April 17, 2009

It’s Friday, But Sunday’s Coming

HDJT. How did Jesus think? For years we have asked the question “What Would Jesus Do?” I wonder how Jesus would think. Paul tells me in Philippians chapter 4.

The context is Paul addressing two prominent women in the church, who are fighting. They had been coworkers. They had contended with him in the cause of the Gospel. That's why it distressed him to know that these two women were not getting along with each other. They evidently were the ones who were engaged in a rivalry (see Phil. 2:3), they were not of the same mind, and this conflict was jeopardizing the gospel being proclaimed to this community.

Paul even asks a third party to get involved. He wants this party to bring peace. And notice this, the Holy Spirit, through Paul, is not concerned about sparing the consequences of the sin of these two women. We know their names. They will be remembered forever—for a fight. How would you like to have your life summed up in this way in one sentence?

Working with others in the church can be difficult. There is an old poem that goes like this --

"To live above with the saints we love,
oh, that will be glory.
But to live below with the saints we know,
well, that's another story.

We are not called to agree on everything, but we are called to be agreeable.

Notice Paul's prescription for this conflict. In chapter two, he had already told them to have the mind of Christ. And how did Christ think? I think in Phil. 4:4-9, we see the mind of Christ:

4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Paul’s points reflect the mind of Christ. Jesus had a joyful attitude, he was gentle, he bathed everything in prayer, he was thankful, and he had a mind of peace. Jesus was constantly open to what God could do in his life. Gentle means, Jesus was not about his own agenda, but about God's agenda. But that's not all, the following verses also demonstrate the mind of Christ:

8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Jesus thought about true things, noble things, excellent things, pure things, and lovely things. He did not worry; he was not anxious. So Paul encourages us to program our minds like Jesus.

You know our brains are capable of great things. Kent Hughes writes there are 12 to 14 billion cells that make up our brains. Each cell sends out thousands of connecting tendrils so that a single cell may be connected with 10,000 neighboring cells. Each one of these are constantly exchanging data impulses. That means 12 to 14 billion brain cells times 10,000 connectors are working together. Wow! What a computer!

Someone has compared the human mind’s activity to a thousand switchboards, each big enough to serve New York City, all running at full speed as they supersede and send messages and orders. That is to say, there is more electronic equivalent of one human brain than in all the radio and television stations in the entire world put together.

I don't know about you, but sometimes it seems to me that everyone of those switchboards is racing as I worry about a problem. And that is not good. This mind needs to be harnessed in the power of the Holy Spirit. This mind was created to be like the mind of Christ. That is the mind redeemed. John Milton wrote, "a mind is its own place, and in itself/can make a heaven out of hell, and a hell out of heaven...." I believe that.

I suspect what is happening here, these women are burning a tremendous amount of emotional energy nursing their wounds, trying to gather allies, trying to get their way. And this unforgiving competitive spirit is stealing the joy and peace out of their lives.

So, we let Christ take over our minds. "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (II Cor. 10:5.)

Who said the following?

Let’s take a quiz. Who said the following?

“No one wishes for hardship. But as we pick through the economic rubble, we may find that our riches have buried our treasures. Money does not buy happiness; Scripture asserts this, research confirms it. Once you reach the median level of income, roughly $50,000 a year, wealth and contentment go their separate ways, and studies find that a millionaire is no more likely to be happy than someone earning one-twentieth as much.”

"A consumer culture invites us to want more than we can ever have; a culture of thrift invites us to be grateful for whatever we can get. So we pass the time by tending our gardens and patching our safety nets and debating whether, years from now, this season will be remembered for what we lost, or all that we found."

A. Franklin Graham B. Mark Edge in one of his sermons
C. Time magazine

Answer? C.

This is from the latest issue dated April 27, 2009.

Help! I’m Being Adopted

I told you last week that our family was going to LTC. On the way last Friday, we stopped by a shopping mall in Arlington. On the way out, we were exiting through the Barnes & Noble bookstore. I was engaging in horseplay with my second oldest daughter, Abby. She said something and I grabbed her. And in fun she hollered out, “Help! I being abducted.”

My son, Timothy, who is age 6, heard Abby. He thought that was pretty funny and he immediately began hollering out the same thing. Only, he had never heard the word “abducted,” and he did not know what it meant. Consequently, he thought Abby had said “adopted.” So Timothy begins hollering out, “Help! I’m being adopted!”

I’ve got to admit, I lost it. Of course, Timothy was adopted a few years ago. Who knows? Maybe he was having a Freudian slip. Still, I thought it was pretty funny.

Out in the parking lot, I repeated to Judy what has become my new mantra, “I love having grandchildren.” I’m years away from it, but I am old enough to have had grandkids several years ago. This is all part of my strategy of going with the flow in the midst of chaos. “Mind over matter.”

Great Lines from Kids

My friend, Scott Fosse, is the president of East Texas Christian Academy. They meet on our campus and we share many of the same facilities. I am proud of our association, and even have the privilege of teaching the senior-level Bible classes.

