STATE OF THEOLOGY

Last night I posted about a study on American attitudes toward the Bible.

Here's more poll data to consider along the same lines - and it's just as concerning:

Ligonier Ministries and LifeWay Research ask the same questions of the American public every two years in order to discern trends in opinions regarding theology.

The 2022 results are shocking.

The poll asks a series of theological questions of a sampling of American adults and then teases out stats for Evangelicals to look at in isolation.

For the purposes of this poll, Evangelicals are defined as respondents who "strongly agree" with the following 4 statements: 

• "The Bible is the highest authority for what I believe."
• "It is very important for me personally to encourage non-Christians to trust Jesus Christ as their Savior."
• "Jesus Christ’s death on the cross is the only sacrifice that could remove the penalty of my sin."
• "Only those who trust in Jesus Christ alone as their Savior receive God’s free gift of eternal salvation."

Now keep those statements in mind as I share the results of just one of the questions on the poll. (Because, if you care about such things, ONE is all you can handle.) 

People were asked to agree or disagree with this statement: "Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God."

When the question was asked in 2020, 30% of the Evangelicals AGREED.

Thirty percent!

And how about the same question in 2022?

Currently 43% agree that Jesus might have been a great teacher, but He was not God!

Both numbers are so shocking I am tempted to hope something is askew in the poll's methodology. 

And maybe so.

Still, the numbers are in alignment with my general impression that many American Christians simply don't know - or hold - orthodox Christian beliefs.

So I am tempted to believe in the poll's accuracy.

The other results can be seen at https://thestateoftheology.com/.

But I warn you: your head may explode! 

BIBLE USE DROPPING?

The American Bible Society polls Americans each year about their engagement with - and opinion towards - the Bible. They have been asking the same questions for 12 years now.

2022 showed some disturbing trends.

I haven't had a chance to really dig in and look closely at the material yet. At first glance, the study looks pretty thorough and it seems like the researchers know what they are doing.

Here's one of the findings which has left the pollsters scratching their heads:

That graph shows a one year drop from 50% to 39% of American adults reporting use of the Bible!  

If true, the difference in percentage represents 26 million Americans who recently stopped reading the Bible.

Could this data possibly be accurate? 

If it is, what could account for such a steep and speedy drop in Bible reading?

If you want to see the results of the poll for yourself, you can get a free download of the entire report at https://sotb.research.bible/. 

BRAINWASHED

Like me, you have probably heard atheists scold Christian parents for "brainwashing" their own children. 

They say parents "force" their religious views on their kids. 

Atheists talk as if this delegitimizes the resulting beliefs.

In reality, every belief we hold comes to us from outside us. Why single out religious beliefs?

We are surrounded by forces working to shape our opinions and beliefs: celebrities, movies, news media, music, preachers, and the culture at large in thousands of subtle and not-so-subtle ways. 

Brainwashing is everywhere.

Some of the beliefs being pushed are true and good. Some are false and harmful. 

Which are which depends entirely on who you ask! 

So what's wrong with parents shaping the religious beliefs of their own children? 

At least their motivation is love rather than profit.  

TWO SERMONS

For years I worked alongside a pastor who made this claim about his own preaching: "I have only two sermons - maybe three - that I preach."

He did not say this as a confession. 

It was a boast.

I wanted to tell him that I had noticed this. 

That everyone noticed this. 

I loved the guy. His heart was in the right place. But preaching the same two sermons over and over? What a missed opportunity.

(I hesitate to say "dereliction of duty" only out of friendship.) 

It is not as though a preacher ever lacks material.  God's word contains more wisdom than a person could grasp in a lifetime. 

And there's no time for slacking. Paul's command to Timothy is meant for us as well: "Train yourself for godliness". (I Tim 4:7)  

For the sake of the believers in their care, preachers must enter the pulpit each week with fresh teaching. 

STRUGGLING TO LEARN

For me 2022 is ending with me neck deep in homework I have two papers due at the start of January.

It's annoying, but also kind of fun, because, as I wrote the other day, learning IS fun. 

I have two advantages as I face these papers, and they are tied together:

1) I am interested. 

    I find both topics fascinating. (One is on the question of whether Jews, Christians, and Muslims can be said to worship the "same" God. The other is on the roots of woke ideology.

    I realize that makes me sound like a complete nerd, but they are both fascinating topics once you dig into the discussion a bit.

2) My interest makes me willing to struggle. 

    I recognize the teacher's objective in assigning a 6 page paper. Writing a coherent paper forces the student to engage with the ideas contained in books on an entirely different plane than can be reached by reading alone.

    Certainly, reading can result in "learning" facts and ideas - on a recall level. But to truly comprehend a topic requires struggling with ideas of others and then using them to synthesize your own - and that calls for writing. 

