Top 50 People in the Bible

Serious Bible geek stuff, here. Using an algorithm based on number of mentions in the Bible and how those names are spread out over various passages, the folks at Logos Bible Software came up with a ranking of the Top 50 People in the Bible.

To answer the obvious questions: Yes, Jesus is number one. And, no, being higher on the list doesn't mean one Bible person is more significant or more holy than another. It's just interesting to see who the Bible spends the most words on.

Here's a thumbnail of the chart. Click to go to the blog post on their site.

Pirate Hype Game!

Can you feel it? If you don’t now, you soon will. It’s called a hype surge, and this holiday weekend it’s brought to you by the uber-marketing geniuses behind Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. We’re doing out part to contribute to the inescapable POTC3 presence in every corner of your existence with our just-in-time review.

Hey, maybe we could make a game of it. Starting right now, you could keep track of every time you hear anything about the movie. Give yourself one point for every paid reference you see/hear/read: TV spots, radio, web ads, etc. Give yourself two points for every “news” or other non-ad media mention. Give yourself three points from every “real” person who says/e-mails/texts something to you about it (without your bringing it up). And give yourself five points if your parents, aunts, uncles, youth pastor, or Sunday School teacher talk about it.

Keep counting through Tuesday morning or so -- and let us know your score. The winner gets a free arrgh. And maybe an eye patch.

Okay, Read Your Bible

Thanks for all the comments to yesterday's post. Obviously, though, my attempt at making a humorous point was overly subtle. Just for the record, PW is all about getting teens to read, study, memorize, and otherwise ingest the Bible for themselves or in small groups or in dark alleys, even without adult supervision.

My suggestion that we have some policy to the contrary was only meant to riff on the news story that some in Hong Kong would like to see the Bible labeled "indecent" and made off-limits to teens. It seemed to me that giving God's Word an R-rating (or worse) would only make people more curious — or angry enough to stand up and fight for their right to party (while reading the Bible, even the disturbing parts).

As if to prove my point, a few of you responded with impassioned, thoughtful, and somewhat sarcastic responses in defense of studying the Bible for yourself to discover the mind of God and walk more closely with Him. Good on ya! And gooder on ya if you realized we were kidding around a little in hopes of prodding all of us to spend a little more time in the Word, even if it's only in search of all that reported sex and violence.

See, I've noticed that begging people to read the Bible usually results in solemn head-nodding followed by a firm commitment to get around to doing so, along with eating broccoli, exercising, and watching public television. But make the opposite demand, and most of us will read three chapters right now just to prove we can. It's too bad that freedom to do worthwhile things so often leads to a loss of interest. And it's little wonder Christianity is spreading like wildfire in places like China, where hiding God's Word in your heart is sometimes the only safe place to keep it.

Don't Read the Bible!

According to a ChristianPost.com story, the Bible is under attack in Hong Kong for its violent and sexual content. If those complaining have their way, the Bible would be classified as “indecent.” It would become illegal for people under 18 to buy it, and Bibles would have to be wrapped with a warning notice.

“The thrust of the complaints was that the Bible was obscene, that different parts of the Bible were offensive to readers.” TELA [Hong Kong’s Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority] refused to give details of the complaints but local media say they refer to acts of violence, rape, incest and cannibalism.

The report seems to suggest the group is trying to cause trouble for political reasons, but honestly they have a point. The Old Testament, especially, is full of graphic descriptions of violence and some startling sexual scenes. Depending on one’s ability to use his or her imagination, whole sections of the book should be rated NC-17.

That’s why we here at PlanetWisdom have a policy of encouraging teens to avoid reading the Bible altogether. Instead, we suggest you only seek out biblical truth from trained pastoral professionals -- and whatever you can pick up from the new breed of Christian-flavored movies. Whatever you do, you really should avoid any kind of systematic Bible reading plan on your own. It’s just too much temptation.

According to the story:

The complaints are thought to have sparked from an anonymous website . . . which said the Bible “made one tremble” from its sexual and violent content.

You know, maybe if you just read it with your parents or a guardian or something, you could check out some of the tamer stuff. But stay away from the Bible when you’re alone or just with other kids. We’re only saying this for your own good. Nobody needs those ideas in his head.

5-Second Rule = Death? Maybe.

Do you abide by the 5-Second Rule? You know, it's the idea that if you drop food on the floor and pick it up in 5 seconds or less, it's still okay to eat it. These guys at Living the Scientific Life found first, that most people do follow the rule sometimes and that, second, all these people are now dead.

