Gary Haugen (International Justice Mission) has just published a new book titled, Just Courage: God’s Great Expedition for the Restless Christian. While I do not have a copy (nor plan to), you can click the “Search Inside” link and read an excerpt on Amazon (note: *low* priority on wish list). I know it is hard to judge a book by its cover, but the opening paragraphs are particularly discomforting.

Even though I read the words almost twenty-five years ago, I can still picture them upon the page. The words were and have remained so disturbing to me that I remember exactly where I was when I read them. I was a freshman in college sitting up late one night in the dorm laundry room waiting for my clothes to dry and reading John Stuart Mill’s essay “On Liberty.” Writing in 1859, Mill was trying to explain the process by which words lose their meaning, and he casually offered that the best example of this phenomenon was Christians. Christians, he observed, seem to have the amazing ability to say the most wonderful things without actually believing them.

What became more disturbing was his list of things that Christians, like me, actually say — like, blessed are the poor and humble; it’s better to give than receive; judge not, lest you be judged; love your neighbor as yourself, etc. — and examining, one by one, how differently I would live my life if I actually believed such things. As Mill concluded, “The sayings of Christ co-exist passively in their minds, producing hardly any effect beyond what is caused by mere listening to words so amiable and bland.”

I move that we all just continue on as if the observation had never been made. Any seconds?

Lord, have mercy.

O Breath of life, come sweeping through us, revive your church with life and pow’r,
O Breath of Life, come, cleanse, renew us, and fit your church to meet this hour.

O Wind of God, come bend us, break us, till humbly we confess our need;
then in your tenderness remake us, revive, restore, for this we plead.

O Breath of love, come breathe within us, renewing thought and will and heart;
come, Love of Christ, afresh to win us, revive your church in every part.

O Heart of Christ, once broken for us, ’tis there we find our strength and rest;
our broken contrite hearts now solace, and let your waiting church be blest.

Revive us, Lord! Is zeal abating while harvest fields are vast and white?
Revive us, Lord, the world is waiting, equip your church to spread the light.

Forget the sin gene search, we need brain stem lobotomies (a.k.a., reptilian brain).

I am still trying to wrap my head around the wisdom behind the seemingly inevitable economic stimulus package. The administration and many leaders in Congress are proposing a combination of tax cuts and rebates to the tune of $150 billion dollars!?! Oh, so there’s a tax surplus in Washington of $150,000,000,000? I knew I was paying too much in taxes! Wait…what about the $9 trillion dollar national debt? Can the government really afford this even if it does hope to get some of the money back? ¹ Well, I am sure that the U.S. Treasury will take care of things just like they always do — by simply printing more money. Who cares about inflation when it feels good, right? Our cultural values are all about instant gratification and $1,600 per family or $800 for individuals will buy a lot of big screen televisions; thus 1) averting the impending entertainment drought caused by millions of analog TV’s being rendered useless by the FCC mandate that broadcasters go fully digital in 2009, and 2) propping up the profits of overseas electronics manufacturers (buy stock in LG, Samsung, Sony, and Vizio now). Remember, we have a global economy, so think of the stimulus package as being for the Chinese factory worker as much as it is for the average American.

However, if you already have a shiny new HDTV hanging on the wall or simply must have one before the Superbowl, then below are some suggestions for other things you can do with your stimulus package (when it finally arrives):

1. Pay off your debt (Americans carry nearly $10,000 in credit card debt)
2. Put it in savings (Americans save -0.5% of their disposable income)
3. Give it back (annual interest on national debt is over $2,755 per taxpayer ²)

Of course, keep in mind that improving your personal long term financial outlook goes against the government’s plan, which revolves around the so called “multiplier effect.” This is the economic theory “that an initial spending rise can lead to even greater increase in national income.” In other words, by dangling a carrot the government ³ hopes that its citizens will take a bite and continue to mirror its own irresponsible spending habits. No wonder we have such a hard time saying “no” to ourselves.

¹ If I recall correctly, the $200/$400 Technically speaking the $300/$500/$600 tax rebates of 2001 were deducted from any tax refunds that appeared on returns filed in the next year for the 2001 tax year (though they were generated by temporary tax cuts). One would assume that the proposed stimulus package of 2008 will work the same.

² $405 billion divided by an estimated 147 million wage earners.

³ Rather than spending your rebate you could instead donate it to the campaign of the only major party candidate running for president who supports sound long-term economic policies (just don’t tell him where you got the money).

Talking Jesus Dolls Vanish: It makes the Lifeway catalog look positively evangelistic! At least the abominations of the medieval church were not made in China.