I bring this up today to say there are parallels here with growing in our knowledge of God and His word. 

Do I need to spell them out? 

O HOLY NIGHT

O Holy Night is far and away the best Christmas carol of all time. (Don't @ me on this.😉) It's one I wish we sang throughout the year. 

It was written by a French wine merchant named Placide Cappeau in 1847 and later translated to English by John Sullivan Dwight around 1858.

If you take a look at a strictly literal translation of the original lyrics, you might agree with me that Dwight greatly improved upon Cappeau's ideas. 

I love the fact that these two men were a couple of "nobodies". I don't know that they ever met, but they had one thing in common: both were publicly opposed to slavery. 

The song has one of the most powerful and poetic proclamations of the gospel that you will find in any hymn, covering our great need for deliverance from sin, the Son of God breaking into human history, and the resulting transformation of our relationship with God and with our fellow creatures.

(And a shout out to Adolphe-Charles Adam, another Frenchman, for composing such a moving melody.)

An amazing song.

 

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth;
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
'Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn;

Chorus
Fall on your knees, Oh hear the angel voices!
O night divine! O night when Christ was born.
O night, O holy night, O night divine.

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is Love and His gospel is Peace;
Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother,
And in his name all oppression shall cease,
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful Chorus raise we;
Let all within us praise his Holy name!

Chorus
Christ is the Lord, then ever! ever praise we!
His pow'r and glory, evermore proclaim!
His pow'r and glory, evermore proclaim!

WONDERFUL

It's Christmas Eve and my family just finished one of our Christmas traditions - watching It's a Wonderful Life together. 

I bet I've seen that movie at least 20 times. Probably more.

Tonight Sarah said, "The older I get, the more I like that movie." 

I had just been thinking the same thing.

When I was younger, I probably related most to pre-angel-visit George Bailey - with his simmering frustration over life never quite unfolding the way he planned in his imagination.

These days I identify more closely with the wiser, more content George Bailey who has learned his lesson from his guardian angel, Clarence.

Life doesn't have to be wall to wall excitement and adventure to be "wonderful". 

Nor does it need to be devoid of sorrow, hardship, or conflict to be "wonderful".

Life can be "full of wonder" - no matter the circumstances - when you are focused on what you have been given rather than on what you lack.

Christmas should be a reminder that we lack nothing. God has given His Son. We have all we need.

And more.

Enough to share.

SIMPLICITY

A friend posted today on Facebook how she wishes she was in Haiti for Christmas.

I know the feeling. 

Our family Christmases in Haiti held a beautiful simplicity.

Christmas was quiet and unrushed.

For one thing, there was nowhere to shop but on Amazon - and that had to be done by late November. 

Once the twice weekly Missionary Flights International mail runs hit cargo capacity during December, there was no guarantee your packages would arrive from Florida before the 25th. 

So we tended to skip physical presents and opt for a family experience instead. Preferably a few days of resort life in the Dominican Republic between Christmas and New Years. 

Any holiday food beyond the routine was special and we had plenty of time to prepare it. Decorating and delivering cakes on Christmas Day became one of our favorite traditions. 

There was room to breathe and time to ponder. 

I do miss a simple Christmas. 

CHRISTMAS MUSIC

Each November 1st, a radio station here and there start playing Christmas music 24/7. More join in with each passing week. By December 1st, everyone is all in on the Christmas music. 

We get week after week of Rocking Around the Christmas Tree and - God help us - Feliz Navidad.  

So isn't it weird then, that at midnight on December 25th, it all comes to an abrupt stop. 

NOBODY plays a single Christmas song after Christmas Day. 

Zip. Zero. 

There is no afterglow whatsoever. It's like Christmas never happened. 

I guess I am weird about Christmas music. 

I grumble about the excess before Christmas.

And then bemoan its prompt dismissal after.

Can't we have just a little bit of balance? 

2022 IN REVIEW: GO LEARN

I am sending out a Christmas letter and card with a family update by snail mail, but I wanted to reflect further here on what 2022 meant to me individually.

If 2022 had a theme for me, it was this:

“Go Learn”.

I used to tell my teenage students that although they may dislike school, we all love to learn (as long as we are learning stuff we deem important and valuable). Learning is fun.

So here is why 2022 was so enjoyable for me:

Wesley Biblical Seminary – Come April I will be halfway through my doctorate of ministry program. I still don’t know exactly why God has me in this program. (I have no desire to write some egghead dissertation to store on a library shelf; and it will be weird if anyone calls me “Dr. Gross” when I am done.) What I do know is this: the classes, reading, and papers have deepened my spiritual life.

What more could I ask?

Well … this is a nice bonus: Although most of my classmates are pastors, I have been amazed at how the material relates to my work with Mission Resource.

The first week of January I have 4 days of intensives on campus in Jackson, Mississippi. 

