Growing Up In the Pond

Last night I was talking to a student in my LifeGroup about some faith issues she was struggling with on her path to maturity. she had grown up in a Christian home and had put her trust in Christ at a young age. I brought up this tadpole idea I thought I'd share here.

Like many who began following Christ at a very young age, we often struggle with our faith as we get older, particularly as we go through puberty. why is this?

I think there are two reasons, but one I want to explore is the idea of "new surrender".

When we were younger we weren't fully developed. Our physical, intellectual, emotional, and social selves weren't fully formed. We were like tadpoles, just a head and a tale. Environmentally we were stuck in the water, not fully able to do everything maturity allows us too.

When we come to Christ at this tadpole stage we give it all to God, our head, tale and the water world of our lives. But as we mature we begin to develop new freedoms and new aspects of ourselves.



Continuing with the tadpole analogy, we get get legs, and the ability to live in our true amphibious freedom both in and out of the water. When we were young we surrendered all we were to God, but now we face new aspects of ourselves, new freedoms that have not yet been surrendered.

Now I must realize that if I want to continue following Christ, I must surrender these new abilities and freedoms as well if I am to continue this walk.

1 Corinthians 13:11
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

What new freedoms do you have that you have not surrendered to Christ?

• Freedoms with time
• Future Career
• Media
• Friendships
• Privacy
• Drivers License
  

What new abilities do you have that should be surrendered?

• My thought life
• Anger
• Emotions
• Feelings of Revenge
• Bitterness and Envy
• Ability to serve
• Ability to use words to build up or tear down
  

Surrender is a tough word. As Americans we do not like the idea of surrender, as a nation or individuals. But the secret of finding the kingdom life is by giving up what we think we know is the way, so that we can truly find it!

Jesus said: Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. (Luke 17:33)

What are you struggling with to surrender? Does this make sense in your own walk toward maturity?

If you have grown up in "the pond" of church you may struggle to find this place of "new surrender". The Jews Jesus ministered too grew up in the "pond" and struggled to understand him too. the breakthroughs happened for those who came to understand what surrender truly means.

Centered,

Mark

One Napkin Revolution Update

Many of you know I recently resolved to waste less by using only one napkin when I go out to eat, I call this the One Napkin Revolution. (see past blog posts for details)

I've done fairly well except for a few instances where the napkins were ... uh .. paper thin. So I had to use a couple extra.

The revolution has caught on .. and some of you have even talked to me about it at PlanetWisdom. Here's a note from Ali (pictured with me above) who brought One Napkin Revolution signs to PlanetWisdom in Southern California.

While I'm glad she is joining me in wasting less, I'm really excited about what God is doing in her life. I'll share some of her letter.

Hi Mark. My name is Ali and my church and I came to Planet Wisdom this past weekend.
I LOVED IT. The message was amazingly motivational. My friend and I had a very deep conversation about when God's plan for us is going to come and practically everything you talked about with molding us into the Christians we want to be. But I'm also the girl who was sitting in the front row holding the bright pink posters saying "Save a Tree Use OneNapkin." and you told me to send the pic we took to you so I am doing that. =]

Your blogs are where i go to when i want to read something funny yet serious. And this weekend i felt as if i could relate to you about being the odd one out and not dating and having your friends talk about their boyfriends and girlfriends and you kinda showed me how to deal with that. And most of all... You have me wanting to become a christian motivational [or what ever you call what you doo =) ]] speaker. and i want to THANK YOU for this.

I WILL BECOME MORE..

wait..

I AMMM BECOMING MORE.

Ali
p.s.--- i was holding the poster upside down. =/

Great stuff Ali! I am excited God is at work in your life helping you become more!

Got a story to share or a question you would like me to answer on my blog? Send it to me!

Mark

How Many Do You Have?

I was cleaning up my office today and realized that I have a ton of Bibles (pictured are some of my Bibles, there are two shelves full of Bibles not pictured!).

How many Bibles do you have in your home?

While in Mexico filming a video about Bible translation (see below) we met a women who came to church and didn't bring a Bible. She didn't leave it at home, and it wasn't that she didn't care. She didn't have her Bible because there wasn't one in her language.

It is alarming to realize that with so many Bibles on our shelves there are people in the world today without any scripture in their language. When I ask students in America how often they read the Bible they shamefully admit they don't read it much. In fact, the students who come to my house on Wednesday night for Bible study rarely bring one of their many Bibles with them.

