Category: Spiritual Growth

J. Budziszewski has a fascinating article over at Boundless about what it means to “not judge.”

“Zack, where Jesus instructs his disciples ‘Judge not,’ what do you think He means?”

“What is there not to get?”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“It means don’t judge. Don’t make judgments. Don’t sit in judgment. Stop judging people.”

I laughed. “It’s a good thing you don’t write dictionaries. ‘Judging’ means several different things. Wouldn’t it be good to know which one Jesus was talking about?”

“He didn’t say, so He must have meant all of them.”

“In that case, you’re guilty.”

“But I told my friends not to judge. I condemned their judgmentalism.”

“Didn’t you judge that Anton didn’t mean what he advertised? Didn’t you judge that Cleo wasn’t trying to be sleazy?”

“But I wasn’t, like, sitting in judgment.”

“Sure you were. You judged them ‘innocent.’ ”

doesn’t that just make you want to read it all?

University of Southern California philosophy prof Dallas Willard was just interviewed by Relevant Magazine.

He had some interesting things to say: I encourage you to read the article. One excerpt which I thought was particularly relevant to us at Stanford: You know, what we need to do as Christians is to learn to think carefully and well. And that means, as Paul says, try all things, put everything to the test. But you know, were really quite lazy mentally as Christians. We dont feel, I believe, that God is really on the side of thinking or thinking on the side of God, and as a result, we dont discipline ourselves to think. Now, I must tell you there are a lot of young Christians who are coming through the universities now who are good thinkers. I think were really going to see a change in the future on this. J.P. Moreland has a wonderful book: Love God With All Your Mind, which is a beautiful expression of the right approach to these issues. Then we dont have to worry about modernism or postmodernism, or anything else. We just put everything to the test. (read the whole thing)

UPDATE: this is an urban legend! Read the debunking.

A man suffered a heart attack when he hired a prostitute from an agency and his daughter showed up at his door. His wife was quite upset when he got home and explained the whole sordid affair. Read it online: “Hi Dad, Says Call-Girl At The Door”.

Broadening out from the immediate story; remember, it’s always someone’s daughter (or son).

UPDATE: this is an urban legend! Read the debunking.

With stories of corporate scandal and greed stealing headlines across the country, Presbyterian College hunt for eagle one the free download president John Griffith wanted to prove people still have a social conscience.

So he randomly gave 100 freshmen $50 bills they could spend any way they wanted, with the requirement that the students report back on how they spent the money.

One freshman wound up paying for a dozen Haitian girls to go to school for a year.

Read the rest of this amazing story.

What would you do if you received $50 and were just told to steward it?

“And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?” (Luke 16.11, NLT)

Here’s a message from United in Christ: Christian Brothers and Sisters (CBS) pairs incoming Stanford students with older students to form a sibling family that offers each of its members the opportunity for encouragement in his or her own walk with the Lord, fellowship with fellow believers, and connection with campus ministries. John 13:34–35

Christian little sibs:
— receive encouragement and guidance in the adjustment to life at Stanford in a positive, personal, and fun manner that glorifies God.

- build relationships with their brothers and sisters in Christ by hanging out informally as a sib family.
— meet fellow Christian classmates by accompanying their sibs to campus-wide events that bring together the entire Christian family at Stanford.

If you’d like to be a little sib, email the following to hconnell@stanford.edu.

1. Name
2. Year in school (besides freshmen, transfer students are also welcome as little sibs)
3. Residence next year
4. Hometown
5. Academic interests
6. Activities/hobbies
7. Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?
8. Why do you want to be a CBS little sib?

I couldn’t help but laugh when I ran across this news article. I quote:

Counting toilet roll sheets proved a success for a vigilant British worker who won his employer thousands of pounds in compensation after he discovered that some rolls were not as long as they should be.

Turns out the rolls were less than 2/3 the size they were advertised to be. When you use 40,000 rolls a year that adds up quickly! In this case, it added up to nearly $30,000.

It put me in mind of Jesus’ parable of the shrewd manager, which he goes on to explain in Luke 16.10–12: “Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won’t be faithful in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? And if you are not faithful with other people’s money, why should you be trusted with money of your own?”

In one of the most remarkable news items I’ve come across in a while, a sick African child receives an unexpected operation.