Mission Resource – Since joining the staff last January, I have learned much about microfinance and entrepreneurship. Much has been written about how so many of our efforts to battle poverty end up being counterproductive. Sometimes even damaging.

Microfinance – done right – is both generous and compassionate. Mission Resource has a unique model in which we work alongside local pastors (primarily in Ghana) to offer small, affordable business loans as a tool which the Lord often uses to lift congregants out of extreme poverty.

My 3 weeks in Ghana this fall were a highlight of my year. For one thing, it was a huge mental relief to gain this assurance: I had hitched my wagon to an effective and Spirit-led ministry. I saw firsthand how loans keep dignity intact and promote effort and perseverance.

What Mission Resource has been doing for 20 years is spot on and, God willing, I will be a part of the good work God has planned for MR over the next 20 years.

Writing – I have been honing my writing skills and researching how I might use them for an additional revenue stream – perhaps through ghostwriting. (Maybe my exposure to the entrepreneurial heart of Mission Resource has infected me!)

My goal is to move from being a drain on Mission Resource funds to being the ministry’s most generous supporter in the coming years.

Book writing and publishing is another learning curve, but it’s fun. I have a book of my own in rough draft and a friend who has me collaborating on his book, so there are opportunities to get started – just not much pay. (Yet.) I am hoping in January to see both projects progress substantially.

The Bible – My personal Bible study time each morning has been the best thing about 2022, hands down.

For the first time in my life, I have a consistent and substantial morning time in Scripture. This has led to greater confidence in my own theology and a renewed awareness of the presence of the Spirit.

There is something to learn or to be reminded of each day. I have had several opportunities to preach this past year and I find preaching now energizes me - It stirs my spirit. And I have been told it is often useful to the congregation as well. 😉

 

2023 will bring changes.

The biggest possible change concerns my job status.

Throughout 2022, Mission Resource has paid me a salary. (It’s modest – I don’t get my own private jet yet – and, thankfully, the Lord has provided us with good insurance through Melissa’s teaching job.)

But in 2023, I don’t want to take more from Mission Resource than what comes in for my personal support. Being now convinced of the goodness and effectiveness of our work through Mission Resource, I can hardly bear taking any part of my salary from funds that could otherwise be put to use directly in Ghana.

I have a calm assurance that God has a plan – either to provide enough supporters to enable me to continue full-time at Mission Resource or to provide a part-time salary elsewhere.

A portion of my support has been given already – several friends have started giving monthly or given a special gift over this past year! That is a true blessing. Thank you so much!

As the end of the year approaches, if you are looking for a Christ-centered ministry you can trust with financial gifts, I encourage you to look at Mission Resource. And if you are open to supporting my work with MR, it is easy to make a gift through our website right HERE. There is an option at the bottom of the page to designate your donation for my support.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

I pray you and your loved ones will have a blessed and meaningful Christmas.

THE QUIET ONE

Now and then, when I sit down to write a blogpost, I spin my wheels, staring at a blank screen for 15 minutes straight. 

I start typing. 

Stop.

Delete. 

Sometimes that's because I have nothing to say.

More often because I have too much to say. 

Either way, my head is full of words and ideas. It's just hard to force them out in the open. 

I suppose - when I think about it - it's much the same way when I am with another person. 

END OF 2022 KID UPDATE

I am working on our family's first Christmas card in several years. Here today I am posting the heart of the letter: 

The update on each of the kids.

Here we go:

Caleb, 21, has one semester left at Wabash College and then he will be serving the next few years with the Army. Since his sophomore year, Caleb has been involved in ROTC, and we recently found out that after graduation, he will be working in the Armor branch – which means tanks – and he’s pretty excited about it. Early in the new year, we should be getting specific info about where he will be stationed – it could be as close as Tennessee or as distant as Germany.

Hannah, 20, is in her junior year at Olivet Nazarene University, just south of Chicago. She is loving her studies in interior design – it seems to be a great fit for her. She keeps busy outside of class by holding down 5 different part-time jobs including being a tutor and waitressing at Cracker Barrel. She has hopes of studying in Europe for at least a short time over the coming summer.

Samuel, 19, is halfway through his second year at Ball State in their computer science program. He’s looking at graduating early, though, so he might be finishing the same time as Hannah. He spent last summer selling books door to door in the suburbs of Detroit. He learned a lot doing it – especially: how hard it is to make money selling anything door to door. 😉

Sarah – our last one still in the nest – is a sophomore, fast approaching her 16^th birthday (come January). She is loving her art and dance classes. She just wrapped up dancing in the high school production of Elf The Musical and next she will keep busy with show choir competition season.  

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES

A USB drive arrived in the mail yesterday - a Christmas gift from my brother Spencer. 

When I plugged it into my computer, images I hadn't seen in over 40 years came to life. 

