Call it the Senior Adult Championship. Thirty-five-year-old Serena Williams is playing her thirty-six-year-old sister Venus in the Australian Open final tomorrow. Venus is the oldest player to reach an Australian Open women’s final in the modern era. Meanwhile, Roger Federer will play either Rafael Nadal or Grigor Dimitrov in the men’s final on Sunday (their semifinal match is in the fourth set as I write this morning). Federer is the oldest man to reach a Grand Slam final since 1974.

As the saying goes, you’re only as old as you feel. It turns out, science agrees.

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman describes a fascinating process psychologists call “priming.” In brief, what happens to us in one moment can affect us in the next moment in ways we don’t recognize.

For example, if you see the word “EAT,” you are temporarily more likely to complete the word fragment SO_P as SOUP than as SOAP. If you had just seen the word “WASH,” the opposite would more likely occur. Once your brain is primed with food, you are more likely to recognize other words such as fork, hungry, fat, diet, and cookie.

Priming works with concepts as well as words. Research subjects who were asked to walk around a room much more slowly than usual were much quicker to recognize words related to old age such as forgetful, old, and lonely.

In short, what our minds experience now influences what we are likely to experience next.

David testified to the positive power of priming when he told the Lord, “Your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness” (Psalm 26:3). Jesus often began the day alone with his Father (cf. Mark 1:35), as did David (Psalm 5:3), Abraham (Genesis 19:27), Jacob (Genesis 28:18), and Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29:20). It is no surprise that their lives were marked by faithfulness to the God they worshiped at the start of the day.
Continue reading Denison Forum – Why ‘priming’ is so transforming →

Mary Tyler Moore is being called “the greatest woman TV star ever.” As John Podhoretz notes, she starred in two landmark sitcoms playing two very different characters, something no one else has done in the history of television.

Her death yesterday at the age of eighty continues to make headlines this morning. News sources are playing video clips of her funniest episodes. Her remarkable comedic timing and acting brilliance won her seven Emmys. But I think CBS captured the essence of her popularity with a one-hour special airing tonight titled, “Mary Tyler Moore: Love Is All Around.”

Whether on screen or in person, she made people feel loved. Actress Cloris Leachman spoke for many who worked with her: “The picture that we all have of Mary, that’s how she was—sweet, kind, so tender, so delicate. She was America’s sweetheart.”

This despite her struggles with diabetes and with alcoholism, which she wrote about in the first of her two memoirs. Her only child died at the age of twenty-four, the victim of an accidental gunshot. Perhaps her challenges helped forge her loving spirit and well-known charity work.

Maya Angelou was right: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

There’s a lesson for Christians here. In a time dominated by animosity and negativity, reflecting God’s love in ours becomes even more powerful and urgent. This fact was impressed upon me today by a biblical text I had never noticed before.

Continue reading Denison Forum – What made Mary Tyler Moore so special? →

If you can spare a quarter-billion dollars, 924 Bel Air Road in Los Angeles might be your next home. This mansion, called “the eighth wonder of the world” by its developer, is making headlines today. I saw the article and immediately wanted to see more: the panoramic views, twelve bedrooms, twenty-one bathrooms, eighty-five-foot Italian glass infinity pool, James Bond-themed indoor cinema, and fleet of luxury cars and motorbikes.

Continuing the theme of wealth, Alex Caudros’s Brazillionaires: Wealth, Power, Decadence, and Hope in an American Country fascinated me with its descriptions of challenges faced by the ultra-wealthy. One specialist serving such clients arranges kidnapping insurance and has created games to teach wealthy children how to handle money. Another knows the numbers to call for clients who want to buy a racehorse or sell a diamond necklace. She also knows discreet psychiatrists and can make sure every one of a billionaire’s homes has the same clothing so he doesn’t have to pack much when traveling.

