April 9, 2008
Be encouraged today by this excerpt from a message by Louie Giglio:
April 8, 2008
Tuesday Travelings ( Because I’m Late for Monday Meanderings)
Posted by ponderanew under Uncategorized[3] Comments
+ Do you have an older teenager or young single adult in your world? You might want to point them to the Boundless Show, a new podcast from the people at Focus on the Family who developed the popular Boundless magazine and webzine. Reviews, interviews, music, issues, culture and more are discussed there. A great resource for encouraging young people in their walk with Christ.
+ The Church of Oprah strikes again with its syncretistic, new age, everybody’s on the same path to fulfillment doctrine. Oprah and her latest guru, Eckhart Tolle, are teaching Tolle’s book in an on-line class. It’s new age, Buddhist-lite, American-individualism discipleship and indoctrination of the worst sort. Listen carefully to the following dialogue with a woman trying to reconcile her Christian beliefs with what Oprah is teaching. Behold heresy! (Note what is opened to us when we elevate what we “feel” over the solid truth of God-revealed doctrine.)
+ And now to another religious force in the world. While it may not be in the headlines every day, Islamic terrorism is still a major force in the world. It is closely tied to the idea of Islamization-the increasing pressure on non-Islamic cultures to adapt to Islamic demands. We have just seen the tip of the iceberg here with things like a college in Michigan (I think) being forced to broadcast Islamic prayer calls from their bell tower and the controversy over a Florida woman who refused to remove her veil for a driver’s license photo. In Europe, the pressure is much more intense. Geert Wilders is a Dutch filmmaker who is anti-Islamist and has received numerous death threats for telling the truth about radical Islamic intentions. His recent movie “Fitna” records the source of jihadist teachings and how some have lived them out-including the 9/11 attacks here in the US. While the 17-minute movie has been removed from many sites under threat, you can still view it here. (Warning: the movie does show some disturbing images of terrorist acts.)
+ The great Baptist pastor Charles Spurgeon was once asked the secret of his power in preaching. His response? ‘My people pray for me.” He knew his dependence on the prayers of the people for God’s Word to come alive in power each week. A pastor reflects on what it means to “Pray for Those Who Preach.” I know that I, too, long to be covered in prayer for preaching (and other things) each week.
April 5, 2008
Bill Keightley died this week.
If you’re not a lifelong University of Kentucky basketball fan, that probably doesn’t faze you. But for the Big Blue nation, this has been a week of unprecedented mourning that culminated in a memorial at the Rupp Arena center court that had the feel of a state funeral attended by thousands.
Why? Mr. Keightley was not a coach or a player for UK. He was the equipment manager. You know, the guy who washes uniforms, issues shoes and socks, makes sure the basketballs are ready for practice, packs bags for away games. So, how in the world does an equipment manager arouse this sort of emotion and rank this sort of send-off?
You could say it was longevity. Bill Keightley left his job as a postman in 1960 and served as UK’s equipment manager for 48 seasons. He worked with 6 coaches-Adolph Rupp, Joe Hall, Eddie Sutton, Rick Pitino, Tubby Smith and Billy Gillispie. He was on the bench for 57% of the games UK has played in its 105 year history-1,113 of them ending in the win column.
Maybe you could say it was the fact that Mr. Keightley was a living connection to the history of UK basketball. He was courtside for the big games that most fans remember. He knew the coaches and the players across the years-many of whom become icons across the state. He transcended generations of fans.
You could say that Mr. Keightley was so beloved because he was in the place the average Big Blue fan longs to be-up close and personal with the ‘Cats. He was an ordinary guy from Lawrenceburg who was in the locker room, at the practices, at all the games - home, away and for all the tournaments, at both Memorial Coliseum & Rupp Arena, and even at Wildcat Lodge. He “bled Blue”, as we say here. He lived for that bouncing ball, and was fond of saying that his favorite team was “Kentucky and whoever is playing Louisville.”
You could say all of that, and still not get to the heart of the outpouring for Bill Keightley. He was mostly loved for the man that he was. Every person who spoke about Mr. Bill mentioned the same sorts of things. He was staunchly committed to his family. He was always joyful and ready for a good day. He greeted people with a smile and hug, with enthusiasm like he hadn’t seen them for years-even if he had seen them the night before!
Bill had an enormous capacity for friendship. Coach Hall said, “I always called him my best friend; but then all of you called him best friend, too.” He treated the farmer from west Kentucky the same way he treated the big contributors and celebrities he often met.
Every coach called him the best recruiter UK has had. Prospective players and their families always spent time with Bill Keightly and walked away knowing they would be loved at UK. Coaches from other sports, like tennis and volleyball, brought their recruits for a visit, too!
Mr. Keightley loved his work-and did it with consistent excellence for half a century. He showed up early, stayed late and did whatever it took to get the job done. Though he had dozens of student trainers on staff, Bill always took it on himself to pack every player’s bag for every road trip, just to make sure everything was there.
