Studies by the NIMH tell us that almost 1 in 5 people has an anxiety disorder. Whether it’s a specific phobia or just a free-floating sense of worry, 18.1% of people this year will deal with worry that is so severe it will disrupt their lives.

Even if you don’t fit in to the 1/5 who could be clinically diagnosed, you probably have some worries and anxieties that bother you from time to time. There is no shortage of “cures” out there today for anxiety… from dietary modifications to exercise programs, from counseling to yoga, from self-help books to medications.  However, I’ve found that one of the most effective cures for my anxiety licks my feet every morning.  It’s Marley, my dog.

And I’m not alone in benefitting from a four-legged friend. Check out what Donald Miller says about his dog, Lucy, in his upcoming book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, which is set to come out on Sept. 2.

I’ve noticed they don’t make self-help books for dogs. Lucy just is, and she’s fantastic at it. I can’t say for sure, but I don’t think she ponders a better way to be a dog. Dogs don’t read books about how to be dogs. They say humans are the most evolved of animals, and I suppose our bridges and furniture prove this to be true, but sometimes when I watch Lucy look for the toy I’ve hidden, her little body joggling behind her wide eyes, I wish life could be so pleasurable for the rest of us.

It’s harder being a human than it is being a dog. When I’m at the dog park, I never know what to say to the other dog owners. We’re all there so our dogs can exercise, but the awkward conversation kills me. The other day I asked what kind of dog one of the owners had and they said something, and then I asked the other and they said their dog was a Lab like mine. I said Lucy looked like a seal when she’s wet and her ears are pinned back, but nobody laughed. And I stood there feeling uncomfortable while our dogs sniffed each other’s poop without the slightest hint of self-awareness.

And part of me feels like God is more pleased with the dogs’ interaction than He is with ours, as though they are the ones having fun with the scenes He gave them, and we are still trying to figure it out.

Who would have thought that the great Donald Miller would struggle in social situations? But, time and time again in this book he opens his life enough to let us see that even famous authors struggle with worries about the future, worries about their success, worries about what other people think, and on and on the list goes.

Maybe he’s right, though. Maybe dogs understand living better than we do. Cats have got it down.  The birds get it.

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? (Matt. 6:26, NIV)

Next time you’re overcome with worry, learn from the birds. Take notes on how your neighbor’s cat can play in the backyard for hours.  Borrow a page from your dog’s playbook.  Go for a ride, and watch the sheer joy of a puppy with his head out the window, tongue flapping in the wind.  Could this be what God wants for His children too?  Marley says, “Yes!!!”

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Check out my second anniversary present: a Schlagwerk 2-in-1 Deluxe Cajon!  I haven’t gotten it perfectly tuned just yet, but I think it’s still pretty cool!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Cw__LttcWQ

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Iran has dominated the news for a week now. But I have to admit, I haven’t checked with the usual pundits yet.  I don’t know what I’m supposed to think.  I’ve been slammed with work and then was out of town for a wedding.  All I’ve seen is straight news reporting, so I have to decide what to think for myself for once.  This should be interesting…

First, we have to approach this issue humbly. I can’t say with any certainty that the election was or was not rigged.  It’s possible (although not likely) that the results were exactly right.  We just don’t have enough information.  With the government of Iran forbidding the use of cameras on the street, kicking reporters out of the country and shutting down its people’s access to the Internet, getting a true look at the situation is hard.

That’s the real problem:  This country won’t be transparent. Even though Iran is basically a theocracy where “separation of church and state” is not exactly a popular phrase (the Ayatollah and the Islamic Guardian Council calls the shots, after all), they’re still technically a democracy.  But because of this situation, its people think that even the illusion of democracy is being been taken away from them.  And all they want is a voice.

The people have serious questions, but the government’s answer is basically, “Trust us.” The rulers say it was a landslide victory.  Nevermind that the election was called before it was possible to even hand count the paper ballots.  Nevermind the opposition lost in his own hometown and the center of the movement.  Nevermind the bullying that went on at election sites or the way some locations conveniently ran out of ballots (and yet at least 50 cities somehow recorded more votes than registered voters).  Nevermind the dramatic difference between election results and the polls.