While the Los Angeles mansion is making news, the 43,000 people who are homeless in Los Angeles County draw less attention. A recent report states that eight of the richest people on Earth own as much combined wealth as half the human race.

Continuing the theme of need, I was fascinated recently to learn the origins of hospitals. In the fourth century, a wealthy Christian widow named St. Fabiola gave money to build a hospital in Rome and worked personally to serve the sick. Around the same time, St. Basil distributed food to the poor of Caesarea, then built a hospital for his city. In AD 325, the Council of Nicea directed that every city with a cathedral should also have a hospital since people traveling on pilgrimages would often arrive ill.

Thus began the hospital movement.

Ten of the twenty-five largest health-care networks in the US are Catholic-affiliated. Many others, such as Baylor–Scott and White Health in Texas, are Christian ministries of healing.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Welcome to America’s most expensive house →

Sales of stationery are booming. Writing pads, drawing sets, diaries, and binders are all selling at levels unseen in years. What is happening here?

Public relations entrepreneur Angela Ceberano has an explanation: “Sometimes, I just want to get rid of all the technology and sit down in a quiet space with a pen and paper.” According to scientists, she’s onto something.

Research by Princeton University and UCLA showed that the pen is indeed mightier than the keyboard. In three studies, students who took notes longhand performed better on conceptual questions than those who took notes on laptops. Another study shows that people who doodle on paper can better recall dull information.

1. S. Lewis never learned to type. Novelist Joyce Carol Oates writes all her books by longhand. Tom Wolfe used typewriters but couldn’t keep them maintained, so he wrote his last novel longhand. Danielle Steele writes all her books on a 1946 Olympia manual typewriter. P. J. O’Rourke uses a Selectric typewriter.

Creativity and simplicity are directly related. But these are not simple times.

It’s hard to read the news without angst these days. For instance, this morning’s Wall Street Journal reports that nascent peace talks in Syria are already in trouble as the government called rebels “armed terrorist groups” and the rebels refused to talk directly to the government. Today’s Los Angeles Times tells us that California Gov. Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency after storms caused flooding, erosion, and highway damage.

And today’s Wall Street Journal also reports that school districts across the country are closing due to another norovirus outbreak. “We think this is the most infectious group of pathogens that have ever been described,” one health expert says. Unsurprisingly, the American Psychological Association notes that 75 percent of adults experienced moderate to high levels of stress in the past month.

There’s an antidote to the anxiety of our age, however.

David rejoiced that his Shepherd “leads me beside still waters” (Psalm 23:2). Zephaniah assured his people that their Lord would “quiet you by his love” (Zephaniah 3:17). From these texts, I draw this conclusion: if my “waters” are not “still,” I am not following my Shepherd. If my soul is not “quiet,” I am not fully experiencing his love.

Continue reading Denison Forum – A surprising solution for stressful times →

“America will be saved by an honest and good man who will work for all the people.” That’s what Jon Voight predicted yesterday in his address to a crowd gathered at the Lincoln Memorial.

Today Donald John Trump will be inaugurated as our nation’s forty-fifth president. Not everyone agrees with Voight: more than a quarter-million protesters are expected in Washington, DC this weekend. Thirty groups have received permits for rallies or marches before, during, and after the inauguration.

Why is our nation so divided over our new president?

Here’s an answer you may not have considered. Andrew Delbanco’s The Real American Dream claims that our culture has developed around three forces in which Americans have found hope: God, Nation, and Self.

During the colonial period, the central figure in the American story was God. The Puritan understanding of divine sovereignty infused colonists’ lives with purpose. Theirs was an abiding sense that God led them to build this nation as a “shining city upon a hill.”

Prior to the Civil War, the states largely saw themselves as independent members of a voluntary configuration. The bloodiest war in American history led to the cultural formation of a “United” States of America. From that point through two World Wars and the Great Depression, Americans increasingly looked to the nation as their source for justice, mercy, and hope.

