Jeff Noble's Blog, page 56

Are you ready for some football?! {Hog Edition}

After my earlier post about the VT 2014 football promo, I didn’t want to leave my beleaguered Razorbacks out of the picture. They didn’t have a great season last year. In fact, it was the worst. They didn’t win a conference game. That doesn’t bode well for first-time-SEC-former-Big-10 coach Bret Bielema.

However, I loved his underdog speech he gave this past year.

That is what a dream is all about. But the fact of the matter is, in life, a lot of people don’t cheer for the favorite. They pull for the underdog. And right now, we might be that guy – however we got there, whatever it is. Now, you know what? I’m going to love being in front of you some day talking about being a favorite, but right now, we’re going to embrace being the underdog. We’re going to throw two arms around it; we’re going to kiss it, and make it feel good. Now, we can’t accept it, but we’ve got to move forward and understand where we’re at.

Here’s another fan-made (Golinator14) video  for the Hogs:

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Are you ready for some football?!

Folks everywhere are dusting off their fantasy football rosters and making sure the fridge is stocked with wings for next Saturday’s college football kickoff. While I know that ACC football for many of my SEC fanboys is not inspirational, I dare you to watch this fan-made (VTimHokie85) video promo for the 2014 season of Virginia Tech football and not get excited. It also includes a short promo of the upcoming VT vs Ohio State game on September 6. I’m calling you out Cody Davenport and Alex Kacere.

Oh, and any VT fans got tickets for games this season that you want to donate, let me know!

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Lock it and love you

I’m hesitant to post this for fear my car may be burglarized. You see, I rarely lock my car doors. It’s just a thing with me. I like coming up to my car and just… getting in. No fumbling in my pocket for keys or a little gizmo to hit unlock. It’s revolutionary. Just walk up and get in. It’s my little version of Motel 6′s famous “We’ll leave the lights on for you.” I leave the car door unlocked.

Carolyn is the exact opposite. She lives in extreme fear that someone will happen by her car in a crowded parking lot, decide that her Point of Grace CD is worth stealing, open her unlocked door and abscond with the CD and perhaps her Dentyne.

There have even been occasional times that I’ve gone out to get something in her car and found it sitting locked… in our garage. It drives me crazy.

We go round and round about the car locking in our relationship, and when we’re out together, inevitably I’ll hear, “Lock it” from her as we start our trek from the car to Target’s front door.

“Lock it,” from the car to Wendy’s.

“Lock it,” from the car to church. (Cause our church folks have been desperately looking for Point of Grace CDs to steal).

The other day after another simple “Lock it” command from Carolyn, I announced suddenly:

“I’m going to start assuming that every time you say, ‘Lock it,’ that you’re really saying, ‘I love you.’”

She laughed and rolled her eyes, but you’d be surprised how that one interpretative adjustment makes a Walmart run more expectant. I don’t think Carolyn is real pleased with my new definition of “lock it,” but I’m really enjoying it.

 

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Observations from Mark

Where does one post quotes and thoughts too long for Twitter when one doesn’t want to donate content to Facebook? Some say Tumblr, but I’m going to try simply keeping this single post as a running record of observations about the Gospel of Mark, which I’m currently reading through.

I’m using two commentaries primarily as I read:

The Gospel According to Mark by James Edwards
Mark: Jesus, Servant and Savior by R. Kent Hughes

So, here’s what I’ll do: I’m going to post the most recent reflections and quotes below, by date. If any of you have better thoughts as to how to do this, I’m certainly open.

August 18 – Mark 8.10-13

Two boat trips in these short verses, sandwiched between a direct confrontation with the Pharisees in which they demand of Jesus a “sign.” The Greek used here makes it clear that they weren’t asking so Jesus could display His glory. They were asking, hoping to discredit Him. In addition, this hostile request would not have resulted in their conversion if Jesus had given them what they wanted.

