Daily Links 2-12-14

In today's edition: looking away from worthless things, happiness and marriage, an uncommon brotherhood, and more.

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Looking away from worthless things:

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about Psalm 119:37: "Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in your way." 

God asks us to meditate upon things that are true, right, noble, pure, excellent, lovely and praise-worthy (Phil 4:8).  But in today’s modern world, it is all too easy it is to fill our minds with frivolous, meaningless, worldly distractions even if we aren’t trying to.  The moment we walk into a restaurant, mall, or grocery store, our senses are typically bombarded with worldly images, sensuality, and pop-culture icons.  Even if we don’t willingly participate in these things - the sights, sounds, and worldly messages we encounter can easily clutter our minds and undermine our ability to be solely focused on Jesus Christ. 

I have learned firsthand that it’s not enough for me to merely “disagree” or “disapprove” of the worldly images and messages that seek to assault my senses, but to proactively turn my eyes away from looking at worthless things, as Psalm 119 prescribes.  I may shake my head and say “Tsk, tsk!” while studying a magazine cover that celebrates impurity or watching raunchy images float across a television screen.  But this does not protect my mind from the damaging effects of those things.  And while it’s not possible to walk around blindfolded, I do have the ability to look away as soon as I encounter an image or message that is opposite of God’s Truth. 

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Innovation alert: 7 simple improvements that perfected everyday products. These are really neat.

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"Happiness is the result of a healthy marriage. It is not the reason for marriage."

The point of marriage isn’t to find our missing half. It’s to help each other become all God intended. Our future, real selves. In marriage, two people partner to that end. They see the best in each other—the person God created them to be—and they push and pull each other toward that goal. 

Don’t get married because you think he or she is “the one.” Trust me, they’re not. There’s no such thing! But do get married when you see who God is making somebody to be, and it lights you up. When you want to be a part of that story of transformation, that journey to the future. When you are well aware it will be a long and bumpy ride, but you don’t want to miss one mile. Because you believe in God’s calling on them, and you want in. 

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Always treat your girlfriend right: A World War II case study. Some food for thought in how we treat each other in relationships.

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An Uncommon Brotherhood. The true story of the Four Chaplains - men of different faiths who came together in a time of crisis to provide comfort to those in need.

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Why preach through books of the Bible?

I had a conversation with a minister friend who had been involved in discussing what pastors were preaching in their churches. While most seemed to agree that exposition of the biblical text must have priority in the church, few thought it wise to preach consecutively through books of the Bible—particularly with series that extended beyond twelve weeks. I understand the challenge of longer series but also see the value in the long run. The forty-four sermons that I preached through Ephesians in 1990–91, literally transformed my life, theology, and congregation. Eight or ten sermons would not have sufficed to uproot faulty theology and set us on a right course. The fifty-two sermons in Hebrews in 2000–01, sharpened our understanding of the gospel and its application to the whole of life.

Hat tip: Aaron Armstrong

Should Teens Be Allowed to Date?

Our family has chosen to not allow our girls to date until they are ready to consider marriage (which won't be for a while yet). Lest you think I am being too prudish, I offer this article from Acculturated for your consideration.

Think about the purpose of dating. It’s not just some fun thing people do. It’s going into dating with that mindset that takes a wrecking ball to the heart. 

No, the most essential purpose of dating is to seek out and get to know a potential spouse. Sure dating also entails emotional and spiritual growth. But a big part of that growth is to prepare you to be a better spouse and parent. Life and nature have this pretty stubborn trajectory, and marriage and family is the direction we hurtle, whether we like it or not. 

So let’s go back to teen dating. Pretty sure there is a broad consensus that teenagers should not get married. With the exception of maybe the Duggar family, people on both sides of the aisle tend to agree that men and women should be emotionally (and heck, physically) mature before they take lifelong vows, especially if those vows are to stand a chance of actually being life-long. Ok maybe the Duggars are a bad example because Josh Duggar (married son) actually seems like more of a man than your average 30 year-old. But I digress.

Heck, call me a bad social conservative, but I don’t even think women should get married until they are in their mid-twenties and have had a little time to experience some independence after college, which yes, I think they should attend. Unmarried. 

