The Visitor

"Jane" (not her real name) showed up alone at my church last Sunday. My Mother-in-Law, who's never met a stranger in her life, introduced me to her. New to the church myself, I assumed Jane was a long time church member who wanted to meet the new pastor.  I was wrong.  "I'm a new Christian", said Jane. Apparently, Jane had recently become a follower of Jesus through the influence of a Christian neighbor who spent a long evening over a bottle of wine with Jane and her husband,  discussing his faith in Christ and answering their questions, talking and debating until the wee hours of the morning.

So here she was, by herself (husband and kids at home), and visiting our church in the hopes of finding a place to connect with other believers. This articulate university professor found herself convinced that Jesus was really the son of God.

We emailed the other day and I offered to recommend a few favorite books to help answer the questions she has about her new found faith. She wrote back and said she'll take me up on the offer soon.

So Jane, if you're reading this, here's a couple of books that I reccomend to those who want to investigate Christianity. You might even find these books helpful for that husband of yours who thinks we're all just following a bunch of fairy tales invented to keep people moral.

• "The Reason for God" by Tim Keller. This New York Times bestseller is one of my all time favorite books on the veracity of Christianity. Keller serves as the senior pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. His congregation is made up of skeptical New Yorkers, many who came from secular backgrounds and had no belief in God prior to attending Keller's church. My wife attended his church when she lived in Manhattan. She fondly remembered his Q&A time held at the end of each service, where Keller made himself available to those who had questions about Christianity. This book is a composite of those Q&A sessions and is a great resource for those investigating Christianity

Here's a brief clip of Dr. Keller, sharing a little bit about the book:

• Another favorite book of mine is "The Case for Christ", by Lee Strobel, my friend Kyle's father.  Strobel was an athiest and a legal editor for the Chicago Tribune. He came home from work one day and to his horror, discovered that his agnostic wife had become a follower of Jesus. Intrigued, he began using his journalism skills to investigate Christianity and in the process, became convinced that it was true. Strobel's book is actually a collection of interviews with scholars and theologians. He puts his journalism skills to work interviewing experts and asking tough questions on a search to determine if it is reasonable to believe that the historical person of Jesus Christ is really the son of God. It's an easy, informative read and a great resource.

Merry Christmas!

Tonight, the redhead and I attended a neighborhood Christmas Eve potluck in her hometown of Houston. It's an event she hasn't missed for the last fifteen years.

Halfway through the potluck, we took a moment to pause and remember what it's all about. We were asked to read the following commentary originally given in 1971 by Harry Reasoner on "60 Minutes." May it remind you of the wonder and astonishment of what happened that first Christmas in Bethlehem.

"The basis for this tremendous burst of buying things and gift giving and parties and near hysteria, is a quiet event that Christians believe actually happened a long time ago. You can say that in all societies there has always been a midwinter festival, and that many of the trappings of our Christmas are almost violently pagan, but you come back to the central fact of the day, ...the birth of God on earth.It leaves you only three ways of accepting Christmas. One is cynically, as a time to make money or endorse the making of it. One is graciously, the appropriate attitude for non-Christians, who wish their fellow citizens all the joys their beliefs entitle them. And the third, of course, is reverently.

If this is the anniversary of the appearance of the Lord of the universe in the form of a helpless babe -- it is a very important day. It's a startling idea, of course, the whole story that a virgin was selected by God to bear His Son as a way of showing His love and concern for man. It's my guess that, in spite of all the lip service given to it, it is not an idea that has been popular with theologians.

It's a somewhat illogical idea, and theologians like logic almost as much as they like God. It's so revolutionary an idea that it probably could only have come from a God that is beyond logic, and beyond theology. It has a magnificent appeal. Almost nobody has seen God, and almost nobody has any real idea of what He is like, and the truth is that among men the idea of seeing God suddenly, and standing in a very bright light, is not necessarily a completely comforting and appealing idea. But everyone has seen babies, and most people like them. If God wanted to be loved as well as feared, He moved correctly here, for a baby growing up and learns all about people. If God wanted to be intimately a part of Man he moved correctly, for the experience of birth and family-hood is our most intimate and precious experience.

So it comes beyond logic. It is either a falsehood or it is the truest thing in the world. It's the story of the great innocence of God the baby. God in the person of man has such a dramatic shock toward the heart, that it, if it is not true, for Christians, nothing is true. So even if you have not got your shopping all done and are swamped with the commercialism and the frenzy, be at peace...The story stands.So, if a Christian is touched only once a year, the touching is still worth it, and maybe on some given Christmas, some final quiet morning, the touch will take."

Here’s praying that the touch will take in all our lives…and that the amazement will remain all year long. Nothing could make for a better Christmas.

Believe and See

The redhead and I were home Friday night, playing an intense game of Scrabble (I know, I know…we sound like an old married couple…but she was sick…and…never mind…). We had the TV on and between turns, we watched “The Polar Express.” I hadn’t seen this film in a few years and forgot about how much longing it stirs up in me (I’ll save that for another blog post). The film is about a boy who’s grown skeptical of the whole Santa Claus thing until one Christmas Eve when a train shows up in his front yard. The conductor invites him to take a ride on the Polar Express to travel to the North Pole to meet Santa himself.

I was intrigued by how the movie addresses the whole topic of skepticism. For the boy, seeing is believing. Until he sees Santa, he won’t believe.

