Zondervan Blog

Re:Word Weekly - 2/24/12

 

Re:Word is a weekly roundup of stories on faith, relationships, and the creative life.

  

1. How Big Is Your BUT? - Watch Lysa TerKeurst's webcast on overcoming excuses.  (via @LysaTerKeurst)

 

2. On Writing The Perfect Ending - Sue Brower (Executive Editor at Zondervan) shares proven wisdom for making your romance, women's lit, or suspense story go out with bang. (via @acfwTweets).

 

3.  The Cost of Not Failing - The engrossing story of would-be comedy star Duke Fightmaster leads Ed Czyewski to observe, "When we refuse to fail, we rob ourselves of important lessons ... and prevent ourselves from taking important steps forward." (via @TheHighCalling).

 

4. Four Ways to Be a Better Friend by Ann Voskamp (@annvoskamp).

 

5. What about Purgatory? asks author and scholar Scot McKnight... (@scotmcknight)

 

The poet Dante presents his poem "Purgatorio" to the city of Florence.

 

6. Five Ways to Spice Things Up with Your Spouse by author Sheila Wray Gregoire (@sheilagregoire)

 

7. 19 tips for authors (and aspiring authors) by Seth Godin. If you're not familiar with Godin, he's an incredibly entrepreneurial (and busy) thinker, writer, and marketer -- so I'm not surprised his first love is for self-publishing. We disagree on a few points about publishing (i.e., Tip #7), but even when Godin isn't right he's worth considering. Here are two of my favorites from the list:

The best time to start promoting your book is three years before it comes out. Three years to build a reputation, build a permission asset, build a blog, build a following, build credibility and build the connections you'll need later.

Pay for an eidtor editor. Not just to fix the typos, but to actually make your ramblings into something that people will choose to read... One of the things traditional publishers used to do is provide really insightful, even brilliant editors... but alas, that doesn't happen very often.*

(*I can't speak for the personnel at other publishers, but my editor colleagues at Zondervan are insightful and even brilliant. // I tip my hat to Zondervan author @pastorbrady for bringing Godin's post to my attention.)

 

- Adam Forrest, Zondervan

 

(Disclosure: Some Re:Word stories are by Zondervan authors. Some are not. All regard words or the Word, and all are useful / enriching / or just flat-out interesting. Image attribution: Domenico Di Michelino [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer shares these personal opinions for information purposes only. To receive new blogposts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

Prisons and Other Places the Kingdom Takes Root [Excerpt by Philip Yancey]

 

Excerpt from Grace Notes: Daily Readings with Philip Yancey (eBook).

 

Taking God's assignment seriously means that I must learn to look at the world upside down, as Jesus did. Instead of seeking out people who stroke my ego, I find those whose egos need stroking; instead of important people with resources who can do me favors, I find people with few resources; instead of the strong, I look for the weak; instead of the healthy, the sick. Is not this how God reconciles the world to himself? Did Jesus not insist that he came for the sinners and not the righteous, for the sick and not the healthy?

 

People often look upon [Jean] as mad...

The founder of the L'Arche homes for the mentally disabled, Jean Vanier, says that people often look upon him as mad. The brilliantly educated son of a governor general of Canada, he recruits skilled workers (Henri Nouwen was one) to serve and live among damaged people.

Vanier shrugs off those who second-guess his choices by saying he would rather be crazy by following the foolishness of the gospel than the nonsense of the values of our world. Furthermore, Vanier insists that those who serve the deformed and damaged benefit as much as the ones whom they are helping. Even the most disabled individuals respond instinctively to love, and in so doing they awaken what is most important in a human being: compassion, generosity, humility, love. Paradoxically, they replenish life in the very helpers who serve them.

 

In India I have worshiped among leprosy patients. Most of the medical advances in the treatment of leprosy came about as a result of missionary doctors, who alone were willing to live among patients and risk exposure to study the dreaded disease. As a result, Christian churches thrive in most major leprosy centers.