So I really empathize with these people. Again, I’ll remind you that the talking heads on TV haven’t told me how I should feel, so I don’t know if I’m aligning myself with Democrats, Republicans, liberals or conservatives on this one.  I just want what’s right for these people.

But the question is:  What can be done now? President Obama is supposed to address that today at 12:30.  He’s wisely stood quietly on the sidelines since the June 12 election.  Interfering would only fuel the fire of the Iranian government, which is already alleging that Westerners are the cause of all this.  Plus, if you have to pick your battles wisely, Obama has to wonder if this is a fight worth picking.  I mean, the “revolutionary,” Mousavi, is not all that different from the current ruler, Ahmadinejad.  He has already been leader from 1981 to 1989, you know.

It poses an interesting conundrum:  Can the right thing to do and the wise thing to do ever be different? I think it’s the right thing to support the right for the people’s voice to be heard in a “democracy.”  But the wise thing to do may be nothing, considering how interfering might affect the United States’ international relations and security.

At least we know how to make democracy work right in the U.S. I mean, it’s not like we’ve ever had an election where the person who won the popular vote didn’t win. And it’s not like we’ve ever had an election that had to be decided by a Guardian Council (aka the Supreme Court).

Oh, wait…

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I just finished a sermon called “Something for Nothing.” In it, I examined Paul’s advice on how to run a good race.  Basically, he gave the church this reminder:  You have to train to run well.  It makes a lot of sense.  The question is, how do we train to run the Christian race?

http://vimeo.com/5211634

As usual, I attempted to have one point instead of three or six or sixteen. (People only remember one thing, so why not carefully select what you want them to remember and apply and then preach on that, rather than scatter a bunch of loosely related ideas out there that no one will remember?)  After I selected my one point (training is about self-control), I hit it over and over and over again from different angles, using Andy Stanley’s preaching model:

• ME – I introduced myself to the crowd by sharing about my run in the recent 5K race at Wade, where I found out the hard way that when you don’t train for a race, you don’t run well.  You don’t get something for nothing.
• WE – I’m sure you can relate.  We’ve all had those experiences.  In your heart of hearts, you know you don’t get something for nothing in life.  You don’t lose weight without diet and exercise.  You don’t learn to play an instrument without practice.  You don’t improve your golf swing without hitting on the driving range.  It takes investment!  Why is it we never think of the Christian life in the same terms?
• GOD – God has a lot to say about training for the race of life.  In our key passage, I key in on the word, “self-control,” which is the focus of our sermon.  Self-control is controlling yourself — delaying immediate gratification (the fleeting pleasures of sin) for behaviors that help us run a good race in the end.
• YOU – How do you apply Paul’s teaching?  You give your sin nature a black eye as you remind it that you’re the master and will make the best choices.  You must exhibit self-control to train for the race!
• WE – The motivational factor is that we all really have been given something for nothing — namely everything glorious in exchange for our filthy rags.  Although none of us can run a perfect race, Christ did.  And He awards us the crown of righteousness as we cross the finish line.  This great gift should inspire us all to run a great race.

That’s the way I should have preached it, at least. There were some extra points thrown in here and there (too many applications, for example).  And the lines between some sections were blurred and out of order (the ME and WE sections, for example).  So I’m not as thrilled with it as I usually am with my sermons.  But it was still valuable information, and people told me it was good — my best ever, in fact.  While that’s not true (I hope!), it’s still encouraging to hear.

If people can remember and apply it, it’s a win for me.  And I think I passed that test!

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Last night, I saw the strangest thing on TV — color bars. No sitcom.  No news.  No reality show.  Not even an infomercial.  Just color bars.

Do you remember when TV stations used to stop transmitting overnight? I do.  I’ve always been a night person, and I remember lying in bed as the last show went off the air, dreading the appearance of the infamous color bars.  (That was before the days of TiVo, when you could watch whatever you wanted whenever you wanted.)

Nowadays, TV stations almost never go off the air. Instead, they sell overnight time to infomercials and news shows.  BUT… our local NBC affiliate still goes off the air once a week on Sunday nights.  I wonder why.  Surely there’s some money to be made by selling Sham Wows in the middle of a Sunday night just like a Monday night!

