Happy Halloween Reformation Day

Some of you may have visited a few of the "Blogs I Read" (links at the right). I can't always recommend Wade Burleson's blog. Despite what I am willing to assume are Wade's best efforts to be gracious while still challenging and confronting serious issues in the SBC, the comment streams after his posts are not always as gracious. In fact, they sometimes derail into mean-spirited, abrasive, and divisive conversations.

But I thought I would point you all in his direction today. I'm all about my kids having fun dressing up as Buzz Lightyear or dancing skeletons. I should be even more about reforming my life.

Books that Challenge

I appreciated Rachel’s thoughts on The Golden Compass yesterday. One thought in particular especially caught my attention. She said, “I hesitate to say that they shouldn't be read by anyone because I think reading things that challenge our beliefs can sometimes be a good thing….”

And my wheels started turning. There have been a handful of books I have read in my life that were completely contrary to my own beliefs and values in various ways. Others were controversial for different reasons (sensitive topics, explicit language, etc). And yet I am still a better person for having read them. They DID challenge me. I had to think. I had to look for underlying assumptions and philosophies. I had to work out practical implications of various ideas and concepts. It was tough to do at times, but it was all good for me.

I’m sure I could think of more, but a few books come to mind immediately:
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Walden Two by B.F. Skinner
Beyond Freedom and Dignity by B.F. Skinner
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

I wonder if any of you all have books like this. What books have you read that were difficult and/or contrary to your beliefs and values – and yet were good for you? Better yet, if possible, I’d love to hear what those books were about and why they were significant to you. If the topic takes off, I’ll come back and provide those descriptions for books on my list, too.

The Golden Compass

(Step 1) Go to Google and search for a movie being released in December this year – “The Golden Compass.” Or click here for a short cut.

(Step 2) Read a few of the reviews and watch some trailers -- like this one or this one. They seem nice. Nicole Kidman is big. The movie may do very well in theaters.

(Step 3) Notice the movie is the first of a trilogy from the books of Philip Pullman. He has been called the male version of J.K. Rowling and has been compared with C.S. Lewis (think Chronicles of Narnia) and J.R.R. Tolkein (think Lord of the Rings). The trilogy has sold over 15 million copies.

(Step 4) Then read this quote from Pullman: “I've been surprised by how little criticism I've got. Harry Potter's been taking all the flak.... Meanwhile, I've been flying under the radar, saying things that are far more subversive than anything poor old Harry has said. My books are about killing God.”

(Step 5) Be careful what you let your kids see this winter.

I don’t know just how big of a deal all of this will be – I haven’t read the book or seen the movie. It only seems right to reserve some judgment until I have more information. But Pullman is an avowed atheist and many are saying his books are a clear attempt to teach anti-Christian beliefs to children. Some are suggesting the movie has purposefully watered down the atheist stuff in order to (1) make money, and (2) encourage the sales of the books, which ARE anti-Christian.

For more information, you might want to check out a few other links:
Snopes
Christianity Today
New York Magazine
Syndey Morning Herald

WWCND?

I have several friends and acquaintances who either hold a political office, will be running for a political office, or have worked for others in political offices. With my sincerest apologies to all of them, I must say that I generally avoid politics like the plague. I vote because I want to be a good citizen. But even that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t like politics and I tend to just ignore 99% of what’s going on in Washington.

“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.” –Ernest Benn

But I’m beginning to take interest in the current Presidential campaigns. And that is thanks to none other than…..

..…Chuck Norris!

He weighs in on Mike Huckabee for President. And I ask you – who wants to ignore Chuck?

It also seems that many other conservative Christian leaders are instead leaning toward supporting Mitt Romney – a Mormon. That’s interesting. And a little weird. An interesting blog thread on that issue can be found here.

That’s it. No point to my post today. Just observations. (And I wonder… Who Steven Segal is endorsing?)

Eager

In one of my classes, we’ve been discussing the “right” way(s) to do “Christian counseling.” It can be incredibly difficult to sort through the various ways in which Christianity and psychology are related as well as the ways in which they ought to be related. If you read my posts last week, you may have gotten a taste of what some of those discussions have been like.