No, that's not it. They actually found that the rule has some validity depending on the food dropped and the surface it lands on. Hint: Sticky food on icky surface = bad to eat. (In other words, you should probably avoid gulping gummi worms off the bathroom floor.)

Slices of bologna and bread left for five seconds took up between 150 to 8,000 bacteria from surfaces that had been contaminated eight hours earlier. However, left for a full minute, the food slices collected about 10 times more bacteria from the tile and carpet, and a lower number from the wood surface.

(via Evangelical Outpost)

The Robots are Coming

Really. In your lifetime, robots will be running the whole planet. I know this because I've been reading about them over at Engadget.com, and I'm a little scared. And excited. Here's one to watch the kids -- and I mean really watch them. And here's one to direct music while it blows things up with it's death ray eyes. And here's a robot arm to replace our little puny human arms when they wear out. These are for real, people.

Be afraid. And, you know, excited.

And Now . . . Cheese

Ah, YouTube, bringing us video from the world over. I can't help wanting this clip to turn into a Monty Python sketch, but it's a straight-up, hard-hitting UK news piece about people who chase wheel cheese down a hill. Violently. On purpose. Every year.

And for what do they race? Well, the cheese, of course. Provide your own commentary.

Via kottke.org.

Teen Sex = More Happy? Nope.

From the evangelical outpost via familyfacts.org:

In this study, compared with peers who abstained from sex and drugs, girls who experimented with sex or drugs were two to three times times more likely to become depressed: those with multiple sex partners were 10 times more likely than their abstinent peers to become depressed and those who used drugs frequently were about seven and a half times as likely as peers who did not use drugs to become depressed.

More evidence that just doing your own thing is NOT the path to a "happy, comfortable" life, let alone a life that matters.

Fighting Lust

Stumbled across this helpful acrostic -- ANTHEM -- from preacher John Piper by way of a blog called "Irish Calvinist." For guys ready to get serious about fighting this everyday battle so many good Christian men repeatedly lose, it's worth checking out.

Divorce Rate Down

According to a recent AP story, the national divorce rate has reached it's lowest point since 1970. It reached its highest point in 1981, but has now dropped by a third to 3.6 divorces per one thousand people in the U.S. per year.

The big question asked in this article is "why?" and whether the numbers signal a healthy trend for the country. Some say yes, others not so much. Undoubtedly, part of what's going on is that more are waiting longer to get married -- or avoiding the altar altogether.

For Christians, the news is at least partly good. After all, we believe that although He may allow divorce in certain scenarios, God still "hates" it. (And nobody really likes it.) But it's not an improvement for people to live together as if they're married, have kids, and then break up anyway. Everyone still suffers. And surveys reveal that people who live together before getting married are more likely to end up divorced in the end, anyway.

That same Barna study shows the born again Christians are still just as likely to divorce as unbelievers. That's the saddest news of all. Why? Because if we take God at his word, we believe that marriage is meant to be a picture of the eternal relationship between Jesus and us -- and it's a testing ground for our ability to die to ourselves and serve Him by serving each other (even on the days when "each other" are selfish, stinky, and mean). Please don't write to tell me when and why divorce is okay; I'm just saying people who believe as we do should be less likely to get divorced than people who don't.

Believing that divorce is bad for kids and bad for the nation, in general, the Bush administration has spent more than $200 mil. in the past five years on the Healthy Marriage Initiative. Bill Coffin, one of the guys responsible for implementing that, makes a great point in the AP story:

"The word is getting out that marriage doesn't have to be a crap shoot — it's not the luck of the draw," Coffin said. "It's how you deal with the inevitable conflict and anger in marriage."

And while it's true that our culture often seems to be saying that falling in love and having a good marriage is all about finding "the one" or getting lucky, Christian culture too often seems to say that Christian marriages should always be easier (especially if you save sex for marriage). What we should say right out loud more often is that "your marriage will be difficult right from the start and you'll likely go through seasons when you don't want to do it anymore." We should help people to see marriage as a lifelong adventure, but then to remind each other that the best adventures are about sacrificing yourself for the mission and often include long, dark nights; moments when you don't think you'll make it; and unexpected victories. And we all need lots of God's help to make it through to the end. And we need a willingness to die before we'll give up the fight -- or to give up the fighting because we've already denied ourselves to follow Jesus together.

Richer = Happier? Nope.

Apparently, I'm drawn to money v. life stories this week. Here's a collection of counter-intuitive quotes about happiness and satisfaction -- based on recent research -- from a helpful little article by Michael Shermer on ScientificAmerican.com:

"Imagine you have a choice between earning $50,000 a year while other people make $25,000 or earning $100,000 a year while other people get $250,000. . . . Which would you prefer? Surprisingly, studies show that the majority of people select the first option."