The average female body doesn’t even stop growing until around the age of 25. And call me crazy, but it seems un-ideal for a woman to have a baby when her body is still growing and developing. And considering that babies are the natural result of marriage, well – it’s worth thinking about these things.

Yes, it is worth thinking about these things. Unfortunately, many families don't carefully consider the pros and cons of teenage dating before allowing their children to pursue relationships. And it's best to start thinking about it early before your kids are teenagers.

Weekend Links 9-14-13

Saying goodbye to the NIV, some great advice on dating, great quotes on manliness, Taps, and amazing things found buried in the desert all in this weekend's links.

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Goodbye, NIV.

The NIV Bible is no more. Alas.

The version that many grew up reading has finally ridden off into the sunset, never to return. Zondervan has phased it out, buried it, and replaced it with something else. Many people denied that a significant change had taken place, and tried to act like the Bible being sold now as the NIV is indeed the NIV they grew up with. That myth was sustainable for a while, but eventually it just didn’t work. This year many Christian schools finally dropped the NIV, and replaced it with something else. Even AWANA was forced to make the change.

I still have an original NIV Study Bible that I use often for my personal Bible study. But if I were to advise someone on what translation to buy I would have to recommend either ESV or NASB. I didn't realize that the NIV had changed so much.

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A great roundup of quotes on manliness from The Art of Manliness.

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Some great advice on dating which sounds a lot like the discussions I have had with my own daughters:

Don’t date just for the sake of dating. Sure, you can take a stroll through the park just for the sake of strolling through the park, but dating ain’t a stroll through the park. It’s a complicated and serious thing; it can also be fun, but it isn’t something you should do for pure recreation. Dating is supposed to be a means to an end. Or, maybe a better way of putting it, dating is a means to a beginning.

To put it simply: If you know for a fact that you would never marry a certain person, then you shouldn’t be in a romantic relationship with them. Knowingly staying in a relationship without a future is like riding a dying horse into the desert. It’s a slow, painful death march, and there is no chance of it working out in your favor. So go ahead and date, but date with a purpose. Date with a goal. Date with your eyes toward marriage. I know that might seem old fashioned. In fact it is old fashioned, which is why you should listen to it.

Back in those old, dark days, they didn’t have anything called “dating”; instead they had “courtship.” And courting would have looked a lot like dating, with one difference: There was a point. They had a purpose. They had a goal. They were interested in being adults and making a commitment, and the courting process would tell them whether they should or could make that commitment to each other. Marriage was the ultimate destination, and if it became apparent that this destination could not be reached, they ended the courtship and moved on with their lives. The modern dating strategy is different. You don’t have one common goal or desired destination. Instead, you spin in circles together until someone gets dizzy and jumps off. The sudden stop sends the other person hurtling into space, while you wander aimlessly away, searching desperately for another random stranger to latch onto for an indefinite period of false hopes and disappointments.

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Five Amazing Things People Buried in the Desert. No it's not treasure but interesting anyway.

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The Last 24 Notes

Tom Day is not a man given to extravagance. He thinks he’s living high on a reporter’s nickel if he orders a beef sandwich to go at the local Buona sub shop. He shops at Goodwill every Sunday, hoping to pick up bargains, like his handsome $35 suits. But if there’s one superfluity that Day especially can’t abide, it is that of empty rhetoric.

There’s been a lot of talk about “the troops” the last many years: Supporting The Troops. Hugging The Troops. Splitting A Malt With The Troops. (At least when not Forgetting The Troops, hurriedly paging past the “Faces of the Fallen” feature in your local paper to get to the movie listings.) The talk usually comes from helmet-haired cable anchors or men with soft hands who type things for a living. They use those who serve like polemical mascots, to run up the score either for or against the war of the moment. But to Tom Day, “duty .  .  . honor .  .  . sacrifice” aren’t just Memorial Day buzzwords that trigger the Pavlovian anticipation of picnic foods and mattress-outlet sales. 

They are words that actually require something of him, the dwindling resource you can’t buy more of: time. For the 73-year-old former Marine serves those who serve. Or rather, he serves those who have served. Day is the man who, both on his own and through the 7,500-plus volunteers in the organization he founded, Bugles Across America, has saved the tradition of playing live “Taps” at military funerals.

