NowTHINK!AboutIt

Avoiding Hackneyed...Making Sense

Mercy Is Not A Synonym For Salvation

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Mercy is a paradox. It's never deserved but it's never free.

Mercy Is Offered Universally
But Accepted Individually

God made a curious statement to Moses in the Old Testament (Exodus 33:19), and Paul repeats it in the New Testament not once, but twice. The first repeat is found in Romans 9:15.

I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

Though the wording is slightly different, the second is in verse 18.

The topic is Mercy and the context is Service in both passages.

It’s an interesting statement because it sounds restrictive, as if God is selectively rather than generously merciful. Makes it sound like some are in and some are out.

Interpretations vary but some take it to an extreme suggesting there is no rhyme or reason, no formula for who receives mercy and who doesn’t. God shows mercy only to a select few and reveals no reason for the choices He makes.

If you’re lucky enough to receive mercy, be grateful. If not, sorry.

The Romans passage does mention specific people: Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob. Even nations are named: Gentiles and Israel. And sure enough, in each pair, one is selected and the other is left out. [Read more…]

Pick Your Hospital First – Gateway Is A Good Choice

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Gateway Private Hospital

Great Doctors Are No Better
Than The Staff
Who Surround Them

I doubt anyone includes hospitals in their top ten list of most desirable places to visit but whether by accident or pre-planning, it is a visit everyone makes, probably more than once.

Not counting my birthday, I’ve been in the hospital six times myself and I’m neither sickly nor accident prone. Hospital visits happen quite normally. It’s inevitable so it only makes sense to know your hospitals before you go.

That isn’t a choice we usually make but maybe it should be.

When looking for good medical care, most begin by asking folks to recommend doctors. It’s not a bad plan but that It isn’t the best strategy.

GP’s and specialists are usually attached to a hospital. If you need hospital care, it will be done in whichever hospital the doctor is contracted with. Once you’ve picked your doctor, you’re locked in which means choosing a doctor is choosing a hospital. They come together as a package so you might ask about hospitals as well as doctors when investigating.

After experience with a few different hospitals, I now ask for doctors who have excellent reviews and who work in hospitals with the same reputation. A doctor, any doctor, can be great but their performance is no better than the staff who surround him or her and hospitals, like doctors, aren’t all equal.

One procedure, even a minor procedure, involves many people and processes. All you need is one weak link and you have a formula for undesirable outcomes.

When weak links are apparent, it is scary to watch. And you’re witnessing the whole thing except when you’re out.

Tale of two hospitals

I’ve used two hospitals over the past year. One, Umhlanga Rocks Hospital, I’ve been in three different times. The other, Gateway Private Hospital, I visited just a few days ago for vascular surgery and what a difference. The experience at Gateway gave me some interesting insights and spurred me to write this comparison.

The two hospitals are so close geographically you could throw a stone from one and almost hit the other. But geography is the only metric in which they are close.

Gateway is relatively new so in the early days, Umhlanga was the closest hospital for folks in our area. It made logistical sense to go there.

The differences between the two institutions are numerous and they diverge significantly as the following comparisons will show. All these observations are based on personal experience. I’ve been in both hospitals. My wife has been in both hospitals. I know others who have been in both hospitals and there’s consensus. One is stellar, the other not so much! [Read more…]

Bible Election And The Case Of The Frozen Brain

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Election is in the Bible but it's not what you think.

Question 7 of the Westminster Short Catechism asks:

What are the decrees of God?

I guess it’s a good question but the catechism gives no indication as to why they ask or why it’s important. Seems a bit mysterious.

I’m curious as to why they mention “Decrees” at all. The word doesn’t feature widely in the Old or New Testaments so you’re left wondering, but not for long. The catechism’s answer to this strange question takes a huge leap from the mysteriously broad to the philosophically outrageous:

The decrees of God are His eternal purpose, according to the counsel of His will, whereby, for His own glory, He hath FOREORDAINED WHATSOEVER COMES TO PASS.

The answer gets right to the point but instead of clearing the air, it leaves you confused and fretful, not to mention shocked!

Did they really say God ordained “Whatsoever comes to pass?”

If you’re a thinking person and you extend this short statement to its logical end, many difficult questions arise. So many, in fact, that the brain freezes up like a PC. It becomes a hailstorm of inquiry.

Did God really foreordain murder, mayhem, genocide, abuse, corruption, oppression, natural catastrophe and so on? The inferred meaning is impossible to miss. It’s also difficult to accept.

It really boils down to just one question. Are horrible things really a part of God’s will and has His personal counsel guided events to such conclusions?

And if the answer to that question is yes, you are compelled to ask an additional question. How can these horrible things possibly glorify God?

Amazingly, and in spite of the logical implications, those who hold these beliefs are unfazed. The unfortunate but unequivocal response to “Are you sure about this” is “Yes! Everything that happens is in sync with God’s predetermined will!”

And if in the interest of clarity you should inquire further, the rationale becomes a bit circular.

Everything happens and is foreordained by God in order to serve His eternal purpose and to glorify Himself, and because it is for His own glory, it’s all arranged by the counsel of His own will!!

In other words, everything is God’s will because God wills it to be so.

There’s even a simple explanation for those who are stumped by an intellectual impasse or two along this thought path.

God is beyond our understanding and does as He pleases whether we understand it or not.

No problem!

That, of course, isn’t an answer. This entire discussion implies many uncomfortable characterizations of God which are difficult to swallow but don’t be too disturbed. According to Paul, we can be sure God will not deny Himself. He will not do things contrary to His character (2 Tim. 2:13). [Read more…]

Marriage And Change Are Synonymous

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Marriage starts as a sapling and become a full grown tree.

