David C. Alves's Blog, page 12

Writers: Have You Discovered Dual Monitors?

I use two monitors when I write. I have done this for over four years. I bought a new monitor about a year ago. It’s bigger and HD. I love using two monitors. Here’s why:

With dual monitors, you can have your current work open in front of you and have an array of other  programs open on the second monitor. No more switching back and forth. I simply look to the right to see my second or third program window.

Because you can extend the desktop, when you slide your mouse to the second monitor, as soon as it leaves your main monitor, it shows up in the second. I often copy text from monitor two and paste in monitor one (my main monitor).

Actually, I’d love to have three monitors. For now, space and finances require that I remain at two.

My Array

Normally, for writing I keep Word open in my main and Chrome is takes up half of the display on monitor 2. The other half of 2 is usually either OneNote 2010 or Priority Matrix (an awesome tool for projects and for laying out a book outline or novel plotting).

If I’m doing a non-fiction post or article, it’s usually dependant on Scripture references. So Word is open in  monitor 1 and my Logos Bible program is fully open on monitor 2. Since monitor 2 display is 26 inches and monitor one is 19, I’m able to see the multiple segments of my Logos program in monitor 2. I often set the view to 115%. That really works out great for close study, especially of footnotes or cross-references.

For Writers Especially

For writers who work on non-fiction, monitor 2 can be your research display. Monitor 1 can by your main word processor.Or monitor 2 can have your outline open (assuming you use one). If I had a third monitor I’d have my Cloud Player and Calendar open on it, both of which I always have open in back on monitor 1.

For writers who are working on fiction, monitor 2 can keep track of characters or timeline. Whatever software you use to plot or keep track of characters or images can be open on monitor 2 while you keep your manuscript open on #1.

Two monitors work especially great with floating windows (which many programs make use of). You can simply float out a window and drag it into either monitor. Of course, all of this works best if you have Windows 7 or better. But it will work with XP as well.

2nd Monitor

When you purchase your second monitor, make sure that the monitor can be turned vertically as well as horizontally if you use lists. Long lists or excel sheets look great on a second or third monitor when turned vertically.

Today dual or even triple monitors are not out of reach for the pocket-book either. Some really nice, large format monitors can be purchased for below $200. So sell an article or two and do yourself a great favor.

When you buy your second monitor, make sure that you purchase an adaptor that will allow you to plug into your VGA plug on the back of your computer and give you a splitter into either 2 or 3 monitors. For 2 monitors, you don’t need any special software. I’m not sure once you get above 2 monitors. I hope to find out though.

Summary

If you’re not using two monitors yet, please do yourself a favor and make it a priority. Develop a motto. Sell your typewriter (no, on second thought . . . don’t do that yet). Whatever it takes, even making your own favorite coffee beverage instead of going to Starbucks. And save for that second monitor. You’ll be glad you did.

QUESTION: Anyone using three? If two, what’s your array look like?

[photo by me]

Filed under: Consider It, FOR WRITERS, How to's

Reasons War Between Iran and Israel Seems Imminent

From Joel Rosenberg and “Flash Traffic”:

(Washington, D.C., September 7, 2012) — Evidence continues to mount that an Israeli preemptive strike against Iran’s nuclear program is increasingly likely before the U.S. elections in November. In just five days, the 2012 Epicenter Conference will begin. There, I will deliver the opening address on “The State of the Epicenter,” review what we know about the Iranian nuclear threat and the prospect of war, brief you on the steps The Joshua Fund has taken to prepare for war, and discuss what Christians can and should do to stand with Israel at this critical time. Please make plans to attend the Epicenter Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, next week — or watch the conference live (or on demand) at www.epicenterconference.com.

Until then, here are some of the latest developments I’m watching closely:

1. Iran has doubled its uranium enrichment capacity at its most secure, hardened, underground nuclear facility at Fordow, near the religious city of Qom, despite all of the economic sanctions, according to a new IAEA report.

2. Israel’s 14-member Security Cabinet met on Tuesday for a 10-hour meeting to discuss the latest intelligence on the Iran nuclear threat and consider Israel’s military options. The Jerusalem Post notes that this was the first time the full Security Cabinet has met for such an in-depth discussion of Iran in several months.

