A facebook forward

Facebook Makes Us Miserable
by Tim Challies
03/14/11

The ending: Facebook makes me believe, even stronger, in the value of the local church, in the value of true, deep fellowship, or genuine community. The fact is, we want to love real people and we want to be loved by real people. Facebook is fiction. Local church is fact—the most real community we can experience this side of eternity.


The whole thing:

Just about everyone has joined Facebook. And just about everyone has since considered giving it up. There are all kinds of studies today telling us how much time Facebook is sucking—700 billion minutes between the lot of us every month. That’s a lot of time. But when you divide it 500 million ways it doesn’t seem quite so bad. That’s not why most of us have considered giving it up. There are studies telling us how Facebook is invading our privacy and selling our personal details to advertisers. That’s annoying, but not reason enough to quit.

The reason so many of us have considered giving up on Facebook is that it makes us miserable. A recent paper in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin looks at a series of studies involving how people evaluate moods—their own and those of others. The study itself is not as interesting as the implications. What the study found is that people tend to underestimate how dejected other people feel and that this in turn increases a person’s own sense of unhappiness. Put otherwise, we all believe that others have better lives than we do and this makes us feel bad about ourselves. That’s strangely significant.

Where do we find this phenomenon in clearest form? On Facebook, of course. We log on to Facebook, look through the photographs and status messages our friends post, and believe that everyone is happier and more successful than we are. And when I have spoken to friends and family members who have considered giving up Facebook, this is exactly the reasoning they have given. They look at other people and feel miserable in comparison.

What an interesting phenomenon. It seems clear that Facebook is exposing something, some ugly little corner of the human heart. Facebook is all about making life seem joyful—we “like” one another’s happy status updates, not the sad ones; we post photos of our parties, not our funerals; we use it to celebrate births and marriages and new relationships, not to mourn deaths or remember break-ups. Facebook is meant to be a happy place for happy people. But it doesn’t seem to work out so well. We all think everyone else is happy, but we don’t feel the joy.

And it strikes both ways—when we portray ourselves through social media we do so on our own terms. And of course this means that we present ourselves in the way we want to be perceived, whether or not this is an accurate portrayal. So even while we put only our best foot forward, we look at others and assume that their portrayal is more accurate than our own; we believe that we are the only pretenders, the only ones stretching and exaggerating, trying to keep up. We resent another person for being happy—“She has an amazing life and I don’t!” Or we resent her for being falsely happy—“I know her and I know that her life isn’t all that!”

Either way, we all end up miserable. We all end up trying to be something we are not and believing that everyone else has a better life. Libby Copeland spoke to the author of this paper and he quoted Montesquieu saying: “If we only wanted to be happy it would be easy; but we want to be happier than other people, which is almost always difficult, since we think them happier than they are.” We do not want to be happy—we want to be happier. It becomes a competition, a point of comparison. But we can never be happier because we constantly drag ourselves down by believing that we are the only ones who are miserable.

What a ridiculous lot we are. What a sad, jealous, envious, idolatrous lot.

Facebook makes me believe, even stronger, in the value of the local church, in the value of true, deep fellowship, or genuine community. This is just one more reason that we need to live in community—in real community with real people. When I mediate my life by Facebook, I am the one who controls it all. I curate it by tagging the photos I like, by offering up the statuses I like, by making myself who I want to be rather than who I am. But when I live before others, when I live a real life in the real world, well, that is where people see who I really am. And they love me on that basis. In fact, they love me more on that basis.

The fact is, we want to love real people and we want to be loved by real people. Facebook is fiction. Local church is fact—the most real community we can experience this side of eternity.

A Prayer for Japan

A Prayer for Japan
March 12, 2011

by John Piper

The scenes of the tsunami in Japan are apocalyptic.

The power of moving water is greater than most of us can imagine. Nothing stands before it. We are driven to our knees:

"Father in heaven, you are the absolute Sovereign over the shaking of the earth, the rising of the sea, and the raging of the waves. We tremble at your power and bow before your unsearchable judgments and inscrutable ways. We cover our faces and kiss your omnipotent hand. We fall helpless to the floor in prayer and feel how fragile the very ground is beneath our knees.

