Thinking About Thinking About God

Thursday is sermon day, and I am hard at work writing my Sunday sermon (so nobody call me, OK?) . I wasn’t even going to think about writing on the blog; in fact, I hadn’t even thought about not thinking about it. Then my inbox pinged and I had an email from my friend Alan Smith and his TFTD (Thought for the Day). I thought this was right on target, so I decided to share it. Alan won’t mind; he borrowed it from Richard Fairchild’s Not Far From the Kingdom of God. As easy as it was not to think about the blog, it is sometimes very hard to think only about God. Enjoy.

In the days of the circuit riders a minister was out riding one afternoon and came upon a man out working in his field. "Fine day, isn't it?" the minister called out.

"It's fine for you", the man replied, "All you have to do is ride around on that horse thinking about God all day long, while I have to sweat here in this field and then walk home afterward. I don't think it is right you should have things so easy while I have to work so hard."

"On the contrary", the minister answered, "thinking about God is one of the most difficult things you can do. And to prove it, I'll give you this horse if you can think about God and nothing else for one minute."

"You're on," said the man and immediately he sat down in silence. Thirty seconds later he looked up at the minister, and said, "Does that include the saddle?"

I would agree that thinking about God and nothing else is a very difficult thing to do. I would also add, though, that it is just as hard for ministers as it is anyone else! Paul wrote, "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." (Colossians 3:2).

But our mind is filled nearly every minute of the day with things on this earth -- concerns about things that have happened, concerns about things that will (or might) happen, concerns about what we have (or don't have), concerns about how to get what we don't have, concerns about people that have done us wrong, concerns about what we want others to do for us.

And our mind is so crowded with the things of this world, that there's just not much room left for God. It's hard to think about God and God alone, for there is so much competing for our attention.

Allow me to give you this challenge -- think about God and nothing else for one minute. If you can achieve that goal, strive for five minutes. May thoughts of God increasingly fill your mind so that you can eventually say with the Psalmist all day long, "I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on Your wondrous works." (Psalm 145:15)

Truth in Advertising

I ran across a report from DailyIndia.com that told of a group of about 6,000 Christians in India that went through a public ceremony to reconvert back to Hinduism. The story told about organized Hindu opposition to Christian missionary work, though that is not the part that is most disturbing. It seems that that Christian missionaries had promised these people that if they converted to Christ, God would given them fancy houses, cars and other material blessings that simply did not materialize (pun intended). One reconverted Hindu said, “I don't have any problem. But they (the Christian missionaries) tempted us. They promised us houses. We stayed with them for two years.”

Back in June, I posted a YouTube video of John Piper (“Is God Enough”) pointing to “Health-and-Wealth” missionaries promising people that God would bless them with, well, health and wealth if they converted to Christianity. God wants his people to prosper, to be healed of all diseases, and to be blessed materially—the same “name-it-and-claim-it” rot taught on religious programming and in many churches in our country. The people in India bought this line, but when God didn’t deliver on His “end of the bargain,” they bolted back to Hinduism. Struggle and persecution wasn’t what they signed up for—they were in it for the house, car and plasma TV. I’m sure their missionary teachers would say that they didn’t have enough faith to “name it and claim it.” Maybe they never really had faith in the Christ of the cross; they just wanted the good life.

We need to be careful about our "truth in advertising." The gospel does not offer a solution to all our financial and relational problems. Paul was successful and prosperous UNTIL be became a Christian. Paul has a lot of friends and admirers UNTIL he became a Christian. Jesus promised that for some, faith would bring a sword, not peace, in their personal relationships (Matt 10:34-39). The problem for which Jesus is the solution is the problem of sin and eternal damnation. Sometimes the only prosperity that Jesus offers in this life is the prosperity of knowing that “heaven will surely be worth it all” (see Rom 8:18-25). What Christ offers is not financial or social prosperity; what Jesus offers is a cross. There are many benefits in this life of living as a Christian, but health and wealth aren't always among them. What God offers those who seek Him is that they will find Him; the greatest blessed God gives us is Himself.