 

In Myanmar, I have visited homes for AIDS orphans, where Christian volunteers try to replace parental affection the disease has stolen away. In Jean Vanier's center in Toronto, I have watched a scholarly priest lavish daily care on a middle-aged man so mentally handicapped that he could not speak a word. The most rousing church services I have attended took place in Chile and Peru, in the bowels of a federal prison. Among the lowly, the wretched, the downtrodden, the rejects, God's kingdom takes root.

 

"The most rousing church services I have attended took place in Chile & Peru, in the bowels of a federal prison. Among the lowly ... God's kingdom takes root."

 

 

Learn More

-Philip Yancey

Learn more about Grace Notes eBook
Visit Philip Yancey's blog

 

(Image & some styling above are web-exclusive features not included in the text of Grace Notes. Image attribution: By MicheleLovesArt (Van Gogh Museum - Tree-roots, 1890) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

Smell of Dirt and Magnify the Lord [Excerpt by Ann Voskamp]

 

Excerpt from Selections from One Thousand Gifts: Finding Joy in What Really Matters by Ann Voskamp.

 

When we lay the soil of our hard lives open to the rain of grace and let joy penetrate our cracked and dry places, let joy soak into our broken skin and deep crevices, life grows. How can this not be the best thing for the world? For us? The clouds open when we mouth thanks...

 

Smell of dirt. Let grace and joy "penetrate our cracked and dry places."

 

[Consider how] Mary, with embryonic God Himself filling her womb, exalts in quiet ways: "My soul doth magnify the Lord" (Luke 1:46 KJV). So might I! Something always comes to fill the empty places. And when I give thanks for the seemingly microscopic, I make a place for God to grow within me. This, this, makes me full, and I "magnify him with thanksgiving" (Psalm 69:30 KJV).

 

What will a life magnify? ... All that is wholly wrong and terribly busted? Or God?

What will a life magnify? The world's stress cracks, the grubbiness of a day, all that is wholly wrong and terribly busted? Or God? Never is God's omnipotence and omniscience diminutive. God is not in need of magnifying by us so small, but the reverse. It's our lives that are little and we have falsely inflated self, and in thanks we decrease and the world returns right. I say thanks and I swell with him, and I swell the world and He stirs me, joy all afoot.

 

This, I think, this is the other side of prayer.

 

This act of naming grace moments, this list of God's gifts, moves beyond the shopping list variety of prayer and into the other side. The other side of prayer, the interior of His throne room, the inner walls of His powerful, lovebeating heart.

-Ann Voskamp

If you like, you are welcome to name a grace moment, a small gift from God, in the comments on this post.

- Adam Forrest, Zondervan

 

Learn More

Learn more about Selections from One Thousand Gifts, coming March 2012.

Visit Ann Voskamp's blog at www.aholyexperience.com.

(Image is an inset taken from Selections from One Thousand Gifts. Some styling above is web-exclusive. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

Use These Outreach Books (5 Zondervan Authors Honored with Outreach 2012 Resources of the Year Awards)

 

The 2012 Outreach Resources of the Year were announced today in a press release from Outreach magazine, honoring twenty evangelism-themed resources from the last year. Five of these resources are by by Zondervan authors.

The Outreach Resources of the Year series celebrates of "the best outreach-oriented books and curricula," says the magazine, which selects titles in "areas such as evangelism, compassion and justice ministries, missional living and cross-cultural ministries." Here is the magazine's Editor, Brian Orme, on the goal of the series:

These resources deserve accolades, but Outreach Resources of the Year is about more than that... We strive to help churches share God's love, reach their communities and change the world. Drawing their attention to the best resources available each year is one way we do that.

 

We at Zondervan couldn't agree more with Orme. Of course we're thrilled for our authors when they receive awards — we love our authors, and it's exciting to see their excellent work honored by others. But the chief reason we celebrate today is this: we're blessed to work with authors who help people share God's love and transform the world.

