PJKing.net

Pillar on the Rock

2009-12-28T10:18:00.001-06:00

I am excited to offer to you a delayed announcement about a project that

Chris Krycho and I launched on November 9: Pillar on the Rock.

The purpose of Pillar on the Rock is to show others what it is that Christians my age truly seek in churches. Our goal is to demonstrate that the biblical model of the church is one that does appeal to our generation, despite what others may say. Our passion is to help local churches reach our peers.

The site is going strong, with 30 posts already published. The best way to become familiar with Pillar on the Rock, would be to read the articles that we write. My recommendation would be to start with a 3-part series I recently finished on the topic of church membership – Membership Matters:

We also have a presence on Facebook and Twitter. If you are inclined to receive our articles by email, you can sign-up here.

You can find our homepage here, but be sure to take a look at authors and about pages too.

Book Review: Forgiveness

2009-07-30T18:34:00.005-05:00

[Disclaimer: This is a critical review of a book written by Paul J. Meyer. I have no personal relationship with Mr. Meyer, but I know that many of my readers may know him well. Please understand that I am not criticizing him as a person, but only the words written in this book. I pray that he will be able to continue his mission of "doing all the good he can, for as many people as he can, in as many ways as he can, for as long as he can" for many years to come.]

Nearly all cancer patients, besides having a lifetime habit of suppressing and repressing emotions, are known to share a marked inability to forgive.₁

The above quote is from Paul J. Meyer's book, Forgiveness ... the Ultimate Miracle.

The teaching of this book is subversive, although I am quite sure this was not the author's intent. The style proves to be a combination of Christian-ese verbiage with an "I can do all things through myself" attitude. The majority of the writing (9 of the 10 chapters) is done with a ~~Christian~~ culturally-christian worldview, in which the author does not mention Jesus at all.₂

The primary thrust of Forgiveness is thus: following these steps will make you a great forgiver. The author also lists the personal benefits of forgiveness as the primary motivation for forgiving others. Even in his "gotcha" chapter₃, there is no mention of the real Christian motivation for forgiveness; that we should forgive others because Christ forgave us!₄

The benefits of forgiveness the author examines are not all untrue₅, but they certainly miss the bigger picture of Christian forgiveness. The author has a long list of the "fruit" of forgiveness₆, which include: Health, Money, Power, and Advancement. Are we really okay with the teaching that forgiveness brings you money? Hopefully, no one who reads this book actually expects this to happen.

A rather bothersome chapter is titled "Forgiving God". The author makes it clear that God makes no mistakes, does no wrong, and that we have no right to blame God for evil. However, in the chapter, he recommends forgiving God if it will make you feel better. No! It is not okay to blame God and then think that you need to forgive Him! We are the ones who need forgiveness, not God.

One question that must be asked while reading this book is, "Who is the author's intended audience?" If the author's target audience is non-Christians, I presume the author's intention for the "gotcha" chapter would be to share the Gospel of Christ with others who might not read through an explicitly Christian book. However, if this is his target, he is missing the mark by making culturally-christian references throughout the book, before reaching the "gotcha" chapter. The whole point of the "gotcha" method is for it to come as a surprise at the end.

If the author's target audience is Christians, then I think the author missed this mark also, because he is using thoroughly secular arguments to teach Christians to act Christianly. The meat of this book₇, has no distinctive Christian teaching in it; all of it could be passed off as non-Christian advice.

Perhaps this book most frustrating because the topic provides for a great opportunity to teach about Christ's forgiveness and the Christian's extension of that forgiveness... but it doesn't.

¹ Paul Meyer, Forgiveness ... the Ultimate Miracle (Orlando: Bridge-Logos, 2006), 5. Although the quote originated from Colin C. Tipping, the author uses it as support for one of his arguments.

² Yes, some of the "example stories" which are included in the book mention Jesus, but the author's teachings in the first nine chapters most definitely do not.

³ The second half of Chapter 10, "Let Forgiveness Set You Free" contains a short gospel presentation. However, its placement in the book (and the small amount of words devoted to it) are suspect. I call chapters like this a "gotcha" because it is as though the author is trying to surprise readers by concluding the book with something that was not discussed throughout the book.

⁴ See Colossians 3:13

⁵ although some are very, very wrong

⁶ Clearly, the author just made some of this stuff up.

⁷ Chapters 1 - 9

Fidelity National buying Metavante for $2.94B

2009-04-01T08:44:00.001-05:00

Find this article here.

By STEPHEN BERNARD

NEW YORK (AP) — Fidelity National Information Services Inc. said Wednesday it will acquire Metavante Technologies Inc. in an all-stock deal valued at about $2.94 billion.