In the 1960s, however, faith in the government declined dramatically. The Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal rocked our trust in our nation and her leaders. As Delbanco notes, our culture shifted to the self in “installing instant gratification as the hallmark of the good life, and in repudiating the interventionist state as a source of hope.”

Continue reading Denison Forum – The inauguration: Hope for a divided nation →

The Women’s March on Washington is this Saturday, the day after the presidential inauguration. As many as 200,000 women are expected to march for “the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families.” Why aren’t pro-life women part of this event?

The March’s values include “open access to safe, legal, affordable abortion and birth control for all people.” The event’s sponsors include Planned Parenthood, NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation, and the National Abortion Federation. When news got out that some pro-life groups planned to participate, there was an immediate outcry from pro-choice supporters who claimed that feminism must include support for abortion.

Is this true?

Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Louisa May Alcott were all pioneers of early feminism. All were opposed to abortion. Nonetheless, abortion advocates continue to denigrate the pro-life position as an anti-feminist “war on women.”

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Pro-life supporters want what is best for all women. They are convinced by the evidence that abortion not only ends the lives of unborn women, it also harms their mothers and the rest of society.

Consider the economic cost of abortion. Of the 58 million abortions in America since Roe v. Wade, more than 12 million were females who would now be of child-bearing age. Thus, we can add at least another 12 million second-generation lives aborted, for a total of 70 million who would be contributing to the American economy.

The US government calculates Gross Domestic Product as $53,000 per capita. This amount multiplied by 70 million leads to a loss to our economy of nearly $3.7 trillion, more than 20 percent of our total GDP.

Continue reading Denison Forum – March on Washington excludes pro-life women →

A large man with white hair and a white beard visited Graceland last Sunday on the eighty-second birthday of Elvis Presley. Someone posted his photo on the Facebook page “Elvis is Alive.” Now conspiracy theorists claim that the man is Elvis himself.

They believe that Elvis faked his death in 1977 and has been living in seclusion ever since. They claim there were discrepancies with his death certificate, reports of a wax dummy in the original coffin, and several accounts of Presley planning a diversion so he could retire away from the public. Some followers have even formed the First Presleyterian Church of Elvis the Divine. Presleyterians are required to face Las Vegas daily and make a pilgrimage to Graceland at least once in their lives.

If you were talking to Presleyterians today, how would you convince them that they’re wrong? You could cite medical evidence that Presley died on August 16, 1977, but they would claim that such evidence was falsified or misinterpreted. You could debunk every Elvis sighting so far, but they would claim that their hero remains in seclusion. At the end of the day, you’d have a hard time convincing them that they’re wrong. Of course, they’d have an even harder time convincing you that they’re right.

We live in a world of Presleyterian logic today.

Iranian officials unveiled a huge billboard in Tehran commemorating “Captured US Sailors” Day. A year ago, they seized ten American sailors and two US Navy boats they claimed entered their waters illegally. They held the sailors for fifteen hours before releasing them. In their view, this was a triumph for Iranian supremacy over the “Great Satan.” In our view, it was a brazen attempt to embarrass America and our leaders.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Did Elvis Presley attend his birthday party? →

A psychologist named Cliff Arnall christened the third Monday in January as “Blue Monday.” According to him, the weather, debt from the holidays, and broken New Year’s resolutions combined to make yesterday “the most depressing day of the year.” Except that it wasn’t. Psychologists say the formula Arnall used has been “effectively debunked” and tell us that “there is no such thing as the most depressing day of the year.”

Consider some other news that doesn’t say what we might think it says.

Gallup is reporting: “In US, More Adults Identifying as LGBT.” If that’s all you read, you might assume that their percentage is escalating. If you measure the number of LGBT people in America by the frequency with which they are portrayed in movies and on television, you might assume that a quarter of the population is LGBT. Unsurprisingly, according to a recent survey, Americans estimate that 23 percent of Americans are gay or lesbian.

