Mark's Remarks for Friday, March 20, 2009

It’s Friday, But Sunday’s Coming

More than a hundred years ago, railways ruled the United States and Europe. They were a source of Fortune, power, and romance. Children would lie awake at night and listen for the whistle of a train. When they would hear it, they would imagine that train carrying them away.

As one wrote:

I hear the train a comin'

It's rolling round the bend

And I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when,
But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die…

Oh, wait, sorry about that. Wrong song. Anyway, in 1906, a book was written for children called The Railway Children. Masterpiece Theater produced a movie based on this book several years ago. I've shown it to Bible classes that I have taught at ACU and ETCA through the years. I am always gratified for the response to this motion picture made for children.

It tells about three children of London and their mother who move to a country house in Yorkshire after their father is taken away by mysterious men. The family is now poor. The mother, as was common in that time, refuses to inform the children the circumstances surrounding their father's disappearance. For reasons beyond them, they have become poor.

Near their old rundown house, lies a railroad track. The children are fascinated by the railroad and the trains that pass by each day. One day, they decide to wave to the people on the train with the childish wish that their love will be taken to their father. But would anyone wave back?

We are vulnerable when we are in need. Even the apostles find themselves in need. That was the case with the apostle Paul who was imprisoned in Rome. During this time, people were careful not to visit someone in prison. The fear was that they would be identified with the prisoner and perhaps be suspected of committing similar crimes. It is easy to assume no one from Rome visited Paul during his imprisonment. Yet, he was in need of help.

Fortunately, Paul says there were two, who laid down their lives as examples of Jesus. They, too, considered the needs of others above their own. Timothy and Epaphroditus gave of themselves to meet Paul’s need--even to the point of risking their lives.

Our problem today is ignoring the way we can live like Jesus. It is easy to think that, if need be, we will offer our lives, but how many of us will ever be called to make that sacrifice?

Actually, our problem is we refuse to risk our lives. Most of us are willing to risk our DEATHS, what is hard is risking our lives. We don't want to get involved with other people. We don't want to serve other people. We don't want to invest in people. And we underestimate the impact that we can make when we are willing to risk our lives in these ways.

Remember the Railway children? These innocent children went to the tracks to wave at the passengers on the train. One child, a girl, said, "Let's wave and share our love. Maybe they'll take it to father.”

The children waved and waved to the passengers on the train. But the passengers refused to wave back. The children were deeply disappointed. However, as the train was pulling away, one passenger in the last car smiled enthusiastically and waved back. The children smiled and began again enthusiastically waving at their new friend. Then the music swelled and everyone felt good.

(The actor playing this character was Richard Attenborough, the same actor who played Santa Claus in the 1994 version of Miracle on 34th Street. How can you not love Santa Claus waving at you!)

No one on the train wanted to risk investment in relationship, save for the bearded man. He was actually a member of the Board of Directors of a major railroad. He was busy, he was wealthy, and he was kind. He was willing to share grace and invest in people.

I won't spoil the rest of the movie for you. But if we understand Paul, we understand this. Our decision about whether or not to help people, whether or not to forgive people, whether or not to serve people, needs not be made in moments of crisis or opportunity. That decision was made when we chose to give our lives to Jesus.

Zip Lines for Jesus

Our church had a family camp out last weekend. It was located at the Woodman of the World encampment near Quitman. We had a great time. During the afternoon, I and some other guys helped out with providing safety so that the teenagers could ride the zip line. The camp had a neat zip line that ran a 100 yards or so. On one end, it was attached to a telephone pole. On the other end, it was attached to a climbing wall that was approximately 40 feet high.

The teenagers kept on encouraging those of us who are adults to ride. Pretty soon everyone in the camp was surrounding this location, cheering each other on, teasing each other, and just simply having a good time.

I really wanted to ride the zip line. Finally I got my chance. I put on a harness, allowed the camp worker who dedicated himself to zip line fun and safety to clip a protective rope to me, and began to climb the tower on a ladder. I used to not be afraid of heights, but I've got to confess, the higher up I climbed, the more I had to tell myself, "Breathe deeply, look at what you're grabbing, and stay calm."

Finally, I reached the top of the tower, and I began to look out. Intellectually, I knew I was only 40 feet off the ground. Emotionally, I felt like I was on top of the Eiffel Tower.

Then, Chris Green, one of our members who was on top of the tower helping everyone go out on the zip line, clipped a rope that was attached to the tower to my harness. He then told me to swing out away from the tower, over the ground, and then allow gravity to bring me back onto the tower.

I stood there with my mouth open. Evidently this made an impact upon him because he asked, "Would you like for me to show you how to do it?" I nodded my head up and down. Chris then modeled for me how you swing out over the ground and then swing back onto the tower.

Frankly, this was the scariest part for me of the whole experience. I took geometry in high school, and I never knew it's stuck. But it did. The reason I know is that I immediately realized that the tower was the highest point I would reach that day. If my rope should break on that swing, I would fall from the highest point to the ground. I would do it back buster like nobody's business. At least with the zip line, for every foot that you ride away from the tower, you’re also correspondingly coming a foot closer to the ground. In this case, in my mind, Chris was asking me to take my life into my own hands.

That is when my mind started talking to me. "Don't you jump you fool!"

And then, when I did jump, my mind said, "You fool! I told you not to jump!"

My mind was involuntarily talking to me like it had been baptized into Mr. T.

Nevertheless, I did jump out over the land, and after three feet, the rope took me back to the tower. Chris looked at me and said, "Would you like to jump again?"

I had to practice self-control in order to not channel my answer through Mr. T. – “No, fool!” Instead, I offered him a hearty “no thanks”, and got ready to jump out on the zip line.

Unfortunately, Chris had the nerve to ask, "Would you like to run before you leap off the tower? It will help you go faster."

Great, of all the people who could have been on the tower, I had to get the guy who thinks he is a Navy seal. I rejected the chance to run and leap, and instead chose the method that now brings me some shame. I sat down on my fanny, and after much deliberation, repentance for having made such a stupid choice, and prayer, I meekly pushed off and allowed God, gravity, and goat hair to take me where I needed to go.

Actually, once I realized that I was not going to fall to my death, I had a good time. It was exhilarating. Fortunately, my momma raised me to be a mannered man. I instinctively grasped that surely there were dozens of others who wanted to ride the zip line. How could I possibly deny them that possibility? I announced my retirement for the day.

Death of a Newspaper

I saw this week where another major newspaper shut down operations. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer ceased publishing newspapers in order to provide Web service only. This was only a couple weeks after Denver's Rocky Mountain News published its final edition.

I realize change is inevitable. I am grateful that over a hundred years ago, the blacksmith union did not sabotage the construction of automobiles in order to protect their field of labor. Still, I do feel sad that something I have always enjoyed doing, getting up in the morning and reading the newspaper, will be a thing of the past in not too many years.

Disclaimer: the only newspaper that I subscribe to is the Dallas Morning News. I only receive the Wednesday and Sunday newspapers. The rest of my newspaper reading is online, where I can select my reading from almost any newspaper service on the planet.

Boredom Alley

I finally saw the documentary by Ben Stein called Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. You may recall that Ben Stein is famous for playing the dry teacher on “The Wonder Years” and was the host on cable’s “Win Ben Stein’s Money.”

If you still have not seen the movie, Expelled is Ben Stein's effort to challenge the scientific establishment with regard to the establishment’s view of the origin of the world. More specifically, he questions the scientific community’s identification with Darwin's theory of natural selection.

I must admit that it was quite intriguing. I had hesitated to see it because I had read and heard that Stein's documentary was the conservative equivalent of a Roger Moore documentary. Moore, of course, is known for his "over the top" technique in the filming of propaganda to advance his liberal causes.

I do not think that Expelled was as sensationalistic as Moore's movies. However, Stein at times was clearly trying to push emotional buttons by inserting scenes from various film clips such as gags from The Three Stooges, while academics discuss their support of Darwin’s theory.

