With all the media attention given to Charlie Sheen lately, I thought this quote by David Kupelian, in his book, How Evil Works, was very insightful:
Human beings were never made to be worshiped … Worship does extremely weird things to human beings … Worship destroys us and drives us mad.
I’m not pointing the finger at Charlie Sheen. All of us are in great danger when we begin to think we are something special. And like Sheen, when we’re drugged up on praise we can grow increasingly egocentric and narcissistic. We worship ourselves, and this is not only sinful–it’s satanic in nature.
Chuck Lawless in his excellent book, Discipled Warriors, compares the pride of Satan and the humility of Jesus from Isa. 14:13-14 and Phil. 2:5-11.
Satan chased after glory and power … Jesus walked away from glory and power
Satan wanted to ascend to a throne … Jesus descended to earth
Satan tried to be God … Jesus became a human
Satan wanted to be master … Jesus became a servant
Satan was cast down for his pride … Jesus was exalted for his humility
James Boice describes the scene this way. ”Satan said, I will go up … up … up and God said, “You will be cast down, down, down into hell.” And Jesus said, “I will go down to the cross.” And God said, “You will be exalted and given the name that is above every other name.”
The truth is that all of us were made to worship. But humans don’t make very good gods. Only God himself can open our eyes to see this truth through the death and resurrection of his Son Jesus. May he do so for all of us – including Charlie Sheen.
Not many movies have spoken to me like The King’s Speech. If you haven’t yet seen it, I highly recommend it–especially if you’re a leader who is often governed by fear. This movie not only made me think, it made me feel … it helped me to enter into my internal world of insecurities and then empowered me to be the man God made me to be, using the voice He’s given me for his glory. Like David, before I die, I long to “serve the purpose of God in [my] own generation” (Acts 13:36).
BTW … the reason why the movie is rated R is for language. But most of the profanity is in one short scene and it didn’t bother me too much because of the context. All in all, I encourage you (especially if you’re a leader) to go see this movie. My wife really loved it too and appreciated Queen Elizabeth’s endearing quality as a strong, supportive wife. Here’s the trailer:
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader will be released in theaters this weekend. Here is a free, 8-page Faith-Based Activity Guide for churches and schools with children and youth especially in mind.
Allie Townsend recently pointed to a study by the English Spelling Society that the Web has not only wholly altered the English language, but has turned us into a culture of misspellers. “The increasing use of variant spellings on the internet has been brought about by people typing at speed in chat rooms and on social networking sites where the general attitude is that there isn’t a need to correct typo’s or conform to spelling rules,” the paper says, meaning our attitude toward grammar has become increasingly lenient. If correct grammar continues on a path to irrelevancy, Townsend argues, children won’t bother to correct themselves, let alone learn it in the first place.
If you’re a parent and your child struggles with spelling, should you care? John Piper says yes as he tenderly speaks from personal experience.
It’s October and that means Halloween is on the horizon. So what are you going to do? As a pastor to families, I know this can be a hot-button issue. But I think it’s a good one for us to wrestle with in a spirit of humility.
I think the big question we need to ask ourselves is, “Where are all the unbelieving families going to be on Halloween night?” Answer: they are going to be out trick-or-treating. According to the National Confectioners Association, 80 percent of adults in America plan to give out candy to trick-or-treaters, and 93 percent of children plan to go trick-or-treating. So here’s the deal. If the rest of the world is out there trick-or-treating, isn’t it our responsibility to be out there as well in a way that does not compromise our faith in Christ? Although I’m aware of its pagan roots, I think it is possible to participate in Halloween without celebrating evil. Indeed, most families think of Halloween as a fun night of just dressing up and getting candy.
This Halloween every family in your neighborhood is coming to your house. Let’s live out the mission of God in our neighborhoods (Matt. 28:18-20). Let’s permit the children to come to us (Mark 10:14). Let’s love our neighbors and let our light shine (Matt. 5:16). Let’s give out the best candy in the neighborhood. And let’s pray for opportunities (Col. 4:2-6). Who knows … Halloween may serve as a little step into the hearts of those who live around us who so desperately need a Savior.
Note: As you know, this year Halloween falls on a Sunday. This is how we’ve handled that issue at our church. We will continue to meet for our regular Sunday night service, but before and after that service we also encourage our people to be lights in their neighborhood.
In this short video Hussein Rashid and Joseph Cumming share their thoughts on the Ground Zero mosque controversy. I found Joseph’s comments to be very helpful in thinking about how Christians should respond. How does loving our neighbor as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:39) impact our view on this? How does Jesus’ command to do unto others as would have them do unto us (Matthew 7:12) impact our view on this?
Michael Wallenmeyer shares his thoughts about a book that could liberate many of us from our slavery to busyness:
Sometimes the busyness I see in my own life and in the lives of others seems more like slavery than anything else. Why are we so darn busy? Why are there no margins in our life? Why does it feel like we can never slow down? What are we teaching our kids based on the fact that we are traveling at the speed of light? What is the cost of this busyness to our families and our spiritual well-being? Should we just accept this frantic pace and learn to deal with it? Or is there something deeper going on in our hearts? Do we need to examine our lifestyle in the light of the gospel? Tim Chester is a sharp theological thinker and a man I respect greatly. He wrote a book that is a must read for Christians today caught up in the rat race,“The Busy Christian’s Guide to Busyness”.
The book is asking us to take a look at our heart to see if we are not so much victims of busyness, but rather to at least contemplate the idea that we are perpetuating this pace of life because of the things we are pursuing. But, the book does not simply stop with a critique of our own ambitions, it points us to biblical truths that can liberate us from this self-imposed slavery. Here are the liberating truths from chapters 7-12…
Chapter 7: I’m busy busy because I need to prove myself-The liberating rest of God
Chapter 8: I’m busy because of other people’s expectations-The liberating fear of God
Chapter 9: I’m busy because otherwise things get out of control-The liberating rule of God
Chapter 10: I’m busy because I prefer being under pressure-The liberating refuge of God
Chapter 11: I’m busy because I need the money-The liberating joy of God
Chapter 12: I’m busy because I want to make the most of my life-The liberating hope of God
Larry Shallenberger on the biggest cultural forces that challenge families today:
1) The crisis of fatherlessness in America: There’s an epidemic of children being raised without dads. When this happens, moms tend to be overworked and chronically exhausted; boys tend to get caught up in violence and crime; and educational performance goes down in boys and girls. The family lowers its goals to survival and connection with God drops off the radar. Every children and youth pastor in America should read two books– Fatherless Generation by Dr. John Sowers and Father Fiction by Donald Miller.
2) Consumerism: My greatest fear about family ministry is we package them as commodities that will fix families and make them happier, more virtuous, and godlier. Those are all fantastic goals. However, I don’t see those families in scripture. What I see, particularly in the book of Genesis, is that God collects a large train-wreck of a family, and, by his mercy, enfolds them into his plan for redemption. God isn’t a product to fix families.
(This excerpt was taken from a recent interview with Tony Kummer)
