It’s All About Perspective
I have had a long few days at work and will have a few more in the coming weeks. So, when I got home I wanted to relax and just veg out. That is not what I got to do. First I was grateful that my mother offered to make me some eggs and bacon. On a side note, bacon is one of, if not my favorite foods; followed closely by a good pepperoni pizza. As I was starting to sit down to relax my sister asked for some help with building the new vanity for our bathroom. Not what I had wanted to do, but I truly enjoy building things so I was willing to help. After finishing my dinner, yum bacon, and completing as much of the vanity building process as possible before I install it tomorrow I went downstairs to read and relax.
As I began reading my mom and sister began talking. First one, then the other! I was getting annoyed, but decided that it was my own fault for sitting in the family room where they were likely to interact and talk. My sister left and things quieted down, then my mom kept stopping her reading to tell me about the neat things in her book. She had just gotten a new Bible and was stopping every few minutes to tell me about a neat thing in it. First was the timeline at the front, it even had things like the founding of Japan and the invention of false teeth. Next was about something called the harmony of the gospels. It lets you see where the stories in each of the gospels fall in comparison to the events in the other gospels. Finally, she was sharing about the biographies of people found through the Bible in the books the people are central characters in.
If I am going to be honest I was getting annoyed. I had come downstairs to read and relax, and here she was stopping her own reading to talk to me and distract me from my reading. Then God got ahold of my heart and turned it around on me. Here I was sitting calmly and rationally reading Radical and struggling with loving God and living for Him. But there, mere feet form me my mom sat enthralled with God, and the features of her new Bible that could help her grow closer to God. Her sharing was caused by upswells of joy about her love letter from God and the new ways it would help her understand God and his love for her better.
With those thoughts my perspective changed, and I was glad, some might even say happy that my mom was stopping me to share about what was exciting her. This is just a reminder of how important our perspective of events and circumstances can be. Seek God in each moment, ask Him to help you find the perspective that honors Him throughout your day.
Am I a Doer or a Hearer?
James 1:22-25 (ESV)
22But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
This scripture has been bouncing around in my mind for the past few days. I came across it while doing a devotional reading the other day and I have been thinking about it since. Am I a Doer, do I live out God’s Word? Or, am I more of a Hearer, someone who hears God’s Word then continues on living my life as I always have? These questions are magnified as I am reading through two different books that both challenge how we (I) are living out our faith. David Platt’s Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream
Last night we had a Bible study that was talking about chapter 4 in Crazy Love entitled Profile of the Lukewarm. The video we watched to start things off was powerful and asked a tough question. How many of the people who walk through your churches doors each week will you actually see in heaven? This question stands out even more with the release of Rob Bell’s new book that many are probably correctly labeling as having a Universalist prospective.
But with James 1:22-25 rattling in my mind my thought is how well am I living out my faith. Or put another way, if you asked the people who know me how they know I am a Christian would it be because of how I lived, or because I said I was.
Over this past week I have been wondering what I should do about the disasters that hit Japan. I have always wanted to visit the country. I have a love for their culture including their animation, but what can I do? I have been praying for them, as much of the world has, but I want to do more. Is it enough to send some money, should I try to find an aid organization that I could go with to help out first hand, would that make more of a difference, or would the money be better spent by sending it to a known organization like World Vision?
The Problem with Prewriting a Blog Post
I am working to update my blog 3 times a week, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Sometimes I have an idea for a blog and write it out ahead of time. I had one of those moments on Thursday. So I sat down and typed out my thought and ideas to have a post for Friday all ready. I then uploaded my post and set it to automatically publish on Friday.
Friday morning I woke up extra early, got dressed and shoveled my driveway. As I checked the twitter updates I first saw about the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. I reflected that my revelation from the day before made even more sense, prayed for Japan, Hawaii, and any other locations threatened by the tsunami. I got ready and left for a full day of subbing at a local high school. Saturday night I realized that my post had automatically published, but I could have made it more powerful by making a reference to Japan and how my issues seemed much more insignificant in light of the recent tragedies, but it had already published the post.