There seems to be an underlying assumption that there is only one right way to do Christian counseling. I may have even promoted this idea, albeit unintentionally. But my sense is that we sometimes worry too much about doing it the “right” way. It is almost as if we think, “If I don’t use the Bible in the right way,… or if I don’t use prayer in the right way, then my client and I aren’t going to find God in counseling. He won’t be able to help us understand and/or solve this problem.”

Yesterday, I came across this description of the prodigal son and his father (Luke 15:11-32). After the son wishes his father dead, takes his father’s money, and wastes a part of his own life, he returns home. “Verse 20 mentions that the father ran to meet his son. In our day, we might not think too much of that. But in ancient cultures, fathers were figures of dignified authority. Fathers waited for their sons to approach them. Fathers rarely walked out to meet their sons, not to mention doing something so undignified as running out to see them. In this story, the father's eagerness to see his son reveals his strong love for his son.”

The thought occurred to me that God might still find us in counseling, even if we aren’t doing it the “right way” and it appears undignified for Him do to so. I am still a proponent of doing good theology and of thinking clearly about the best ways to do Christian counseling. That is incredibly important work. But it is helpful for me to remember that the criterion for finding God isn’t that we are integrating psychology and Christianity correctly. (Check out Deuteronomy 4:29.) And it is helpful to remember that God is eager to meet us.

Milestones

Parker lost his first tooth this weekend. You should have seen my family. We cheered, gave high fives and hugs, and acted like Parker won the lottery. My sister called it a rite of passage. I think Grandma might have cried because her grandson was growing up. Looking back, it was a little surreal. It doesn’t seem like such a big deal now as I write about it. But yesterday, it was a big deal. It was a milestone.

I never used to think much about milestones. I don’t think many people do until they become parents. It is a scientific fact -- your brain gets weird when you become a parent. Consider the evidence. Before you have children, you think about normal things: sports, the weather, how you can save money for buying books and CDs without your spouse finding it and spending it on Sonic drinks. You know, regular stuff.

Then one day you have a baby and you think differently. You forget about sports and the weather and you start keeping track of odd things related to your children: their first poop, their first set of clothes, their first sneeze, their first real foods, their first steps, their first words, their first day of school, their first loose tooth,…. you get the picture. Milestones help us keep track of development.

I got to wondering about spiritual development. Most theologians agree there is a progression of faith. It is not just that we become closer to Jesus. Our faith actually changes as it grows. It looks different over the years. And I got to wondering about milestones in spiritual development. What are the markers that our faith is changing and growing? Here are few items to ponder…

- Your first prayer (other than for salvation)
- Your first answered prayer (I remember mine)
- The first time you read the Bible on your own and God spoke to you through it.
- Learning to tithe.
- The day you realize life--including your own salvation--is not about you.
- The first person you lead to Jesus.

I’m interested in your thoughts. What are the significant milestones to the Christian life? I would love to hear from everyone, but especially from those who in their spiritual journeys have put a few miles on the tires.

Psychology and the Sufficiency of Scripture, part 2

In yesterday’s post, we summarized and discussed 2 of the 3 main positions when trying to address the issue of the sufficiency of Scripture in counseling. You’ll remember that Crabb finds weaknesses in the first 2 positions. Here is the third (and the one Crabb promotes).

Is the Bible a textbook for counseling?

Yes. Every question a counselor needs to ask is answered by both the content of Scripture and its implications.

For Crabb, the ultimate purpose of counseling is to improve relationships (both with God and with others). And he says ‘yes’ the Bible is a textbook for relational living. But he works out the issue of sufficiency carefully.

In a sentence, here is Crabb’s view: Biblical data support doctrinal categories which have implications that comprehensively deal with every relational issue of life. Let’s break that down…

(A) We start with exegesis of the Word. We study it deeply and carefully. But while exegesis is the starting point, it can never be the end in itself.

(B) We take the teachings of these various texts we study and organize them into broad statements of truth. These are doctrinal statements or categories. For example, if you open any textbook on systematic theology, you will find in the table of contents an organization of some doctrinal truths.

(C) Now when we encounter data from nonbiblical sources and when we encounter real-life problems from real people, we view (and explain) them in light of the biblical text and the categories and principles of theology.

