I found a fascinating article at Yahoo News about people trying to officially  leave the faith in Britain.  And I mean a lot of people! Here the crux of the story:

More than 100,000 Britons have recently downloaded “certificates of de-baptism” from the Internet to renounce their Christian faith.

The initiative launched by a group called the National Secular Society (NSS) follows atheist campaigns here and elsewhere, including a London bus poster which triggered protests by proclaiming “There’s probably no God.” [Source]

This of course is being sponsored by one of the many new “militant atheist” groups we’ve seen rise up in the last few years.  The National Secular Society site says, “Debaptize Yourself! Liberate yourself from the Original Mumbo-Jumbo that liberated you from the Original Sin you never had!” (Follow the link if you’d like to see a picture of the certificate) I’m trying very hard not to say something like “Clever little devils aren’t they?”

Oops, it slipped out!

They aren’t devils of course, and aren’t all that clever either, though this certainly seems to be catching on in the UK at any rate.  This is just another example of what the power of smart marketing can do for you.  If they had advertised this as what it really is – Apostasy! – I don’t think they would have gotten nearly as enthusiasm a response as they are getting now.

And I have to say I’m happy to see these people “officially”  leaving a faith they have forsaken in their hearts some time ago.  At least they are being honest, which is a good thing. And by leaving they are helping to both cleanse and strengthen the church.  Nonbelievers have no place as “members” of any church, so we ought to let them go gracefully.

And then of course stop and try and figure out how to win them to a real, living faith in Christ, not whatever  kind of sham faith they may have had before.

Whether the church in England will do that remains to be seen. But this is a good wake up call, and when and if it comes to America it should serve the same purpose here.

Let’s acknowledge our failures, and while we’re at it call a spade a spade! Let the apostates go, and pray that they might find a real faith in the living Christ someday now that they are being honest with themselves, God and everyone else.

I’ve been thinking a lot about hope lately, and it seems to be playing a larger the normal role both in my life and the lives of people I see around me.

It’s only natural that I’ve been thinking about it since that’s what I taught about on my recent trip to Myanmar. I taught a class about how to extract hope from difficult situations, and taught it twice, once in Yangon and again in Sittwe. Both times it was well received.

That fact that it was seen as important probably says more about the caliber of people in my class than it does either about me or my teaching skills. But it’s always gratifying to know God has used something you put together to help others. That’s one of the chief rewards of any kind of ministry as far as I’m concerned.

Hope is a word we use a lot but don’t really understand very well.  Biblical hope cannot be equated with hoping that we win the lottery, or hoping that cute guy or girl likes me, or hoping that I find a good parking space at WalMart.

Biblical hope is a confident expectation that God is going to do something in the future. It’s not here yet, we cannot see it, but we hope it’s coming and fully expect to see it.  Hope that is biblical is hope placed in God.

We do not put our hope in ourselves, or our self-image, or the government, or our friends, or anything else.  We don’t even put our hope in our church or our Pastors!  We hope in God and God alone.  For He alone has the power to alter events and bring out His Kingdom on earth.  And after all, that is our ultimate hope isn’t it?

Easter is right around the corner.  Easter is looked at as the seminal event in the Christian faith.  If Jesus rose from the dead, then He is truly the Son of God and Savior of the world, the promised Messiah.  If he did not physically rise from among the corpses ( to echo the Greek) then He is not our Savior, and all hope is lost.

So you see, not only is our faith based in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, but all of our hope as well.  If Jesus is alive, hope is alive.  But if Jesus is dead – so are all our hopes.

I hope that all of us will take advantage of Easter this year to share Christ with our friends and neighbors and co-workers. It’s always my hope that lives will be changed and souls saved at Easter time.  And if we all pray for that and work towards it, that’s exactly what will happen.

And that’s what I’m hoping for this year.

Many of you know that I moved into my new house in November.  It’s an incredible gift of God and I’m so grateful to Him for it!

You may have read here about my friend Bud who made and installed bookshelves for me (with very little help from me!).

Well this morning I began to do what I’ve been dying to do for a long time now – I’m putting the books up!!

Whoooooooooo Hoooooooooooooo!  Enjoy!

I’ve got some good links for you to check out this weekend – enjoy!

