PlanetWisdom Blog

Addison Road Hits Big on iTunes

2008-02-21T13:39:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update about Addison Road's week as the free Discovery Download on iTunes: Huge hit! Over 160,000 downloads of their new single "All That Matters." Lots of love from new and longtime fans. Woot!

Want more? Pre-order the CD here before its March 18 street date and download 3 songs (MP3) right away.

Lying to Parents

2008-02-18T21:05:00.000-08:00

This article from New York Magazine is way long, but it's full of cool research on why and how kids and teens lie to their parents -- even students who say they they believe lying is wrong. One of the conclusions of the article is that kids learn to lie from their parents as a way of avoiding conflict.

The article nails one reason teens lie -- and why parents let lying and other rebellion slide. They just don't feel like fighting.

Forty-six percent of the mothers rated their arguments as being destructive to their relationships with their teens. Being challenged was stressful, chaotic, and (in their perception) disrespectful. The more frequently they fought, and the more intense the fights were, the more the mother rated the fighting as harmful. But only 23 percent of the adolescents felt that their arguments were destructive. Far more believed that fighting strengthened their relationship with their mothers. . . . “They saw fighting as a way to see their parents in a new way, as a result of hearing their mother’s point of view be articulated.”

In the Bible, God clearly (really clearly) tells us both not to lie and to give honor to our parents. But in most relationships, it's possible to bring up a point of conflict without being disrespectful. If the choice is between lying to get what we want and rolling up our sleeves for one more tough conversation (if mom and/or dad is willing), a little honest conflict is the only right option. Isn't it? (Don't just tell me what I want to hear.)

(HT: Evangelical Outpost)

Almost Profound

2008-02-15T09:11:00.000-08:00

"Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. Give a fish a man, and he'll eat for weeks!"

—Takayuki Ikkaku, Arisa Hosaka and Toshihiro Kawabata,
Animal Crossing: Wild World, 2005

(HT: quotationspage.com)

V-Day Rant

2008-02-14T11:08:00.000-08:00

It's that day again. The day when greeting card companies and florists roam the land looking to browbeat hard hearts a little softer in the name of romance. "Do you really love/like/cherish your significant other?" they ask as if they care more about your relationship than the cash they hope you'll spend in cardboard message devices, dying roses, and fat-packed candies. "Then prove it. Nothing says true love like big dollars spent on disposable goods."

Okay, I'm not really that much of a V-Day grinch. I participate. I like showering my true love with affection. She likes to get the flowers and cards and whatnot. The feelings are real even if the day is as artificial as sugar-free chocolate.

But it's not just the profit-fueled expressions of tenderness that bug me. It's that the day makes a lot of students feel a little desperate. A small voice coos, "Everyone has a valentine but you. What exactly is wrong with you, loser?" For them, the traditions of the day just feel mean. Not everyone is meant to be in a romantic relationship today. Sometimes, God has a better plan for us, even in mid-February.

For those in relationships, it can be sweet. It can be a chance to affirm growing affections. But I know a few students carried away by romance who compromised their convictions about keeping physical limits on their relationship. It doesn't help that all those ads package the day with lingerie and lipstick. (Note: Don't tell Victoria any secrets; she can't keep anything under wraps.)

Instead of complaining, one group of Christian teens is claiming Valentine's Day as their own for a whole other purpose.

“We live in a culture hostile to traditional values which has produced shocking statistics on the state of our youth,” said a statement on the Day of Purity Web site. “The Day of Purity is a day on which students can make a public demonstration of their commitment to remain sexually pure, in mind and actions.”

Check out the Day of Purity site, and don't be bullied or seduced into giving your heart, mind, or body away to anyone in the name of artificial romance. The real thing -- built on biblical love -- is always worth celebrating.

Addison Road Free on iTunes

2008-02-12T07:36:00.000-08:00

If you've been to a PlanetWisdom tour event, you probably love the worship band Addison Road as much as we do. Big news: You can get their new single "All That Matters" today (through next Monday) for FREE on iTunes as a Discovery Download.

Here's how iTunes describes them: "Addison Road are a Christian band from Texas who are fronted by vocalist Jenny Simmons. The group's sound is a mixture of shiny, well-produced harmonies, touches of soul, and (at least on this week's free single) a touch of the Fab Four's later years. Imagine a female-fronted Maroon 5 and you'll understand the kind of energy being put together here." Nice.