(D) Finally, we must work hard to communicate God’s truth to people in ways they can hear and understand it. Crabb suggests that our own lives as counselors and pastors are the best examples or demonstrations of God’s power. We must enter into the life of another person, engage them in deep, profound, and intimate ways. We pour our life into them. And they see God’s truth lived out in us.

“Good exegesis and careful theology enable us to recite God’s truth to others accurately. Insightful reflection about the implications of those truths to real-life questions makes it possible to present truth with relevance. But only living the truth with growing consistency equips us to communicate with power.”

Now we have all three positions. What thoughts/observation/questions do you have?

Psychology and the Sufficiency of Scripture, part 1

A recent class period generated particularly good discussion and several students mentioned afterward how much they enjoyed it. I’ve decided to post a summary of that discussion here for a wider audience. I’m going to encourage my students to come and participate in further dialogue, but would appreciate anyone else’s input as well.

In one of our texts, Larry Crabb addresses the issue of Biblical sufficiency in counseling. At the heart of the debate among Christians is this question: Is the Bible sufficient to tell us everything we need to know about understanding and solving the problems people face in their lives?

Rephrased for counselors, the question might go something like this: Is the Bible a textbook for counseling? Crabb outlines three positions on this question.

(1) No, God never intended to write a comprehensive guide for counseling. Under this position, “Content other than biblical data is permitted to serve as the beginning and end points for thinking through the issues of counseling.” Counselors legitimately can use any data in understanding and solving personal problems as long as they don’t contradict direct teachings of Scripture. One major problem with this position is that the Bible often fails to serve as a foundation for our counseling. Our theories and techniques must only avoid conflict with the Bible. They do not necessarily emerge from the Bible.

Sometimes our churches operate under this position even though they would verbalize something different. Churches that verbally commit to the Bible being sufficient for everything needed in understanding and solving personal problems often openly neglect addressing personal problems. Crabb puts it this way, “The message [in many churches] is clear: The community of God’s people is no place to deal with the real concerns eating away at your lives; we exist to maintain orthodox belief and to promote conforming behavior. Helping you with your personal problems is not the business of the church.”

(2) Yes. It is comprehensively relevant to every legitimate question that life presents. Under this position, if the Bible does not answer a question about life, then the question should not need to be asked. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 seems pretty clear, doesn’t it? Crabb agrees with much of this position, but in the end says, “The problem with this reasoning… is that it is so close to being right.” He offers two reservations about this position.

Reservation #1: If we are looking for direct answers, we might give to the literal meaning of the text a comprehensive relevance that it simply does not have. Imagine we are called to counsel a man struggling with intense urges to cross dress. Since the Bible directly address this issue (in Dueteronomy 22:5) we might assume that this teaching is comprehensively relevant. Nothing else is needed. We would counsel the man, “Don’t do that.” If he asks why he struggles with such urges when most other men don’t, or if he asks what causes such urges, we would advise him that those questions are illegitimate. They aren’t answered in the Bible, so those questions must not matter. Crabb explains, “Under the banner of biblical sufficiency, Christian counselors may ignore crucially important questions by responding only to questions that they can easily answer.”

Reservation #2: When the range of permissible questions is narrowed, our understanding of complicated problems is too simplistic. Imagine this time we are counseling a woman struggling with anorexia. Since the Bible doesn’t directly answer this issue, we turn to issues the Bible does answer. We know that the Bible describes our bodies as the temple of the Holy Spirit. Anorexia may then just be seen as rebellion against her responsibility to care properly for the temple. Again, “why” questions go unanswered and we give shallow answers to complicated problems. “When we limit the questions we are allowed to ask to those the Bible specifically answers, the result will often be a nonthinking and simplistic understanding of life and its problems that fails to drive us to increased dependency in the Lord.”

For Crabb, there must be a third alternative. We’ll be discussing that in class today and I’ll be posting a summary of it here tomorrow.

Meet Craig Smith

Craig is a buddy of mine from OBU – that’s Oklahoma Baptist University for all you Ouachita fans out there. He is the Minister of Youth and Young Singles at First Baptist Church in Hot Springs, AR. They have tolerated his antics there for 7 years and he has a girl in OKC that likely thinks too highly of him. You can check out his blog at Frankie Say Relax.