Stein clearly is trying to make the point that Political Correctness has hampered debate. For this reason, he spends much time interviewing scientists who have been “expelled” from their institutions or universities because of perceived belief in Intelligent Design.

Bias alert! I must confess, it was very difficult for me not to have my emotions stirred by this movie. As a Jew, Stein does not buy into the Christian view of Jesus or the cross, so that gives him some credibility against the charge that Intelligent Design is an exclusive tool of Christians.

Furthermore, Stein spends much time on the relationship between Adolf Hitler and the Natzis and the offspring Darwinian’s doctrine—eugenics. Eugenics is a branch of science that maintains human beings should take care so as not to allow flawed members of the human species to breed. This view ultimately led to the destruction of millions of Jews, people who were mentally retarded, Homosexuals, gypsies and others. As a Jew, Stein must have felt chills as he visited the remnants of Natzi concentration camps.

Here’s where Stein might have proven more unbiased. There are many, many scientists who believe in God, believe that evolution came from a personal God of creation, and who believe that Intelligent Design is terribly flawed. You may ask, how can that be?

Francis Collins makes a clear case for his belief in his book The Language of God. An entire chapter is devoted to his argument. To summarize briefly:

Collins believes that Intelligent Design’s foundation is built upon the need to defend God against the materialistic worldview of proponents of Darwin’s theory of evolution. It was conceived by Philip Johnson, a Christian lawyer and a professor of law at the University of California as a means of answering the atheists’ arguments against God. Nevertheless, Intelligent Design, while presented as a scientific theory, was not developed in the tradition of science.

Collins, furthermore, states ID (Intelligent Design) tries to place God into the role of designer because evolution cannot explain all complexities of nature. Therefore, an intelligent designer must have stepped into play.

The problem according to Collins is that science is learning more and explaining more about the complex features of organisms. He warns that many Christians who place their hopes on ID will find their faith challenged as the theory crumbles.

Prejudice alert!

I am certainly a pilgrim when it comes to science and faith. I am on a journey of learning. Yet, I see why many Christians and Jews and other people experience frustration when it comes to Darwin and evolution. Many of us perceive that a number of atheist have freedom to inject their godless worldview, and the consequences of that godless worldview, into the marketplace of ideas without censure. They are marketing religion and/or philosophy in the name of science.

We see the shell that is human existence when there is no God. How can life truly be experienced if all there is the material? Where is the meaning? No wonder groups like Nazis torture people as less than human. No wonder children destroy other children in schools.

Science has allowed an intersection to occur with the “religion” of atheism. Many of us who believe in God desire to see that intersection for us as well.

Five things I think I think (a tip of the hat to Peter King for this idea)

1. I think writing a weekly blog is like writing another sermon. I enjoy it immensely and feel great satisfaction, but it is also hard work.
2. In 1984, I built a house paying 13 1/2 percent interest on my loan. Yesterday, I locked-in a new interest rate to refinance our current home. The rate was 4.625%. Amazing.

3. I confess that I really like Beyoncé’s song “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”.

4. My computer got a virus last week. I am thankful that I did not lose any information. I got it fixed and it works better than ever now.

5. No place looks more beautiful than Tyler in March. God himself has surely painted the flowers.

Have a great weekend!

It’s Friday (Almost Saturday), But Sunday’s Coming

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to take my lovely bride out for the evening. One of the things that we got to do was to watch the movie Fireproof. I think we were the last ones standing who had not seen the movie.

I agree that it was a good movie. What I especially liked was the way you had someone live out Philippians 2:1-8. Just like Paul admonished, this person put someone else's needs above his own. You had a husband who made the decision to serve his wife before he served himself.

There was debate on whether or not this was an act of love. It may not have started out that way, but the attitude definitely evolved to one that was loving. I believe that this is a great example, yet again, of how love is more of an act of the will, than a sentiment, emotion, or feeling. According to Paul, it is almost a ruthless determination to behave like Jesus.

I confessed to my church last Sunday that I have an addiction. It is very similar to addictions to alcohol, drugs, work, or whatever other addiction you can think of.

Frankly, the realization came to me last Sunday morning before the assembly. I began to think about how many people I have tried to help battle addictions. At some point, everyone hears a voice that compels them to continue in the addiction, even those who ultimately overcome. They may be receiving data encouraging them to cease with the addiction, but they blindly interpret it as a green light to go on. It is so frustrating when you watch this from the outside.

Last Sunday morning, I realized that I did the same thing with my addiction. My addiction is to -- my self. So often I act in a way that is self centered and neglectful or even harmful to others. I even, at times, receive input telling me my behavior is hurtful. However, my mind is so distorted, I interpret those "voices" as telling me to continue in my addiction.

Paul’s words out of the THE MESSAGE have special meaning. “Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand” (Phil. 2:3-4). He goes on to say this is precisely what Jesus did.

All of this is counterintuitive. I do believe I , and anyone like me, who is addicted to self, can break out of this addiction with God's power. It will not be easy. It is precisely at the point that we are breaking free we will hear the loudest “voices” telling us to stay as we are.

The extent of joy that we will experience in our lives will be in direct proportion to our willingness to break free from the addiction to self.

“Honey, I’m headed out to the bar.”

"Honey, I'm going down to the local bar and meeting up with some friends." This is a phrase that a lot of wives don’t want to hear. Another phrase they don't want to hear is this, "Honey, I'm going down to the local Gentleman's Club." For my wife, the dreaded words are these, "Honey, there's a book sale today. I think I'll go and see what they have."

I love book sales. That's how I have stocked the majority of my library. One example. I have Anchor Bible Commentaries (the Rolls Royce of biblical commentaries that often cost in excess of $50 apiece new), in hardback, that I have purchased for a quarter apiece.

I have been doing this now for almost 30 years. Before that, I had a number of books that either I bought for myself or my parents bought for me while I was growing up. I still have most of those.

The problem is, I am running out of space. Before I took this job here in Tyler, I asked if the office that I would inhabit could be fitted with more bookshelves. I am grateful that the answer was “yes.” Now, there is no more room in my office. We do have room for bookshelves in our home. Strangely enough, Judy thinks our money should go to the purchase of a vehicle instead of bookshelves.

Some of you may be thinking that this sounds vaguely familiar and that I wrote about this two weeks ago. However, what I wrote about then was my collection of VIDEOTAPES. This is different. Books cannot be downloaded into DVDs.

Which brings me to the Kindle. Have you heard about the Kindle? Amazon is selling it. It is a reading device that has the width of a magazine and weighs about half a pound. If you hear of a book you want to buy, all you have to do is download it onto your Kindle. It takes about 60 seconds. It is supposed to hold over 1500 books. These books cost less than your typical hardback. If the legal difficulties can be worked out, I anticipate that for a higher fee, one will be able to download a read-aloud feature for any book in the future.

I can tell that I am getting old. I used to be innovative electronically. I started recording videotapes on my dad's VCR back in 1980. Now, I just can't pull the trigger and buy a Kindle. Then again, I guess I'm always willing to the innovative when it is someone else's money, like my dad's!

I guess I'll wait awhile. But if you buy one, let me know what you think.

Spring Break and Movies

This week has been spring break week in Tyler. Our oldest daughter, Haleigh, has been participating in a mission trip to St. Louis. But I have taken this opportunity to watch a couple of movies with our next oldest daughter, Abby. Both were recommended to us for her to see by some older women at our church.

The first was the movie, Changeling. This was the one with Angelina Jolie, where she plays Christine Collins. Christine Collins was a mother in the 20s, who lived in Los Angeles. Her son disappeared. She alerted police but they were not helpful in the search. Come to find out, the Los Angeles police department was a very corrupt organization in the 20s. With the help of a Presbyterian minister, played by John Malkovich, Christine Collins seeks to alert the public and the city government of the truth.

