At a church small group earlier this week, a middle-aged member approached me with a book in her hand. "This was in my mailbox today. Have you heard of it?"
Fortunately I had. "Yes."
"Is it any good?" she asked.
"No," I said solemnly.
She walked over to a trash can and threw it in.
Wow, I thought, that was fast!
When I had time to reflect more on our brief encounter, I was both thankful and sobered. I was thankful that I had previously read up on The Great Controversy by Ellen White and knew it contains heretical teaching. I also had read that the Seventh Day Adventist Church is doing a major campaign to mail millions of copies of this book to American homesthis year. I was thankful to be asked a question to which I knew the answer.
I was also sobered by the trust this woman placed in my judgment. The Holy Spirit gives Christians many different gifts, but we all have responsibility to help each other avoid sin and follow the truth. Which means we all (even "smart" people like me!) need to seek help and counsel from others. Following Jesus was never meant to be a solo sport.
At a church small group meeting on Monday evening, a friend shared how she had gone to a funeral with a coworker. En route to the funeral, they had discussed what song they would like to have sung at their funeral.
What a great question! Our deaths will be a great platform from which to proclaim Jesus to our family and friends. Don't squander your final "sermon" on songs and messages that present a fuzzy God who will let a man into heaven as long as he is kind to his friends, raises civilized kids, and doesn't cheat on his wife.
This is also a great question to use in evangelism. When you ask people, "What song would you like sung at your funeral?" you'll gain insight into what they value in life. They'll probably ask you what song you would pick too--and this will give you an opportunity to share about Jesus.
I posted this question on Facebook a few days ago, and I got a lot of interesting song suggestions. Here are some of them to get your own thoughts going:
So what song have I picked? I am still trying to decide, actually!
I want a song that:
Expresses the gospel clearly: that Jesus, God in the flesh, died for sinners and rose from the dead, and that by trusting in Him and turning from sin we receive forgiveness of sins and a new heart.
Expresses joyful confidence in the promise of the resurrection (that death, for a Christian, is just a shadow)
Doesn't use overly-archaic language
Doesn't have a melody that is overly complex or beyond the vocal range of an average person. (I want my funeral attenders to sing the song, not just a soloist or choir.)
These are a few I am considering (but, all of these have weaknesses too):
A couple years ago several friends came to me separately, excited about a new kind of grocery co-op called Bountiful Baskets. I finally decided to try it once -- and have not missed a delivery since then. Basically you pay a set price for a box or basket full of 6 kinds of fresh vegetables and 6 kinds of fresh fruit. You pay 4 or 5 days ahead of the delivery day, and you never know ahead of time what veggies and fruit they will be (I love being surprised). The types of produce vary with the season of the year, but two things are almost always true: you get fresher produce, and more produce for the money than you would get in a grocery store.
And there was a side benefit: my health improved noticeably with the increased intake of fresh fruit and vegetables. I now buy the maximum number of baskets (3) as often as I can (they only come to my town once every 2 weeks). Besides the "surprise" baskets which are their core "product", Bountiful Baskets also offers a small and changing list of other food items at good prices. For example, I got a great deal on some organic extra virgin coconut oil last time. They also usually sell whole-grain bread at great prices.
Bountiful Baskets is not available nationwide yet. But if they are in your area, I highly encourage you to try it out.
A second way to save on groceries is through PracticalSaver.com. This site has a number of tips and tools for saving on household costs, but their flagship product, which I use, is their weekly newsletter. The newsletter surveys all of the major grocery stores in Arizona for the sales that are really noteworthy (not just over-inflated prices marked down to normal prices), and lists them in compact, easy to read charts. A lot of the "good" prices turn out to be on junk food that I wouldn't feed a pig--but there are still enough sales on items we do use to make the newsletter subscription ($25 a year) worth while. Try a two week subscription for free and see what you think.