O God, we humble ourselves under your holy majesty and repent. In a moment—in the twinkling of an eye—we too could be swept away. We are not more deserving of firm ground than our fellowmen in Japan. We too are flesh. We have bodies and homes and cars and family and precious places. We know that if we were treated according to our sins, who could stand?

All of it would be gone in a moment. So in this dark hour we turn against our sins, not against you.

And we cry for mercy for Japan. Mercy, Father. Not for what they or we deserve. But mercy.

Have you not encouraged us in this? Have we not heard a hundred times in your Word the riches of your kindness, forbearance, and patience? Do you not a thousand times withhold your judgments, leading your rebellious world toward repentance? Yes, Lord. For your ways are not our ways, and your thoughts are not our thoughts.

Grant, O God, that the wicked will forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Grant us, your sinful creatures, to return to you, that you may have compassion. For surely you will abundantly pardon. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus, your beloved Son, will be saved.

May every heart-breaking loss—millions upon millions of losses—be healed by the wounded hands of the risen Christ. You are not unacquainted with your creatures' pain. You did not spare your own Son, but gave him up for us all.

In Jesus you tasted loss. In Jesus you shared the overwhelming flood of our sorrows and suffering. In Jesus you are a sympathetic Priest in the midst of our pain.

Deal tenderly now, Father, with this fragile people. Woo them. Win them. Save them.

And may the floods they so much dread make blessings break upon their head.

O let them not judge you with feeble sense, but trust you for your grace. And so behind this providence, soon find a smiling face.

In Jesus’ merciful name, Amen."

It's been awhile....

Ten months. That's how long since I last posted to this blog. What happened? Life.

Since May of 2010, much has happened. Most of the family photos and events have been maintained on the Hubert Family Blog. But somehow this blog got neglected.

Instead of trying to work backward, especially with the sermon posts, here's the recap of the last 10 months.

I set this blog up with four initial categories, but realized two of them overlapped, so it is now at three. I will do my best to summarize what's happened in the past ten months in each of these.



1. What I have learned from my pastor (and other things at church) - We are still in Revelation! It's been a very thorough study and we have finally reached the final chapter. Pastor Jack will finish up in the next month or so and my goal is to be MUCH more consistent in summarizing his sermons as we move forward.


Our Sunday School class has worked through two RC Sproul studies: The Holiness of God and The Names of God. We begin John Piper's, Don't Waste Your Life on March 20. I am very excited to start this study and will be posting as we go through it.


Since May 2010, the women's Bible study groups have gone well. We worked through Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Choosing Gratitude, this summer. It was great to see over 60 women attending this study offered at 3 different times.


The fall and spring study has been on the book of Proverbs. Ancient Wisdom in a Postmodern World, by Sue Edwards has been challenging, convicting and encouraging as I have dug into a very practical book in God's Word. There really isn't a topic that the book of Proverbs doesn't cover!


I am currently working with the Women's Ministry Team at our church to select studies for summer and next year. We have many great options and I look forward to posting insights from these in the future.



2. What I have learned from the books I have read - Unfortunately, I have not read many entire books. It seems that most of my reading is textbooks and lesson plans :).


I used to read Christian fiction as I had time, but the last 10 months I may have read one fiction book. And honestly, I don't miss it. The last couple books I have read are The Ever Loving Truth by Voddie Baucham and UnPlanned by Abby Johnson. These were both excellent and I plan on doing an entire post on each of these soon.


Phil and I are going through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace study on Sunday nights at our church. This has been a great tool for us and exciting as well to see these principles work!!


We host a small group on Friday nights led by Phil and Pastor Paul. This is a new group of people, mostly made up of young married couples. We began the school year with Tim Keller's The Gospel in Life study. We have an amazing group of hungry, humble, and hilarious people that makes Friday nights extra special for Phil and I. We just kicked off a new study, also by Tim Keller, The Reason for God. This video is a format unlike anything I have ever viewed. Tim Keller sits down in a round-table-sort of discussion with "seekers" and "scoffers". We have used this opportunity to invite friends and relatives that may feel more comfortable in this setting. The example of Dr. Keller's dialogue with others has also been a great training tool to show us as Christians how to engage the culture in a meaningful, spiritual dialogue.