On Translation, Zingers and Grace

On one of our trips to Ukraine, Cindy Byrd and I were invited to meet the family of a teen who had been attending our campaign meetings. We thought that her family had some questions about God and the Bible, and as it turned out, they did. It seems her family had friends who lived in the same tenement building who were Jehovah Witnesses, and they had been studying just long enough to become really confused. They wanted us to come and discuss the Bible with their Jehovah’s Witness friends. I remember thinking that it was a bit ironic that we traveled halfway around the world to get into an argument with some Jehovah’s Witnesses; we could have stayed home and waited for them to come to our door!

The thing we could not have done is discussed the Bible with very argumentative and indoctrinated people (and these folks were both and then some) through a translator. Our hostess was the only person present who spoke both English and Russian, so all the discussion had to go through her. Our JW friends would make impassioned (as in veins bulging in their necks and smoke coming from their nostrils) argument, but then they would have to sit and wait for their words to be translated from Russian into English, then for Cindy or I to respond and then for our words to be translated back into Russian for them. That took a long time… and it let them calm down a bit and kept things on a calmer keel would have been the case if we could have spoken directly. I remember thinking that all theological discussion needs to take place through a translator!

Maybe that is a lesson for us in our marriages, families and church relationships. Maybe rather than responding immediately to what people say to us, we need to wait for the translation. Maybe we need to wait long enough for the words of the flesh (what we want to say) to be translated into the words of the Spirit (what we should say). Paul expects us to translate our “unwholesome talk” (literally “rotten words”) into speech that is helpful and which builds up.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (Ephesians 4:29)

In Colossians 4:6, Paul uses the imagery of seasoning our words with grace, “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Often, in disagreements, we end up saying what makes us feel better rather than saying what is best for the other person. We need to let the Holy Spirit in us translate our words into what the other person really needs to hear. To do that, we need to slow down a bit. That’s hard for me to do… especially when I have a great zinger on the tip of my tongue. But it is that "zinger" that is often the “rotten words” that come from the flesh. We need to let the Spirit translate those into words that are beneficial and build up those who listen.

Matching Our Songs and Our Lives

We sang an interesting mix of songs yesterday— we had traditional hymns (“To God Be the Glory,” “Lord, We Come Before Thee Now”), Stamps-Baxter-type Gospel songs (“Glory-land Way,” “Sing and Be Happy”), and contemporary praise songs (“My God Reigns,” “How Great is Our God”). What tied them altogether was the word “rejoice.” (Our worship theme was "Rejoice in the Lord Always"). God has called his people in every generation to rejoice, so it makes sense that we sang songs from several generations. (OK, we didn’t have any Gregorian chants; maybe next week.) Because all of these songs were “rejoice” songs, they were uptempo and upbeat. They were written in different styles, but they moved… and those songs always move me.

I wonder-- can our happy-clappy “rejoice in the Lord” worship sometimes come across as rather... well, artificial? Sometimes we drag ourselves to church, weighed down with all kinds of issues in our families, finances, jobs, health, etc. We don't feel particularly happy-clappy, but we do feel the pressure to act like everything is "just fine." Is worship putting on a happy face for an hour? Is praise something we plug for an extra buzz of joy? Like this video?

Plug into our HGHD (Holy Ghost Hard Drive) for an extra jolt of joy? Is that what worship is—an artificial infusion of joy? Are we supposed to deny our struggles and hardships for an hour (OK, an hour and twenty minutes) so that we can worship acceptably? I remember an old prayer phrase used a lot in church prayers, “May we leave our worldly cares and concerns behind as we come to worship Thee.” Really? No. We don’t leave our cares behind—we bring them to God!

Jesus said that as long as we’re in the world, we will have troubles (John 16:33). But the rest of the verse is "But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Church isn’t the place where we act like we have no issues so that we can worship God. Church is where we go to be reminded that Jesus has indeed overcome the world and that we will overcome through Him. No, our lives don’t always match up to our songs NOW, but we sing them because one day they WILL match up!

