As always, Dr. John Piper is not afraid to mince words. May we all strive to live up to this high calling.
Is Your View of Money Satanic?
Being the one to challenge prevailing worldviews is not easy.
In raising support, that’s precisely what we sometimes do. When I go on an appointment and challenge somebody to join my team at $100 per month, I am challenging their worldview. God is using me (in some cases) to rub them the wrong way, because there is nothing more fundamentally American than the dollar. I don’t make it my goal to offend, but I do make it my goal to challenge people to something bigger than the certainly-not-almighty green paper.
Like the video I shared yesterday points out, so many Americans are treasuring the wrong things. Goals like bigger houses, more cars, and fatter 401(k)s are choking the spiritual life out of us. Do I think those things are bad? Not necessarily. But if you got defensive at their passing mention, it might be a sign you are inordinately treasuring them.
Saving for the future is biblical. Investing is thoroughly biblical. Hoarding and investing so that you can find your security, happiness, and purpose in a fat bank account is satanic.
I’ve even said this myself, (using the excuse that we don’t have a huge income) but I am tired of the line “I don’t give much now, but I want to invest so that when I retire I can support X number of missionaries.” Here’s a reality check: if we aren’t giving sacrificially now, adding some zeros to our paycheck won’t make us give sacrificially then. The giving habits we form now will be the giving habits we have when we retire. Jacqueline and I have had to wrestle with that, given our financial position now. We’ve got money, but we have not always been the best about giving. We’ve rationalized it, and had spurts where we gave sacrificially, but on the whole we have not been as generous as God calls us to be.
This is not a ploy for you to give to us. Give to Jesus. Do you believe the gospel? Give like it. Here’s some places I feel confident your money would go toward the furthering of the gospel:
- Blood Water Mission
- Grace Community Church
- Global Aid Network (Haiti)
- International Expansion with Campus Crusade for Christ
As always, I’ll start. We’re going to be giving to one of the above ministries (over and above what we already have), once Jacqueline and I pray about it.
After all, there’s no better way to spit in the face of a satanic worldview than to put God’s money where His heart is.
** Update** I added the clarification “sometimes” to the first sentence of the second paragraph and the parenthetical “in some cases” later in the same paragraph, because my wife said it might otherwise come off like we think everyone we meet has a poor worldview. And she’s right. I don’t want it to seem like I am looking down on anyone. My apologies for having misspoken.
Things We Have Nearly Said on Twitter
In case you aren’t following Jacq on twitter or facebook, we’ve got some exciting news on top of the already exciting news that we are moving to Holly Springs. We’re pregnant! (a phrase I don’t fully understand why I have to say in the first person, being that I am by no means carrying a child in my belly) So here, in chronological order, are the tweet-worthy things that we have avoided saying, since about Christmas.
December 27th:
J 3:01 PM: I just found out I’m pregnant. Going to surprise Ben with the news while holding someone else’s nearly-old-enough-to-spoil-it child.
B 6:05 PM: We kicked one past the goalie. We should really recruit better goalies. Or sleep in separate beds. Annabelle found out along with me.
December 30th:
J: I am really tired. And kind of nauseous. And did I mention really tired? Oh, and could you bring me a sandwich? With icing?
B: Let me get this straight. I have to deal with a pregnant wife for the next 5-7 weeks but not tell anyone? I am hoping for a girl.
December 31st:
J: Ever found out you were pregnant, attended a conference with 96% of your friends, and not told any of them? Me neither. Told 10 People.
B: I am getting kind of fuzzy on the details of the whole “don’t tell anyone we’re pregnant” thing. Four people have told me congratulations…
January 3rd:
J: On the way home. Tired, hungry, tired, hungry, and pregnant. Can I get that sandwich, now? Or a nap?
B: We are getting back to raising support full-time. Extra bellybutton to feed, and all.
January 27th:
J: At the OB, we get to hear the heartbeat today for Peanut!
B: I just got a H1N1 vaccination, at the OB-GYN. I can honestly say that’s the first time I’ve been treated at the gynecologist.
January 29th:
J: I’m hungry, then I’m FULL, then I’m HUNGRY. Then I desperately want to take a nap. Rinse. Repeat.
B: Hate that I had to leave my pregger wifey up the hill with the boy in the snow to come to cold, wet, ATL.
February 7th:
J: A few days until I’ll feel comfortable sharing with the online world that I am pregnant! And it’ll be my birthday.
B: Apparently Jacq’s family was fuzzy on the “don’t tell” details, too. Three people have congratulated me at church this morning.
We’re so excited about the new little one on the way, but I’m pretty sure Jacqueline is just trying to get out of doing any heavy lifting during the move. This will be the second time she’s gotten out of the manual labor.
(Not) Helping us Pick a Baby Name. Part 1.
A while back, we looked at a disturbing facebook trend in parenting.
Recently Jacqueline did a google search for “Biblical Baby Names” and we spent so long laughing at the sites that I’ve decided to make it a regular practice here on the blog to look at a list of biblical-but-not-practical names.
Here’s this week’s edition of what promises to be the weekly “Just because it’s in the Bible, doesn’t mean you go with it.”
