I've been listening to books on tape lately borrowed from my local library. My current one is "Cheaper By the Dozen" by Frank Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, 2 of the 12 children in this family. The book was published in 1948 and takes place in the 1920's.

It is a fantastic book. It is far better than any of the movies. (But I haven't seen the play so I can't comment on that.)

The main character is really the Dad. He's the star of his family, and of the book. He was a "motion study specialist" who was a consultant to factories and companies about how to be more efficient. He applied those skills to his running a household with 12 children. It is a hilarious book, full of good ideas by the way.

I ran across this gem today. After teaching a national typewriter company how to make the world's fastest typest through photographing the typest and eliminating wasted motion he decided that he could teach even children to "touch type". So he brought home a white typwriter.

We wanted to know why it was white, since all typewriters were black.
"Because," Dad said, "it photographs better. And besides for some reason people WANT to type on a white typewriter. Don't ask me why. It's psychology."

Somebody at Apple owes the heirs of Daddy Gilbreth some money.

While listening to my "Meet The Press" podcast I heard the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, say this:

"I don't think that anyone can say when human life begins."

Based on that logic Pelosi can't tell us whether or not her human life has begun, or when it will begin. The mind begins to boggle.

Number 1:

“You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.” - Exodus 20:17

This is the tenth commandment God delivered to Moses. It gets lost in the mix, doesn't it? For many of us, if we pay attention to it at all, we see the part about coveting our neighbor's wife, linking it to the command about adultery. But it's easy to forget the "or anything that is your neighbor's" part. Our neighbor's job, car, house, iPod, playstation, etc . . . Want 'em, want 'em, want 'em. Our culture is soaked in covetousness.

Number 2:

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life . . ." - Matthew 6:25

I break this one all the time. I'm breaking it right now, as a matter of fact.

Lord help me.

The peculiar thing about If Grace is True: Why God Will Save Every Person is that the authors -- Philip Gulley and James Mulholland -- quote the Bible generously in order to buttress their Universalist ideas, but flatly deny so much scripture and orthodox Christian doctrine that they shouldn't even be considered to be on the fringe of Christianity. Quite simply, they're heretics.



I don't know if I've ever read a "Christian" book and then, when finished, labeled the author a heretic, but with these guys it's a no-brainer.

Gulley and Mulholland make a few theological blunders (to put it mildly) and those errors turn out to be a poor foundation on which to build their view of God. For example, Gulley and Mulholland deny the authority of the entirety of Scripture:

If you are unwilling to question the Bible, neither my experiences nor my arguments will carry much weight. (Pg. 49)

Weighing Scripture allows for the possibility that some descriptions of God and his behavior are inaccurate. (Pg. 52)

With regard to biblical authority, Gulley and Mulholland make use of a popular St. Augustine quotation: "There are very many who though not denying the Holy Scriptures, do not believe in endless torments." While using that quotation to bolster their position, they flatly deny entire portions of the Bible that do not coincide with their Universalist ideas. The end result is a couple of writers who do in fact deny Holy Scriptures, while not believing in endless torments.

The authors also argue for a theology based on feelings and experiences, with God "whispering in my ear." (By the way, apparently to avoid confusion, the authors write the book in one voice.)

If all of that isn't enough, Gulley and Mulholland sidestep the necessity of the deity of Christ, and His sole efficacy in salvation:

I believe Jesus had a special relationship with God and an important role in human history, though I'm no longer persuaded this required his divinity. I'm committed to living the way of Jesus, though I no longer insist "there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (Pg. 125)

Finally, the authors deny a host of other Christian dogmas:

When I became convinced that God would save every person, I tried to hold on to traditional Christian formulas -- the trinity, the incarnation, and atonement theology. I wanted to pour this new wine into old wineskins. I quickly realised why Jesus recommended against this: the old wineskins always burst. . . . My mind enlarged, I had to abandon the formulas I'd been taught, had preached, and had defended. (Pg. 126)

I don't think reading the book was a complete waste of my time. Gulley and Mulholland have something to say about paradoxes within Scripture, the love of God, the mercy of God, and the teachings of JESUS. Their conclusions, though, are erroneous and dangerous -- they undermine the faith.

