>John Mayer and Manhood

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A few years ago Dr. Al Mohler identified 13 Marks of Manhood (see From Boy to Man: The Marks of Manhood Part 1 and Part 2).  I appreciate Dr. Mohler sharing this wisdom, especially as a man who was raised without a father and who didn’t benefit from having an example of what it means to be a man, because we live in a society that has forgotten what it means to be a man.  Not only do Dr. Mohler’s comments help us judge ourselves (I know I have certainly not arrived when I compare myself to these standards), but I think they’re also useful for boys to keep in mind when setting goals for who they want to be and when measuring the worthiness of the “heroes” they’ve adopted. 

As a fan of John Mayer and his music, I was disappointed to learn of his recent comments in an interview that included racist remarks and racy details of sex with Jessica Simpson.  For me it was a reminder that we all too often separate art from the artist and thereby excuse the behavior of our “heroes” because of how much we appreciate what they do.  Whether it’s Tiger Woods or John Mayer, we have tendency in our culture to allow talent to overshadow the integrity and moral reasoning of those who make us cheer.  

I think Dr. Mohler’s  comments about moral maturity are particularity relevant in the world we live in today.  He says:

Stereotypical behavior on the part of young males is, in the main, marked by recklessness, irresponsibility and worse. As a boy grows into manhood, he must develop moral maturity as he aspires to righteousness, learning to think like a Christian, act like a Christian and show others how to do the same. The Christian man is to be an example to others, teaching by both precept and example.

Of course, this requires the exercise of responsible moral reasoning. True moral education begins with a clear understanding of moral standards, but must move to the higher level of moral reasoning by which a young man learns how biblical principles are translated into godly living and how the moral challenges of his day must be met with the truths revealed in God’s inerrant and infallible word.

I think John Mayer would agree.  Amidst criticism for his comments he issued a tearful, lengthy apology at his concert in Nashville on Wednesday night.  Wringing his hands on stage, he told his audience that he fell into “a wormhole of selfishness, greediness and arrogance” and “in the quest to be clever, forgot about the people who love me and that I love.” 

We all fall in “wormholes of selfish, greediness and arrogance.”  We all do.  And when we do, not only do we hurt others, but we miss the mark of manhood that God has set before us in His word.  But instead of turning our backs on our “heroes,” we must learn from their failures, remind ourselves that they are human (and ask God to forgive us for forgetting), and reflect on our own lives as we strive to be real men in a world that has so few.  

>Tea With Hezbollah

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Is it really possible to love one’s enemies? That’s the question that sparked a fascinating and, at times, terrifying journey into the heart of the Middle East during the summer of 2008. It was a trip that began in Egypt, passed beneath the steel and glass high rises of Saudi Arabia, then wound through the bullet- pocked alleyways of Beirut and dusty streets of Damascus, before ending at the cradle of the world’s three major religions: Jerusalem.

Tea with Hezbollah combines nail-biting narrative with the texture of rich historical background, as readers join novelist Ted Dekker and his co-author and Middle East expert, Carl Medearis, on a hair-raising journey. They are with them in every rocky cab ride, late-night border crossing, and back-room conversation as they sit down one-on-one with some of the most notorious leaders of the Arab world. These candid discussions with leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas, with muftis, sheikhs, and ayatollahs, with Osama bin Laden’s brothers, reveal these men to be real people with emotions, fears, and hopes of their own. Along the way, Dekker and Medearis discover surprising answers and even more surprising questions that they could not have anticipated—questions that lead straight to the heart of Middle Eastern conflict.

Through powerful narrative, Tea With Hezbollah will draw the West into a completely fresh understanding of those we call our enemies and the teaching that dares us to love them. A must read for all who see the looming threat rising in the Middle East.

HT: Why Do You Fear Me?

>Tips for Watching the Super Bowl

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CJ Mahaney offers four tips for watching the Super Bowl (and all sporting events) for the glory of God:

1. Strategically assign the remote.

Some prefer to turn off all the commercials; other prefer to just keep an eye on it and turn off the offensive ones. Either way, be proactive about what shows up on your TV screen. One way to do this is to assign one person (someone with both discernment and quick reflexes) to remote-control duty.” This cannot be just anybody. Throughout the game viewers are assaulted with commercials—immoral commercials, commercials that assault and offend one’s intelligence, and commercials with immodestly dressed women (which both tempt men and belittle women). These are as much a part of the Super Bowl as the game itself.

Working the remote requires skill and coordination as well as discernment. This person needs to be paying attention and anticipating commercial breaks. While everyone else enjoys the game, this person is working and always aware of what’s on the TV.

I recommend you establish on the remote an alternative channel that presents no temptation (C-SPAN for example). Turning to C-SPAN will ensure that conversation will take place.

