Have you ever had that perfect cup of coffee?  You know, the one where you put just the right amount of sugar, just the right amount of cream.  It's a little bit sweet, but not too sweet.  It still has that distinct bite in the back of your mouth that every French Roast should have.  It's...incredible.  The greatness of each sip is only surpassed by the sip which follows it.  For the half hour that it lasts, life is perfect.

Of course, then you remember that you're at work and you should have been working for the last half an hour.  What a bitter pill that is.

Lately I've been reading a book called "Finding Faith Tody: How Does it Happen?" by John Finney.  It's a remarkable little study about how adults come to faith.  The whole book is research-based and taken from a large sample of adult converts--written in 1992.

A number of things have blown me away--i.e. the number of preconceived notions I had that have been called into question by Finney's study.  Probably the most pronounced of these is 2/3 of the people surveyed described their conversion as a process rather than a single pronounced occasion (like an altar call).  Even more interesting--of those 2/3, the average time for coming to faith was FOUR YEARS!  This means, on average, people had sustained positive contact with Christianity in one form or another (a church, a friend, media, etc.) for four years before deciding to follow Christ.

I had mixed, powerful emotions after reading this.  First, I am profoundly encouraged that some friends may yet decide Jesus is worthwhile.  Second, I was acutely aware of my own impatience when discussing Christ with others.  Where are the results?!?  Truth be told, they may be a long way off in the future.  I may never see them.

It is both humbling and frustrating to know that my place is more often a link in the chain.

This website is for everyone who is mourning the passing of the baseball season. It is also for those of you need to waste a little time. It is also for those of you who enjoy watching a penguin get hit with a club by a Yeti. My best is 321 yards. I'm impressed if anyone can top it.

I just read this blog about how to blog and how not to blog.  This is my official confession about breaking some (read many) of the rules that he listed.  I repent.  I will do better next time.  Probably my favorite statement was this:

When did you come to faith in Christ?  I'm starting to believe the answer to that question has a profound impact on the way faith plays out for the rest of life....give me a minute to unpack it.

All of these thoughts were unearthed by a conversation that I had with Jason Anderson on Saturday night.  The whole purpose of our time together was to share our faith stories with one another--a really refreshing practice that I recommend to everyone.  It became apparent after the first five minutes of Jason's story that he and I had come from two completely opposite paths to arrive at Christ.  Whereas my background involved a simple decision of faith at a young age, his was more of a desperate crying out for Christ to save him while in college.

I was blessed so much by hearing him describe what Christ had saved him from.  Then, one of his statements hit me really hard.  He said, "The closest thing I can describe to that [feeling of entering a relationship with God] is when I fell in love with my wife."  It struck me that my love for God wasn't and had never been anything like what Jason had just described.

I let it slide for the moment, not saying anything about it.  Jason continued his story, at one point talking about prayer.  Again, as he spoke, it struck me how much easier prayer seemed to be for him than it was for me.  I am a bad pray-er.  Let's just face it.  As we talked, I related to him the intellectual struggles I have had with prayer over the years (see blog about this below).  Then he told me--"Tim I don't think it's as much about what prayer accomplishes.  It's about developing a relationship with God."

Those are words I had heard a thousand times before, but this was the first time they hit home.  Jason's relationship with God was like falling in love with his wife.  Therefore, "developing a relationship" with God was as pertinent to him as developing a closer relationship with his wife.  So what is my problem?  I wonder if my struggle with spiritual disciplines (prayer, Bible reading, etc.) is because I view my love for God in a far different light than Jason does.

Here's my hypothesis.  Because I came to faith at a very young age, my only paradigm for "love" was a love for parents.  A very real love--no question.  It is, however, very different than the love I have for Jessica.  Whereas romantic love involves much more emotional response, a love for parents functions more in the realm of safety, security, confidence of presence, etc.  Am I crazy here, or does this have real implications?

Now, I don't mean to imply that one is higher order love and the other is a lower order.  I think they're both Biblical, but I don't think either view is self-sufficient.  Anyone else found these paradigms playing out similarly (or differently) in their lives?

Sorry to do therapy on my blog, but I wanted to get this all out on paper...or cyberspace.

One of the things that has been on my mind a lot lately is how the simple answers on which I used to fall don't quite seem...adequate any longer.  My feeble attempts to counsel a friend through marital difficulties probably bubbled this to the surface.  Since this is not the best place to share about that situation, I'll give another that has proven to be quite a puzzle.

As I've been studying the first 15 or so books of the Bible in sem classes, the question of what to think about polygamy has been a source of confusion for me.  The pat answer?  "It is wrong."  Sure, plenty of Biblical evidence can be cited to support that.  Genesis--one man, one woman, one lifetime.  Abraham's marriage to Hagar doesn't work out well for relations between Jews and Muslims.  Etc, etc, etc....