Yesterday, I came across one of our kindergarten teachers, Amanda Arrington. And she was telling me that earlier this week, she was trying to get Scott's young son, Devon, who is in kindergarten, to take a nap. She was gently patting him on the back, I suppose thinking he would go to sleep, and he looked up and said to her, "You know my daddy is the president of this school."

She replied, "Yes, I know that."

Then Devon said, "He can do whatever he wants."

Any temptation that I had to be depressed for the day was removed when I heard that story. Rumor has it that our president blushed greatly when reported the news from “Romper Room.” No need; we all know what it’s like. Don't you just love kids?

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

1. I was shocked and somewhat sad to hear of the retirement of John Madden. For years, Madden represented the big game. You knew if John Madden was announcing a ballgame, it was the big game of the week. When Madden replaced Tom Brookshire on CBS back in 1981, I, like Pat Summerall, was not pleased. But in time, he grew on me and I learned to respect his work. I also respect the fact that he became among the best in two separate fields -- coaching and broadcasting. (His NFL winning percentage of .750 is the best of all-time.) Add to that, his tremendous success in lending his name EA Sports videogames, and you have a tremendous success story in business as well. He will be missed.

2. Last week, I found a copy on sale of Last Dance: Behind the Scenes at the Final Four. It was written by John Feinstein. Feinstein may be the best non-fiction writer on sports today. I have read a number of his books and have never been disappointed. Feinstein could write about moss growing on a septic tank and make it sound like a fascinating experience. This book is a must-read for college basketball fans. The setting is the 2005 Final Four of men's college basketball, but it is in essence a compilation of stories of some of the greats who, through the years, were part of the Final Four.

Favorite story: John Wooden pushing his wife, seated in a wheelchair, through the lobby of a Seattle hotel during the Final Four in 1984. Wooden is headed for the elevator, that will take him and his wife to their floor. They are going to retire for the evening. The lobby is crowded with the greatest men’s basketball coaches in America. Suddenly, someone begins to applaud. Then others. At last, hundreds of people are giving John and Nellie Wooden a standing ovation. It was her last Final Four; she died a few months later.

3. I received this week’s Time magazine this morning. It’s a good issue to take a look at. The aforementioned Time magazine article is a good one to read. It is the cover story called “Thrift Nation.” Also, there is an interesting article about top-tier universities who are offering free public online access to their best lecturers (p. 43ff).

4. Tony Woodlief wrote a thought provoking article in the latest issue of World magazine entitled “Practical Atheism.” He argues that our danger as churches is to sacrifice sermons and teachings on Scripture and God for messages that are “relevant.” This is symptomatic of practical atheism, which is not the pursuit of godlessness. Rather, it is what Woodlief calls “the slow slide into lives where God is irrelevant.” Words worth pondering.

5. Frost/Nixon comes out in DVD next week. I want to rent it.

Have a great weekend!

April 10, 2009

It’s Friday, But Sunday’s Coming

This is a big weekend coming up. Today, my family and I leave for the Hyatt Regency DFW and for LTC. LTC stands for Leadership Training for Christ. Young people from churches all over the Southwest gather together in different hotels for a weekend of activities ranging from drama to puppets, from signing to singing. Kids learn skills, leadership, problem solving, and, oh by the way, how to serve Jesus in more affective ways.

Our youth minister, Tim Henderson, plays a major role in LTC. I am proud of him and his wife, Denise, for the work that they do. I am also amazed at how much they accomplish. We also have a number of our people, who volunteer to help make the weekend a success. Dozens of people spend hundreds of hours helping kids get ready, packing meals, loading trucks, and much, much more.

Another reason why this is a big weekend is, of course, Easter. I like the fact, each year we have many guests, who visit us at Shiloh for worship services on Easter Sunday. I would like to think our congregation properly emphasizes the resurrection each Sunday. Still, I know we are granted a marvelous moment on Easter Sunday morning to reach out to people.

Easter Sunday is a challenge. We probably have about three hundred people who will go and minister at LTC this weekend. A few others travel to visit relatives. Still others remain here to minister to people in Tyler. A lot of missional work will be done by Shiloh for the Kingdom this weekend.

While most people in LTC remain for a huge Sunday service, my family always hurries back after the LTC banquet on Saturday night. I grab a little sleep and get up at 5:00 or 5:30 on Sunday morning to ready myself for the busy day. It is an exhausting, yet exhilarating, weekend.

This Sunday morning I plan to address Paul's desire to know the power of Christ’s resurrection. There is power there. The power that raised a man from the dead and transformed his body is available to us today. I believe that power can help us overcome envy, strife, division, bitterness, sexual immorality, greed, addictions, and much, much more. I want to know that power. I want us to know that power.

The Created World is Fallen, and My Eyes are not Doing Much Better

I’ve been nearsighted now for more years than I’ve been sighted. However, when it came time to check out my prescription for contact lenses, I made a bold decision. I decided to compensate for my deteriorating vision. Here’s what I mean.