Debating the Devil

Check out this interesting debate with Mark Driscoll among others debating the Devil, Jesus, etc.

How To Blog 101

Tech & the Generation Gap - some interesting stuff here.

Dwindling Brains & Christians - really good stuff here!

Sign of the Times - Really unbelievable stuff here!

Three From Perry Noble:

4 Leadership Myths That Usually Aren’t Talked About, Pt. 1

4 Leadership Myths That Usually Aren’t Talked About, Pt. 2

Entrepreneurial Drive OR Holy Spirit?

Two From Pastor Brian – My associate Pastor is on a roll folks!  Check him out!

When God Speaks It Shouldn’t Sound Like Your Voice

Can Religion Really Be Blamed For Most Wars?

Jet Lag is kicking my booty right now – but I”m pushing on anyway!

When you travel to places very different from where you are from- and Myanmar is about as different from the USA as you can get! – you tend to focus on all those differences.  That’s only normal since they are all around you. Things look different, sound different, smell different, because they are different!

But some things never change – and here’s my photographic inspiration for today’s thought!

Yes, it’s a cat. A good old Myanmar cat.  Do you see what it’s busy doing?  It’s doing what most cats spend most of their time doing – nothing! Just snoozing away on a hot, sticky Yangon afternoon.

Smart cat huh?

The point being that this cat is just like its American cousins, who are just like their European friends. Everywhere you go, cats are cats are cats. That’s good, because I wouldn’t have it any other way, being a cat lover myself.

Things look different, and cultures are different, but people in the 3rd world are still people. They all need to be loved, they struggle to make their marriages work and understand their children just like we do. People gossip and lie and fight and misunderstand each other there just like we do here.

People everywhere are people, who need each other and more importantly need Jesus.

And don’t forget that He’s the same too! I can’t always speak their language, but knowing we are servants of Christ gives us a bond that transcends language and culture and makes me feel at home where ever I am on this old globe.

So today remember no matter what happens are where ever you may be, God hasn’t changed. He’s still the same, He still loves you and is still there for you, 24/7/365, anywhere around the world.

Thank God for that!

I’m still behind but moving up fast and hope to get at least a few posts up this week on time!  Stay tuned, film at 11!!

Okay, so here’s another thought that’s been rattling around in my head as I’m remembering my recent trip, it’s not terribily profound I suppose, but is something I think a whole lot of people need to remember right about now.  What is it?

Maintain Your Cool – It’s Not As Bad As It Seems!

Here’s my photographic inspiration for this one.

You are looking at  the last picture I took in Myanmar. It was taken in Yangon at the Crystal Palace Hotel where we stay, at breakfast time.  As you can see we had (Bob had actually) an uninvited guest for breakfast!

If this happened to you here in the States I’m sure a big scene would ensue as everyone would be grossed out and demands for a free meal would likely be heard!

Not so much of that in Myanmar.  We all looked at it and laughed, speculated on whether it came from the pitcher of fruit juice we had all been drinking from for the past 20 minutes, or perhaps the ceiling.  The waiter was called over, made a profuse apology, and brought a new glass of juice, which I believe went untouched!

No one panicked, no one got sick or was totally grossed out. It was just another Myanmar Moment to laugh at and remember that’s all.

We would all do well to remember this during the hard times we are going through right now. When you watch the news and look at our “leaders” in Washington it often seems that they have lost their minds. Everywhere you look people are upset, scared, angry and generally at a loss with little or no sense of direction.

Christians have a real chance here to make a statement about the reality of our faith and the truth of the Gospel by being calm, cool and collected! Let’s trust God, focus on serving Him, help those around us, and show what a difference Christ can make in the lives of those who trust in Him!

Because with Jesus, it’s never as bad as it seems, because He’s always in control!

As you may have noticed I may be back, but I’m not entirely back in the game. That’s because of some lingering problems from the trip which will hopefully be taken care of soon. Till then I’ll be visiting the bathroom a lot! For most of this week I’m going to be posting some reflections on this year’s trip. Just some fairly random thoughts about things that occur to me as I work on the report I’ll be giving to the church this Sunday.

Here’s the first one:  Checking Your Preconceptions at the Door.