The Road's new CD releases in March. If you want more, check them out on Napster the week of March 10, go to their site or Myspace, or come see them live on the PlanetWisdom tour. But first watch the music video for "All That Matters" — and don't miss the celeb cameos at the end.

Clowns in Church

2008-02-05T13:22:00.000-08:00

I've been amusing myself wondering what you might have guessed this post was about based on the title alone. Choir members who wear too much makeup? Goofy youth leaders? Your little brother and his friends?

Nope, it's about realactual clowns who get decked out and go to a super serious church every year to memorialize one of their clown forefathers and clown brethren who have passed in the previous year. It's hard to beat the image of a church full of clowns singing "Amazing Grace" while a lone unicycler slowly rides up the aisle in his floppy shoes and big red nose.

The key quote from the church vicar on the ministry of clowns:

"In the Bible, in the New Testament, it talks about us being fools for Christ and in a sense they clown around, they fool around, and they try to help people see the lighter side of life. I think from that perspective, that they have a ministry to perform."

As much as I like the idea of being called by God to help people lighten up, the vicar badly misses the point of 1 Corinthians 4:10, where Paul sarcastically describes the persecuted apostles as "fools for Christ" as compared with the "wise" people who doubted their authority to deliver God's Word. Or maybe the vicar had in mind the many times in 1 Corinthians when Paul described his preaching as foolishness to those who reject Christ.

There's no doubt some who dismiss Jesus see our Christian funerals as churches full of clowns putting a happy face on the sad reality of death. But that's okay. We're convinced of the reality of the celebration waiting on the other side. I won't even mind if they bury me in a pair of big floppy shoes.

Is Google Too Powerful?

2008-01-28T06:18:00.000-08:00

Not to Be Understood

2008-01-25T19:22:00.000-08:00

Recently came across this famous Prayer of St. Francis again in a new context, and it struck a new chord. I have tended to think of this prayer as a cry for help in reaching outside of my circles with God's love. But how would our churches and youth groups change if we carried this desire with us every time we entered the building?

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

46 Million Aborted

2008-01-23T13:51:00.000-08:00

Good news last week that the number of abortions performed in the U.S. has dropped (as of 2005) to 1.2 million per year, the lowest number since 1976.

Still, that's over a million aborted babies in this nation every year — and many more around the world. And it's tough to celebrate with too much enthusiasm when we realize that 46,000,000 pre-born infants have been killed since abortion was legalized in the U.S. in 1973.

Can't picture that number? Me neither. Here's a page meant to help us get some kind of visual clue to just how many people we're talking about. (HT: Between Two Worlds)

Praise God for His justice. Praise God for His mercy. May God bring an end to the carnage and all people to repentance.

Doom Funnel Chasers

2008-01-22T09:33:00.000-08:00

Finally got our review of The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie up on the Movies page. (Check out reviews for Cloverfield and Juno while you're there.) Big news: The VeggieTales film just got an Oscar nomination for longest title!

Anyway, "research" drove me to the VeggieTales web site and stranded me there playing some cool little Flash games branded to the various shows the Veggie Tales guys make. If you're looking to lose some time, stop by the joint. I know it's supposed to be for kids, but my favorite is Doom Funnel Chasers. You have to sling shot a big ball of duct tape into a giant space funnel -- but the path of the ball is affected by the gravity of the planets scattered about. Still not past Level 9.

Unchurched: Willing to Listen

2008-01-21T20:19:00.000-08:00

Really interesting results from a survey of people who don't go to church -- or at least have not attended any kind of church service in the previous six months. The folks at Lifeway Research asked what they thought about Christians, Jesus, and Christianity. Here's the thumbnail:

"A full 72 percent of the people interviewed said they think the church 'is full of hypocrites,'" [LifeWay Research director Ed] Stetzer said. "At the same time, however, 71 percent of the respondents said they believe Jesus 'makes a positive difference in a person's life' and 78 percent said they would be 'willing to listen' to someone who wanted to share what they believed about Christianity."

The whole article is interesting -- including the stat that 89 percent of these unchurched people said they have close friends who are Christians. If the numbers are right, that should be enough to nudge us to bring up our faith with unsaved friends. Knowing that most are willing to listen (even if they think we're one of the hypocrites) takes some of the fear out of opening up and pointing to the source of our hope.

More Evidence of Nehemiah

2008-01-18T11:47:00.000-08:00

An Israeli archaeologist mentioned here before has turned up even more concrete evidence in support of the reliability of the Bible's book of Nehemiah as a historical record. According to a story in the Jerusalem Post, she has uncovered a "2,500-year-old black stone seal." The rock is from ancient Babylon and features a carving of two Babylonian priests burning incense with hands raised in worship to the moon god Sin.