He was a wise father figure to trainers, athletes and coaches. Always ready to listen and to give perspective. Jeff Shepard, a former UK player, said, that equipment manager meant that Mr. Keightly “equipped us for life.” He was quick to give unconditional love and encouragement-especially after a tough practice with a scowling coach! Dozens of Bill’s boys showed up at the memorial-still ready to walk through walls for him.
There are lots of lessons we can learn from Bill Keightley: be yourself, love everybody the same, be a good friend, work with excellence, demonstrate loyalty, never forget your roots. But Bill’s best lesson was the theme of his life: be a servant and find a way to make others great. Coach Gillispie said, “There’s never been a greater assist man in the history of anything. He’s been the greatest assist man to all of us.”
In his first year,, Coach Rick Pitino moved Mr. Keightley from the end of the bench to the head of the bench. He sat in the first seat on the bench-right next to the head coach. Pitino said it was where he belonged as the heart of the Kentucky basketball program.
Reminds me of another One who told a story about seats of honor:
Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 14:7-11)
Jesus also said that the “first shall be last…and the last shall be first.” The judgment of heaven tends to reverse the pattern of earth. There’s value in a servant’s heart and action that extends so much further than what we can see.
It was true for Bill Keightley-and it is true for those of us who remain.
March 31, 2008
Bouncing across the web this week…
+ When pain comes to life, it is a prime opportunity to display the sufficient beauty of God’s kindness and strength. Denny and Diana Glusko’s entire world changed one day last May when a car crash left Diana a paraplegic. This front-page article in the Washington Post on Easter Sunday is a beautiful portrait of their faith-and the enduring beauty of faith-drenched marriage. There is this intimate moment: The final amen every night is Denny and Diana’s alone — after he has fed her the last half-dozen or so pills, smoothed her sheets, brushed her hair, spun shut the blinds. After they’ve kissed. He climbs into her wheelchair, parked close to the bed and reclined to its maximum angle. He reaches for the light, pulls his John 3:16 baseball cap over his eyes, and both wait for the blessing of sleep. Their daughter says her parents faith awes her: “They not only wore it easily when life was good but even when life turned on them.” And that makes Jesus so attractive to everybody around them.
+ A daily time with God is essential to the growth of a life that “knows and treasures Jesus above all things.” Justin Taylor makes some interesting observations about the connection between Hearing, Praying and Speaking the Word. David Powlison follows that up with a more extended commentary on that by asking (from a Biblical perspective), Should We Really Call It a Quiet Time? Both are worth a look.
+ Prince Caspian opens in about six weeks! But now comes some hints that Disney may be waffling on producing all seven Narnia books on film. I sure hope not.
+ Baseball season is here! Find your favorite team’s schedule here. Then read this hilarious letter from a Reds fan whose cable service decided to carry Braves’ games instead.
March 28, 2008
It’s been hard to escape the discussion of race in America over the past couple of weeks. First came the tapes of Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s incendiary comments about race and government from the pulpit of his Chicago church. Then, Sen. Barack Obama had to step through minefields of questions about his pastor’s comments and their impact on his presidential campaign. Finally, he addressed the larger issue of race in America with a speech called “A More Perfect Union.” I don’t have anything particular to say about presidential politics or Rev. Wright’s theology or Sen. Obama’s speech. However, I do think this is a significant cultural conversation among citizens of the United States. It is a conversation that we can’t ignore or take a pass on. Why? We are citizens of the United States, too. But first, we are citizens of heaven (Phil.3:21). We have a prior allegiance to King Jesus and His policy for all things: the gospel.
How do you have (or lead) a gospel-soaked conversation about race relations? First, remember the inherent, God-given dignity and value of every human being. Each person on our planet is “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps. 139:14) by their Creator and loved by Him-whether they be black, white, Hispanic, Asian, etc. Every one you see is deserving of respect and love.
Next, walk into any situation with your eyes open to the reality of human depravity and the expansiveness of sin. Yes, there is a lot of hurt and pain caused by racial discrimination. Yes, there are hateful words spat towards other human beings that shouldn’t be in anyone’s vocabulary. Yes, there are paralyzing suspicions between people of different races that make relationships nearly impossible. Yes, there are enough preconceptions and misperceptions of whites by blacks, and of blacks by whites, to go around. Yes, there has been prejudice, separation, segregation, hatred, abuse, neglect, arrogant supremacy and unspeakable injustice in the name of race. All of this is the result of the Fall and life in a broken, screwed-up world. Nobody is exempt; nobody is innocent. Racial struggles are just another word for sin.