"Once average annual income is above $20,000 a head, higher pay brings no greater happiness."

"Happiness is better equated with satisfaction than pleasure, says Emory University psychiatrist Gregory Berns. . . . 'While you might find pleasure by happenstance--winning the lottery, possessing the genes for a sunny temperament, or having the luck not to live in poverty--satisfaction can arise only by the conscious decision to do something. And this makes all the difference in the world, because it is only your own actions for which you may take responsibility and credit.' "

About 20 centuries ago, the biblical writer Paul came to a similar conclusion, urging his readers to break the false link between having money and being satisfied with life -- which he said comes from making the conscious decision to "do" godliness (as a Christian):

"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. . . .

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." (1 Timothy 6)

Paul's conclusion is the same. We can have enjoyment from God's good gifts without having much money -- and we can have lots of money without having much enjoyment of the stuff money buys. Which will we choose to go after?

Smarter = Richer? Nope.

In a post way back in January, we pointed to a survey that showed a whopping 75 percent of college freshman cited their number one priority in life as “being well off financially.” We said then that getting rich is a lousy goal if you expect having money to bring you any real satisfaction in life.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t care about money, at all. The Bible is crammed with teaching about how to use money wisely (instead of getting used by it). A lot of college freshmen believe that myth that being smart and getting a college degree is the best path to being financially stable. Yes, I just said it’s a myth.

A new study from Ohio State University (reported here) points out that smarter people are not necessarily any richer than people with average IQ scores. What’s really interesting is that smarter people DO tend to make more money than averagely smart folks. They have higher incomes. But here’s the rub -- they don’t tend to actually HAVE any more money in the bank. The implication of the study is that smart people are just as likely to be dumb with money as people who don’t have the flashy IQ scores. Or -- to put it in a positive way -- regular people are just as likely to end up with money as brainy folks.

Why? Because having “wealth” has more to do with living wisely than being intelligent -- or landing a high-paying job. You don’t have to be smart to be wise. Being wise with money includes not spending more than you have, not using credit cards, saving dough for low times, and even having a plan to give money to others.

Interested in learning some real, practical wisdom about handling money? Why not suggest to this study to your youth leader? (Note: Nobody paid us to suggest this.)

Being “well off financially” is still a lousy priority, but being financially wise always pays. And you don’t have to be a genius to pull it off.

Spidey Time

As I type this, some of you are standing in line for a midnight showing of Spider-Man 3. In the rain. Drinking Starbucks. Does it get any better than that?

Well, how was it? Worth the wait? Let us know. And check back on Friday afternoon to get the official PW review on the Movies page.

Hollywood Ark

All of a sudden, Noah’s Ark is popping up everywhere. I don’t mean the actual big boat, of course, that archaeologists have been hunting for generations. But people are talking about the flood and Noah again in all kinds of unlikely places. Why?

Well, a Hollywood marketing budget doesn’t hurt. The sequel to Bruce Almighty is all about a modern day guy directed by God to build a Noah-style ark. It doesn’t hurt that the star of Evan Almighty (due out June 22) is funny-man Steve Carell of “The Office.”

Normally, a Hollywood take on a controversial biblical story starring the guy from The 40 Year Old Virgin would make me nervous about how God’s Word would get abused in the process. It helps some that Bruce and Evan director Tom Shadyac is a Christian with a track record of exploring biblical ideas on film in mostly respectful (and often funny) ways. Still, we’re curious to see where he goes with this thing.

Also curious: Using a Hollywood marketing budget to urge churches to do “good works.” That’s what the Evan Almighty team have done with a site called ArkAlmighty.com. Go there, and you’ll see actor John Goodman walk onto your monitor and explain how they can help people with needs in “your church” hook up with people in “your church” who can help. What? We need a Hollywood PR plan to find out what the needs and the talents of people in our churches are? Isn't that kind of the whole point of church?

Okay, maybe some of us can use the help. Still, it feels a little odd to have site built to market a movie used both to attract church-goers to the film and than promote church work in our churches. It's either a really good idea or a sign of the apocalypse.

And speaking of apocalypses, maybe an ark would come in handy. If so, this biblical creationist in Holland will be ready. After having a dream that "Holland will become flooded," he followed Noah's blueprint (to a point) and built himself a half-size ark. And the thing looks amazing. Mr. Huibers has stocked it with life-sized models of animals, a 50-seat theater for showing videos about the biblical flood, and even a petting zoo for the kids. Check it out.