“…the demand for ‘signs’ is itself a sign of attempting to gain by empirical means what can only be gained by faith and trust… to ‘force the evidence upon one would make a faith response by its very nature impossible.’ Faith that depends on proof is not faith, but veiled doubt. (Edwards,  237)

Hughes noted:

“What a terrible thing it is to have Jesus turn his back on you and sail away.”

It’s a sobering and also joyful reminder that Jesus can be trusted. The heart that trusts is the heart that gets to see Jesus do amazing things. The heart that doubts will only be continually shown Jesus’ crucifixion. You must believe that before you see everything else. Isn’t that what we learned from the doubting disciple Thomas?

August 13

In Mark 7.1.23, we have Mark’s longest recorded conflict of Jesus with the Pharisees. It’s about what “religion” really represents. Is it about what we do – religious practice – or is true religion about how we do it?

It’s clear that Jesus condemned the empty-hearted observance of religion by the Pharisees. In a summary statement, he says,

“What comes out of a person is what defiles him.”

He then goes on to list an abhorrent amount of evil that actually comes out of us. The list in v21-23 should concern anyone who wants to live a life pleasing to God. Why? Because evil is within. Contrary to the secular view, we are not inherently good. We are inherently bad, every person being capable of great evil.

This is why Jesus’ coming and crucifixion are so central. He offers us good news (gospel) as a balm to such bad news (that we can’t escape from inner evil). The good news is that for the person who gives their life in faith to Jesus, He transforms us from the inside out.

That was what the Pharisees were unwilling to hear. They thought man was in charge of his own personal path to heaven through a rigorous observance of religion (thus their concern with hand washing in v2-5, or outside in).

 It would be a mistake to assume in calling the Pharisees “hypocrites” that Jesus accuses them of lack of dedication… They were not.. either superficial or uncommitted. On the contrary, it was their commitment to the oral tradition – and Jesus’ equal commitment to recovering the intent of the written law – that made their differences so earnest. (Edwards)

Jesus going head to head with the Pharisees is important because their brand of religion was actually promoting sin’s bondage rather than spiritual freedom. They were using scripture as a weapon for behavioral conformity rather than as a light for spiritual transformation. Even today, people familiar with the Bible twist it to justify religious behavior like the Pharisees did and miss the intent and truth of scripture.

Those who try to justify themselves by the Law end up modifying it in order to escape from its authority. In the same way, those who handle God’s Word without submitting to it are in the constant process of conforming it to their self-complacency. (Hughes)

August 6

In Mark 6.51-52, we see Jesus climbing into a boat (from the water!) on the Sea of Galilee. The shocked disciples are recorded as being “astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.”

Edwards says:

“..faith is not an inevitable result of knowing about Jesus , or even being with Jesus. Faith is not something that happens automatically or evolves inevitably; it is a personal decision that must be made in the face of struggle and trepidation. Discipleship is more endangered by lack of faith and hardness of heart than by external dangers.”

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Ice Bucket Challenge

I was called out by Georgianna Mann over on Facebook (another reason why I should use Google+ more) to do the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). Basically, you dump a bucket of ice water on your head, give, and call out three others to do the same.

Some of you may wonder if it works… Consider this from the ALS website:

(August 16, 2014) —Today, The ALS Association announced it has surpassed $10 million in “Ice Bucket” donations. Specifically, as of Saturday, August 16, 2014, The ALS Association has received $11.4 million in donations compared to $1.7 million during the same time period last year (July 29 to August 16). These donations have come from existing donors and 220,255 new donors to The Association.

Here goes:

Oh, and if you want to see Martha, Justin and Jimmy do it, go here.

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What’s Your 5%?

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading Wayne Cordeiro’s book Leading on Empty and would encourage pastors and church leaders who may sense their fuel takes are running low to pick it up immediately. I’ve already posted a few thoughts in an entry called Faith is living in advance about the book.