This movie is based on a true story. I cannot say that I enjoyed the movie. This is not a movie to enjoy. However, it was an enthralling movie that drew us in. There were times that I felt very angry over the extent that human beings can act in an evil way, and I felt that way about the LA Police Department, not to mention the perpetrators of the kidnapping.

It was interesting seeing Malkovich play a good guy, since I have so often seen him play bad guys. It was also interesting to see both Collins and the preacher portrayed as noble people, yet not glorified in an over-the-top way as heroes.

I found this story so compelling, that I had to do some research on my own about the real-life story. With the Internet, there is much out there that you can read about concerning this event.

A second movie that I saw with Abby was the movie, Taken. Are you seeing a theme here? I think the women were trying to drive into my daughter’s head this thought, "Be careful. Be very, very careful." I had wanted to see this movie, but I was willing to wait until it came out on DVD. Judy however thought that it was a good idea to take Abby to the theater to see it.

In this movie, Liam Neeson portrays a retired CIA agent who has a daughter. She was kidnapped while spending a summer in Europe. I imagine that you have seen the commercial for this movie. Neeson becomes a CIA version of Indiana Jones, as he pursues the bad guys.

Spoiler alert! If you do not want further details of this movie revealed, skip the rest of this topic and go on to the next section.

At first, I have to admit I enjoyed watching Neeson inflict the wrath of God on the bad guys. However, I thought he went too far when he SHOT the wife of one of his old acquaintances, who happened to have worked in the French government's version of the CIA. Now, I know the guy was French. And, I know that the injury was more or less a flesh wound. Still, did he have to shoot at the wife? That seemed to bother me.

Another thing that bothered me was the lack of explanation of just how it was that Liam Neeson could fly back home to the United States from France. I mean, the guy has just wreaked more havoc on France than anyone since Adolf Hitler. I'm thinking, the French government is never going to allow him to leave. I'm wondering if they may revert back to death by guillotine. Instead, one minute he's killing the bodyguards of some Middle Eastern prince, the next minute he's walking through LAX! I'm supposing that this prince's country is going to war over this.

Hey, wait, maybe this is laying the groundwork for a sequel….

Correction

My daughter informed me that the mountain we climbed last summer is actually called “French Mountain,” instead of Mount France. Well, excuuuse me. Management regrets its error.

Five things I think I think (a tip of the hat to Peter King for this idea)

1. I like the way American Idol gives respect to its Christian participants.

2. The “Special Features” on Fireproof, Facing the Giants, and Flywheel are even more inspiring than the movies. Members of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia, the church that has produced these movies, have embodied their teachings more than characters in their movies.

3. Derek Russell, a friend who is studying to be a medical doctor at UT Galveston, emailed me Monday and told me about a book someone recommended to him. It’s called The Eighth Day, Why Christianity and Science Need to Dialog to Make Sense of the Creation. I ordered it and it arrived yesterday. I think it looks good; I want to read it soon.

4. Too many players turning pro early has removed the aura of March Madness.

5. Felix Jones’ good health is essential for the Cowboys.

Have a great weekend!

Mark's Remarks for Friday, March 6, 2009

It's Friday, But Sunday's Coming

I was happy for Tony Dungy when he retired last month as the coach of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts. I felt sad for football fans. Dungy was a great coach. However, he is also committed to serving Jesus as best he can and I know he retired because he feels that is his best means of serving God.

Tony Dungy's brother-in-law has a great story, which illustrates the details of how one can live like Jesus. It was September, 1996, and Tony Dungy was preparing to coach in his first game as a head coach in the National Football League. Dungy invited his brother-in-law to come share in the experience with him. Tampa Bay was playing Seattle. Dungy, at that time, was the new coach of the Buccaneers and they were staying in a hotel the night before the ballgame.

As the head coach, Dungy occupied a suite so he could hold meetings with his staff in the living room. Dungy and his brother-in-law got settled in Saturday afternoon, and then went to meet with the team for chapel and supper.

After supper, Dungy headed back to the room while his brother-in-law hung out with the players, watching ballgames and eating their evening snack. (A snack for an NFL player constituted a full-size meal for the normal human being.)

Finally, Tony Dungy's brother-in-law went upstairs to his room to go to bed. When he opened the door, everything inside the suite was dark. So, very quietly, he felt around for the pullout bed in the living room, climbed in... and Tony Dungy was already there, asleep!

The brother-in-law was aghast. Dungy woke up, and the brother-in-law insisted that he go sleep in the bed in the suite's bedroom. Dungy refused. "You're my guest; you take it," he said. After all, he had invited him.

The brother-in-law could not believe this. "You're kidding, right? You're the head coach of the Buccaneers with a game tomorrow, and I'm the relative eating free food and staying in a free room -- you take it!" But Dungy refused to leave. Finally the brother-in-law gave up and got on the floor to sleep. Dungy did not take the bait. He went back to sleep on the couch. Finally, Tony Dungy's brother-in-law, seeing the bed was going to remained unoccupied, arose, went into the bedroom, climbed into bed, and went to sleep.

This week, I'm preaching on Philippians 2:1-8. I thought about how Tony Dungy, in a human way, illustrates a facet of Christ's example in that great chapter. Dungy, with all the rights and privileges of a head coach, surrendered those and freely offered them to one who was undeserving. He chose to serve and experience a consequence of that service. That is a small reminder of Jesus, and all the rights and privileges of God, but instead, he lowered himself to serve us. He left his experience of heaven, to come into our world and relate to us.

I am a huge fan of The Dick Van Dyke Show. (I have every episode--on video tape.) I have introduced this show to my kids, and they're big fans now. The show has now appeared on network TV or syndication for almost fifty years.

If you are a fan of The Dick Van Dyke Show, you are naturally a fan of Dick Van Dyke. For the past forty five years, millions of children around the world have become his fans because of the movie Mary Poppins. In that movie, he played the character of "Bert the Chimney Sweep."

This week I saw one of those episodes of A & E Biography. It was on Dick Van Dyke. The producers of the episode interviewed a whole bunch of people. One was a daughter of Dick Van Dyke. She was talking about her dad's years in retirement. She had been wondering if he would fade from the public's memory.

One day a few years ago, she was visiting her dad and they went walking together at a park. They sat down on a park bench and just started talking. Up walks this little girl, and she's staring at Dick Van Dyke. Keep in mind, this was about 40 years after Mary Poppins had been made. Yet, this girl clearly recognizes him. She sits down on the bench, snuggles up next to him, and she began singing, "Let's go fly a kite..."

Dick Van Dyke joined right in. They sung the whole song together. For the daughter, it was a beautiful moment of confirmation.

Yet, as I envision that scene, I think about that girl. You see, to her, Bert the chimney sweep leaves the celluloid world and comes down into her world. She enjoys fellowship with him, and he blesses her with his greatness and presence.

That is exactly what Jesus did for us. He left his exalted place in heaven, came down into our world, fellowshiped with us, and he blessed us with his greatness.

How can we help but respond to Him.

Maturity

I was a late bloomer. When I was a freshman in high school, I was six feet one and weighed in at a booming 125 pounds. Winnsboro had no gangs, but if they had, I would not have been in danger. All I would have had to do is turn sideways. The gang members would have never seen me.

From junior high years through my single years, after I had graduated from college, I had to wash my face with Clearasil soap just to have any hope of controlling my pimples.

I did not like being among the last ones to mature. I prayed that God would change this. He did. He made me the first guy of his generation to lose his hair.

I was 28 before I married. I was 33 before I had my first child. I recently experienced a graduation in May of 2008. (Judy has informed me it was my last.)

I say all of this because one of the blessings of Facebook is that it has put me in contact with many my friends from high school. I cannot help but notice how much farther along they are in terms of life experiences.

