath (the verbs pile up to illustrate the quickness of the fight), grabbed a stone, flung it, it hit the eyebrow, the giant fell, David won, he pulled out the other's sword and cut off his head. Game over, the "caddy" can take the extra weapons home.

Gladwell looked at the pattern in warfare and basketball; underdogs can win if they don't try to play the giant's game. He said, "We tell ourselves that skill is the precious resource and effort is the commodity. It’s the other way around. Effort can trump ability—legs, in Saxe’s formulation, can overpower arms—because relentless effort is in fact something rarer than the ability to engage in some finely tuned act of motor coördination."

A friend of mine asked some great questions:

So if our churches are loosing the culture war, loosing the war for souls, have we been playing as Goliath?

What is it that we need to do to start thinking and acting like David? How do we substitute effort for ability?

Any ideas?

Dismantling Bad Arguments

With a minimal groundwork laid, our small logic class turned to common ways that arguments fail to make the case the arguer intends. Fallacies are what logicians call these common mistakes.

1. If the argument is truly a formal argument, there are two easy ways to ruin it:
(a) Prove that one of the premises is false (=ruining the form of a formal argument).
(b) Find a counterexample that violates the argument.

*I'm of the opinion that most arguments people encounter outside the academy are the informal/inductive variety. Also, I found working with informal fallacies to be quite fun in the course I took. Therefore, I decided to give formal fallacies only a passing nod. If some folks show desire to learn more, we might break out the square of opposition!

For the following fallacies, I gave people the name, my brief explanation, and an example of the fallacy committed in an argument. The fun is in putting a finger on what the exact problem is. I'm not giving my specific examples because it took a long time to find precise & concise examples that would interest folks.
2. Some informal arguments have irrelevant ideas that ruin them.

a. appeal to force - "My conclusion should be accepted or else!" threats, blackmail, etc.

b. appeal to pity - "My conclusion should be accepted because of these unfortunate circumstances." immoral begging, shut-your-brain-off-and-feel-sorry requests

c. appeal to the people - "My conclusion needs to be accepted if you are going to fit into the group." peer pressure, jump-on-the-bandwagon arguments

d. argument against the person - "That conclusion is wrong because you said it." every failure to recognize that the truth is true no matter who presents it and with what motives

e. accident - "Here's a broad principle/rule that justifies my conclusion for this specific situation." misusing broad principles/rules for cases they weren't meant to cover, failure to recognize a special case

f. straw man - "That other opinion is so crazy in the first place! Of course it's wrong, and here's why..." misrepresenting an opposing view so that you can triumph over that misrepresentation (instead of a real position)

g. missing the point - "If you agree that premise #1 and premise #2 are true, then why don't you agree with my conclusion?" letting true evidence lead me just off target from the fitting conclusion - to something related

h. red herring - "Focus on my engaging side issue instead of focusing on the actual evidence I have for my conclusion." different audiences fall for different 'red herrings' - whatever the hot topics are

Part 3 (weak induction) coming soon!
Part 1 (Clear Thinking Matters)

Clear Thinking Matters

Last night I led Equip 2.1: Basic Logic Principles for our church. I couldn't be more pleased with the results and feedback. Here is how we began:

A. You must understand the arguer before you can argue with him.

1. First, look for the parts of the argument:

a. conclusion – the arguer is trying to persuade you of something: his conclusion

b. premise(s) – the arguer uses or implies evidence that should lead you to his conclusion

c. For something to be considered an argument there need to be premises and a conclusion that follows from them. Stating your opinion, giving advice, conditional statements, and many other statements sound like arguments but are missing parts.

d. Some arguments have necessary conclusions (deductive/formal arguments), but most of the arguments we see have probable conclusions (inductive/informal arguments).

2. Second, test the individual parts of the argument.

a. Do you need to learn more about the subject matter to understand the argument?

b. Does the arguer use unfamiliar words?

c. Are there implied parts to the argument of which you should be aware?

d. Are there any terms or statements in the argument that are vague or ambiguous? [Arguments must be clear in order to be effective.]

B. Everyone needs logic for clear thinking – especially Christians.
1. Proverbs 1:20-33 The cost is high for stupidity.

2. Following Jesus requires understanding his words & their application to many areas: John 8:31-32.

3. Many temptations can be fought by arguing against your sinful impulses with truth: 1Corinthians 10:11-15.

4. Our society is more impressed with rhetoric (speech that moves you) than logic (use of evidence to draw good conclusions).

Part 2 (Dismantling Bad Arguments)