2. Watch proactively.

I encourage fathers to watch actively and discerningly, never passively and superficially. There is no doubt that throughout the game you will hear one superlative after another attributed to the skill of the athletes. The accent throughout the game will be on skill, not character.

Nowhere is the word great mentioned more often in our culture than in the context of professional sports. If you watch any game this weekend and listen to the announcer’s commentary, then like a mantra you’ll probably hear the word great repeated throughout—great, great, great. Yet it may well be that nowhere in our culture is the absence of true greatness more evident than in professional sports. So be careful about cultivating an excessive love for professional athletics in your child.

Without minimizing the skill as a gift from God, I want to direct my son’s attention to character as theologically defined. So as Chad and I watch the game, I will draw his attention to any evidence of humility or unselfishness I observe, as well as any expression of arrogance or selfishness. I will celebrate the former and ridicule the latter.

3. Foster fellowship.

We need to make sure a room full of people are not simply passively watching the Super Bowl. Commercial time can be time redeemed with the right leadership and by a simply changing of the channel to C-SPAN.

Don’t misunderstand. It’s perfectly legitimate to watch and enjoy the game. I’m not advocating that you invite those who have no interest in the game and who want to distract your attention from the game. You can arrange to meet with those people at another time.

No matter who we invite to our homes on Sunday, let’s not just stare at the TV, paying little attention to our families and our guests. Watching the game should involve building relationships.

4. Draw attention to the eternal.

Sometime after the game—that same evening or the next day—it’s helpful for a father to draw his child’s attention to the game in light of eternity. It’s also helpful for us as fathers to be reminded of an eternal perspective.

Apart from those few who listen excessively to sports talk radio, this game will be quickly forgotten. Let me ask you this—who won the Super Bowl even five years ago?

The day before the 1972 Super Bowl, Dallas Cowboy running back Duane Thomas said, “If it’s the ultimate game how come they’re playing it again next year?” Some players seem to get it. Sadly, many fans don’t.

More recently Tom Brady, quarterback of three Super Bowl championships, is quoted in a 60 Minutes interview saying,

Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there’s something greater out there for me? I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, “Hey man, this is what is.” I reached my goal, my dream, my life. I think, “God, it’s got to be more than this.” I mean this isn’t, this can’t be what it’s all cracked up to be.

I anticipate that in a week or two, after the Super Bowl has been won, the champions will experience this same dissatisfaction. As Augustine said, “You [God] made us for yourself, and our hearts find no peace till they rest in you.”

We must impart this eternal perspective to our children.

HT: Sovereign Grace

>Ten Reasons Why Churches Stall

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1. The church forgets who we are and what we are for … When we forget that we are the community of disciples for declaring God’s greatness and making disciples, mission quickly becomes just one among many activities rather than the defining vision of who we are as a community.

2. The majority of believers are no longer thrilled with the Lord and what he is doing in their lives. When questions like ‘What is God doing with you at the moment?’ cease to be common currency, it is a sure sign of creeping spiritual mediocrity.

3. … In my view, the single biggest cause of stalled churches in the UK is the belief that material comfort can be normative for Christians. It is the opposite of radical commitment to Christ.

4. When [Christians] see church as one among many leisure activities, usually low down the priority list. They are unlikely to see the Christian community as God’s great hope for the world and unlikely to put commitment above self-interest.

5. … Where people take no personal responsibility for their own spiritual growth a stalled church becomes more likely.

Read the rest here.

HT: Tim Chester

>What Object Defines Our Time?

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Yesterday I blogged about the BBC’s new project a history of human civilization through 100 objects. And how one of the attractive aspects of the project was that anyone can contribute their own object.  Since then I’ve been asking myself, “What object defines our culture and our time in history?”  I don’t think there’s any question that the “object” that defines our time in history is the human female body. Photographic and video images of nude women dominate the internet, are used to sell every possible kind of product, and serve as a measuring stick by which young girls determine their own self worth.  The female body is the idol of our time.  It has become so objectified that it’s changed the very nature of sex, which is no longer the shared experienced that God designed it to be, but now an action upon to be taken upon an object (i.e., masturbation, pornography, rape).  

My contribution to the history through objects project: the female body.  What would you choose?     

>Typography

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http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3829682&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

HT: JD Greer

>Three Things We All Can Learn From Tiger

>Scott Thomas writes:

Today, Tiger posted the following on his website

I am deeply aware of the disappointment and hurt that my infidelity has caused to so many people, most of all my wife and children. I want to say again to everyone that I am profoundly sorry and that I ask forgiveness. It may not be possible to repair the damage I’ve done, but I want to do my best to try.

I would like to ask everyone, including my fans, the good people at my foundation, business partners, the PGA Tour, and my fellow competitors, for their understanding. What’s most important now is that my family has the time, privacy, and safe haven we will need for personal healing.