Why, When I Was Your Age

I remember Jeff Walling complaining about the lack of good stories that our generation has to pass down to the next generation. Our folks from “the greatest generation” had lots of great stories— like walking 5 miles to school in the snow barefoot, uphill… both ways. My Dad tells of “chopping cotton” all day so that he could go see a Hopalong Cassidy double feature on Saturday. Mom tells about getting a battery operated radio from somewhere and rummaging around at the dump trying to find batteries to run it. Both talk about the rationing during the war (that would be World War II). But Dad does admit that he had plenty to eat during the depression; he knows that because every time he asked for food, he was told, “No, you’ve had plenty.” Great stories.

My generation just doesn't have stories with the same punch. “Why, when I was your age, we didn’t have remote control’ we had to get up off the couch and walk across the room to change the channels.” In fact, we had to change the channel with a pair of pliers because the TV channel selection knob on our ancient black-n-white TV was broken for years. Somehow that just doesn’t stack up with my Dad’s stories.

Or Paul. Paul’s gives a description of his “good old days” in preaching the gospel. To the folks at Corinth, some of whom has doubted his authority as an apostle, he recounts what he went through “back in the day” in order to preach the gospel—

Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. (2 Corinthians 11:24-28)

I really don’t have stories like that. My great-grandfather would ride the train to Texas to preach a meeting and then didn't get paid enough for a return ticket home. I don't have stories like that. Last Sunday, I had a huge canker sore (or “mouth ulcer”) on my tongue, and it literally hurt me to talk as I preached Sunday. Not much of a story. I once had someone tell me after a Sunday sermon, "You are a terrible preacher and I would never come to church here!" I wanted to say, "Good!" But that's even not much of a story.

I wonder if preaching and living the gospel has gotten a bit too easy for us (or for me) in this land of freedom and prosperity. I wonder if we have all gotten a bit spoiled and maybe a little entitled in our expectations of faith. Ultimately, the real problem is not that the stories that we pass down to the next generation are a little weak; the problem is that maybe the faith we pass on may be a little weak as well.

Sermons: Good, Bad and Ugly

I thought my Sunday sermon was going to a pretty good one. Things just fit together particularly well in the preparation, and I thought it was to be one of my better efforts. I was about two-thirds of the way through preaching it when I decided that maybe it wasn’t nearly as good as I thought. Not only did people seem to be tuning me out, but I noticed that they were tuning me out. When I’m really into preaching, a bomb could go off in the auditorium and I wouldn’t notice it. But that Sunday I noticed every yawn and puzzled look. Evidently what I thought was going to be a good sermon (at least on paper) wasn’t such a good sermon.

Yesterday was the other side of the coin. I really didn’t think the sermon yesterday was very good. It was one of those that changed directions in the middle of preparation, and I didn’t think it was crafted very well at all. I seemed to confirm that suspicion when I dozed off while reading over it early Sunday morning! Come on, when you fall asleep during your own sermon, that just can’t be a very good sign, right? But it actually came across pretty well in the delivery, and several people had good things to saw about much they appreciated the message and how badly they needed to hear it. Go figure!

This happens far too often to be a coincidence. I am open to the possibility that everyone realized how bad the sermon was and said all those nice things because they knew that I needed cheering up. It’s also possible that the listeners were more ready/open/needful yesterday and so the seed found more fertile soil. And it is further possible that I am just not a very good judge as to what makes a good sermon.

God uses things in His own way and His time. We don’t have to hit the ball out of the park for Him to do so! Was Paul talking about his preaching prowess when he said, “When I am weak, then am I strong?” So maybe I need more weak sermons for God to use in His own time? Of course, my church probably thinks that’s been my strategy all along. God doesn’t need our service to be the greatest; He only wants it to be faithful. He’ll supply what we lack in power, ability, imagination and all the rest. That is not an excuse for mediocrity in our service, but it is freedom from the feeling that everything is always up to us.

Satanic Bibles?

I have heard of a lot of silly things done in the name of being Biblical. Like the church that insisted that the cup used in communion had to have a handle on it (like a coffee mug) because a cup without a handle wasn’t a cup but a glass. Or the one brother who objected to another brother being an elder because he had gone out on strike with the Teamsters and the Bible says an elder can’t be a striker (1 Tim 3:3, KJV). But I have to admit that this story took me by surprise. One Baptist church in Canton, NC is going to use this Halloween to burn Satanic bibles… Satanic meaning any Bible that isn’t a KJV.