Previously, I had a prescription for my left eye that allowed me to see things at a distance, and a prescription in my right eye that allowed me to read or see things up close. I decided to forego that option, and I went with contact lenses they gave me 20-15 vision in both eyes—from a distance. I see like an eagle things that are far away. The problem is, I see like Helen Keller up close. I mean my food at supper is literally a blur. So, I got a prescription for reading glasses to compensate. This was a change for me. I can normally read without corrected vision. But with my contacts, I have to have reading glasses. Hence, I traveled to my local Wal-Mart and purchased for myself an inexpensive pair.

Problem. With my contacts in, I cannot see the computer well, and it strains my eyes to look at my computer through my reading glasses. So, I received another prescription for glasses to look at my computer when I’m wearing contacts. Again, my local Wal-Mart came through. Yet, what do I do on those days when I cannot wear my contact lenses? My local optometrist gave me another prescription for glasses to wear when I’m not wearing my contact lenses. Let’s tally the score. I now own three pairs of glasses plus contact lenses.

I like the vision that my contact lenses provide. Still, it can be quite a circus when I am at the office, at my desk, and wearing my contacts. If I am reading and I want to see somebody who walks into my office, I must take off my reading glasses. If I want to look at my computer, I must put on my computer glasses. If I want to read a book, I must take off my computer glasses and put on my reading glasses. If someone then walks into my office… well, you get the idea.

There is no question that we are living in a fallen world. But I am sad to say, I think my vision has fallen even farther.

“What Losing Taught Me About Winning”

I was never a big fan of Fran Tarkenton, but I have always respected him. He was a record-setting quarterback with the Minnesota Vikings and the New York Giants back in the 1960s and 70s. (Any of you 60s or 70s boys remember the character, based on Fran Tarkenton, in the fictional book Throw the Long Bomb, by JACK LAFLIN?) You may also remember Fran Tarkenton formed part of the famous troika of That's Incredible! He joined John Davidson and Cathy Lee Crosby in one of the first TV reality shows.

Well, Fran Tarkenton has since become a very successful entrepreneur. As of the writing of this book, which was 1997, he had founded 12 companies that had taken in more than $200 million in businesses stretching across 50 countries.

Since then, Tarkenton has faced his problems. He recovered and is still a player in the business world today.

I found this book on tape, online for a dollar or two, when I was ordering some other books. I figured with free shipping, I could not go wrong in buying it. Tarkenton is very folksy in this book drawing upon his personal experience, as well as, many anecdotes.

Tarkenton states that your job in business is to make other people’s lives better. Does the entrepreneur want to profit in his or her business. Certainly, but one does so by leaving someone better off than before.

My favorite part is where he emphasizes the importance of focusing on the customer and his needs as opposed to your own. He goes so far as to say become obsessed with the customer’s needs. I wouldn’t go that far, but I like the idea that good business is not thinking about how much money you can make off someone; rather, it is focusing on the needs of another. That sounds suspiciously like Jesus. Moreover, Tarkenton encourages people to forge relationships with people. Good business is relational.

I also found extremely helpful the section that related to the book’s title—failure. Tarkenton lists seven steps to facing failure:

1. View failure as an essential part of success. No one escapes failure.
2. Don’t run from failure. It is not a terminal disease. Failure can depress you, drive you to quit, or it can energize you. Use it to invigorate your life.
3. Acknowledge your responsibility in failure. Allow this to give you perspective.
4. Claim control of your life.
5. Turn the negative into a positive.
6. Practice optimism grounded in reality.
7. Face failure again by finding a new challenge. Trial and error are partners to success.

It will not be required reading for Harvard Business School, but if business is your thing, he offers principles that are definitely not outdated. And if you find a copy for a buck or two, I think it's worth giving up your change.

I Wish I had Said That

“Today, the average person -- including a good many scientists -- treat the ideas, concepts, and theories of science in exactly the same way as the ancients treated their golden calves. We take quarks, black holes, and the big bang story to be objective elements in an authoritative description of an external, independent reality. We forget or suppress the fact that all of these elements are ideas that came originally from the human mind, as do all the arguments we use to justify them. All scientific concepts and theories, together with the whole system and rationale of the so-called scientific method, clearly originated in the human mind. The complex, extensive, detailed, and astonishing picture of the natural world that we call science is the product of human imagination, thought, insight, and genius. It is neither external, nor independent, nor final, nor even provable. The whole structure and content of science, including its fabled empirical method, is like a vast and intricate game whose rules, playing board, and pieces were all created by human beings for their own use, benefit, amusement, power, and security.

“It wasn't for nothing that the Old Testament prophets singled idolatry out for special condemnation. We can easily see its destructive effects on modern civilization. Every other culture in history has invented or ‘received’ a creation myth whose express purpose was to rationalize human existence -- to tell us who we are, how we got here, and what our value and purpose are. Indeed, it is the job of creation myths to tell us the meaning of life. Modern science does precisely the opposite. For the first time in history, a culture has conjured up a story about itself that altogether denies any meaning, value, or purpose in human existence. This is far more perverse than simply fouling our own nest; this is a total denial of any need for a home, a haven, or any sense of belonging....