Take a look at your church's lost and found. What will the number one item there be found? Probably Bibles!

I'm not trying to lay a guilt trip on you (ok ... maybe a little one), but there are 2,251 languages in the world today that need a translation because none exist. Those languages represent hundreds of millions of people! Clearly, we have been blessed to have God's word, but what use is it if we don't put it to use?

Think about the amazing gift of scripture. Reminds me of Psalm 199:97-100

Oh, how I love your law!
I meditate on it all day long.

Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,
for they are ever with me.

I have more insight than all my teachers,
for I meditate on your statutes.

I have more understanding than the elders,
for I obey your precepts.

Last week Wes Peterson and I were in Orlando for a conference and drove by the Crown Plaza hotel where we had once discussed Bible translation. We realized that it had been three years ago that God birthed a vision to connect students to Bible translation through a program we helped launch called One Verse. Go check out their website, you can help sponsor verses of scripture so they can be translated into the languages of people who don't have them. A pretty cool way to change the world! (see the video below of some students in the UK doing just that!) Wycliffe's The Seed Company facilitates the sophisticated partnerships it takes to accomplish a Bible's translation.

So where is your Bible? Have you read it today? For half hundreds of millions of people, they don't even have one to read. Think about that.

Mark

PS. Here are some videos we made in Mexico and England about OneVerse when it launched in 2006. Students at PlanetWisdom have helped partner with Bible translators from Mexico and others to complete much of the New Testament for a language group in Mexico. Good work everyone!

Expelled!

Today I went to see Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed with some friends. For those of you who aren't familiar with this movie it is a documentary exploring why academia is prohibiting the theory of Intelligent Design from being discussed as a legitimate theory of life's origin.

Expelled, was much better than I thought it would be. Ben Stein raises more questions than he could possibly answer in the given time, but for this intro dialog I think that is okay.

Expelled is really about preserving "Freedom of Thought" more than defending Intelligent Design. Die hard evolutionists won't be swayed, and Christians looking to understand ID won't get much info, but for the majority of Americans who have simply assumed Evolution as a theory of origin because of their public education, it may cause them think twice about whether they were taught the full story.

A common attack from atheism and evolutionists is that religion is the root of evil in our world. Atheists point to the Inquisitions and holy wars as evidence. Ben Stein points out that succumbing to Darwinian theory has also led to societal atrocities (i.e. Nazi Germany). While I was at first not sure this was the right way for the film makers to go, when I realized the movie was really about freedom of thought rather than ID alone, I decided it was an important point to make.

Our ability to put out any idea, no matter how ridiculous and think it through is central to American and Christian thought. Here is an excerpt from Smart Faith a book I wrote with philosopher JP Moreland, that shows the unique nature of reason in God's dealings with mankind.

God is a God of reason. We know this because of the character and actions of God described in the Bible. The Bible teaches, for example, that God’s unique attributes include omniscience: He is perfect in knowledge and knows everything (see 1 Samuel 23:11-13; Job 37:16; 1 John 3:20). The Bible also describes Him as the only ‘wise God’ (Romans 16:27), the God of truth who cannot lie (see Titus 1:2), and completely reliable (see Romans 3:4; Hebrews 6:18). God’s very word is true (see John 17:17), and His church — not the university — is the pillar and support of the truth (see 1 Timothy 3:15). Most amazing of all, the God of the Bible invites His creatures to come and reason with Him (see Isaiah 1:18) by bringing a legally reasoned case against His actions to which He will respond (see Ecclesiastes 6:10; Jeremiah 12:1; 20:12).

Compare this portrait of God with what we know of other gods. With Islam, we have a god who is so transcendent that he is beyond understanding. The Greek gods and the gods of other polytheistic (having many gods) religions such as Hinduism are fickle, are swayed by their emotions, and act inconsistently. The God of the Bible never changes (see James 1:17), requires teachers who diligently study His Word and handle it accurately (see 1 Timothy 4:15-16; 2 Timothy 2:15), and requires His evangelists to be able to give a rational justification for what they believe to all who ask (see 1 Peter 3:15).

With monistic (reality consisting of a single element) religions of the East, we are offered meditations — like the sound of one hand clapping — to escape logical thought. … The Buddhist is to leave her mind behind, but God asks that the Christian to be transformed by the renewing of her mind (see Romans 12:1-2).