An added benefit from this new study was Phil and I finding a mature couple in our church to provide mentorship to us. We both feed into other people yet we know we need the specific accountability and wisdom that comes from an older and more mature couple. Bob and Ellie Bruhn started coming with their daughter and her husband before God moved them away. Thankfully, the Bruhn's wanted to stay with our small group and after praying about who to ask to provide mentorship to us, Phil and I both felt led to ask the Bruhn's. We look forward to this growing relationship.

3. What I have learned as a Home School Mom - LOTS!! This is the primary reason this blog has sat dormant for 10 months. In September we started home school all 3 girls (and actually Timothy has jumped right in as well). I believe we have settled into a routine and are actually ahead of schedule to finish up for the year. But I am BUSY, all of the time trying to keep on on planning, teaching, and grading. But already, we have seen great results and have been encouraged in this new venture.

The older girls are going to go on an exciting trip with Grammy and Grandpa to Washington D.C. in June. This has been a great motivation to stay focused and finish in May!

We attended a super home school conference in June of last year and have made plans to go again this year. Lord willing, I can post some of my notes from these conferences as time allows.


Thanks for not giving up on this blog. I am excited to get more regular with my posts. Feel free to comment at any time.

A Great Aim

A week ago John Piper spoke at Summit VI, this year's annual event put on by the Christian Alliance for Orphans. His message was from Hebrews 11:29-38 and titled: "What Does It Mean to Live by Faith in the Service of the Fatherless?" (read the manuscript) or you can download the audio or video.

A summary point was very powerful for me and I have quoted it below. The change I made was to take out the words "adoption and orphan care" and leave a blank line. The reason? Because so many things can fit into this statement. Marriage, raising children, being a Christian, homeschooling, homemaking, etc.

I have printed it and hung it on my bathroom mirror as a reminder for the future.


"The great challenge of _____________ is to cultivate a death-defying passion for God above all things. A faith that rests in Him whether living or dying, whether comfortable or miserable, whether successful in ___________ or not. Our aim is to cultivate and spread the unshakable confidence that God is better than what life can give us and what death can take from us."

What I learned from my Pastor ~ Mar. 28

We finished chapter 9 and were astounded once again that despite horrible plagues and death, people will still refuse to repent.

Pastor Jack pointed out that God deploys a troop surge of horsemen to an attack of shock and awe to bring people to repentance.

1. The commanders of these troops:

A. Christ

B. Trumpeting angel

C. Four angels

2. The invasion of these troops: God’s exact time

3. The mission of these troops: Kill

4. The number of troops: 200 million

5. The appearance of these troops: Weird

6. The power of these troops: Mouths

7. The outcome of the troop surge: No repentance

A. Demon worship
B. Idol worship
C. Murders
D. Sorceries
E. Immorality
F. Thefts

His action points: Repent of idolatry and go with the gospel!!

What I learned from my Pastor ~ Mar. 21

Attack of the Locusts was the title of the sermon from Revelation 9:1-12. Pastor Jack pointed out that these demon-creature-things are from the abyss and their mission is to torment. The commander of these troops is Satan.

We are definitely getting into the weird section of Revelation, but Pastor Jack always does a good job of applying these truths by pointing out concrete facts that we can take hold of today. He noted:

Satan is a destroyer, a deceiver and a devourer BUT Christ is a redeemer, a revealor and a restorer.

Truth is our primary defense. Know the truth and the truth will set you free.

**On a side note, Timothy provided some humor in the midst of the sermon. Thanks to Phil's quiet sarcasm as Pastor Jack showed a video, Timothy learned a vocabulary lesson. It went something like this:

As a video began of a locust swarm, the commentator had a definite British accent (think BBC films). Phil said quietly, "Stinkin' Brits." (Hopefully this doesn't offend anyone - but I had to repeat it to get to the punch line.)