The Amazing Grace Baptist Church in Canton, N.C. will celebrate Halloween by burning Bibles that aren’t the King James Version, as well as music and books and anything else Pastor Marc Grizzard says is a satanic influence.

Among the authors whose books Grizzard plans to burn are well known ministers Rick Warren and Billy Graham because he says they have occasionally used Bibles other than the King James Version, which is the sole biblical source he considers infallible. (Just in case you think I'm making this up.)

Pastor Grizzard goes on to list some additional authors whose books will fuel their bonfire-- Bill Hybels, John McArthur, James Dobson, Charles Swindoll, John Piper, Chuck Colson, and Mother Teresa. Just to show us that he’s as hip as the next guy, Grizzard also mentions guys like Rob Bell, Shane Claiborne, Brennan Manning and William Young. I’m a little bummed that Max Lucado didn’t make the list; what’s a good book burning without some Max Lucado?

Just to show you that good folks at Amazing Grace (that’s ironic, isn’t it?) Baptist Church do have their priorities straight, they will serve barbecued chicken fried chicken and all the sides during the book burning. I’m not sure if they are going to barbecue the chicken over the book-burning bonfire.

Why is it again that so many non-Christians in our postmodern, secular world have such a hard time taking Christianity seriously as a belief system?

East to West

In A Forgiving God in an Unforgiving World, Ron Lee Davis tells the story of a priest in the Philippines. He was a respected man of God, but he carried the burden of a secret sin he had committed many years before. He had repented, but he still had no peace or sense of God's forgiveness.

In his parish, there was this woman who claimed to have visions in which she spoke with Christ. The priest, naturally, was a bit skeptical. But she insisted, and so he told her, "The next time you speak with Christ, ask him what sin your priest committed while he was in seminary." The woman agreed. A few days later the priest asked her, "Well, did Christ visit you in your dreams?" "Yes, he did," she replied. "So did you ask him what sin I committed in seminary?" "Yes." "Well, what did he say?" "He said, 'I don't remember'"

The old saying tells us, “When God forgives, He forgets.” Of course, he doesn’t really forget; God knows everything, and for him to really forget something, he would have to remember what it was that He had to forget! What God does is to decide not to hold our sin against us and to treat us as if we were not sinners. Psalm 103:9-13 says this--

9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or
repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

That is the mercy and grace of our God. And that is our only hope for holiness and for heaven. Praise be to God for His glorious grace!

Now, it’s our turn. We need to learn the fine art of forgetfulness too. The church will never be the spiritual family that God wants us to become until we get a lot better at forgiving one another and a whole lot worse at holding grudges. Paul says things like, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Col 3:13) and “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Eph 4:32). He should hold grudges with each other only as long as we want God to hold one against us. But if we want to be forgiven, then we had better be forgiving.

I love the Casting Crowns song "East to West" that is taken from the theme of Psalm 103. The songwriter asks Jesus to remind how far away his sin as been removed so that he won’t continue to struggle with his guilt and doubt. But we need to be reminded how far the east is from the west so that we can release our grudges and feelings of resentment to that same place. To be forgiven, we must forgive—

Jesus, can You show me just how far the east is from the west
'Cause I can't bear to see the man I've been come rising up in me again
In the arms of Your mercy I find rest
'Cause You know just how far the east is from the west
From one scarred hand to the other

Protecting Family Values

Lisa Miller wrote an interesting piece in Newsweek entitled “Marriage is Hard.” This caught my attention because it goes along with something we've been talking about in our Sunday class

Miller points to yet another “family values” politician who has a hard time applying his platform to his personal life. This time it is Senator John Ensign of Nevada. He voted to impeach President Clinton following Monica-gate and he supported a constitutional amendment to defend marriage. Sadly, he wasn’t doing much to defend his own marriage. Even as he wrapped himself in the mantle of family values, he was having an affair with one of his interns. Miller holds up Ensign as simply the “latest example of what so many see as the failure of the right to retain any credibility on the marriage question.”

