Those old-fashioned Christians

One of the favorite arguments used against Christianity is that we are "old-fashioned." People will say, "Come on, it's time to join the 21st century and leave those antiquated ideas of the Bible behind." The assumption is that society is always getting better and that the latest ideas are always the best ideas.
This was what Karl Marx said of Communism and what Adolf Hitler said of Nazism, but those ideas waned in influence. This is what people said in the hippie culture of the 1960's when so many young people were advocating free sexual love and drugs. Obviously, those ideas did not last. They only left millions of people dead and lives wasted.
C. S. Lewis called it "chronological snobbery" to assume that because something is out of date, that it is discredited. He said we should ask three questions about an "old idea"
1. Why did this idea go out of date?
2. Was the idea ever refuted?
3. If it was refuted, by whom, where and how conclusively?
If a person cannot answer these questions, he has no right to reject an idea just because it's old, or old-fashioned.
I love what Billy Graham said when somebody said he had taken Christianity back 100 years. Referring to the New Testament era, Graham said, "I was hoping to take it back 2,000 years."

This book blessed my life

Ben Young & Samuel Adams's book, Out of Control, has a very long subtitle: Finding Peace for the Physically Exhausted and Spiritually Strung Out. But the subtitle is accurate. They describe how our culture is out of control because rather than letting the greater efficiency afforded by technology such as cell phones and computers give us more time to rest, we have instead tried to cram even more activity into shorter time.
They describe seven symptoms of an "out of control" lifestyle: out of shape (physical), out of sorts (emotional/mental), out of touch (relational), out of time, out of focus, out of balance and out of order (spiritual). Then they confront the lies that keep us out of control, particularly the idea of pleasing the world to be successful and the idea that getting rest is laziness.
The rest of the book takes a pleasantly surprising turn, as it is NOT another "how-to" book with seven easy steps. Instead, they dig into the spiritual disciplines of the Bible, and encourage the reader to practice a real "Sabbath" and take time to unplug completely from technology in order to practice the other spiritual disciplines of solitude and prayer.
Young & Adams write with grace, encouraging the reader to try the principles, and to apply them slowly, and to not be disappointed if it takes time. They balance their idealism for a peaceful lifestyle with practical suggestions and real-life stories of people who have had success.
This book influenced me to become more serious about unplugging from technology for a large portion of the day on my day off in order to spend more authentic time with God. It was a truly rewarding experience that I pray I will continue to explore for a long time to come.

Rick Warren's prayer for the president

Southern Baptist-affiliated pastor Rick Warren, author of The Purpose-Driven Life and pastor of Saddleback Church in California, gave the invocation at President Barack Obama's inauguration. I thought he gave a wonderful prayer that called for compassion and unity, but he also prayed "in the name of the one who changed my life," Jesus, whose name he gave in Hebrew, Arabic and English. Read the full text of the prayer here.

What the North American Mission Board Must Be

My friend Doug Munton, with whom I served for eight years as a fellow trustee with the North American Mission Board (NAMB), submits this "guest blog" on NAMB. What he says needs to be heard, and I appreciate the positive spirit in which it is said. -- Brother Bob

What the North American Mission Board Must Be
by Doug Munton

The North American Mission Board (NAMB) is a strategic organization in the life of the Southern Baptist Convention. Her responsibilities are huge; her opportunities immense. The success or failure of NAMB impacts the SBC in ways that are hard to overestimate. NAMB relates directly with every state convention and ethnic fellowship. She works with every association and seminary. What happens at NAMB greatly affects the SBC world.

I’m a Southern Baptist by choice and by heritage. I’m a second-generation SBC pastor and was saved (as was my father and my grandfather) in an SBC church. I attended an SBC seminary. I love the convention and want the greatest days for the SBC to be in the future. Having recently completed eight years as a trustee of NAMB I know the strong connection between the health of the SBC and the health of NAMB.

My time as a trustee at NAMB convinced me that there are three specific responsibilities for NAMB which must not be missed. The effectiveness of NAMB in these three areas will greatly determine how useful she will be and, therefore, will inordinately affect the future of the SBC.

