May/June 08 Newsletter

Here's our update: click on the images to zoom in 

[click here for a print quality download]

May Reading

Jen and I pack up for a week of vacation in Southern California this weekend, and I'm excited. Before, we leave, however, I'm wading through some heady reading. I hope to finish Ex Gays? before Saturday, and to bring some slightly less academic reading for vacation.

However, the book is a good read, and I'd like to recommend it. This is the second book by Stanton Jones and Mark Yarhouse that I've read. Back in 2001, I read their book entitled Homosexuality: The Use of Scientific Research in the Church's Moral Debate. That was an excellent and objective review of the literature and research regarding the causation/origins of homosexual orientation, and how it relates to the traditional Christian moral stance on homosexual behavior.

This new book is the presentation of their longitudinal study on the controversial topic of whether or not sexual orientation is something that can be changed. I have not yet gotten to the results of their study, but I did read the last page (cheater). But, that's not why I'm recommending this book. The first two chapters are worth the price of the book, as the authors present compelling arguments for the necessity and benefit of dialogue and interplay between religion and science, and expose the most egregious examples of unscientific bias in previous studies, psychological and psychiatric literature, and from the APA regarding this subject.

The Veritas Forum

Is God necessary for morality?

Is there hope in a hopeless world?

Are there real reasons for belief in God?

Is DNA a 'language of God'?

These are big questions, and in past generations, the university was the place for young people to work out their perspectives on the big questions of life. However, as times have changed, so has our educational system, and most university degree programs are aimed primarily at professional training rather than worldview development. Students and even faculty are left without a place to engage the biggest questions, being bogged down with exam questions.

I've seen this at work over and over again. It is saddening to talk to a random university student and discover that he or she has not thought about God as an idea, let alone a loving person in ages, nor has he or she thought about how to orient one's moral compass or if there is more to human existence than the material world. 

Enter the Veritas Forum. This group began in 1992 at Harvard where they noticed the lack of conversation regarding the issues of life, morality, ethics, God and eternity. They recruited Christian apologists and ministers, and alumni from professional fields across the spectrum to come speak to various audiences at Harvard with the hopes of jump-starting these necessary conversations. This one-time forum has developed into an international movement, and Tulane's working on getting on board.

I got excited about Veritas as I heard about some of the results at UMass and Stanford where Chi Alpha was a part of hosting Veritas. They brought in Dr. Francis Collins, director of the Human Genome Project to speak about the marriage of science and faith within his own life. These talks brought out hundreds of students and faculty! 

-read about the Stanford event

Tulane is full of biology and chemistry students, bio-chemical engineering students, and more. Many of these students look up to a scientist like Dr. Collins as a great hero, and I'm excited about the possibility of bringing someone like him to Tulane.

Over the past two months, I have been researching Veritas, and now have recruited a team at Tulane representing nearly all of the Christian communities on campus, and we are moving forward to plan a Veritas Forum for Tulane. Our target date is spring of 2009.

My Response to 'The Secret'

I have not read the bestseller: The Secret, nor have I viewed the subsequent movie. I've been fairly well acquainted with such ideas for some time, however, and because of that felt little compunction to read or see this new spin on such an old idea. I've dealt with this within Christian circles: "Name it, claim it. Believe it, receive it."

One of my Tulane student friends has gotten into The Secret, and we've chatted about it a couple of times. Below is a message he sent me listing out his notes from the movie version, and then my responses in red.

I'm trying to do more writing this summer, as I think it's a gift from God that I do too little with. So, in that vein, I thought I'd write a serious response, and then share it around.

Grace and Peace,

*md

Jie: here is some points from the movie "the secret"

  The LAW OF ATTRACTION: YOUR WISH IS MY COMMAND---Universe

3 Processes to Be Creative:

1, Ask (Whatever you want)
2, Believe (Firmly)
3, Receive (Gratefully)


1, Grateful. ----At least you are alive, and you still have the rock in your pocket.

Gratitude is absolutely essential to happiness and joy and fulfillment in life. It is the start of humility, which is the start of true wisdom. The Bible teaches this plainly. 

2,When you visualize , then you materialize.

