Scott Freeman

I am an INFJ.

Does this sound like me? What do you think?
Beneath the quiet exterior, INFJs hold deep convictions about the weightier matters of life. Those who are activists — INFJs gravitate toward such a role — are there for the cause, not for personal glory or political power.

INFJs are champions of the oppressed and downtrodden. They often are found in the wake of an emergency, rescuing those who are in acute distress. INFJs may fantasize about getting revenge on those who victimize the defenseless. The concept of ‘poetic justice’ is appealing to the INFJ.

“There’s something rotten in Denmark.” Accurately suspicious about others’ motives, INFJs are not easily led. These are the people that you can rarely fool any of the time. Though affable and sympathetic to most, INFJs are selective about their friends. Such a friendship is a symbiotic bond that transcends mere words.

INFJs have a knack for fluency in language and facility in communication. In addition, nonverbal sensitivity enables the INFJ to know and be known by others intimately.

Writing, counseling, public service and even politics are areas where INFJs frequently find their niche.

Link here.

Other interesting tidbits:

• I am caught between my conviction to speak and the consequences of saying what I feel (Very true)
• My propensity for thought makes me appear aloof and unapproachable (true)
• I am an idealist (really? I thought I was a cynic. Go figure.)
• I am well-suited to teaching or “religious leadership.”
• I can withhold criticism or disagreement. (This is true, although Tracy might disagree.)
• Only 2% of people are INFJ’s.
• I can be hard to get to know, although I have a deep, complicated personality.

Famous INFJs:

Jimmy Carter
Gandhi
Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Nelson Mandela
Mel Gibson

Pardon this entry but I find it fascinating. Many people wonder how ministers can be introverted. In many ways, I feel it is the only way I can do what I do.

What about you?

• For the first time in memory I do not have a team in the Final Four.
• I have had the stomach flu three times in my adult life.  Each of those have been since I moved to the pulpit.  Each time has occured late on a Saturday night, keeping me from preaching the next day.  A burden for me, a blessing for my congregation?
• Is it just me, or is there an overwhelming number of men in the Churches of Christ with goatees?  Tracy thinks I am crazy but I saw a large number of men sporting the “goat” at Tulsa this past week.
• This was the first time at Tulsa I didn’t buy a bunch of books.  I had a hard time endulging my reading jones while passing by all of the missions and relief efforts that could use my money so much more.
• And what is with the suits and herbal remedies?  That fits into soul-winning, how?
• One question that emerged for me this weekend:  Am I so self-absorbed that my idea of sacrifice is nothing more than delayed gratification?  More on that to come.
• Best Speaker of the week? Mark Moore, hands down.  Fascinating stuff.  Check out his notes from the workshop on his main page.
• It looks like the BBC is coming to film me on April 9th.  15 minutes ends on April 10th.

Well, the family and I have just returned from spending the last few days in Tulsa for the annual workshop. I will have some thoughts in the coming days, but right now I have nothing good to say.

Oh, the workshop was great. But it was filled with diarrhea and puke.

All my girls have been sick. Now, Tracy is in bed with what looks like a bad case of flu.

Keep us in your prayers.

Come to think of it, I ain’t feeling too hot myself.

So, as many of you know I was recently featured in an article in the Dallas Morning News regarding the Evangelical Climate Initiative. I appreciated the opportunity to share some of my reasoning for breaking with some of my misconceptions about global warming and waking up to the damage we are doing to our environment and, by extension, the havoc it wreaks upon the poor (See Katrina, pollution, landfills, etc).

I figured this would be a one-shot deal: a nice article with a mention of me and a picture. But this baby has legs.

I got a call this morning from the BBC. Yes, that BBC. Actually, the lady I talked to was one of the producers for one of the best documentaries of the last few years, Frontline: Ghosts of Rwanda.

She did a pre-interview with me and said that the BBC is planning a documentary on the environment with a segment devoted to Evangelicals and their growing concern over this issue. Texas is one of the states they are planning on visiting and they might be interested in coming to interview me for the documentary.

There may not be anything come of this but it is an honor to be considered for this. It’s hard to believe that my opinion or thoughts on this matter at all. But maybe we will begin to think about how our actions affect our world and, more importantly, how it affects the least of these.