3. “Former Likud and Kadima member Tzachi Hanegbi said this week that he believed the fate of Israel’s conflict with Iran will be decided within the next 50 days,” reports the Israel Hayom news service. “Hanegbi, who is considered a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, later told Israel Hayom the assessment was his own and not based on specific information disclosed to him. ‘We are entering the most fateful 50 days Israel has faced since, perhaps, the similarly fateful days prior to the Yom Kippur War,’ Hanegbi said at a Likud conference this week, as quoted by the Makor Rishon newspaper. Hanegbi, who in the past served as chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee as well as minister in the Prime Minister’s Office in 2004 and Internal Security Minister in 2003, recently left the Kadima party and rejoined the Likud.”

4. Rep. Mike Rogers, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, is confirming a report of an angry meeting between Israeli PM Netanyahu and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro in which Netanyahu made it clear the Israeli government does not trust the Obama administration to stop Iran’s nuclear program in time.

5. Prime Minister Netanyahu is scheduled to be in New York City to address the opening session of the U.N. General Assembly from September 27 to September 30. If Israel has not launched an attack before then, and he does in fact make the trip, it would be expected that Netanyahu may give a final ultimatum to the regime in Tehran.

6. Canada has just shut down its embassy in Iran and will expel all Iranian diplomats from Canada in the next five days. With this move, Prime Minister Stephen Harper remains the most pro-Israel leader on the world stage. He also may be signaling he believes war is imminent.

7. That said, the left-of-center Israeli newspaper Haaretz is reporting this week that Defense Minister Ehud Barak may now oppose an Israeli strike against Iran before the U.S. elections in November. There is considerable buzz about this in Israel. But the question is whether this reporting is accurate, or whether this is disinformation designed to confuse the Iranian regime.

[To read more analysis and the links to the stories citied here -- and to find links to the latest news and analysis of events and trends in the U.S., Israel, Russia, and the Middle East -- please go to: http://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/.]

Filed under: In the News, Islamization, Signs of the Times

How To Form a Quality Book Club or Reading Group

This is unashamedly a “How to” post. How to form a “quality” book club or reading group. The adjective in this title is all important. It describes what kind of reading group you form. In my opinion, and since you have no possibility of redeeming wasted time, a quality book club is the only kind of reading group worth participating in.

Assuming that you value your time, this is the right post for you. Either it will confirm something you’re already doing right (that should make you feel good); or, it can prove helpful motivational to consider doing something worth your time and effort. Perhaps the information shared here will equip you to take that step you’ve been contemplating–planning the launch of a quality book club or reading group. So, where do we begin?

So, are you starting a group that you will lead? Or are you wanting something more democratic? Just remember, the more cooks you invite into the kitchen the better or worse the food may be, but the question is do you want the confusion that can come with a room full of cooks? If so, then bring the group together to form the group, otherwise, you form the group and see who’s interested. Some groups prefer to not have to make a thousand decisions. They make far too many decisions every day as it is. So they may LOVE that fact that the leader takes that load off. Other groups don’t like one person leading. At this point, it’s your decision and your group, if you haven’t formed one yet.

Let’s assume you’re beginning a group and you’re unsure.

Decide Upon the Nature of the Group

First of all, is it a “reading group” or a “book club.” The suggestions in this post apply to a group of either nature. A “reading group” may read any number of different kinds of books. It may read a novel one month and a non-fiction, self-help the next. The group may decide to read the likely definitive  biography of Neil Armstrong this month and a history of the game of Monopoly the next (there is such a book).

A “book club” usually forms around a particular author, topic, or genre. The participants may decide to read all the works of G.K. Chesterton or to read as many books as they can find about Sable Island. They could also be genre oriented. One book club I know of reads nothing but high fantasy another club reads only military history books.

It’s important to determine the nature of your club or group, but don’t get into angst about this. You can either decide up front–before you invite participants–or you can think of the people you want to invite into the group and bring them together to discuss what kind of group you’d like to be. Just make sure you enjoy the process. This is about FUN!! Keep that central. When it stops being fun, forget about it. You don’t need more stress in your life.