Based on Fidelity National's share price, the deal values Metavante stock at a 23 percent premium over its Tuesday closing price of $19.96. Fidelity National shares closed Tuesday at $18.20.

Metavante shareholders will receive 1.35 shares of Fidelity National stock for each share of Metavante they own. Fidelity National will issue about 162 million shares as part of the acquisition.

Jacksonville, Fla.-based Fidelity National, which is unrelated to Boston-based Fidelity Investments, provides transaction processing, card issuer and outsourcing services for more than 14,000 financial institutions. Milwaukee-based Metavante provides banking and payments technologies for about 8,000 financial firms. Metavante was a unit of Marshall & Ilsley Corp. until 2007 when it was spun off as a separate public company.

The two companies combined to generate $5.2 billion in revenue in 2008. Fidelity National said it expects to achieve cost synergies of about $260 million after the acquisition is completed. The deal, which is expected to close during the third quarter, should boost Fidelity National's earnings in 2010.

The new executive team will integrate employees from both companies. Lee Kennedy, Fidelity National's current president and chief executive, will become executive vice chairman with the responsibility of overseeing the integration of Metavante.

Metavante's current chairman and CEO, Frank Martire, will be named president and CEO of Fidelity National. Gary Norcross will continue to serve as chief operating officer after the deal closes, while Michael Hayford will become chief financial officer. Hayford is currently the president and COO at Metavante.

The combined board will be made up of six Fidelity National directors and three Metavante directors.

Along with the acquisition, Fidelity National said it will receive equity investments from other firms, including affiliates of private-equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners LP and title and specialty insurance firm Fidelity National Financial Inc. Fidelity National Information Services will issue about 16 million shares for those new investments.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

And that is all I know.

Our Anniversary Trip!

2009-01-03T12:45:00.004-06:00

Katie and I have been married for more than a year now! Does that mean we're not newlyweds anymore? I hope so but, according to Nick and Jessica we'd be newlyweds until 2010! BTW, you can purchase their entire marriage on DVD here and here.

For our anniversary trip, we went to San Antonio and Gruene / New Braunfels. We stayed at a Hyatt Place on the Riverwalk for two nights and loved it. The only downside was that the weather was in the low 40s.

Here we are on the riverwalk (in our cold weather gear)

And here we are at the Alamo!

While we were in San Antonio, we bought some Texas paraphernalia for our cars and home

In San Antonio we ate at some great restaurants: "The Original" (Mexican) and "Rainforest Cafe". At the latter, I ordered paella. Below is a photo of a sea creature I enjoyed eating.

After our two nights in San Antonio we went to Gruene, TX and stayed at the Gruene Homestead Inn in their room called The Silo. It was a fun one-time stay (annoyance: the bathroom was downstairs, the bed was upstairs). Below is a picture of the outside of the Silo.

The trip was a great opportunity for us to relax after the Fall school semester and to reflect upon our year of marriage. I would like to extend thanks to everyone who has helped us and supported us before and during our marriage.

Here's to our 50th

Update on Katie

2008-11-04T14:08:00.002-06:00

Apparently, Katie does not have a "bug".

On Sunday, her major symptom was nausea; the back pain she had did not strike her as abnormal. However, on Monday, her back pain increased severely as her nausea went down. Then Katie realized the "back" pain she was having was actually coming from her kidneys.

Katie went to a doctor at school yesterday and he confirmed her suspicions, that she has a kidney infection. Katie is now on antibiotics and is resting. Hopefully she will be able to return to school tomorrow. (she is still feeling awful)

Katie would appreciate your prayers.

Sick Days

2008-11-02T13:39:00.003-06:00

From Friday afternoon until sometime Saturday I was ill / not feeling well. I think I ate some bad pizza. Whatever the cause, I had stomach problems. Katie did a great job of taking care of me.

Then, this (Sunday) morning at 3 AM, Katie fell ill. We think she caught a bug from a sick student on Friday (we really think my problem was the pizza). Well, Katie's still sick and I'm trying to take care of her. Of course, she is much better at tending the sick than I am... oh well.

So, we've had a very sick weekend.

Thank God Katie hasn't been sick on a school day, yet.

Please pray for us.

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

2008-10-28T22:10:00.004-05:00

Some time ago, I posted a trailer for Ben Stein's documentary, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. This documentary discusses the censorship in the scientific community that has been placed on Intelligent Design.