“In a sense, science has taken over the role of state religion in modern culture, and it has become a very influential religion at that. Who can deny that the scientific establishment has become a modern priesthood? The pronouncements of scientists are respected and accepted by today's public just as the doctrines of the church fathers were respected and accepted by people a thousand years ago. The rigorous training in arcane mathematics and methodology is no less exacting, demanding, and monastic than was the medieval study of ancient languages and theology. Modern scientific training today is an insuperable barrier to the lay person who would question the authority of science, just as the ecclesiastical training of the Roman Catholic priesthood was a great obstacle to the medieval laity with its questions and doubts. If anything, modern science incurs far less challenging criticism than the church ever did. The church fathers would have given their eyeteeth to command for medieval Catholicism the kind of obedience and blind faith that we freely lavish on science today.

“Although we condemn them today, we cannot fail to appreciate the church's efforts to defend itself in a war that it ultimately lost to science, just as it had feared. It is science and not religion that gives today's world its rationale, morality, sustenance, and story of creation, such as it is.

Despite protestations that science has nothing to do with religious and spiritual questions, it is science that dictates to the church and not vice versa. It is science that determines the character philosophy of civilization. The danger in all of this is that it has happened unconsciously and without liberation or consent. Science has been of enormous and indisputable material benefit to modern civilization; but if we fail to recognize and take account of the deeply religious role that science plays in our lives, we run the risk of destroying not only our material benefits but our souls as well.”
--Roger S. Jones, Professor Emeritus in the field of Physics, University of Minnesota, from his book Physics for the Rest of Us, pp. 132-136.

Except for the part about the creation myths, I could not have phrased these thoughts any better. I have no idea the religious views of Dr. Jones. But he has given voice to beliefs that I have held but have not been able to articulate well. My thanks to Dr. Jones.

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

1. Okay, so I was wrong about North Carolina.

2. I posted this on my Facebook page the other day. If you are over thirty, buy a copy of the book Grown Up Digital. Don Tapscott does the best job I have seen describing what is happening to our world as we transition into this new electronic and cultural era. Ten years ago, Tapscott wrote GROWING UP DIGITAL. I believe this is the fourth major shift in the past 150 years. First came the telegraph age, next the radio age, then the TV age, and now we are transitioning into the digital age. More on this another time.

3. Did you read Newsweek’s major story this week on Christianity and the U. S.? It stated that a recent survey found that the number of people who claim to be Christians dropped from 86 % to 76 % since 1990. Just because a majority of people still claim to be Christians, it does not mean that we are a Christian nation.

4. Last Saturday, I sprayed to kill the weeds in my yard. They’re still going strong. Amazing how Judy and I can work hard to cultivate the grass and lose it. However, we can do all we can to destroy the weeds, and they grow just as if we cultivated them. Something is wrong with this world.

5. There is not a single movie in the theaters that I want to see.

Have a great weekend!

Friday, April 3, 2009

It’s Friday, But Sunday’s Coming

How do you use your appetites? Your hunger? Your sexual desire? Your yearning for relationship?

Paul gave these questions some thought years ago and decided that the best place to channel them first is in pursuit of Jesus. He said, in effect, “I want to know Jesus, and I want to experience him and to become more like him.”

Hunger, sexual desire, and every other yearning are symptoms of a deeper need—the need to be close to Jesus. And Paul says don't give up. He says keep on running. Clearly, Paul's seen some track meets. He may have attended the Olympic Games a time or two.

Chariots of Fire is my all time favorite movie. Eric Liddell was Scotland’s greatest athlete and a favorite to win the 100 meter dash in the 1924 Olympic Games. He instead won the gold medal in the 400 meters, an event that was not his specialty, because he refused to run the 100 meter dash on Sunday. He thought to run was to violate the Sabbath. What a great moment, celebrated on film, of when an athlete sacrificed to honor God—and triumphed.

However, I also love Eric Liddell’s life after Chariots of Fire. As Phillip Hughes writes, Liddell, in 1925, received a degree in divinity and set sail as a missionary to China. In 1932, during his first furlough, he married his wife Florence. In 1941, facing the growing Japanese occupation, he sent his wife and three daughters to Canada to stay with her family while he remained to work among the poor and to serve them.

Liddle suffered many hardships, but he kept on running hard after Christ. And then in 1943 he was placed in the Weihsien Internment Camp where he again cheerfully served those around him. In 1945, at the age of 43, Eric Liddell died of a brain tumor that may have been caused by his malnourishment and overwork. His grave was marked by a simple wooden cross, with his name written in boot polish—a seemingly inglorious end to a man who desired to know Christ and live for him.

What you may not know is that after the producers completed the filming of Chariots of Fire, they flew to Canada to show preview the movie for Liddell’s widow. After the movie was over, they turned on the lights, and she was weeping. The producers were crestfallen. She did not like the movie.

No, she said, that was not the problem. She responded that Eric died thinking that he was a terrible speaker and that he failed in sharing Jesus. He had not made a difference.

No. Eric Liddell did indeed make a difference. You might say that he died pressing on for the gospel and pressing on to know Jesus. Let’s use our appetites to know Christ, instead of allowing our appetites to use us.