I remember at my 25th year reunion, five years ago, one of my classmates told me that he would probably retire by the time we would meet again for our 30th. He began working full-time for the State immediately following our high school graduation, skipping college. I plan on retiring too-- in about 30 years when I can afford it! Let this be a lesson to all young people. Nothing says "frivolous" like going to college.

Some of my classmates have grandchildren that are five and six years old. My two youngest children are five and six years old.

Every year, our church's youth group goes on a wilderness trek. Among other things, they spend a week together climbing a mountain in Colorado. Last year, I accompanied my oldest daughter on Wilderness Trek and, together, we climbed Mt. France. My goal is to climb a mountain with each one of my children before they graduate from high school. Lord willing, our youngest child, Timothy, will graduate from high school in 2020. I am confident that I will climb the mountain with him -- using a walker.

As a matter of fact, I have a photograph of what I think I will look like on that momentous day in 2020, when I come down that mountain:

Every time I am tempted to think that I am getting too old for this, my children will say something or do something to brighten my day, and I am reminded of how truly blessed I am. Just the other night this occurred. The whole family was together coming back from somebody's house, and the kids were singing. Our youngest child, Timothy, began singing that old black spiritual, "Swing Low Sweet Chariot." That was when we discovered that he had not fully learned the words because what he sang was, "Sweet and Low Sweet Chariot..." Judy and I use Sweet and Low quite a bit, but we've never thought about this application for the product.

When Timothy sang this, we all burst out laughing. All except for him, of course he thought he was giving us a lovely rendition. I may be lagging behind yet again, but I wouldn't trade places with anybody in the world.

Interesting websites

A while back, Tim Henderson told me about a blog that he was having RSS'd to him each day. It was by a fellow named Seth Godin. (I always get Seth Godin's name mixed up with Seth Rogen. They are two different people.)

I began looking at some of his posts and have since become a fan myself. (You can find his blog at http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog). Although the main audience is business people, entrepreneurs, and marketers, there is still much to apply to other areas of life. For example, I find what Godin has to say about leadership to be informative.

Godin's most recent book is called Tribes. Tribes is a collection of short essays and posts taken from Godin's blog that especially address the subject of leadership. Godin theorizes that every person can have a tribe. Tribes are simply groups of people who follow their leader. The important thing is not the size of your tribe, it is to be a leader with integrity, who is faithful to his or her vision. The leader is unafraid of failure and success, which is an appealing quality in today's world.

Another book that Godin wrote a few years ago is called Unleashing the Idea Virus. In this book, Godin anticipated the free marketing power becoming available in the Internet age. Although the book is dated, it is not out of date.

I would enocourage you to take a look at anything Seth Godin publishes.

It's in the Genes

May I indulge a little in parental pride? We received word this week, our oldest daughter, Haleigh, made Second-Team All-State in basketball. This is for the private schools in Texas. Haleigh is a sophomore and, quite frankly, this caught us by surprise.

I personally think credit should go where credit is due. Haleigh got her athletic talent from --her mother. But, thanks also to Haleigh's teammates and wonderful coach, Diann Preston.

Five things I think I think (a tip of the hat to Peter King for this idea)

1. I cannot believe the access that Facebook offers. It is a really cool way of keeping up with people that have blessed you during the course of a lifetime.

2. For the past ten years, Hollywood has produced more family-friendly entertainment than they did the previous 30. Two or three years ago, five movies came out at virtually the same time including Finding Neverland, The Incredibles, and The Polar Express. We literally did not have enough time or money to see all the good movies available. I can live with the freedom of speech that creates clearly labeled garbage, as long as it also encourages quality entertainment.

3. I want to see Frost/Nixon.

4. In all my years of high school, college, graduate school, and my doctoral program, I can't recall a single mention of quantum mechanics, quantum physics, or quantum theory. I think, and I'm not being sarcastic or funny here, this was a BIG mistake.

5. Cutting Terrell Owens was essential for the Cowboys.

Have a great weekend!

Remarks for Friday, February 27, 2009

It's Friday, But Sunday's Coming

I'm arriving toward the end of Searching For God Knows What. This week Donald Miller told me in his book there is a reason Job was one of the earlier books of the Old Testament. God wanted to communicate to the world that life is hard, and life brings pain. However, the cure for the pain of life is not found in an explanation. Instead, God's solution to pain is Himself.

I like that interpretation. God's priority is not to offer us a formula for pain, an understanding of pain, nor a philosophy of pain. What greater gift can he offer other than Himself? As Miller writes, "God presents life, as it is, without escape, with only Himself to cling to."

I have found this to be true for myself and for many people. My temptation as a preacher is to explain the reason for painful experience.

Just last Wednesday night, at our church fellowship meal, I had a man stop me and reference something I had preached on Sunday morning. It concerned the fact that in Philippians one, the apostle Paul felt pleased God could use his pain for the kingdom. This man in our church, a beloved individual, was asking in effect -- are you telling me that we should look at our pain as something positive?

I answered his question the best I could, but this reminded me, yet again, of my temptation to feel responsible for explaining God's actions so that someone will not be mad at Him. God could very well be content with an individual's anger, because in his wisdom, he understands that anger will lead to a close relationship with God. On the other hand, my answers may not lead an individual to a close relationship with God. It is hard to develop a close, personal relationship with information.

While I certainly want to convey information, my prayer is that I can help facilitate a close relationship between God and those of us in the Shiloh family.

How would you like to be married to this guy?!
I'm starting to wonder if I suffer from OCD.

My poor wife. Talking about the patience of Job.

Last August, my brother-in-law, David Denman, graciously loaned me his combination DVD/VCR. It's the kind you can transfer your videotapes to DVDs. Well, I have an immense videotape collection. My dad bought our first video player and camera back in 1980. He taped quite a few ballgames and TV shows and movies. He also filmed a number of videos of our family.

I took over these tasks after he died in 1983. I took 30 years of my dad's 16mm home movies and transferred them to videotapes. Through the years, I'm sure I've recorded plenty of things that would be of no interest to anyone else. But, I've also recorded some historical things as well. Moreover, I have had the good fortune to record some of the most famous sports events in the ESPN age. So, after almost 30 years of this, I have a collection of videotapes that number in the hundreds.

Each videotape is numbered. All of these are cataloged on my computer.

Now, as you might know, all companies have ceased manufacturing VCRs. Thanks to David, I have a chance to salvage all the years of memories and history.

Since August, I have taken advantage of every spare moment to transfer the material on these videotapes to DVDs. When all is well, I can get about four hours of videotape material to a DVD. Recording occurs in real time. That means that, unlike downloading a song from iTunes, every second on a VCR tape takes one second to transfer to a DVD. This project has been time-consuming. Did I mention that I have hundreds of videotapes?

Enter my brilliant solution. What do you do when you have thousands of hours of video to transfer to DVD? Make time your friend. That leads me to night time, more specifically, the hours when Mark and Judy Edge are asleep.

Somewhere along the way I had a brainstorm. Why not begin transferring the material from a videotape to a DVD the moment before I go to bed? While I lie in restful slumber, the DVD and VCR can be doing the work for me. And when I awake, I've got a DVD, are you ready, with fresh material on it. It would be as if I downloaded a song from iTunes in just a few seconds.

Putting my plan into practice proved more daunting than I had originally conceived. When the videotape would reach the end, you would hear a loud click. Normally, this would not prove distracting. However, at three or four in the morning, the sound can prove disconcerting. If that sound would not wake you up, the next one would. The tape would rewind, and very loudly. Have you ever stood near railroad tracks when a train begins rolling and picks up speed? You know how that clickety-clack gets faster and faster? At four in the morning, a video tape rewinding sounds like the clickety-clack of a train--on steroids. Finally, when the tape has completely rewound, there is another loud click. It is probably not unlike the clicking sound of a criminal entering our bedroom and firing a gun that does not have a bullet in his chamber.