I finally saw the documentary tonight (thanks to redbox) because it recently became available for rental. This documentary does not attempt to argue what ID is, or that it is superior to Darwinism; rather, it shows how academia has systematically repressed Darwin's dissenters.

Expelled begins by showing many well-credentialed professors and scientists who have been fired and blacklisted because of their support (or even acknowledgment!) of ID as a scientific theory. The documentary has much more to offer than merely listing names, but I will let you discover its qualities on your own.

Now, go. Spend $1.08 to rent the DVD and give an hour and a half of your time to watch this intriguing documentary.

Fallin is in limbo

2008-10-13T18:23:00.000-05:00

Unlike Senator Jim Inhofe, Representative Mary Fallin (R-OK) decided to support the financial bailout.

The only other ballot option for Oklahoma's 5th district is Steve Perry. While I do like Perry's platform on Indian Gambling Reform, there are (at least) three problems I have with him:

Perry is pro-abortion:
Our society should never seek to interfere between a woman and her doctor when the issue is carrying a child to term. We should never worry more about spiritual babies than real ones or the women who must make these fateful decisions.
Perry probably would have voted for the bailout package.
Perry would vote for more federal spending than Fallin would.

Perry's reference to the unborn as merely "spiritual babies" is just insulting. His language in the above quote also shows that he supports late-term abortions - abortions on viable babies.

Given my choices, voting for Perry is clearly not an option. I would argue that withholding my vote is as reckless as voting for Perry. Therefore, I will vote for Fallin; albeit, unhappily.

Inhofe keeps my support

2008-10-10T00:56:00.002-05:00

Jim Inhofe is the incumbent Republican Senator from Oklahoma.

Typically, voting for him would have been a simple choice. However, the bailout package complicated things.

Thankfully, he voted against the $700 billion (+$150 billion more) bailout. Therefore, he gets to keep my vote for this election. (Otherwise, I would have had to look at independent options).

How did your senator vote? Cornyn (R-TX), Hutchison (R-TX), and Coburn (R-OK) all voted in support of the bailout. tsk. tsk.

See the senate votes here.

The lie revealed

2008-10-06T21:30:00.000-05:00

Previously, I asked you to pick which statement about myself was a lie.

The response was unanimously correct - I was never a firefighter.

It's true that I lived in 9 unique places over the past 5 years. A summary:

My parents' home: 1985 - Summer 2003 (Waco, TX)
Dunn dorm: Fall 2003 (College Station, TX)
Crocker dorm: Spring 2004 (College Station, TX)
A rent house: Fall 04 - Spring 05 (Bryan, TX)
Scandia Apartments: Fall 05 - Summer 06 (College Station, TX)
The Arbour House (a rent house): Fall 06 - Spring 07
My missionary family's house: Summer 2007 (Windhoek, Namibia)
Walden Court townhomes: Fall 2007 (Norman, OK)
Our current rent home: Spring 2008 - Present (Oklahoma City, OK)

It's also true that my college chorus (The Singing Cadets) sang the Chinese national anthem at the 2003 China-US Relations Conference.

(click on the image to enlarge)

Above is a picture of the me and the SCadets (in the old uniforms) with Former President Bush and the Former Vice Premier of China, Qian Qichen

Now you know.

School makes a difference

2008-10-05T17:49:00.002-05:00

Some people have asked me to post an update about my family's life...

My family only includes me and Katie, for now. We also have a dog, Luke Skywalker, but he's not part of the family; he's a pet. Also, we do not dress him up; but, I digress.

Katie started OU Nursing School (it's in Oklahoma City, not Norman) this semester. In May of 2010, she plans to have a B.S. in Nursing and to be licensed as an R.N.

Nursing school is hard; it's hard on both of us. Katie had the summer off - she didn't work or take any classes. It was wonderful for me; she had lots of time to spend with me when I came home from work. Nursing school is quite different. Katie spends 60 hours a week at school or doing homework. (Thankfully, she is able to always keep our weekly date night free from school-work.)

I think we've had three phases of adjustment to school. For the first week, I struggled greatly with not getting so much free-time from my wife. After realizing my selfishness in some areas, I've done much better. The second phase was when nursing school still felt new. The newness helped ease the stress of my wife's intense schooling. Now, we are in the third phase. This phase is when we finally realize that nursing school is difficult for both of us - period. We're at the point that (almost) every day is hard - and we now realize that we must rely on Christ's strength to persevere through this phase of life.

We're quite thankful that Katie will have over a month off for Christmas (which will include our first anniversary). That will be a needed time for us to recover from this first semester.

Perhaps, at another time, I will tell you why we believe God has called us to put Katie through nursing school.