It was a much too short list of frustratingly short family movies from my childhood - mostly Christmas footage from when I was under 5 years old. 

There is no sound to any of them but the films were hypnotic. I have watched them through several times already. And each viewing hits me hard in the feels. 

Tonight I took some screen shots.

Here's me at 2.

Mom holding me ... and smiling. 

Mom with my oldest brother, Ryan. On top of the TV is the snow scene Mom made fresh every year with a mix of soap flakes and ... something. Borax?

In one scene, Mom opens a gift to find a pearl necklace. (Was it made of real pearls? How did Dad afford that?) She is fighting back tears.

Our stockings hanging at the fireplace. I recognized these and so many of the toys scattered across the floor and the ornaments on the tree.

Our dog Sue Sue was on screen for a total of 3 seconds. How is that possible? The dogs in my house currently demand to be in the spotlight and at the center of attention 24/7. 

Dad got slightly more screen time than the dog. Not much. I had to remind myself that he was the man behind the camera. So in that sense, he was in every scene. 

A GROSS PRODUCTION

I spent about 6 hours today putting together a short video for one of my classes. I used some fairly new camera capacities within PowerPoint. 

Even though it was time consuming and it kept me from joining in with family activities, I have to admit that I enjoyed doing it. 

I don't know if it is worth anything, but I will post the YouTube link below so you can judge for yourself.

It's about what Christians can learn from 4 other major world religions.

It's about 18 minutes in length - so it might be a good one to play at a faster speed. 😉   I suggest 1.5. 

Here it is:

 

FOUR LITTLE WORDS

There are four little words from the Apostle Paul in Colossians 3:5 that make for a good reminder a week out from Christmas.

They come at the end of a list of vices which he calls on believers to "put to death": 

"Greed - which is idolatry". 

Greed is the only vice listed to get a parenthetical definition from Paul. The others on the list are sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. 

Is greed really in the same league as cheating on your spouse? It certainly is if we understand, as Paul points out, that greed is, in effect, idolatry. 

Greed is desiring and worshipping some thing in a way which should be reserved for God Himself. 

And we know how God feels about idolatry! 

Now, if you're like me, it's been a long time since you got as excited about some present under the tree like you did when you were 10.

But that doesn't mean we don't experience greed - it may only mean the things we desire just don't fit under a tree anymore. 

ONLINE DIAGNOSIS

We take it for granted, but the internet is a wonder. All that information at our fingertips!

Here's a story of medical self-diagnosis by internet that I believe is valid. If I am correct, I have a condition that only 1 in 10,000 ever suffer from. 

The hearing in my left ear has steadily diminished over the past few years. The volume is fine, but there's a lot of interference. Melissa finally convinced me to see a doctor about it. (I agreed because she has really good health insurance for the family now, so it was cheap even by my standards!)

The doctor was puzzled because my symptoms didn't match his observation. My ear feels and sounds as if it is perpetually filled with fluid - my voice echoes in my ear and I can hear my own heartbeat. (Both are quite annoying!)

But the doctor said: no signs of fluid or infection. He gave me two pill bottles and a nasal spray to take home and a "Come back in a few weeks".

I know doctors smirk at patients who diagnose their own ailments via Google, but after my doctor visit, it finally occurred to me to search the internet for answers. 

It turns out I have all the symptoms of a patulous eustachian tube!

A normal eustachian tube drains into the throat through a small valve that pops open a few times a day to regulate air pressure and drain any fluids that might accumulate. 

I looked it up: "Patulous" is a fancy word for "wide open". 

My eustachian tube remains open 24/7, allowing sounds from the inside - my voice and heartbeat - to reach my eardrum. 

The internet suggests I try extra hydration and cutting out caffeine before pursuing any medical solutions and that sounds wise to me. 

I have often claimed to be free of addiction when it comes to coffee - that I can take it or leave it. 

Now I will find out for sure. 

Thanks, internet.

BANISTER

The half flight of steps leading from our front door down to the basement used to have a banister. It disappeared almost two years ago when I renovated our basement.

Finishing the steps and replacing the banister should have been done a long time ago. It is the sort of project I referenced in yesterday's post - one where I procrastinate endlessly because I don't know up front how to do the job perfectly. 

Just over a week ago, on a Monday morning at 6 am, Melissa - still bleary eyed and carrying a mug half full of coffee in the dark - missed the last step as she was descending. 

There was a loud crash and a scream. When I turned on the lights, I was relieved to see coffee had been spilled, but no blood. However, there was a semi-serious injury: the pinky toe on Melissa's right foot was now perpendicular to the other toes. 

We are thankful her fall wasn't any worse. But it also could have been better. I can't help but think a banister might have saved us a trip to the ER and a whole lot of pain. 

Time to build a new banister. 