After much soul searching, I have decided to take an indefinite break from professional golf. I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father, and person.

Again, I ask for privacy for my family and I am especially grateful for all those who have offered compassion and concern during this difficult period.

Tiger admitted to infidelity and has accepted the consequences for his actions. Here is what we can learn from this when interpreted through the gospel.

Three things we learn from Tiger Woods’ transgression:

1. Don’t delay confession
2. Don’t Run from the Truth
3. Don’t Hide in Isolation

1. Don’t Delay Confession

Tiger released a statement acknowledging the auto accident, but said nothing else even though the media and police alluded to an alleged mistress and a spat with his wife.

As a result, people made jokes, speculative accusations and his sponsors pulled his commercials from the air.

Confession is a biblical principle that shines a light on the gospel. We are sinners (Romans 3:10, 23). Proverbs tells us, “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy” (28:13). Without delay we are to confess our sins and then forsake them in the power of the Spirit. Those who confess, Scripture tells us, will receive mercy. King David suffered much because he failed to confess his sins (Psalm 51).

2. Don’t Run from the Truth

When Woods issued his first statement on Nov. 29, he described “many false, unfounded and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me.” He pleaded for privacy.

Woods led people to believe that the rumors were not true. He changed his story three days later when he said, “I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart,”

We are all prone to run from the truth. We would rather be seen as successful rather than admit to failure.

People run from the truth of their sin by saying they are just as good as the people who go to church. That may be true if their goodness is measured outside of the righteousness of Christ.

3. Don’t Hide in Isolation

From the very first sinner in history, Adam hid from God in the garden, afraid of the consequences of his sin. God sought him out in love.

Jesus confronted sin with love and demonstrated it by His death on the cross. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). After we sin is no time to hide from God and others, but rather the time to run to Jesus for forgiveness and grace.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

HT: Acts 29

>Who is Jesus?

>Jesus is such a simple name but one that stirs the soul of humanity in a profound way. He is venerated as God by adherents to one of the world’s largest faiths and is unavoidable when you draw up a short list of names of people who have quite literally changed history. Many people have an opinion about the identity of Jesus. Robert Bowman and J. Ed Kmoszewski begin their book, Putting Jesus in His Place with a profound observation:

Interpretations of Jesus are fraught with bias. He’s a powerful figure whom people want on their sides—and they’re willing to re-create him in their image to enlist his support. Animal-rights activists imagine a vegetarian Jesus. New Agers make him an example of finding the god within. And radical feminists strip him of divinity so that Christianity doesn’t appear sexist. “Frankly, it’s hard to escape the feeling that our culture has taken Jesus’ question ‘Who do you say that I am?’ and changed it to ‘Who do you want me to be?’”

Are you worshiping the Biblical Jesus or a made-to-order “Jesus” who doesn’t disrupt your lifestyle or preferred ideologies?

>Media and Your Family

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Here are a few shocking statistics about media and the family. After reading these facts think about how much influence the media has over you and your household. Compare these with the time the average person spends devoted to prayer, reading, the Bible, or family devotion.

• Based on the US Census, adults and teens will spend nearly five months (3,518 hours) next year watching television, surfing the Internet, reading daily newspapers and listening to personal music devices.
• People will spend 65 days in front of the TV, 41 days listening to radio and a little over a week on the Internet in 2007.
• Percentage of households that possess at least one television: 9
• Number of hours per day that TV is on in an average U.S. home: 6 hours, 47 minutes
• Percentage of Americans that regularly watch television while eating dinner: 66
• Number of hours of TV watched annually by Americans: 250 billion
• Number of minutes per week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children: 3.5
• Number of minutes per week that the average child watches television: 1,680
• Percentage of 4-6 year-olds who, when asked to choose between watching TV and spending time with their fathers, preferred television: 54
• Hours per year the average American youth spends in school: 900 hours
• Hours per year the average American youth watches television: 1500
• Number of murders seen on TV by the time an average child finishes elementary school: 8,000
• Number of violent acts seen on TV by age 18: 200,000
• Number of 30-second TV commercials seen in a year by an average child: 20,000
• Number of TV commercials seen by the average person by age 65: 2 million

HT: Winfield Bevins

>You 86 the rules. You do what just feels right. . .

>Walt Mueller:

Youth culture is a map and a mirror. It is both directive and reflective. We watch it to see where it’s sending us and our kids. We watch it to see where we are. We monitor, deconstruct, and exegete it to know how to bring the map of the Biblical world and life view to bear on the realities that exist. A world that’s not the way it’s supposed to be keeps heading in that direction. We’re in desperate need of being straightened out, fixed, and made new. That’s why we listen and watch carefully.

Looking for a cultural map and mirror to ponder and talk about over the next month or so? Here’s one worth engaging.

“You 86 the rules. You do what just feels right. . . “

HT: Vitamin Z