One More Thing

Hi Five Oakers, The weekend's coming and there are a few things I want to share with you.

The Weekend

Not all the stupid things we do are sinful. But behind all the stupid things we do is sin. That's what I keep thinking as I read about the behavior of Joseph and his dad, Jacob, in Genesis 37.

We launch our new series this weekend. I'm still working on the sermon, but I'm pretty sure I'll be talking about stupidity, sin and and God's sovereignty directly or indirectly. So if you've done stupid things you regret or committed sins whose consequences continue to dog your life, you'll be glad to know more about God's sovereignty. He has a plan. He's weaving a story. You have an important part in that story.

FYI

Eric Metaxas on "Learning from Young Atheists: What Turned Them off Christianity"

Phil’s loss of faith coincided with his church’s attempt to ingratiate itself to him instead of challenging him. According to Taunton, Phil’s story “was on the whole typical of the stories we would hear from students across the country.” These kids had attended church but “the mission and message of their churches was vague,” and manifested itself in offering “superficial answers to life’s difficult questions.” The ministers they respected were those “who took the Bible seriously,” not those who sought to entertain them or be their “buddy.”

Vicki Zakrzewski on "An Awesome Way to Make Kids Less Self-Absorbed: Research suggests that experiencing awe helps kids focus less on themselves and more on the world around them"

A recent study that examined the empathy levels of almost 14,000 university students between 1979 and 2009 found that students have become dramatically less empathic over the years, particularly since 2000. In addition, narcissism, which correlates negatively with empathy, is on the rise amongst university-aged students.

One More Thing

“I do not look at myself. I have given up myself. I had to, you know....And that was how everything began." (C.S. Lewis)

One More Thing

Hi Five Oakers, The weekend is coming and there are a few things I want to share with you.

The Weekend

This is our last weekend in Galatians. It's been a great journey. This weekend we're looking at how to keep in step with the Spirit and at Paul's concluding statements. We see him take the pen from his scribe and underline what he wants them to be sure to get from his letter.

FYI

Kelli B. Trujillo interview of Linda Dillow, "What's It Like to Be Married to Me? Linda Dillow believes your marriage can be revolutionized by squaring off with this scary and powerful question"

If we do stop and prayerfully ask God, What is it like to be married to me? and Who do I want to become as a wife?, then we'll have a goal to aim for. This kind of goal is so important. I want to live my marriage by design and not by default. If I'm not aiming at anything, I'm not going to hit anything and I'm not going to move forward.

Thom Rainer on "10 Questions for a Six-Month Spiritual Checkup"

4. Are you faithfully fighting sin in your life? Be honest – have you experienced victory over sin this year? Is there a sin that continually haunts you even though you’ve sought to overcome it? If so, what steps do you still need to take this year? Confess that sin to someone? Seek accountability? Simply repent?

Patrick Lencioni on "The Healthiest Organizations Win"

A healthy organization, as I’ve defined in my book, The Advantage, is one that maintains a cohesive leadership team, establishes clarity about what it stands for, communicates that clarity repetitively, and puts in place processes and systems to reinforce that clarity over time. How do the San Antonio Spurs match up? Well, when I talk to people in the industry and ask them which organization is best across all sports, most of them will pause for just a few seconds before arriving at their answer: the Spurs. What is it that makes this organization so special?

One More Thing

I love this prayer request recorded on a Communication Card from one of our students who attended Challenge:

"That I (and my friends) will keep God at the center of our lives and take what we learned at Challenge with us forever.”

There's something about gathering with a very large group of people for an extended time of community building, teaching and worship. That's what our students experienced at Challenge. It's what I experience at the Summit every year.  Some of the most important spiritual decisions I've made in my life have come in gatherings like these.

I don't think this is accidental. It's how God wired us. If you look at the Old Testament, God called his people to celebrate together at various times in the year for large group times of extended times of community building, teaching and worship. They were called feasts and festivals. They were part of the rhythm of life in Israel.

When was the last time you took an extended period of time with a whole bunch of God's people to celebrate, worship and learn together? Is it part of the rhythm of your life?

One of my sons made a commitment to read his Bible daily at an event like this when he was in junior high and it stuck through the rest of his schooling and into his marriage today. These mountain top experiences make a difference in our kids' lives. Parents, when was the last time you moved heaven and earth to influence your son or daughter to attend something like this?