I just need to find a starting point, get some momentum, and then revise as I go. 

Maybe it can be my Christmas present to Melissa. A banister and a new coffee mug. 

ROUGH DRAFTING

I am getting a jump on my New Year's resolutions for 2023.

I don't have a specific habit in mind. Instead, I want to focus on a mindset - one I have learned from my daily writing. 

Regular blogging has taught me that if I wait until ideas are perfectly formed in my head before I begin to write them down, I spin my wheels endlessly. And nothing gets accomplished. 

But when I embrace imperfection and start with putting a crummy draft down on paper, I make progress.

And once I have started, I find that improving the piece of writing - the revision process - becomes more than tolerable. It becomes enjoyable. 

Like my little writing projects, many of my work and personal tasks cause me to drag my feet. Especially the most important ones! I wait to get started, hoping the thing will take shape perfectly once inspiration hits. But it never works that way.

So this next year I plan to be on the lookout for these sorts of tasks and - when I catch myself stalling - reframe them as "rough drafts" from which to learn and to improve as I move forward. 

2023 will be my year to make more mistakes! 😉 

GUEST BLOGGER

I have been reading about ChatGPT recently on Twitter. It is an Artificial Intelligence which generates text in response to human prompts on almost any subject. 

I finally checked it out for myself after Caleb told me that he was using it to outline a paper for one of his college classes.

So I created a free account and started asking this thing questions. It responded in seconds with fully formed "thoughts" in well-organized and readable paragraphs.

Once I was convinced of its competency, I decided to ask it to do some work for me. 

(That's what all this AI and robotics stuff is for, right?) 

I typed, "Can you write a blog post about how AI can now write blog posts?"

The AI responded, "Sure, I'd be happy to write a blog post about how AI can now write blog posts."

And then it submitted this piece about ten seconds later:

In recent years, advances in natural language processing and machine learning have enabled the development of AI systems that can generate human-like text. This has opened up a range of new possibilities, including the ability for AI to write blog posts.

One of the key advantages of AI-generated blog posts is their ability to quickly produce large amounts of content on a variety of topics. This can be especially useful for businesses and organizations that need to regularly publish fresh, engaging content for their website or social media channels.

Another benefit of using AI to write blog posts is that it can help to reduce the workload of human writers. By automating the process of generating content, AI can free up time for human writers to focus on more creative or strategic tasks.

But while AI has made significant progress in its ability to generate human-like text, it is still not capable of fully replicating the creativity and nuance of a human writer. As a result, most AI-generated blog posts are likely to require some editing and refinement by a human editor before they are ready to be published.

Overall, the ability of AI to write blog posts represents an exciting development that has the potential to greatly improve the efficiency and productivity of content creation. However, it is important to remember that AI is not a replacement for human writers, and that the best results are likely to be achieved when AI and human writing skills are used in combination.

What do you think? 

Is this the dawn of a golden era? 

Or a harbinger of disaster?

A UNIVERSAL GOD

In his chapter on Judaism in The World's Religions, author Huston Smith brings up something I had never considered before. 

Smith writes, "Certainly, the idea that a universal God decided that the divine nature should be uniquely and incomparably disclosed to a single people is among the most difficult notions to take seriously in the entire study of religion." (307)

Yes! How odd that THE God of the universe would focus on one particular people group to the exclusion of all the rest of His human creation. 

It really makes no sense - especially since Israel was not interested in the least in bringing converts into the fold. Not in the past. Not now.

But what if God's relationship with that small and otherwise insignificant nation was only the first step in the overall plan?

What if God's next step was to have His Messiah arise out of that people and sacrifice Himself on their behalf so that they may finally experience true righteousness? (So unlike what they tried - and failed - to attain through the law.) 

And what if this made possible a level of intimacy with the Creator which was never known by any nation or people before? As sons and daughters to their heavenly Father. 

And what if this Messiah then, as the Only Gateway to the Only God, opened Himself not only to the chosen nation, but to the wide world of humanity outside their walls. 

NOW it makes sense. 

BITS OF TRUTH?

One of my classes this semester is exploring the belief systems of various world religions, in particular Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. 

The assigned reading includes two helpful overviews: Huston Smith's The World's Religions and Stephen Prothero's God Is Not One - The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World. 

To fulfill an assignment, I need to record a video in the next couple of days incorporating some aspect of the readings. The professor gave a list of suggestions but I settled on a topic outside of his list: What Christians can Learn from the Other Major Religions. 

My mindset is that "even a broken clock is right twice a day". And that God has revealed aspects of His character and power to all humankind. And that - on some level - human beings are all searching for meaning. And that Augustine was right when he asserted, "Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee."

Add those things up and they point to humans the world over seeking - and finding - at least bits of truth. 