Believe it or not, my lovely wife would wake up to these sounds. And since she is an early riser, she would sometimes have trouble going back to sleep.

Upon further review, I solved this problem. At least I thought I did. Here was my solution. Sometimes, I awake during the night and have to use the, how do I say this? Sometimes I awake during the night needing to use "the facilities." What I could do, would be this. I would start the recording process and then hop into bed. During the night, when I would have to get up and, "use the facilities," I would go to the VCR and press stop. This would cause all recording activity to cease. And, while I would not be able to record the entire four hours available, I would still be able to get something onto the DVD and thus redeem my sleep time.

Brilliant!

Unfortunately, a new obstacle arose. Actually, I am quite proud of this. Although I am a man who has clearly entered middle age, I can now document it a fact that I do not have to get up out of bed every night and "use the facilities." The bad news concerning my discovery was there were some nights when Judy would have her dreams interrupted by the harsh sounds of fast-moving trains and criminals firing their guns without bullets.

This is going to take some negotiation. The good news is this is not as bad as what I did during our second year of marriage. To get more things done, I decided to imitate Leonardo da Vinci. Da Vinci was a genius who slept 15 minutes every four hours -- and that was it. Judy did not mind it so much during the day. However, it did bother her at night when she would hear my alarm go off every four hours.

That experiment lasted two weeks before I finally stopped. To be honest, Judy did not nag me, so it wasn't her fault. Instead, I found myself exhausted and falling asleep at all the wrong times. Have you ever studied the Bible with someone and fell asleep in the middle of the sentence--your own sentence?

(Years later, someone told me that there is a very famous episode of Seinfeld where Kramer does exactly the same thing. I am not a Seinfeld fan, but I have been looking for this episode. I truly understand what Kramer was going through.)

What's next for my nocturnal hours? I must confess, I have not found a better solution. Unless! Unless, I pick those nights when I know that Judy and I will only sleep for six hours, and the video tape would begin to rewind precisely the second that our alarm clocks are set to go off...

Is This the Future?
Before you judge me a reprobate for reading Rolling Stone, let me tell you about an article I read in it a couple weeks ago. The title was "When Man and Machine Merge." It concerns an interview with a man named Ray Kurzweil. According to Rolling Stone, Kurzweil "has established himself as one of the world's most prolific and influential inventors." Some of his inventions include creating the first program that enabled computers to read text -- which led to the scanning technology has blesses our world today. Because of his work in the field of artificial intelligence, Kurzweil is a member of the Inventors Hall of Fame and has received honors from three presidents of the United States, including the National Metal of Technology.

What makes good 'ol Ray interesting to me is this. According to this article, Kurzweil predicts that by 2045, computers will surpass human beings in intelligence. Can you say 2001: a Space Odyssey? But that's not all. He also says that the universe itself will become conscious. The corker though is this. Kurzweil believes we're making such progress with medical technology that, in his lifetime, we will be able to bring the dead back to life. This will not be done through traditional resurrection. Rather, it will be done through the work of nanobots who will extract DNA from the gravesite of the dead one. The nanobot will then take this DNA and match it with memories from a loved one's brain and--voila! You will have the dead brought back to life.

Keep in mind, this is not a chapter out of Tom Swift. This is someone that some people take very seriously. (I need to be fair here. Rolling Stone is merely reporting this information. Rolling Stone is not necessarily endorsing these ideas.)

Behind all of these schemes lies the desire for eternal life. Kurzweil takes 150 pills a day, hoping to someday achieve immortality. He is also transferring his entire videotape collection to DVDs.

Nah. I made that last one up, but he really does take 150 pills a day and he does so to help him achieve immortality.

Rather than condemning Ray Kurzweil, perhaps we should thank him. What he has done is position into the public marketplace of ideas the concept that many people yearn for--eternal life. He may not have a biblical answer, but he expresses a desire that scripture readily concedes is instilled within the heart of Man.

I cannot help but be impressed by the fact Kurzweil is willing to risk ridicule in order to pursue his faith. May I do the same.

Interesting Websites
A few weeks ago, our youth minister, Tim Henderson, showed me a blog, of which I have not heard. It is called "Indexed" and it is found at http://thisisindexed.com/.

The blogster is Jessica Hagy. My understanding is she arises in the morning, brews a cup of coffee, grabs an index card, and draws whatever inspires her. Typically she communicates her ideas with a diagram and a few words of orientation.

Evidently, her unique style has captured an audience. Amazon, among others, is selling a book of her creations called, appropriately enough, Indexed.

Hmm. Maybe I can start putting diagrams on napkins . . .

August Rush
My wife, two oldest daughters, and I saw the movie "August Rush" Saturday night. If you are looking for a movie to see this weekend, go to your local Redbox or Blockbuster and rent it. While it didn't change our lives, it was an engrossing story about music, children, parents, love, and reconciliation. Several well-known actors and actresses (such as Robin Williams) form an ensemble cast, who clearly emphasize the story rather than themselves. Start watching and you won't want to stop.

Have a great weekend!

Mark's Remarks for Friday, February 20, 2009

It's Friday, But Sunday's Coming

Pain. I hate it. I hate discomfort. I take allergy medicine daily, yet my allergies occasionally flare up. Nothing debilitating, simply uncomfortable. Still, if I'm not careful, I moan and groan and feel sorry for myself. And we're only talking about agitation, much less pain.

I fortunately have experienced very little pain compared to other people. What little I have experienced, though, I have noticed how much God has done with it in terms of spiritual formation. I wish I was conditioned to grow spiritually during prosperity. Regrettably, I typically grow the most during adversity or crisis. I have found many, if not most, people to be the same way.

If economic indicators and the media are to be believed, this year we are going to have a lot of people hurting. Because of this, I think more unchurched people will be open to the Gospel than have been in years. Unfortunately, many Christians will probably be sucked into the vortex of this economic tornado as well.

What if we could become proactive and prepare ourselves for the possibility of pain? And then, being prepared, what if we could build a bridge with our pain that connects us to the heart of our unchurched friends?

I recently completed reading the novel The Shack by William P. Young. If you are not familiar with the story, it is about a man who grew up abused. As an adult, he discovered his child was murdered by an abuser. What ensued was a spiritual journey that he experienced while confronting his pain.

The author's concluding chapter intrigues me as much as the story did.
Young tells how he drew upon his abused childhood in writing this story. The novel so connected with people, that literally enough copies could not be printed or published to keep up with the demand. Here was the case of a man taking his pain and allowing it to bless the lives of other people.

We have a couple in our church who, several years ago, experienced a miscarriage. The tragedy hurt them deeply. They had choices. They could have buried the pain and ignored it. They could have blamed God. What they chose to do was to draw from this experience to minister to other couples who suffer miscarriages.

To many of us, this seems strange. Paul looked upon his suffering in prison, and the slander that other preachers inflicted upon him while communicating the Gospel, with an attitude of great joy. To him the greater goal was preaching the good news.

What if we could truly reach that point? What if we could truly internalize the idea that any pain that we suffer can advance the Gospel? And what if we could reach the depth of spirituality where our attitude is: nothing gives us greater joy than to see the Gospel communicated to people?


Facebook

A few weeks ago, I wrote on my blog that I had joined Facebook. This morning, a couple of people mentioned at a staff meeting that they had read an article saying that the younger people are now looking for an alternative to Facebook. I know what happened. Word got out that I had finally joined, and the universal agreement of the young was, "Great! There goes the neighborhood."

My cover is so many baby boomers are joining Facebook that it is driving out the younger people. But I don't know.


Like a Rolling Stone

I'm finally receiving my issues of Rolling Stone again. I have been reading the biweekly magazine for the past few months. I like to say it is my version of studying a scouting report on the people of the world.

There is a reason why is it significant that I'm getting my issues. That is because for several weeks, they ceased coming. I must admit that I got quite irritated. I called Rolling Stone and they said they had been sending them all and for me to check with the post office. I did just that.