Before I begin, let me state unequivocally two things:

1. This is not a political post

2. Barack Obama is a very smart person.

That being said, if Dan Quayle had said this . . .

George W. is famous for gaffs too (and they make good fodder for late night hosts everywhere). If W. forgot what city he was in, or misremembered how many states there are in the Union, people would have been guffawing for weeks.

The Snopes link above both affirms the "57 state" gaff and gives an entirely reasonable explanation for it, which I'll bottom-line for you: these guys are human. They get tired. They say things that sound dumb. They forget things. Tongues get tied.

But none of them are unintelligent. You don't get to where they've gotten by being dumb.

Peggy Noonan is a very thoughtful columnist (one of my favs), and generally she builds up her arguments subtly. On the subject of abortion, however, you can read in her text the frustration she feels at having witnessed nearly four decades of furrowed-brow parsing of emanations and penumbras.

I remember a statement from her in her book What I Saw At The Revolution that went something like this: "If you saw a brown paper bag on the sidewalk, and you weren't sure if what was in it was alive, would you kick it?"

From her most recent column:

As I watched I thought: How about "Let the baby live"? Don't parse it. Just "Let the baby live."

. . .

You know why they call it birth control? Because it's meant to stop a birth from happening nine months later. We know when life begins. Everyone who ever bought a pack of condoms knows when life begins.

To put it another way, with conception something begins. What do you think it is? A car? A 1948 Buick?

Sorry for the extended outage.

Hopefully some of the performance problems we've had recently have been resolved.

And maybe Blo will post something.

And maybe monkeys will fly out of my . . .

. . . for a little while, in a bit. I'm moving it to another web host that hopefully won't apply a vacuum as bad as this current one does.

I will take it down in an hour or so (give or take).

See you on the other side, blogosphere.

Saw this on Thinking Out Loud. It's funny because, in many places, it's increasingly true.

(Note: this does not reflect my opinion of my church's teaching pastor, who is faithful to preach the gospel to us weekly):

To the members of our church…

After carefully weighing my options as your pastor, I have decided to devote all of this coming season to attending conferences in various places around the world.

During the past few years there has been an exponential increase in the number of such events, symposiums, conferences, etc. that are available to people in vocational ministry, to the point where there is now one each and every week. To be honest, to continue in effective ministry, I can’t afford to miss a single one.

While this means I will no longer be present in the office, I will continue to provide you with weekly video teaching. The largest and fastest-growing churches in the nation are multi-site congregations, and even in the ones where the pastor is actually in the room, it’s been shown that about 85% of the people are watching the screen anyway. As we move forward into the future, we need to recognize that this is the way preaching takes place across North America.

I thank you for your continued support of our church, and on a personal level, I am grateful for any Air Miles of Frequent Flyer Points you wish to donate.

For those wishing more personal contact, remember I can be reached on Facebook, Twitter, and several other social networking sites that haven’t been invented yet, but please remember that due to the high volume of incoming messages, I may not be able to get back to you as promptly as I would like.

Remember, at our church we care about each and every one of you.

Your Pastor.

So Joshua conquered all the land ... he left nothing remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as Yahweh God of Israel had commanded. -- Joshua 10:40

I'm interested in perspectives on why God -- and God's people -- in the Old Testament tended to be so violent. As someone who has grown up in the church it still strikes me as such a stark contrast when compared to JESUS' Gospel of Grace. In the OT God commanded the slaughter of thousands (millions?), and in the New Testament God became incarnate in His Son and almost seemed like a pacifist.

I'm not suggesting that the heretic Marcion was right, and that the God of the Hebrews and JESUS are two separate Gods. I'm just wanting to probe some of God's children out there to get their distinct perspectives on the matter.