To be clear, I am not saying they find salvation. Because salvation requires finding "big T" Truth, Jesus Christ Himself. 

"For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." (1 Tim 2:5) 

Still, it seems to me that modern American Christianity is a bit anemic and could likely find value in some of the emphases and practices of other religions. 

They might have stumbled onto something that we have forgotten or neglected in our own faith. 

REWARDS

A few nights ago I had to make an "emergency" run to Walmart for some milk, cookies, and ice cream. And some googly eyes - for a reindeer craft the next day in Melissa's kindergarten classroom. 

It was the first time I have ever made such a run to Walmart that I did not regret in some way. In fact, I came home in a good mood.

And this good mood had swept over me suddenly in the ice cream aisle ... where I found a crumpled twenty dollar bill on the floor. Ownerless.

And that twenty more than covered the cost of my Walmart run.

Which made my penny-pinching heart happy.

I only relate this bit of good luck because a tiny follow-up event caught my attention and appealed to my interest in habit formation.  

Here's the follow up: this morning I had to make yet another Walmart run. This time for motor oil. 

After grabbing the oil, I swung through the grocery section to get some cashews. 

On my way to the checkout, I had to pass the ice cream aisle, and as I did, my head pivoted - quite unconsciously - and my eyes quickly scanned the floor. 

In that moment, I realized my brain was hoping to find another twenty there. (No such luck.)

Here's the connection to habit formation: We think starting a new habit is difficult - involving so much discipline and willpower. But I was reminded this morning that our brains are primed and ready to repeat any action that gets rewarded. 

Even without conscious effort on our part. 

If you want to start a new habit, one key is to make sure you reward yourself immediately after taking the new action. 

Your brain will notice.

THE POTENTIAL OF AI

I am hearing a lot about Artificial Intelligence lately. Some people hope that AI will be the solution to all our world's problems. Others fear AI will replace humans in most jobs. 

And a significant number hold that AI will almost certainly pull a Terminator on us and take over the world, making humans its slaves.

All I know is AI has incredible potential - for both good and evil, I am sure.

AI will have plenty of opportunity to learn from reading books and scouring the internet, but will that sort of learning be enough for it to truly know things about humans?

I was using the photo below in a mailing for Mission Resource. 

This is Rejoyce Kofito. She buys cornmeal in large bags and divides it into small bags to sell door to door. This is how she survives in her small Ghanaian village. 

Now Microsoft Word uses a primitive AI to autogenerate captions for photos. When I imported Rejoyce and her cornmeal, Word suggested the following caption:

"A person standing next to a pile of garbage."

That made me grimace ... but also gave me pause.

I do hope the scientists working on AI will program in a bit of humility.

If scientists can't endow AI with a willingness to admit the possibility of error, we are doomed. 😬

But if scientists can endow AI with a willingness to admit the possibility of error, AI really could be an improvement over human beings. 😏

RICHLY

In Colossians 3:16 the Apostle Paul instructs believers to "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God."

I found it curious that when I posted a link on Facebook the other day to what I wrote about under the heading "A Bible Study Practice to Recommend", it garnered all of 15 likes and one share. 

But about 50 people clicked on the link to see what I had written. Three or four left positive comments on Facebook. 

What explains the low number of likes? 

Maybe the timing was bad and most people didn't see it. 

That's possible. 

Perhaps people just didn't find what I wrote engaging or relevant. 

That's very possible.

But I have a theory that most believers are at least a bit ashamed about their track record with prayer and Bible study. Our lack of discipline makes it uncomfortable to talk about such practices.

It might even make us feel like a hypocrite if we "like" a post about the importance of personal Bible study. 

I am not trying to be judgmental here - I want to be part of the solution. 

I want to see American believers not only spending time in God's word, but letting that word "dwell in us richly". 

(Who knows ... maybe teaching and admonishing each other with wisdom could also become a reality.)  

FOOLED

I found this quote on Facebook this morning. (I would give credit for the artwork if I could remember who posted it.)

I think the second way "to be fooled" is the more tragic. 

In the first way, someone else is making a fool of you. 

In the second way, you are fooling yourself. 

Avoiding the first way to be fooled requires discernment, a healthy skepticism, and critical thinking.

Avoiding the second demands humility.

Which do you think is more difficult?

A BIBLE STUDY PRACTICE TO RECOMMEND

In October 2021 I started a Bible reading habit that has benefited me more than anything else I have done in my life to strengthen my spirit.

Including going to seminary.

I am not exaggerating. 

The best part is the simplicity: 

As I read Scripture, I write it. And as I write it, I look for key words and how the sentences are structured. I try to represent relationships between words and ideas in the way I write the verse out on the page. Sometimes I write out my own thoughts and questions on the opposite page or in brackets. 

That's it. 

