Sweet Spots

Over 46,000 people in the US died last year from opioid overdose. Suicide rates are at all time highs. A pharmacist told me that when he began his career 30 years ago, he rarely prescribed anti-depressants. Today, it is the number one prescription he fills. What is going on here?

Here are two pieces: One of dealing with overthinking, the other on the benefits of meditation. Meditation is biblical and the benefits are clear. As we lead others to pray, how can we enlarge our understanding of uniting ourselves with the mind of Christ? 

http://bit.ly/1VKrp8f

http://bit.ly/1SsHcSg

Preaching the right questions

Shakespeare died 400 years ago today (April 23). Often his writing could be characterized by the ability “to pursue a vision of artistic beauty even when it leads them into intellectual confusion and uncertainty, as opposed to a preference for philosophical certainty over artistic beauty.” 

The tendency is to offer people points that lead to conclusions. Jesus’ teachings, however, often left the hearer grappling. Formulas are popular in marketing and in preaching  (too often rehashed success mantras and cliches), but searching and wrestling leads people to do the work themselves. Something to think about. 

http://bit.ly/1ptyzzd

Do you speak young latino?

There are 55 million latinos in the US (1/3rd are under 18). Many churches do not have services for Spanish-speaking adults. It’s clear that the priority is not just about language, but about addressing the growing numbers of Spanish-speaking (fluent in English) students whose parent’s first language is Spanish.

http://washex.am/1Sh6TZN

Cisgender, transgender and cultural change

One of the first places to identify cultural shifts is in the ever-evolving Webster’s dictionary. Cisgender, transgender and other gender terms are so commonly used that they are being codified. Four challenges:

1. To gain a thorough understanding of the differences between terms because terms apply to real people who have often dealt with great emotional pain.

2. To suspend judgement long enough to try to understand what it is like to live in another person’s shoes.

3. To build wide relationships so the redemptive work of God can be seen re-creating healing and wholeness in the lives of those dealing with gender issues.

http://bit.ly/1StU8dl

Attack on Philosophy

Recently, notable thought leaders have been asking the question: Is philosophy even necessary? This often comes from a materialistic framework of the universe where science is thought to answer the deep questions of life and existence; questions about meaning and purpose. The purpose-driven books and messages impacted hard. This is a pushback and it is important to follow.

http://bit.ly/1phF7AH

What color is your church?

http://bit.ly/1VKr7OC

Students Struggle to Read Entire Books

I read somewhere that all knowledge is socially-mediated. We consume information from a variety of formal and informal sources and, of course, much of our learning is now through digital channels. Here is an interesting discussion about whether or not students can read a book from cover to cover. There is a lot of talk about how our dance with digital and dependence on phones and the power of the cloud is rewiring the brain. The question is: Where do we go from here? How do we shape our messages and shift our conversations in the Age of Wondering Minds? Being aware is the first step toward being reengaged.

http://ind.pn/1Wwjme7

Selfies and the Corrosion of Human Memory

“Mylio, a small company made up of photographers, estimates that 1 trillion photos will be taken in 2015 and they project that number to grow 16.2 percent year over year. If all those photos were printed out as 4 X 6-inch prints and attached to each other, end-to-end, you could make a complete round trip to the sun and back.”

http://bit.ly/1qMP6PV

Complex ideas can enter consciousness automatically

There is no question, images make an immediate and lasting impression on the brain. A picture is like a wormhole into the soul of a person. The brain stores audio information in one way —a more temporary way — and it stores visual information in an entirely different way. A better way. A way that will make the memory easier to recall. What pictures (actual or imagined) are we sharing or crafting when we communicate? And how do we engage the muscle memory of our hearers so they can become doers?

http://bit.ly/1SjDCzD

Stanford Psychologist: Technology Is Ruining a Generation of Men

What happens when we, as communicators, hear about cultural problems or addictions that need to be addressed? Odds are (gambling reference, get it?) we put together a sermon or class. And odds are, again, we will walk down the same learning and presentation path we always have. Odds are the same results will manifest; namely, limited or short-term change.