Please pray that our marriage would be strengthened by this trial and that we would continue to press more deeply into Christ.

-PJ

DVD Review: Leatherheads

2008-10-01T22:12:00.004-05:00

Leatherheads is a movie with a lot of talent. It stars George Clooney, Renée Zellweger and John Krasinski.

All I can say is - what a waste of talent (and money, I'm sure).

Leatherheads is a football movie set during prohibition, 1925. I am particularly partial to football movies (and football in general). However, my partiality is not enough to save my opinion of this dull movie.

I've never watched a football movie where the action was this lame. Facing the Giants fared much better in football appeal.

I must say, Leatherheads solidly earned its C+ user rating on movies.yahoo.com.

I could say more, but that would waste more of my time than this two hour movie already did.

Eleven Links

2008-10-01T17:44:00.000-05:00

Eleven Links is a series where I refer you to interesting, controversial, theological or humorous media.

Jesus is My Friend!

The following video is of a song by "Sonseed". Can you guess which year this was recorded? I can't. It was probably before I was born.
Maybe some people from my parent's generation know the answer. Bob?

My favorite lines from the song:
He taught me how to pray
And how to save my soul
He taught me how to praise my God
And still play rock and roll.

He taught me how to live
My life as it should be
He taught me how to turn my cheek
when people laugh at me.

Once I tried to run,
I tried to run and hide.
Jesus came and found me
And he touched me down inside.
He is like a mountie,
He always gets his man.
And he'll zap you any way he can. Zap!
HT: Parley and Prate
PETA Urges Ben & Jerry's to Use Human Milk

It's true. Click the link to read the letter. The following is the closing of the letter:

The breast is best! Won't you give cows and their babies a break and our health a boost by switching from cow's milk to breast milk in Ben and Jerry's ice cream? Thank you for your consideration.
Football / Hurdling

Sam McGuffie was a senior in 2008 in Houston. He liked to hurdle other players. This video is one of those plays.

McGuffie later signed on with Michigan.
Bankruptcy, not bailout, is the right answer

This commentary from Jeffrey Miron sits well with me. I am not a fan of the bailout package. What are your thoughts?
Ron Paul on the Financial Crisis

This link is a letter from Ron Paul (dated 9/24) on the Financial Crisis. I agree with Ron Paul too.
Ron Paul: Speaks to the House on the Crisis

Just in case the letter didn't phase you... watch a video of Dr. No

HT: Digg
Quote: Judge Gideon J. Tucker

No man's life, liberty or property are safe while the legislature is in session
HT: Quotes of the Day
$10 million for a world changing idea

"Google Inc. will award $10 million to fund ideas that promise to better the world"
How to nap

This is a great chart on napping. No really, I'm serious. It's useful.
When to take a sleeping pill

This is useful information for those who have either occasional or chronic insomnia.
From the article:
Q: How do I know if I need a sleeping pill?

A: More than a third of Americans experience occasional insomnia, which is defined as a few nights of restlessness, poor sleep, or trouble falling asleep. The general rule of thumb: If insomnia lasts a month and doesn't get better, talk to your doctor... [continued in the article]
National Punctuation Day!

Sept 24 was National Punctuation Day! Did you celebrate? I bet you observed it unofficially by using punctuation in your writing. If only people would use proper punctuation in emails...

And - for those of you who don't realize the importance of punctuation, you can read this article detailing how a comma cost a company $2.13 million.

Please leave a comment on what you enjoyed from this list.

Book Review: Do Hard Things

2008-09-28T20:17:00.003-05:00

Teen authors Alex and Brett Harris recently released their first book, Do Hard Things, with the tag-line, "A teenage rebellion against low expectations." The Harris twins are nineteen and are currently freshmen in college. They have administered the website and blog "The Rebelution" since 2005.

This book is engaging from the start. The opening paragraph reads:

"Most people don't expect you to understand what we're going to tell you in this book. And even if you understand, they don't expect you to care. And even if you care, they don't expect you to do anything about it. And even if you do something about it, they don't expect it to last.

Well, we do."

The authors begin their book by reviewing the history of adolescence and emphasizing the newness of the cultural concept of "teenager". The book touches on the history of some people who did big (hard) things during their teen years, including George Washington and Clara Barton. The authors then call for the reader to redefine their view of adolescence and see it not as a time of idleness before adulthood, but rather as a launching pad for adulthood.