But what do you do with David?  The author of Samuel makes a pretty forceful moral judgment about his adultery with Bathsheba, no doubt.  But what about his marriage to Abigail?  The story seems to imply that he is saving her from a fool (Nabal in hebrew means "fool").  Solomon, while he is condemned for marrying foreign women is not chastised implicitly for having multiple marriages--just for following their gods.

While the considerations about David and Solomon may be "arguments from silence," what about the Deuteronomical law?  It commands a man to marry and provide an heir for his brother's wife in the event of his death (Levirite marriage).  The "true truth" gets a little blurry there...

One of our profs was sharing a story about some missionaries to Africa who had converted a whole village to belief in Christ.  A huge miracle.  Things were going really well.  However, the chief had five wives--the missionaries were quick to point out that this was in opposition to following Christ.  So, wanting to be authentic in his new faith, the chief kept his favorite wife and put the other four out of his house.  They were forced to become prostitutes because any self-respecting man in that culture wouldn't marry someone who wasn't a virgin...

I've found a lot of reaction to this article on some of the blogs that I frequent.  It's about the whole state of worship music--where it's come from, where it's gone, but mostly what's wrong with it.  Sigh...

It seems odd that I have pretty much avoided the topic of worship music on my blog.  Maybe it's because I fear that there is something terribly wrong with the way I do things at Hope (I'm not fishing for compliments here, so please don't read it that way), maybe it's because I can see validity in the arguments on all sides of worship wars, maybe it's because my opinions are constantly changing.

Among the most frequently voiced complaints is the presence of the word "I" in worship music.  Many say that evangelical worship tunes do a better job of glorifying the manner of our worship than the object of our worship.  Said simply--most of these choruses worship worship rather than worshiping God.

Now you'll have that song stuck in your head all day.  My work here is done.

Despite my utter lack of interest in the sciences during college (I took "Biogeography of the Global Garden" at the U of M just to escape a real biology class) I was fascinated by an article in Sunday's Pioneer Press.  It was a tease for the Top 125 Questions that scientists wish they could answer.  It's great to hear the academic community admit that they don't know EVERYTHING.  Be sure to click on "So Much More to Know" at the bottom of the page, or just click here for 100 of the questions without as much commentary.  They're nice for those of us with desperately short attention spans.

Some of the questions that fascinate me most are those that deal with the possibility of life on other planets.  I have long wondered what it would mean for our faith if there was evidence of sentient human life (past or present) on other planets.  That's a whole new spin on the question, "what about those people in _______ who have never heard of Jesus."  What do ya'll think about this issue?  Or, what questions interested you?  A lot to think about on that list... 

I got a letter from Jim Dobson a couple of days ago.  No, it wasn't personal--just to me--it was an email sent out to all of his "friends."  Don't know how I got on that list...  Anyway, in the letter, Dobson was decrying the continuing "judicial tyrrany" present in our land's highest court.  In this specific situation, it was about the two decisions handed down this week concerning ten commandments monuments displays in Kentucky and Texas.  Though most of the academic community considered the decisions to be a split--a compromise between both sides--Dobson is convinced this is another example of our religious liberties being compromised.

OK, regardless of how you feel about public ten commandments displays, doesn't this seem like a terribly misplaced set of priorities?  The first thing I thought after reading his letter was...what about the rest of the world's problems?  Aren't they of a far more serious nature?  Take Darfur for example.  Rape, murder, displacement, GENOCIDE.  The statistics are beyond heart-breaking.  What if all the money that is being spent on this "campaign" were put toward relieving the suffering of those in Darfur?

It seems to me that this has both vertical and horizontal implications.  Maybe I'm misreading the gospel, shouldn't we should spend our time, efforts and finances toward helping others?  I'm just not convinced that courtroom artwork is that important.  Second, think of the message it would send if a guy like Dobson made a public statement that Focus was shifting its focus to bring relief to those in Darfur.  Can you imagine the reaction in the secular media?  They would see a loud Evangelical organization showing evidence of their faith in a way that is others focused rather than inward focused.

In light of these things, it seemed strange that he signed his letter this way: "Thank you for your willingness to stand boldly for righteousness."  Indeed...

I've been reading a lot of Brian McLaren lately, and much of what follows comes from him or thoughts I've had while reading him.  Two things I know for sure about McLaren's writing--it is turning some of my neat, orderly theological paradigms into a milkshake.  Second, whether I will end up changing my point of view on some issues or not, I am better for having read him.  "A New Kind of Christian" in particular is a book I think everyone should read--and write your thoughts in the margins as you go (sorry, Dad, I know writing in any book is somewhat heretical to you :)