10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
15All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
17Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. 18For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. 20But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body (Phil 3:10-21). New International Version (NIV)

The Stockholm Syndrome

One of the neat things about living in a college town is the interaction with college students. Tyler has a campus of the University of Texas here, which means we have dealings with graduate students. This week, a couple of graduate students from the UT Tyler psychology department, Amber Leech and Joni Bryant, asked to interview our family for a project.

The first question was something to the effect of, "What do you see as different about your family?" They asked our daughter Annie, who is age seven, to answer first. She replied, "Because we are not poor like my friends."

(I was thinking, “Uh, oh. Looks like we are going to need some damage control. I am sure all of the doctors and lawyers who are parents of Annie's friends at school would really appreciate that remark.”)

My son Timothy, who is age 6, said he liked our family because they have a bunch of toys.

(“Oh, great, now these graduate students are thinking we raised a family of materialists.”)

As I was dying a thousand deaths, things actually improved from there. As a matter of fact, I became concerned that all four kids’ answers were too good. They began telling the interviewers how calm our family life was, how there was peace in our home, how good we were as parents to them, how much fun they had being part of our family…. In other words, I began to ask myself, "Who are these kids?"

Then it hit me. I remember in the 70s hearing about terrorist groups such as the SLA (Symbionese Libertation Army), kidnapping individuals, including people who were famous. Sometimes, the kidnapped suffered from what they called "The Stockholm Syndrome." The Stockholm Syndrome is a psychological response sometimes seen in abducted hostages. It is the emotional attachment to a captor formed by a hostage as a result of continuous stress, dependence, and a need to cooperate for survival.

I thought to myself, “Our kids suffer from The Stockhome Syndrome!”

Book Review

A couple of weeks ago I finished the book, When Trumpets Call Theodore Roosevelt After the White House. I found it very interesting because of its focus exclusively on the post-presidential years of TR. TR lived about 10 years after he left the White House. But what a decade!

He spent the first couple of years on an expedition to Africa, followed by a tour of Europe meeting with heads of state. On that tour, he stopped by Norway to accept the Nobel Peace Prize. He returned in time to jump in the political fray, landing with a nomination for President from the Bull Moose party.

Of course, most children cannot make it through elementary school without seeing a photo or drawing of Roosevelt shortly after he had been shot by John Schrank. The assassination attempt occurred in Milwaukee during October of 1912. The bullet passed through the manuscript of his speech, slowing it down and possibly saving his life, before entering his chest. Still, Roosevelt insisted upon going to his next speaking engagement. With blood oozing from his wound, and with sweat pouring out of his body, Roosevelt spent 80 minutes on stage, most of which was taken up by his speech. The TR legend grows!

With Republicans split between Taft and Roosevelt, TR lost the election to Woodrow Wilson. However, shortly thereafter, he received the opportunity to map out an unknown river in South America. The river had a name reflecting its mystery: River of Doubt. Shortly after Roosevelt and his small party began their expedition, they saw a transformation take place.

The expedition became an epic. Other than contending with fire ants, grasshoppers the size of sparrows, rapids, days lost as axes cleared paths on banks and made log rollers for transporting 2500 pound dugout canoes, bees, wasps, black flies, more rapids, termites, ticks, mosquitoes, 100° heat, rainy season, clothes and bedding permanently wet, bodies’ covered with insects, boils, fever, and dysentery, a drowning, days of delay spent hewing new boats from trees with axes, dogs losing tails to piranhas, hunger due to food running out and food loss to rapids, a murder, a murderer abandoned to the jungle, a discovery of natives never before seen by civilization, and rapids, rapids, and more rapids, not much happened.

The fever and infection made Roosevelt so sick that he begged members of the expedition, including his own son, to abandon him so that he might die and they might be spared the burden. They refused and his sickness and wounds probably bore major responsibility for his death in four years. However, one caveat to this episode, the Brazilian government changed the name of “River of Doubt” to “River Teddy” shortly after the expedition.

When World War I began, TR desperately wanted to raise a regiment and travel to Europe to fight. Woodrow Wilson turned him down. TR supported the war effort by speaking at bond drives and by providing four sons for the fighting. Quentin was the youngest. He was a pilot, who was shot down over German territory and killed. Out of respect for both Roosevelts, father and son, the Germans conducted a full military burial service and marked the grave with a cross and the English inscription, “Lieutenant Roosevelt, buried by the Germans, July 14, 1918.” A few days later, members of the German military flew over enemy lines to drop off a bundle containing Quentin Roosevelt’s effects.

The work that the Brazilian expedition had begun, aided and abetted by Quentin Roosevelt’s death, helped hasten TR’s demise. The fever and injuries had robbed TR of much physical vitality; the death of his son robbed him of his spiritual verve. He died a few months later on January 6, 1919 at the age of 60. Upon receiving word, Archie Roosevelt cabled his brothers Ted and Kermit, “THE OLD LION IS DEAD.” And he was.

Years later, Noel B. Gerson, wrote a biographical novel on Theodore Roosevelt. He said part of his motivation came from an event in childhood that he never forgot. In those days, before radio and television, afternoon newspapers were important sources of news. One day, he came home from school to find his father in the parlor, crying. The boy saw the afternoon newspaper and its headline, “Theodore Roosevelt: Dead.” And he understood.