Timothy was sitting between us and was looking down at his coloring page at the time. In a few seconds, the video ended and Pastor Jack began to preach. He opened by showing a picture of a very large locust. About that time, Timothy looked up at the screen and said, "Those Brits are disgusting." To which Phil immediately burst out laughing and said, "Those aren't Brits, those are locusts." Timothy replied, "well those locusts are disgusting, too."

Let's just say that Phil did not hear the next couple minutes of the message because he was laughing (silently). I am also pretty sure that restrained laughter had something to do with Jim's shoulders shaking as well!!

Thanks, Tim, for the laugh. We shared this with Pastor Jack, and he too thought it was quite funny...and very pleased he has a captive audience in a 4 year old.

What I learned from my Pastor ~ Mar. 14

Shock and Awe was the name of the sermon Pastor Jack gave on Revelation 8:6-13. This passage covered the first 4 trumpet judgments. Pastor Jack gave four warnings associated with these four judgments. They are:

1. God will judge those who refuse to believe the Word of God that abides forever (Is. 40:8)

2. God will judge those who store treasures for themselves and are not rich toward God. (Matt. 6:19-20)

3. God will judge whose who seek anything than Jesus to satisfy our thirst. (John 4:13-14)

4. God will judge those who love darkness rather than light. (John 3: 19-21)

ACTION: Repent and turn to the one, true, living GOD!

What I learned from a guest Pastor ~ March 6

As I mentioned here, Brenda found a church for us all to attend in Flagstaff as we spent the first Sunday of our Spring Break in Arizona.

Steven Cole is currently teaching through the book of James on Pilgrim Radio. We located the church easily, snuck in just a few minutes late and felt right at home with fellow believers we had never met before.

Pastor Cole was teaching through the book of 2 Peter. His message was entitled, "Mockers and the Coming Judgment" with 2 Peter 3:1-7 as his text.

His main point:

"In spite of mockers who scoff at the prospect of Christ’s coming, God’s Word promises that He will come in judgment of the whole world."

1. When mockers attack the faith, God’s Word is our sure foundation (3:1-2).


2. When mockers scoff at the prospect of Christ’s coming, it is because they willfully ignore that God created the universe and judged the wicked in the flood by His word (3:3-6).


3. When mockers scoff at the promise of Christ’s coming, it is because they willfully ignore God’s word about the future judgment (3:7).

He offered two applications based on these verses for each of us to consider:

A. To move away from the truth that God created the world by His word of power is to move toward skepticism and licentious living.


B. To move away from the truth that Christ is coming again to judge the world is to move toward skepticism and licentious living.


He concluded with,

"Our tolerant culture that doesn’t want to make any moral judgments has swayed many Christians to minimize the biblical truth of God’s judgment. Some deny the eternality of hell. Others believe that God will ultimately save everyone. If you move in that direction, you move toward skepticism of God’s Word and, eventually, toward moral relativism. If you are a Christian—a follower of Jesus—the bottom line has to be, “What does God’s Word say?” It clearly says that God created the world by His word, judged the world at the flood by His word, and will judge the ungodly when Christ returns by His word. Thus we must stand firm on these truths and out of love warn everyone to flee the wrath to come."

Crazy Love Quotes

I finished reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan a month ago, but have had a hard time finding spare moments to blog.

There are several good reviews by more articulate people than me, so I decided to share a few quotes/sections that stood out as I read.

Worry implies that we don't quite trust that God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what's happening in our lives. Stress says that the things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, our lack of grace toward others, or our tight grip of control. (pg. 42)

Lukewarm people tend to choose what is popular over what is right when they are in conflict. They desire to fit in both at church and outside of church; they care more about what people think of their actions (like church attendance and giving) than what God thinks of their heart and lives. (pg. 69)

True faith means holding nothing back; it bets everything on the hope of eternity. ...this whole swimming-upstream, pursuing-Christ, taking-up-your-cross, counting-the-cost thing isn't easy. It's so hard, in fact, that Jesus said the road is narrow and few will find it. (pg 97)

But God doesn't call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn't come through. (pg 124)

A person who is obsessed with Jesus knows that the sin of pride is always a battle. Obsessed people know that you can never be "humble enough." and so they seek to make themselves less known and Christ more known. (pg. 138)