Third, be aware of and take ownership of your own story. Nobody can claim objectivity here. We all deal with race out of our own story– the parenting, heritage, people & experiences that filter how we view people of other races. We all have blind spots. Despite our best intentions, we don’t walk in blank. Be honest about that. The person across from you doesn’t, either. Be gracious to hear and respect their story, too-even if it is vastly different than yours. In other words, don’t assume that your story is the whole story-or even the right story.
Above all, remember that our King’s gospel policy is, at its core, about reconciliation: “in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Cor. 5:19) The cross is a place of reconciliation vertically, between God and people, and also horizontally, between one person and another. Our calling is to spread the fullness of this reconciliation.
So listen: “For He Himself [Christ] is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility.” (Eph. 2:13-14). As the old saying goes, “the ground is level at the foot of the cross.” But there’s more: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female [and we could add, there is neither black nor white], for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:2 
In other words, the best model and hope for racial reconciliation is in the church, where sinners of all ethnic backgrounds come together-forgiven, changed and made one by the saving power of Jesus.
If we live that in our church, we can then spread out and share that sort of reconciling love wherever we go. Racial reconciliation will not come by speeches or marches or lawsuits. It will come one grace-soaked relationship at a time-across a school cafeteria table, the fence in neighborhoods or the cubicle at work.
I pray we will be a reconciling church that leads the way to reconciling people of different races to each other through Jesus, and then makes a difference in bringing racial harmony to our society.
March 25, 2008
Christianity Today has announced their 2008 Book awards. The full article is here. These are largely books that will be absent from stores like Lifeway and Family Book Store, which focus primarily on devotional writing. These books will deal with Christian writing in the areas of apologetics/evangelism, Biblical studies, Christianity and culture, Christian living, the church/pastoral leadership, fiction, history/biography, missions/global affairs, spirituality, and theology/ethics.
Check out the reviews and maybe stretch to read something in a genre you’ve never read before. (I’ll be starting withPeterson’s The Jesus Way, Anderson’s Gracism, and Fernando’s The Call to Joy and Pain.)
March 24, 2008
Some things that caught my eye this week…
+ Since we have entered the Easter season (yes, that’s right, it’s not over!), it’s good to be mindful that once again, the so-called “Jesus-tomb” theory has been firmly debunked. Remember the big splash from last Easter, when James Cameron ( director of Titanic) and a lay archaeologist produced a special for the Discovery Channel in which they claimed to have found the tomb of Jesus, which would shake Christian belief to its very foundations? Well, turns out within weeks of that broadcast most real archaeologists weren’t buying. Ben Witherington of Asbury Seminary has links to a final set of reports from a recent conference at Princeton University that was woefully underreported in the mainstream media. (Shocked?) He concludes, “It’s time to roll the stone in front of that tomb theory once and for all, as it has been tried, and found wanting over and over again in various ways.”
+ Interesting commentary over at Slate.com: Happy Crossmas! : Why Easter Stubbornly Resists the Commercialism that Swallowed Christmas. Catch this quote: Even the resurrection, the joyful end of the Easter story, resists domestication as it resists banalization. Unlike Christmas, it also resists a noncommittal response. Even agnostics and atheists who don’t accept Christ’s divinity can accept the general outlines of the Christmas story with little danger to their worldview. But Easter demands a response. It’s hard for a non-Christian believer to say, “Yes, I believe that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified, died, was buried, and rose from the dead.” That’s not something you can believe without some serious ramifications: If you believe that Jesus rose from the dead, this has profound implications for your spiritual and religious life-really, for your whole life. If you believe the story, then you believe that Jesus is God, or at least God’s son. What he says about the world and the way we live in that world then has a real claim on you. Easter is an event that demands a “yes” or a “no.” There is no “whatever.”
+ I have avoided getting involved with the discussion raised by the comments of Rev. Jeremiah Wright and the resulting speech on race in America made by Sen. Barack Obama. I think the “More Perfect Union” speech is worth reading or watching-and then thinking about carefully. Obama casts a compelling vision and frames the discussion with valid observations, though I do think it is important to remember that the speech comes from his context and experience; it is not as objective as the media wants us to believe. (Of course all of us would approach such a speech from out of our own stories, too.) Also, consider that a speech as an act of political courage and a speech as an act of political necessity are not the same thing. African-American pastor Thabiti Anabwile has two interesting posts on this, here and here. Also, check out David Anderson on “Racism vs. Gracism”.
It is important for us to consider race relations honestly, lovingly and Biblically, especially from a gospel perspective. It’s important because we have a responsibility as Christians to express the heart of Christ in our culture. It’s also important because the Lord is bringing more and more African- Americans to Victory, and a multi-ethnic church has a unique opportunity to model a way of relating to each other that can be a sign of hope to the world.
+ “Now it is comparatively easy to be faithful if we do not care about being contemporary, and easy also to be contemporary if we do not bother to be faithful. It is the search for a combination of truth and relevance which is exacting.”-John Stott, Christian Mission in the Modern World, page 43 (HT: Josh Harris) Yes! That quest is exacting, exasperating-and at the core of the adventure of living as Christ-followers in our world.