Under the image, a Jewish name is carved. Dr. Eilat Mazar claims that name is Temech.

The Temech family name is specifically mentioned in Nehemiah 7:55 (read in some translations as Temah) as temple servants who were taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar and then released to return to Jerusalem. The stone was found just outside the old city walls. According to Dr. Mazar:

"The seal of the Temech family gives us a direct connection between archeology and the biblical sources and serves as actual evidence of a family mentioned in the Bible," she said. "One cannot help being astonished by the credibility of the biblical source as seen by the archaeological find."

That a Jewish family returned from Babylon would have as their seal a scene of the worship of a false Babylonian god is not surprising. One of the things Nehemiah and Ezra did was to lead the people in confession for their sins, including the sin of worshiping idols.

As we've said before, we don't wait for archeology to confirm our faith in God, but it's exciting when it does. Nehemiah and Ezra and the other "returners" were real people. They left behind evidence of their existence. What evidence in our lives might point people to the reality of the God we serve?

(HT: Between Two Worlds, Bible Places)

Slippery Happiness

2008-01-11T20:03:00.000-08:00

This BBC story from last April made one of their best-of-'07 lists. It reveals that the fine people of Denmark regularly come out on top of an annual happiest people of Europe survey. Why? The story kicks around ideas, including Denmark's shiny socialism. You've got to read through the whole thing to get to the most likely answer: Danes tend to expect the worst -- and then feel really great when it doesn't happen.

Researcher Kaare Christensen looked back over three decades of surveys that had created the legend of the "happy Dane".

"In countries such as Italy and Spain, people have much higher expectations for what the coming year will bring, but they're not especially happy or satisfied with their existence."

But Danes take a more realistic view of life, he suggested at the time.

"Year after year we're just happy that things didn't go as badly as we'd feared."

A good friend of my brother wrote this in his high school yearbook: "Low expectations leads to few disappointments and many surprises." Maybe it's the national motto of Denmark.

As negative as it sounds, it's not a bad way to approach life. This story (also from the BBC) reveals that one of the great marriage-killing questions of our time is, "Am I really happy?" Here's the story tagline: "The key to a happy relationship could be accepting that some miserable times are unavoidable, experts say."

It turns out that happiness is a really lousy goal in life. Mostly, when people hope or expect some life scenario to make them happy, it doesn't. But often, happiness smacks you right in the face when you're busy doing things that really matter (and expecting obstacles along the way).

For Christians, the Bible doesn't promise much in the way of happiness on earth -- or demand it as a sign of being a "good Christian." We're commanded to "be joyful" in the hope of heaven and the eternal happiness we'll find there. We're also offered peace of mind and contentment -- both in the face of hard times. Those things are all like happiness, in a way, but that particular blue-sky-and-sunshine feeling seems to be beside the point, available mostly when you give up looking for it and settle down into doing what's in front of you.

That makes sense when you read Ecclesiastes. Solomon, the Preacher, says over and over how meaningless life on this side of heaven really is. Nothing fully satisfies the longing of a man's heart on this fallen orb. We're built to be with God forever, and we're not, yet. So give up the search for meaning in the here and now (apart from eternity through Jesus) and -- wait for it -- "I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live." (Eccl. 3:12)

So here's an idea: Let's all take the "how happy am I?" guage off of our dashboards and replace it with the "look at all the unexpected good stuff that happened today while I was doing my work" dial. Just don't expect it to make you happy -- or it won't.

Nature Sounds

2008-01-08T09:10:00.000-08:00

And now for something completely different: a little clip from a movie I've never heard of about a Swiss performance artist named Roman Signer.

(HT: swissmiss)

A Handy Funeral Home

2008-01-06T19:01:00.000-08:00

Can't really blame some of the residents of a senior center in Idaho for protesting the building of a new funeral home right across the street. Who would want to spend their golden years staring at a reminder of the inevitable?

Still, I liked this 81-year-old lady's attitude: ""We're old here. We're all ready to go," she said. "I think it will be handy."

She's not afraid to look reality in the face. King Solomon said we all need reminding sometimes that the clock in ticking -- more than we need to party: "It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart." (Ecclesiastes 7:2)

Maybe a nice view of the funeral home isn't such a bad thing once in a while if it keeps us from living only for the days on this side of heaven.