It ends up looking something like this from Colossians 3:5-7 this morning:

I am all for those programs that help you read through the entire Bible in a year. That's a great practice to get an overview and to see all the different flavors of different books.

But my new practice is not about speed and coverage. It is about depth. 

Taking notes forces me to slow down and digest each word and each sentence. Scripture is so dense with meaning that it is taking me weeks and even months to get through a single book. 

But each morning is full. 

The results are far greater than the small amount of effort it requires. 

DOCTRINE

In his book God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World, author Stephen Prothero begins his chapter on Judaism with these two sentences:

"Judaism begins and ends with a story. If Christianity is to a great extent about doctrine and Islam about ritual, Judaism is about narrative." 

Those words gave me pause ... IS Christianity "to a great extent about doctrine"? 

IS a striving for right belief (orthodoxy) what defines us?

(That would explain the thousands of distinct denominations within what is supposed to be a united Church body.) 

Maybe Prothero is correct and doctrine does define us. But should it?

And is right action (orthopraxy), then, merely a secondary consideration at best?

Matthew 7:15-20 quotes Jesus as saying, 

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them."

Doctrine should never be separated from practice, even in our imaginations. 

Right doctrines will always be evidenced by right actions. 

 

PROPHECY

Tomorrow morning I am preaching on Isaiah 11:1-10 - one of the Old Testament prophecies closely associated with the Christmas story. 

It's the one that starts like this:

"A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit."

Years ago I heard someone explain something about Biblical prophecy I had never heard before - but it made so much sense:

Prophecy is not so much about prediction before the fact as it is about confirmation after the fact.

We tend to assume prophecy is all about predicting coming events. Thus, if we can just figure out the Bible code, we will be prepared in advance for what the future will bring. 

For instance, over the years various scholars have spilled a lot of ink commenting on the book of Revelation as predictive of all sorts of events connected to the End Times. 

Seeing as how the language is so poetic and the interpretations diverge wildly, if the function of prophecy is predictive, it would be tempting to judge Revelation as a failure.

But what if the function is, instead, confirmation? 

This is certainly how the New Testament writers treated the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah. 

If predicting milestones of history ahead of time is not the goal, then perhaps prophecy is meant more to reassure believers - in the midst of living through those milestones - that God is in control. 

He is not caught off guard.

He is working His plan.

Since the (first) coming of Jesus unfolded in such counterintuitive and unexpected places and ways, it was incredibly important for the early believers to be able to look back at various centuries-old Scriptures, slap their foreheads, and proclaim, "NOW we see it!" 

Some day, the book of Revelation will read the same way. On that day when believers finally find complete and undeniable agreement on what it signifies (the hard way), the book will serve as a great comfort to God's people. 

BRANCH NIGHT

Our whole family gathered this evening in West Lafayette, Indiana. Melissa, Sarah, and I came from Columbus. Hannah drove over from Olivet. Samuel from Ball State. And Caleb came up from Wabash. 

The occasion was Caleb's ROTC "Branch Night" - the night when all the cadets are informed which branch of the Army they will be serving upon graduation.

The battalion put together a nice catered meal followed by the evening's program: Each cadet was called up on stage to receive a lapel pin which would reveal his or her area of service for at least the next 4 or 5 years.

Caleb received "Armor" for the next four years, meaning he will be driving tanks. Then, God willing, he will move into Military Intelligence for a year.

To say the least, the whole family is incredibly proud of Caleb. He has put a lot of hours and a lot of effort into ROTC these past two and a half years. We are happy to get a glimpse of what the future may hold for him after his time at Wabash ends. More specific details will be coming in a few months. 

Well done, Son. 

FAITH

As I have gotten more serious about my personal study of Scripture, I realize even though I am quite familiar with a number of key words which crop up again and again - love, peace, justice, glory, etc. - if I were pressed, articulating a coherent and complete definition would cause me great trouble.

One of those words is "faith".  

So I have been developing my own definition: 

Faith is the process of aligning my concept of reality with Reality as revealed by God. This is belief in God's Truth followed closely by whatever action that Truth demands. 

The starting point of this process is the belief that Jesus is the Son of God. 

But that belief is like stepping up to the starting line. It puts me in the right location, but what happens when the pistol goes off determines whether I am an athlete running the race or a spectator watching others run. 

Belief, in general, is only the first half of Faith. 

DAILY WRITING

Somehow, I forgot to hit publish on what I wrote last night. I haven't made that mistake since early in this experiment of daily writing. 

The experiment is now one month shy of two full years. During that span of days there were fewer than 7 when I did not publish something. And most were during my trip to Ghana, on nights when I was sleeping at some sketchy guesthouses with no Wi-Fi. 

I have been thinking recently about what I want to do with this experiment once January 1st arrives. I don't have a great desire to go for year #3 doing the same thing. 