The first responsibility is careful stewardship. NAMB (and all SBC agencies) has a double responsibility for careful stewardship. She must be faithful with the sacrificial giving of the churches through the Cooperative Program and Annie Armstrong Easter Offering. The widows who give sacrificially to NAMB need to be confident that their money is carefully spent. And, by the very nature of being a mission agency, NAMB must be above board in all financial dealings. It seems to me that NAMB, and her current president Geoff Hammond, are working hard to ensure that they are good stewards. Dr. Hammond appears to lead the way in frugal spending and shying away from a lavish lifestyle.

The second responsibility for NAMB is purpose. NAMB should be about evangelism, evangelism, evangelism. Evangelism should not be a part of NAMB; it should define and permeate NAMB. It seems to me, that the current administration has focused its energy and strategy primarily on church planting. It is true that church planting is a huge part of the evangelistic responsibility of NAMB. It should not be, of course, the only method of evangelism.

Church planting should be seen as a very effective means (one of the most effective means) of doing evangelism. I want it to have a high place of priority at NAMB. I just don’t want it to be seen as the only way we do evangelism. The more than 40,0000 existing churches need to see church planting as an important, but not exclusive, part of their strategy for fulfilling the great commission. The current administration seems (based on budgets and discussion) to have placed a higher priority on church planting and a lower emphasis on other means of evangelism. I have no problem with a higher emphasis on church planting. I think it a mistake to have a lower emphasis on other means of evangelism.

The third responsibility of NAMB is relationships. The partnerships NAMB has with state conventions, ethnic fellowships and local associations are critical. Some believe the current administration has not done enough to strengthen those partnerships. There is danger of a perception that NAMB tells these partners what to do rather than working with them in accomplishing the mission. The truth of that perception is hard to ascertain without an anonymous survey or some other such tool. But there is another partnership that is equally important. NAMB has some of the finest employees in her offices at Alpharetta, GA and some of the finest missionaries on the field in God’s entire vineyard. Rumors of morale problems are frequent and could be discovered through a trustee-initiated anonymous survey of the employees. Even the finest organizations have grumblings. But the finest organizations know those grumblings can’t be dismissed or ignored. A healthy, open environment at the headquarters and among the employees and other missionaries is critical to the success of NAMB.

I want and pray for the success of NAMB and the SBC. It is my hope that the greatest days are ahead of us. Careful evaluation and critical analysis can be part of making that hope a reality.

Doug Munton,

Pastor, FBC O’Fallon, IL

10 practical steps to getting out of debt

Our church is going through a money management series called "It's a New Day for Financial Freedom" by Crown Financial Ministries.
They give ten practical steps for getting out of debt.
Here is a summary of the steps:
1. Pray for God's provision (see 2 Kings 4:1-7 for an example).
2. Start giving regularly (Malachi 3:8-10).
3. Don't go further into debt. Stop charging with credit cards!
4. Establish a written spending plan by writing down every penny that you spend for a month, and then developing a spending plan that is realistic and living within your means.
5. Open a savings account and contribute faithfully to it until you have $1,000 in savings for emergencies. (This prevents further debt because you can use your savings for unexpected expenses.)
6. List everything your own and see if you can sell unnecessary assets to eliminate debt (Proverbs 27:23).
7. Make a list of everything you owe.
8. Establish a debt repayment schedule. Pay off the smallest debts with the highest interest first. When that debt is paid, apply that payment amount to the next second debt, and so on. See Crown Financial Ministries for free calculators and tools that can help at www.crown.org/Tools/Caculators.
9. Consider earning additional income.
10. Consider a radical change in your lifestyle (Romans 12:1-2).

Old truck in Georgia

This old pickup truck is parked in a barn along Highway 96 near Fort Valley, Georgia. For ten years I have seen this truck in the same location every time we drive by on our way to see our family in Mississippi. I finally stopped this time and took a picture of this familiar landmark.

The journey ahead

I took this picture while walking on Good Hope Road, Lake, Mississippi, during my recent vacation. It reminds me of the New Year ahead.