I went with a Ladies-Only theme this week. In the future, I’ll nail down some boy names. But maybe it’s because I am hoping for a girl on round 2.
Succoth-benoth — This jewel is taken directly from 2 Kings 17:30, making it thoroughly biblical. Problem being, according to my bible dictionary, it either means “booth for girls, booth for prostitutes, or a localized pagan deity.” See, there’s a principle of basic reading in play here. Like the word “Placenta,” if you don’t know what it means, it might sound pretty. But even if you don’t know what it means, it still means something. Don’t name your child the biblical equivalent of “demon-whorehouse.”
Baal-berith — Those familiar with the Bible will immediately note the prefix “Baal” which is a word that means “god” and can be used as a common noun or a proper noun, but in both cases refers to demonic Caananite “gods” who are at all times opposed to the true and living God and his work on the earth. This begins to underline why we shouldn’t name our next bundle of joy this. Baal-berith is a specific god referenced in Judges 8:33 with whom the Israelites directly disobeyed the command of Exodus 34:12. Nothing like having to say that every time we explain why we call our sweet little girl “Beri.”
Babel — While we’re on the topic of naming children after events in history where the human race in general and God’s people in particular totally blew it, let’s visit another “girl’s name.” While I suppose my logic here could make for a strong indictment of folks named Adam, Eve, and Saul, it still stands to reason that those names have more upside than Babel. Plus, if the name Babel becomes prophetic, you’ll end up with a very talkative but hard to understand teenager. Like, OMG, I’m ROFL and I’ll totally CUL8TR. I’m begging you. Name your girl “Enunciate” or “Stop-Giggling.”
Raphah — Aside from having to have reoccurring pronunciation clinics at every turn, the only real problem I see from this name, taken from 1 Chronicles 8:37, is that it is a boy’s name in the Bible, but is listed in the female section of some baby-naming websites. That’s a fun bit of trivia for your sweet daughter to find out in middle school, via the awkward kid that home-schooled last year and had to memorize 1 Chronicles. Name kids according to gender. (and if you are a dude named Stacy, calm down. this entire post is a joke. we’re just having a good time.)
Cappadocia — I’m going out on a limb here, but I am personally against geography names. See, Cappadocia is “an isolated interior region of eastern Asia Minor lying north of the Taurus Mountains, east of Lake Tatta, south of Pontus, and west of the Euphrates River.” according to my Bible dictionary. Which is good trivia to know, but bad when your daughter goes on a date and the guy says “That’s a pretty name, what’s it mean?” I guess naming a child after a region is cool, if something or someone big originated or was made famous there. For example, Cleveland from The Family Guy is clearly named indirectly after LeBron James or the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as the only interesting things to happen in Cleveland since they took the extra “a” out. But Cappadocia is known for having a letter written to it–(1 Peter 1:1)–and that’s it. The “visit Cappadocia” brochure would say “We’ve got dirt. And half of a lake. And 17-23 people.” All told, I’d opt out of this as the name of your next girl.
That’s enough for this week. But rest assured, this one website has enough material for many weeks to come. Who knows, maybe I’ll actually find the name we want to go with by skewering names every week on the blog.
What about you? What do you say we should (or shouldn’t) name the next Meredith?
Jacob the Pervert is Changed By God’s Grace.
Genesis 49:31 Rocked my world today. Mouse over the verse to read it. It’s not all that spectacular. It’s a description of a graveyard, and who is buried there.
What rocked my world is what it didn’t say. The guy speaking is Israel (formerly known as Jacob). Stick with me, and I’ll give you the back story in 3 bullet points (with a hat-tip to Tim Keller’s insight from his latest book).
- Jacob was a total perve who had the hots for Rachel, Leah’s younger sister.
- Laban, the girls’ dad, was a con-man who tricked Jacob into working for him for 14 years in order to get Rachel as a wife. 7 years in he got tricked into marrying Leah, who according to the story is ugly (commentators believe she had a lazy eye or was cross-eyed). Lines from the 14 year period include “OK, time for me to have sex with that hot daughter of yours.” (did I mention Jacob was a perve?)
- Leah spends the rest of her life in the shadow of her younger, hotter sister–trying to make Jacob love her. She names her first three kids “Look! A son,” “God heard my prayer,” and “Now I’ll be connected to him,” (Genesis 29:31-35) all in an effort to win the love of Jacob, or at least in an expression of that effort. Finally, we see her surrender to God’s grace, and name her last son “Praise the Lord.”
But what we never hear from the story is whether or not God’s grace ever changes Jacob. Until Genesis 49:31. When giving instructions as to where he wanted to be buried. He in effect says “Bury me where Grandpa Abraham, Grandma Sarah, Dad, Mom, and Leah are buried. The significance of that is huge. God had so changed Jacob (now Israel)’s heart that his last wish was to be buried not with Rachel, who had her own tomb (Genesis 35:19-20), but with Leah.
God changes hearts. Leah’s last son’s name, Judah, might sound familiar. The “Lion of Judah,” Jesus himself, is a descendant of Leah. Praise God for grace that changes us.