One of my goals was to get daily writing practice and another was to convince myself that I am a writer. 

It took almost two years to make "writer" a part of my identity, but I am finally there. 

And with that realization and a bit of math, I have concluded that in the time I have devoted to blogging each day, I could have written at least one book. Maybe more. 

So in January, I am going to attempt a habit transplant - swapping out blogging before bed with daily book writing progress. 

I won't be starting with a blank page - I currently have my own small book in rough draft and a book in conjunction with a friend in its early stages. Both are waiting for attention.

I anticipate continuing blogging regularly, but likely not daily. (Unless I work it into my morning devotions somehow. That could be interesting.)

We will see what happens. 

All I know is the time is ripe for my habits to evolve.  

TWO VOICES

Last night's post came across pretty confident, but truth be told, lately I find myself getting whiplash from turning my attention between two competing voices.

One voice says, "You're thinking too big."

The other says, "You're thinking too small."

How do you decide which voice to keep and which to kick?

Along with "Too big!", that first voice cries out, "You're going to fail. You don't have what it takes. You're fooling yourself."

While the second offers advice like, "Trust God" and "Keep pushing ahead". 

Hmmm.

Now that I write it out, it seems pretty obvious:

The first voice is fear.

The second voice is faith. 

PREPARED IN ADVANCE

Francis Azaglo is a teacher in a small town in Ghana, but it doesn't pay much. To stay afloat, Francis started to look for some way to increase his family's income. 

About a year ago - with the help of a $1,000 loan from Mission Resource - he and his wife stocked a small shop on the main street where they could sell food (like fresh eggs) and household items (like superglue). 

Business has been good! 

As he finishes paying back his first loan, Francis has started thinking about the next step in the growth of his business: He would like to buy a freezer so that he could add various types of frozen meats to his inventory. 

So his next loan request will be 2.5 or 3 times as much as his first!

With so many of our clients requesting annual loans year after year - and each one bigger than the last - you can see why we are constantly in need of growing the revolving fund. 

Many of our clients use their loans as part of an annual business plan. They count on Mission Resource to have the funds available to build on the previous year's successes.

And so they are counting on me to get the word out and find the people who can financially support their climb out of poverty. 

I feel the pressure, but I also read Ephesians 2:10 literally:

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

I believe my position with Mission Resource is right where the Lord planned to have me at this point in my life. 

And since I have assurance of God's advance planning - He does all the heavy lifting - I don't need to fear failure. 

JUSTICE?

What follows is a series of incomplete thoughts. I am using this space to try to work out something in the recesses of my mind, brought about by the recent news of a local married teacher being arrested for allegedly attempting online to lure what he thought was a 14 year old boy into a sexual relationship.

My wife and I spoke of this news the other night as we walked our neighborhood. We found ourselves contemplating why it was weighing so heavy on our hearts and minds. 

In apologetics, there is much talk of "the problem of evil" - stated most succinctly in the form of a question: "If God is good and all-powerful, why is there evil in this world?" 

It seems to me we have a related issue, though I don't remember ever coming across it in my reading. Related to "the problem of evil" is what we could call "the problem of justice". 

When a criminal is put on trial and found guilty, we take comfort in the belief that the victim has "gotten justice".  

But has "justice" really been done? Take a hypothetical case of a man who sexually abuses a young teen - what is "justice" when he gets caught? 

There is no possibility of "an eye for an eye" style of justice. The man "stole the innocence" of the teen. But the court system is not capable of stealing the man's innocence in return, even if he had any innocence to steal. 

So how does one accurately calculate the jail time for the man equal to the psychological, spiritual, and physical harm done in the moment to the child - not to mention the negative rippling effects throughout the remainder of the child's life? 

What part of the man's jail sentence brings any healing to the child?

And what does "justice" look like for the parents of that child? Or for the wife of that man? 

And what if the man was himself a victim of childhood abuse - should that fact mitigate his sentence?

The biggest question in my mind is this: does the concept of "justice" even make sense outside a God-centered worldview? Or are we left to settle for mere "punishment"? 

And isn't justice much more than punishment?

EFFICIENCY

This is Keteve. I met him in Ghana towards the end of September.

He owns some farm land and a herd of sheep. 

Keteve has been a Mission Resource client for the past two years. He has used his loans to vaccinate his sheep - a smart move. Otherwise, a disease could get a foothold within his herd and wipe out every last animal. 

Keteve would be ruined.

On the day I visited his farm, Keteve was clearing out great mounds of weeds from among his pepper and tomato plants. The weeds were gathered and thrown into the sheep pen where they were eagerly devoured.

Keteve said that soon he would be scooping the dung out of the pen to be used as fertilizer for his crops. 

Talk about an efficient system! 

Pulling up harmful weeds and turning them into fuel for new growth strikes me as a rather Godly effort ...