Near the end of the film, the skeptical boy is at the North Pole, he’s surrounded by thousands of elves, stands within eye shot of the flying reindeer and is standing with a group of ecstatic children, all jumping up and down with excitement over the appearance of Santa. All of them can see him, except, that is, for the boy who won’t believe until he sees. The crowd is blocking Santa and he can't get a good, convincing glimpse of him.

Suddenly, he has a change of heart. He shuts his eyes tightly and vows that he believes in Santa. Upon opening his eyes, he finds himself standing before St. Nicolas himself. Believing leads to seeing.

The film reminded me a of a quote attributed to Blaise Pacal, a French philosopher and scientist who converted to Christianity and penned the Penses (sayings)…a collection of sayings that scholars believe to be the basis of a book he was writing. (Pascal died before the book's completion. but the sayings have been in print for a few hundred years). In the Penses, he states that “God has given us enough evidence of himself so that faith in him is a most reasonable thing…but you won’t get there by reason alone.”

The boy has a lot evidence for the existence of Santa: he’s at the North Pole and he's surrounded by elves and flying reindeer. There’s enough evidence to conclude that belief in Santa is reasonable, but he doesn’t get there by reason alone, he chooses to believe, and then he sees the Jolly Elf.

It seems like God puts us in a similar situation as the boy in this movie. It's not unreasonable to believe in him. There’s enough evidence. But we have to choose to believe before we see. Why? Why doesn’t he make himself more obvious?

I think God hides himself a bit because he wants more from us than the mere acknowledgment of his existence. He wants to be known. I know that in my own life, I personally could care less how many people on this planet are aware of my existence. I do desire, however, to be known and loved. Jesus said the greatest thing we could do was to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength (loving our neighbor comes next). God wants our love, and that has to be freely given. He gives us the space to reach out to him or reject him. He doesn't leave us without evidence of his existence. He leaves just enough of a trail to follow if we want to find him. And if we hope on board the train, he provides us with more clues to his existence. But there's just enough of a lack of a trail if we want to reject him. His distance gives us the space and freedom to to either love him or reject him. The choice is ours…believing is seeing.

Getting the white stone rolling again

After a long hiatus...I hope to be writing on a more regular basis soon. Starting with a full entry on December 1st to start off the Christmas season...more to come on Monday.

The Facebook Song

Have you checked out Facebook yet? The advent of social networking sites like Facebook is bringing enormous changes in the ways we connect with people. I first heard about the site a few years ago through my work with college students. I shrugged it off for a year or two but then decided to log on to see what all the fuss was about. Since creating my facebook page about a year ago, I've reunited with several old friends from high school, some whom I haven't seen in over twenty years.

Here's a fun introduction to Facebook from internet stars Rhett and Link, singing, "The Facebook Song."

Trapped in the Estrogen Prison

Last week, I dragged...I mean persuaded, the redhead to join me in a Spin class at our local gym. She agreed, under the condition that I would attend a yoga class with her the following week. "Sure," I said. How hard could it be...a yoga class? (Y-A-W-N). No weights, no grunting, and a room full of women stretching and breathing deeply to the sounds of pretty music. In other words, not much of a workout.

Sure enough, this morning I entered a dimly lit room filled with soft music and way, way too much estrogen. I saw another guy in the back of the room and a third who arrived to class late, wearing a pink bandana on his head (no comment). With the door shut behind me, there was no escaping to the weight room.

My rude awakening hit about twenty minutes later.

There I was, stretching out along to the tune of a Nora Jones song, breathing deeply, gulping down air, sweating profusely, and desperate for mercy. The soft spoken instructor sounded like she'd popped one too many valium that morning. Thirty minutes later, I was ready to the give the "sun salutation" a salute of my own and ready to kick the "crouching dog, hidden dragon" where the sun don't shine. I collapsed an hour late, begging to be set free from the estrogen prison.

Maybe I'll go again next week.

But only if I can bring a few dumbells.

Discontent

On Sunday, the redhead and I listened to a pastor teach on the topic of joy and happiness. He talked about how our culture keeps us in a state of restlessness and dissatisfaction with our current situation.

In order to keep us consuming more and more, and thereby keeping the economy going, ad agencies work hard to keep us in a constant state of dissatisfaction with our present life. "Wants" turn into "needs" and "necessities" turn into "must haves."

The pastor then cited the following example:

A few years ago, Psychology Today magazine ran an article by Hollywood publicist Michael Levine, in which he argued that constant exposure to beautiful women has made single men less interested in dating and married men less interested in their wives. According to Levine, prior to 1950, the average man didn't have a television, and prior to the automobile and airplane, he was limited in travel. Today, the average guy is exposed to thousands of women through travel, television, movies, the internet, magazines, etc and as a result, he begins losing interest in the more "ordinary" women around him.

What is surprising about this article is his explanation for the average guy's loss of interest. It wasn't that a typical male thinks that "ordinary" women are less attractive. Instead, he thinks, "My wife looks good...but since there are so many beautiful women out there, I can do better."

The sermon led to a great conversation between the redhead and I as we talked about how the constant barrage of ads and images can really take its toll on the soul.

How do you protect yourself our consumer culture's constant pull on your life? How do you keep yourself from being dissatisfied with the good you have in your life right now?