We do have that credibility problem, don’t we? We mentioned before studies that indicate that evangelicals are more likely to become divorced than groups like Catholics, Muslims, Jews, or even atheists. It is hard to be taken seriously as having the answers for families when we aren’t practicing what we preach. Miller writes—

But when evangelicals are leading the charge in the marriage movement (and now, the anti-gay-marriage movement) arguing that sacred unions between one man and one woman are good for society because they're good for children, one would hope that they'd have worked out the kinks a little better than the rest of us.

Ouch! This is an accusation of the worst kind… a true one. If we really want to make a difference in protecting the sanctity of marriage, then we have to do better in our lives, not in our rhetoric. Now if the culture pointed at conservative Christians and said, “Hey, wait a minute—those people don’t ever get divorced…” Then we would have some credibility in talking about family values. Marriage is never going to be protected by presidential fiat or congressional constitutional amendments. It is protected when we live our lives so that it is apparent to all around us that God’s way works.

Miller begins her article by holding up Billy Graham’s policy of never allowing himself to be alone with a woman who was not his wife. He instructed his staffers to help him make sure this policy was followed. Miller writes, “Aware of the significance of his reputation and convinced of the moral value of the Gospel message, he took precautions to guard against his own human weakness.” Now that is how one protects traditional family values!

There's a Royal Banner Given for Display

We’ve all been to high school football games where the team comes out on the field and runs through a banner held by the cheerleaders with some school-spirited slogan written on it. Both my girls were cheerleaders at Denbigh High, and the slogan was usually something like “Maintain Dignity” or “We’re #9!” But ever since September 11, the cheerleaders at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High in Fort Oglethorpe, GA have been holding up banners printed with Bible verses. The banners said things like “Surely I am with you always to the end of the age,” “Commit to the Lord, whatever you do, and your plans will succeed,” and “If you have the faith of a mustard seed, nothing shall be impossible to you”— complete with the corresponding Bible reference. Coming up with a different Bible verse each week was a challenge for the girls, and the banners were something in which they took great pride. (At Denbigh High, the verse would have been “We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”)

Last week, word came from the school superintendent that the Bible verses had to go. There had been a complaint raise, and it was decided that the practice violated the separation of church and state. The cheerleaders can put up the banners outside the stadium if they want, but the football team now runs through a banner that says “This is Big Red Country.”

It’s not surprising that this happened. In our multicultural, post-Christian world, people are going to be offended by any expression of religion. All it took was one person who called the school superintendent to complain for this practice to be banned. Just the threat of lawsuits and the ACLU can be quite daunting.

What happened next is the story in this story (for me). The community was galvanized by this ruling. Hundreds attended a rally this week supporting the banners. Many of the students attended classes on Friday wearing shirts with Bible verses, and some even had "Warriors for Christ" painted on their cars. The entire football team stopped to pray right after they ran through the new generic banner. At the game there were dozens of signs all over the place in the stands. There were even some young men walking around shirtless with Bible verses painted on their chests (a practice that likely won’t continue into November, one would think).

I think this is a somewhat exaggerated illustration of something that has always been true. The power of the Christian faith has to do with the willingness of individual believers living lives that reflect their commitment to Christ. The state recognizing the power of religion is not nearly as important as you and me living out our faith in such a way that people see the difference that God makes in our lives. 1 Peter 3:15-16 says,

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

OK that may be a little too long to fit on a verse to run through before the game. But we need to make it something that we live by every day.

The Patience of a Spider

There is this little spider that is really complicating my life. He has decided that the best place for him to setup his bug-catching operation is in the corner of my garage door. He ingeniously builds the web so the garage door can go up and down without causing him any problems. And he is right on the flight path of all those bugs who rush into the garage heading for the house, so his little business is booming.

The problem is that his web is also in my flight path (and about face high) when I take out trash or let the dog out in the backyard. Not being one who learns easily, I walking out of the garage right into his web-- I’ve done that a 3-4 times now, and it's getting old. You know that little dance you do when you walk through a spider web and your swinging your hands around trying to get it off? I’m sure that looks pretty goofy to the neighbors who can’t see the web but can see you! The whole problem is made worse by the fact that my little friend is so successful catching bugs that not only do I have a spider web all over me, but it is interspersed with the carcasses of the dearly departed.