 

Here's the scoop on these five award-winning Zondervan authors and their books:

USE THESE BOOKS: Five 2012 Outreach Resources of the Year

1. Evangelism
	The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited by Scot McKnight (@scotmcknight) Evangelicals have reduced the gospel to the message of personal salvation. This book makes a plea for us to recover the old gospel as that which is still new and still fresh. (From the synopsis) Read Excerpt Learn More about The King Jesus Gospel
2. Church & Culture
	Half the Church: Recapturing God's Global Vision for Women by Carolyn Custis James (@carolynezer) James unpacks three transformative themes in the Bible that raise the bar for women and calls them to join their brothers in advancing God's gracious kingdom on earth. (From the synopsis) Read Excerpt Learn more about Half the Church Visit James's Blog
3. Children's Outreach
	The Nature of God: Ocean Adventures Book & DVDs by Peter Schriemer (Follow @peterschriemer) With rich and age-appropriate content based on & supplementing the presentations of Peter Schriemer in the DVD collection Nature of God, readers learn more about God's creation of eco-systems, flora, and fauna specifically found in the Hawaiian Islands of the United States. (From the synopsis) Learn More about Ocean Adventures Book Visit "The Nature of God" Page on Facebook
4. Youth Outreach
	Sticky Faith: Everyday Ideas to Build Lasting Faith in Your Kids by Kara Powell (@kpowellfyi & @stickyfaith) Based on Fuller Youth Institute findings, this easy-to-read guide presents both a compelling rationale and a powerful strategy to show parents how to actively encourage their children's spiritual growth so that it will stick to them into adulthood and empower them to develop a living, lasting faith. (From the synopsis) Learn More about Sticky Faith Visit the Sticky Faith Website
5. Small Group Curriculum
	Muslims, Christians, and Jesus DVD: Gaining Understanding and Building Relationships by Carl Medearis (Follow @carlmedearis) Medearis, an international expert in the field of Arab-American and Muslim-Christian relations, provides American Christians background info on Islam and tools for sharing Christ with their Muslim neighbors. (From the synopsis) Learn More about Muslims, Christians, & Jesus DVD

If you would like to send one of these authors congratulations on their achievement, leave your comment on Zondervan's EngagingChurch Blog. My coworker, Andrew Rogers, has graciously volunteered to forward everyone's messages to the authors!

The full list of 20 award winners are featured in the March/April 2012 issue of Outreach. Now we've covered five of Outreach's favorite books on evangelism. What's your favorite?

 

- Adam Forrest, Zondervan. Big tip of the hat to Andrew Rogers.

 

(This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives; the writer's opinions are his own, and are only intended for information purposes. To receive new blogposts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

On Ash Wednesday: Remember the Dust [Excerpt by Walt Wangerin, Jr.]

 

This Ash Wednesday excerpt is taken from Reliving the Passion: Meditations on the Suffering, Death, & the Resurrection of Jesus as Recorded in Mark (eBook) by Walt Wangerin, Jr.

 

Dust to Dust

"Remember," the Pastor has said for centuries, always on this day. "Remember," the Pastor has murmured, touching a finger to ash in a dish and smearing the ash on my forehead — "Remember, thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return."

 

Ash Wednesday, the day of the personal ashes, the first of the forty days of Lent: Like a deep bell tolling, this word defines the day and starts the season and bids me begin my devotional journey: Memento! "Remember!" ...

 

It's annoying to find the easy flow of my full life interrupted by the morbid prophecy that it shall end...

But that sounds old in a modern ear, doesn't it? Fusty, irrelevant, and positively medieval! Why should I think about death when all the world cries "Life" and "Live"? The priest of this age urge me toward "positive thinking," "grabbing the gusto," "feeling good about myself." And didn't Jesus himself promise life in abundance? It's annoying to find the easy flow of my full life interrupted by the morbid prophecy that it shall end...

 

Nevertheless, Memento! Tolls the ageless bell. In spite of my resistance, the day and the season together [say]: "Remember!" ... This is as simple as it gets [says the Lord]: if you do not interrupt your life with convictions of the death to come, then neither shall your death, when it comes, be interrupted by life...