Nowhere in Scripture do I see a "balanced life with a little bit of God added in" as an ideal for us to emulate. Yet when I look at our churches, this is exactly what I see: a lot of people who have added Jesus to their lives. ... asked Him to join them on their journey, to follow them wherever they feel like they should go, rather than following Him as we are commanded. The God of the universe is not something we can just add to our lives and keep on as we did before. The Spirit who raised Christ from the dead is not someone we can just call on when we want a little extra power in our lives. Jesus Christ did not die in order to follow us. He died and rose again so that we could forget everything else and follow Him to the cross, to true Life. (pg. 193-194)

Recommendation: Read it and be challenged to think a little differently.

What I learned from my Pastor ~ Feb. 28

The title for this sermon from Revelation 8:1-5 was Opus to the Final Judgment. Pastor Jack noted that this chapter is a prelude to the final judgment that is coming when God will answer His children's prayer for vindication.

Hearing about the wrath of God is often difficult, but we were reminded that worship and judgment are inter-connected and that while God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ez. 33:11), His love demands justice. Mercy and judgment are not two contrasting things. They are both embodied in the character of Christ.

Pastor Jack's closing action points were very powerful. They were:

1. Listen and Repent
2. Smell the sweet aroma of the prayers of the saints and place deep hurts before God
3. Feel the Heat (warn others)

He challenged me that the real test if I believe this prophecyis true, then what am I doing to warn others to flee the wrath to come. Being complacent like this is no less than criminal behavior.

How wonderful it is that mercy, justice, and grace met perfectly at the cross. He prayed that the Holy Spirit would stir, shake and move us. Amen?.

What I learned from my Pastor ~ Feb. 21

Saved to Serve in Heaven was the title of Pastor Jack's sermon, continuing our pilgrimage through the book of Revelation.

His text today was Rev. 7:9-17. God saves and rewards multitudes who will serve Him in heaven. Some features of this multitude in heaven described here are: innumerable, indiscriminate, intimate, incorrupt, and indomitable. Don't you just love those words and what they represent (and that they all start with in is pretty cool, too)?

Pastor Jack asked the congregation to reflect on two questions:

1. What is your posture before Him who sits on the throne?

2. What is your perspective on life in light of this vision?

Pondering these things help us to keep our priorities in order. It was also a good reminder to engage in activities that contribute to eternity so that I am not exercising futility in my life.

What I learned from my Pastor ~ Feb. 14

Note: I am a bit behind with posting these, but will do my best to get all 3 up today.

Revelation 7:1-8 was the text for this week's sermon examining yet another portion of scripture that is highly debated. Regardless of one's view of the identity of the 144,000 mentioned, Pastor Jack pointed out that they are sealed and protected as they serve on earth. I was comforted by the fact that "the servant of God is invincible until his work for God is complete."

Pastor Jack's final points were 1. Be sealed. It's that simple. Ephesians 1:13-14 explicitly tells us how and with what we are sealed. For believers, the Father has sealed us with protection and care. The Son has bought and redeemed us with His own precious blood. He owns us. And the Spirit seals us by certifies and testifies that we are the children of God.

2. Be serving. (2 Corinthians 4:5) Pastor Jack shared this quote that Charles Spurgeon said once when he was very sick,

"If I have any message to give from my own bed of sickness it would be this—if you do not wish to be full of regrets when you are obliged to lie still, work while you can. If you desire to make a sick bed as soft as it can be, do not stuff it with the mournful reflection that you wasted time while you were in health and strength. People said to me years ago, “You will break your body down with preaching ten times a week,” and the like. Well, if I have done so, I am glad of it. I would do the same again. If I had fifty bodies I would rejoice to break them down in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. You young men that are strong, overcome the wicked one and fight for the Lord while you can. You will never regret having done all that lies in you for our blessed Lord and Master. Crowd as much as you can into every day, and postpone no work till tomorrow. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” (Ecc. 9:10)."

Two Finished Titles

I completed two different books this week. One was Family Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham. It was one I have been chewing on and digesting for quite some time. It has been like steak, potatoes and vegetables -- a full course meal. In fact, it was so powerful and thought provoking that I am going back through each chapter and will post a brief synopsis here in the coming days and weeks. Watch for it!

