A Better Response to Abortion Begins with a Better Question

January brought us the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and with it, an opportunity to reflect and ask God what he thinks about the current Christian response to abortion. Through the past several decades, we have seen countless articles on the morality of abortion and whether or not it should be legal, but as the president of a non-profit dedicated to helping women face unplanned pregnancies, there is one question I rarely hear asked or addressed: Why? Why do women have abortions?

And this is the question at the root of it all. If we can understand the reason behind abortion, we can pursue many more paths to help women and children—and then legislation will no longer seem like our only way to address this issue.

Say No To Ministry Porn

One of the things I appreciated about last week’s Global Church Advancement conference is that there were no big names, except of course for Ed Stetzer, who warned us against chasing after big names.

Steve Childers, founder and president of GCA, explained why they don’t bring in the big names. He wants to avoid what he calls ministry porn. His definition of porn goes something like this (I wish I could remember the exact wording):

porn – an unrealistic depiction of something that doesn’t exist that robs you of what you already have that’s good and beautiful
I love it. It’s a good definition of porn in general, and it certainly applies to the ministry as well.

10 Ways to Ensure I’ll Never Revisit your Church

1. Offer no easy way to plug in to community.
2. Don’t be welcoming in the parking lot.
3. Don’t acknowledge I’m in the service.
4. Acknowledge me too much.
5. Don’t give much thought or care to your kids ministry.
6. Pass the offering bucket twice.
7. Don’t share the Gospel, or challenge me spiritually.
8. Ask me to give me your email address, then spam me.
9. Visit me at home.
10. Pastor: disappear as soon as you finish preaching.

The Fairy Tale of Gun Control

A lot of fairy tales end with a moral. I guess the moral of my tale is: even writers of ancient fairy tales knew you couldn’t destroy or hide all the weapons of evil in the world. We can try our best, but eventually we all come face to face with choices. Perhaps the best we can do is to educate ourselves and our children about the potential evils and pray that, when we come face to face with these evils, we will choose to leave them untouched.

Applebee’s fires waitress who posted receipt from pastor complaining about auto-tip

An Applebee’s waitress who posted a receipt with a note from a pastor complaining about the automatic gratuity added to the bill on the Internet was fired on Wednesday after the pastor complained to her manager.

Is Foreign Aid Bad for Africa? Shirt Charity Spurs Debate

There are some critics who argue that all foreign aid — whether from individuals or nonprofits or governments — is keeping Africa back. A vast body of research shows that foreign aid has done little to spur economic growth in Africa — and may have actually slowed it down. “The long-term solution is not aid. It may seem cruel that aid should stop, but really it should,” says Rasna Warah, a Kenyan newspaper columnist and editor of the anthology Missionaries, Mercenaries and Misfits, a call to arms against aid. “Africa is the greatest dumping ground on the planet. Everything is dumped here. The sad part is that African governments don’t say no — in fact, they say, ‘Please send us more.’ They’re abdicating responsibility for their own citizens.”

Police not amused by motorcyclist’s freeway marriage proposal

The video shows several hundred motorcyclists slow to a stop and then surround a biker who promptly released a plume of pink smoke, removed his helmet and dropped to one knee to propose to his girlfriend, who had been riding on the back of the bike. She appeared to be shocked by the proposal, but she accepted it.

How Much Do I Need To Know?

The first error is to assume that we only need to know the bare minimum that is necessary for salvation… The second error is to assume that we need to know everything correctly in order to be saved.

From Soldier To Pacifist

I do not mean to offend anyone by sharing my beliefs. I am doing what I feel called to do by the teaching of Jesus. I’m not saying that others in the military, law enforcement or government are not Christians, only that I believe they are wrong in their interpretation of Jesus’ teachings about violence. This is not a salvation issue but a discipleship issue. I must follow my Master wherever He leads. If others feel they can follow Jesus and his teachings and be in the military at the same time, I respect them for it. I don’t want to knock or judge anyone! My hope is that we can unite together around the important things, and help each other to follow our Lord better each day.

You’ve Already Had A Beer With Jesus

Rhett would want that moment to last. There are some people you cannot wait to get away from, and there are others you would want to stretch time for as long as possible. That is how Rhett sings about having a beer with Jesus. He does not entertain any idea about getting drunk with the Lord. Rather, he wants to sip slowly, to make that glass last as long as possible so the visit never ends.

John’s Gospel: Reflections on Chapter 9, Part 3.1 (Born in Time)

You see the problem. If we over-emphasize the sovereignty of God — his ability to make things turn out as he pleases — we cheapen all human courage and goodness… If we over-emphasize free will, then God becomes a mere bystander, a witness of that his Creation produced but in no way to be credited or blamed for the outcome. After all, people made all the choices that really matter.

