This Week In The News - February 28, 2014

photo © 2011 Jon S, Flickr

"This Week In The News" is just a bunch of interesting, entertaining, or otherwise awesome stuff we've found around the internet. Most of the time it will have something to do with the Church, but not necessarily. Also, just because we posted it here doesn't mean we always agree with or endorse everything posted below. We hope you enjoy!

5 Things Christians Should Know About Depression and Anxiety

Depression and anxiety tend to be some of those touchy subjects that are tough to tackle from a Christian perspective. It's not complicated just because the illnesses themselves are so complex, manifesting themselves in myriad ways, but also because perspectives about mental disorders vary greatly throughout the Church.

4 Reasons To Ban Solitary Confinement

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) touched on a controversial topic at its annual annual meeting this month — solitary confinement. University of Pittsburgh law professor Jules Lobel spoke at the conference about his role as lead counsel in a proposed class action lawsuit against Pelican Bay State Prison in California. Lobel is seeking to represent more than 1,000 prisoners there who spent at least a decade in solitary confinement.

Kerry slams N. Korea as 'an evil, evil place'

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday called for global attention on North Korea, denouncing the isolated Asian nation as "an evil, evil place." "North Korea is one of the most closed and cruel places on earth. There's no question about it. There's evil that is taking place there that all of us ought to be deeply and are deeply concerned about," the top US diplomat said.

I'm In It To End It: #EndItMovement

Around the world, there are presently almost 30 million people in slavery—a truly staggering number, quite possibly the largest number of slaves the world has ever known. You can see where they are held right at this Washington Post article.

Egypt’s Miracle AIDS Cure is Probably A Hoax

By hoax, we mean it looks like a complete sham. We don’t know what the Egyptian military is thinking with their latest attempt at making the people of the country, pro-armed forces. According to the military’s leader, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, engineers have created the perfect cure for AIDS and hepatitis C.

Lip Sync Battle With Paul Rudd

Weekly Devotional - Seek The Things That Are Above

If then, you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are above not on things that are on earth. - Colossians 3:1-2

Chapter 3 of Colossians begins a section of encouragements, though not the type of encouragements you see on Hallmark cards. These are encouragements to live in a more Christlike way - an exhortation. Paul is showing us how to become better Christians. He has a big list. But don't miss the first thing he says, "IF THEN, you have been raised with Christ." If you are a Christian, then seek to do these things.

See, it's not that do's and don'ts are necessarily bad. It's that do's and don'ts aren't the starting point of the Christian Faith. We can't hold non-Christians to these standards we can't keep ourselves.

Because here's the thing, I've never once gone an entire day without falling short of those lists. This list includes things like anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk and lying. That's why Paul uses the word, "seek" in verse 1. It's a journey of persistence. One in which we, as Christ-followers, daily seek to put to death those things in the first list while simultaneously trying to emulate the things in the following list. Things like compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. A list which sounds an awful lot like characteristics of Christ.

So be persistent and take heart. This whole "seeking" thing is a process. We're going to mess up. They'll be days where we make more progress, and days where we make less. But it's not like God loves us any less because we haven't gotten very far yet.

Set your minds on Christ. He is the goal. 

This Week In The News... February 20th, 2014

photo © 2011 Jon S, Flickr

Here are some of the more interesting articles around the internet which have caught my eye. Most of them have to do with religion and the church, but won't always.

'Sports Chaplains' Bring The Gospel To Olympic Village

There are probably fewer American fans in Sochi than at previous Winter Games, partly because of concerns about security, and partly because of the time and expense it takes to get to the Russian resort town on the Black Sea. But Americans are represented there, with gusto, by a group of evangelical Christians who call themselves the International Sports Chaplains. Members of the group have been going to the Olympic Games since 1988.

Australian missionary reportedly detained in North Korea

 A 75-year-old Australian missionary who traveled to North Korea as part of a tour group has been detained there, his wife said. John Short had with him some Gospel tracts in Korean "which seem to be at the core of the detention," his wife said in a statement Wednesday.

84-Year-Old Nun Jailed For Breaking Into High-Security Nuclear Facility

An elderly nun who broke into what was supposed to be one of the most carefully guarded nuclear facilities in the United States was sentenced to nearly three years in prison, local media reported.

A faithful death: Why a snake handler refused treatment

The trouble at Full Gospel Tabernacle began on Saturday night, when Pastor Jamie Coots, whose serpent-handling religious rituals made him a reality TV star, died after a rattlesnake sunk its fangs into his right hand.

I Don’t Worship God by Singing. I Connect With Him Elsewhere.

I’ve a confession. I don’t connect with God by singing to Him. Not at all. I know I’m nearly alone in this but it’s true. I was finally able to admit this recently when I attended a church service that had, perhaps, the most talented worship team I’ve ever heard. I loved the music. But I loved it more for the music than the worship. As far as connecting with God goes, I wasn’t feeling much of anything.

Weekly Devotional - This Is Disicipleship

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. - Col 2:6-7

Jesus was a unique man. Besides the obvious, the whole equally God and equally man hypostatic union... thing... we see a man who was fearless but humble, fierce but gentle, and a man who turned every expectation upside down. He cut through the insincere practices of religion, getting to the heart of God. He healed sickness and disease, fed thousands, and preached mercy and forgiveness. He loved with a radical and overwhelming love and was killed for it.