In the chapter called Solitary Refinement, Cordeiro encourages you to identify what is your 5%? He explains that 85% of what you do, someone else can do equally well – or without much loss in your not doing it. 10% of what you do, others could do with training and coaching. They may not be able to do it like you would do it, but it would get done without any appraisable loss. However, 5% of what you do, only you can and should do. It’s your core – relationships, calling, unique abilities, etc. You cannot delegate this.

This 5% for me involves my marriage, my kids, my calling and unique gifts and abilities that God has given me. No one else can be me in these areas. I’m responsible for them.

Most of the time, you’ll need to get out of your daily noise to accurately nail down what is your 5%. You need to do this, however, to avoid the tyranny of the urgent, as Charles Hummel described it in his short article by the same name. (You can read it for free here.)

Several years ago an experienced cotton mill manager said to me, “Your greatest danger is letting the urgent things crowd out the important.” He didn’t realize how hard his maxim hit. It often returns to haunt and rebuke me by raising the critical problem of priorities.

We live in constant tension between the urgent and the important. The problem is that the important task rarely must be done today or even this week. Extra hours of prayer and Bible study, a visit with the non-Christian friend, careful study of an important book: these projects can wait. But the urgent tasks call for instant action—endless demands pressure every hour and day.

So, in a conversation with Carolyn the other night, I was telling her about these principles – the 85%, the 10% and the 5%. I could sense she wasn’t really tuned in, but I gave her the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes, when I’m sharing with her what I’ve read, I may or may not shift into academic mode. I can usually tell when this happens, because her eyes go glassy and she curls up into the fetal position.

This was not one of those moments.

However, as I wrapped up, I explained again, “So, your 5% is the area of your life that if you don’t do it, no one else will. It’s an area of your life that you are responsible for, that if you don’t do it, it will probably die.” Then I asked, with husbandly expectation of helping Carolyn become a better person from this sincere little moment I thought we were sharing, “What do you think your 5% is?”

“Watering the plant in our bathroom,” she responded. And giggled.

So much for profound marriage moments.

For a little added extra context, Carolyn’s comment was profound, in a sense. When we were engaged, I gave her a little deer planter thingy. She put a vine plant in it, and the running joke was that if the vine died, our marriage would too. There’s been a couple of close calls with the plant along the way (and I think it did die once), but the marriage has thrived in spite of the plant. And Carolyn dutifully waters it, so her comment was not far off.

How about you? What’s your 5%? When will devote sometime to thinking about what you should focus on?

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You can’t keep Jesus down

It was hopeless then, it is hopeless today, and it will always be hopeless. Try as they may, people can’t keep Jesus down. They can’t keep him buried. They may use physical force or academic scorn or media blackout or political harassment or religious caricature. For a season they will think the tomb is finally sealed. But it never works. He breaks out.

This quote from John Piper’s devotional Taste and See can actually be found in its entirety on the Desiring God website here. It’s well worth your read.

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Start with why

People don’t buy what you do but why you do it.

This TED talk by Simon Sinek (about 20 minutes) is well worth your time to watch if you are currently in leadership or desire to influence others. This why question is not based in clever semantics but in biology. Here’s the URL if you want to bookmark or Pocket it for later.

Answering this question will propel you beyond innovation and early adopters but to a tipping point of influence, illustrated in the talk in Sinek’s description of the law of diffusion of innovation.

Thanks to Sarah Hanks for suggesting our leadership team at Northstar watch this.

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Can one be neutral toward Islam?

The news coming out of Iraq these days is horrific. Sunni Muslims have taken advantage of failed policies for political stability in the country, and they’ve marched across northern Iraq like rabid dogs. They are seeking to create a modern caliphate that they call ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). Culture, religion and civilization are being destroyed before an impotent, watching world. It may be trite, but the expression is applicable here: nothing is sacred to them.