Nearly 3-in-10 Americans Say God Plays a Role in Outcomes of Sports Events

Americans are less likely to believe that God plays a role in the outcome of sporting events than they are to believe God rewards religious athletes. While only about 3-in-10 (27%) Americans, believe that God plays a role in determining which team wins a sporting event, a majority (53%) believe that God rewards athletes who have faith with good health and success, compared to 42% who disagree.

Man claiming to be pastor leaves waiter note: ‘I give God 10%. Why do you get 18?’

The Reddit user who submitted the image explained in the comments section that the receipt was part of a total bill for a party of 20, which is why the gratuity was automatically added.
“Parties up to eight … may tip whatever they’d like, but larger parties receive an automatic gratuity,” the server wrote. “It’s in the computer, it’s not something I do.”
The server added: “They had no problem with my service, and told me I was great. They just didn’t want to pay when the time came.”

Did Penicillin, Rather Than The Pill, Usher In Age Of Love?

Before penicillin was found to be effective against syphilis during World War II, sex brought with it the risk of syphilis, a disease that can cause blindness, dementia and paralysis.
Penicillin can wipe out syphilis with just one shot. As the antibiotic came into wide use in the 1950s, the number of syphilis cases and syphilis deaths plummeted. And that’s when teen pregnancies and illegitimate births began to rise — long before the invention of the birth control pill.

Want to have more sex? Men, stop helping with the chores

The University of Washington research, published Wednesday in the American Sociological Review, suggests that heterosexual couples have more “sexual encounters” when each partner takes on traditional gender roles.
“Where the male is doing the male tasks and the female is doing the female tasks, those are the couples (who) are having more sex,” UW Associate Professor of Sociology and study co-author Julia Brines said in an interview with the Toronto Star.

Police: Pa. man stopped for beer after breakout

Police say a western Pennsylvania man stopped at a bar and had a beer minutes after he broke out of a police station holding cell after his arrest on an assault charge.

Musings on Missions and Evangelism: Short-Term Missions as Distraction

I wonder if the rise in STMs over the past 20 years is, in some way, connected to our stimulation addiction and desire for the next “spiritual” experience. It is a lot easier to “experience” God and be moved spiritually during a two-week campaign to an exotic place than to commit weekly, for months or years, to serve a hot meal to local homeless people. We might feel righteous when we do door-to-door evangelism in a faraway place (this is one aspect of STMs that I have serious reservations about but that’s for another time), but we don’t “get much” from making weekly visits to the nearby nursing home. We feel blessed to step outside of our circumstances for a few days in order to understand the suffering of others, but what about moving our home from our familiar neighborhoods and incarnating among people unlike ourselves?

When the elders say No

I’ve said it many times but we all need people who can get in our face and say no. The longer a man is in a pastorate the harder that is going to be. The need for us all to realise we are accountable men, to God and to others is absolutely vital.

5 Reasons Some Leaders Finish Poorly

Here are my five observations:

1. They did not trust the very people they developed for succession.
2. They fought over things which were just not that important.
3. Their identities were too connected to their movement.
4. They grew angrier as they grew older.
5. They could not hand over what they helped create.

Real solution to abortion

So let’s raise our voices to end the practice of abortion. But let’s also open our hearts and our homes to start the practice of adoption. Because, as one around that table pointed out, we’ve all been adopted by the one we call Father. And who better to practice adoption than those of us who have already been adopted?

Ending Abortion

The logical response seemingly has to do with supporting pro-life politicians since this has been the approach Christians have taken. However, that really hasn’t worked even when pro-life politicians were the majority power in Congress and held the office of President of the United States (what pro-life legislation did they attempt?).

A Nation of Immigrants

U.S. Immigrant Population Still Growing, While Unauthorized Immigration Slows

Would-be carjackers foiled by mysteries of the stick shift

“They apparently couldn’t start it,” Bean 51, is quoted as saying in a police report. “I had to tell him four different times to push in the clutch, because it’s a standard transmission.”

The Truth About Immigrant Detention Facilities

GEO and the other four private companies with ICE contracts spent more than $20 million on lobbying federal agencies and elected officials between 1999 and 2009. They also expend money to influence state government policy: according to the Sun-Sentinel article, “GEO and its subsidiaries and employees gave more than $3 million to state elections nationwide.” They also make significant campaign contributions, which seems to have been a lucrative strategy: for example, of the thirty-six original cosponsors of Arizona’s controversial SB 1070 immigration bill in 2010—which would have the effect of many more undocumented immigrants being apprehended and detained—thirty accepted donations from GEO, other private detention companies, or the lobbyists they employed.