The other one, Tristan's Gap by Nancy Rue was a quick-fiction read that was well written and it kept my attention (took me about 1 1/2 days to complete) but as I read it, I kept having small, red warning flags. Because I have been know to over react too quickly in the past, I read slow, made mental notes and plowed along to the end.

The gist of the story was of a Christian family that apparently had religion but not relationship. The sixteen year old girl runs away partly because of her "patriarchal father" and "submissive mother". Prayer was mentioned, but the traditional church was somewhat mocked. In the end, she is found pregnant, delivers a baby that dies, the mother learns to stand up to the father and everybody lives happily ever after.

I have learned to trust small red flags in my conscience. I did a quick google search and found the author's blog. You can learn a lot about a person's belief system from their links. What I found were links to Brian McLaren, a known Emergent leader who has strayed so significantly from the core beliefs of Christianity. I do not know if Nancy Rue believes these things whole-heartedly, but some of the things that came out in her fiction book definitely lean this way.

My purpose is not to bash her or this book, but gently remind readers that we are called to be discerning as we read. I think the fiction genre makes this harder to accomplish due to our emotional attachment to the characters and story line. But this is no excuse not to compare everything with the truth of the only accurate standard - the Bible.

Homeschool Seedlings

When the issue of homeschool comes up, so often the words "socialize" or "sheltered" are soon accompanied by it. Recently I read a very good devotion about sheltering that summarized part of my passion for beginning this new adventure called homeschooling.

Here are some excerpts from that devotion that I found especially powerful:



Most caring parents draw a line and set limits on what they allow their children to experience. The only difference between my sheltering and theirs was that I had simply drawn our children's line in a different place. R-rated movies, magazines and books that promoted sex outside of marriage, violent video games, and other activities that violated God's Word were not a part of our family life. The standards I wanted to set were for training in righteousness, not for training in the ways of the world. Learning how to be in the world but not of it is difficult for Christians both young and old.

The unbelieving community sees us as trying to live "holier than thou," but sometimes we must allow God to sanctify us by removing ourselves from the temptations that would lead us into sin. God even commands us to run away (flee) from idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:14) "and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them" (Ephesians 5:11).

However, Jesus also gave us the example of reaching the lost by meeting them in their homes and on the streets. Finding the balance between loving the lost and not getting caught in sin takes discernment and wisdom that comes from studying God's Word, praying, and listening to the Holy Spirit.

So, how much do you shelter your children from the evil in the world without quenching the redemptive work of Christ? After all, as Christians, we are to be salt and light.

My answer to that question came one day while gardening. The Master Gardener showed me that if I transplanted my seedlings that I started inside the house into the outside garden too soon, they would die from the exposure to the elements. However, if I moved them at the right time and carefully nurtured the seedlings for a time with extra protection and fertilizer, they would grow into strong, healthy plants that would not only resist bugs, heat, and hail, but also produce an abundance of fruit.

Don't let anyone's sheltering argument convince you to transplant your precious homeschooling seedlings too early!

Lord, give me discernment to hear Your voice on how to homeschool my children, so they are effective witnesses for You. Help me ground them in Your Word and fertilize them with Your truths, so they not only survive in the world, but also flourish and change it. In Jesus' name, Amen.

What I learned from my Pastor ~ Feb. 7

The sermon for the first Sunday of the month is generally a communion or thematic message, taking a break from the regular series in Revelation.

Pastor Paul took the pulpit to give Pastor Jack a week to concentrate on his healing broken ribs. The sermon text was from Hebrews 2:8b-11. He reminded us that while Jesus was a good teacher, an example in ethical living and a good example, none of these was the primary reason he came to earth. He came to provide salvation for all who would believe.

He pointed out that the horrendous punishment Jesus experienced on the cross for 3 hours will be experienced for eternity in hell by unbelievers. Reflecting on the intensity of this sacrifice is humbling.

Just because we do not currently see all things subjected to Him, the fact is that all things are indeed subject to Him, and one day all creation will acknowledge this fact.