A colleague of mine sent this to me (Thanks Sue!), and I think it could be very helpful for a lot of people. It is a dictionary/thesauras that displays everything in a connected image – check it out

http://www.lexipedia.com/

A colleague of mine sent me this video on how those who tend to believe in more pseudoscientific phenomena tend to also call upon others to be more open-minded!?? When in fact, from a philosophical stand point, that seems to be a very weak position. There is also a lot to be digested for the Church as well in this video – Turn your brains on and watch this:

There has sense been informal discussions among some Bethel faculty concerning this video, and so I just wanted to let you in on some of that – if your brain doesn’t hurt too much already

“I’m afraid that I detect some biases in these arguments that seem to be at the root of the issue.

Take a look, for instance, at 2:16.  There is a claim that a lack of (natural) explanation giving rise to a conclusion that an event is supernatural is a contradiction.  To quote the video, “In effect, it is saying that ‘I can’t explain something; therefore, I can explain it.’”  I’m afraid this is false.  What’s being claimed is not that a phenomenon cannot be explained, but that it cannot be explained using natural processes.  Thus, the argument is really, “This process cannot be explained through natural processes; therefore, supernatural processes must be employed.”  There are actually arguments like this made in mathematics:  that a particular system (in our case, an axiomatic system) is not sufficient to answer a particular question, so something outside of that system must be brought in to explain it.

While I can appreciate the argument by the person on the left side (at 0:52), the crux of their argument seems to be bashing the “non-scientific person” because they are not open to natural explanations.  At the same time, isn’t the person on the left falling into the same trap by denying (for instance, at 0:17) the possibility of any supernatural explanations for phenomena, thereby also excluding certain conclusions?  I can accept a scathing rebuke of the group on the right that attributes everything to ghosts (though I think a straw man argument has been set up here), but I think there are more than just the two sides.  We appear to have an excluded middle.  Can we not be open to both natural and supernatural explanations?

In fact, this leads down a very interesting road.  How far does one need to go to exhaust natural explanation before it can no longer be invoked?  The analogous questions in math (in terms of axiomatic systems) have answers.  A lot of work was done in these areas since the 1930s and Goedel’s incompleteness theorem.  I am surprised this is not being asked in the scientific community.  The issue I have is, are these questions even being allowed to be asked?  If not, why not?”

Here is another video about how science and religion can work together (not nearly as heavy!), and fight some of the criticisms of Christianinty hating science:

 http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/video/video.php?v=48261586648

So, this morning I was facebook chatting with one of my students, Noah. He is on the Pac Rim trip, which is one of the study abroad programs that Bethel College offers each Spring term. Right now they are in China, and I just noticed that he was online this morning, so we struck up a good conversation.  One of the things that I asked him was what was his #1 highlight so far on the trip?

He said that was impossible to answer, but that he has been growing a lot with the “man upstairs.” Of course I knew he was talking about God, but they are not supposed to write anything that concerns God or Jesus because any communication leaving China may be screened. But then the next thing that he said really stuck with me. . . .

“oh and how our struggles shouldn’t be something we should be ashamed of, its a learning experience, that draws us closer to Him”

Far too often I forget that struggles are really growth opportunities disguised as problems.

I have many struggles myself that I rarely admit. Sometimes I think I don’t admit them because then someone else will know that I have them. . . .and be watching me to see if I improve. . . a little something called accountability. Recently; however, I have come to realize that when I withold my struggles from those that are close to me, I am eroding the trust and authenticity that those relationships are founded on . . .AND. . . . destroying the very thing that I was trying to find – true intimacy.

Yes, . . . I know it takes vulnerability to be “real”, and yes. . . . we will get hurt from time to time, but. . . today. . . . my desire to have the FULL life promised to me (John 10:10) is stronger than my fear of taking those risks.

So, many of you know that 3 times a year Ang and I put on a workshop at our church called “Beyond I Do.”  Typically, this all day workshop (or sometimes spread out between 2 weekends) is for engaged couples within the church. Recently, however, we have had more married couples coming for a kind of “refresher” on some things.

We cover a lot of material, which we break into 4 broad categories of Spirituality, Communication, Conflict Resolution, and Sexual intimacy. Here is a picture of most of the 21 couples that attended this past Saturday (Feb. 28th).

