Today's Pictures. Plus, Stuff I Like

Following are a couple links to stuff I like. Feel free to leave comments at the end...

If you need to dispose of a dead body, the new iPhone can help you find the perfect place. If you were working for the mob, where would you stash your "jobs"?

This mayor of a Utah town spent two years writing articles under a false name to try to make people feel better about his town. Is this okay? When is "spin" appropriate and when is it just lying? Did you know Ben Franklin did something similar?

How far would you go to find a lost wedding ring? Would you go to the city dump? I wonder how many couples have funny stories about lost rings? I once broke my wedding ring in half on a youth missions trip...

Today's Pictures

Three Stages of Pastoral Ministry

i don't remember where i first saw this, but i scribbled it down on a piece of paper when i did. i stumbled upon that piece of paper today. it made me chuckle (things are funny either because they are true, or because they are not; i'll leave it to you to decide which this one is).

There were three phases to Jesus' ministry which closely mirror the three stages most pastors go through at a church:

1. "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord"

2. "By whose authority do you do these things?"

3. "Crucify him!"

Community Service vs. Community Transformation

I love a good Venn diagram. Venn diagrams on napkins are even better. This is a good Venn diagram on a napkin. It's from my friend Peter Horn. You can read what he wrote about it by visiting his blog at: PeterHornOnline.com.

5 More Clues to Being a Super-Star Parent

We all (those of us who are parents) want to be better parents. Part of good parenting is being able to effectively communicate with our children, particulary in moment of correction. Learning to appropriately respond to correction may, for our children, mean the difference between a wise life and a foolish life. How we communicate correction to them will significantly impact their ability to handle correction.

I found these suggestions in this blogpost at DesiringGod.org. It is originally intended for fathers, but the wisdom of these words are good for all parents. Try to consider these good words next time you find yourself needing to effectively communicate with your children:

Don't waste words. Don't add a lot of apologies or unnecessary detail that make you look timid.

Don't threaten.

Be clear about expectations. When you tell someone, especially a child, how to behave or what to do, make sure you both are very clear about what you expect.

Be clear about consequences, particularly if your expectations involve an area with which that child has struggled in the past.

Take clear, decisive action. . . .

Of course, just like your kids, you will fail to do these things sometimes... When you do, admit it and move on!

5 Habits That Keep You From Being Content

Contentment is one of the most important virtues we can cultivate in our lives. Temptation, sin and addiction all spring out of a lack of contentment. When we are not willing to be satisfied by the resources God has provided, we will soon find ourselves chasing after the things He knows we do not need.

A few days ago, I came across a blog which listed five things that are destroying your success. Success is one of those things that everyone defines differently, but I noticed that the five items listed are also five habits that can lead to a discontented life. So I've repurposed the list, and below are five habits that will keep you from being content:

• Constantly criticizing people
• Blaming other people for your failures
• Dreaming about other successful people
• Not taking the extra step to get closer to your goal
• Letting other people make decisions for you

you can read the entire blog post here.

Go And Sin No More...Starting RIGHT NOW!

This weekend we examined the story of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery. Last week, I wrote about what it DOESN'T mean, and Saturday night I tried to talk about what it does mean (although I went much longer than I wanted to and skipped a part I didn't want to skip). You can listen to the sermon here.

This morning I came across this blog that dovetails nicely with the idea of "Go and sin no more!" You can read the entire post here (there are some good illustrations as well as some helpful thoughts), but I've excerpted out some of the really good stuff below:

...I spend a fair amount of time talking to people who are simultaneously feeling convicted of their sins and yet not quite ready to give them up, either. Come to think of it, most of us probably fit into this category in one way or another, even if our sinful indulgences may outwardly appear to be "lesser" somehow than those of, say, a prostitute or a heroin addict.

On the one hand, sinful behavior has brought tremendous suffering into our lives, typically in multiple categories: spiritual, emotional, financial, physical and relational. And yet, it is more often true than not that we are actively maintaining "differing kingdom allegiances" and will try - against all reason and sanity - to maintain a "bridge" of sorts to our destructive, sometimes deadly "pleasures" while keeping one foot in God's kingdom...or so we think

Any willingness on our part to maintain roads, bridges or other safe passages to a preferred lifestyle of sin, folly and rebellion against the living God is the clearest-possible outward sign that we have not (as of yet) fully surrendered our lives to the lordship of Christ.