 

Ancient is this warning of the church... Ancient, likewise, is the season of Lent, when the Christian is encouraged to think of her death and the sin that caused it – to examine herself, to know herself so deeply and well that knowledge becomes confession. But ancient, too, is the consolation such an exercise provides, ancient precisely because it is eternal.

 

It is this: that when we genuinely remember the death we deserve to die, we will be moved to remember the death the Lord in fact did die – because his took the place of ours. Ah, children, we will yearn to hear the Gospel story again and again, ever seeing therein our death in his, and rejoicing that we will therefore know a rising like his as well.

 

Remember now that thou art dust... My death and Jesus' death, by grace conjoined.

Remember now that thou art dust... My death and Jesus' death, by grace conjoined. Memento! – because this death, remembered now, yields life hereafter. And that life is forever.

 

Ah, dear Jesus! I feel the ashes of mortality upon my heart. Give me, please, the courage to acknowledge them; then give me the faithful sight to see them on your forehead; for you have died the death in my stead, my Redeemer and my Lord! Amen.

- Walt Wangerin, Jr.

Learn More

Learn more about Reliving the Passion eBook.

(Image from Reliving the Passion. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

Kingdom Dreams to Live by [Excerpt on Frederick Douglass, Justice, & Hope]

 

This excerpt presents a day of prayer taken from Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, by S. Claiborne, E. Okoro, & J. Wilson-Hartgrove. // Perhaps it's easiest to do good deeds when we're spurred on by a vision of the Kingdom of God?

 

Dreams to Live by

Frederick Douglass was born a slave in Maryland. His mother died shortly after his birth, and he was raised by his grandparents. A resourceful youth, he learned how to read and write by giving away food in exchange for reading lessons from neighborhood kids. Before long he was able to teach other slaves to read the Bible through weekly Sunday schools.

 

Frederick Douglass photographed circa 1879.

In 1838, at the age of twenty, Douglass escaped from slavery by impersonating a sailor and went on to become one of the most famous abolitionists and leaders in US history. He was a firm believer in the equality of all people, whether black, female, Native American, or recent immigrant. He was fond of saying, "I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong." ...

 

Lift us by awe at the things we see : to set our minds on none but thee.

 

Psalm 104:25–31 [Text to be spoken aloud, with bold text spoken by all present.]

O Lord, how manifold are your works! : in wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
Yonder is the great and wide sea with its living things too many to number : creatures both small and great.
There move the ships, and there is that Leviathan :
which you have made for the sport of it.
All of them look to you : to give them their food in due season.
You give it to them; they gather it :
you open your hand, and they are filled with good things.
You hide your face, and they are terrified : you take away their breath, and they die and return to their dust.
You send forth your Spirit, and they are created :
and so you renew the face of the earth...

[Today's Scripture Reading] Genesis 37:12–24 // Hebrews 10:11–25

Frederick Douglass wrote in his autobiography [of pre-abolition America, in 1845], "Between the Christianity of this land, and the Christianity of Christ, I recognize the widest possible difference... I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ; I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land. Indeed, I can see no reason ... for calling the religion of this land Christianity."

Jesus, even in our waking, grant us dreams by which to guide our lives. Make us to dream of justice for the oppressed, reunions for those torn from loved ones, hospitality for immigrants, and the healing of all wounds. Amen.

- Claiborne, Okoro, & Wilson-Hartgrove

Question: Hebrews 10:14 says, "Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds." What's one way someone has spurred you on to good deeds? Leave your comments on this post.

 

Learn More

Learn more about Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, and the Common Prayer Pocket Edition.

Visit the Common Prayer website at www.commonprayer.net

- Adam Forrest, Zondervan

(Image & some styling above are web-exclusive features and not included int the text of Common Prayer. Image by George K. Warren (d. 1884). [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

Is the Sermon on the Mount about Ideals or Grace? [Excerpt by Philip Yancey]

 

Excerpt from The Jesus I Never Knew eBook by Philip Yancey.