His bio on the FBC webpage reads as follows:

Craig was unable to be reached for comment on his bio. We were able to reach his grade school principal Mrs. McCormick happily living out her remaining years at The Sunnyside Retirement Center in North Enid, Oklahoma.
"Craig was always such a sweet boy. He was squad leader one year on the school crossing guard, responsible for making sure hot tamales and ginger ale were available. He was always thinking of others that way. He enjoyed watching and playing sports, rooting on his Denver Broncos and OU Sooners, although if you ask me, his fascination with OU is unhealthy. "He went on to Oklahoma Baptist University and gave up a promising career as a lifelong crossing guard for youth ministry. He loves his music too, all types too! From The Ink Spots to Louis Prima, from Tennesee Ernie Ford to Paul McCartney, from the Boomtown Rats to Rich Mullins, from the Kingston Trio to Ray Charles. And he loves him some Jesus, too. He is always telling me to read John 7:37-38 and Genesis 27:11. And he loves working with teenagers. He says that is the greatest joy of his life. See? Such a sweet boy."


(1) What part of your job is most rewarding? What part is most frustrating?

Working with the students here at the church is the most rewarding part. Makes sense, right? I feel like so many of them don’t have anyone in their corner, don’t have an advocate. So I like to stand in that gap. I have also noticed that the longer I stay here, the deeper and richer the friendships become. Most frustrating? The people. If it weren’t for people, ministry would be easy. Sometimes the people you work with on staff can really drag the job down. The parents can be so maddeningly frustrating. And then the typical church junk of people doing or saying things that really cast such a poor light on the Gospel…

(2) What is something else (not related to your job) that you are passionate about?

On a more noble note, I am deeply bothered with poverty and social justice issues. I see it as a huge short-coming and character flaw of the Church that she remains so silent on so many things. So I do my best as a sponsor for multiple children through compassion international and also through Operation Christmas Child and Heifer International.

And from the guilty pleasures file…music and TV. I enjoy all types of music, really an eclectic range (of everything except modern music – it has been corrupted by people who are creating music based on the desires of 13 year old girls…just sickening). Right now I especially love The Beatles, Paul McCartney, jazz, blues, rockabilly, 40’s and 50’s pop and doo wop…at one time I had over 10,000 songs on my ipod. And then I started dating someone. And TV – well I have a few obsessions: 24 (seriously, how could they kill Tony Almeida AND Curtis Manning???) is crazy good. I also LOVE Heroes (how do you kill DL? And they need more Peter and Hiro and less Parkman and Claire). I also own each season of The West Wing, Everybody Loves Raymond, and The Office (both US and UK versions). But I don’t have much time for TV anymore. I also love the OU Sooners and used to love the Denver Broncos until they stank up Conseco Field at Mile High this season against the Chargers.

(3) What is one good book you’ve read lately and what made it so?

Hmmm…as part of the job I feel obligated to read the God stuff and then I enjoy biographies and some fiction. One good book lately? Well, I am not sure how good it was but other than the immense Beatles biog penned by Bob Spitz (a close second) I read through The Qur’an. It was interesting to read in modern English. In parts, especially in the opening prologue, it sounds alarmingly similar to the Bible. But I found it to be really inaccessible and hard to navigate. Plus it really is thick with violent messages about God’s judgment. That book really had me thinking about my holy book, The Bible.

(4) What is something you know now that you wish you would have known when you were younger?

God can still be honored and first in my life even though I listen to the Beatles and read Harry Potter. For a while I was one of those “get rid of all the fun stuff” Christians. I wish I could talk to the 18 year old me. I would say, “Listen, as you get older, the less you realize you know. So, stop being so full of yourself and enjoy being young for a while.”

(5) Describe someone you know personally that most admire, and why?

My late grandfather. He just passed in July. He was pretty straight with people but very kind to his family. He absolutely saved the best of him for us. And he spent all he had on the love of his life, my grandma. A life that spends the very best very richly on your family is the best lived life. He did that. And he was extremely generous to boot.

(6) Describe something that has surprised you lately.