This book was written as an encouragement for teenagers to Do Hard Things. The Harris' message is directed towards teenagers, but readers of all ages would benefit from the authors' exhortations. The authors list five things that they particularly have in mind when saying hard things:

Things that are outside your comfort zone
Things that go beyond what is expected or required
Things that are too big to accomplish alone
Things that don't earn an immediate payoff
Things that challenge the cultural norm

Throughout the book, the authors exemplify this list with many stories of the hard things done by youth they know. The examples they include are definitely encouraging.

The chapter that was most convicting for me was "Raising the Bar". This portion of the book encourages youth to battle complacency. According to the authors, it takes little effort for some youth to be considered "above average". They may be naturally inclined to do better than most (youth) in academics, sports, or music. An external cause of complacency, say the Harrises, is that youth are not held to a high enough standard. Those who naturally perform above this low standard have little reason to take on a challenge. An internal cause of complacency is that the teenagers who easily excel in some areas refuse to challenge themselves in other fields which are more difficult for them. This refusal can stem from a fear of failure (or of mediocrity). The authors' encouragement is for youth to do those things in which they excel, but to also challenge themselves by doing hard things.

Another important concept is found in the chapter "Small Hard Things". Most of the book is about doing big hard things. This chapter encourages the reader to also do small hard things. According to the authors, small things are hard when:

They don't usually go away after you do them [such as cleaning]
They don't seem very important
They don't seem to make any difference
They don't seem very glamorous
No one is watching

This chapter provides great encouragement for the reader to do the small things well. As Luke 16:10 (NIV) reads, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”

Although this book is a great encouragement for youth of all ages to do hard things, sometimes the reading feels like a standard self-help book. I counted six different lists of action plans throughout the book. This specific critique is not for everyone; I am simply not a big fan of generic action plans.

Do Hard Things is a courageous and encouraging book from Alex and Brett Harris; I know these men will be influential for years to come. I strongly recommend this book to all ages; it will not only encourage younger (and older) readers to do harder things, but it will also encourage older readers to raise their expectations of youth.

Two Truths and a Lie

2008-09-25T16:23:00.016-05:00

At work, our "Fun Team" decided to play the "Two Truths and a Lie" game.

Below is a slight modification of what I submitted:

In college, PJ was a volunteer Fire Fighter for the College Station FD.
PJ's collegiate chorus performed the Chinese national anthem at the China-US Relations Conference in 2003
PJ has lived in 9 places over the past 5 years.

Which one is not true? Leave a comment.

This Week's Eleven Links

2008-09-21T15:43:00.002-05:00

This Week's Eleven Links is a series where I refer you to interesting, controversial, theological or humorous media.

Crying to the Trees

I watch this and just chuckle from the shock.

HT: Parley and Prate
G.K. Chesterton Quote

G.K. Chesterton, an influential Christian apologist, and author of Orthodoxy was attributed with this quote:
If there were no God, there would be no Atheists.
HT: Quotes of the Day
Cheapest Holiday Traveling Dates

According to Rick Seaney the following dates are the cheapest dates to fly for Thanksgiving:
Thanksgiving - November 27th - Best Departure Days
- Saturday, November 22nd
- Tuesday, November 25th
- Thursday, November 27th
Thanksgiving - November 27th - Best Return Days
- Thursday, November 27th
- Saturday, November 29th
- Tuesday, December 2nd
His website also includes the cheapest dates to fly for Christmas.
Child Pornography or Harmless Toy?

This is a customer complaint about Bratz Babyz dolls from 2006. The letter is sarcastic, but the sarcasm does not mask the sleaziness of the toys.

An excerpt:
Can you tell me why these baby dolls are wearing thongs? Is this a new fad for infants? I'm giving these two dolls the benefit of the doubt that they're good girls forced to work as topless dancers to pay for formula and pacifiers. They couldn't actually be a dominatrix prostitute and a hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold as their outfits seem to imply, right?
Apologize to Charles Darwin?

Dr. Mohler states that "a senior cleric of the Church of England wants his church to apologize to Charles Darwin in time for the observance of the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth next year."

In this commentary, Dr. Mohler offers his opinion on Rev. Brown's statement of the need for apology. Mohler closes with this:
People come to church hungry for the Gospel and in order to fear God, not for an apology offered to a self-described enemy of the faith -- who believed that faith in God is akin to a monkey's fear of a snake.
Transsexual Wins Lawsuit

What I find interesting about this article is how the writer has trouble keeping up with when the subject, David Schroer, should be referenced as a male or a female. It is my (correct) opinion that just because David changed his name and had his penis removed does not mean he should be recognized as a woman. That's just illogical.