First, I went to the post office on Broadway Street, which is near downtown Tyler. This is the branch that default delivers the mail to our church office, which is where I was having the magazine delivered. I arrived on a Tuesday afternoon about 4: 45. I waited in line for 15 minutes. Finally, I realized that I was not going to be able to pick up my daughter from basketball practice if I stayed any longer. So I left without talking to anyone.

The following day I arrived again expecting to receive some answers. Silly me! After waiting in line 15 or 20 minutes, they kindly informed me that I needed to go to an obscure site on the south part of town. I drove and arrived about 20 minutes later, following the directions that I had been given. It included passing the mall, driving past the stores of a shopping center, circling around those stores, and parking by a loading dock. After parking, I was to go to an unmarked door, which was locked, and ring a bell. For a moment, I thought I was participating in a movie about the Mafia.

Finally, a very nice man came out, who was indeed an employee of the post office. I explained to him my story and even showed him an issue of Rolling Stone. Another employee came out to investigate. Finally, they shared with me the dead honest truth.

It seems that the regular postman had become ill and was out for a while. Substitute workers were delivering our mail to the office. Evidently, these substitutes each made a moral judgment. When they looked at the copy of Rolling Stone, addressed to me, with the mailing address of our church building, they concluded that there is no way an employee of a church would subscribe to this magazine. So they kept the issues and return them to the post office.

I admit, this was news that I did not really want to hear, but I did appreciate their honesty. I laughed and told them, "Well, I'm glad it was not Playboy Magazine that I subscribed to. Else I would've never seen it!" They did not laugh. I think they wondered if I was being serious.

At any rate, most of the missing issues were sitting at that weigh station, while they're trying to figure out what to do with them. And now I have been receiving them again at our church office.

Let this be a lesson to you. Figuring out what the world is up to is pretty hard to do sometimes.


Interesting Videos on YouTube

My old college roommate and current blogger extraordinaire, Tim Archer, told me recently about a phenomenon on YouTube. It was a short video produced by a team from the Southern Hills Church of Christ in Abilene Texas. It's called "Stethoscope." It only last a couple minutes and I'm not going to recount it for you, when you could watch the whole thing in about the same time you can read my description.

What is fascinating to me is this video has been viewed almost three million times. While we can be virtually certain that this does not mean that three million people saw the video, neither do I think that it was two people watching the video 1.5 million times apiece. A lot of people all over the world have watched this work of art created for a spiritual purpose.

I'm struck, yet again, by the fact we have never had an opportunity to affect so many people in the world for so little cost. I hope more creative Christians will post their videos on YouTube. I would especially love to see a team of gifted people from our congregation do so.

Hats off to my old college church -- Southern Hills.


A Good Read

I had a chance to read Mark Buchanan's book The Rest Of God last week. I was reading it in preparation for a sermon that I was doing that included a passage on the Sabbath. I think you would like the book. McKinnon is not one of these guys that drives around with the bumper sticker on the back of his car that says "Jesus went to church on Saturday." He understands how difficult it is to live in the 21st century world and pondered the principle of the Sabbath. He views the Sabbath as not just an attitude, but also an orientation. I was under the impression the book was more conceptual, but it is instead very practical. Still, Buchanan uses many illustrations, and I think it would be a fast read for most people. A number of illustrations were done so well that I noted them in the back of my copy. The following paragraphs are my summary of one of these illustrations. It is about the grandmother of Mark Buchanan's wife:


Grandmother lived in a beautiful area in British Columbia in a small town called Enderby. A lot of people were known to have moved to the rivers and creeks around that town because of the rumor that gold was present. Grandma never bought into that rumor.

One day, she made a major decision concerning her backyard. There was a large boulder in her garden and it was too big to move. So she decided to polish the stone. Her logic was that since she could not get rid of it, she might as well make it beautiful. So she took sandpaper and began to polish that stone.

As she was sanding, she noticed a thin sifting of gold colored dust gathering on the stone. She pressed the tip of her finger into the dust. She pulled up her finger, and her heart began the race. It wasn't just dust, it was gold dust. She sanded the big rock harder. The more she sanded, the more gold that appeared. Now she was sanding the rock with everything she had. And the gold began to accumulate rapidly.

By now grandma had caught the disease. She understood why all those people had given up everything to come to Enderby and look for gold. She had the fever now -- gold fever. Grandma sat down to rest. She knew she was going to be rich.

While she was resting, she wiped her brow. Then she noticed something was wrong with her wedding ring. The top part was normal, but the underside, the part that nestled in the crease where her finger joined her palm, wasn't normal. The band was as thin as the end of a cheese slicer wire. It looked like a filament. Then she realized what had happened. She had nearly sanded her wedding ring off. All that gold she had seen inside that boulder were merely filings. It was the remnants of her precious wedding ring. She was reducing her treasure to dust. It was all fools gold.

If we are not careful, we do the same thing. Not with our wedding rings. But we can squander treasures in the pursuit of dust. It is so easy to pass up the treasure, in order to pursue the dust. The dust is called "hurry." Hurry is the great enemy of the Sabbath.

Friendship with God can be lost in a hurry.


Fair and Balanced

You have read previously that I have enjoyed reading the book Searching for God Knows What. Can I share with you something that I have read from that book with which I disagree? In his chapter on morality, Donald Miller tries to make the point that most Christians who are conservative, overemphasize abortion and underemphasize other equally important issues such as social justice, and helping the poor.

I respectfully disagree. In conservative Christianity, and I'm using the term broadly, I see a tremendous emphasis on serving the poor and oppressed. Rick Warren has become famous now for his and his wife's call to minister to the poor of Africa, especially to those who are suffering from AIDS. Other Christian groups such as Samaritans' Purse have become well known for their ministry to the poor. I personally know a number of Christians who have traveled to New Orleans to minister to people there, who had been victimized by hurricane Katrina.

And when it comes to social justice, Chuck Colson has been recognized by Queen Elizabeth herself for his leadership with Prison Fellowship in ministering to prisoners all over the world. It was Christians who were among the first to call the world's attention to the devastating civil war in Sudan. Christians have been very active in seeking to shut down the sexual slave trade in Asia.

All of this is good. I support all of this. However, as I have written before, what could be more tied to the cause of justice than the protection of life?

You know when you think about it, we human beings are part of a very exclusive club. What could be more discriminating than to tell a human life not to enter into our world?

Have you ever wanted to join a fraternity or sorority or a social club and not get voted in? How did that make you feel? Rejected? Angry? Left out?

For good reason, we are angered when we hear that someone is barred from joining a country club because of his or her ethnicity, gender, or culture. What does it say about us as people when we, who are alive and functioning outside of the womb, say to a human life, "No, you cannot enter into our world." No matter how small the child, if the clock has started running, she will be ultimately joining us in our world. She will be joining us--unless, the consequences of a fallen world strike her with disease or accident, or, unless we who have progressed past the womb vote no.

Do we need to be strategic? Yes. Do we need to be winsome? When at all possible, yes. Is the Christian community speaking out too much on abortion? That would be a goal hard to accomplish.

Remarks for Friday, February 13, 2009

Jury Duty

I was summoned to jury duty this week. It was only my third time. The first time occurred when I was living in Brownsville. I was sent home after a couple of hours because the case was settled before going to trial. The second time was last September hear in Tyler. I was sent home about 4:30 in the afternoon. They selected 12 jurors and I did not make the cut. This week, I made it.

The trial was for a case of aggravated robbery. I must admit that I have seen enough movies and television shows to have had a skewed view of real life in the courtroom.

First off, I had no idea that virtually everyone would have trouble staying awake. The only two that I did not catch sleeping were the lead prosecuting attorney and the defense attorney. I must confess that even I dozed off occasionally. Never have I drunk so much coffee, drunk so many Cokes, and consumed so much sugar in all my life in order to stay awake. I developed two or three pimples on my face for crying out loud. I felt like a teenager! Great. I've got the bald head of an old man and the pimply face of a teenager. I'm the anti-Hannah Montana -- I've got the worst of both worlds!