Human Tetris

2008-01-05T20:23:00.000-08:00

I don't usually enjoy watching other people play video games — but I can't stop watching this hugely popular YouTube vid. The guy who made it must have the most patient friends in the universe.

Like it? Catch Swiss artist Guillaume Reymond's whole people-as-pixels "Game Over Project" on his web site.

Why Does God Allow Evil?

2007-12-31T13:53:00.000-08:00

Seekers and scoffers love to lob the "question of evil" at Christians. In his excellent PlanetWisdom article on the subject, Sean McDowell presents the ancient question this way.

Some people wonder why God couldn’t create the world in such a way that we would never sin, thus avoiding evil altogether. If God is all-powerful, couldn’t he create such a world? If God is all-good, wouldn’t he want to create such a world? Thus, the problem of evil is often stated this way:
If God is all-good, he would want to defeat evil.
If God is all-powerful, he could create a world without evil.
Evil is not yet defeated.
Therefore, an all-good and all-powerful God must not exist.

If you haven't yet read the article -- or even if you have -- how would you answer this question for someone who has experienced a difficult tragedy? What would you say to a person honestly asking about God's character in the face of an ugly illness, the loss of a close loved one, or a even a deep depression?

Think about it first, then go check out Sean's carefully argued and well-documented worldview approach to the question.

Never Enough

2007-12-28T19:57:00.000-08:00

"If all the rich people in the world divided up their money among themselves there wouldn't be enough to go around."

—Christina Stead, Marxist and Novelist

"Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless."

—Solomon, Ridiculously Wealthy King, in Ecclesiastes 5:10

Big News: Teens Still Go Outside

2007-12-26T12:02:00.000-08:00

Do these stories drive you crazy, or is it just me? Here's the headline: "Study: Teens value non-online meetings"

Really? You mean students who have Facebook and cell phones still like to talk to real human beings in person? But we keep reporting to people that teens spend all their free time in a hole in the ground staring into a computer monitor or texting friends while listening to their iPods and playing video games while video chatting on MySpace and listening to pirated music while watching downloaded movies.

Are you seriously telling us they also enjoy hanging out with friends in person? That's news! Stop the web presses! We must tell the world students like normal things!

It's almost like people in the media think of "teens" as some kind of tribe or cult group or alien civilization. You've heard them: some guy in a suit with a microphone looking into the camera and saying, "WE talked to some TEENS about how they feel about blah, blah, blah." Cut to a shot of "actual teens" talking like normal human beings. Cut back to news guys with condescending smile, "Well, Anne, that's what the TEENS think. Now back to you."

Okay, I'll stop ranting. But if I were you I'd look forward to the day you turn 20 and become more than just one of that herd of demographically desirable and socially identical TEENS. Until then, I hope you don't let them sucker you into thinking you should be thinking what every other TEEN is thinking or playing or hearing or saying to be a legitimate TEEN. We hope you chase wisdom like an actual person, and let the demographic sort itself out.

Did I say I'd stop ranting? Okay.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-24T20:22:00.000-08:00

This time of year you hear a lot of people talking about "what Christmas means to them." Here's what it meant to Jesus' relative Zechariah. He spoke these words at the birth of his son John the Baptist a few months before Jesus was born.

". . . you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace." (Luke 1:76-79)

All of us at PlanetWisdom hope you have a fun and meaningful Christmas day. Even more, we hope your feet are walking the path of peace through faith in Jesus. Enjoy the day!

Best Astronomy Pix of the Year

2007-12-20T11:17:00.000-08:00

Star gazing is a key ingredient of the Christmas story we're all rehearsing again this time of year. Those mysterious Magi kept their eyes on the sky and somehow followed a star right to the doorstep of newborn Jesus. (Cue: "We Three Kings" soundtrack)

You wonder what the Magi would have done with access to modern observatories and the Internet. At the very least, they would have found even more reason to worship the Creator. If you're inspired by galactic images, you'll dig the Top Ten Astronomy Pictures of 2007 on a site called Bad Astronomy. Even better, astronomer Phil Plait explains what you're marveling at in layman's terms and with the passion of a Maji.

And if you like that, you'll love the HD video podcast from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope project. It features jawdropping infrared and ultraviolet images from around the universe. Yes, the story is sometimes told from an evolutionary perspective, but that doesn't silence the gut-level appreciation for the Artist those images provoke. A sky watcher named David said it best.

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.

Barna: Most Americans Believe

2007-12-18T09:08:00.000-08:00

In recent months pollster George Barna has been surveying Americans to see what we believe about the Bible's most famous stories. If you spend much time caught up in the "culture wars" debates about faith, science, and truth, you could get the idea that believing the Bible puts you in the minority. Not so.