Lately, more and more, I feel the urge to cuss a lot. I am reading my Bible every day and praying more than ever. I am worried about that verse in Matthew 12:34 that says your words are just the overflow of the heart. Although that bit of good news is delivered by Jesus to a brood of vipers called the Pharisees. I do see a lot of Pharisee in me, though. Especially in how I view other believers. I can be overly critical. Basically, it is okay for me to cuss because I know how much I love Jesus. You can’t because I am not so sure where YOU stand with him. I am working on that. So far, nobody has heard one of these excited utterances. And they usually come in fits of frustration. I am getting cranky.

(7) Name one or two questions you are most eager to have answered once you arrive in heaven.

Why couldn’t I come here sooner?
Is Judas here?

I always wondered about these type of questions. By the time you get your answer, the question doesn’t seem to matter anymore.

(8) If you could share any one “life lesson” with a college student today, what would it be?

Spend your life. Pour yourself out. What are you holding anything in reserve for? Use yourself up for the cause of Christ.

The Upper Room

Kinda funny.

Women... part 3

No comments on my last post may mean no interest in the topic. But for the sake of closure, let me offer this last post on gender roles and women in ministry. Here are just a few random and rambling thoughts.

There are a disproportionate number of women in the Psychology and Social Services program at CBC. I am in great need of more men in my classes. Just to illustrate - it’s not uncommon for some of my classes to have 20 women and 3 men in them.

We need solid Christian men to enter this field. We need men who can counsel. We need men who can work in mental health clinics, residential centers, homeless shelters, crisis pregnancy centers, domestic violence programs, adoption agencies, mentoring programs, etc. We need men who can serve as role models for young boys in trouble or in need.

I suspect this isn’t a problem isolated to CBC, however. I suspect that many Christian colleges/universities are similar. Men wanting to serve, minister to, and lead others gravitate towards Bible and ministry degrees. Women wanting to serve, minister to, and lead others feel pressured to avoid Bible and ministry degrees (or at least are not encouraged to pursue them). So they gravitate towards fields that are more open to women like psychology and counseling.

I’m overgeneralizing, but I sense something is amiss.

Far too often, pastors (who are men) find themselves ill-equipped to deal with many problems that people face.

Christian psychologist Larry Crabb offers a more stinging criticism. Here are several quotes from Understanding People.

"[Many] preachers remain safely distant from troubling realities of their people’s lives, shielded by their commitment to exegesis."

"Rather than running to the Scripture with urgent questions raised by real life, perhaps they retreat from people and their questions behind the acceptable barrier of scholarship. The tools of exegesis and the principles of hermeneutics can then become the means of denying the reality of unsolved problems. Real-life remains unexamined and real-life questions remain unanswered while preachers proclaim a lifeless version of the living Word."

"The theological library becomes for many a hideout from life rather than a study from which we emerge equipped with God’s living truth prepared to move into the deep parts of people’s lives."

But many counselors (a growing number of which are women) are not in any better of a situation. They are not encouraged to pursue serious Biblical studies as a foundation for their work. They are not encouraged or trained to teach and counsel authoritatively from Scripture.

So (in a grossly overgeneralized summary)…

We have men ministers who are trained in the Word but don’t know how to effectively address the difficult problems real people are facing in the real world. And we have women counselors who know how to address the difficult problems real people are facing in the real world, but aren't trained in the Word.

I openly acknowledge there are plenty of exceptions to this description. I am speaking of general trends, (not just of CBC, but of the Christian world at large). And I could in fact just be plain wrong in my perceptions.

This has been one of my more scattered posts. But if you can make some sense of my ramblings, I would love to hear your thoughts and observations.

Women... part 2

In a post last week, I stated for the record that I am complementarian in my beliefs about gender roles, not egalitarian. I provided a link for a summary of those issues, but it was a rather lengthy one. Just in case you got tired-head trying to sort it out – here’s the issue in a nutshell (at least as I see it).

Complementarians believe that men and women have different roles to fulfill in the family and in the life of the church. These roles are not inferior to each other; they are complements to each other.

Egalitarians believe that men and women are created equally and have equal rights and responsibilities in the family and the church.

