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)