John MacArthur is no stranger to controversy. His interviews on Larry King Live and other programs were not marked by soft words. His books The Gospel According to Jesus and Charismatic Chaos had polarizing effects, to say the least. And yet, in his latest book Twelve Unlikely Heroes we see his gentler side.
MacArthur profiles twelve mostly obscure Bible characters, drawing out remarkable insights from passages that seem scanty at first. Enoch, Joseph, Miriam, Gideon, Samson, Jonathan, Jonah, Esther, John the Baptist, James (the brother of Jesus), Onesimus, and Mark are all brought forward from the pages of Scripture in vivid, three-dimensional color. Even seasoned Bible students will have plenty of "Why-didn't-I-ever-see-that-before" moments reading this book.
While the book contains plenty of information, there is very little application. MacArthur doesn't spend as much time exhorting his readers as we would expect from a book with "What He Wants to Do with You" in the subtitle. The basic message of the book seems to be: "God uses imperfect people; He can use you". But who really needs to be told that? I think most of us struggle more with expecting God to use us and being upset when He doesn't. It's the (rare) humble person who would be blessed most by this work; someone who honestly thinks their past failures or present weaknesses are inhibiting God from ministering through their life would find this book a refreshing spring.
Disclaimer: I received this book for free from BookSneeze.com in exchange for writing this review. My review was not required to be positive.
Traditionally our family hasn't done much for birthdays. Once you reach a certain age you start hoping people won't notice when the odometer registers another year. The last really big party in our family was when I turned 10. (And in case you were wondering, that wasn't last year.)
But it's not every year your father becomes a septuagenarian. And besides, a birthday is a good excuse to publicly praise Jesus and thank friends and family who have invested in our lives.
Actually his birthday was celebrated first in India. Yes, you read right. The evangelist-training school he visited earlier this year held special celebrations and prayer times for Dad's birthday. They sent us pictures of the celebration.
For security reasons, this is the only picture I am showing online of the India celebrations.
At home, we had to plan carefully because Dad was suspicious that we would do something to surprise him. On his actual birthday we gave him a "fake" surprise celebration at a church family's home, complete with delicious carrot cake and ice cream and blowing out the candles. Mom's sister and brother came in from out of state. Here's a video from that:
Other friends who couldn't come in person recorded audio greetings for him. Here are a few classics:
One friend even recorded a video for Dad (his first time to make a YouTube).
Then after a few nerve-wracking near-giveaways of the big secret, the real moment of surprise arrived. We were (supposedly) invited to a surprise party on Saturday for our pastor's mother. Unbeknownst to Dad, it was actually a party for him. He walked in and... Mom and I, still in the parking lot, could hear everyone shout "Surprise!!"
This is actually the look on his face at the moment of surprise, not Dad being a ham.
Now the embarrassment is setting in...
My aunt and uncle were still here, and my brother and his wife and daughter came. In fact, a total of 51 people showed up!
Back row: my brother, me, my uncle
Middle: my aunt, Dad, my sister in law, my niece
Front: mom!
Friends also donated nearly $600 to help buy MegaVoice digital audio Bible tools for evangelists in India.
Here's a video of the speaking portion of the party, after the food.
Thank you friends for your labors and time in honoring my dad.
Thank You Father for giving my father another year of life. And thank You for giving us Your Son, so that we might know what life truly is. Amen.
Picking candidates was harder for me this year than any previous primary I've voted in.
Fortunately (?), there is a choice on only three of the 17 offices on my ballot. The other 14 offices have candidates who are running unopposed (at least for the primary).
For US Senate, replacing retiring Jon Kyl, I've selected Clair Van Steenwyk. Jeff Flake is most likely to be the winner (and I will gladly vote for him against Richard Carmona in November), but quite honestly, Wil Cardon and Jeff Flake threw so much mud at each other that I don't trust either one of them. Clair's web site is hokey, but I did like his performance in the PBS debate, and I think he represents my beliefs more precisely than Flake or Cardon.