"Forgetting God's goodness is part of our fallen DNA."

- Jared

Here's how this one works:

I'm going to say something I've NEVER done as the first comment. Then if you HAVE done it, you answer with something you've never done. Then the next person responds only if they HAVE done the action above, by writing in comments something they have never done.

Strategy suggestion: You should pick something that a lot of other people HAVE done, so that there is a better chance of keeping the meme moving. So if you say, "I have never played saxophone in the rain on a friday", this thing won't get very far. Get it?

OK, So here goes. Enter your own comment only if you HAVE done whatever the most recent comment says, with your own thing you have NEVER done.

I'll go first.

... but I'm not sure about this book's premise.

I posted this a couple of days on my personal blog. Since then I've read about half of this book, and I've got mixed feelings about it so far. But more on that later ...



Most folks, myself included, tend to gravitate toward one theology or way of thinking without really exploring alternative ideas. Sometimes the lack of exploration is because one is so firmly rooted in their way of thinking, and its truthfulness, that they feel (perhaps rightly) that there's simply no reason to waste time reading about different views. Other times, though, it can be simple apathy, laziness, and even arrogance. When I look back on my time on earth, I hope to say that my reasons for not boldly searching out other positions were not arrogance or laziness.

When I was about 16 I walked into a Christian bookstore and bought a copy of a slick new book called The Sign by Robert Van Kampen. The book outlined Van Kampen's Pre-Wrath Rapture theology. After devouring the tome I promptly dropped my Pre-Tribulation beliefs in favor of what I thought was the more logical and scripturally sound Pre-Wrath position. (For the record, I still think the Pre-Wrath position is more logical and scripturally sound than the Pre-Tribulation position.) Much to the chagrin of certain relatives (for example, one of my aunts), I became an outspoken advocate of my new position, defending it against the popular Pre-Tribulation notion whenever I was given a chance.

While I'm not a student of pop-eschatology anymore, I think my initial willingness to abandon my then denominational distinctive (Pre-Tribulation theology) in favor of what I believed was a position more true to Scripture, helped solidify a willingness in my mind to, well, change my mind about theological distinctives. I'm not talking about the essential tenets of the faith, so I move forward, and pray that the Spirit guides me.

Furthermore, I think it's sad that too often someone does something like dismissing Calvinism without having ever listened to a teaching on Calvinism or read a book about the theology of monergism and its various streams. The same can be said for Arminianism.

I said all that to say I'm dipping my toe a bit further into the pool of Christian Universalism with my latest borrowed book (thank the Lord of inter-library loan!): If Grace is True: Why God Will Save Every Person by Philip Gulley and James Mulholland. I'm sure the read will be, at least, interesting.

The day has finally arrived.

Tomorrow morning (Thursday) Jill and I will be driving Andrew to College and helping him get moved in. He's our oldest, just having graduated high school last May.

What a year it's been for our family of six. I can't even begin to explain it all. It's been one of the most intense times of stretching and perseverance we've ever experienced as a family. Tonight we all went out to dinner, and then came home and had a time I'll never forget: a time of giving and receiving affirmation and of praying over Andrew. It was incredible, and sweet, and words were said that I'll never forget. Tonight I thanked God for this difficult, trying, wonderful year, because trials produce perseverance, and perseverance character, and character, hope.

After tomorrow, things will never be quite like they were. My oldest son is leaving our home and going off to college. We'll be re-doing Andrew's room and Blake (our ten year old) is moving into it. For the first time, Andrew will be on his own. He's going to college, and there he will be stretched and tested and will become what he is to become. Please pray for Andrew, if you would, as he embarks on this next phase of life as an adult.

Andrew has what it takes; he's intelligent, fantastically well-read, insightful, talented, and he has a love of learning and appreciation for knowledge and wisdom, for literature, for music, for poetry, for history, among many other subjects. We're so proud of him and we know, hope, and pray that he will thrive in college.