What about you?  Is there ever a time when you go “off the air”? Is there a day that you unplug?  Is there a set time when you produce nothing… create nothing… generate nothing… sell nothing… worry about nothing?  Just rest?  Just put up color bars?

For starters, I’m trying to make Sundays a Twitter-free day, a Facebook-free zone, a brief time when the ol’ blogosphere will just have to go without an update. Unplugging for even a few hours is so refreshing.  Maybe that’s part of what a 21st century Sabbath rest looks like.

What’s yours look like?  When do you put up color bars?

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I was incredibly excited about the launch of the new MacBook Pro’s and the iPhone 3GS.  I followed the developers conference live on my iPhone while grocery shopping — at times literally stopping dead in my tracks in the aisles with my jaw dropping to the floor.

Now that the dust has settled, though, it looks like not a lot has changed. All we’ve confirmed is that Apple and AT&T are good at creating a buzz.

First off, let me just say how funny it is to see this at the bottom of Apple’s iPhone comparison page:

For a company that made an ad blasting PC’s for having too much fine print, that’s a whole lot of fine print!!!

And within the fine print is where you’ll find some of my chief disappointments with the new product lines:

• No low prices for existing AT&T customers. Existing iPhone 3G users like myself who are still under contract would have to pay $499 for the new 32 GB iPhone 3GS.  (Some would have to pay as much as $699, but I can’t tell why the difference.)  So much for these great “low prices” they’re advertising.  That’s why I’ll be just sticking with my good ol’ 16GB iPhone 3G for now.
• No voice control for old iPhones. Although a free OS upgrade will be available for iPhone 3G’s like mine, unfortunately, that upgrade does not include voice control.  Apple claims it’s because the 3G doesn’t have the processing power to handle it.  Really?  If that’s the case, then how are a bunch of apps doing it now?  And how did my oooooold Motorola phone do voice commands five years ago?
• No video for old iPhones. The free OS upgrade I’ll be getting also won’t enable video features on my iPhone 3G.  Why?  Jailbroken iPhones have been recording and streaming video for a while now!
• No video calling on new phones. A big disappointment with the new iPhone 3GS is that it doesn’t include a forward-facing camera (for video telephone calls or video conferencing).  That might have made it worth the price to upgrade, and that would be something to truly get excited about!
• No Multimedia Messaging Service yet. And what can you do with that video?  Not much!  AT&T doesn’t have MMS ready to go. MMS?  I had that feature with a generic cell phone company like U.S. Cellular years ago.  Come on!
• No tethering yet. How about tethering?  AT&T is dragging their feet there too.  It’s rumored they want to charge $70/month for unlimited data tethering.  Let’s get real.  That’s twice as expensive as most ISP’s and way less than half the speed.
• No design update. And the iPhone 3GS doesn’t look any different.  No aluminum unibody.  No glowing Apple logo.  No matte black finish.  Nothing exciting or new.

And that’s just my critique of the iPhone.  Don’t get me started on the MacBook Pro’s, which all have non-removable batteries now.   Still no Blu-Ray support.  And although they a modest upgrade in hard drive space and processor speeds available, they still don’t have quad-core processors.   The upgrade to 8GB RAM is significant, but it comes at a hefty premium — $1,000!   And did you realize the 13 inch MacBook Pro has no microphone input?  Yep, that’s right, and the 15 inch model has been robbed of its ExpressCard/34 slot, meaning it’s impossible to add something like eSATA to the laptop (which is should support natively anyway).  Plus, they all look the same (no distinction from high-end to low-end.)  And they lack a lot of the cool features some PC’s now have (integrated biometric security, etc.).

So that’s how I’ve gone from enraptured to enraged overnight… realizing that most of AT&T and Apple’s news just confirmed they’re good at creating a spectacle and not true innovation.  Where is Steve Jobs when you need him!

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People usually have one of three reactions to Twitter:

• Yay!
• Boo!
• Whaaaa?

You either love it or hate it or don’t have a clue what it is.  (For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, Twitter is a mico-blogging service where people post brief updates of 140 characters or less.)