In an article entitled ISIS, the Caliphate, is Evil Incarnate, the American Center for Law and Justice notes:

ISIS has captured advanced weaponry, including American tanks, and now has access to radiological material (i.e. to make dirty bombs) and possibly even chemical weapons.

Weapons of mass destruction in the hands of pure evil is unthinkable.

Those who embrace Islam as their religion seem to be quick to distance themselves from the atrocities being committed – in the past two days, we’ve learned of children being beheaded. Some would pass this off as radical Islam. Indeed, even recognized terrorist organizations are denouncing ISIS.

However, is ISIS’ brand of Islam truly radical?

In the first quarter of the 20th century, Christian evangelicals arose in the United States to attempt to steer Christianity in the U.S. away from perceived liberalism. In Christian universities, there were faculty members denying basic tenets of the Bible’s teachings, and it seemed that historic Christian beliefs were being discarded daily. The movement to recapture a drifting faith was named as fundamentalism, and the term fundamentalist was used derogatorily by many who would have preferred that the church in America jettison its holiness and belief in the truth of the Bible. (By the way, it was a bloodless movement.)

I believe that instead of labeling what we’re seeing in ISIS, the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, the Muslim Brotherhood and other militant expressions of Islam is not radical. It’s fundamental to the teachings of the religion. What we’re seeing is Islamic fundamentalism.

The headline from the UK’s DailyMail admits as much: From Syria to Iraq, Kenya to Malaysia: How new era of Islamic fundamentalism is spreading fear and chaos around the world. Their infographic of militant violence by Islamic fundamentalists of just a month is stunning:

Professor Lee Marsden, international terrorism expert and head of East Anglia University’s School of Political, Social and International Studies, said: ‘Images of brutality perpetrated by these terrorist groups are being circulated around the world on an unprecedented scale.

‘While the levels of brutality seen here by ISIS and al-Shabaab are no different from what we have seen them do before, the way they are publicising their acts of terror is wholly new.’ (Source)

It’s worth repeating. “While the levels of brutality… are no different from what we have seen them do before, the way they are publicizing their acts of terror is wholly new.” This is fundamental Islam.

What about our benign Muslim neighbors here in the U.S.? What do they think about all that’s going on? Surely they don’t support this violence?

A Canada Free Press article points out The Myth of the Moderate Muslim Majority. Americans are told by its intelligentsia and others that most Muslims are moderate, loving people. However, that’s not what they say about themselves when asked how their religion should be treated (or people treated who leave their religion).

According to a 2013 Pew Research Survey over 50% of Islamists in the Middle East and South Asia view beheading as an appropriate punishment for turning your back on Allah.

A 2012 WND survey found that 46% of American Muslims agreed that those who “criticize or parody Islam in the U.S. should face criminal charges”, which kind of negates the First Amendment and quite a few other fundamental rights that most non-Muslim Americans hold dear.

That is a massive number of people worldwide when you consider that self-identified Muslims number about 21% (1,609,201,300) of the world’s population. (Source)

Mychal Massie is the former National Chairman of the conservative black think tank, Project 21-The National Leadership Network of Black Conservatives and a former member of its parent think tank, the National Center for Public Policy Research. He writes on his site What Obama Didn’t Say About Muslims:

There are about 400 recognized terrorist groups in the world. Over 90 percent of these are Islamist groups. Over 90 percent of the current world fighting involves Islamist terror movements. The vast majority of world terrorism is religiously motivated by Islam. This involves terrorist acts in 26 countries worldwide. These people cannot be reasoned with. Their hatred is an anathema to all rational consideration. They have but one goal: to subdue the world under the rule of Islam.

The first step in the right direction is simply a step. For many Americans, the first step may simply be understanding that Islam is not the peaceful religion that they’ve been led to believe. There may be peaceful Muslims, but these are these faithful Muslims?

