You can’t photograph a church, but here’s the building they meet in:

(Click to enlarge).

First, the short but provocatively-titled “Taking Our Groups Off Life Support.” Key graf:

If we are going to take our groups off life support, we are going to need permission to re-imagine what gospel-centered community looks like. We will not change the preconceived view of groups by making participation a requirement for membership or by changing the names of our programs from “ministries” to “groups.” Small groups will thrive when they become the place where we experience life-giving transformation.

Second, “Learning from Christopher Hitchens,” an appraisal by Albert Mohler that is less a eulogy than, well, what it says: “Lessons Evangelicals Must Not Miss.” Mohler lists five such lessons, such as this one:

4. Hitchens did not hide behind intellectual scorn and he did not fear the open exchange of ideas. … Hitchens … was willing to debate evangelical Christians and to allow the debates to be publicized and published. He did not attempt to shut down debate by insulting his ideological and theological opponents.

Very much worth reading. If an outspoken atheist were admirable in so many ways, should not Christians be equally so, if indeed, not admirable in many other ways as well?

And finally, Landon Whitsitt tells young mainline pastor types to plant a church:

Am I the only one who sees a problem here? Not only do we want to “screw up the church,” but we also want the little old ladies pay for it? And then we have the audacity to be aggrieved when it doesn’t pan out? Come on. I thought we were smarter than this.

I’ve had concerns about the local-church-as-fixture (you know, “First XYZ Church of Anytown, U.S.,” celebrating a hundred years of doing the same thing) ever since I read Alan Hirsch’s The Forgotten Ways. I’m not sure convinced a local congregation was ever meant to survive for more than a brief season. Our expectations to the contrary seem to me to be baggage we’re carrying from Christendom. See also Whitsitt’s follow-on.

And after the win last week against the Steelers, it’s been impossible to miss all the coverage. There’s a new/old song about him, the inevitable Hitler/Downfall parody, and an incredible number of articles debating whether he’s as awesome as his fans think he is, or just “fool’s gold.” But this article by Rick Reilly is the best one I’ve seen:

I’ve come to believe in Tim Tebow, but not for what he does on a football field, which is still three parts Dr. Jekyll and two parts Mr. Hyde.

No, I’ve come to believe in Tim Tebow for what he does off a football field, which is represent the best parts of us, the parts I want to be and so rarely am.

Read the whole thing.

(And if you’re curious, the Atlantic has a good article by Owen Strachan that addresses the really important question: Does God Care Whether Tim Tebow Wins on Saturday?)

The writers of the New Testament used two different words for “new.” One of them, neos, is more familiar to English speakers. It’s where we get our prefix neo-. Some hospitals, for example, have a special unit to care for neonates, or newborns.

The other word, kainos, is less familiar to us; the only English word related to it is a technical word used by geologists. In the Bible, however, kainos occurs more frequently in the Bible than neos.

What’s the difference between these words? Neos has strictly to do with the age of something. For example, in Luke 15:11-32, the story of the prodigal son, the younger brother is the newer one, the neoteros brother. His brother is presbuteros, is older, than he. (That word for “older”, by the way, is where we get our term Presbyterian, which is used to describe a church governed not by clergy but by elders.)

Kainos has less to do with the actual age of a thing than neos. It refers instead to something’s freshness. When Jesus taught, people marveled not at how young his teaching was, but its revolutionary novelty: “They were all amazed, and kept on asking each other, ‘What is this? A new teaching—with authority!’” (Mark 1:27)

The distinction between new/young and new/fresh is a useful one. Not everything new is fresh. In a world of knock-offs and derivative ideas, the easiest thing of all is to come up with something that’s new but not innovative. Look at Hollywood: there are new movies in the theaters every week, but how many of them are tired retreads of the same old stories?

Even in the Old Testament, we hear God alert us that he is doing a new thing (Isaiah 43:19). In the New Testament, we learn its newness is the kainos type: not young but fresh. Jesus brought a new teaching. Paul tells us that those who are in Christ are new creations, and when he proclaimed Jesus, people were eager to hear his new teaching. Near the end of the book of Revelation, John has a vision of the new heaven and new earth, and he records Jesus’ words: “He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’”

Our God is a God makes things new. He does so not by making those things younger, however: how could even God do that? Instead, God makes things new by refreshing them and giving them renewed vitality.

Which brings me back to “Happy New Year!” 2012 is a new neos/young year, but will it be a new kainos/fresh year? Will the year 2012 be filled with novelty and innovation, or with another twelve weary months of the same-old, same-old? The Bible gives us reason to believe God desires to do new things in us and through us. My hope that 2012 is a new year for you in the very best way.

I especially like the interpretation of “forever and ever” about 2:05 in.

The idea that Christians are poor tippers apparently has been whispered in service circles for a long time. Many waiters try not work Sunday brunch, so as to avoid notoriously stingy churchgoers, claims Justin Wise, the director of a Lutheran ministry in Des Moines, Iowa.