Tell me if this sentence makes sense to you:
After [David] Schroer had retired from the military, she applied for a job at the Library of Congress. Court records show that Schroer, then a male, took her future boss to lunch to outline her transition to a female, as she planned to present herself as a female on her first day of the job.
No? I didn't think so.
"Choice Mothers" -- What's Missing from this Picture?

This is an interesting commentary from Dr. Mohler on the shift of women choosing to be mothers on their own, typically by artificial insemination. What's missing from this picture?
Fathers are missing from this picture, but so is something even more fundamental -- God's gift of marriage and the glory of God evident in the perfection of His gifts.
Use Facebook Ads to Make Employers Hunt You Down

This is a great article detailing how job-seekers can post ads on facebook. What's unique about facebook advertising is that you can specify which people groups will see your ads (based on school, company, age, interests, whatever). I had never thought about advertising in this way.
Colorado Personhood Ammendment

This video is a great story about Kristi Burton and her campaign to get the Colorado Personhood Amendment on the November ballot. Kristi is nineteen. Read more about her at the original post

HT: The Rebelution
Harry Potter or Star Wars?

This image is of a document which shows the similarities of Star Wars: A New Hope and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It's at least funny to the Fantasy / Science Fiction fans in the room. (click on the image for full size)

HT: Digg
Born Alive Truth

I'm so glad that, finally, Obama's voting record on the Born Alive Act is getting media attention. I've known about this issue for months and it absolutely sickens me.

The following is an ad put out by Born Alive Truth:

That's all for my first edition of This Week's Eleven Links. Please leave a comment on what you found interesting.

Book Review: Boundaries in Marriage

2008-09-14T18:22:00.004-05:00

Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend coauthored Boundaries in Marriage: Understanding the Choices That Make or Break Loving Relationships [253 pages]. Both authors maintain private practices in clinical psychology in Newport Beach, California. Cloud earned a B.S. in Psychology from Southern Methodist University and a PhD in clinical psychology from Biola University. Townsend earned a B.A. in Psychology from North Carolina State University, a Master of Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, and a PhD in clinical psychology from Biola University.

Boundaries in Marriage is one book in a series which also includes:

Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Live
Boundaries in Dating: How Healthy Choices Grow Healthy Relationships
Boundaries with Teens: When to Say Yes, How to Say No
Boundaries with Kids: How Healthy Choices Grow Healthy Children

This book is divided into 16 chapters. Many of the chapters (specifically, chapters 5 - 13), provide advice to married couples on concepts such as love, honesty, faithfulness, compassion, forgiveness, holiness, and resolving conflict. These chapters contain good, straight-forward ideas which are easy to apply. However, the chapters with the best advice were supported by the least unique concepts. It would be simple to find other Christian marriage books which presented this standard material in a manner equal to, or better than, Cloud and Townsend.

Chapters 1-4 and 14-16 do offer something unique to the marriage discussion, but much of content is taken straight from the first Boundaries book. Much of this marriage-unique material is "okay" or "fine", but I would hardly call it "good." A minority of the advice in these chapters ranges from unwise, to poor, to contradicting, to unbiblical.

A general concept in this book is exemplified by this qoute: "This book is not about changing, fixing, or making your spouse do anything." (*page 62. emphasis added.) This concept is a great one - it emphasizes that a spouse should act lovingly towards the other, regardless of the other's reciprocity. Sadly, this concept was indirectly contradicted many times and directly contradicted at least once: "[Boundaries] are to protect and structure you, and only secondarily to change and motivate him." (page 229. emphasis added)

I was hoping to not find unbiblical teachings in this book, but I did. One false teaching involves the "Law of Responsibility." According to Cloud and Townsend, there are "Ten Laws of Boundaries". The second "Law" is of "Responsibility." This law, found on page 42, is "We are responsible to each other, but not for each other." (emphasis not added) This presents a problem in light of Ephesians 5:23, "For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body." (NASB) Because Christ is the head and savior of the church, He is responsibile for the church, and particularly, for her sins. To properly relate the headship of Christ over His church to the headship of a husband over his wife, the husband must be responsible for his wife. Therefore, while the "Law of Responsibility" is valid in most relationships, it is completely invalid in the relationship of a husband to his wife. Interestingly, the final chapter of this book agrees with the argument I just presented. Referring to Ephesians 5:22-23, 25 the authors write, "Basically this passage establishes a sense of order in a marriage. It places final responsibility for the family on the shoulders of the husband." Once again, the authors of this book directly contradict themselves. This time, they contradict one of their own "Laws." For more on the topic of a husband's responsibility for the family, I recommend Douglas Wilson's books Federal Husband or Reforming Marriage.

