News Items We are Following

I’m definitely following this guy’s stories:

Growth mindset is a popular term right now. Originally an academic topic from Stanford professor and psychologist Carol Dweck to describe individuals who believe his/her talents can develop through focus, planning and hard work, it’s now been adopted by schools, sports teams, and the population at large for self-improvement. Its influence is everywhere, and it's benefited everyone that is subscribed to it.

What I quickly realized after reading up on growth mindset, though, was it was far from novel. In fact, I realized it was the exact trait I had observed in many of the best baseball players I’d encountered in my time as a player, scout, and front office employee with the Chicago Cubs.

The best players actively sought ways to improve ALL OF THE TIME. Though they might scoff at feedback initially, they were experts at internalizing any shortcomings in their games and then planning out ways to improve through a mix of endless practice and hard work. Some players were maniacal in seeking out ways to squeeze out every possible opportunity to get better: having mastered their mechanics and skills, they could still see ways to improve by re-thinking through their recovery, their eating, and their weight training. It was really a marvel to observe the lengths these athletes would go to try to gain any small edge over their opponents as they sought to lengthen their careers and stay at the top of their profession.

Along those lines of thought, modern hitters have never had it tougher: pitchers’ repertoires are otherworldly, with harder-than-ever fastballs and breaking balls perfected in a lab. Batting averages are at a historic low and strikeouts are at an all-time high. Though hitters are stronger, quicker, and are hitting the ball harder than ever, their efforts in training and approach are still falling short of catching up to the gains pitchers have made.

This is where we have seen many high-end athletes have succeeded in turning to Vizual Edge: after athletes have explored all they can mechanically, the best way to combat pitchers is by identifying pitches sooner and tracking them better. Good and bad swing decisions that hitters make are separated by micro-seconds, and our training program is designed to help make those decisions clearer and quicker. Identifying the slider upon release means squaring the ball up for a double in the gap; identifying the slider 3 feet out of a pitcher’s hand means swinging and missing entirely!

Tish’s wisdom: the story of Rick Warren’s church encouraged me, the backlash disgusting me not because people disagree but because of the mean-spiritedness and disgusting language.

ick Warren’s Saddleback church recently made headlines by ordaining three female leaders. I was grateful to see these women recognized and lent both the public authority and institutional accountability that comes from ordination. But when I read the news, I also thought with a heavy sigh, “Oh, here we go again.” I knew the debate about women’s roles in the church would dominate conversation all week, and I could already predict the rutted arguments I’d hear recited over and over.

Here’s an open secret: You know who hates talking about women’s ordination? Female pastors. Not all of us, of course. Some women have a special unction to debate this topic, and honestly, more power to them.

But the reality is that few of us become pastors in order to talk about women’s ordination. We get ordained because the gospel has captured our imaginations. We get ordained to witness to the beauty and truth of Jesus. We get ordained to serve the church in the ministry of Word and sacrament. (And, for the record, don’t get ordained for any “cause” other than the ministry of Word and sacrament. Nothing else is worth it.)

Mark Driscoll, sad to say, is in the news again for his bullying. What stands out here is the policing and surveillance of people in the church, and also the retainers around him protecting him. Character eats culture before culture eats strategy.

Mark Driscoll is once again being accused of bullying, intimidation, and spiritual abuse. Only this time, the disgraced former Mars Hill pastor apparently has no elders to rein him in—and his tactics reportedly have grown more extreme and cult-like.

Simply because their teenage son kissed Driscoll’s teenage daughter, Angelo and Katherine Manuele say their family was kicked out of Driscoll’s The Trinity Church in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The church then pressured other families to shun the Manueles, the couple says, and even filed charges with police against the Manueles for “threatening communication.”

The Manueles say they have threatened no one.

You really can’t blame me, can you?, for following this story.

Beth Allison Barr and others are taking up the response to Albert Mohler’s challenging of Rick Warren’s ordination of three women. This story will continue through the next SBC annual convention and beyond.

(RNS) — It rained today in Texas.

The sudden downpour caught me unaware. But even as it drenched my shoes, I couldn’t help smiling. Three days ago, seminary president Al Mohler compared the growing threat of women preachers in the Southern Baptist Convention to a coming rainstorm. “At first, there is only a small cloud,” he wrote. “Soon thereafter, here comes the downpour. Well, here it comes.” 

As I watched the water stream around my feet, overflowing dips in the sidewalk and flooding the flower beds, I thought about Mohler’s words. He’s partly right. In terms of the SBC stance on women preaching, a downpour is coming — just not from the direction Mohler thinks.     

Let me explain.

Mohler’s recent article targets the ordination of three women by the SBC-affiliated Saddleback Church, a California megachurch led by “Purpose Driven Life” author and pastor Rick Warren. The recognition of these women as pastors (the article makes crystal clear) violates the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message. But why does the SBC confession of faith so explicitly reject women as preachers and pastors? If no ordination theology exists for Baptists, why does the ordination of women by one of its largest churches matter? Why does the SBC even care?  

Liz Cheney cuts through the cant, and so does Adam Kinzinger. What is happening more and more is that partisan ideology increasingly overcomes reality and truth.

WASHINGTON (RNS) — On the eve of her removal from the House Republican leadership for failing to back President Donald Trump’s attacks on the 2020 election, U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney cited principles she insisted were foundational for many conservatives such as herself: the U.S. Constitution, the rule of law and faith.

In a defiant speech to the empty House chamber Tuesday night (May 11), the Wyoming lawmaker cited Pope John Paul II and appealed to “faith and freedom.”…

In a C-SPAN interview earlier this week, Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois questioned whether Christians in his party who are chastising Cheney — particularly those who are not condemning Trump’s discredited claims about the election — were living up to their religious ideals.

“It’s amazing how many of my colleagues claim to likewise be Christians, but somehow are OK with … accepting and supporting these lies,” said Kinzinger, an evangelical Christian who also voted to impeach Trump earlier this year. “When I went to Sunday school, it was always about telling the truth. I read nothing in the words of New Testament … that you can lie so long as it’s … against abortion or against the left.”

He added: “What (Liz Cheney) is being removed for is making it uncomfortable and being consistent — and God bless her for having the consistency to tell the truth.”