Around the Horn – 7.08.10

A $1,000,000,000 Basketball Player?
Incomprehensible to imagine, and quite disgusting to contemplate, but Forbes Magazine is reporting the possibility of LeBron James, “King James,” becoming a ONE BILLION dollar man: The Knicks just finished pitching LeBron James. Their main selling point: You could make a billion dollars playing in New York. You can’t earn anything close to that anywhere else.

There’s No Escaping Doctrine, But Handle It With Care
From Tim Keller: In both “liberal” and “conservative” churches, there is a resistance to an emphasis on doctrine. Often it is put this way: “We are not saved by assenting to propositions, but by obedient trust in God. What matters is being like Christ.” Lloyd-Jones’ response is, in my view, devastating:

One of The Worst Verses in The Bible
Let me introduce you to one of the worst verses in the Bible: For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)  If you’ve been in or around a church for more than two weeks you’re probably tempted to label me a heretic right now. Because that verse is the golden child of the Christian universe. It’s the place we go to in the midst of chaos to reassure ourselves that God has our back. It’s the promise we claim when we’re worried about the future. In fact, it’s probably the most popular promise of God in the entire Bible.

Don’t Shun the Sting
From John Maxwell: English playwright William Shakespeare said, “He is not worthy of the honeycomb that shuns the hive because the bees have stings.”  Is there a “hive” that you’re avoiding because of the pain or difficulty that you believe lurks there?

Livingstone’s Lost Letter Deciphered
The contents of an “indecipherable” letter written by David Livingstone shortly before he met Henry Stanley have been revealed for the first time.  The so-called Letter from Bambarre was scribbled by the Scottish explorer on torn-out book pages in February 1871.

Five Famous Myths About The Birth Of Our Nation
Finally, because I was in the UK for the Fourth, I thought I’d wrap up this Around the Horn with a fun fact entry: Every Fourth of July, Americans celebrate, with parades, concerts, and fireworks, the events that set our nation free from colonial rule. It’s festive and it’s fun, but according to Peter Drummey, a librarian at theMassachusetts Historical Society, much of what we believe is false: 231 years later, our commonly accepted versions of revolutionary events are often more myth than fact.