Here’s the fact: the LGBT portion of the American population has risen from 3.5 percent to 4.1 percent over the last four years. The percentage equates to ten million of the nation’s 326 million people.

Another example: despite published reports, Christians who regularly attend worship do not divorce at a higher rate than non-Christians. The opposite is true, in fact. And another: despite conventional wisdom, biblical Christianity is not declining in America. What is declining is the number of people who attend theologically liberal denominations. And what is especially declining is the number of nominal Christians. Many no longer consider themselves Christians, joining the ranks of the “nones.”

Paradoxically, the last fact is very good news.

Several years ago, a couple moved from Manhattan to Dallas and joined the church where I was pastor. The husband made the surprising observation that it was easier to be a Christian in New York City than in Dallas. He explained that in Manhattan everyone knows if they are Christian or not. There is no spiritual ambiguity. In Dallas, by contrast, many say they are Christians because they’re not Jewish or Muslim and have a membership in a church somewhere. He noted that “Churchianity” can be a major obstacle to Christianity.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Congratulations on surviving ‘Blue Monday’ →

Kahlil Gibran observed, “The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.” We must be able to contain a great deal of joy these days.

According to Quartz, less than half of America’s doctors are happy at work. Happiness ranges by specialty from a high of 43 percent for dermatology to a low of 24 percent for nephrology. A new national survey of law enforcement officers shows that the vast majority feel their jobs are harder than ever before. At least twenty groups have filed official permits in Washington DC for people planning to protest in the days surrounding the inauguration.

The World Happiness Report states that Denmark is the happiest nation on earth. Canada comes in sixth. The US ranks thirteenth. We are also less happy now than we were in 2007.

Does it feel like Friday the 13th, not just today but every day these days?

It’s hard not to let the cultural atmosphere dictate our attitude. So let’s watch Jesus confront controversial times. Then I hope you’ll accept a surprising invitation that will change your life and witness today.

In Matthew 10, our Lord sends his disciples into a culture that is opposed to his movement, knowing they will be “dragged before governors and kings for my sake” (Matthew 10:18). This is because he came not “to bring peace, but a sword” (v. 34). He faces questions to his Messianic legitimacy even from John the Baptist (Matthew 11:2–3) and is accused of being “a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (v. 19). He denounces Capernaum, his adopted hometown, because of her unbelief (vv. 23–24).

Yet Jesus knows that he can trust his Father’s “gracious will” (v. 26) and that those to whom he has revealed the Father can trust him as well (v. 27). So he extends an invitation that must have shocked his disciples: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30).

Continue reading Denison Forum – Surprising hope on Friday the 13th →

Along with much of America, I watched Donald Trump’s first press conference after being elected president. The conference began when Sean Spicer, the incoming White House Press Secretary, issued a stinging condemnation of a BuzzFeed report he called “frankly outrageous and highly irresponsible.” (Other media outlets also censured the report for its unsubstantiated claims.)

Mr. Trump later added his own denunciation of the outlet. A BuzzFeed reporter then disruptively tried numerous times to ask a question, but the president-elect refused to recognize him. While much of substance was discussed during the conference, this morning’s news coverage continues to focus on the belligerent nature of the event.

Meanwhile, Rex Tillerson had what NPR is calling a “tense confirmation hearing” over his nomination to be Secretary of State. And Cory Booker spoke against the nomination of Jeff Sessions for Attorney General. In so doing, he became the first sitting senator ever to testify against a fellow sitting senator at a confirmation hearing for a Cabinet post.

Despite the hostility of the day, I woke up this morning grateful for American democracy and optimistic for the future. Here’s why.

One: We’ve been here before.

Thomas Paine once called President Washington “treacherous in private friendship” and a “hypocrite in public life.” An English journalist in turn described Paine as “all that is base, malignant, treacherous, unnatural and blasphemous.” After Abraham Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address, one newspaper lamented “the silly remarks of the President” and hoped they would “be no more repeated or thought of.” Our nation has weathered acrimonious political climates before and will do so again.