Mantaine Minis, 6, was living in a hut in a remote village in Kenya, in need of lifesaving heart surgery, when the improbable happened one day in June. A group of students and parents from the Langley School in McLean was on safari at the Masai Mara National Reserve, where Mantaine’s father is a game warden.

That’s when someone from the village told a Langley teacher about Mantaine’s heart problem. From there, things seemed to unfold quickly.

The teacher, Joseph Lekuton, knew that one of the parents was a Fairfax County heart surgeon. He also knew that people of the Masai village, who didn’t own much, had sold 14 cows last year to raise money to donate to relief efforts in the United States after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

So he helped launch a campfire discussion about the Masai gift and about what a group of people from an American suburb could do to return a kindness.

I’ll let you read the rest of the story on your own, so I’ll close by quoting Jesus in Luke 6.38: If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving–large or small–it will be used to measure what is given back to you.

Relevant Magazine has a great essay on how your doubts can build your faith. Here’s an excerpt:

Doubt in our faith can lead to the gateway of spiritual growth. Doubt calls us into deeper examination. It draws us onto the path of undying curiosity for real Truth. As Frederich Buechner said, my doubts keep me moving.

…

Brian McLaren, in his soon-to-be-released book Adventures in Missing the Point, written with Tony Campolo, addresses the question of allowing doubt to take hold. Someone asked Brian, Well, wont an openness to doubt lead to spiritual instability and insecurity? Yes, he responded, but couldnt an unwillingness to question lead to false security that could be even more dangerous? Being courageous enough to ask why (or even why not) can lead to a deepening of faith. Jesus never said to us, I will never leave you or forsake you well, I take that back: Ill only leave you when you start to doubt and question. And when you doubt, Im outta here. I believe Jesus, when He said He would never leave us or forsake us, He meant He would stick by us at all times, even in the tough times, the times when we wonder if he is even listening at all. Doubt can be painful, but it has the potential for an incredible spiritual breakthrough.

sorted by proximity to campus

Highway Community
across the street from campus

Menlo Park Presbyterian Church
about 2 miles from campus (Menlo Park)

Pathway Church
about 3 miles from campus (Palo Alto)

Grace Presbyterian
about 3 miles from campus (Palo Alto)

Abundant Life Christian Fellowship
about 5 miles from campus (Menlo Park)

Peninsula Christian Center
about 7 miles from campus (Redwood City)

Southbay Christian Center
about 7 miles from campus (Mountain View)

Vineyard Christian Fellowship of the Peninsula
about 7 miles from campus (Palo Alto)

Generations Church
about 8 miles from campus (San Carlos)

Mid-Peninsula Vineyard Christian Church
about 9 miles from campus (San Carlos)

Community Church of Santa Clara
about 10 miles from campus (Santa Clara)

Fully Alive Community Church
about 11 miles from campus (Redwood Shores)

Abundant Life Assembly of God
about 13 miles from campus (Cupertino)

Neighborhood Church
about 15 miles from campus (Santa Clara)

Jubilee Christian Center
about 17 miles from campus (San Jose)

Bethel Church
about 19 miles from campus (San Jose)

Three Cities Assembly
about 20 miles from campus (Burlingame)

International Assembly of God
about 20 miles from campus (Burlingame, meets Saturday nights)

Crossroads Community Church
about 25 miles from campus (San Bruno)

The River Church Community
about 25 miles from campus (San Jose)

Family Community Church
about 30 miles from campus (San Jose)

Non-English Speaking Churches If you’re an international student or are just wanting to hone your language skills, you might also want to consider these. sorted by proximity to campus

First Fijian Assembly of God
(650) 566‑9920
about 5 miles from campus (Palo Alto)

Cal Star Christian Assembly (Japanese)
(408) 296‑2480
about 18 miles from campus (San Jose) (also has English service)

Arabic Christian Fellowship
(650) 372‑9518
about 20 miles from campus (Burlingame)

It’s clear that most of today’s students view music as a fundamental right. It should be as free as oxygen: indeed, for most of our lives it has seemed that it is. Anywhere there’s oxygen, there tends to be music!

As such, when the MP3 file format, file-sharing technologies, and the CD-Burner all converged to create massive repositories of free music (and movies), it was a veritable gold mine for college students.

Should Christians participate? For a provocative answer, check out the Robin Hood complex.