- We had a great time, and I always love working together with my wife to help influence people’s lives!!

Here are my top 10 highlights from the day:

10. A comment from one of the couples “to defray desires becoming expectations, simply imagine what it would be like if you were still alone.”

9. Giving people some insight on how the enemy is going to try and attack your marriage

8. Outlining in detail the “good” fight – conflict is inevitable, and the proper handling of it can make you stronger than ever!

7. Talking about the idea that if the point of communication, especially disagreements, is to truly understand each other. . . .then. . . “winning” – really has very little to do with it!

6. Seeing people “get it” when we talk about some of the gender differences that can lead to all kinds of communicative difficulties.

5. Helping couples begin to pray together, outloud, – some for the first time – ever!

4. Having one of the guys comment in front of everyone – “WOW, I am getting a lot more out of this than I ever expected!”

3. Referring to our very frank Q & A session regarding Sexual intimacy – yes, we talked about _________.

2. Seeing several couples crying during one of the prayer times where we have them look at each other while Ang prays for each one of them – she does an amazing job with this!

1. My amazing wife pausing throughout the day to breath through contractions and back spasms – I am so proud of how tough she is for the Kingdom! One time I even reassured everyone “don’t worry, she’s a professional. . . “ 

so, I love vocabulary games, and I love to feed hungry people starving all around the world . . . .

I can do both here: . . (a game that can really help someone study for the GRE too!)

http://www.freerice.com/index.php

My colleague (Dr. Stephanie Carlson) told me about this link – Thanks Stephanie!

We were covering some social psychology stuff the other day in General Psychology - specifically, conformity and obedience.  So, . . . . . and I am sure you will all be surprised by this. . . . I decided to use some youtube videos to bring home some of the material.

I first showed them this video on conformity (a little old, but the students always get a kick out of the sweet clothes!), and it gets the students warmed up:)

I then ask for some of their reactions, but we do not spend very much time on it. . . because I am just wanting to lay the foundations for the next video:

I then go through a series of questions that the students respond to – usually in written form first (just because some people want time to collect their thoughts – and feel much more comfortable writing it all out first), and then we end up discussing them after we are all the way through. I give them a couple of minutes after each question to write out their responses . . . . a few more minutes after some of the more difficult ones (i.e., #6).

1. What are your intial reactions to this?
2. Why do you think it is that when Stanley Milgram (before he did the experiment) asked psychologists to predict what percentage of people they thought would go all the way to the lethal level of shock (450 volts) . . . the psychologists predicted only 1/10th of 1% . . . . . .?
3. Migram’s parents were Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany. . . how do you think this might of changed his view on Nazis?
4. What do these two videos/experiments tell us about the human race?
5. Do you think you would have gone all the way to the most severe shock if you were the “teacher” in the second video? . . . explain why
6. How do these two videos. . . and especially the second one. . . .relate to our faith. . . what we believe. . . and how we end of up believing certain things about our faith.
7. Define obedience
8. What type of obedience does God want from you?

What ensues then is a great discussion involving class material, personal experiences, and faith. . . . . . . and that combination, . . . . ALWAYS makes me happy. . . . .man! I love what I get to do:)!

Ok, so . . . sorry that I have not posted for a couple of days – there has been a lot going on:

yesterday - I spent the whole day with my Block class at Bethel at the Science and industry museum in Chicago.  Now, I forgot my camera, but here are a few pictures that Heather (one of my students) took  – we had a good time

Beyond these pictures – here are few more of my highlights:

1. I got to disect a Cow’s eye for 25 minutes with some of the students. . . . not going to lie. . . pretty amazing – especially the sheer volume of eye juice that was in there!

2. Heard the story and went inside the only German Uboat on American soil – the U505 – it was huge!! The whole thing is indoors, and we went inside for a 20 minute tour that took us back to what happened on the day that it was captured, we got to see the actual torpedo bays that sank 40+ ships, hear some of the music that the soldiers were listening to that day. . . . yes, I know I am a nerd. . . but it was amazing!

3. Saw one of the Ominmax shows. . . . . AMAZING. . . it was about South Africa and the Wild Coast – reminded me that my brother-in-law and sister-in-law are heading over there soon as missionaries (more on that to come)

4. Saw a baby chick hatching from its shell. . . live. . .

5. Got to get to know more of my students better – they are an amazing group of young adults!

 . . . .