Boredom Alley

Recently I completed listening to an abridged version of Ken Alder’s book, The Measure of All Things. It was captivating in some sections, tedious in others. The book tells the story of two astronomers from France who were seeking to establish the meter as the standard of measurement for France, Europe, and the rest of the world. Their theory was, the meter consisted of one-ten millionth of the distance between the North Pole and the equator.

Alder researched his book extensively. He discovered documents tucked away that had not been read for decades, documents that held a secret. It seems the two astronomers, Pierre-Francois-Andre Mechain and Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre, had arrived at separate conclusions.

What happened was this. Delambre was to travel the meridian north of Paris to Dunkirk, Ireland. Meanwhile, Mechain was to move south of Paris until he arrived at Barcelona, Spain. Alder narrates the amazing effort that was made to achieve this feat. Measurements were taken from the spires of church cathedrals and volcanoes. The astronomers worked for over seven years to measure one third of the earth.

Unfortunately, Mechain’s measurements disagreed with those of the Delambre. Panic stricken, Mechain covered up his mistake. His guilt led him to a breakdown and ultimately contributed to his death. It was after his death that the Delambre discovered what had happened. He chose not to reveal the truth.

So, the meter which is used worldwide today, is actually a fraction off. Those of you who lived back in the 70s may remember when the U.S. announced it was going to come in and join the rest of the world by using the metric system. This was so unpopular in our country that we never did truly connect with the world community. Not that Alder's findings in any way offer vindication, but it is still interesting the meter is wrong.

Students of geography, I think, will be fascinated by this book. Alder based much of his work on never-before-read letters and mission logbooks of the two men. The book was written in 2002. Seven years say history will not be change, but you never know.

Oops!

Many thanks to Jessica Boyd who caught a mistake in my blog of March 20. She wrote asking, “Did you mean Michael Moore, when talking about Ben Stein’s movie (‘Michael Moore did the Bowling for Columbine and the anti-Iraq war movie and the Cuba’s perfect healthcare movie….’)?”

I had written ROGER Moore. As I told Jessica, I did indeed mean Michael Moore. As far as I know, James Bond has nothing political to say about guns or health care.

I think my mistake ranks right up there with the time my friend mentioned in a sermon about the famous 1804 duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. Unfortunately, or fortunately for those of us who wanted a good laugh, my friend said "Raymond Burr"--the actor who portrayed "Perry Mason" and "Ironside."

Management regrets the error.

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

1. Here’s how I see the Final Four: Villanova defeats North Carolina and Michigan State defeats Connecticut—both upsets. Next, I see Villanova upsetting Michigan State.

2. Saw a cleaned up version of Witness last night. Peter Weir’s 1985 tale holds up well. Harrison Ford is less like Indiana Jones in this movie—a nice change.

3. Most startling headline of the week came from the Dallas Morning News: “Romania May Allow Consensual Incest.” The law would apply to adults only, as if that would make the world community feel better.

4. I am pleased to have made it through Wednesday without receiving the Conficker computer virus, at least I hope that I have not.

5. Is it me, or is Queen Elizabeth really starting to look her age?

Have a great weekend!

Friday, March 27, 2009

It’s Friday, But Sunday’s Coming

Donald Miller, in Blue Like Jazz, tells of ministering to a university in Oregon. Each year the university shut down on a particular weekend to allow the students time to celebrate a festival in which they got drunk and high, and participated in other activities that were unseemly. He and his friends decided to advertise a confession booth on campus, but here was the catch. It was a confession booth where the Christians confessed THEIR sins to the students who came in. The spiritual leaders would say things such as, "We confess the sin of hypocrisy. We confess that we have been unconcerned about people's physical needs. We apologize for the actions of Christians who have severely mistreated people in past events such as the Crusades." And on it went. Ultimately, a number of seekers made their way in to hear these confessions. Their campus ministry attracted the interest of a number of students.

In his book Unchristian, David Kinnaman reveals that some of the major corporations in America are now intentionally advertising their imperfections. They offer their customers an unvarnished view of their products.

Last year, Wired, a magazine that discusses trends in technology, featured an article with the headline “Get Naked and… Rule the World.” The story was not about physical nudity; rather, it concerned smart companies who are growing because, among other things, they are admitting to their failures. This trend in vulnerability is called radical transparency. It is sweeping board rooms across the nation. What Business is discovering is authenticity sells. Transparency wins customers.

The book Unchristian reveals that a number of people in our culture are looking for Christians who are transparent and authentic. David Kinnaman spent a great amount of time quantifying his research. He found that the unchurched, especially those who are young, are turned off by the Christians whom they perceive to be “holier-than-thou.” These unchurched folks are not looking to haughty Christians, but they are looking to humble Christians. They are attracted to those Christians who understand that they have been redeemed by Christ and who now wish to serve a broken world in Jesus’ name.

I think Paul lists in Philippians three his worst sins. He basically confesses that, before he knew Jesus, he was arrogant, he was a legalist, and he was a terrorist. How would you like to admit that?

