Laughter is good medicine

May 8, 2009 in Other with 2 Comments

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength. Proverbs 17:22 (NLT)

Out of the 40+ blogs I read, a couple of them are just for fun – no serious stuff allowed! For instance, every day I get to wake up with a new Dilbert comic strip in my feed reader.

There is one I’ve referenced before called “Team TomintheBox News Network” or TBNN. If you like good satire – especially on issues of theology – this is the blog for you.

The other blog-just-for-fun is the Fail Blog. This is an on-going collection of seriously FAILed moments (and sometimes WINs) caught in picture and on video. (There is a G-rated version here.)

One from a couple of days ago struck me as super hilarious. Now, it wouldn’t be if it happened to me – but since it didn’t, I still laugh when I read it. So, for your enjoyment today:

My personality test

May 6, 2009 in Other with 0 Comments

no-personality

So I took a personality test today. It’s not that I don’t know my personality – after all, I have to live with me every day. (So do five other people, but we’re not asking for their opinion today!)

It’s not that I haven’t taken personality tests before either. I have – and they all say pretty much the same thing.

But until today, I’d never taken a test based on the famous Myers-Briggs typology assessment. I don’t know if it was the full thing or not, but I answered 72 yes-or-no questions, and out came my result. And the verdict is…

Apparently, I (along with only 2.1% of Americans) am an INTJ. (OK, then)

Here’s how it breaks down:

  • moderately expressed Introvert (44%)
  • moderately expressed iNtuitive personality (50%)
  • distinctively expressed Thinking personality (62%)
  • distinctively expressed Judging personality (67%)

INTJs apply (often ruthlessly) the criterion “Does it work?” to everything from their own research efforts to the prevailing social norms. This in turn produces an unusual independence of mind, freeing the INTJ from the constraints of authority, convention, or sentiment for its own sake… INTJs are known as the “Systems Builders” of the types, perhaps in part because they possess the unusual trait combination of imagination and reliability. Whatever system an INTJ happens to be working on is for them the equivalent of a moral cause to an INFJ; both perfectionism and disregard for authority may come into play… Personal relationships, particularly romantic ones, can be the INTJ’s Achilles heel… This happens in part because many INTJs do not readily grasp the social rituals… Perhaps the most fundamental problem, however, is that INTJs really want people to make sense.

That sort of sounds like me, right? And it gets better. They even have a “career indicator” tool with specific career field suggestions based on your personality. Their recommendations for me (in order)?

  • Computer programming (you don’t say!)
  • Education (oh, yeah; that’s my passion)
  • Engineering (love those flowcharts)
  • Management (teams working together)
  • Entrepreneurship (started my own business)
  • Law (can argue/debate with the best of them)
  • Librarian (have you seen my office?)

Well, they don’t have me figured out or anything, do they? Actually, God designed me just the way he wanted me (so there!). He has built in me the mind and the passion to teach – especially to teach people the Scriptures. That’s what I am supposed to do. And right now I’m leading our church with my experience and a great team of advisers at my side.

But it’s not good enough. I need your help. We each have an important part to play in God’s work.

So, what does your personality say about you? What is your role? What could you be doing to further God’s kingdom that you’re not doing yet?

Go ahead – take the test. Then share your results in the comments.

Are we living in the end times?

May 5, 2009 in End Times with 0 Comments

One of the questions I have been asked a lot recently – given the current state of world politics, the economy, and the seeming increase in global natural disasters – is a familiar one: “Are we living in the end times?”

Several people have asked me in the last five or six months if I think that President Obama could be the Antichrist described in the Scriptures.

666-b

There seems to be a fear that what is happening now could be the entrance to something much more awful – something sinister, evil. And that fear spreads wider than with just the people I talk to regularly.

On December 1, 2008 I wrote a book review on Dr. David Jeremiah’s new book, What in the World is Going On? He is a best-seller – multiple times over – and I knew that people would want to read his book. But I didn’t expect quite how much.

Since I wrote that post, it has become my blog’s all-time #1 post. In fact, as of this morning, it has been read 111 times in the last five months. And it’s not stopping. It was read 16 times in the last 30 days – twice yesterday (May 4).

Not only that, but it also tops the search terms for how people find my blog. Over the past 30 days, 14 searches for that book or reviews of that book have ended by people coming here.

With all of this attention, it obviously needs to be addressed.

So, later this year, I will be teaching a series at Oak Tree Community Church on what the Bible says about the end times – the things we can know, and the things we cannot.

If you are in the South Bend, Indiana area, stay tuned to find out when I’ll be teaching so you can join us. If you’re not, you can listen to past messages on the church’s website. You can also subscribe to our podcast through iTunes and get each week’s message automatically. More information about our “Listen Now” program is available here.

In the meantime, keep pointing people to Jesus Christ. Whether we’re in the end times or not, he’s our only hope.

There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12

Three Networks and the Truth

April 28, 2009 in Current Events with 0 Comments

I just read an article by Paul Asay on the simultaneous growth and death of TV and its effects. In pointing out the article, I want to let you on to something else as well.

The article, entitled “Three Networks and the Truth”, was a part of a weekly email newsletter I get from Plugged In Online, a division of Focus on the Family.

With the tag line, “Shining a light on the world of popular entertainment,” Plugged In Online is a review source for all things movie, video/DVD, music, TV, and video game in pop culture.

I personally like the movie reviews each week. They all have the same format, beginning with a summary of the movie. Then they break it down into sections: Positive Elements, Spiritual Content, Sexual Content, Violent Content, Crude or Profane Language, Drug and Alcohol Content, and Other Negative Elements, before giving some concluding thoughts.

For example, see the review of the new movie, The Soloist, here.

Each email newsletter also includes a section called “Culture Clips”. This typically contains up to three quotes by someone in pop culture or stats that make an obvious statement about the culture. The intent is to get you, the reader, to think and/or act on that information in your own sphere of influence.

For instance, this week we’re informed, “When asked if they’d rather give up TV or the Internet for a week, 77% of teens said they’d forgo the tube. [mediapost.com, 4/21/09]“

And that’s it. You’ve been informed. What will you do with that information?

Pop culture contains the filters we use to look at our world and our faith. So here are some links for you. Check them out. Use them to know the culture in which you and your children/grandchildren live.

PluggedIn Online’s website – check out their past articles and reviews

“Three Networks and the Truth” article by Paul Asay – excellent article on TV’s modern influence

Subscribe to the Plugged In eNewsletter – get it yourself each week; it’s FREE

God is…

April 22, 2009 in OTCC with 0 Comments

This summer we are participating in One Prayer again. Last year, over 1800 churches across the planet joined together to try to be the answer to Jesus’ prayer that we would be one (John 17:20).

This year the theme is God. Actually, it’s “God is…” I’ve been taking suggestions about what teaching you need to hear about God. Fill in the blank – “I need to hear that God is _______”.

You can post your comments here, or email them to me here.

One Prayer 2009 at OTCC begins on May 31. Don’t miss it!

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