I also mentioned in the post that I have a set of unresolved questions regarding my own position. Rather than listing them for you, I submit a portion of an opinion piece written by an egalitarian in the Associated Baptist Press. (The full article can be found here.) While he and I end up on different sides of this debate, David Gushee clearly articulates several of the issues I struggle with. He respectfully submits the following questions and comments to his complementarian brothers and sisters in Christ:

1. Are you successfully communicating to young men the conviction that a complementarian perspective must elevate rather than diminish the dignity of women, and therefore inculcating a moral commitment on their part to act accordingly?

It has been my experience that a context of male leadership, and steady teaching that reinforces it, can sometimes lead young men to a rather boorish attitude toward the women in their midst. While perhaps church leaders are teaching a highly nuanced complementarian view stripped of classic male chauvinism, this is not always successfully transmitted to the next generation. Many young Christian women, and even some sensitive young men, come to associate the complementarian position with outright sexism and male chauvinism, and therefore reject it. How can you prevent this outcome?

2. Are you absolutely clear on which positions of Christian service (you believe) are barred to women?

Complementarians often seem to lack either consensus or precision related to this question. Is it only the senior pastor position that is banned for women? What about co-pastor or pastoral team arrangements? Is it all ordained positions? All positions in which adult men are taught? All ministerial positions? All paid positions? What about seminary or Christian college professors? In what fields?

Doctrinal precision requires clarity on your part about which positions are barred to women, with clear biblical warrants offered. Otherwise, what often remains is a kind of blanket discouragement for women to think of themselves as ministers, or to pursue ministry positions in the church. What can also occur is a wide variety of approaches, even within the same church, about what the Bible actually teaches concerning the role of women in the church.

3. Once you have determined what positions of Christian service are barred to women, you have therefore also determined which positions are permitted. Are you active in encouraging women to pursue the positions that are permitted?

It is possible to take very different approaches related to encouraging the use of women’s gifts from within versions of the complementarian position. For example, in Catholicism women are barred from the priesthood, but in daily and weekly Catholic life they are otherwise highly visible—in teaching, worship, committee work and local service.

Yet some complementarian settings seem to go out of their way to present an entirely male face to the world, all the way down to the ushers handing out the programs and the men taking up the offering. Is there really biblical warrant for excluding women from these and other roles? Are you aggressively looking for ways to affirm and make use of the gifts of women in all roles not barred by your understanding of Scripture?

4. When women occupy positions of church leadership that parallel those of men, are their positions named equally and are the individuals involved treated equally?

Many larger churches have internships for promising young men and sometimes also promising young women. Consider a church that has a female youth ministry intern and a male one. Are they paid the same? Is one called “youth ministry intern” and the other called “youth assistant”? Are they both actively apprenticed by older leaders? Are they given a similar mix of “ministry-type” and "non-ministry type” duties? Are they treated with similar respect for their contributions? In my experience, this is often not the case, with women interns treated more as office assistants than as ministry peers.

I appreciated the spirit in which Gushee wrote these words. If only we could all be so civil to each other in our discussions.

I’m challenged by these questions. And since I still have a few random thoughts rolling around in my head about this issue and how it relates to Christian higher education, I may have one more post coming.

Meet Terry Kimbrow

Here is the first installment of introductions I’ll be posting periodically. I hesitate to call them interviews – that seems too formal. I simply enjoy getting to know people better and I’d like to share that experience with ya’ll. My only instructions to guests go something like this: “Feel free to answer the questions in any way you see fit. Your answers can be as short or as long as you’d like and you can be as serious or as light-hearted as you’d like.”

Terry Kimbrow is the President of Central Baptist College. Certainly there are others that know him better than I, but my admiration of him has quickly grown in my short time at CBC. He leads CBC with a passion and vision. He has a heart for the students here and goes out of his way to be accessible to faculty, staff, and students alike. It is readily apparent that he loves CBC, loves people, and loves his Lord and the Word.

I haven’t asked him, but I’m guessing he would be willing to answer a few questions if you have any.


(1) What part of your job is most rewarding?

Interaction with the students is highly rewarding though most of my job I find to be fulfilling. I also really enjoy seeing a well thought out plan come together and it is a joy to have some great employees in every area who let me share in that process.

(1b) What part is most frustrating?

Being misunderstood! Like all individuals in positions of leadership, I frequently make decisions and often the details will forever remain unknown and are often confidential. Plus, I deal with an abundance of tasks on a daily basis that no one knows about. Also, the demands of too many people wanting a block of my time can be draining.

