A couple of weeks ago over the weekend of April 16-17, 2010, Wheaton hosted a conversation that engaged N.T. Wrights scholarly work.  Wheaton has made the these lectures available for free in mp3 download format.  I’ve just downloaded them, and I look forward to listening to what the presenters have to say.

Anyone want to read the Bible more this coming year?  It’s a favorite New Year’s resolution for Christians.  Often times we start from the beginning and then get bogged down in the early books.  We give up before we get out of the month of January.   If you’re looking for a new way to read the Bible, here’s something worth trying, YouVersion: http://www.youversion.com/.

You can create an account, and then pick a Bible reading plan — I think there are 22 plans available.  It has a really slick interface and a ton of translations to choose from.  They also have an iPhone app that stays up-to-date with your online account.  You do your reading and then check it off as you complete it, either on your phone or your computer, progressing at your own pace.

I’ve started reading through the Psalms and Proverbs plan.  It takes me through the Psalms twice and Proverbs 12 times in a year.  With young children in the house, I want to get Proverbs deep into my soul.  I believe Proverbs is a book primarily given for the formation of adolescents.  Hopefully over the course of this year, I will get some ideas on how to use it in our household.

But they have a lot of other plans ranging from reading the whole bible in 30 days to just sections of the New Testament over the course of months.  The interface also has some other cool features that allow you to do personal highlighting, note-taking, journalling, and make public contributions.  It’s very cool, and worth checking out!  It’s going to be my Bible Reading medium this year.  Thanks YouVersion!

HT: Mark Batterson

This is a laugh-out-loud funny article about the ridiculous questions people hear in job interviews.  It was compiled by career builder from user submitted comments.  I encourage you to read the whole article, but here are my favorites:

What are your hobbies and interests?

“[He said] ‘Well, as you can see, I’m a young, virile man and I’m single — if you ladies know what I’m saying.’ Then he looked at one of the fair-haired board members and said, ‘I particularly like blondes.’” - Petri R.J. Darby, president, darbyDarnit Public Relations

Why should we hire you?

“I would be a great asset to the events team because I party all the time.” - Bill McGowan, founder, Clarity Media Group

Do you have any questions?

“If you were a fruit, what fruit would you be?” - Megan Garnett, Articulate Leadership Team, Articulate Communications Inc.

Do you have any questions?

“What is your company’s policy on Monday absences?” – Campbell

“If I get an offer, how long do I have before I have to take the drug test?” - Bolzan

“When you do background checks on candidates, do things like public drunkenness arrests come up?” -Bolzan

Why are you leaving your current job?

“Because I (expletive) my pants every time I enter the building.” - Abbe Mortimore, Human Resources Manager, True Textiles, Inc.

“I was fired from my last job because they were forcing me to attend anger management classes.” - Smith

Why are you looking for a job?

“Cigarettes are getting more expensive, so I need another job.” - Pechstein

When have you demonstrated leadership skills?

“Well my best example would be in the world of online video gaming. I pretty much run the show; it takes a lot to do that.” - Rachel Croce

Have you submitted your two weeks’ notice to your current employer?

“What is two weeks’ notice? I’ve never quit a job before, I’ve always been fired.” - Meistering

I just came across a cool new site called hunch that helps you make decisions.  I’ve gone through a few decisions — some serious and some out of curiosity, like should I attend a Christian church.  They ask you questions, and then it makes a probability suggestion for what you should do.  Pretty fun.

This seems to be the trajectory with much of our lives.  In categories of beauty, joint pain, hair lines, posture, and many other things, we decay.   Our default trajectory is one of degradation not enhancement.  Entropy, like in all of creation, rules our bodies, and that is why swimming is just a little bit harder now than it was a decade ago.  I am a shadow of my former self.

But in regard to my character, I am only a shadow of my future self.  As a Christian, my true identity lies in the future.  Who I am is defined by who I will be.  My character now is only a distant reflection of who I will be one day when I become completely me at the resurrection.  

For now, I continue to struggle with virtue, discipline, faith, and love.  I indulge in sin, and I omit those things I out to do. I fall short in so many ways.  But the good news of the Gospel, the good news of salvation, is that I am who I will be.  I am not who I am now.  

I was reminded of this while listening to a talk by N.T. Wright posted at the Veritas Forum’s site.  They’ve got a lot of great resources on their site.  Here are links to his talk called “Why the Resurrection Matters.”

Part 1

Part 2

The answer is: it depends. Stress is subjective say two prominent physicians in a radio program I just heard on NPR. Each of us handles stress differently. A situation that might result in panic attacks for one person might not bother someone else. How we respond to these situations is determined by our past—both the genes we inherited and the way we were raised determine how we handle stress. How we respond to stress is the result of both our nature and our nurture.

The good news is we don’t have to succumb to nature or nurture nihilism. We aren’t stuck for the rest of our life with our current “stress handling” ability. Our past isn’t determinative of our future. If you are like me, and you haven’t handled stress (or anxiety) well in the past, you don’t have to resign yourself to one of the following:

• That’s just the way God made me!
• Those are my genes and I’m stuck with them!
• Why am I so broken!

According to both of the doctors interviewed on the program, our physical identity is much more dynamic. Through healthy eating and an assortment of quieting self-disciplines, we are able to change our genes! Through meditation, yoga, religion and exercise we can effectively turn off bad genes and turn on our good genes. We can shut off the disease producing genes and turn on the good genes that help us deal with stress and anxiety.

This is tremendously hopeful, and I can’t help but think about the implications for Christian living. We can engage in a set of spiritual disciplines that help us to manage stress and anxiety. We can’t realistically eliminate stress out of our lives; every life will always be subject to some stress. However, as Christians I am hopeful about our capacity to deal with stress and anxiety. Jesus showed us how.

In the midst of life-threatening stress, Jesus exhibited peace. He was able to engage in a hectic public ministry. People were constantly crowding around him. They demanded signs and healings. Leaders in his society were always on the look out for ways to arrest and kill him. And yet, he seemed to exude a sort of preternatural calm. He was able to stay focused on God’s mission and respond with love and grace to sinners, indignation and anger at the oppression of the poor, and grief and sorrow at the hardness of peoples’ hearts. At the end of his ministry Jesus offers this peace to us.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
(John 14:27, ESV)

Jesus offers us peace in our stressful world. He offers us a way to stay rooted and connected with God, with others, and with ourselves. Stress is not necessarily a result of our situations. It’s subjective. Stress is inside us. Therefore it is something we can grow better at handling. Jesus invites us to grow into his way of peace-full living regardless of our circumstances.