Once you know what kind of group you’ll be–reading group or book club–you’re ready to take the next step–determining the content.

Determine the Content

Is there an expert in the group from whom you can learn something new and valuable? Get rid of her/him. Just kidding. Actually, if you have a person who is knowledgeable in a particular area, and it’s an area worth exploring or learning more about, the group may want to invite that person to suggest or submit a bibliography and the group or leader could choose a reading list from the bibliography. In any case, bibliographies are invaluable when exploring an author, a genre, or a niche. Here is a source of bibliographies that can be invaluable to the reading group or book club.

Perhaps you decide you want to form a reading list from the top 10 New York Times best sellers (though that list is no guarantee of quality). A group that enjoys hiking or mountain climbing may want to Google books about climbing K2 or great hikes in the White Mountains of NH. Some groups I’ve heard of really like to gamble. They invite a different member each month to determine the title they’ll read for that month. It can be interesting and informative OR you could be held hostage to bad taste and disaster. You don’t want an exodus of members because they’re exposed to bad or bankrupt literature.

In deciding what your group wants to read, make sure that the writing is good and that it will hold the interest of the group. Fiction should engage the reader and allow for vicarious experience. Non-fiction should instruct, inform, challenge, and provide practical solutions. Both should come highly recommended by a diverse number of people, journals, or reputable sources.

Be able to answer the questions: What do you hope to get out of this group? What are you willing to contribute to the group?

Location, Location, Location

Will you meet in a home, at Borders (are there any left?), the local library? Find the right environment for the group. Make sure that it’s geographically central to the group members. Is it comfortable? Well lit? Free of distractions?

Will you meet in one place or move around? You can rotate homes on a voluntary basis or you can go to one location for the duration. This can be decided by the group or the club members’ circumstances. Libraries often have rooms available for reading groups and book clubs. And the libraries are usually central for a community.

There Must be a Facilitator – the same person or rotate? Clubs that are supposed to “just happen” don’t usually. They flounder unless someone is willing to facilitate–as opposed to dictate. See if anyone is experienced at leading small groups. If not, you do it, but read a few articles on “small group leadership” by searching on Google or your favorite search engine.

Invite Participants

Invite people who love books, reading, growing. Diversity brings growth. Avoid clones. I don’t much like being in a group where everyone has to think alike. I’m challenged and stretched by being with people who have different perspectives. But the key to a positive experience with people who hold different values is–respect the right to disagree agreeably. We don’t all see things the same way. We all have filters we walk the world with. As long as we’re willing to acknowledge that and understand that we don’t have to all agree to enjoy and respect one another, we have the opportunity to grow, to explore. Guard this freedom  in your group.

Other Enhancements

Begin a Blog or establish an email newsletter. Give everyone in the group access to share a review or suggestion.

If the group is an open group, Register at an online Finder like “Readerscircle.org” so that others in your area can find you.

Housekeeping

What time will you meet? How long will this club meet? Six weeks or throughout eternity? Eternal clubs usually only last six weeks anyway. A good rule of thumb is to read three to six books. If you read one book per month, then that would be three to six months. Then meet for a celebration or barbecue and decide if you’ll go another six months. This gives people the opportunity to opt out or have new people join (assuming you’re a closed club until the time limit is reached). Open clubs can have members come and go as they determine together.

Outside Speakers or not? (see my blog on “Speakers for Book Clubs – Yes or No?” I haven’t written it yet, but check back from time to time or, “Follow” this blog and sign up for email notification at top right)

Decide on a Format

Make sure that you have track to run on that makes your club comfortable because its predictable. Studies have been done that show that MOST people are more relaxed and comfortable when they know what to expect.

I like the following format.

Light Refreshments

Icebreaker–a question that gives some insight to the person answering. Ask the question. Let each answer in turn. “What was your favorite book when you were 11?” “What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?” If you write down the answers, you could surprise everyone with a special ice cream bash which includes all the flavors mentioned.