Two: Democracy is better than the alternative.

Winston Churchill once called democracy “the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” I prefer a cacophonous free press to a saccharine state media and a divisive two-party system to a dictatorial one-party government. I’ve traveled often to Cuba and can testify that they have few of our challenges with media and politics. But I immeasurably prefer our problems over theirs.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Why I’m hopeful after the Trump press conference →

President Obama gave his farewell address to the nation last night. He spoke from McCormick Place convention center in Chicago, less than four miles from Grant Park, where he gave his 2008 victory speech.

Watching his address, I was struck by two contrasting themes.

One: Mr. Obama clearly wanted to claim success for his last eight years in office. Every president leaving office wants to do the same. It’s a natural way to consolidate gains and celebrate progress. At the end of his speech, he repeated the familiar “Yes we can!” from his 2008 presidential campaign, followed by “Yes we did!”

Two: The president wanted to cast his vision forward, clearly setting the stage for confrontations with the Trump administration and its competing agenda. He cited a laundry list of contentious issues, from climate change to discrimination to health care, and made it clear that he is not going to fade from view. His party has no clear leader and could face even more congressional losses in 2018. It seemed to me that Mr. Obama was not only framing his administration now ending, but also making a campaign speech for his future now beginning.

In coming days, I plan to share my thoughts regarding Mr. Obama’s worldview and its consequences for our culture. For today, let’s think about his farewell speech and more specifically, the right spirit in which to respond.

Consider a lesson from the recent election. In the current edition of Newsweek, Michael Wolff notes that the establishment media was so surprised by Trump’s success because they were so out of touch with Trump’s America. Their alignment with liberal values and cultural elites made it difficult for them to see other worldviews coherently or objectively.

Those of us who embrace biblical values must be careful not to do the same.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Responding to President Obama’s farewell address →

Time magazine calls the Golden Globes “Oscar’s looser, boozier cousin.” Last night’s show, filled with A-list actors and those who want to be, launched the annual awards season that culminates this year with the Academy Awards on February 26.

What do the Golden Globes say about our culture?

Let’s begin with what they don’t say. They don’t predict the Academy Award for Best Picture—Spotlight, last year’s Oscar winner, didn’t win a single Golden Globe. Only once in the last seven years did the Golden Globes and the Oscars choose the same Best Picture winner (Gravity in 2013). (However, from 1999 to 2003, the two were aligned on Best Picture ten out of eleven years.)

La La Land won last night for Best Picture in a musical or comedy; Moonlight won for Best Picture in a drama. We’ll see if either wins the Oscar for Best Picture.

Here’s what the Golden Globes do say.

There is room in our culture for grace. The Golden Globes are decided by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), an organization composed of ninety international movie and television journalists based in Southern California. The group awarded the first Golden Globes in January 1944. World War II was still raging, but the HFPA thought a January celebration of movie and television achievement was warranted.

Here’s why: the organization uses the event to raise funds for entertainment-related scholarships and nonprofits. In 2015, the group awarded grants totaling $2.1 million, bringing their overall donations to more than $21 million.

We are looking for joy. This year’s host, Jimmy Fallon, promised that the night would be “fun, and friendly, and joyous, and cool.” He delivered on his promise, beginning with the opening number’s spoof of La La Land. While the Academy Awards has an entire segment devoted to movie professionals who died in the previous year, the Golden Globes briefly noted that many celebrities died in 2016 before paying tribute to Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher.

We need hope. Actors who played Wonder Woman, Batman, and Thor all made presentations. Deadpool was the first live-action superhero movie to be nominated for Best Picture. Continue reading Denison Forum – What do the Golden Globes say about us? →

House Republicans voted earlier this week to weaken the Office of Congressional Ethics. Speaker Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy both opposed the move, but were unable to dissuade the group. Then President-elect Trump issued a series of tweets questioning the proposed changes. The group then reversed its position, a decision that is making headlines this morning.