Paul had this luxury because of one thing—the power of the cross. Paul gave all to Jesus, including his sins. Now those sins were at Jesus’ disposal for Jesus’ use. And, boy, how Jesus could use them. Nothing provides hope to the hopeless like One who can redeem life’s worse moments. When we love people as Jesus did, and let them see us as we truly are, we have a better chance of connecting with their hearts.

No Respect for the Old Man

Last week, my wife found, packed away, a notebook containing photographs and articles describing my participation in high school sports during my senior year. Evidently, it had been stored for 30 years. I do not recall ever taking a look at it. I do not even remember who compiled it for me.

I knew the day had long gone when my two oldest daughters would have wanted to celebrate my exploits. However, I still had two young children. So, last Saturday afternoon, when I was home alone with Timothy and Annie, I decided to pull out the old scrapbook and allow them to relive with me my last year in high school.

With joy, pride, and solemnity, I convened our session in the living room. I sat on the sofa and put Timothy (age 6) on one side, and Annie (age 7) on the other. I opened up the scrapbook and began thumbing through the 8 x 10 photographs that had evidently been given to us by our hometown newspaper, The Winnsboro News.

It took four photographs for Timothy to make a comment. "Daddy, do we have to look at this?"

Me: "Yes son, this will be exciting for you. Look, here's daddy throwing a pass. [I call their attention to more photographs, beginning with number five.] Here’s daddy handing the ball off. Here’s daddy running with the ball. Here's daddy fumbling the ball [quickly I turned the page], and here's daddy scoring a touchdown."

Annie: "What is on that last page? I did not get to see it."

Me: "It was not very important, sweetheart. Look. You can see part of the crowd here. They're cheering for me."

Timothy [closing his eyes, lying down on the sofa, his face pointing the opposite direction of me]: "This is so boring!"

Me [gently lifting Timothy and attempting to call his attention to my scrapbook] : "No, this is exciting. These are the days of my youth."

Annie: "I like looking at this daddy." (I see a brand-new car in this girl's future. Hurry up and get here, age 16, so I can reward this precious child of God.)

Timothy: “Can we eat supper?"

Me: "No son, it's only 4:30. We just had a snack."

Timothy: "But I'm hungry."

Me [ignoring my rude son]: "Look. Here we are playing Hughes Springs."
Timothy [closing his eyes, lying down on the sofa, his face wanted the opposite direction of me]: "This is so BORING!"

Me [gamely attempting to ignore him]: "Here is where we were playing Terrell...”
I finally knew it was time to surrender when even Annie said, "Daddy, how much longer is this going to take?" As a parent, you have an opportunity when your children are young to enjoy them as they look at you as a hero. They want to admire you and proclaim your name is great. As of Saturday afternoon, I knew my window of opportunity had closed. However, one of the advantages of being a parent is you can always have the last laugh. In a few weeks, Timothy will be playing T-ball. I cannot wait. That first game, when he is up to bat, I am going to yell out, "This is so BORING!"

Book Review

This week I finished the book Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer. It was written by Fred Kaplan and was published last year. Kaplan served for many years as a professor of English at Queens College and at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He is also a past winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize.

Much has been published through the years on Abraham Lincoln, especially in the last year as the world has anticipated the 200th anniversary of his birth. What makes Kaplan's book unique is that his focus is on Lincoln the writer. Kaplan, who has also written biographies on Mark Twain, Gore Vidal, Charles Dickens, and others, probes deeply into Lincoln's life and how it impacted him as a writer. Kaplan joins Lincoln with Thomas Jefferson as our finest literary presidents. I do not disagree.

My favorite section was when Kaplan describes Lincoln writing his first inaugural address. Although, Lincoln typically did most of his own writing, his soon-to-be secretary of state, William Seward, contributed a paragraph that Lincoln found meaningful. Lincoln then rewrote it in his own words, which are what we remember today. Let me share with you what Seward wrote, and then what Lincoln wrote.

Seward: "The mystic chords which proceeding from so many battlefields and so many patriot graves pass through all the hearts and all the hearths in this broad continent of ours will yet again harmonize in their ancient music when breathed upon by the guardian angel of the nation."

Now, observe how Lincoln rewrites this: "The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living hearth and hearth-stone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the course of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."

Sheer genius! As Kaplan wrote, "The changes transformed the adequate to the brilliant.” I never cease to be amazed at how such a gifted man as Lincoln could live virtually his entire life without his gifts being fully recognized.

Video Review

Last week I shared with you about the book and movie The Railway Children. This week I have to recommend the movie to you. I finished showing the 2000 version to my Bible class at ETCA. It originally aired on Masterpiece Theatre on PBS.

This is a movie that will be enjoyed by your entire family. As I told you last week, when I show this movie to my college or high school classes, I always get groans when I shut it down for discussion. The kids want to see more. And why not?

The acting is the finest. The movie is clean, so your little children can watch it. The story contains adventure, tragedy, suspense, and ultimately, redemption. Your heartstrings are tugged and you leave your living room feeling satisfied.

I show this movie to my students because I think it embodies much of Luke's description of Jesus. You have a concern for the poor. You have grace demonstrated by those with great riches. If you show this movie to your children or grandchildren, I think they can find many more biblical themes to discuss.