Discussion By chapter? By character? By topic? What stood out to you in this week’s reading? Leave to facilitator? Use a study guide for the book? I understand that guides are available for book clubs. Do a search.

Choose the First Book

However you decided to proceed, it’s time to pick the first book. Make it a winner! Read something that is absolutely engaging. How will you know? Ask around. Do you know other book clubs or readers? Ask a librarian. Read some reviews. What title keeps coming up? What do reviews at Amazon.com say on the book’s product page?

Now Go and read the “Do’s and Don’ts of Facilitating a Book Club Meeting” [This post is not written yet either, but if you check back, I'll include the link just as soon as it's complete.]

QUESTION: Have you ever started a group? Would you add something I left out?

Filed under: Books, FOR READERS, How to's

Writing is An Act of Faith

You know, I was sitting here wondering why I persist to type words into a OneNote 2010 page, when it struck me that writing is a true act of faith.

Who knows whether or not anyone will read them? I mean, most of us write because we want to connect with others. But honestly, my book did not sell anything like I thought it would when I dreamt of its release. For years I had ideas of what it would be like to be a published author. Not because I wanted fame or fortune. The realities are much different than movies. But because I wanted to serve and impact readers. Wow! Where was my head?

WRITING FOR CHANGE

No, I believe that my first book and my blog have taught me a lot. I still want to connect, but now whether I do or not I realize that I write because I have something to say and I love saying it. I believe that God has given me a perspective that combines with a gift of encouragement, to help others to be all that they can be in Christ.

I also know how much I love a helpful book. I’m changed by the reading and applying of what I read to my life. When a good book mentors me, I’m a better man for that. I want to pass that gift along to those who read my books. I want my books to mentor, coach along the journey to Christ’s Kingdom reign.

Truly, faith is keeping at something, even when you don’t see the results you expected. It’s believing what cannot be seen but being assured that it’s the right thing to believe.

WISE ADVICE

Before I completed and published my first book, I had breakfast with Gordon MacDonald at Friendlies. I wanted him to mentor me as a writer. He asked me to tell him my story. I talked. He listened graciously. I realized even while I was talking that I wasn’t communicating my passion for writing. Instead, I was telling him something else. It was as though God was allowing him to see something in me that needed addressing.

After breakfast, he recommended that I read a book. “This is not a Christian book I’m recommending, but it will be helpful for you to read it,” he said.

The title was In the Shadow of Fame: A Memoir by the Daughter of Erik H. Erikson by Susan Erikson Bloland, the daughter of famed child psychologist, Erik Erickson. As a sidenote, I’m just finishing a memoir of a woman who separated from her husband for a year and met Joan Erickson while walking along the beach. They became close friends. That book is entitled A Year by the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman, by Joan Anderson.

LOOKING BACK

In retrospect, I realized that my reasons for publishing were mixed. Shortly after I read Bloland’s book, I completed my book. I sought the Lord to purify my motives. Then I released the book at Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com, and for Kindle and Nook. Sales were mainly to family, friends, and fellow pastors. Of course my church family and fellow associational leaders encouraged me as well. But that was about it. For the first year, I continued to write. But then I stopped.

DARK NIGHT

I went into a depression which, I later found out, was a “dark night of the soul.” I withdrew from people and things I usually enjoyed. I felt exhausted all the time. Because I was a busy pastor and associational leader as well, I began to question my calling.

Everything lost is taste and savor. Fortunately for me, I had praying friends and ministry partners. Some wise counsel helped me recognize God at work, not the enemy. He was taking everything but Him. Funny, because I thought I had given him everything already–many times. But He sees deeper than we ever could.

ON THE OTHER SIDE

I’m on the other side of all that now. It took two and a half more years to slowly let go of everything but Him. It was truly a spiritual winter. But the great thing about tracking through the winter with the Lord is that spring is the next season to follow. Spring is a time for sowing and planting, digging around and preparation.

A WITNESS

Now I’m settled in a great peace, waiting only on Him. I am also searching out a coach on the road ahead of me in spiritual formation, while at the same time coaching those whom God has sent my way. But I’m no longer an expert–Dr. Alves. I’m merely a witness, testifying to whatever the Lord shows or entrusts to me.