Visualization is powerful, but it is not magic. I visualize success that never comes on a regular basis. Maybe I am not very good at visualization, but I have experienced its power. It is only a help, though, not a fool-proof plan. 

3. Always positve words filled in your mind!

 

While positivity is better than negativity, sometimes it is more important to deal with reality. I believe that honesty is far more important than happiness or success. Without honesty, we will fail to address real problems, pain, and evil in our world. Without honesty, all of our happiness and success is illusion. 

4. Surrounded by successful people, get into them, become part of them and lead the other people also join them!

This is interesting: it is true that successful people can rub off on you, and help make you more successful. It is wise to associate with those who are positive and full of life. Yet, Jesus teaches the absurd notion of befriending your enemies, and the lowest people on the social ladder, the people who are poor, broken, despised, and ugly. Why would he teach something so contrary to practical wisdom for success? 

5. Act NOW! the Universe likes intuition, likes the speed!

Who is the universe? How does the universe like anything?

Unless there is a Person back of the universe, the universe is dead matter with no life, no preferences. 

6. Firstly, fall in love with yourself.

 

Jesus and the Prophets preach that we must love our neighbor as we love ourselves. If we do not love ourselves, we cannot love anyone. This is true, but easily misapplied toward self-centered living. 

7. Appreciate!

Everything! Always! 

8. Energy flows where attention goes.

Obviously, our energies flow to where we fix our attention. What other energy is there?

9. Don't apologize easily, do it when it's necssary. i.e. you will feel good after you saying "sorry".

I believe this one is 100% wrong. We all do wrong and hurt others on a regular basis, and we do well to acknowledge our errors and ask forgiveness. If we do not apologize easily, we have become full of pride and arrogance. I do not know what 'the universe' thinks about pride and arrogance, but God hates it, and destroys it.

Also, saying 'sorry' is an action directed toward another person, a person that one has injured in some way - knowingly or accidentally. Saying 'sorry' may be very painful, and may leave one feeling empty and broken afterwards. The injured party may decided to reject the apology, and this does not feel good. 

10. Believe in that the power within you is GREATER than the power within the world.

This sounds like a quotation from the Bible, which teaches that "He [Jesus] who is in you is great than he [the devil, the power of the world] who is in the world." 

11. No Ceilings for us.

The one ceiling we all share is called death. 

12. If it is not fun, then don't do that.

I agree with this to some extent. However, there are a great many things that are necessary for life and are not fun. Also, acting in compassion, honesty, etc... is often very difficult. It is much more fun to play video games than to do right deeds, or even to develop oneself. 

13. When you say you CAN or CAN'T , either way you are right.

This is always true for 'can't', though sometimes circumstances bigger than ourselves interfere with our 'can'. But, I do agree with this one, mostly. 

14. FEEL GOOD.

Feel bad: more than 30,000 have been crushed to death in China, maybe 100,000 or more have been killed or will die in Myanmar/Burma from the Cyclone.

Our world is full of pain and misery, and it is foolish to set the goal of feeling good in such a world. Some misery is beyond our control; some misery can be alleviated by our compassion; some misery can be ended or prevented by our action and faith; some misery can be comforted if we will enter into it with the miserable. 

A Baptism and an Ordination

Last Friday, we celebrated our second ever baptismal service at Tulane's outdoor pool. This time around, there was only one to be baptized, but it was great!

Liz Bowers made her public proclamation of faith in the presence of the Tulane Chi Alpha community, and a lifeguard. 

I don't have any pictures, currently, as Jen and I couldn't find the camera that evening, but hope to have some soon. In the meantime check out Liz's testimony.

Then, on Monday, I was ordained by the Assemblies of God. I'm not too big on formal occasions or for titles, but the service was still quite meaningful. Superintendent Doug Fulenwider preached a deeply challenging address on keeping the Kingdom of God first.

The night was even more meaningful as my dad, and his brother, John, were in attendance. I didn't even know they were coming to town until I discovered them in my dining room Sunday after church! Thank God for family.

Speaking of family, I'm looking forward to a non-surprise visit from my mom, tomorrow. This will be here first time to Louisiana.