Fully 75%(!) of Americans believe in the literal truth of both the virgin birth and Christ's resurrection from the dead. It's tough to get 75% of the population to agree on any one thing. Barna's breakdown indicates that not all of those who agree are "born again Christians," as we understand the term. Still, its a surprising number.

Here's the percentage of American belief in the literal truth of the other 10 stories:

Jesus turning water into wine: 69%
Jesus feeding the 5,000: 68%
Daniel and the lion's den: 65%
Moses and the Red Sea: 64%
Noah's flood: 64%
David and Goliath: 63%
God's six-day creation of the world: 60%
Jesus (and Peter) walking on the water: 60%
Eve and the serpent: 56%
Samson's strength: 49%

Of course, we don't judge the "truthiness" of our faith by the number of people who agree with us. Something is either true or its not. But one strategy of those who take joy in shaking your faith is to make you feel like you're standing along against the crowd for believing in the supernatural events described in Scripture. That may be the case in any given classroom or message board, but it's not true (for right now) on a national scale.

If you dig stats, the site is worth checking out to see how belief in these stories breaks down by sub-groups (religion, politics, gender, region, etc.).

The Bible + Google Earth

2007-12-17T06:43:00.000-08:00

Cool idea reported on the Creative Review blog from an Australian creative group called The Glue Society. They created four scenes from the Bible as if captured by satellites and viewed on Google Earth. It's not necessarily a Christian group, and a couple of the images are questionable in terms of biblical accuracy, but what an amazing notion.

How exciting would it be to see history from God's vantage point with our own eyes? Of course, God could have done it that way. He could have revealed everything via online video. Seems like it would have saved a lot of arguing. But of course it wouldn't have. As the artists for this project mention, even satellite images won't be trusted for long.

". . . with this piece we felt technology now allows events which may or may not have happened to be visualized and made to appear dramatically real,” say The Glue Society’s James Dive. “As a method of representation satellite photography is so trusted, it has been interesting to mess with that trust.”

Just as we question the words of God, we would all question the "pictures of God," had He e-mailed them to us. The truth is we do have "God's eye view" of history on the pages of the Bible. Gaining wisdom is the practice of making His view our own.

(HT: kottke.org)

Evolution Keeps Pregnant Woman Upright

2007-12-13T10:08:00.000-08:00

Curious AP story about scientists who claim to have discovered why pregnant women don't "topple over" due to the extra weight carried in their bellies. According to these researchers it has to do with a previously unnoticed wedge-shaped vertebra and a larger hip joint. Fair enough.

What interests me is that while evolutionists in the media loudly dismiss any talk of "intelligent design," they just can't avoid using the language of design when describing "what evolution did." To read this story, you'd have to conclude this evolution guy is a genius. See what I mean:

AP Science writer: "Evolution provided them with slight differences from men . . ."

AP Science writer: "This elegant engineering is seen only in female humans . . ."

Liza Shapiro, an anthropology professor at the University of Texas, on pregnancy: "You experience discomfort. Maybe it would be a lot worse if (the design changes) were not there."

Shapiro: "Evolution has tinkered ... to the point where they can deal with the challenge. It's absolutely beautiful. A little bit of tinkering can have a profound effect."

I know. I know. They don't really believe "evolution" is an intelligent entity, just an effective process. Still, some evolutionists just can't seem to help but describe the process as something more personal, something that engineers with elegance and beauty and tinkers and even designs. Not that "it" does any of those things on purpose. We're all just fantastically lucky it "provides" what we need to not fall down. To suggest anything else would be crazy talk.

Shameless Plug Day: Represent PW

2007-12-12T12:47:00.000-08:00

Say, are you one of those people out and about on the Interweb, chatting it up and leaving your witty socializations scattered across one or several message boards? If so, why not represent your PW love with an officially branded icon or avatar. You'll find a whole collection of cool designs on our free Downloads page. (Examples over there. -->)

Or maybe you're more of a wearer of fine T-shirts. We have those, too, only not as free. But for a modest fee, you can tell your world that you're a wisdom seeker (or just that you like cool tees). Actually, from our current stock, you can warn them of their impending death or command them not to hate or be a fool. I guess our T-shirts aren't exactly polite. Still, they make awesome Christmas presents.

Now that I've done my part to contribute to the crass commercialization of the season, I return you to your regularly scheduled blog.