On Louder than Words

The men's group I attend on Saturday mornings has just started reading Andy Stanley's Louder than Words. Here are my thoughts coming from one quote in chapter 2.

            One quote caught my attention.  It is on page 33: “…when we have not clearly defined what character is, we have a tendency to fill the void with the hollow imitations offered by the popular culture.”

            It’s not just popular culture that is ready to hand out hollow imitations.  The Christian world does, too.  These are the more dangerous ones.  For example, a lot of Christians were trying to live their lives according to WWJD.  I understand the earnestness of these people and the seriousness of the question.  The bracelets were nice and probably made a lot of money for some Chinese factory.  But I think it missed the whole point.  This philosophy would have us face a situation, stop, and then try to figure out what Jesus would do.  It becomes that cartoon of the devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other.  Then we make up our mind and do what we think is right.  The problem is that I don’t think Jesus ever did that.  He wasn’t wearing a WWID bracelet, wondering, when the devil tempted Him, “Hmmm.  What would I do?”  No, what Jesus did in any moment was what He always did.  He lived His life in constant awareness of the Holy Spirit’s direction.  That way, He knew He was in the will of God.  He took in Scripture, prayed about it, and the Holy Spirit brought it to Him.  One of the problems with WWJD is that it isolates the circumstance from the rest of the Christian life.  Then we get concerned that we do the right thing in this instance.  That becomes law and we aren’t under law.  The danger there is that we become overly concerned with the details of life—What school should I go to? What should I do with this money? How much should I give?--instead of maintaining that connection with God.  I believe this is what Jesus modeled for us: proper fellowship with God and others.  I don’t believe He was necessarily an example for situational living.  When I read Scripture, I don’t always see Him in the situations I face. Do you?  True, “He was tempted in all ways, just as we are, but never sinned.”  But no one has ever asked me to supply drinks for a wedding.  Nor did I ever read that Jesus was tempted to look at porn on the internet.  He was tempted to find fulfillment outside of a relationship with God.  I think that verse speaks to the generalities of temptation.  It forces us to see how Jesus lived His life on the whole.  And that leads to what we hear nearly every week (because we need to): Our faith is a relationship, not a religion.  Jesus maintained and sustained that relationship daily.  If this relationship grows, our character grows.

           

News that Must be Told

            I wish money were not such an important part of our daily lives, but it is.  For me, it (the lack thereof, that is) is usually a source of stress.  So, when it is actually a part of something truly amazing, something that can only be explained as the work of the hand of God, I must share it.  A lengthy introduction but necessary to the event.

            Ten weeks ago, Hope Baptist Church started a new series of messages called The Big Journey. It was an explanation of the goals of the church as we ministered to a Big God with our Big Life in a Big World.  Some may say it was just a glorified building fund campaign.  While it did have this element, it gave it context.  We were not just attempting to raise money to erect another church building.  We were building a jumping off campus to reach Las Vegas, the Western U.S. and the world.  In eight years God has used Hope to already do that.  I encourage you to listen to the sermon podcasts during this time.

Here's a link to the church website and to a video about the series.

http://www.hopebaptistchurch.com/

            So, about 6 weeks ago, Pastor Vance set out our financial goals for the campaign.  A consultant told him we could expect pledges for the next three years of about $3,000,000 from a congregation our size.  So, he, and the board, set it at $4,000, 000. Since the former amount was what we could do, we had to do what God could do.  Part of that included a goal of raising an upfront cash offering of $275,000. 

            Four weeks ago we took the offering.  Finally, one week ago, Pastor Vance announced the results.  They were jaw-dropping.  The church pledged $4, 100, 000 for the next three years.  This in the middle of the worst financial time in the last 60 years at least, when our city of Las Vegas is close to double-digit unemployment.  You amy think of this as just getting just enough.  What I like about virtually hitting the goal on the head is that every pledge ends up being necessary.  It would be great if we raised tens of millions, but then the less fortunate would think their offering was not needed.

            Then there is the matter of the cash offering.  As our pastor said, we can pledge based on how we think things will be in a couple of years, but would we give today?  Well, I guess so.  In responding to a goal of a quarter of a million dollars, God blessed us to give over a $1,000,000 in cash.  Again, remember the financial situation.

            I am bragging on Hope Baptist, but it’s also part of my celebration of being part of such a great work of God, right here in the middle of a city that no one associates with the work of God.

Slumdog Millionaire

When I first heard of the movie, it automatically went on the "Not gonna see it" list. After all, why do I want to see a movie about the world of rap? That's what I assumed it was about. That's what the title sounds like. And I know I'm not the only one who felt that way. Then the word of mouth started. They let me know it had nothing to do with inner-city music, although it has plenty of such music in it, and plenty of the inner (and worse) parts of a big city in it, namely Mumbai. Then they said what a great movie it was. I hadn't heard word of mouth like this since "The Sixth Sense."

I went to see it. Let me tell you, you can't spend a better two hours at the theater this year. You will see real parts of a country that are devastatingly poor. The story it tells about two orphans who live there will break your heart. That these two, plus their third musketeer, can still be beautiful, while covered with dirt, sweat, and the worst that humanity produces, is testament to great filmmaking. We can be a pretty impressive species at times. But this is just part of what the director, Danny Boyle, wants to get across, that humanity can shine, while everything around it wants to dim that light.

The director also has a theme of destiny that will keep people talking. Let me give you a hint, without spoiling anything: Arminians might not like Boyle's conclusion. As a Calvinist, I thought it was great. Stepping away from the theology, anyone will enjoy this movie. This movie was destined to be great, and it is darn near perfect.

There is more to say about this movie. Maybe in a later post, after I see it again.

Parenthetically speaking, I don't know who created the trailer for the movie "Revolutionary Road," but said person should be fired.  This looks like the most depressing movie ever.  I turned to the  person  next to me and said, "There's a real pick-me-up." Her husband said, "Feel good movie of the year."  If that trailer is any indication, please try  not to slit your wrists afterwards.