It will be hard to say goodbye tomorrow. I'm not going to sugarcoat this: parenting can be hard. It's the most thrilling, most terrifying thing most of us will ever do. It will lift you up to the clouds, it will drive you to your knees, and sometimes it will have you crying out to God in desperation. Sometimes it will break your heart.

I wouldn't trade one second of it.

Well done, Andrew. Now on to the next stage in your journey!

Grace (5): Why do I always have to do what you say?

Dada: 'Cause I'm the dad, that's why.

Grace: You're not just my dad, you're my brother.

Dada: I'm not your brother.

Grace: You're my brother in Christ.

(When I was able to stop laughing, I complimented her on her theology. And then reminded her that she still had to do what I say, even if I am her brother in Christ.)

ChurchRelevance combed through a Carlos Whitaker survey on people's gripes about worship leaders and compiled the Top Ten Worship Leader Pet Peeves.

1. Asking the Congregation to do Something (21 responses)
>> Makes us shake hands with the people around us.
>> When a worship leader tells you to lift up your hands, it takes a meaningful personal action and turns it into a obligatory command.
>> Talks like they’re at a high school pep rally, “Let me hear ya!”
>> Asks how everyone is doing. We’re not at a concert, so we’re not going to scream.
>> Tells you what to do and how to worship… to the point where it makes you feel guilty if you don’t conform yourself to her/his understanding of what worship is.
>> I hate it when worship leaders script the worship too much by telling people what to do. I’ve had worship leaders completely distract me from God when they start telling me what to do.

2. Mini-Sermons & Talking (20 responses)
>> Talks between every song.
>> I am distracted when worship leaders start talking about anything that is not directions on what we are about to do.
>> When they repeat the same catch-phrases every week.
>> Breathy speaking between songs.
>> Sermonettes are annoying if too long or common
>> You can tell a mile away when a worship leader is “sharing” because he feels obligated to. It’s always a cheesy or over emotional blurb. When God’s really laid something on a worship leader’s heart, it’s cool. But even then, say it in less than 45 seconds! Don’t meander on for 3 minutes.

3. Not Focusing on God (17 responses)
>> Forget that the audience of worship is God and start making it a performance for those sitting in front of them.
>> When they perform rather than worship themselves.
>> Showing zero emotion, standing still, focusing too much on perfection.
>> Worship leaders who seem really wrapped up in being “cool.”
>> Sometimes you can tell they’re being fake and/or showy.
>> I hate it when the music guy/gal asks the crowd to praise God but soaks it up like they are Bono and the crowd is really praising them.
>> I hate it when worship leaders don’t lead people.

4. Unprofessional (14 responses)
>> Starts service late.
>> Typos on the screen.
>> Talks to the praise band while leading worship instead of using hand signals to tell them what to do.
>> When the leader changes the key of the song and does not tell the rest of the team.
>> Goes out of order or adds another song in the middle of the set
>> When the leader and/or band member turns away from the people to mess with their gear.
>> When the production team on stage are laughing, joking, and gesturing behind the worship leader to the soundboard guys in the transition between worship and the message.

5. Singing (11 responses)
>> Can’t sing very well.
>> Doesn’t know the lyrics.
>> When worship leaders run words together.
>> When they put their own little spin on simple, common words.
>> Repeating the same line in a song 3.6 million times. There’s the Spirit’s leading and then there’s just plain losing people.
>> Our old church’s leader would sing so high that no one could sing along. She provided no harmony for us to pick up. It was to showcase her own voice.

6. Appearance (9 responses)
>> Sing with their eyes closed.
>> When singers act like they are really bored up there.
>> Wears crotch hugging jeans.
>> Looks or sounds seductive.
>> One of our young worship leaders had a really big hicky on his neck a couple of weeks ago.