Battling back against longterm sin does not normally take place in moments of high drama and riveting action. True repentance, it turns out, most often shows up in those unremarkable moments when we choose to take a different route home from work, decline an invitation from an old friend or give up control of our Saturday evening to an accountability partner.

These are really good thoughts, particularly, I like the idea that our battle against sin happens in more in the moment to moment battles of daily life, rather than the emotional/spiritual highs of church camps and worship services. I need to regularly be reminded that Jesus has already purchased my freedom, but He still calls on me to live that freedom out. That happens as I make the right decisions from day to day!

Who's Up For a Good Old Fashioned Stoning?

John 8:1-11 is the story of Jesus, the religious leaders, and the woman caught in adultery. This passage is often considered one of the more "controversial" passages in the New Testament. It's controversial because of the content of the story, as well as because of the questionable nature of it's place in the gospel of John. It's one of those passages about which the footnotes say, "The earliest and manuscripts and many other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53-8:11".

I'm not going to go into detail regarding the textual controversy. If you want to learn more about it, here are some sources:

• This guy thinks Luke actually wrote the story.
• A scholarly approach which affirms the validity of the passage.
• A Christianity Today article that casts some doubt on the passage. (not reflective of my view...)

The other aspect of controversy regarding this passage is the way it is often misinterpreted(some think the reason it wasn't included in the original manuscripts was because some church leaders were concerned about the possibility it might be used to excuse sin). This morning, I'm just jotting down a few thoughts about what this passage DOES NOT teach:

1. It does not teach that sin is okay. Jesus never excused or condoned the woman's sin.

2. It does not teach that the law is obsolete. Jesus never said the law didn't apply to this situation.

3. It does not teach that we should not point out sin. Jesus never condemned the Pharisees for accusing the woman of adultery.

4. It does not teach that sin does not have consequences. Jesus' mercy did not eliminate the relational and familial consequences of the woman's sin.

5. It does not teach that organized religion is bad. I wish I didn't even have to point that one out.

So... what does it teach? I suppose I'll address that another time...

Top Ten Venn Diagrams of All Time?

Platypus = Awesomeness.

Keytar= Awesomeness.

Platypus x Keytar = Infinity Awesomeness.

from: Flowing Data

Is It Okay for God to Punish People for Sin?

I'm listening to an old sermon by Dr. Jim Grier (the most intelligent man I've ever known). He began by reading from Revelation 21:3:

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people."

Then he said this: "the earth was created to be the dwelling place of God."

You need to take just a minute and let that sink in. Think it through. Consider the ramifications.

Immediately, I began to think about how this informs the way we think about so many things. It should affect our view of ecology, it should affect our view of sustainability, and it should affect our view of sin.

Let me illustrate with a story.

There was a man who constructed his dream house. He poured all his resources into the house, and in the end it was a beautiful creation. The house was designed perfectly for the man and his family. Then he went away on a journey.

Before he left, he hired a caretaker for his house. "You are to represent me in this house," he said, "and when I return, there will be a room for you to live with us."

However, when the man returned, he found his house destroyed. The caretaker had abused the house, using it for his own pleasure and desires. He had ignored the instructions of the owner, and he and his friends had rendered the house uninhabitable for the owner and his family.

So the man destroyed the house, and re-created it. He lived there with his family. But he threw the caretaker out, and had him arrested, and prosecuted him to the full extent the law would allow.

Was the owner justified?

Is God justified?

How To Be the Perfect Parent

I don't think there is one "secret formula" for parenting. Every child is different and so every child should be parented differently. However, there are probably some good pieces of wisdom that every parent should consider. I found a list recently at the "Zen Habits" blog (I don't agree with everything I read there, but they do have good stuff about living more simply).

I would place varying degrees of importance on each of these items, but I do think all of them represent positive parenting practices:

1. Teach kids to be self-sufficient.

2. Teach older kids to help with the younger kids.

3. Teach them to solve problems.

4. Show them how to be passionate.

5. Play with them outside, and be active.

6. Don’t overschedule.

7. Don’t dote.

8. Dance.

9. Read with them, and read in front of them.

10. Be inquisitive.

You can read the whole article here.

So, what do you think? Which of these is the best idea? Are there any with which you disagree? What would you add as a "universal" piece of wisdom for parents?