 

Learn More

Absolute ideals and absolute grace: after learning that dual message ... I returned to Jesus and found that it suffuses his teaching throughout the Gospels and especially in the Sermon on the Mount... [In Jesus's] comments about divorce, money, or any other moral issue, Jesus never lowered God's Ideal. "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect," he said. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." Not Tolstoy, not Francis of Assisi, not Mother Teresa, not anyone has completely fulfilled those commands.

 

Yet the same Jesus tenderly offered absolute grace. Jesus forgave an adulteress, a thief on the cross, a disciple who had denied ever knowing him. He tapped that traitorous disciple, Peter, to found his church and for the next advance turned to a man named Saul, who had made his mark persecuting Christians. Grace is absolute, inflexible, all-encompassing. It extends even to the people who nailed Jesus to the cross: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" were among the last words Jesus spoke on earth.

 

For years I had felt so unworthy before the absolute ideals of the Sermon on the Mount that I had missed in it any notion of grace. Once I understood the dual message, however, I went back and found that the message of grace gusts through the entire speech. It begins with the Beatitudes [and moves] toward the Lord's Prayer ... Jesus began this great sermon with gentle words for those in need and continued on with a prayer that has formed a model for all twelve-step groups. "One day at a time," say the alcoholics in AA; "Give us this day our daily bread," say the Christians. Grace is for the desperate, the needy, the broken, those who cannot make it on their own. Grace is for all of us.

 

For years I had thought of the Sermon on the Mount as a blueprint for human behavior that no one could possibly follow...

For years I had thought of the Sermon on the Mount as a blueprint for human behavior that no one could possibly follow. Reading it again, I found that Jesus gave these words not to cumber us, but to tell us what God is like. The character of God is the urtext of the Sermon on the Mount. Why should we love our enemies? Because our clement Father causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good. Why be perfect? Because God is perfect. Why store up treasures in heaven? Because the Father lives there and will lavishly reward us. Why live without fear and worry? Because the same God who clothes the lilies and the grass of the field has promised to take care of us. Why pray? If an earthly father gives his son bread or fish, how much more will the Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him.

 

How could I have missed it? Jesus did not proclaim the Sermon on the Mount so that we would ... furrow our brows in despair over our failure to achieve perfection. He gave it to impart to us God's Ideal toward which we should never stop striving, but also to show that none of us will ever reach that Ideal. The Sermon on the Mount forces us to recognize the great distance between God and us, and any attempt to reduce that distance by somehow moderating its demands misses the point altogether.

 

Before God we all stand on level ground.

The worst tragedy would be to turn the Sermon on the Mount into another form of legalism; it should rather put an end to all legalism. Legalism like the Pharisees' will always fail, not because it is too strict but because it is not strict enough. Thunderously, inarguably, the Sermon on the Mount proves that before God we all stand on level ground: murderers and temper-throwers, adulterers and lusters, thieves and coveters. We are all desperate, and that is in fact the only state appropriate to a human being who wants to know God. Having fallen from the absolute Ideal, we have nowhere to land but in the safety net of absolute grace.

 

Inset from Sermone della Montagna (1481-82) by Cosimo Rossini.

 

Learn More

-Philip Yancey

Learn more about The Jesus I Never Knew eBook
Visit Philip Yancey's blog

 

(Image & some styling above are web-exclusive features not included in the text ofJesus I Never Knew. Image attribution: Cosimo Rosselli, [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

How to Overcome Your Fear of Fasting [Guest post by Kristen Feola]

 

With Lent just around the corner, we're excited to publish this timely guest post from Kristen Feola, author of The Ultimate Guide to the Daniel Fast.

 

Fasting is a unique opportunity to know God in a deeper way and to hear His voice more clearly. When you fast, you deny yourself food, or certain foods, for a specified period of time as an act of surrender and worship. Those who have participated in this spiritual discipline can testify to experiencing an increased sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, greater awareness of their dependence on the Lord, and a stronger compulsion to intercede for others.