Then I made it back to Bethel just in time to start my 6-10pm class that I teach every Tues. night. . . . those students are equally as great! – lots of fun, but I was tired . . . . thankfully I got to go home and see the real highlight of my day – Ang . . . isn’t this a great picture of her that Debbie Mann took a few weeks ago?

Today – I got to participate in a lecture series on social media that Aaron Marshall (the aforementioned brother-in-law) has been giving to the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary over the past few months. He wanted me to explain a little bit about how I use this blog as well as my twitter and facebook accounts as an evangelistic tool. I had so much fun, because here I am in an office with a webcam. . . . where I can see them, and they can see me (free via Skype), and we can talk – as if we were in the same room. . . . even though they’re in Louisville, KY.

Aaron asked me some questions and I talked about how I feel like my blog is a witness/display to others of how I try (I am sooooooo far from perfect at this!!!!) to really keep God at the center of all my life (i.e., why I include many parts of my life on this blog), AND also how social media is my way of imitating God’s model of coming to us/our world with Jesus. . . so, I go into “their” world – my students (believers and non-believers) – a place that is comfortable for them, relevant to them. . . . . where they spend A LOT of time:). . . . and how, on one such occasion a few weeks ago – I was honored and humbled to help lead someone to Christ through Facebook Chat. . . Crazy. . . I know. . . . God can use anything to show others that He loves them!!! (ps – I am soo proud of that student!)

 One of the best things about this little talk this morning. . . is what happened afterwards. . . .I simply clicked a button on my computer to “hang up” and poof – just like that I am no longer in front of people at a seminary, . . . and then my wife calls and says that she, through a link that my sister-in-law sent her by twitter, was watching me from our home give my little presentation to the conference in Louisville. . . . WILD. . . . . ha! . . . . we have used Skype for awhile, but this is my highlight so far

Thanks for catching up with me. . . . have a great day everyone!

Watch this video:

My question to you is why does this happen?

As a Cognitive Psychologist, I have studied attention a lot in my career. . . here are just a few findings about attention:

1. We only have a limited supply of it, so we need to be intentional on where it goes
2. Very few things actually CAPTURE our attention
3. We often are not aware of things in our plain sight due to a phenomenon called “inattentional blindness” – that is, . . . because we are giving all of our attention to something else.
4. Attention and awareness are primarily driven by OUR expectations

The questions then becomes. . .How does this relate to this scripture?

Jeremiah 5:21
Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear

Perhaps we do not see God move. . . . because we have no real expectation of seeing Him at all. . . . if our awareness is linked to expectations. . . . how about we start expecting to see Love winning. . . . His kingdom coming. . . the Holy Spirit igniting. . . . seeing opportunities in our Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. . .

Father I pray that we pay more attention to what you are doing all around us. . . . Give us the courage to expect to see you move. . . . please. . . . even as our lives may be in difficult times. . . you say that you are with the brokenhearted. . . . help us to expect you to faithful. . . you always are – thank you!

So, I did this exercise in class the other day for my devotion (thanks for the idea Josh ). . . . I showed students this video, and then had them write a blog post about it.

Here are snipets of responses from those that allowed me to publish them:

We all watch these videos and feel bad, and then go on with our lives and do nothing about it. We have people here in America that need help too and we don’t help them

The American culture is so blind to the neccesities of poverty and sickness, why aren’t we doing anything. . . . Are we helping?

I feel guilty for not being an active part� . . am I supposed to feel this way because it is God’s calling, or because I live in a wealthy society?

If we could fast, so to speak, of extra entertainment, food, and clothing, we could literally, as a nation, feed and clothe all of our people

It is so easy to forget about the needs of the world. . . to get so caught up in my world that I miss the bigger picture

Seriously. . . how much did I spend eating out this week?

There is far too much “me” and not enough “us“

Isn’t enough . . . enough?? If you have what you need to take care of your family isn’t that enough?

How about caring more about a human being than how much money your company makes?

Alot of us assume someone else is going to do it, but I ask. . . . if not me, who?  . . . if not now, when?. . .

I feel so guilty that I don’t have more of a heart for poverty and pain across our world

We’ve all seen videos similar to this one we just watched, but rarely have they spurred us into action. What will it take for us to step up and take that first step?