A better approach: Addressing and undressing underlying human conditions that lead to our behaviors. Instead of a series on pornography, how about a discussion of our lack of intimacy in a high tech, low touch, frenetic, suburban mind-numbing milieu? How about an honest look at why we like beautiful things or how our appetites are being hijacked or misplaced? Many are lonely and disconnected today not because they don’t have other humans around them, but because they are not experience closeness with those humans. This is a spiritual condition, a physical condition, a human condition. Time for a new approach?

http://bit.ly/23EY43m

The Faith of Christopher Hitchens: The Restless Soul of the World’s Most Notorious Atheist

Word of Larry Alex Taunton’s new book on his good friend, and one of the world’s leading “new atheists,” Christopher Hitchens, is already impacting. From Amazon:

“At the time of his death, Christopher Hitchens was the most notorious atheist in the world.  And yet, all was not as it seemed.  “Nobody is not a divided self, of course,” he once told an interviewer, “but I think it’s rather strong in my case.”   Hitchens was a man of many contradictions:   a Marxist in youth who longed for acceptance among the social elites; a peacenik who revered the military; a champion of the Left who was nonetheless pro-life, pro-war-on-terror, and after 9/11 something of a neocon; and while he railed against God on stage, he maintained meaningful—though largely hidden from public view—friendships with evangelical Christians like Francis Collins, Douglas Wilson, and the author Larry Alex Taunton.”

I always get a little heartsick when meeting pastors who either don’t know of Hitchens or haven’t watched at least a few of his debates with leading Christian apologists. Hitchens was brilliant, interesting and asked serious questions that people of faith often fail to answer. If we are not familiar with the leading voices in our culture, how can we deep dive into the zeitgeist long enough to grab another’s hand?

http://amzn.to/1S1dvvd

The Connection Between War and Religion

Jesus rarely made political statements. Only two comments with a political feeling come to mind: “Render to Caesar” and “that Fox” (a reference to a Herod Antipas). Jesus’ Kingdom wasn’t of earth, but Heaven; a spiritual yeast, a seed, a still small voice, a little something slowly and surely infiltrating darkness, working its redemptive, compounding influence in the world. The temptation is to take matters into our own hands, get sucked into the spirit of the age in one of its many manifestations. Nationalism and Zion-creating (Heaven on earth through human effort) come to mind. Read about the history of Zion, Illinois or interview a millennial about the church’s waning influence and then ponder how well joining the timeless Message of Jesus with the time-sensitive blood sport of politics has worked. Onward Christian lovers and truth-tellers.

https://psmag.com/the-dance-between-war-and-religion-ce7554a4ed50#.6cfyxjrfc

The Neuroscience of Storytelling

How many seminaries have classes in storytelling for future preachers? I took four different homiletics classes in college. After I unlearned much of the material, and learned to laugh with my audience, I did alright. Wink. Every preacher should be a student of Garrison Keillor and Lake Wobegon. As an old preacher friend of ours used to say, “It’s a sin to be dull.” As Len Sweet said once, “It’s all about the story.”

http://bit.ly/1qxjiy7

5 Reasons People Stick to Their Beliefs No Matter What

Starting an apologetics series any time soon? Do you ever have disagreements? This may be helpful.

http://bit.ly/267t4Yg

Has Religion Affected Wage Disparities?

It has always been an easy case to make that Jesus elevated the status of women. The Pauline letters have to be explained in context to bring the storyline together. I have personally spoken to women who believe the Bible kept women subservient to men. And looking at the leadership layout in many churches, it is easy to feel the pain. With gender being such an important topic today, faith leaders need more than a typical mother’s day homily to engage the community.

http://sciof.us/1SJD53Q

Want to Achieve Something Big? Think Small

Need to achieve big results or make it through a complex situation? Think like a kid. I remember a spiritual teacher making a big deal of this.

http://bit.ly/1V9dBU1