 

Types of Fasts • absolute – no food or water. • liquid – water, fruit and vegetables juices, and/or broth. • partial – eat certain groups of foods and restrict others (Daniel Fast)

However, despite the many benefits that fasting offers, many Christians choose not to fast. Although there are a variety of reasons why this is the case, I believe it's mostly because of fear.

 

Fear can be a crippling emotion, often keeping us from moving forward when the Lord wants us to step out in faith. When it comes to fasting, many believers find themselves in this position – intrigued by the idea but afraid to commit. Unwilling to trust God in this area of their lives, they remain stuck in place, immobilized by their fears. Some of the most common hindrances to fasting are as follows:

• Fear of failure.
• Fear of being hungry.
• Fear of letting go of what brings comfort.
• Fear of physical side effects.
• Fear of not seeing answers to prayer.

 

Perhaps you can relate. You've heard testimonies of people sharing about the closeness they share with the Lord on a fast. You're familiar with the verses in the Bible on the subject. Yet, you can't get past the anxiety of going without food or certain foods, so you dismiss the whole idea.

 

It's normal to be afraid when we stand on the horizon of the unknown. However, fear is never a valid excuse for disobedience. In fact, the Lord makes it clear that when are afraid, we should put our trust in him. During times of weakness, he wants us to acknowledge our inadequacy and recognize that he alone is our Source of strength.

 

The discipline of fasting is mentioned several times throughout the Bible, but one verse in particular shows us that this practice is to be a regular part of our lives. In Matthew 6:16, as Jesus is teaching his disciples on the issue of fasting, he begins with, "When you fast," not "If you fast." His words imply that fasting is not optional for his followers.

 

How, then, do you deal with the panicky feelings that often accompany a fast?

Living to Please the Masses or the Maestro? [Excerpt by Dave Gibbons]

 

This excerpt from XEALOTS by Dave Gibbons explores the true measure of success. It seems appropriate for this President's Day as we reflect on leadership and greatness. -AF

 

Who do you live to please?

He was the wisest man who ever lived, [and] Jesus worked with his hands as a common laborer for much of his adult life. When he started his official teaching ministry, the guys he chose to roll with were a crew of misfits. Few would have made it through the first round of job applications at most companies today. They did nothing to enhance his status or reputation.

 

Perhaps the greatest scandal of all, though, was that this man — God incarnate — eventually was brutally beaten, whipped, spat upon, and crucified on a Roman cross. By common standards of success, by the judgment of worldly wisdom, it made no sense. Why would the King of All Kings agree to be executed alongside common criminals? Why would the very definition of success agree to endure such shame? Why would he humbly refuse to retaliate? Why did he choose love over the flexing of military muscle. The way of Jesus was the Via Dolorosa, the Way of Suffering. It was a literal dying to self.

 

This is not a path any of us would willingly choose. What parent would consider this a successful life for their child? No, this graph is our worst nightmare: starting out in the upper right and heading sharply down and to the left, a graph depicting failure, disappointment, and pain.

 

"This graph [looks like] our worst nightmare," but read on.

 

The success of his life was measured by his obedience more than ... his passion.

But here is what really matters: regardless of how the world might rate Jesus' life, his Father was pleased. That is the true measure of success. It doesn't matter what the opinion polls said, who Jesus chose to align himself with, or how many disciples he produced in his lifetime. The success of his life was measured by his obedience more than even by his passion.

 

I once heard the story of a young piano player. He had just finished playing a concert. He walked off the stage to a standing ovation. Backstage, his manager urged him to go back out for an encore. The young man refused.

 

"Come on, they all love you!" the manager said. "No, not everyone," said the young man. "Did you see that old man in the back? He's not standing." "What's the big deal? He's one guy out of an entire crowd." "No," the pianist replied. "That old man is my teacher."