(2) What is something else (not related to your job) that you are passionate about?

Teaching the Bible. For the past seven years, I have taught a Bible Study class of mostly young couples at my church, Antioch Baptist. For the past ten year, I have been actively engaged in teacher training and small group ministry equipping for churches, mostly on Saturdays.

On a lighter note, hunting and fishing. This is how I relieve stress. Depending on the season, I will either be on the lake or in the woods during my free time.

(3) What is one good book you’ve read lately and what made it so?

I am reading it now--John Maxwell’s newest book, “Talent is Never Enough.” I was privileged to hear Maxwell speak recently at New Life Church and he made the statement, “If I was a college or university president, I would require every incoming freshman to read my new book.” I thought that sounded like a sales pitch but it worked; I bought the book and have been amazed by the truths in it. The basic premise of the book is that we all know highly intelligent and talented individuals who are not successful. We also know normal, ordinary people with little or no talent who are highly successful. What is the difference? He calls it “Talent plus.” It reminds me of one of the quotes from a hero of mine, the late Dr. Adrian Rogers. He once said, and I will never forget, that “God takes ordinary people and does extraordinary things, through ordinary people, and gets the glory back to Himself.” That quote has echoed in my mind SO many times when I have been tempted to say to myself, “Who are you? You can’t do this!” Great book!

(4) What is something you know now that you wish you would have known when you were younger?

Compound interest.

(5) Describe someone you know personally that most admire, and why?

Former Arkansas Governor and now candidate for US President Mike Huckabee. Why? He stands on his convictions even when it is not popular or politically correct to do so. He knows what he believes and will not back down. I know him to be a man of ethics and a man of God.

(6) Describe something that has surprised you lately.

My impatience and intolerance with people. I am working on it with God’s help.

(7) Name one or two questions you are most eager to have answered once you arrive in heaven.

I don’t think I will have any questions in heaven.

(8) If you could share any one “life lesson” with a college student today, what would it be?

What is it that you love to do? Do it. Don’t be drawn by the world into making and spending money and thereby become a slave to a job that you hate or even just tolerate. Do what you love to do! Follow your passion!

Women...

The issue of women in ministry has recently reared its head in several areas of my little world.

- My alma mater, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, recently removed a professor (who was teaching Hebrew) because she was a woman.

- I’ve been privately considering the possibility of asking one of the ladies in my Sunday School class of young married couples to be a guest teacher for a few weeks.

- CBC had a woman speak in chapel the other day. She was a dynamic speaker. I noticed that she used very little Scripture during her time, however. She has a solid reputation as a woman of faith – an intelligent woman who knows the Word. I couldn’t help but wonder if she purposefully avoided using the Bible so that she wouldn’t appear to be “preaching” in chapel. And while I think they are in the minority, there were several folks around here (faculty and students like) that were uncomfortable with a women speaking in chapel.

- I’ve been following some discussions on other blogs that are dealing with various aspects of women in ministry. One well-known pastor (who has his own radio show) even seems to label “heretic” those who allow women in ministry positions. If you are interested, you can follow some of these discussions here, here, here, here, and here.

I’m not advocating anyone take a particular position. For the record, I hold a complementarian belief on gender roles, not an egalitarian one. (Click here for at least one summary of the issue.) But I hold this position tentatively and I have a whole set of unresolved questions in my mind.

I’ll be sharing some of those questions in another post. In the meantime, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Let’s not use this as a place to argue our theology. Rather, I’m interested in the unresolved questions you have, your observations of how Christians should dialogue and even disagree at times, and your own struggles with this issue.

Arkansas Assimilation

Shanda and I try to raise our boys right. I mean, they should say “please” and “thank you.” They should keep their voices quiet in church and restaurants. They should not hit or kick their friends or each other. They should not eat their boogers.

And they should not call the hogs.

Shanda and I had to leave our boys with some ex-friends of ours for an evening last week while we went to a banquet. Looking back, we should have known better. These people are notorious Razorback fans, but we thought they could control themselves for a few hours. We might as well have asked heroin addicts to leave the syringe alone for a few hours. Impossible. These so-called friends of ours have ruined the boys.