Jehovah Jireh?

Jehovah Jireh? God will provide? That’s not where I am right now.

But I want to believe and hope and trust. But right now, that is all I can say. That is all I can give. That’s my everything.

I have a long way to go.

I hope it will be enough until faith is completely restored again.

Poll shows a double standard on religious liberty

The findings of a poll published Wednesday (Jan. 23), reveal a “double standard” among a significant portion of evangelicals on the question of religious liberty, said David Kinnaman, president of Barna Group, a California think tank that studies American religion and culture.
While these Christians are particularly concerned that religious freedoms are being eroded in this country, “they also want Judeo-Christians to dominate the culture,” said Kinnamon.

The Church as a Community of Discernment

They met regularly with a diverse group of people to share a meal and ask two questions from their experiences in the community: to whom is God calling me to serve? Who has God brought into my life that is serving me? So much wisdom here. Such a generative practice.

Does Your Job ‘Matter’ Enough?

This means that as you work, you display the image of God, who worked and is still working (John 5:17). You demonstrate God’s desire to bring order out of chaos when you balance a company’s budget or when you organize a kitchen. You demonstrate the Incarnation by moving to an unfamiliar location as a pastor or missionary. You demonstrate God’s desire to create where there is nothing when you fill an empty canvas (even if it’s not with a picture of a cross!).

Library solves digital age puppy potty problem

San Francisco’s animal control agency is relying on donations to solve an unforeseen problem in the digital age — a shortage of newspapers needed for potty training puppies.
It seems digital newspaper subscriptions and smartphones have cut the once abundant supplies of old newsprint.

Pa. man gets drive-thru send-off after funeral

To give him a whopper of a send-off Saturday, the funeral procession stopped at a Burger King where each mourner got a sandwich for the road.
Kime got one last burger too, the York Daily Record reported. It was placed atop his flag-draped coffin at the cemetery.

Texting newsreader walks into canal

A newsreader has been caught on CCTV walking straight into a freezing canal as she texted her boyfriend.

Laura Safe, 27, plunged into the icy water of the canal outside the Mailbox shopping and leisure complex in Birmingham.

LeBron Tackles Fan After Epic Half-Court Shot Worth $75K

Watch the 50-year-old computer technician make the one-in-a-million shot (and then get a bear hug from a million-dollar player) in the video, above.

A Farewell to Gun Memes: “Swords–>Plows” Means Something

You can kill a man with a ploughshare or a pruning hook. So why would it make sense to take your sword and spear and fashion them into scythes? Because of the argument, that is the statement, implicit in the very act. A hammer can kill a man, but it was not made to do so. A gun not designed for hunting purposes is designed to kill a man. It’s not about mere practicality. It’s about symbol. Symbol affects society more than we may realize. Under the surface ours is a culture that celebrates violence, because of the symbols and messages we choose to endorse.

No More Clarity

We want to know the details. God says, “Trust me.”
We want to know where the road of a particular decision leads us. God says, “Trust me.”
We want “clarity” because we are really uncomfortable with the “unknowns” of trusting God. Gods says, “Trust me.”

Faith in Crisis

It would not be too much to suggest that one of the key elements to the Bible’s message is that present dark circumstances need not tyrannise us; there may be a greater purpose of good being worked out in the most difficult of events. It is not easy to recognise, or even remember, that when everything around us is so depressing. But that is the nature of faith: it does not allow the present darkness to disturb the present peace.

John’s Gospel: Reflections on Chapter 9, Part 1 (Why the Pharisees did not believe)

Why would the Pharisees be so obstinate? Well, it’s about power, and reputation, and influence. They were big shots in Jerusalem. This is well evidenced by the fact that the blind man’s family asked for their counsel to explain what had happened, and because they could compel the man’s own synagogue to excommunicate or disfellowship him. In that world, that was serious power.

Pulling Teeth And New Life

So what does that have to do with new life? New teeth cannot come in until the old teeth are gone. It works the same way for those who decide to follow Jesus. He promises new life. He gives purpose to lives with no meaning. He frees us from our addictions. He restores relationships. He brings those who have been separated from God into relationship with their Creator.

A confession: The five real reasons that I blog

Following are the real reasons I am compelled to blog.

1. To think as I could be, not as I am.
2. To step out of my own, tiny experience.
3. To kick to the curb the shrill critic in my head.
4. To be in the act of creation.
5. To make it better for someone else.

Anything After — The Movie Credits App

Ever gone to the movies and wondered, “Is there anything after the credits?” Well, there’s an app for that! Save yourself from missing a bonus scene, waiting for no reason and beating that foot traffic by downloading Anything After.