And . . . I’m writing again. Writing by faith. My one prayer is that the Lord will use the process of writing by faith in my life first . . . And if He so chooses, in the lives of those who may be drawn by His Spirit to read.

QUESTION: Have you ever experienced what I’m talking about?

Filed under: FOR WRITERS, Journal Entries, ON THE JOURNEY, REFLECTIONS

A Personal Thank-You Note to “David’s Place” Subscribers

My Kindle with “David’s Place” contents. Yes, that’s Marcy writing in the background. You can visit her at “marcyda.wordpress.com” She’s a GREAT soul and writer.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. I’m so grateful for each of you who have “Followed” or signed up for email notifications.

I truly appreciate you and value your time. I want to do the very best work I can for you. I’m hoping to find a way to make my forthcoming (2nd) book available to you for free as soon as I can figure out how to do it. I need to find out from someone who has done it successfully. I’d hate to offer something and then mess it up and not get it to the right people. Plus I don’t know how to send a copy (and in this day and age, who would give out their address? I wouldn’t. Not even for a free book. But I know there’s a way. And I hope someone who reads this can point me there. Thanks in advance )

Where was I?

For those of you who, like me, enjoy a cup of coffee or tea in the morning, along with your newspaper or favorite blog posts delivered direct to your Kindle, I thought you might like to know that “David’s Place” is available for your Kindle. My posts appear on my Kindle the morning I publish them (I normally write 2-3 posts per week and publish them at 4:30AM EST). 

If you follow this link, or click on the thumbnail of the blog in this post, they will take you to the product page at Amazon.com where you can get a FREE 14-day trial subscription.

If you decide to stay, then the subscription is just .99/month to Amazon.com. Yes, they take credit cards. You can unsubscribe easily at any time. Of course, I’m hoping you’ll never unsubscribe (Marcy and I have to eat you know. And organic food–which Marcy needs to battle the cancer–is getting very expensive. Our Social Security cost of living increase does not take into consideration natural ways of combating cancer).

As a matter of fact, please share this post or the subscription link with some friends, we’d be really blessed and grateful. As a brother in Christ, I’m not asking for a handout, just a hand-up.

Filed under: Consider It, FOR READERS, FOR WRITERS, Housekeeping

God: Your Creator or Your Creation?

Reblogged from Marcy's Walk:

Do you believe in God? I mean really believe in Him? Is He your creator or your creation?

It’s not so much what you say that adequately answers those questions; it’s not even what you think you believe about God. The real answers to those opening questions are demonstrated in how you live your life.

How many decisions do you make every day of your life that have never been submitted to God, nor informed or influenced by the principles taught in the Scriptures?

Read more… 970 more words

This post by my wife needs a wider audience. She hit the nail on the head. Trust you'll find value in it. If so, pass it on. Share it with three or four friends.

Her Real Need, His Real Need

Many men and women today have traded their real need for a false need. We get all upset when people cram religion down our throats, and rightly so. But we didn’t get upset at all when Hollywood crammed phony fulfillment and hedonism down our throats.

We have to take a backward glance at classic needs as expressed in the great literature of history in order to reclaim our rightful heritage and inheritance.

Guys, do you know what her greatest need is? No, it’s not security. She just thinks it is. Many women are unable to recognize their real need until they hear it expressed and take the time to reflect on it and reconnect with it. If she hasn’t gotten so far away from her own pneumatic core (her spiritual core-source), then when she does really hear her real need verbalized, she’s immediately able to say “Yes, that’s it!”

Ladies, do you know his? No, it’s not sex. He just thinks so. He’s also unable to recognize his real need until he hears it again and considers how truly accurate the ancients were with regard to it.

How did you lose touch with your real needs? Hundreds, no thousands, of hours of television and movies. Which all were written by people who have lost touch with classic thought and humanity. Many of those who write have even lost touch with their own pneumatic core. As a result, they channel spiritless relationships and cold, modern and post-modern solipsism.

Well, that’s my opinion anyhow.

So let’s cut to the chase and answer our two questions

What’s HER greatest need?

What’s HIS greatest need?