 

"And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?" [Mark 8:36] For all the energy we expend seeking success, what matters most is knowing how our lives will be judged. Because in the end, success has nothing to do with pleasing the masses. It's about obeying the One.

 

-Dave Gibbons

 

maestro, noun; "(1) A distinguished musician... (2) A great or distinguished figure in any sphere." -Google

Question: The true measure of success is pleasing ________.
(A) myself
(B) the masses
(C) the Maestro
 

Learn More

Learn more about Dave Gibbons's XEALOTS: Defying the Gravity of Normality

Follow Dave Gibbons on Twitter: @davegibbons

- Adam Forrest, Zondervan

 

(Images above is from the text of XEALOTS, though som styling above is web-exclusive. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

Re:Word Weekly - 2/17/12

Re:Word is a weekly roundup of stories on faith, relationships, and creativity. Read on for generous portions of useful and interesting.

1. 16 Ways to Flirt with Your Husband - A great post in Sheila Wray Gregoire's (@sheilagregoire) series on 29 tips to great sex for married couples.

 

2. A close look at the reliability of the New Testament with the mighty Craig Blomberg. (Tip of the hat to @edstetzer and his blog www.edstetzer.com).

 

3. Getting Creative Things Done: How to Fit Hard Thinking into a Busy Schedule Blogger Cal Newport offers a system for doing creative work in our busy, to-do-list-laden schedules.

 

4. A Prayer for Your Home - A lovely poetic prayer by Ann Voskamp (@annvoskamp).

 

5. A challenge against passivity by author Michael Wittmer. This piece may be soon appear on ourdailyjourney.org, and it's thrilling to me when Wittmer posts his in-progress work to let readers "under the hood" with him. I learn something about faith and the writing process every time.

 

6. The 19th-century invention that annihilated time and space In 1844, the cutting edge of communications technology was the telegraph, and reports of its first success range from the charming to the near hysterical. My two favorite examples:

April 20, 1844
Mr. Morse said that, in conversing with the superintendent at the other end, he sometimes forgot himself, and was about to speak to him as though he were present, forgetting that he was talking with a man eleven or twelve miles distant.

May 31, 1844
Time and space has been completely annihilated.

 

The reactions seem positive, but their force reminds me of the equally strong criticism against new digital technology. For example, see Dr. Sherry Turkle's view that texting and cellphones are means to isolation. While I respect Turkle's point of view, the telegraph craze of 1844 is an amusing reminder that measuring the effects of technology is tricky business.

 

It's Just another piece to keep in mind as we consider ominous questions (such as this one, from Turkle: "people hide from telephone calls because they don't want the commitment of real-time talking... Who knows where it might lead?").

 

Morse's telegraph machine, aka the Annihilator of Time and Space.

7. A Statement from Christians Who are "Moving Beyond Evangelical" - Put two evangelicals in a room and you'll hear three opinions on what "evangelical" means.

Beyond the word itself, there's confusion about what the evangelical identity is about. If I understand author Frank Viola's post correctly, he finds the character of evangelicalism to be increasingly polemical,  "more about [political and doctrinal] issues than about Jesus Christ."

I don't know that I agree with Viola on all the points of the collective Confession he presents, but when it comes to differences of opinion, we agree with Augustine's rule of thumb:

"In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity."

Frank Viola blogs at frankviola.org, though this post is from Kurt Willems' Pangea Blog where Kurt wrote a related thought-provoking post, You Might be an Evangelical Reject If....

For further reading, check out Zondervan's Four Views on the Spectrum of Evangelicalism.

 

I'll end with a 2-part question.
Two strangers approach you.
The first asks you if you're a Christian. What do you say?
The second stranger asks if you're an evangelical. What do you say?

- Adam Forrest, Zondervan

 

(Disclosure: Some Re:Word stories are by Zondervan authors. Some are not. All regard words or the Word. Image attribution: 2006 Zubro (image by myself) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer shares these personal opinions for information purposes only. To receive new blogposts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)