I actually owe my middle daughter, Abby, credit for discovering this movie. She found it at the Abilene Public Library book sale a few years ago. I think she had read the book when we were homeschooling her. However, the video we purchased, once belonged to the Abilene Public Library. My point is, perhaps your local library has a copy. If not, you can purchase it online at websites such as Amazon.

Enjoy.

Boredom Alley

Another book that I finished this week was Einstein His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this book. Isaacson is an excellent writer who has also written on other subjects such as Benjamin Franklin.

I am particularly indebted to this book because it revealed to me how spiritual Einstein was. I had always heard his famous God and dice quote; however, I did not know how truly spiritual the man was. He was not a Christian and many would say he was not religious. He was spiritual, though, and his spirituality played a role in much of his life and scientific pursuits.

On the last page of his biography, Isaacson provides a quote demonstrating this worldview of Einstein. "A spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe -- a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which, we with our modest powers, must feel humble. In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort."

Einstein, contrary to most people, was not inspired by the supernatural. It was the order and consistency of the cosmos that inspired Einstein. Indeed, as I have written before, it was this consistency that he saw in the universe that frustrated him with quantum theory.

I never knew the degree to which Einstein strove to formulate a theory that would unify both relativity and quantum mechanics. He spent decades pursuing this goal. It was his great white whale. He died not succeeding.

Although Einstein did not believe in a God who desired to be known by people, he did see a divine design in the universe that regulated its laws and determined the way the universe worked.

I think Einstein was on to something. While I see some wholesome aspects to quantum mechanics (and I am a novice and I reserve the right to change), I agree with Einstein in seeing quantum theory as expressing an extreme view of defining reality in terms of randomness and uncertainty. Einstein remained convinced that an objective reality existed, whether or not we could observe it.

To summarize in my own words, an emphasis on random chance really bothered Einstein. Frankly, it bothers me to.

I am new at this, and I reserve the right to grow. Nevertheless, I find it fascinating that I have occasionally read that the fall of morality in the 20th century is related in some way to Einstein's theory of relativity. Einstein's theory certainly helped create the environment, which ushered in quantum theory, but I see quantum theory and quantum mechanics contributing much more to a worldview that brought us to this point today.

This is a blog and not a journal article or paper, so what I am about to say needs to be thought out more. Perhaps you can enlighten me on this.

I speculate that in the Western world from 1000 AD, more or less, through the mid-1800s, science was primarily driven by a view that God was creator, he was involved in this world, and that the world acted according to the universal laws he set. The pinnacle of this worldview was Newtonian physics. Theologically, this can be summed up with this idea – God and/or his work is here.

In the mid-1800s, science began taking a turn in the opposite direction. Certainly Charles Darwin was a major player in this effort. Suddenly, God appeared less involved in the creation. Indeed, some grabbed a toehold in Western culture by propagating the view, God did not exist and the world, as we know it, arrived by random chance. In the early 20th century, this view was emphasized even more with the arrival of quantum physics-- a scientific discipline that found random chance intrinsic in the very core of its teaching. Theologically, this view can be summed up with this question – Where is God?

One thing I would like to do some day is spend some time in study on the history of civilization. I would like to investigate whether or not there is a correlation to moral behavior and a culture’s perceived proximity to God. For I do believe there is a correlation over the past thousand years between public morality and the view of scientists regarding God's presence. The greater the immanence of God—the more order and morality of a culture. The more distant the presence of God—the more chaos, morally speaking, within the culture.

I believe that quantum theory was one of many factors that contributed to the decade of the sixties. It was not the only factor, but it helped lay the foundational groundwork within the intelligentsia to allow a decade like the sixties to occur.

Ideas have consequences.

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

1. I saw the first trailer this week for the new movie Where the Wild Things Are. It comes out this fall, I believe. Looks good. The thing I am most proud of is the song playing in the background. It was a cover of the alternative rock band, Arcade Fire’s, “Wake Up.” I latched onto this song two years ago and played it for family and friends. My oldest girls looked at me like I had two heads. If this song sticks to the trailer, it's going to be cool to be ahead of the teenage curve.

2. If the University of Kentucky fires their Mens’ basketball coach, Billy Gillespie, after only two years, then they are going to get what they deserve. Gillespie grew up in a small town in Texas—Graford. He has a tremendous coaching record turning around programs at both UTEP and Texas A&M. To give him only two years at Kentucky is insane.

3. Last week's Time magazine had a review of Dambisa Moyo’s new book Dead Aid. I think it would be an interesting read. Moyo is a Zambian-born, Harvard and Oxford educated economist who says that -- Bono aside -- the $1 trillion that the U. S. has poured into Africa has not helped. All of this aid has played into the hands of the corrupt governments. Best quote -- "The notion that aid can alleviate systematic poverty... is a myth." Moyo argues that smaller loans to more individuals, particularly those who are creating small businesses, ultimately do more good.

4. Sunday night I begin a study of the book of Philemon. I think it will be interesting. Will the people who are in my audience find it to be so?

5. I still miss Johnny Cash.

Have a great weekend!

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!