By the way, what I’m about to share is not opinion . . . it is FACT!

Her greatest need is: TO BE TREASURED–loved devotedly and totally. Loved in such a way that she knows you understand her and treasure her. She’s first . . . before work, before football, before your own comfort. You lay down your life, your goals, your ambitions for her. Only one relationship should be ahead of her . . . your relationship to God. When it is, she’ll be assured that you will be devoted and true to her. And, get this . . . when you treasure her, she’ll naturally be ready to meet your greatest need guys . . .

His greatest need is: TO BE RESPECTED–to be held in high esteem. Respected in front of others. Respected when he speaks what is true and right. Respected when he is wise. Respected when he is treasuring you.

Ladies, want to be treasured? Respect him. He’ll actually live up to the respect you’re giving him. He’ll grow. He’ll improve to be what you’re calling him up to be.

Men, want to be respected . . . treasure her and make sure you’re being a man, not a little boy in men’s clothing. Lay down your self-centeredness for her. Make sure you know the difference between LUST and LOVE. You might want to read my posts if you don’t have this clear in your head.

Of course, all this only works if you chose somebody worthy of treasuring, respecting. Some women and some men are so self-centered and so far from their pneumatic core that they don’t know who they are or what they truly need. You can tell them by their love of “things.” They replace relationships with material things or wealth. They are shallow, thin, ghosts in people clothing–lost in this realm having forgotten their missing core.

Their only hope is to turn to Christ. He will become their core and restore their sanity. Then they’ll be restored and made capable to love and respect someone beside themselves.

This counsel has helped many over the decades of my sharing it. Let me know how it works out for you.

Related articles

Imagine the relationship – Not the partner (mhutchess.wordpress.com)
In Relationships, Respect May Be Even More Crucial than Love (psychologytoday.com)


Filed under: Bits and Pieces, Consider It

A New Approach?

A pastor friend of mine from Nova Scotia shared his approach to preaching, teaching, and writing. He decided to not speak “against” anything. Instead he speaks and writes “for” what is biblical and good. This keeps him positive and lets people draw their own conclusions about how the positive message should inform their values and opinions (I think it keeps him out of the line of fire too, although he might disagree).

I’m beginning to think that I’ll adopt a version of that philosophy, but I’d like YOUR opinion. I shared with another friend in ministry and he said that Jesus often spoke out against things, especially injustice and sin. Who could do better than to follow the model of Jesus? Except that his approach led him to amass a huge crowd of enemies among the unrepentent and the religious heirarchy. Ultimately his values and worldview took him to the cross, where he absorbed their evil and took the penalty that their sins deserved. By the way, Jesus did this willingly. According to his own testimony, as the Son of God, he had at his disposal tens of thousands of powerful spiritual beings (angels, Cherubim, Seraphim, etc) who could have wiped out everyone around him and rescued him, but he surrendered willingly. Ponder that sometime.

I’m not sure, if Jesus walked today, that anyone would even listen to him. Well, they might listen, but I KNOW they wouldn’t HEAR.  I’m certain, beyond a shadow of doubt, that he would be labeled a bigot, intolerant, noninclusive (he called the Syrophonecian woman a “dog”–meaning Gentile), he could get physical at times (as in the temple courts when he overturned the seller’s tables). No, he would not really be taken seriously. He would be viewed as unruly and narrow-minded, judgmental, holier-than-thou.

Perhaps that’s why we–as true disciples of Jesus–were invited to “go outside the city” and take our stand there, with Him. We are not taken seriously in this culture. No one’s listening to the warnings of implosion. No one, including the church, wants to hear messages or writings that confront our sin, hypocrisy (pretending to have virtues but acting opposite to them), or waywardness. We want positive, feel-good, affirm-my-sin-and-opinion, messages.

So . . . that leads me to my new approach. I’m not settled upon it yet. I know I’m called to write and speak plainly so that people can take warning, turn and be saved. But what do I do in an evil culture that’s not really listening? I think I should do what God does . . . I will speak ONLY to those who are really listening–that would be believers who want to grow and know intimate fellowship with Jesus. I will also speak to genuine seekers. And I will speak only what the Lord gives me to speak. That would be values aligned to his Word, the Bible. If people want to argue, they can argue with God. He who has ears to hear, let him/her hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

2 Timothy 4:3 (ESV)

3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,

QUESTIONS: What do you think?