Mercifully, deliberations began yesterday (Thursday) afternoon at about 3:45. Shiloh's John Parker was elected the Presiding Officer by his fellow jurors, and he did a very good job. John brought good humor to the jury and I enjoyed serving with him.

It took us about an hour to convict the defendant. For a while, one juror could not vote guilty because some questions he had about a witness's identification. Although, he did not look like Henry Fonda, I must confess that I had an eerie feeling of, "I've seen this movie, and I know how it turns out." Fortunately, after some calm deliberation he agreed with the rest of us. We voted guilty and the judge will sentence the defendant in April.

After the trial, someone from the D. A.'s office told us that the defendant had been arrested for 41 robberies across the state. He's already gotten 40 years in Henderson County. Yes, just like John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, we have assured that justice is served!

"Take Me Home, Country Road"

Occasionally I will hear someone describe an experience that takes them back to their childhood. For me, it has been a hobby that I began two years ago.

On this date two years ago, I became aware of a website that was selling the original broadcasts of ballgames from the 50s, 60s, 70s, and later. Since then, I've come across another site that I exclusively go to because of the price and service. Now, I typically request for my birthday, Christmas, or Father's Day ballgames from my childhood. I enjoy watching them while I exercise. Also, my younger children enjoy lying down on the bed and watching these ballgames with me.

These games are the original network broadcasts, and many of them have the original commercials. I've got baseball games, college football games, NFL games, NBA games, NCAA basketball games, and NHL hockey games. I've got Monday Night Football Games with Faultless Frank, Humble Howard, and Dandy Don Meredith. I've got regular programming ranging from the CBS broadcast of the Apollo 11 spaceflight to the moon to the complete Tonight Show episode where Tiny Tim marries Miss Vicky. (That was one that I always heard about but my parents did not let me stay up late enough to watch!)

Some people can hear a song and it takes them back to a specific time of their youth. Some people can smell a smell and it reminds them of a specific individual from their past. When I lie down and watch these ballgames, I am taken back to those exact moments when I was watching them with my daddy as a boy.

Let me provide you with an example. I recently purchased in 1971 Major League Baseball All-Star game. Curt Gowdy and Tony Kubek were broadcasting the game for NBC. Joe Garagiola was selling cars for Chrysler. I was taken back to the den in our house on 200 Martha Drive in Winnsboro, Texas. I was sitting on the couch close to my dad, who was reclining in his easy chair. I could close my eyes and hear the sounds that were exactly the same as that evening back in July, 1971. Richard Nixon was president. The Cowboys were getting ready to go to Training Camp and try to win the Super Bowl (they had lost back in January to Baltimore.) I was transported in time. I was there.

My father's no longer with us. I appreciate how neat it is that my imagination can take me back to a time when he is, almost, there.

P. S. If you are interested in finding out what all is available, e-mail me and I'll be glad to send you the e-mail address to see a list of all of the games and programs. And no, don't worry, I am not being compensated for this endorsement!

The Misfits

Ever been to the circus? I've seen all sorts of circuses in my lifetime. Some were as incredible as the Barnum and Bailey Circus. Some were the proverbial small-town circuses, where you feel pity for the performers as you imagine the type of lives they lead.

It was those small-town circuses. I was thinking of when I read a chapter this week in Donald Miller's book Searching For God Knows What. Miller talks about a book he read describing circus life in America between World War I and World War II. As you might imagine, there were characters galore in the story: women with beards, and men who swallowed swords, a man with hands like crab pincers….

To make a living, they began to perform in small town and small city theaters. Crowds attended consisting of women and children who were either frightened or repelled by what they saw, while the men were delighted to prove how brave they were. Yet, a regional debate was sparked as some sought to end the shows. These critics felt their town or city were exploiting the deformed.

Meanwhile, the performers themselves wished to continue. They asked a good question, "Who wants to hire a bearded lady? Who wants to hire a man with crab pincers for hands?" The answer was, of course, no one.

As they traveled to the small towns and cities of this country, these misfits shaped a community. Interestingly enough, within this community formed a clear hierarchy. At the top was a man with three legs. His gift was concealing the third leg until the strategic moment that would bring the most astonishment or terror to the women and children. Once at a theater in New York, the three legged man approached the audience too closely. He accidentally touched a woman in the crowd. Her husband became unglued and, in a fit of chivalry, attacked the three legged man.

You might think this would have insulted the three legged man. Far from it. When the newspapers wrote an account of the event, the story stirred the public so much in whatever town the show performed, crowds lined up for a quarter-mile just to be able to get in.

The carnival's PR man knew an opportunity when he saw one. He sent a statement to every city on the itinerary recounting the attack of the three legged man. Because of this, the three legged man's salary was doubled. Here is where trouble set in.

The other full performers became very angry when they heard of their fellow entertainer's increase in pay. This rancor revealed a schism. A problem that had been hidden became thrust out into the open. The problem was this. The man with three legs trumped the woman with the beard. The woman with the beard clearly was of more value than the man with lobster claws. And the judge and jury who appraised their value was the crowd.

As you might imagine, most of the performers were unhappy. As the bearded lady put it, "Not everybody is lucky enough to get born with three legs. It's not like he did anything to deserve that kind of blessing."

Upon reading Miller's reflection on the story, I could not help but think of the absurdity of it all. What happens when you're a member of a group of misfits? What happens when the standard for success is contingent upon your "misfittedness?" That is to say, the more odd you are, the more approval you receive. What would happen if I were called to "perform" in a carnival of freaks? I suspect that the audience would be let down. I would be boring compared to the man with lobster claws for hands or the bearded lady. No wonder the bearded lady became envious of the three legged man--he had become a sort of rock star basking in the acclaim of the crowd.

When the abnormal becomes your world, when the abnormal becomes your community, if you are not careful, it is easy to seek the approval of the abnormal. Then, it is easy to become frustrated with God over being normal.

Allow me to put Miller's point into translation. The Fall has made all of us abnormal performers, and we are performing for the wrong audience. Each of us have been blessed in various ways. Some of us are physically attractive, some of us are blessed with financial resources, some of us are athletic, some of us are smart, and all of us are tempted to get the crowd to clap for us. We want the crowd's approval. As Miller says, "... there is nothing wrong with being beautiful or being athletic or being smart, but those are some of the pleasures of life, not life's redemption."

God wants to rescue us and restore our normality. Rather than allow him to do so, often we look to the crowd that is our culture for rescue. What makes things worse is our culture is becoming even more coarse. It rewards the freakish. So if you're a woman, who is attractive, the crowd is cheering for you to pull off more clothes and reveal more of yourself. It's hard to resist, because you find yourself in a community of misfits, who are already doing so.

If you are a guy, the crowd is cheering for you to pull away from any commitment of marriage or fatherhood. It's hard to resist, because you find yourself in a community of misfits, who are already doing so.

If you work and receive compensation, the crowd is cheering for you to spend more money than you make and to demonstrate this through possessions. It's hard to resist, because you find yourself in a community of misfits, who are already doing so.

Most of us hear just enough cheering to seduce us into a spiritual striptease, hoping it will gain us more applause. It's hard to resist, because we find ourselves in a community of misfits, who are already doing so.

In effect, Jesus says to us, "This carnival is leading you nowhere. Your view of life has become warped. In your falleness, you have come to believe that what is abnormal is normal. It's not normal. Let me rescue you from this. Allow me and those who surround me in heaven to be your audience. You no longer have to play to the crowd who calls for freaks."