Chapter four of Boundaries in Marriage offers a concept that seems simple at first, with the title "It Takes Two to Make One." Obviously, this is in reference to Genesis 2:24, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh." However, where the authors take this chapter is both confusing and wrong. Cloud and Townsend write that "you must become a complete individual on your own in order to have true oneness with your spouse" (p. 91), then, they proceed to define a "complete" individual. This contradicts the scripture, which simply states that a man and wife continuously are one flesh after they "join." There are no requirements on the "completeness" of the man nor the wife - the man and the woman are "one" in all marriages, regardless of their individual problems.

The following is an example of what the authors consider "incomplete" individuals in a marriage.

You may have heard couples say, "We are such a good balance for each other." This can be good if, for example, he is good at business and she is good at building the nest, or vice versa. But it is not good if it means that she could not survive in the real world of work and commerce on her own without him. If this is true, she has married a "meal ticket," or someone to take care of her in a childlike dependency. And he has married a "mother" to make the home that he could not build for himself while he goes off and plays during the day.

It disturbs me that the authors push the idea that, in order to be a "complete" individual, the woman must have business acumen and the man must be part domestic-diva.

Throughout my reading of this book, one thought was consistently in the back of my mind: "This book says absolutely nothing about submission." Although the first 15 chapters fail to mention the concept of submission, the final chapter, "Avoiding the Misuse of Boundaries in Marriages" does devote three pages to its discussion. The authors' take on submission is mostly good, but it needed to be placed earlier in the book so that it would not take on the role of an afterthought.

As I mentioned at the beginning, there is some good teaching in this book. The best advice offered is ownership. Cloud and Townsend teach that you are to own your actions towards your spouse. More importantly, no matter what your spouse does to you, you are to own your reactions to the situation. This is truly good advice for holy living and is a great nugget to come out of this book.

In summary, Boundaries in Marriage is a poorly edited book with many contradictions. The good advice is not unique, and the unique advice is not good. I can not recommend this book.

Rather than this book, I recommend:

Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas
Reforming Marriage by Douglas Wilson

* Page numbers are from the 1999 edition of Boundaries in Marriage. ZondervanPublishingHouse.

Chronotron

2008-09-13T14:10:00.010-05:00

I finally finished all 35 regular levels plus the 5 bonus levels of Chronotron.

http://www.kongregate.com/games/Scarybug/chronotron

It's addicting.

Book Review: Nine Marks of a Healthy Church

2008-08-25T21:42:00.003-05:00

Mark Dever's book, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church [248 pages], is not particularly new - but it is particularly relevant to our current church culture. Originally published in 1997, this book discusses nine traits which Dever has identified as important indicators of a church's vitality. He writes that there are many other important aspects to a healthy church, but he believes that these nine are particularly important for gauging a church's health.

The nine marks this book details are as follows:

I agree with Dever that all these points are important for a healthy church. From my own experience, I believe that more churches understand and practice the first five marks better than they do the final four marks. My review will dwell on those final four marks.

What Dever identifies as mark 6, "A Biblical Understanding of Church Membership," is often referred to as "Meaningful Membership." It is a concept that, in part, requires members to make a real and covenantal committment to the church and for the church to hold its members accountable to that covenant through various means (with the most severe means being the removal of that person's membership). Meaningful Membership goes hand-in-hand with mark 7, "Biblical Church Discipline." Without the removal of unfaithful members, it is impossible to maintain Meaningful Membership.

Dever is a pastor of an SBC church (Capitol Hill Baptist in Washington, D.C.) In this book, he acknowledges that one of the SBC's problems is a bloated membership list. He sites statistics that state the average SBC church membership list is three times larger than the actual number of people attending on a Sunday morning! This statistic (which I know to be true from my experience in SBC churches) is absolutely devastating. It means we have people who can honestly say they are members of FBC ________ when they haven't been to that church in 2 years! This is harmful for the witness of that church because an individual can honestly tell others that he is a member of said church and yet live like an unbeliever - and he can do it without the church keeping him accountable for his membership.

For mark 8, "A Concern for Discipleship and Growth," Dever discusses that the church should be concerned that all of its members are growing. Dever emphasizes that this is not only a responsibility of the pastors and elders, but also of the members. Discipleship should not only be from the leaders toward the congregants, but also from member to member.