John Piper summarizes several arguments against using Twitter on his blog:

These media tend to shorten attention spans, weaken discursive reasoning, lure people away from Scripture and prayer, disembody relationships, feed the fires of narcissism, cater to the craving for attention, fill the world with drivel, shrink the soul’s capacity for greatness, and make us second-handers who comment on life when we ought to be living it.

But he also points out that there are some positives:

Yes, there is truth in all of that, but instead of boycotting, try to fill these media with as much provocative, reasonable, Bible-saturated, prayerful, relational, Christ-exalting, truth-driven, serious, creative pointers to true greatness as you can.

In the end, John came to the conclusion that because his mission in life is to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things, he would do that in all ways possible, including via Twitter.  (Twitter qualifies as part of “all things,” you know.)

All things were created through Christ and for Christ (Col. 1:16).

So, to tweet or not to tweet?  John chooses tweet.  And so do I.

Like him, you probably won’t see many updates from me like:

• Taking the trash out
• Taking a nap
• Eating lunch

Instead, hopefully you will see thought provoking posts that will cause you to stop and think about living out your faith in the midst of your busy day.  That’s my goal, at least.  Follow me at: http://www.twitter.com/billwhitt

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Wade showed this video to introduce the sermon last week:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8prWAC-XEu4&fmt=22

The chroma key turned out pretty good (considering the key wall was a just a bright blue bed sheet, the camcorder was an EOS 5D Mark II and the keying software was just what was included with Premiere Pro CS4).  The acoustics that led to audio problems were probably the chief shortfall of this video…

Anyway, look for the complete sermon to post by next week and bloopers from the infomercial shoot to post soon too!

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How do people related to each other at your church?  If it’s like the average church, there’s probably a heaping helping of gossip, slander and general malevolence between people who just can’t get along.  What should the church leadership do about this type of strife?  Check out this document from John Piper’s church:

http://www.hopeingod.org/resources/images/107247.pdf

Very wisely, the leadership has set some expectations for how church members should relate to one another.

For example, check out this section on conflict resolution:

• Whenever we are faced with conflict, our primary goal will be to glorify God with our
  thoughts, words and actions (1 Cor. 10:31).
• We will try to get the “logs” out of our own eyes before focusing on what others may
  have done wrong (Matt. 7:3-5).
• We will seek to overlook minor offenses (Prov. 19:11).
• We will refrain from all gossip, backbiting and slander (Eph. 4:29-32). If we have a
  problem with others, we will talk to them, not about them.
• We will make “charitable judgments” toward one another by believing the best about
  each other until we have facts that prove otherwise (1 Cor. 13:7).
• If an offense is too serious to overlook, or if we think someone may have something
  against us, we will seek reconciliation without delay (Matt. 5:23-24; 18:15).
• When we offer a word of correction to others, we will do so graciously and gently, with
  the goal of serving and restoring them, rather than beating them down (Prov. 12:18; Eph.
  4:29; Gal. 6:1).
• When someone tries to correct us, we will ask God to help us resist prideful
  defensiveness and to welcome correction with humility (Ps. 141:5; Prov. 15:32).
  When others repent, we will ask God to give us grace to forgive them as he has forgiven
  us (Eph. 4:32).
• When we discuss or negotiate substantive issues, we will look out for others’ interests as
  well as our own (Phil. 2:3-4). 

Does your church have something like this?  Should it?

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I love church signs… love to make fun of them, that is.  Don’t get me wrong.  I bet there are good intentions behind these cheesy messages.  I’d just like to know what the point is.

My response to most signs (including the ones pictured above) is a groan and a sigh.  But others cause more of a visceral reaction.  A church sign in my town recently said:

“Now, even Darwin believes.”

I guess the thrust behind that is that anyone who believes in evolution is destined to burn in hell forever, at which point they’ll believe in God.  But, as a friend of mine who emailed me about the sign said, “Who can account for another person’s salvation, let alone where he’s spending his afterlife?”

My chief problem with messages like that one is that it’s a message of hate, not hope.  Even if their premise were true, what Darwinian scientist is going to drive by, read the sign, veer off the road into the church lot and ask how to be saved?

It’s ineffective and it’s divisive.  And this particular example misrepresents the Gospel.