Filed under: Insights, ON THE JOURNEY, REFLECTIONS, Signs of the Times

What Don’t Unbelievers Get About Math?

First, an admission: I stink at math. Marcy has to do the checkbook and does great with our finances (we have no debt or depreciating loans). But that’s because she gets math. Though I’m mathmatically challenged, I at least know that I am because I understand some mathematical absolutes. And I don’t argue with them.

Having said that, I recently got baited into a discussion/argument with a couple of reader-friends over what they perceive as judgmentalism, intolerance, and forcing my views on readers. This discussion came as a result of them reading a recent blog post which got more hits than any post I’ve ever written.

Their biggest question (gripe) was, “Why are Christians so pushy and dogmatic about God’s standards?”

What many people (especially unbelievers) fail to understand is that for devout, serious, Spirit-born  followers of Jesus, God’s standards are absolute. When God says that something opposes his values and is bad for people because it will harm them, then that’s it! That’s the last word. God gets that last word with serious followers of Christ because he’s God, we’re not. Our opinion is immaterial. God has spoken . . . period!

So, I was thinking and wondering . . . how can I make this crystal clear in a way that even a person who shuts off the moment you challenge their “opinion” can recognize, that sometimes our opinion–no matter how much we’re entitled to it and in love with it–is simply WRONG?

What’s even more amazing is the line of reasoning that an unbeliever follows when you challenge his/her “opinion” with God’s absolute. If people are shown his Word, they say either that men wrote the Bible (as though that should disqualify it) or they say that they don’t believe in God.

MEN WROTE THE BIBLE?

Of course men wrote the Bible. Biblical scholars and educated beleivers alike would never dispute that. What they would dispute is the implication that because men wrote it, they made it up. This is an absurd line of reasoning for many reasons but scholars more astute than me have established divine biblical inspiration far better than I could. And any intellectually honest person can read their work if they are genuinely interested in how the Bible came from the Holy Spirit through its human agents as God gave them utterance. But back to my point.

Then it came to me.  I know . . . Teachers and students alike will get this . . .

MATH CLASS

You’re a math teacher and are conducting a class on Addition.

You tell the students 2+2=4.  But two or three of your students don’t agree. They say that 2+2=7. You tell them gently that they’re mistaken.

They take offense and tell you that your answer is your opinion. But in their opinion, 7 is the answer. Because you’re well versed in math, you explain to them that math has absolutes. And you gently assure them that 2+2 will always equal 4 whether they agree on it or not.

They still insist that though you may know more math than they do, they’re not going to allow you to shove your intolerant opinions about addition down their throats. They now take a different tact. No longer do they remain with the 2+2 point.

“Well, that math book was man-made. It is a book written by men.”

“Yes, that’s true,” you say, “but the principles in it are established absolutes just like the law of gravity.” What they’re describing faithfully are the foundations and principles of Math.

Now they’re really going to push you into the corner. “Well, we don’t believe that Math exists. We’re amatheists! We don’t believe in your Math or its principles or your judgmental, intollerant views. We believe in love. And love would never tell us that 2+2 has to be 4 and can’t be 7.” What do you do now?

DEPARTING FROM REALITY

There’s really no arguing. You have to give them an “F” and let them live their lives believing that 2+2=7. Now a bunch of them gang up on you for being unjust to those who received “F”. They harange you and call you a mathematical bigot. You’re intolerant. You’re a 7-phobic. What makes your opinion superior to theirs?

Of course this analogy falls apart at the end, because what they believe about math, only affects their grade in school, not their immortal souls. But what would happen if their eternal destiny was settled by the stubborn insistence upon their error? What would you do? How would you respond if you knew that they would be eternally lost if they held to their mistaken opinions? Would you write them off and say “Hey, they’ve made their choices. Let em face the consequences.