In addition to the times I've walked through the web, twice I have gotten out the broom and carefully dismantled his whole operation. But the next day my little friend is back with a whole new engineering marvel. This arachnid simply will not give up. He was there again this morning, but I did finally remember to step around him.I also decided that I needed to learn from him.

• Matthew 10:22- But he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
  
  
• 1 Corinthians 13:7- It [love] always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
  
  
• 2 Timothy 2:12- if we endure, we will also reign with him.
  
  
• Hebrews 10:32- Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering.
  
  
• Romans 12:12- Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
  
  
• James 1:12- Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

The same Greek word (hupŏmĕnō) is used in all of these texts and is translated variously by “stand firm,” “persevere,” “stood your ground,” and “patient.” It means to “stand firm by holding one’s ground.” It is one of the characteristics that allows faith to be maintained despite the difficulties and hardships that people of faith will suffer. Things will not always go well for us, but God expects us always to endure.

Sometimes when we use the word "patient" when what we really have in mind is “stoicism.” The patient person will wait without complaint or question-- at least that’s what we want out kids to do! The patience the Bible describes is more like my little spider who keeps on coming back despite the dummy who walks through his web. Sometimes faith means that we keep showing up.

That's the Way It Was and Is

I remember reading an article on youth ministry back in the 80’s (not long after I “retired” as a youth minister). The author told about as a youth minister (again, in the early 80’s), he mad a reference at a youth group devo about the break-up of the Beatles. One of his students asked him, “Who are the Beatles?” He then observed that often the things that youth ministers think are important to students are really things that are important to youth ministers. The world changes so quickly; it really is hard to stay current. I’m glad that I am old and no longer expected to even try!

Each August since 1998, Beloit College (in Wisconsin) has released as list called the “Beloit College Mindset List.” This list reminds us old people of how much the world that has shaped the lives of incoming college freshman differs from the world that shaped the classes that went on before them.

Most of this year’s freshman class was born in 1991. Interestingly, the headlines in ’91 railed about government bailouts, bad loans, and unemployment. The Tonight Show had just changed hosts, and people were wondering if the war in Iraq was worth it… so maybe things haven’t change so much. Sure they have. Notice the following (abbreviated) list of the “rapidly changing frame of reference for this new generation.” For the rising class of 2013…

1. Pan Am, Michael Landon, Dr. Seuss, Gene Roddenberry, and Freddie Mercury have always been dead.
2. Dan Rostenkowski, Jack Kevorkian, and Mike Tyson have always been felons.
3. They have never used a card catalog to find a book.
4. Salsa has always outsold ketchup.
5. Earvin "Magic" Johnson has always been HIV-positive.
6. They have been preparing for the arrival of HDTV all their lives.
7. Rap music has always been main stream.
8. The KGB has never officially existed.
9. Text has always been hyper.
10. Babies have always had a Social Security Number.
11. They have never had to “shake down” a thermometer.
12. McDonald's has always been serving Happy Meals in China.
13. Christopher Columbus has always had a bad rap.
14. Bobby Cox has always managed the Atlanta Braves.
15. There has always been a Cartoon Network.
16. They have always been able to read books on an electronic screen.
17. Belarus, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Latvia, Georgia, Lithuania, and Estonia have always been independent nations.
18. There have always been flat screen televisions.
19. The Today Show has always been seen on weekends.
20. There has always been blue Jell-O.

The message of Jesus Christ is timeless; it is as relevant today as it was 2000 years ago. But a lot of the cultural baggage we bring to it hasn’t been relevant for a long time. Flannelgraphs and Kool-Aid-n-cookies were helpful at one times. So was the KJV, Stamps-Baxter songs and week long gospel meetings. All of those things may be still helpful to some people today, but not to most people. The world has changed, and the way the church relates to it must change as well. I don’t like it. To me, Conan O’Brian is an idiot and Johnny Carson should still be doing the Tonight Show (I go to be by 9:30 now anyway). The world has changed.

Wishing things were the way they were never makes them so. We need to understand how the world is so that we can better know how to tell the old, old story to a new generation of people who need it just as badly as bid their parents and grandparents before them.