For CD1, I've selected Gaither Martin over Jonathan Paton. Paton and Martin have done their share of mudslinging too, but I think Paton would be an easier candidate for Ann Kirkpatrick to beat in November. So I'm hoping Gaither Martin pulls through and turns out to be decent.
And for Yavapai County Supervisor, I've selected the incumbent Thomas Thurman. I don't think John McReynolds has enough experience, and finding out that Martin Pangburn is a "bishop" under the umbrella of what appears to be a oneness pentecostal group was enough to turn me off on him.
Feel free to share your own perspective. Voting is a great privilege, which we should use responsibly.
When I first decided to review Douglas Wilson's new book, Father Hunger, I was afraid it might turn out to be a book trying to get me to unearth some hidden feelings of emotional deprivation caused by failures of my father.
It actually turned out be a delightful read, something that perhaps would have been better titled Father Satisfied.
Even the subtitle reveals only half of the story. Wilson not only does a remarkable job explaining "Why God calls men to love and lead their family", he also tells how. It's not just theoretical (although there is plenty of philosophical and Scriptural foundation), there is also practical advice.
It's not a quick read. But not because it's hard to understand (Wilson writes lucidly, with excellent use of analogies to explain complex ideas), but because it's so thought provoking. A few samples:
Simply put, masculinity is the glad assumption of sacrificial responsibility. (pg. 41)
... authority flows to those who take responsibility. Taking responsibility is the foundation of all true authority.... Often a simple reassertion of authority is an attempt to avoid taking responsibility. (200)
Your actual pursuits are a running scoreboard. They reveal what you
actually prize. You do what you want to do. The glory you pursue is
the glory that you think is actually glorious. (104)
In addressing men who avoid marriage for selfish reasons:
Perhaps someone will appeal to the chimerical gift of "singleness". The apostle Paul had the gift of celibacy, which is quite a different thing. The gift of celibacy is not a gift possessed by twenty-nine year old living in his mother's basement, looking at porn. A single man involved in frontier missions, who does not struggle with sexual temptation, has the gift of celibacy. A man with two Xboxes and a trophy from the regional Halo tournament does not. (116)
A quote that caused me to appreciate my own father more:
Gracious fathers lead their sons through the minefield of sin. Indulgent fathers watch their sons wander off into the minefield. Legal fathers chase them there. (185)
In explaining a reason why female pastors have become increasingly common:
...we have come to demand essentially feminine virtues of our ministers but are stuck with this arbitrary line from the Bible that disqualifies the most qualified members of the church--as far as being sweet goes. This creates a demand among evangelicals for some exegetical ingenuity. (124)
Real ministers do need to be tough, and we need to remember that the reputation of ministerial milquetoastery--of ministers as the third sex--is not really all that unfair. Generations of "the nicest young man in the church" have been urged by the church ladies to consider the ministry, and because it was a vocation that by common consent involved no bleeding knuckles and lots of being nice to people, over time the church has come to consider the best candidate for future ministry to be "that sweet boy". (131)
A few small disagreements. Wilson rejects the idea that vaccines cause autism (and that cell phones cause brain cancer) but suggests that maybe putting children in daycare might cause autism. Then there is a particularly puzzling section where he warns about increasing "food weirdness" in our culture, while taking a pot shot at people who don't drink wine:
Just as the grape juice in the Lord's Supper is an anemic but fitting picture of the grape-juice gospel American evangelicals tend to preach, so also the frantic search for bread substitutes says about as loudly as anything that we are really in the market for father substitutes--which are much harder to come by, as it turns out. (151)
In some of his other writings, Douglas Wilson has demonstrated a tendency to ride his horse of logic even when she departs from the
trail of Scripture. (How else could he be a Presbyterian? :)) But this book is excellent, and will be a valuable help to any father, husband, or son looking to found their relationships on the Bible.
For more quotes from the book, click here.
Disclaimer: I received my copy of the book for free from BookSneeze.com in exchange for writing this review. But I was not required to write a positive review.