Mark 9 is "Biblical Church Leadership." In this chapter, Dever covered the typical requirements for a church leader (male, irreproachable, exemplary family life, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach), but he also offered an idea that has been rejected by many Baptists for the past century: eldership. Dever details how the scripture calls for elders and that elders are not simply the deacons or the "church staff", rather, elders include both pastors and lay-leaders. Because eldership is such a foreign notion to many Baptists (these days), I simply recommend that you read Dever's own words.

This book is a wonderful resource for leaders and laity alike. While not using overly academic language, this book does present its ecclesiology well. Of course, in this book, Dever could not go into great detail on any of the nine marks. However, he did leave a wonderful gift in Appendix 3 for readers who would like further study by listing three to ten books of recommended readings for each mark.

Reading this book was a refreshing experience. Even if you do not expect to agree with Dever on all nine issues, I believe it is important to consider his arguments. I wholly recommend this book.

Don't Give Bob Cash

2008-06-30T09:35:00.002-05:00

For those of you who may have missed the simple moral in my story about Bob:

Don't give Bob cash.

-PJ

Bob

2008-06-27T22:42:00.005-05:00

[The following is a true story.]

Meet Bob. Bob is sitting at the corner of an intersection. He's holding a sign, but he's not sure if it's his.

Homeless
Vietnam Vet
Need Food
God Bless

Meet PJ and Katie. They brought Bob food and are talking with him. They realize Bob is not actually hungry because he does not want the tacos, apple, banana, or water - just the grapes. Bob likes grapes.

A lady in a car rolls down her window and hands Bob five dollars, telling him, "God Bless!".

As the lady drives away, Bob looks at the five dollars and says (mostly to himself), "I just made five dollars."

PJ looks at Bob, knowing, by Bob's own confession, that he is an alcoholic. "Bob," PJ said, "what are you going to do with that five dollars?"

"I'm gonna buy me some whiskey!"

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

2008-03-03T21:27:00.003-06:00

Scientific theory or research that allows for the possibility of a Creator has been systematically shunned in the academic community this generation. Professors publicly holding to the possibility of a Creator do not get tenure and scholars do not get published. This problem is apparent even at the public school level when teachers in Kansas are prohibited from mentioning that there are two sides to the evolution debate.

Ben Stein has created a documentary entitled "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed." Below is a long trailer to the documentary - release date is currently April 18.

Trailer link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGCxbhGaVfE

Don't assume that this documentary will be Christian "propoganda" against Darwinism. It won't be - Ben Stein is Jewish. It will simply show the general public what kind of persecution academics are suffering just for questioning Darwinian thought.

(HT: the evangelical outpost)

Abortion and Racism

2008-03-01T12:32:00.007-06:00

According to the evangelical outpost,

Lila Rose, a pro-life student and reporter at UCLA, launched an undercover investigation aimed at exposing the racial insensitivity of Planned Parenthood. With the help of an actor, she contacted Planned Parenthood clinics in seven states, inquiring if they would be willing to accept a donation earmarked for the abortion of black babies. Not one employee objected or questioned the request, even when the actor insisted that the purpose was to "lower the number of black people" in America.

Here is a direct link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LJVPVh5TWo

I also found this video of John Piper speaking on the racial profiling done by Planned Parenthood abortion providers.

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmmQ_bKfpdg

I highly recommend both of these videos - they run 6 - 8 minutes each.

Videos: Part 4. Final

2007-12-10T11:02:00.001-06:00

Hello Friends

I have been a little preoccupied with my upcoming wedding (Dec. 22nd!) and have not been able to post.

I need to go ahead and finish the Namibia posts so I can focus on more recent events (such as the honeymoon) later.

I taught one of the YWAP students to use free software to make videos like I did.

One video he made was a tribute to me and Amber (the other girl who stayed with my family that summer).

Video Link

Another video he made was for the last YWAP I went to... and the beginning of his video ministry...

Video Link

I think this means I am officially done with Namibia posts. Post wedding details will be coming (relatively) soon!

-PJ

Videos: Part 3, YWAP camp

2007-11-04T21:31:00.001-06:00

I'm going to Las Vegas this week for a work sponsored developer's convention, therefore, I do not expect to post this week. As an early treat, here is another YWAP video.

This video is of YWAP Camp. This will also feature faces from Highland Baptist, because camp occurred on the last weekend of that team's trip.

This summer's camp was highly successful and ministered to 200 students. Many youth made commitments for following Christ. Much credit should be given to the missionaries and the rest of the YWAP staff (and many YWAP parents) for all the administrative, musical, recreational, teaching and prayerful effort they put into making the camp happen.

The theme of camp was "Aliens" as the opening song (by Lecrae) signifies.

Video Link

Also, I will be getting married in 7 weeks. Whoop!