Happy Friday:
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. Ps. 20:7
Idol Alert: David committed adultery with Bathsheba, arranged for the murder of her husband, then lied about his sins to cover them up. In spite of all this, God allowed him to continue as King. By contrast, Solomon (his son) worshipped other gods and lost it all. Idolatry is that dangerous and its consequences that severe. Who – or what – are you worshipping today?
Build on the Rock: Every hurricane (tornado, tsunami, etc.) inflicts massive damage… and yet one or two homes remain standing. Hurricane Michael was no different. Click here to see what I mean. And then ponder what Jesus said in the parable about building on rock not sand (Matthew 7:24-27). BTW, I read an interview with the owner of a home that survived when those of his neighbors did not. He claimed the differing results were easy to explain. He’d built his home to code and they had not. That leads me to ask, “Am I building my home per Christ’s code or not?”
No Secrets: During a recent staff training on ethnic diversity, we watched this five minute video – which I recommend. As an aside, be aware that when you spit in a tube so your DNA can be mapped and you can learn your lineage, you often learn something else. Two weeks ago I was asked for advice when a college student learned that she had cousins that she did not know about. Apparently Grandpa had not been as faithful as everyone assumed.
What’s Not Being Talked About: Occasionally I try to identify what is not being talked about. This week’s nomination is… neighbors. Remember them? Many of us know a lot more about what is going on around the world than we do across the street. I decided to take a small step to fight that, so last night I invited a dozen men from the neighborhood over for burgers. By the way, my quiet, dull suburban neighborhood is a testimony to globalism. Within six houses of me live: Niket, who was born in India; Sinan, who was born in Turkey; and Slavo, who was born in the Ukraine.
Dads, Read This!: Following this week’s sermon on the Fifth Commandment – in which I told a story about saving a voice mail message from my Dad in which he said, “I love you and I’m proud of you,” a man told me this story. “I was at a men’s retreat. The speaker handed out a sheet of paper and said, ‘I want you to take five minutes and think about what you wish your Dad would say to you. Then write it on the sheet of paper and fold it up.’ Sometime later he told us to ‘take out the sheet of paper in which you wrote, I love you and I’m proud of you.’ The speaker knew that is what we’d write. And indeed, it is what every man at that retreat had written.” Dads, set aside what you wish your Dad had said to you. When is the last time you told your kids, “I love you and I’m proud of you.”?
Huxley > Orwell: London journalist, Guy Davies, recently complained that everyone is reading George Orwell’s 1984 when they should be ready Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. I agree. So does Neal Postman. He ends the introduction to his book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, by arguing that Orwell got it wrong, but that Huxley, the author of Brave New World, got it right. Many people believe they were both saying essentially the same thing because both describe rather bleak scenarios of very little freedom. But, as Postman points out, in Orwell’s nightmare people are overcome by an externally imposed oppression.
“But in Huxley’s vision no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think…What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be not one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny ‘failed to take into account man’s almost infinite appetite for distraction.’. In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us. This book is about the possibility that Huxley, not Orwell, was right.”
By the way, ten years ago I preached a sermon on the idol of entertainment, in which I ended with Postman’s quote. If you want to read that sermon, it is here.
Store Up God’s Word: When Jesus was tempted by Satan, he met every assault with a quotation from Deuteronomy. While carrying his cross, he cited Hosea. And as he was dying in agony, his words came from Psalm 22 and 31. The Word incarnate was so saturated with the Word written that it shaped how he faced every challenge. There are other stress management options available – relaxation techniques, positive thinking, b-mod exercises, etc. – but to His way of thinking, they were secondary to meditating on God’s Word.
Quotes Worth Requoting: Have you never tasted the luxury of indulging in hard thoughts against those who have, as you think, injured you? Have you never known what a positive fascination it is to brood over their unkindnesses, and to pry into their malice, and to imagine all sorts of wrong and uncomfortable things about them? It has made you wretched, of course, but it has been a fascinating sort of wretchedness that you could not easily give up. Hannah Whitehall Smith
Keller on Politics – Take Two: Last week I referenced a Christianity Today interview with Tim Keller. That link generated enough positive comments that I am citing a related New York Times editorial, entitled, “How Do Christians Fit Into the Two-Party System? They Don’t.” If you want to read it, you can access it here.
Gratitude: I’m excited to report that the Open Mic Night we hosted to help mobilize a team to launch a multiethnic church in Highwood, drew a lot more people than expected. And the team we sent to India came back jazzed by some of the investments we made. (Our work in NE India is designed to help women who are being trafficked, and in particular, their children).
Closing Prayer: Most kind Jesus, grant me Your grace; Let it dwell in me, work in me, and abide in me to the end. Let Your will be mine, and let my will ever be conformed wholly to Your own. Grant that I may die to all things in this world, and for Your sake love to be despised and unknown. Grant me, above all else, to rest in You. For You are the heart’s true peace, its sole abiding place. In You, the sole, supreme, and eternal Good, I will dwell and take my rest. Amen. Thomas a ‘Kempis