To God be the glory.

Prison Break and 24 back-to-back.

Can there be another 2 hour segment of television better than this? If so, tell me. How could you watch anything else?
The Scofield brothers frantically trying to break out of Fox River followed by Jack Bauer once again saving the world single-handedly.

I’ll be a basket case come 9 PM.

Thanks for migrating over to my new site. Bear with me over the next few weeks as I learn the ins and outs of designing a web page. Some notes as we all get acclimated:

• There is a huge learning curve to WordPress. If I linked to you previously but you don’t see a link here, don’t worry. I’ll get that fixed this week.
• Also notice that I have updated my friends and family with some new blogs.
• You can also notice that I have added categories on the right-handed column. One category is a list of my favorite posts. Here you can see my favorite writings. I think you can also get a good idea from the categories the things I like to write about.
• One reason for the switch to this site is that I will soon have the power and capacity to podcast my sermons. Keep a lookout for that.
• One other new feature is Just In Case You Ever Wondered.  Over the next couple of weeks I will add further information about myself if you have any interest in what makes me tick.
• I’m open to any suggestions to make this a better site.  Give me your constructive input.

Everywhere you turn today there are allegations and hints of improprieties. It seems that somewhere along the line we turned into a society that produces a precipitous amount of scandal.

Here is just a partial list of the things in recent months that have fallen under the mantle of suspicion and scandalous behavior:

• Barry Bonds and the rampant use of Steroids in Major League Baseball
• Crash winning the Best Picture Oscar and the resultant cries of homophobia for those who thought Brokeback Mountain deserved the prize.
• The ongoing Enron trials and allegations of corporate malfeasance among Fortune 500 Companies such as Worldcom and Tyco.
• Abu Ghraib and torture
• Lobbying improprieties

The list could go on and on of the crimes and misdemeanors of public figures. The more visible that you are the more tragic your fall will be when it occurs.

Part of that is due to our insatiable curiosity when it comes to the trials and struggles of others. We rubberneck, we gawk and we discuss. It’s a 24 hour news cycle. If it bleeds it leads. And if it smells it sells.

There have been many scandals in my life. I have seen seemingly countless leaders, ministers, politicians and sports figures fall. That is one of the reasons that so many in my generation have struggled trusting public figures. We have felt betrayed and lied to.
But there is one scandal that trumps them all: the Scandalon.

A Scandalon is a stumbling block. It is something that caused people to fall and to flounder.

It can be something so small as an irregularity in the sidewalk.

The message of Jesus. His Good News. His life and His death are the ultimate scandalon. The beauty and the power of the message of this God in the Flesh is just how almost unbelievable it is.

That God would come and lower himself to the status of man, endure humiliation and torture is unthinkable. But He did.

And because He did, we are forced to look into our own lives and see the scandal of sin, to recognize our own moral bankruptcy. For we are scandalous people:

• We are juiced on our own pride and ego.
• We are guilty of our own hatreds and prejudices.
• We have lied, cheated and stolen far too often.
• We are sinners.

And we must look at the Christ and abandon our own pride. Lay aside our ego and confess that He is Lord. We must cling to Him as the sole hope for our lives.

And for many to do that is scandalous. It is unthinkable.

It means dying to self. And that is a tall order. Instead, oftentimes, we hide behind our meager defenses, offering excuses for our offenses that provides little justification of our behavior.

Let us look at the Scandalon. Let us live. Let us leave behind our attempts to be good, holy and right and allow Him to be good, holy and right through us. Maybe we in the church need to be a little more offended.

Offended by our ego. Offended by our self-righteousness. Offended by our sins.

Scandalon

Michael Card

The seers and the prophets had foretold it long ago That the long awaited one would make men stumble
But they were looking for a king to conquer and to kill Who'd have ever thought He'd be so weak and humble

He will be the truth that will offend them one and all A stone that makes men stumble
And a rock that makes them fall Many will be broken so that He can make them whole
And many will be crushed and lose their own soul

Along the path of life there lies a stubborn Scandalon And all who come this way must be offended
To some He is a barrier, To others He's the way For all should know the scandal of believing

Welcome to my new website. Please set your bookmarks accordingly. If you would, leave me a comment to let me know you found the new site.