7. Prayer (8 responses)
>> Inauthentic prayer – too scripted or so random that it doesn’t make sense, or rushed/dragged out to make the prayer fit the interlude.
>> Prays the words of the songs.
>> When they can’t talk or pray appropriately between songs.

8. Bad Transitions (5 responses)
>> Transitions between songs take long time.
>> Allows uncomfortable dead time between songs.
>> When they pray essentially the same prayer at a transition moment.
>> Using the song name as an introduction/transition - “You know I was thinking about how much God has done for me…it really is ‘Amazing Grace’ isn’t it?”

9. Lifestyle (4 responses)
>> When he’s obviously ungodly during practice and throughout life, but turns into a saint on Sunday morning.
>> I hate to see a person who is suppose to be leading worship acting like a jerk before service and then getting up on stage acting like nothing ever happened.
>> As a Pastor, I hate it when the music guy/gal is lazy apart from their 30 minute set on Sundays.

10. Catering to the Congregation (4 responses)
>> When they hold back because they are obviously conscious of what the congregation and/or pastor will think.
>> I hate it when worship leaders/pastors play to people who think the worship somehow revolves around what they like and what makes them feel good when it has absolutely nothing to do with our preferences or likes.
>> Has to risk being a cheerleader because the people that claim to love God exhibit no sense of joy when singing about Him.

What do you think? Agree, disagree?

I've offered my Tips for Worship Leaders previously at GDC.

It ends today. And begins.

Grace starts kindergarten today and thus ends my 7 year run as a stay-at-home dad. Okay, technically, I'm still a stay-at-home dad. I'm still a dad, and I still work from home. There's still after school hours and summers and what-not. But . . . yeah.

Gonna miss not having a chickadee at home with me. Grace has been my closest buddy for 2 years, and I've really enjoyed having so much daddy time with her since Macy started school, in the same way I enjoyed having Macy for 2 years before Grace was born. Not that I didn't enjoy having both of them together, but you know what I mean (I hope). Daddy-daughter time is special, important.

It's gonna be emotional this morning, for me and for Becky. Prayers appreciated.

Did you get a chance to watch the Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency on CNN tonight? I watched most of it. It was an interesting forum: not a debate, but a series of questions asked of Senators Obama and McCain. Rick Warren moderated the event.

The questions were asked of each candidate independently (meaning, the other candidate was not present at the time and was not aware of the questions being asked until it was his turn). Obama went first, followed by McCain.

My thoughts, without getting specific about who I'm supporting in this election: if anyone is still harboring silly notions of "there's no real difference between the two candidates" after watching this forum, they weren't really watching. There is a clear choice before us.

If you watched it and have any thoughts, please share them with us in the comments thread.

Richard Foster never ceases to amaze me. The more I read him, the more I think he's the most gifted expositor of spiritual truth since C. S. Lewis. I read Foster slowly, because he should be tasted slowly; he should be savored. Like Lewis, his insights are so profound that it's nearly impossible to do a "quick reading," because a quick reading will, no doubt, leave a vast majority of Foster's spiritual treasures untapped.

This is from Prayer:

Without reservation we vow to follow the Father's faintest whisper. In utter devotion and total simplicity we promise to obey the voice of the true Shepherd. . . . I know that all this sounds so frighteningly absolute and final. How can we possibly fulfill such promises? Well, we cannot. The matter of obedience is God's business and not ours. We cannot do a single good act except God first gives us the desire for it and then empowers us to do it. But that is just the point. God is giving you the desire -- you would not be reading these words if the desire was not already bubbling up inside of you. And he will never give the desire to do something that he will not also give the power to obey.

Admittedly, the thought of following His faintest whisper is almost frightening -- and exciting. Because, as JESUS said, knowing Him and the Father is eternal life. And certainly we follow the One we know.

[Cross-posted on The Mind's Eye.]

Not that I don't appreciate the venerable King Jimmy, but this is just a wee bit ridiculous.