No wonder Christians started the first universities and have planted schools and colleges wherever missionaries have gone. No wonder science began in Christian Europe — after all, the same rational God who made the rational human mind also created the rational world so the mind would be suited to figure out the world’s structure.

God created you to be a follower of Christ with your mind turned on and tuned in to the life He made for you. This does not mean God loves academics and scholars more than He loves other people. … But if virtues mirror our God of perfection, then ignorance is not a Christian virtue.

Expelled made many claims and assumptions that my limited knowledge of science and certain events could not verify (and the movie didn't really do much to verify them either). So you may need to do some homework before using some of their arguments in the real world.

Final Remark: Expelled is an excellent discussion starter about some important issues, but it is a beginning not an end.

Mark

For the planetwisdom.com thorough review click here

Have you seen the movie? Will you? What do you think about this issue?

Learning To Levitate

I've been working in Hollywood with my friend Don Wayne on some new illusions for next season's PlanetWisdom tour.

One of the pieces I've been working on is a levitation I hope to do on stage in front of everyone. This video isn't the completed piece, but shows a part of it ... we filmed this in the living room and tried to make it as easy to see as possible ... Here is a sneak peak.

The theme next year will center around "Avoiding Stupidity", which will explore how we apply God's wisdom to our lives. Wisdom in Hebrew (hokema) literally means skill or expertise. In the book of Exodus it refers to Pharoah's magicians, but for God's people it refers to skill at living life.

Let me know what you think. Nobody wants to be a fool, next year's PlanetWisdom will try to help you from becoming one.

While you wait for next year's PlanetWisdom, my new series "Wisdom On..." has some helpful ideas too.

Mark

World's Worst Logo Contest

For nearly 15 years.. yes .. since I've been married... I have driven Jade (my wife) crazy by complaining about the Sherman Williams' logo any time I see it. If you have no idea what it looks like here it is ... have a gander:

Isn't it awful? I can't think of anything more unappealing than a can of paint being poured over the Earth. Every time I see the logo I have a nauseating emotional reaction like the main character in William Gibson's book "Patter Recognition". (and I'm not really an emotional guy, I'm much more rational.. to a fault some would say.)

The image is appalling. Who wants the natural beauty of God's creation covered with exterior latex? Even if you mix up the finishes with semi-gloss, eggshell, and gloss it's still an awful idea.

And then there's the slogan, "Cover the Earth" ! WHY?! Why would anyone want to do that?

The goal to cover the earth with paint sounds like a plot by one of Batman's nemesis from the campy kitschy television program. Maybe a villain with a name like PaintLord , Demi-Gloss, or PaintRoller Meister!

I see Batman and Robin hanging over a big vat of paint (in an abandoned paint factory no less!) wiggling to escape before the Paint Meister's scheme is carried out. Robin cries out, "Holy Gallons Of Semi-Gloss Batman! If that huge paint can in outer space makes it to its destination they'll cover the earth!"

We are now living in the age of GREEN living and marketing. Sherman Williams, I'm sure you're good people. But PLEASE change your logo!

Okay Blog friends .. here is your assignment. Can you find a logo worse than Sherman Williams? If you do send it to me, If I think it's worse I'll send you some PlanetWisdom gear!

Mark

updated: Wow I'm getting emailed a ton of logos ... some of them real doozies!

This Blood's For You

My wife came home after a meeting at our kid's school and asked if I wanted to donate blood. I have never done this.

Usually I have been disqualified because of overseas travel, or a recent illness. Today, I had nothing hindering me. Because of my grandfather's heart transplant, I carry an organ donor card. Since I have to be dead to contribute an organ, the blood drive seemed like a good thing to do now.

I got a little faint and dizzy at the end, blacking out a little bit, which made me look like a wuss in front of the moms giving blood. Women have always seemed to have more endurance than men, or at least, me.

Someone asked if I would give blood again, and I said "yes" (I even have a frequent donor card now). Giving my blood once, isn't enough, there will always be a need for more.

Jesus' blood on the other hand, cleanses us once and for all. He never has to give again and again. Today, reminding me of that.

Hebrews 7:27
Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.

I'm saying a prayer for the person who might have to use my blood, not only that they will be healed, but also that they might come to know Christ whose blood can do so much more for their life.

Mark