Let me share with you a passage out of Galatians 5: 19-21 that Donald Miller shared with me. It is from THE MESSAGE, and when I read it in the context of Miller's chapter, I got goose bumps:


19People's desires make them give in to immoral ways, filthy thoughts, and shameful deeds. 20They worship idols, practice witchcraft, hate others, and are hard to get along with. People become jealous, angry, and selfish. They not only argue and cause trouble, but they are 21envious. They get drunk, carry on at wild parties, and do other evil things as well. I told you before, and I am telling you again: No one who does these things will share in the blessings of God's kingdom.


Miller concludes by asking that we consider how life would be were we to fully comprehend that God loves us. What if we understood truly that our glory comes from God? What if we recognized that people of this world are fallen and do not recognize what is truly beautiful or ugly, what is good or bad? And what if we no longer sought their applause, but rather God's?

Then, we could love our spouse and not expect him or her to rescue us. Then we could be slow to anger because we understand our rescue is not at stake. Then, we could be wise with our use of money because we would realize it cannot purchase us self-esteem or give good feelings. Then, we could love people without regard to their position in the community of misfits, because our empowerment comes from God and his love. Then, we could love people without regard for their response to us, because God's love is sufficient in and of itself.

If we could truly grasp this, what a beautiful world it would truly be.

Remarks for Friday, February 6, 2009

It's Friday, but Sunday's Coming

Normally, I'll write something here that has to do with my sermon on Sunday morning. However, for this post, I want to write something concerning Sunday night. Our church has small groups available on Sunday nights. Most meet in homes. I encourage folks to participate in these groups. However, we do have an assembly on Sunday evenings at 6 PM at our building. Here I offer a sermon that is more meaty, one more designed for the person who is looking to study scripture from an analytical and intellectual perspective. It would probably be fair to say this is more of a teaching sermon than a proclamation sermon.

Currently on Sunday nights, I am leading us in a study on the tabernacle from Exodus. This week I came across a reference in a commentary that inspired me greatly. It is from Exodus, Saved for God's Glory by Philip Graham Ryken. Ryken calls attention to Zechariah 3 where the prophet was shown the high priest Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord. It was not unusual for the high priest to stand before God; he did so once a year on the Day of Atonement.

In Zechariah's account, there was a problem. The high priest was supposed to wear the white tunic represented his righteousness, but Joshua was wearing filthy clothes. The word Zechariah uses for "filthy" cannot be properly translated in polite circles. It is the word for human excrement, and accurately translated it is not a nice one.

What an image! Zachariah offers us an illustration that depicts our sinfulness before God. We are tempted often to downplay it, but God would not allow Zachariah to do so. God desired for us, his people, to see and smell our sin.

Satan was standing at Joshua's right side, the text says, to accuse Joshua. According to Exodus 28, Joshua violated God's holiness by entering into his presence dressed as he was. This act merited death.

Even worse, Joshua represented the people, and they were covered with filth, too. Since Joshua was guilty, they were guilty. If Joshua was dead, then they were dead. In this vision, humanity was lost.

However, Zachariah records that the Lord rebuked Satan. The angel of the Lord ordered the attendants of God to remove the high priest's filthy clothes. Turning to Joshua, the angel said, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you." The attendants then clothed him.

Finally, Zechariah said, "Put a clean turban on his head." Zachariah did this for a purpose. He knew from Exodus 28:38, the words "Holy to the Lord" were written upon the turban. When a clean turban was put on the head of a high priest, it signified that God had removed the sin of the high priest, and, therefore, the sin of the people. Zechariah knew what he was asking, and he received it. God had made the people holy.

I love this account because it anticipates the ministry of Christ. Jesus, the great high Priest, according to Hebrews, stands before God to remove the sins of the people. Because of his work, we can stand in the presence of the Lord holy, acceptable, and pleasing in God's sight.
I have not appreciated the work of Zechariah in the past. Now passages such as these give me chills.

An ode to my wife

My two younger children have the flu this week and are home from school. I spent some time during the days and nights attending to them. Thursday morning I was staying home with them so that my wife, Judy, could teach at her school. The little ones were doing better, and then Judy came home mid-morning with the flu and went straight to bed. She has been there ever since.

I don't know about your household, but my wife is the hub of our household. When she's down, it is like a car and a blowout. Judy is paying a high price to make me greatly appreciate her, but I do most assuredly.

Parents! Parents! Parents!

I am amazed at how poorly so many parents are raising their children these days. Just last week, my son Timothy's kindergarten teacher, Michelle Pardue, told me that Timothy and a girl at school like each other very much. As a matter of fact, Timothy liked her so much that the teachers caught him kissing her on the cheek last Friday. The girl did nothing.

I am shocked that her parents have not taught her better. When I was Timothy's age and in kindergarten, I picked up Lisa Walters in my arms and kissed her. Lisa's parents had taught her well. She did the honorable thing. Lisa Walters slapped me. I never kissed Lisa Walters again. And while Lisa and I dated and went steady, on and off, throughout kindergarten through third grade, I never kissed Lisa again.

I ache for my son because he likes a girl whose parents are not as outstanding as Lisa's. And, of course, I had to step into the middle of this situation so that my boy can remain in school. What I have recommended to him was the old Camp Deer Run rule, grab a stick and hold one end, and let the girl hold the other end. We'll see if that works.

Postscript--Maybe Timothy does not have the flu, maybe he has mononucleosis: "kissing disease"!

Favorite Book on CD of the week

Recently I began listening again to the book First Man by James R. Hansen. I had read it before, but it was so good I wanted to hear it again. The book is about the life of the Neil Armstrong, the first man to step foot on the moon. Hanson does a good job fleshing out the personality of Armstrong. Part of that personality consisted of a man who was and is very quiet by nature.

One of the interesting aspects of Armstrong's life that this book reveals is the tender heart that he had for his daughter, Karen. She died as a child of a brain tumor. The event shattered Armstrong emotionally, and he never fully recovered.

Several years later, after the successful Apollo 11 spaceflight, the mission's astronauts toured the world. While in London England, crowds mobbed the astronauts. At a barrier which separated the astronauts from the people, a little girl found herself pressed against the obstruction. Frightened, she began to cry. Armstrong picked up the girl, hugged her, soothed her emotions with kind words, and kissed her. An enterprising photographer snapped the picture and newspapers around the world ran it.

The press noted that this intimacy was out of character for Armstrong and were puzzled by this display. Hansen writes that it was no coincidence. The girl was the age of Armstrong's daughter when Karen had passed away.

Boredom Ally

This little tidbit may fail to interest you, but it does me. Several weeks ago, I saw a show on the History Channel that discussed quantum physics. I was reminded of that program this week when I read that Albert Einstein resisted the move toward quantum physics that reached full bloom during the 1920s. The irony here is that his earlier work jumpstarted physics to make the move away from Newtonian physics.

During this era, Niels Bohr was a major player in the quantum physics movement. He and Einstein forged a relationship that was personally close but scientifically distant. Einstein would struggle for the rest of his life with quantum physics, mainly due to the emphasis that quantum mechanics placed on random chance. It was in the context of Einstein's debate with Bohr that he'd made his famous statement that God would not play dice. To which Bohr replied, "Stop telling God what to do!"

What fascinates me is how this area of science faces some of the same tensions that theology does, but on a different playing field. As Walter Isaacson has noted, with Einstein, "[R]elativity may have seemed like a radical idea, but at least it preserved rigid cause-and-effect rules." The randomness of quantum physics eliminates the "cause" in Einstein's eyes.

In theology, the tension lies between two poles. On the one hand, you have scholars accentuating the direct involvement of God in this world. On the other hand, you have theologians emphasizing God's distance from his creation.

This tension, which can never be resolved in our lives, plays itself out in many areas. Even people who are not Christians are asking many of the same questions that we ask because of their intuitive yearning for God. When I read of Einstein and Bohr debating, I hear Einstein saying that God must be at work in our world. I hear Bohr saying, "Where is God?"

Virtually every I day, I hear the rank and file members of the human race say the same.