March 19, 2008
A mid-Holy Week meditation from Walter Wangerin:
It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.” And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.” (Mark 14:1-9)
Woman!
What a blessed contrast you make to the rulers in Jerusalem! They would preserve their power; you came with no power at all. They vaunt themselves; you have-except for one remarkable characteristic-no self at all.
What is your name that I might address my praise to you? I don’t know. Were you someone’s mother? I don’t know. Were you old, bent by years of experience? Were you a prostitute? Or else, praiseworthy for purity and virtue? Were you poor, the ointment an impossible expense for you? Or rich, with easy access to a hundred such flasks? I don’t know. Mark never says. I know nothing about you save this: that you anointed the head of my Lord.
Ah, but that’s enough to know! That deed alone is your identity, your entire being: your self. It memorializes you forever. “What she has done,” says Jesus, “will be told in memory of her.” Woman, now you are that deed, neither more nor less than that deed. I marvel at you. I pray God that I might do-and therefore be-the same.
For what was your gesture? An act of pure love for Jesus particularly. It was an act so completely focused upon the Christ that not a dram of worldly benefit was gained thereby. Nothing could justify this spillage of some three hundred days’ wages, except love alone. The rulers who sought to kill Jesus were motivated by a certain reasonable logic; but your prodigality appears altogether unreasonable-except for reasons of love. The disciples, in fact, were offended by an act that produced nothing, accomplished nothing, fed no poor, served no need. They reproached you as a wastrel.
They were offended by the absurd, an act devoted absolutely to love, to love alone.
But Jesus called it “beautiful.”
Who else anointed our High Priest, as priests should surely be anointed in office? Who else anointed our King, the son of David? Who else anointed the body of our Savior for burial? No one but you. I don’t know that you consciously recognized these offices of the Lord; but love instinctively sees the truth. Love enhances and names in truth. No one else anointed him and by that gesture declared him Messiah, the Christ. The act, therefore, was more than beautiful. It was rare and rich with meaning.
And since the act is all there is of you, since humility has reduced you to this single thing alone and now you are no more nor less than your love for the Lord, you yourself are beautiful and rare and rich with meaning.
You are the beauty of faithful loving.
To those who do not truly love, you will ever be ephemeral or else an offensive. either a shadow or an idiot. To me you are a model. You gave up all; you became nothing at all save love for the Lord; and exactly so are you remembered. Here, “wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world,” is love’s monument.
You, nameless, anonymous, lovely indeed: thank you.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jesus, I love you, I love you!
Cleanse me of anything that is not love for you, even though the world will think me preposterous and my friends-some of whom are your disciples-will not be able to make sense of me. You are all the sense and meaning I need. I love you.
[from Reliving the Passion (Zondervan, 1992), pp.42-44]
March 17, 2008
Feelin’ lucky while wandering across the web…
+ Dean Potter is a wiry 6′5″ and 180 pounds-and is one of the world’s best, most daring climbers. After becoming the first person to free climb both El Capitan and Half Dome in Yosemite, meaning he used only ropes, climbing only his hands and his feetnto climb for a vertical mile. Since he has been working on a new technique combining highlining and BASE-jumping. His latest climb is even terrifying to think about. Interesting quote: “When there’s a death consequence, when you are doing things that if you mess up you die, I like the way it causes my senses to peak. I can see more clearly. You can think much faster. You hear at a different level. Your foot contact on the line is accentuated. Your sense of balance is heightened. I don’t seem to feel that very often meditating.” Now take that and apply it to living our days with eternal urgency, constantly aware that our witness is a life or death matter for the people we encounter. It might caue our spiritual senses to peak, help us see more clearly and hear people at a different level. It might change us.
+ “Drop & give me twenty!” The push-up is the perfect exercise-and a measure of physical fitness. Yikes.
+ A timely and sobering wake-up call about the impact on children who have television sets in their bed rooms. It effects them physically, intellectually-and spiritually.
+ Check out Commission Stories. It’s a way to get up close and personal with our International Mission Board missionaries, to hear and see the stories of reaching people all over the world. It will stir you to pray for unreached peoples in ways you never dreamed.
+ OK-fill out your NCAA bracket here. Here’s hoping that UK-Marquette is not a repeat of the past time (where Dwayne Wade became a star).
March 14, 2008
The madness has begun!
I flipped through channels this afternoon and found college basketball on 5 different channels. How great is that?!?!
I may be a little sleep deprived for the next few weeks, especially for West Coast games– even without Drew at home to watch them with me. But that’s a small sacrifice to watch the greatest sport there is– college basketball, especially in the NCAA tournament!!
Go Blue!! (even though we’re starting over an hour late tonight)