And we are told to walk in him. 

What does that even mean?

Everyone has a different answer to that question. Super-Conservatives will tell you exactly what it means. They have endless lists with subpoints, charts and graphs. Super-Liberals will give you a wishy-washy answer that has something to do with feelings and fair trade coffee.

But it simply comes down to imitating the life of Jesus. I don't mean wearing a tunic and sandals and walking all over the desert preaching against the religious and political leaders. I mean being the type of person that Jesus was.

But to do that, you have to build a solid foundation - a solid root. You need to know who he was before you can imitate him. And the only reliable way to do that is to constantly be reading the gospels, asking yourself, "Who is this Jesus?"

This is discipleship.

As you continue to do this, you will find yourself being built up. You'll start to see your life change. You'll start acting like Jesus.

So do you know what Jesus was like? How can you start acting more like him?

Weekly Devotional - Living A Kingdom Focused Life

A few days ago, my friend Toby found himself being dragged to a McDonald's parking lot. This was obviously strange and terrible, as McDonald's food is nasty. But as it turned out they weren't there to buy food.

Earlier that week, Toby had his cell phone stolen. And to make matters worse, in his attempt to retrieve his phone from the thieves, he dropped his car keys in their car while they were making their get-away. As a phone-less, key-less, broke college kid, Toby was understandably upset. After hours of trying to think of a solution to his unfortunate predicament, he realized there was nothing he could do. He was powerless to fix his situation.

But in an act of Christ-like generosity, Toby's friends conspired together to replace his phone.

Like Toby, they are also poor college students. But they figured they could make a little bit of a sacrifice, and help a friend out. Which is what Christ did, albeit on a much larger scale. This lifestyle of sacrifice is what we, as Christians are supposed to be doing with our lives. We're supposed to be kingdom-focused.

The Christians in Colossae were apparently pretty good at this.

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. (Colossians 1:3-8, ESV)

The Christians in Colossae loved each other, just like Jesus commanded us. But why? Paul says its because they were looking at the big picture. They were looking forward to Heaven. They knew how their story ended, and it gave them hope. They were kingdom-minded.

Kingdom-minded means suffering is temporary. Which frees you up to sacrifice - like Toby's friends. It frees you up to spend less time on yourself, and more time on other people. It means when times are tough, we can grit our teeth and take the pain because our story ends well.

Kingdom-minded means looking to God. Later in Chapter 1 it says this, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together" (1:15-16). Paul writes with absolute clarity - Jesus IS God. He made the world. He is over and above all rulers and authorities. Jesus is in control. He's God, and everything is for his glory. We can worship him in the difficult times by resting in the truth of his being in control of everything. 

Kingdom-minded means loving people. It's just one of those things. If you truly love God, you will love people. If you don't love people, maybe you don't love God. When Paul talks about the Gospel, "bearing fruit," this is what he means. They heard the Gospel. They heard about Jesus - God coming into human history as a man, living the life we couldn't live, paying the price we couldn't pay, and dying the death we all deserved to die - and, "understood the grace of God" (1:6). And it led them to love each other with the same type of self-sacrificial love that Jesus demonstrated, and the same type of self-sacrificial love that Toby's friends demonstrated. Mother Teresa said this, " I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love."

So how can you shift your perspective to be a bit more kingdom focused this week?

Bill Nye Vs. Ken Ham: Who Won?

Tuesday night Bill Nye (The Science Guy) debated Ken Ham, founder and CEO of Answers In Genesis (AIG) and President of the Creation Museum. The debate was highly publicized and live streamed on CNN. It focused on the question, "Is creation a viable model of origins in today's modern, scientific era?" Unsurprisingly, many peoples opinions on who won had more to do with their beliefs before the debate than the actual debate.

That said, the debate is below for your viewing pleasure. Additionally, here are some links to articles covering the debate from both sides of the table.

This is AIG's post debate coverage: http://bit.ly/1l0SZse
Here's an article written from Bill's perspective: http://bit.ly/1fz85Sh
Here's an article that thinks both sides are wrong: http://bit.ly/1byZKP3
Here's another interesting article from a Christian with a slightly different take: http://thebea.st/1eBWPXa

"Poison Tree" - From Depravity To Life

“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." - Luke 6:43-45 ESV

Last week at Love City Church we did a song during worship called Poison Tree. One of the reasons I love the song is because of the striking and powerful lyrics.

The song begins with a profound description of our own depravity - one which pierces to the soul. But then the Chorus takes a turn from the macabre and swells into a beautiful declaration of our hope in the blood of Christ. The whole song reminds me of a quote from Jack Miller, "Cheer up! You’re a worse sinner than you ever dared imagine, and you’re more loved than you ever dared hope."



Here are the lyrics:

Verse 1:
This tree bears strange fruit
There’s blood on the leaves, it’s dead at the roots
The cracked grey branches are decaying within
Just like the black poison that hangs from its limbs

Pre-Chorus:
Come and dig me up
Reach down to the root
Rip the deadness out
And plant something new

Chorus:
I am alive, I will abide
In the life giving blood of Christ
I’m grafted in, You’ve killed my sin
Now I will live, I’ll live in him.

Verse 2:
I tried to tie good fruit
To a tree that had poison all the way through
It rotted and fell off
It was dead to the core
It even killed the ground I was worse than before