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Daily Links 9-10-13

Vin Scully, statements for leaders, work attitudes and more in today's edition of Daily Links.

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Vin Scully is one of the best storytellers around. But this story about growing up in parochial school is amazing. Best line: "why in the world would you want to change God's work?"

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5 Important Attitudes to Embrace at Work:

American Christians have a rather uneasy relationship with work. On Sunday, the lay person hears an impassioned message about sacrifice, self-denial, and the mission of God. He might be treated to a stirring testimony of a wealthy CEO who gave up a promising career to enter "full-time" ministry.

Then, Monday morning happens. He takes his place on the factory line, at a desk, in a garage, or behind the wheel. The guilt and shame surge up inside of him, for he thinks that if he were truly committed to Jesus, if he were part of the A-team of Christians in the world, he wouldn't get a check from a "secular" corporation or small business, but from a Christian company such as a church or a parachurch organization. 

I've lived on both sides of this secular-sacred divide. My dad is a plumber. He's a committed husband and father who's given himself in service to his church. But still he's ... just a plumber. He's not a pastor or missionary or worship leader. At times, I've felt that Dad was made to feel as if he were on God's junior varsity. As if his entrance into glory won't be met with the same applause as those who delivered the sermons on Sunday.

I'm also a pastor and have had to guard against unwittingly shaming the hardworking lay people I serve, simply because I'm privileged to work, full-time, in the business of church. Some pastors might consider themselves more dedicated and more like Jesus than those who sling it in the real world, getting their hands dirty in jobs that seem less than sacred. Although the pastoral and missionary callings are sober, serious endeavors, they don't ascribe any more glory to the sinners who occupy them. Moreover, if faithfulness is God's measure of success, everywhere you serve is God's theater.

Hat tip: Thom Rainer

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Making the case for not posting your kid's information online (hat tip Challies).

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Some very honest (and important) advice on dating:

Don’t date just for the sake of dating. Sure, you can take a stroll through the park just for the sake of strolling through the park, but dating ain’t a stroll through the park. It’s a complicated and serious thing; it can also be fun, but it isn’t something you should do for pure recreation. Dating is supposed to be a means to an end. Or, maybe a better way of putting it, dating is a means to a beginning.

To put it simply: If you know for a fact that you would never marry a certain person, then you shouldn’t be in a romantic relationship with them. Knowingly staying in a relationship without a future is like riding a dying horse into the desert. It’s a slow, painful death march, and there is no chance of it working out in your favor. So go ahead and date, but date with a purpose. Date with a goal. Date with your eyes toward marriage. I know that might seem old fashioned. In fact it is old fashioned, which is why you should listen to it.

Back in those old, dark days, they didn’t have anything called “dating”; instead they had “courtship.” And courting would have looked a lot like dating, with one difference: There was a point. They had a purpose. They had a goal. They were interested in being adults and making a commitment, and the courting process would tell them whether they should or could make that commitment to each other. Marriage was the ultimate destination, and if it became apparent that this destination could not be reached, they ended the courtship and moved on with their lives. The modern dating strategy is different. You don’t have one common goal or desired destination. Instead, you spin in circles together until someone gets dizzy and jumps off. The sudden stop sends the other person hurtling into space, while you wander aimlessly away, searching desperately for another random stranger to latch onto for an indefinite period of false hopes and disappointments.

Be sure to read the whole thing.\

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Did you know the Star Trek theme song had lyrics?

Rules for Dating My Daughter

It's only fair that any young man who wants to date my daughters know what he's getting in to before he considers asking them out:

This also makes me think of one of my favorite Chuck quotes (via John Casey)

Or you can always take the Willie Robertson approach to dealing with your daughter's boyfriend.

Related: Application to Date My Daughter.

UPDATE: Thanks to Adam Baldwin for the retweet!

RT @Daddypundit “Rules for Dating My Daughters - with a nod to ‘John Casey’.” - http://t.co/zWzpOYANDd
— Adam Baldwin (@adamsbaldwin) June 18, 2013

Application to Date My Daughter

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook and I just had to share it because it is absolutely hilarious:

Rules for Dating

This has been around for a while but still makes me laugh and I find particularly appropriate as a father of two daughters: Ten Simple Rules for Dating My Daughter.

Of course there is another simple way to handle it by following this rule.