Here’s what it’s like in humans. Researchers gave people a task requiring intense concentration. While they were working, they were occasionally interrupted by a distracting noise. Some of the people were given a control to stop the noise, others weren’t. When they tested them afterward, people who were able to control the noise were happier than those who weren’t. The people with no control had learned they were helpless to do anything about their situation, and were less happy because of it.

Unfortunately, the world is teeming with problems that we can’t fix. People are looking for work, and can’t find it. The economy is not what it ought to be, whether you look at the “Eurozone” or on Wall Street — or neighbors whose home is being foreclosed. Business leaders point at government, and politicians point at the other party. There may be some people with buttons to fix those problems, but I’m not one of them. In a lot of different areas of my life, I have “learned helplessness.” Perhaps you have, as well.

That’s the problem faced by some people in the Bible. Their situation was different than ours today, but they had the same problem: they had learned helplessness. This is what Isaiah said to them:

Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
For behold … the LORD will arise upon you,
and his glory will be seen upon you. …
Lift up your eyes all around, and see.
  —Isaiah 60:1-4

The people had learned they were helpless to improve their situation. They had been conquered by a foreign nation and there wasn’t any button they could push to get un-conquered. They were helpless, but Isaiah reminded them that God was not helpless. If they looked around, they would see God’s salvation.

Christians see Isaiah’s prophecy as pointing to Jesus, the savior who is the “light of the world.” Jesus is still at work in the world, but we can miss it, because we have learned helplessness. So this Christmas season, make a point to “lift up your eyes all around and see” what God is doing. There are areas we may be helpless, but none where God is.

(This article originally appeared in the Hi-Desert Star.)

Compared with a control group, the people keeping the gratitude journal were more optimistic and felt happier. They reported fewer physical problems and spent more time working out.

Further benefits were observed in a study of polio survivors and other people with neuromuscular problems. The ones who kept a gratitude journal reported feeling happier and more optimistic than those in a control group, and these reports were corroborated by observations from their spouses. These grateful people also fell asleep more quickly at night, slept longer and woke up feeling more refreshed.

Think about that: the Bible tells you to do something that will make you more optimistic and feel happier, that will help you get to sleep quicker, sleep longer, and wake up feeling more refreshed!

That’s in the Bible! It’s not just about drudgery imposed on us by a mean-spirited cosmic killjoy. In fact, it’s almost like our heavenly Father knows how to give good gifts.

Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth;
sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise. …
Come and see what God has done:
he is awesome in his deeds among mortals.
  —Psalm 66:1-2, 5

Christmas is all about joy. The angel told the shepherds not to be afraid, because he brought “good news of great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10).

Even for non-believers, Christmas is a happy time. People give each other gifts. They spend time just thinking about their loved ones, and what sort of gift would be appropriate. They sing songs they love and eat food that’s probably not what the doctor would recommend.

For believers, Christmas is even more joyous. It’s a celebration of the fact that God loves us. God, who knows better than anyone just how unloveable we can be, loves us anyway–and Christmas is the proof. We know that God loves us, because instead of cutting us loose and walking away, he sent Jesus to save us.

That is the fact that makes all the difference. We still have problems, and sometimes our problems can seem almost overwhelming. But God loves us, and that knowledge enables us to face every other challenge with confidence. “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32)

The fact of Christmas is definitive proof that, no matter who (or what) is against us, God is and always will be “for us.”

It’s easy to forget that. That’s why people began celebrating Christmas. (There’s nothing in the Bible that tells us to do so.) But people wanted to remind themselves every year about this “good news for all the people.”

Do you know someone who might have forgotten that? Someone whose circumstances are so tough that they might think God isn’t for them? Perhaps someone who hasn’t attended church in so long that they’ve forgotten it? Or maybe you know someone who could just use an opportunity to enjoy themselves, hearing the familiar story and singing Christmas carols.

This Christmas, we’re going to have worship services where we can celebrate this “good news of great joy for all the people.” All the people–that means those of us who attend church all the time, and people who don’t.

I’ll be preaching a series called “Ornaments.” It will take a fresh look at all the familiar parts of the Christmas story. My prayer is that it will be like that moment when you take down the box of Christmas decorations, and smile as you see the one that brings back a special memory.

We’re going to sing all the favorite Christmas carols. If you’ve ever shopped at a department store or a grocery store in November, you’ll know the songs we’ll be singing this December.

This year, even the calendar is cooperating with us. Christmas falls on a Sunday, so if you aren’t able to join us for our Christmas Eve service, join us on Christmas morning instead!

And do bring a friend. The Psalmist invites us to “come and see what God has done.” This is the right time to do it: studies tell us that people are never more willing to accept an invitation to church than at Christmastime. So let’s invite them to join our celebration!