What I noticed the most in this video. . . the people who have nothing – NOTHING- are still smiling. . . here even the richest of the rich cannot grasp that genuine love for .  . . just life. . . how much longer can we go without true happiness

I have heard (not direct quotes) several things from different people over the last few days that have really stretched me to becoming a better person. . . . think about these today a little bit, and how they apply to you. . . . in your journey. . . right now:

1.  (Benjamin Zander) When thinking about your potential and what you can do in life. . . . fly like a bird that is free to soar, without having to be concerned about all of the fences below

2. (Benjamin Zander) Judge success, not by the knowledge that you give to others, but by the presence of a light in their eyes when they’re around you.

3. (Derry Prinkert) Have hope. . . be encouraged. . .  when you hear neither yes, no, or wait from God, . . . but instead you witness silence from the Creator. . . . . . His ways are sooo far above ours. . . . . He will turn into bread what now resembles stone. . . . . you can trust Him.

4. (John Keim) Psalm 37:7a – Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to act

   Definitions:  Wait – to stay in place in expectation of

                       Patient – bearing pains or trials calmly, without complaint

  So, new rendition of Psalm 37:7a – Be still in the presence of the LORD, and stay in place, in expectation of bearing pains or trials calmy, without complaint . . . . waiting for Him to act.

 5. (Elliana) Thank you God for Mommy and Daddy.

It is always interesting to see where God is stretching me. . . there are so many areas that I need to mature in, . . . .  and so, it’s fun to see which one God chooses at different times in my life

I had the opportunity to speak at the FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) group at Penn High School this morning. . . . it was actually very funny to see young people actually moving and talking, and generally . . . . . just alive, at 7:30 this morning, b/c . . . . usually in my first class . . . . . . . . I sometimes see my college students in a lucid form of sleep as the make their way to their seats. . . . , and that is at 9:00!

What an honor it is to be able to influence the young minds of this generation. . . . . . . and I think today. . . I finally learned (emphasis on “finally”). . . about being content with step #2. . . . .

So. . . what is step #2. . . . well, it started with a nudge of the spirit back in June. . . . . Hey, I want you to be one of the first from this area to go to India (this December) on the Justice Team. . . . . ok! sounds great!! . . . . . .  . . . . . .then I started to realize that this trip was going to be unlike the countless trips I have been on before to places all over the world. . . . . . . this time. . . . there may not be tangible successes. . . . . . completed “projects”. . . . very little evidence of doing “anything” – no houses built, no wells dug, no food distributed, no conversions, no drastic life changes, etc…. – but, in a 15 step process of someone coming to know the freedom of knowing Christ. . . . this may be step #2. . . . . . . . and we all KNOW, logically, that #2 is just as important as #15, but . . . . . my stubborn heart is finally starting to get it. . . . let’s look back at God’s hand -

1. Nudge for mission trip to India on Justice team

2. Learning that our mission may be one that “JUST” involves initial relationship building (just time being around natives), and learning about the horrible situations in more detail 

3. An overt reminder from my friend and justice teammate Don Reynolds - that being an obedient pioneer into a new adventure is a worthy call – regardless if the ONLY thing that we do is make mistakes (that future teams can learn from) and try and love people while we’re there.

4. I hear this message about being a domino in the line of someone coming to know the love of Christ (see post on 9/11)

5. My wife sends this video to me – see it in my 9/24 post

6. I get surprised to hear God telling me to not prepare much for my FCA gig this morning

7. I understand that it was not preparation that God was against, instead he was preventing me from trying to be step 14 or 15 when I was supposed to be #2. . . .

8. I I ate breakfast with some of them, I told the group a great personal story to connect with, I made the students laugh, I ended the story with the point that God loves them and that He has your back, and I encouraged them to have a great day – and come back next time. . . . .

9. I walked to my car content. . . . content to have just been one small, somewhat forgotten, step in a student’s long journey. . . . content to have been obedient to #2. . . . . .