It all depends on how one interprets the Qu’ran and the Hadith, the holy writings of Islam. In an excellent essay, Dr. Ernest Hahn points out:

Muslims must clarify the nature of Islam’s peace, for whom and under what conditions Islam means peace, and how Islam promotes racial and religious harmony with other races and religions. Likewise, if jihad does not mean holy war, let Muslims explain why not and what it does mean. Surely, if by Islamic definition the primary purpose of jihad is the extension and defence of Islamic dominion, it also includes, under the shadow of war, the invitation to the enemy to submit to Islamic rule, perhaps even to embrace Islam itself, or to fight. Islamically, the invitation is compulsory and naturally precedes any battle. Truly, both word and sword are integral to jihad, yoked equally and working in harmony.

In other words, when ISIS warns Christians in their path in Iraq: leave, die or convert, to them, that is an offering of peace. They’ve been warned. For those who protest that Mohammed himself was peaceful initially, that too must be conceded; however, his peaceful period was only 13 years.

Hahn notes that Ibn Khaldun (A.D. 1332-1406), Islam’s great historian, sociologist and philosopher, said:

In the Muslim community, the holy war is a religious duty, because of the universalism of the (Muslim) mission and (the obligation to) convert everybody to Islam either by persuasion or by force. Therefore, caliphate and royal authority are united in (Islam), so that the person in charge can devote the available strength to both of them at the same.

How to respond?

In light of a better understanding of Islam, how should a person, particularly a Christian, respond? First of all, fear is not an option. That is exactly what the enemy intends. Jesus said,

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10.28)

In fact, the Bible literally echoes with the command to not fear. We are also reminded that in times of turmoil, that Christ’s love trumps fear every time:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Romans 8.35-37)

Second, reject any sort of neutrality toward Islam. It’s not OK. Neither is any false religion. They are all constructs intended to deny that Jesus Christ is Lord. False religion is not a naive spiritual undertaking. It is an invention of the enemy to destroy, divide and delude man. Satan does not want humanity, which has been made in the image of a loving God, to be saved. Therefore, from time immemorial, he has created falsehood to lead man away from God.

Third, pray for Muslims daily. Zane Pratt, dean of missions at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, an expert on Islamic teachings, says,

“We fundamentally disagree on essentially everything.”

His counsel, though, is not retreat but love.

“Lead your congregations to love Muslims, and not be afraid of them. Pray for them and engage them wherever you are, and you will find them almost anywhere — even in small towns in America now. Love them, pray for them, and expose them to the word of God.”

Finally, Christians should rejoice. Yes, we’re commanded to do so, even when times are bad (James 1.2), but what we’re seeing on the news isn’t the whole story. Far from it. In fact, in the April 22, 2014 issue of Christianity Today, missiologist David Garrison writes in Why Muslims Are Becoming the Best Evangelists:

Muslim background believers are leading Muslims to Christ in staggering numbers, but not in the West. They are doing this primarily in Muslim-majority nations almost completely under the radar—of everyone… After a while, people say: “Can this really be Allah’s will? Can this really be his ideal for mankind? If this is Islam, I don’t want any part of it.”

Garrison calls the conversion of Muslisms to Christianity “unprecedented.” There is a profound movement among Muslims today, in which God is revealing to them His love through His Son Jesus Christ. Garrison’s book A Wind in the House of Islam documents story after story of mass turnings to Jesus among Muslims. Similarly, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus by devout Muslim Nabeel Qureshi is a powerful story of a Muslim coming to terms with the love of God in Christ. Of the two, I’d start with the latter since it’s a powerful personal story.

For a helpful audio to learn more about Islam and how to love and dialogue with Muslims, I’d encourage you to listen to Desiring God’s audio Islam 101.

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Faith is living in advance…

Wayne Cordeiro, pastor of New Hope Church in Hawaii, says in Leading on Empty:

God’s ways are certainly not our ways, and all too often before the truth sets you free, it will make you miserable. We dare not conclude that what we are going through lacks the divine touch simply because it entered our life without our permission. Faith is living in advance what we will only understand in reverse.

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