Ford Motor Company announced yesterday that it will cancel a $1.6 billion plant planned for Mexico and will invest $700 million in a Michigan assembly plant. The company tied the decision to “pro-growth policies” espoused by President-elect Trump. This after Carrier reported last month that it would keep hundreds of factory jobs in the US. Mr. Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence negotiated the deal personally. The announcement earned high praise from Americans.

Tweets and personal deals—are you wondering what is happening to the political process in America?

Continue reading Denison Forum – Trump tweets and Republicans reverse ethics vote →

Lee Shing Chak is a “world-class fortuneteller who combines the ancient art of feng shui and the modern practice of statistics to divine what the future holds.” He wants us to know that he predicted the spread of Ebola, the death of Osama bin Laden, a nuclear crisis in Japan, and the winner of the 2014 World Cup.

Now he is making predictions for us based on our birth year. If you were born in 1958 (like me), 1970, 1982, 1994, or 2006, yours is the “year of the dog.” (I’m not sure I appreciate the title.) He tells us that 2017 will be “fairly busy for you, with little time to relax and unwind.” And he warns that we should prepare for a sudden illness or serious natural disaster.

Of course, so should everyone else.

The story goes on, but you get the idea. For each category, Mr. Lee predicts good fortune as well as challenges for which we should prepare. As with all such fortune-telling, his predictions are so ambiguous that their fulfillment depends not on him but on us.

According to the American Federation of Certified Psychics and Mediums (yes, this group really exists), 39 percent of men and 69 percent of women admit to having consulted a psychic. Fortune-telling is especially profitable during difficult economic times such as the recent recession. One man spent more than $700,000 on a Manhattan psychic who promised to fix a romantic relationship.

Before you and I smugly conclude that we would never consult a fortune-teller, let me ask you: Have you ever made an appointment with a doctor in hopes of preventing disease? Have you ever asked a financial advisor to help you prepare for the future? Do you check the weather forecast before heading out of the house each morning?

But there’s a difference, you say, between trusting a psychic and consulting a doctor. Of course, you’re right. I have worked in medical ethics for years and have the highest respect for health care professionals (as well as financial experts and meteorologists). But aren’t these professions an attempt to predict the future—or at least prepare for it?

Continue reading Denison Forum – Famed fortuneteller predicts our future for 2017 →

A tourist posing for a photo beside a crocodile was bitten on the leg, according to this morning’s Associated Press. Mariah Carey is still in the news after she tried to lip-sync her New Year’s Eve concert but couldn’t hear the music and stopped singing.

What do these women have in common? Both are facing ridicule in the news today. And both can decide whether to let what is now their past define their future. So can we.

The problem is, we live in a culture that is fixated on yesterday and tomorrow. Guilt over the past afflicts us in the present. We love new year’s predictions. We even have a month dedicated to this obsession.

“January” is named for the Roman god Janus. He is depicted in ancient mythology with two faces, one able to see the past and the other able to peer into the future.

But Janus is a liar. He can see neither yesterday nor tomorrow because neither is real.

How much does “yesterday” weigh? What color is “tomorrow”? Both are just words, not realities. The past is gone and the future has not yet arrived. Today is the only day there is. This moment is the only moment that is real.

That’s why our Lord called himself “I Am” (Exodus 3:14). Helen Mallicoat said it well:

I was regretting the past and fearing the future.
Suddenly my Lord was speaking: My name is I Am.
When you live in the past, with its mistakes and regrets,
It is hard. I am not there. My name is not I Was.
When you live in the future, with its problems and fears,
It is hard. I am not there. My name is not I Will Be.
When you live in this moment, it is not hard. I am here.
My name is I Am.

Continue reading Denison Forum – A crocodile attack and Mariah Carey →