If you had grown up in the Puritan colony of Boston during the days it was a British colony, you would have entered Grammar school between age six and eight, already having learned to read and write English. Grammar school would have added three languages to your skillset in seven years: Latin, Biblical Hebrew, and Biblical (Koine) Greek.

By the time you went to ‘college’ at FOURTEEN or SIXTEEN, you would be proficient in these languages…why? Because those were the languages that the important books were written in! You needed to be able to interact with the scholars of the past and present, much like I would have to learn German and French to pursue a Ph.D. today.

More importantly, you were taught skills to teach yourself, rather than loaded with information to forget later. The same education prepared you to apprentice as a doctor, pastor, or lawyer. If you could think, then you would succeed.

This is not the philosophy of education I feel that I grew up under, how about you?

The Superbowl has become a rallying point for activists against human trafficking. For Texas residents, it feels like the bandwagon that everyone is supposed to jump on this year, just like the green movement was in 2009. While I do appreciate the passion and the nature of the cause being advertised, I feel like a lot of extremely unfounded statistics are being thrown around–numbers in the 100,000’s–when the real numbers are closer to the 10-20,000 range in the U.S.

I’m a proponent of good research, honest discussion, and firm action. If you are curious about this same issue, please take time to review sites other than the ones that are simply promoting rallys. Take time to view the true stats, and feel free to use some of the links I’ve shared below. Please specifically note that the FBI and the U.S. State department have websites and reports dedicated to this issue locally and globally.

A Texas specific Report:  texasimpact.org/UMW/HumanTraffickFactSheet.doc

The FBI lists the actual numbers 15,000-18,000 http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2006/june/humantrafficking_061206

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/civilrights/human_trafficking/human_trafficking?vm=r

Central Texas lists 20,000 http://ctcaht.org/What_is_Trafficking.html

This site lists 17,500 as crossing the border for this purpose: http://www.humantraffickinged.com/?vm=r

The U.S. State Department report fails to list any stats on trafficked individuals: http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2010/142761.htm except to state the global total in their report.

Even Wikipedia gives far smaller figures that these promotional sites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking?vm=r#United_States

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I’m a crazy person at the beginning of each year. I LOVE to make resolutions every time January comes around, and I usually fill an entire sheet of paper with them.

As such a passionate goal setter, I’m prone to ask others about their resolutions, only to get a lot of blank stares and goofy “you’re crazy” looks. So if you’re a goal setter too, please send me your goals and your thoughts on mine, which I’ve shared below:

2011 Initiatives

Stay in Shape:

• Exercise 2x per week (and lose weight to 140 lbs)
• 7+ Day Detox starting January 17^th
• Eat Healthier: 2 pieces of fruit/day and regulate sugar intake: DrP., Ice Cream, candy
• Bi-monthly 5k’s or Triathlons: Blackland Tri, Cooper Clinic Tri, Tulsa Run 5k

Lead the Home in Spiritual Growth:

• Regular Prayer on Sat or Sun
• Regular Bible Study and Journaling
• Special Worship Opportunities, concerts
• Better Discussion regarding our spiritual lives
• More romance of my wife

Travel:

• Big Bend Camping Trip (Spring Break)
• Possibly Northeast: Dean and Corbie and Liberty University
• Possibly West Cost: Derrick in Seattle and/or Lindy in San Diego
• Weekend Getaways: Chicago, TX B&B, Houston

DTS:

• Complete Thesis
• Internship at Church
• Teach a Lay Institute Class

Church/Service:

• Victim Relief
• Complete Application Process with Missions Agency
• Read through Operation World

Finances:

• Sell house in ATL
• Give more money outside of the tithe
• Try to motivate a cheaper and more giving Christmas with family

Personal Growth:

• Regular Personal Bible Reading through Chronological Bible
• Regular Reading in the Original Languages
• Solitude: Periodic Days of Reflection, Personal Hiking Trip
• Read the Quran
• Attend the Willow Creek Leadership Summit

Books:

• Decision Points
• Bill Bryson
• 3 Missions Books

It’s that time again, time for the weekend from Hell. Three days, water only. Sound crazy? It is. Crazy good.

I bet you’re thinking “I couldn’t do that!” Let me empathize: it messes with your blood sugar, it makes you queasy and achy and grouchy and sick…but in the end, its worth it. You endure hell while your body processes out its built up toxins: your liver does a major filtration of your blood, your stomach and intestines relax and deal with any lingering food, and your taste buds reset from all the sugar that you’ve taken in. By the end of the third day, you feel pretty good. Weak, but good.

But wait, “What happens after day three?” you ask. Fruits, vegetables, and rice. A cocktail of natural, healthy, easy-to-digest foods gets you back on track to eat healthier for the rest of the year, and gives your digestive tract a slow relaxing return to the daily routine of digestion.

Stacy and I have been doing this once a year for a while now. This should be year #4 for us. We should probably do it more often based on how much Dr. Pepper and greasy food we eat, but it’s a good way for us to reset our diet in the new year. And there really is a lot of good science behind it. The book 7 Day Detox miracle is what first convinced me to do it, not by explaining the program, but by explaining the science.

If you haven’t sealed your 2011 reading list yet, I recommend that you add the book. If it convinces you to give the detox a try, let us know! Maybe we’ll do it together!

Recently I completed a book on the history of worship in the church, and I found it to provide a lot of powerful insights for my life and ministry in the future. I wanted to share those major points with you here. I hope you enjoy and provide your reaction to these short comments…

Church, in the form that I know it, is the product of innovation by Methodist and Baptist leaders intended to reach unsaved people living life on the American frontier (hence the name, Frontier tradition). Choirs, hymns, special music, emotionally-compelling sermons, conference-style meetings, unscripted prayers, small groups, and altar calls are largely the product of evangelistic efforts.

The problem of the Frontier churches innovation of worship was the loss of the church’s strong emphasis on the social programs of the church: caring for the sick, reaching out to the hurting, protecting the innocent. In American society, we expect the government to do these things…but historically, the church was unique because it did these things–hence the reason why most hospitals in the U.S. are religious institutions. Without this element of the church, our emphasis on the gospel – an offensive message – has caused us to be characterized as brainwashing our members.

Liturgy plays a HUGE role in the church that I am historically connected to–its the foundation of worship for over 1,000 years…compared to the 200+ years of American traditions. As a leader for the church, I need to understand and experience this element of the church. I should familiarize myself with the Common Book of Prayer.

Worship teaches theology better than sermons. Worship repeats concepts in memorable ways. Most people cannot remember the subject of a sermon after a few weeks, but they can remember the songs they sang! Because of this, our worship needs to teach accurate theology, and it needs to include elements that ground us in the essential elements of our faith.

In our century, the Catholic church and Protestant denominations are drawing near to one another in their worship, paving the way for greater unity between believers than we’ve seen since the Protestant Reformation. Unfortunately, this unity is thwarted by a generation of Protestants who don’t want to be connected to any other church or group of churches (denomination), who don’t see any value in coordinating their efforts outside their local church.