There’s three things I know for sure about preconceptions:  1) We all have them. 2) It’s often a good idea to ignore or get rid of them. 3) They don’t go away easily or gently, and usually don’t go away at all!

Here’s two pictures of me teaching that illustrate some of this, the first one from this year and the second one from last year. (Just ignore the rather obvious weight difference – that’s a subject for an up and coming post!)

Notice anything similar about these two pictures?

That’s right, I look like an idiot in both of them don’t I?

And I’m doing it on purpose too.

Why would I do that?  To communicate effectively that’s why!  It took me a long time to figure out that most of the Myanmar people absolutely love over the top humor! Over the last three years or so this has become clear to me, so when I’m teaching there I’m always looking for ways to ham it up, so they’ll laugh, pay attention and remember what I’m telling them.

It works well too – and it only costs a little dignity which I’ve never had much of nor cared much about anyway!

But I nearly missed this key to teaching in Southeast Asia because of my preconceived notions of what Asian culture would be like.  Most Asians cultures are more formal and restrained than our is that’s for sure. So you might think their humor would be also.

But you’d be wrong.  A good friend of mine pointed out to me that I could have learned that from watching some of those way over the top Japanese game shows.  Good point!

It seems to me that one of the ways they “let themselves go” is to really get wacky with their humor! So I go big and silly and always try to make fun of either myself of American culture – and they absolutely love it!

That’s one more preconceived notion down the drain!

Just a quick note to let you all know I have made it home again from Myanmar!

Whew – I am BEAT!  It was quite a trip, and I’ll be sharing some things from the trip here on the blog this coming week, and will do a big report on my trip to the church next Sunday.

God bless you – I’m going to sleep now!

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise–the fruit of lips that confess His name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrews 13:15-16 (NIV)

I hope this post will help prepare you to worship this coming Sunday. Because part of worship is offering up to God a sacrifice of praise.

Note that the author of Hebrews says we ought to offer praise and good works and that both of those things are sacrifices that please God. Here again we see the indissoluble link that the Bible places between praising God and helping others.

When I’m being the Salty Christian Jesus died to make me, God sees my acts and attitudes as worthy, pleasing sacrifices. He is well pleased with this, and desires all His children to continually offer up such sacrifices to Him.
The word “sacrifice” implies something that carries a cost with it, often a very high cost. If praise is to be a sacrifice it must carry with it a price. This is where King David sets us a great example.  “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them. 2 Samuel 24:24 (NIV)

How can praise be costly? By praising God in and through my pain. By offering up praise when I’m lonely, hurting, depressed, angry, etc. Sacrificial praise is me thanking God when I don’t want to and don’t even think I can!
Praising God in the midst of great personal loss, terminal illness, divorce, disappointment, or even death itself is what God is calling all of us to do.

That’s sacrificial praise!

As you worship this morning or this week – be sure to offer up that kind of praise.

“I do not accept praise from men, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts.
John 5:41-42 (NIV)

Yet at the same time many, even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees, they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God. John 12:42-43 (NIV)

The two passages above set up a great contrast and allow us to make an important comparison. Let’s compare Jesus with many of those who heard him.

Jesus: He lived to give His Father glory, He sought no praise from man, but from God alone. He was fearless in standing up for what He believed, and He never let fear stop him from doing the right thing. In short, Jesus is the perfect example of living for an audience of One!

His Hearers: They lived to please others, they craved the praise and approval of human leaders, and at the same time, feared their wrath and the consequences that would befall them if they followed their hearts and gave their lives to Jesus.

Obviously, we ought to follow and emulate Jesus, not His hearers!

So, what’s this got to do with being thankful? A lot, actually. We need to have the strength to give thanks to God when others won’t. We need to remain joyful, praise-filled believers even when those around us scoff or mock us as being “unrealistic” or “foolish.”

Continually giving thanks to God is the most realistic mindset possible because God is the ultimate reality. What He says is true regardless of how things appear to be and regardless of what the “experts” say. Remember, an expert is only a drip under pressure - so choose Jesus, not the so-called and often wrong experts!

We must learn to crave God’s approval and live for it, not anyone else’s. Instead of worrying about what people think, let’s be concerned with pleasing God.

God is pleased with our continual praise, so let’s offer that up and bask in the pleasure of our Heavenly Father’s love.