You see, I always want to be 14 or 15. . . . . . . because those are the glory spots. . . . those are the spots that you can hang your hat on and feel good about yourself because there is “proof” that you made an impact. . . . . . . . . . the problem is . . . . . . there are lots of people out there that need a 1-13, . . . . and I want to be able to be ready for wherever God puts me. . . . . . . So, thanks father for being patient with me in the past about not wanting to be a step 2 guy, you know I will probably need reminders every now and then, but thank you for nurturing me, for stretching me to be an even greater force for your kingdom. . . amen

I always try to pray before I teach every class, just to invite the holy spirit to hang out with me and the students. . . because I don’t want to waste time or miss an opportunity for there to be supernature things happening. Every now and then – something awesome happens. . . and I know it is the Holy Spirit doing His thing

So, I have been teaching Adolescent Growth and Development for 3 years now. . . I have helped out at the youth group at GCC for going on 7 years now. . . I have had countless encounters with students – trips, camps, teaching them, etc. . . ., but something has always gotten to me, you want to know what it is?. . . . . . . what was Jesus like as a Teenager? The bible doesn’t give us much – only 1 verse:

(No, I have not read this book) So, we know that he grew in “wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man” – growing in favor with God. . . no problem,. . . .  but what about with man??? Really, . . .  he grew in stature with Man???? What does that mean?? I know what it means in the junior highs and high schools around here – is it the same?? THEN IT HAPPENED – Holy Spirit time . . . . . . . . . . I asked my students in my class these questions: - was Jesus popular?, was he Prom King?, was he in the who’s who of Nazareth?, did he flirt with girls – if so how far, did he get frustrated with a zit?? Difficult questions right?? . . . . why so difficult? . . . . . NOT just because we don’t know the answer, but, I would argue that . . . . . . . . . the difficulty comes because it is the perfect mirror of what you think is right/wrong for a teenager to do. . . . . . it reveals all of your biases – all of our legalistic tendencies, b/c if Jesus didn’t sin. . . . then he did nothing wrong. . . . is it wrong to get frustrated with a zit, and to worry about what everyone is thinking when you walk into school???

Furthermore. . . hang with me here. . . . some students said, well, I think Jesus wouldn’t have gotten upset because He would have a different perspective that it’s not that big of a deal. . . . . really, . . . b/c if he was fully man – fully a teenager – then one of THE biggest characteristics of these years is that EVERYTHING is a big deal – so if he never felt that . . . . does that mean somehow he was not fully a teenager?. . . . . . . . ? . . . . . ? – it’s about this time that I saw my students’ minds’ turn into Jello. . . . . . so, I ended class by saying. . . so what do you think God is up to by not telling us the details of what Jesus did as a teen? . . . . . . They got up slowly, . . . . and as they regained motor control they slowly. . . . made it out the door. . . . and I praised God for visiting my class last Thursday .

So, . . . . . . . . what do you think????

We know from research that students actually learn more from teachers that they actually LIKE ~ especially in Junior High, High school, and College. We also know that first impressions are critical in establishing likeability early in a relationship. . . so, today is the first full-day of classes here at Bethel College. Keeping those two things in mind – what am I going to do today. . .?

1. I decide first and foremost that I am always going to choose to influence rather than impress

   – this means that I am going to try as hard as I can to establish my credibility through authentic honesty rather than put on the facade of perfection

2. I remember that I am me. . . no one else. . . just me. . . my strengths and my weaknesses, because you know what. . . all of my students yearn desparately to be themselves. . . with their strengths and weaknesses. . . wishing that were enough to be accepted.  If they see it in me first – there is a greater chance that over the next four months they will entertain the possibility that the way God made them is not a mistake, it IS good enough, and being authentic to their shape is the fastest way grow true community.

3. I establish relevancy of my material

   – Memory research clearly has shown that people will not remember much if anything at all unless it can relate somehow to their own life story. Our brains are wired up to remember things that are beneficial to us, so I must establish that through teaching my content through their context. . . and yes. . . that IS hard to do, but. . .STEP IT UP,  I have decided that the measuring stick of my vocation is not what I teach, but what THEY LEARN – so I work hard. . . it is worth it!

4. I invite God to do His thing. I show this video (“fix you” – the link below) developed a couple of years ago, by my very talented friend Corey Mann, and follow it up with open-ended questions to get them talking like What stood out to you? Why would I, a psychologist, show you that – and then just listen to the work that the real TEACHER is doing. . .

VIDEO BELOW

Fix you

I am off to teach . . . YIPEEEEE!!