BRING THEM TO THEIR SENSES

Most likely, if you were a compassionate, loving teacher, you would try to convince (not force) them. You might cite all kinds of people and authorities to try to bring them to their senses to escape the lie they have embraced as their firm opinion. You would provide them with expert testimony and scholarship. The problem is that they wouldn’t care. They have made up their minds based upon their opinions (and of course they got those opinions from others with the same misinformed, unexamined opinions).

THE PROBLEM WITH OPINIONS

G.K. Chesterton once said, “An opinion lacking in knowledge is an ugly thing.” It destroys truth. It undermines reality. An uniformed opinion is the devil’s delight, especially where souls are involved.

In our culture, opinion reigns when it comes to God and spiritual matters. With regard to morality and spiritual reality, unbelievers don’t want the facts to cloud their right to believe any fantasy that appeals to their imaginations. Yet, we would never base our destiny on a stubbornly held opinion when it came to other matters of living.

DON’T TRUST YOUR OPINION, GET THE FACTS!

What if a bridge under construction was blatantly unsafe? Signs warn motorists to proceed no further. But a driver–insistent upon her own opinion–decides to cross. What would people say when her car plunges into the depths of the river below?

How far should we trust our own opinions?

Another scenario: What about the patient, who’s scheduled for a brain operation and decides that in his opinion what his doctor proposes is not in agreement with his opinion as a patient. The surgeon insists that she needs to operate on the patient’s left side to affect his motor functions on the right side of his body; but, he insists that if the problem is on the right side of his body, then it only makes sense that she should operate on the right side of his brain. Seems resonable right? No matter how much the patient insists upon the validity of his reasons and his “opinion,” this man is dead wrong. His opinion means nothing, though he’s entitled to hold it dogmatically. It won’t change the reality for his surgeon (fortunate for him.) She will not be convinced by her patient’s stubborn insistence upon his own limited views of anatomy and physiology. She will perform the operation as she has been trained in her knowledge of the human body. The patient’s only choice is to proceed with the operation or not.

You get what I’m concerned about? When it comes to universal principles, opinions are meaningless and only get in the way of the greater good–God’s Kingdom and His reality which includes our joy, peace, and eternal destiny.

Now you can insist that Math doesn’t exist and close your eyes, stop up your ears, jump up and down and cry, but Math exists. And math will not bend its principles for you, me or anyone else–regardless of our cherished opinions.

DON’T BLAME THE MAILMAN

In my post I shared God’s view. It’s not my view. It’s GOD’s view. The believer or disciple who delivers God’s Word is just the mailman who delivered the letter. Don’t whack him because you don’t like what’s in the letter.

The problem with the unbeliever is solved by God. He has already told us why they don’t and CAN’T get it. He says:

1 Corinthians 2:14 (ESV)

14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

This is where our prayers come in. All that we can do is gently share the truth with them that may be set free and to see that 2+2 really does equal 4. God really does have absolutes that include or exclude us from his marvelous Kingdom:

2 Timothy 2:24–26 (NIV)

24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

It’s really a matter of humility. As long as they remain in pride, they are captive to a spiritual entity that will not let them see the truth. Only when they respond to the truth with humility and let go of their opinions will God “grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth” that will bring them to “their senses.”

What’s frustrating is when you know their time for “getting it” is short. That makes us more insistent because of our love for them. And that makes them more intolerant with us because they think that we’re forcing our values and reality on them or patronizing them. Lord, remove the veil. Grant the the grace you granted us when we were 7′ers ourselves.

QUESTION: Have you run into this stubborn insistence upon a person’s culturally informed opinion?

Filed under: Consider It, Insights, Signs of the Times

Top 5 Posts of the Past Year

According to my “site stats,” the following are the top 5 posts of the year as far as reads. The number to the right is the number of people who visited the post. No way of knowing how much they read.

How I Use OneNote 2010

1,471


How to Build Your Personal Library

583


Traditional Marriage: Hate Crime of Dan Cathy and Chick-fil-A?

514


The 8 Biggest Problems People Voice

470


Steve Bartman–Whose Scapegoat?

377

QUESTION: How many have you read?

Filed under: Consider It, FOR READERS, Recommended Resources