Refusing To Change
Stunts One’s Growth

I’m married. I like being married! It’s great and I wouldn’t change a thing.

My wife is a beautiful person, an incredible woman, a wonderful partner, and a great friend – as in best. I am grateful every day that she accepted my proposal and loves me still.

I actually joke that God partially blinded her for life on the day I proposed.

But I think we are lucky. Not every marriage is happy. Marital experience can range anywhere from bliss to dysphoria. In extreme cases it’s dangerous.

That’s a strange thing to say. You don’t associate danger with something God intended to make us secure but we all know it’s true. Something as potentially wholesome as marriage can become a war zone.

The real question has to do with change, though. People change people. It’s a fact. There’s is no such thing as a neutral relationship. Every person within emotional/intellectual/cultural range exerts influence.

And that applies to all people, not just family: neighbors, schoolmates, friends (close and not so close), teachers, employers, fellow employees, colleagues and more.

Accents illustrate the point. Everyone has an accent but no one has any recollection of trying to form one. It just happens. We become like the people around us.

We don’t even know where accents come from but accents are evidence that each one of us is influenced by the people around us whether we want that or not. This truth has both positive and negative effects.

One bully can bruise your psyche for life, the negative. One good teacher can unleash your possibilities, the positive.

But what about marriage? Is any relationship closer? Should we be surprised that marriage changes us in the deepest and most profound ways? Hopefully in good ways but, good or bad, marriage changes you. You must expect it and be open for it to happen. It works best when we approach it with the right attitude. [Read more…]

Jimbo Fisher Is Neither Loss Nor Gain

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Jimbo moves from FSU to Texas A & M

This May Be
A Good Thing

Jimbo Fisher just finished eight seasons with highly recognized achievement as head coach for the Florida State University football program and now he’s moving on to Texas A & M. He’s taking on another head coaching job but this time in a conference that is most unforgiving.

It’s one of those jobs where if you don’t do well, and very quickly, you may as well pack your bags.

Jimbo seemed to do well at Florida State but all that’s in the past now. The big question is how will he do in the future? Will the next stint fare as well for him?

Whatever happens, it won’t be easy. The conference situation alone is difficult enough but that’s just the obvious. Adding more stress to an already difficult situation, Jimbo negotiated the highest head coaching paycheck ever (7.5 mill a year) and that from a school with a mediocre past. Even Gus Malzahn’s new contract is for less (7 mill annually) and the upgrade came only after his team bumped off Alabama and Georgia in the regular season.

That’s not easy to do at any time, under any circumstances, and you can bet your best fan jersey it won’t be repeated by Jimbo in the near future, other than in his dreams. You can also bet TA & M will be expecting no less.

So, the question is this? Is Jimbo crazy or is he one of the best coaches that ever walked planet earth. Important question! Let’s look at the history.

If we go by the numbers, it all sounds good. Jimbo sports many medals on his lapel:

  • Win-Loss record: 83-23 in eight years as head coach.
  • His number of wins for the first seven years was second only to Nick Saban, who could arguably be called football’s master of organizational and psychological skills.
  • Three conference championships.
  • One national championship.
  • 29 players taken in the NFL draft in a three year period – a modern day collegiate record.
  • Three quarterbacks drafted in the first round.

Those numbers represent only his tenure at FSU. He’s been the quarterbacks’ coach and/or offensive coordinator at several high profile schools including LSU and has worked magic with quarterbacks and game plans. He was assistant at LSU when they won the National Championship in 2003.

These are not shabby credentials but how do we read these numbers? What do they really mean? Is he, in fact, that good or is there another way to interpret the data?

Obviously, he’s a talented man. No one would suggest he lacks skills. He can recruit. He understands the game of football as well as any coach. He’s seen it from many perspectives. Even Nick Saban admits Jimbo coordinates offensive play as well as any in the game. And he’s coached some great quarterback talent to stardom in the NFL.

But what I’ve said about Jimbo applies to a long list of coaches at many levels in collegiate ball. Every championship team has coaches who make the same contributions but most of them never wear the head coaches hat or receive unimaginable paychecks.

So, again, we have to ask. Do these numbers represent hardcore evidence that Jimbo is the next great man to hold a position from which many have fallen? Or is it all just circumstantial? Texas A & M is betting on the former. I think we should all be a little nervous for such a historied program.

I have to admit up front that as a die-hard Seminole fan, I questioned Jimbo’s head coaching style from day one. I didn’t say anything before now because I was concerned about objectivity. Replacing Bowden is not an easy thing to do. Bowden fans, like myself, don’t always see straight when making comparisons. It’s not easy warming up to a Bowden replacement.

But that’s how I saw it. Jimbo always seemed to be a nice person – one of the good guys. He seemed to know football well, but I never got the sense that he was in control. His on-field presence was a bit explosive, erratic, angry. He always seemed agitated. It appeared that he was too involved in the play by play.

That was my first impression. That alone made me nervous.

As time passed, there were other issues that seemed to emerge.

I readily admit that, although an avid spectator of football, especially college football, I am not an aficionado. There are nuances to the game I do not and probably will never understand. I admit that Jimbo has far more knowledge and insight into football than I.

But, I doubt seriously that he understands football any better than any other coach with the same number of years playing and working in the field.

So, I would like to put aside the deep nuanced analysis of Jimbo’s efforts at FSU and make a few broad observations that indicate Jimbo may not be as effective as some suggest. [Read more…]