According to my reading of the Bible, it’s faith in Christ that secures your position in God’s family, not your stance on evoltion.  You can believe the earth is flat.  You can believe in flying pink unicorns.  You can believe God created the world through the process scientists call evolution.  As long as you accept that Jesus lived the perfect life you couldn’t and died the death you deserved, your place in heaven is secure.

There are plenty of evolutionists who believe in God.  And there are plenty who do not.  But thanks to church signs like this one, those who do not will probably write off churches and never set foot inside their doors.

If that’s what this church was going for… Mission Accomplished!

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Check out my new video tutorial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-CAmJ_Qvbo&fmt=22

In this video, I share how I master tracks using Adobe Audition’s included plug-ins.  Included are tips about:

• What “mastering” is
• Parametric EQ
• Dynamics
• Multi-Band Compression
• Stereo Expansion
• Hard Limiting

Enjoy!  Any tips of your own you’d like to share?

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I got a postcard in the mail today.  A local politician probably spent a good deal of money to get it into lots of people’s mailboxes.  His goal was obvious: “Vote for me!  Vote for me!  Vote for me!”

Unfortunately for him, all the money he spent had the exact opposite result.  What he said ensured there would be no way I’d vote for him.

He said, “I pledge to work for you to… keep windmills [sic]* off East River Mountain.”

You’ve got to be kidding me.  First, let me say I’m not an over-the-top environmentalist.  But I love God’s creation enough to recognize that harnessing the power of renewable resources that don’t pollute like fossil fuels is a always good thing.

Second, I love my state and city enough to care about their future.  And producing this kind of energy is the future.  Taking advantage of our unique location is a key to not only producing clean energy for the world but also jobs and financial income for our city.

This Tuesday, it’ll be tough to decide who I vote for.  I like almost all of the candidates.  But thanks to the $.28 this guy used to mail me a postcard, at least I know I won’t be voting for him.

Give me a break!

*He means wind turbine instead of windmill, by the way…

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Today, I added another nickname to my collection – Rockabilly.

The funny thing is that is was originally used as a derogatory term.  An older person visiting our church told the pastor if he’d just stop with the Rockabilly (rock music led by Billy) and sing “praise choruses” instead, we could double our attendance.  What’s interesting to me is that I got the exact opposite feedback earlier this week from someone who thought our music wasn’t new enough.  One thinks too old.  One thinks too new.  Which one is it?  Who do I listen to?

The answer is, we stick to our vision.  We do what God has called us to do.  And we help people learn why we do what we do.

That doesn’t make it any easier to hear negative feedback, though.  They always told me that you have to have thick skin to be in ministry — especially music ministry.  Over time, it’s gotten easier, but sometimes I worry that there’s a fine line between thick skin and a calloused heart… and that’s where worship starts, after all.

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I use my iPhone for lots of things — email, Twitter, Facebook, games, notes… oh, and phone calls.  But I’ve never done this with it:

 
http://www.newyorker.com/video?videoID=24055494001

Jorge Colombo created a cover for the prestigious magazine, the New Yorker, using nothing but the $5 iPhone application, Brushes.  Cool!

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I just got back from a conference in Atlanta for church leaders called “Drive.”  It’s hosted by North Point Community Church and Senior Pastor Andy Stanley.  Over the course of three main sessions, five breakout sessions and two ministry showcases, I learned a whole lot.

Perhaps more importantly, I had the chance to interact with some very creative and encouraging church leaders.  Taking some time off from the daily grind to be inspired and encouraged goes a long way.

Here are a few of the lessons I learned:

• Vision never changes; plans change all the time — don’t confuse the two
• Your vision should be simple, memorable and portable (e.g., “Make Poverty History”)
• Sometimes you have to redirect volunteers to another area of service that is more appropriate to their skill set and level of commitment
• Healthy staff relations allow people’s good ideas to be used, no matter what their level of seniority, etc.
• Church staffs should have fun because what happens behind the scenes translates on stage

These are just a few of the many ideas I brought back with me… as well as a bunch of cool pictures.  Check them out on my Flickr page!  You’ll see a blacklight show by Breaksk8 (from MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew”), the DJ that opened each session, great speakers and Andy Stanley looking absolutely thrilled to see me!  Check out the full-screen slideshow!

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