Don't Be Stupid

J. Lee Grady has a great column up at Charisma entitled 10 Stupid Things Ministers Should Never Do.

If you aspire to ministry, don’t be stupid. Decide now to avoid these obvious pitfalls.
I had the privilege of sharing a pulpit with Dr. Mary Ann Brown two times. She was bold, prophetic and painfully blunt. People who hate women preachers hated her even more because of her no-nonsense sermons—always delivered in her Texas twang. She would get her audience laughing and then skewer them with a hot blade of truth.

When this spiritual giant died last month at age 73, I remembered the last words she said to me when we were together at a conference in Chicago in 2011. After lamenting the fact that so many ministers in the United States were failing, Mary Ann locked eyes with me and said with stern, motherly authority: “Lee, please don’t ever get stupid.”

I knew exactly what she meant—and I’ve pondered her words often, especially since her death. I don’t want to be stupid; I want to finish well. So how can we avoid spiritual stupidity? We can start by avoiding these 10 mistakes that have become common in our movement during the past decade. If you are a minister, or if you aspire to be one, please decide now that you will never copy these behaviors....

Read it all at the link...... and don't be stupid!

False Faces on Facebook

From B J Stockman - The "Hotmess" and False Perceptions of Facebook:

You are not your Facebook page, and you don’t need to be. Sure use social-networking, but don’t be unaware of its dangers and deceits. Your friend from college who posts every possible pregnant belly shot possible–doesn’t always look that good. Your old friend from childhood who dates his wife every other day–still has rough patches in their marriage. Your friends who live far away and have those funny and cute kids–aren’t always that funny and cute. O, and neither are you quite that remarkable.

Your Facebook is not you nor is it your friends. Don’t trade the illusions of social networking for the difficulty and beauty of real relationships. What matters most about you is not what is visual–what is seen on the outside via Facebook or whatever–but what is internal.

Facebook tempts us to post things that increase the currency of our like-ability and indulge in the fear of man. The gospel of Jesus rescues you from the need to show how “hot” you are in whatever area of your life you deem important enough to be publicly personified so that people will “like” you. No matter what your Facebook page reveals about you, your life is messy and in desperate need of the life-changing grace and love that Jesus freely gives to those who trust him. The good news is that if you die to yourself and your identity and trust who God is for you in Jesus he gives you a glorious identity: “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you will also appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:3-4)

When you awaken to the reality of this glorious identity you may still use Facebook but it won’t shape who you are. The glory of your identity–your whole life–being “with Christ” and “in God” empties Facebook of its allure of false perceptions and being liked.

Hat Tip: Facebook, the Fear of Man, and the Gospel

Christian Urban Legends (for Preachers & Hearers)

Have you ever heard a preacher repeat one of these Preacher Urban Legends?  If you are a preacher (full or part time) have you ever told one of these stories without confirmation/

1. The “eye of the needle” refers to a gate outside Jerusalem.

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God,” says Jesus in Mark 10:25. Maybe you’ve heard of the gate in Jerusalem called the “eye of the needle.” The camel could pass through it only after stooping down and having all its baggage taken off.

The illustration is used in many sermons as an example of coming to God on our knees and without our baggage. The only problem is… there is no evidence for such a gate. The story has been around since the 15th century, but there isn’t a shred of evidence to support it.

2. The high priest tied a rope around his ankle so that others could drag him out of the Holy of Holies in case God struck him dead.

Various versions of this claim have been repeated by pastors, but it is a legend. It started in the Middle Ages and keeps getting repeated. There is no evidence for the claim in the Bible, the Apocrypha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Josephus, the Pseudepigrapha, the Talmud, Mishna or any other source. Furthermore, the thickness of the veil (three feet) would have precluded the possibility of a priest being dragged out anyway.

There are more "legends" at the link. I must confess that I have used both of these stories, but I will never do so again.  We need to practice integrity in Bible teaching and preaching, so that listeners can trust what is taught. If you hear one of these whoppers being told, please encourage the speaker to check his facts!

Hat Tip: Kingdom People

A Demonstration of Character

From Thinking Out Loud comes this inspiring true story- A Sports Role Model You Should Know

J.P. Hayes may be the most admired rule-breaker in America.

“This is a great story for sports and honesty in sports,” said Mike Golic on ESPN Radio’s show Mike and Mike in the Morning.

Hayes, 43, a middle-of-the-road pro-golfer, realized that he had mistakenly used a non-regulation ball for just two strokes in a PGA Tour qualifying tournament last week in Texas. Since the ball was unapproved for competition, Hayes admitted his mistake — and was disqualified.

“I violated a rule and I had to take my medicine,” Hayes said. But Hayes didn’t really have to turn himself in. No one filmed it. No one else saw it and no one would ever have known about the two shots with a prototype golf ball.

“No one would have known, but I knew,” he said. “And I have some people looking down on me that would have known, so that was the decision I had to make.”

Character, they say, is what you do when no one is watching. While that’s a powerful mantra, it’s easier to say than to live by. And for a player who was working hard to earn a PGA Tour card, admitting his mistake put a full-time spot on the line.

Hayes’s decision to turn himself in is a discussion dominating the world of sports. In a world where NASCAR drivers say, “If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying,” baseball players take illegal steroids to enhance their performance and coaches make illegal films of their opponents, Hayes could have kept quiet.

“The lessons kids are being taught today, when you talk about sports, is how to get away with things in general,” said Damon Hack, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated. “Often young players are taught it’s not cheating if you don’t get caught.”

Hayes also refuses to place blame on his caddy, who mistakenly gave him the prototype ball from his golf bag. He considers it a personal oversight.

…J.P. Hayes paid a price for turning himself in; he lost a chance to qualify for the 2009 PGA Pro-Tour. But even though he no longer can compete, he has no regrets.

“I am proud in that situation that I reacted how I should of,” he said.

This guy deserves attention and admiration. He should be held up as a role model for our kids and grand kids. Don't know if he is a Christian or not, but with that kind of attitude toward integrity I would not be surprised to hear that he is. Reminds me of Eric Liddell.