Marriage is Good for Your Brain

We’ve known for some time that married people live longer. Now a new study suggests matrimony may also help keep the mind sharp—warding off age-related issues like memory loss or dementia. Finnish Researchers reported in The British Medical Journal that individuals with the greatest risk of Alzheimer’s are those who are widowed or divorced at midlife and remained so. Being single at midlife is also a risk factor. The researchers suggest having a partner might provide additional mental and social challenges that somehow stimulate the brain and delay the onset of dementia. But getting a complex disease like Alzheimer’s is not dependent simply on lifestyle.
- Parade Magazine 08/09/09

Why Membership Matters

Here is a great post by Kevin DeYoung giving six reasons why church membership is important.

With Calvin In The Theater of God

This past Friday and Saturday Desiring God held their annual national conference. This year the them was the work of John Calvin. You can view all of sessions here.

A Meeting with Tom

This morning at the archery range I crossed paths with young man (let's call him Tom) who was doing community service. As we struck up a conversation (he did 90% of the talking), it  quickly became apparent that he was deeply troubled and had lived a very difficult 19 years.

After we said goodbye and I drove away, a few realities came to mind:

• The importance of fathers. Tom blamed of his problems -- relationally, legally, educationally -- on the fact that his father walked out on him when he five years old. I listened as he shared how he planned to find his dad and let him know (perhaps violently) of all the pained he had caused. It was easy to see the huge hole that Tom had in his life that a father was supposed to fill.
• A failure to take responsibility for your failures prevents you from moving forward. Tom blamed all of his problems on someone else -- never recognizing what he needed to do to change. This will likely result in a continued struggle to break free from his difficulties.
• The image of God in every human being. During our brief time together, Tom shared a couple of raps with me that he had written. Although I can't repeat more than a few words in the either of them, his creativity was undeniable.
• The disconnect for many between 'faith' and belief. From the questions I asked, Tom quickly discerned my occupation. When he did, he was quick to express his deep faith and knowledge of the Bible. However, the life that he described did not resemble in any way the 'new creation' that Paul describes in 2 Cor. 5.
• There are lots of  hurting people who need us to love them deeply and find a way to reach them with the gospel. I don't need to elaborate on this.
• There is no simple formula for leading someone to faith in Christ. I looked for a number of different openings to share the gospel with Tom, but I came to realize I would need many more meetings, a genuine relationship, and lots of prayer to in order to effectively do so. This isn't to say that seeing someone come to faith can't be quick and easy, but it doesn't seem to me that it is normally that way.

In the end, I prayed with Tom, told him about Bethel, and told him perhaps I would see him later this week. In the meantime, I have a lot to think about and consider. Perhaps we all do.

Yom Kippur

Today is Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), the holiest of days on the Jewish calendar. Justin Holcomb has a post on the significance and relevance (quite a lot) of this celebration for Christians.

My Son's First Hunting Trip

This weekend I took my oldest son deer hunting for the first time. I will summarize the experience with a play on the Mastercard commercials:

• Youth hunting license: $7
• Hunting equipment expense: not going there
• Times he was told to be quiet: inumerable
• Deer seen: 0
• Introducing my son to my hobby: priceless

My dad first took me hunting when I was nine years old, and I still vividly remember that experience.To this day my times in the woods with my father are some of my favorite memories.

While Bryce's first experience was unsuccessful from a harvest perspective, I couldn't ask for more than to spend two great days with my son outdoors, enjoying God's creation together. Hoping for many more days to do so!

Adopted and Adopting?

Here is a short, thought-provoking post by Jeremy Carr regarding God's adoption of his children and the implication this might have for human adoption.

Another Reason Not to Play the Lottery

There are many reasons to avoid the lottery, but here is one that might suprise you: even when you win, you lose. Here is a quote from Callie Rodgers of Cumbria, England:

"Winning the lottery ruined my life."

Rodgers won $3 million six years ago and is down $32,000 after spending most of her fortune on designer clothes, cocaine, and breast implants.

The Most Important Doctrine Many Never Think About

Kevin DeYoung makes a great (and I believe very important) point about the Trinity in this post:

If any doctrine makes Christianity Christian, then surely it is the doctrine of the Trinity. The three great ecumenical creeds—the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed—are all structured around our three in one God, underlying the essential importance of Trinitarian theology. Augustine once commented about the Trinity that “in no other subject is error more dangerous, or inquiry more laborious, or the discovery of truth more profitable.” More recently, Sinclair Ferguson has reflected on “the rather obvious thought that when his disciples were about to have the world collapse in on them, our Lord spent so much time in the Upper Room speaking to them about the mystery of the Trinity. If anything could underline the necessity of Trinitarianism for practical Christianity, that must surely be it!”

Yet, when it comes to the doctrine of the Trinity, most Christians are poor in their understanding, poorer in their articulation, and poorest of all in seeing any way in which the doctrine matters in real life. One theologian said, tongue in cheek, “The trinity is a matter of five notions or properties, four relations, three persons, two processions, one substance or nature, and no understanding.” All the talk of essence and persons and co-this and co-that seem like theological gobbledy-gook reserved for philosophers and scholars--maybe for thinky bookish types, but certainly not for moms and mechanics and middle-class college students.

So in a few hundred words let me try to explain what the doctrine of the Trinity means, where it is found in the Bible, and why it matters.

Read the full article here.

Free Hymns

For those of you who love hymns, here is a free download from Christians in Context you might want to check out.