EMAIL #1 from Jenni (our ex-friend)
(In her email, she describes a conversation that took place that night)
Jen: “OK boys, I'm going to teach you how to do something, and then I want you to do this for your Mom & Dad when you get home.”

Parker (5 years old) & Tanner (2): “OK!!!!! What?”

Jen: “I'm going to teach you how to call the Hogs!!!!”

Jen’s son, Ethan (4): “YEAH!”

Tanner: “YEAH!”

Parker: “NO!”

Jen: “Why?”

Parker: “I don't think my Dad will like that!”

Jen: “Sure he will....here's how it goes.....”

Ethan & Jen: “WOOOOO PIG SOOOIE”

Jen’s other son, Reece (1): “Wooo blah blah dada”

Parker covers his ears

Tanner starts shouting “NOOOOOOO!!!”
It was a good effort by me. Wow, are they loyal.


I was proud of my parenting skills. Raise a child in the way he should go and he will not depart from it. Or call the hogs.

Then I got this a few minutes later:

EMAIL #2 (from Shanda, replying to Jen our ex-friend)
I just asked Tanner if Jenni tried to teach him something last night and he immediately gave a big "Wooo Pig Soooie!" (complete with hand motions) followed by "RAZORBACKS!!!!" screamed at the top of his lungs! So Jenni, you get an A+ in Hog indoctrination. (Sorry, Aaron.)


I grieved for a while. But I have come to accept that living in Arkansas is kind of like coming into contact with the Star Trek borg. At some point, you are going to be assimilated, like it or not.

Tanner may be lost. But I’ll keep up the resistance ‘til the end. What else is there to do?

Everything

A student showed me this video on his laptop after class today. Although we were still in the classroom and students were coming and going from different classes, I nearly got choked up watching it.

Then I came back to my office to find it and watch it more closely. I found myself choking up all over again. I’m not an overly sensitive guy (I don’t think). But this skit is powerful.

If it seems a bit slow at the beginning, stick with it. And then tell me what you think.

My Wedgwood Story, part 2

If you followed some of the links from one of my earlier posts, you read about the man who entered my church Wednesday, September 15, 1999 and conducted a seemingly random yet ruthless shooting spree. Once inside the church, he fired over 100 rounds from two different handguns and even exploded a homemade pipe bomb. Seven people were killed, and seven others were wounded before he ended his own life.

Our pastor, Al Meredith, was determined to hold services at church the following Sunday, just 4 days later. I can’t even begin to tell you what was happening to our church during those four days. We all did the best we could to help, support, and love each other whenever and wherever we could – but Bro. Al knew we all needed to be together that Sunday.

In preparation for that Sunday, Bro. Al asked some of the men of the church to come very early in the morning and pray. He encouraged us to walk around to each and every room, praying for everything that would happen that Sunday. So we all began our quiet prayer walks around the church. We prayed for peace and comfort. We prayed for safety. We prayed God would make His presence known. We prayed for guidance and wisdom.

At one point, I began to feel a bit overwhelmed with feelings of anger – most of them directed at the man who had the gall to inflict such pain on MY church. My thoughts began to sound like this….. “Who IS this guy, that he would come into MY church and kill people of MY family?!” [I suppose it was a reaction similar to someone threatening my own wife and kids. Mess with me all you want, but DO NOT mess with my family.] As I was dwelling on the pain my church family was going through and as my anger was growing, I heard God speak to me.

It wasn’t exactly an audible voice. But I very clearly heard God speak to me – quietly, gently, and yet firmly; “No, Aaron. This is MY family.”

That’s it. Those 6 words. They may be confusing to some. But it was immediately clear to me that the Holy Spirit was reminding me of two things. (1) That “my” church was even more God’s family than it was mine. So He knew exactly what I was feeling. (2) That God would not abandon His own family. He would care for us and give us what we needed.

It was startling and I stopped walking right where I was – mostly to process what had just happened, but also to take a quick look around just to make sure no one else heard anything. My anger subsided nearly instantaneously.

I held onto that experience in the days and weeks following. And it has been a comfort to me over the years. I like to share it with others periodically. Doing so reminds me of how God worked in our church during that time. And I hope it is an encouragement to at least a few others along the way.