Now, do I go back and edit my post? Do I republish it once it is edited to try and drive more traffic to it? Or do I let that post stand as it is and move on? What do you think is the best way to handle this situation?
How good do you have it?
Today I am finding myself very frustrated. I am frustrated with a local retail store that I purchased my new MacBook Pro through. I am frustrated with Apple computers. Both of these are leading me to be frustrated with myself as well.
I am frustrated with myself because I realized that if my biggest problem is that my new expensive computer has not come in I really do not have much too be upset about. There are so many larger, more life defining problems for millions of people. Yet I sit here frustrated and upset because my new toy has not come in yet.
I am praying today for God to help me keep my “problems” in perspective, and to reach out and help those who have real problems.
What is Ash Wednesday
According to Wikipedia Ashe Wednesday is
Ash Wednesday is a day of repentance and it marks the beginning of Lent. Ashes were used in ancient times, according to the Bible, to express mourning. Dusting oneself with ashes was the penitent’s way of expressing sorrow for sins and faults. An ancient example of one expressing one’s penitence is found in Job 42:3-6.
And just to show Wikipedia is right on the money here is what Catholic.org had to say
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Season of Lent. It is a season of penance, reflection, and fasting which prepares us for Christ’s Resurrection on Easter Sunday, through which we attain redemption.
I was interested because, I never really understood why we put ashes on our foreheads. Growing up I had them put on me because it was what I was told to do. Then when moved and changed denominations and I don’t remember having ashes put on my head anymore. The church I currently attend does not have an Ash Wednesday service, so with everyone celebrating it I was interested in why it is done.
As I read through the purpose of Ashe Wednesday I find it interesting that the main idea is one of repentance and humility. I wonder how many of the people who go to a service today and then walk the streets with the ashes on their forehead are doing it for that reason, and how many are doing it because of tradition(the “It’s what I’ve always done”).
Do you celebrate Ash Wednesday with a church service/mass? Do you celebrate Lent by forsaking luxury or giving something up? Or, do you have other ways of fostering repentance and humility in your walk with Christ?
A Possible future?
This video was made by Corning, a glass company, so it includes a lot of specialty glass. But, I think their vision for the future is interesting. I know some of what they are showing already has real world working prototypes. Microsoft has already created devices that work very similar to some of what Corning shows, the one that came to mind first was their Surface devices. I know that during a CES keynote a year or two ago Microsoft also displayed a surface device and a PC interacting with a Smartphone (not one made of glass though) like in the video.
So my question is, how long do you think it will be before we see this technology in our everyday lives?
Fear of The Unknown
Another excellent title for this post is “But I like my life how it is”
God has been doing a lot of great things in my life recently. I was given an opportunity to have a long term subbing job for a 5th grade class for two and a half months. I have recently been blessed by being given the opportunity to go from serving God by volunteering on our worship production team to leading and organizing the volunteers for the worship production team. God has blessed my finances as I worked and prayed to get out of debt to be better able to serve Him. And he is starting to open my eyes to the need for more spiritual growth and discipleship from me.
This all sounds great, why would I be writing of a fear of the unknown? It all has to do with a book, well two books, and a stirring in my soul. The books are The book of Acts in the Bible, and Radical
First, from the outset you need to commit to believe whatever Jesus says. As a Christian, it would be a grave mistake to come to Jesus and say, Let me hear what you have to say, and then Ill decide whether or not I like it. If you approach Jesus this way, you will never truly hear what he has to say. You have to say yes to the words of Jesus before you even hear them.
Then second, you need to commit to obey what you have heard. The gospel does not prompt you to mere reflection; the gospel requires a response. In the process of hearing Jesus, you are compelled to take an honest look at your life, your family, and your church and not just ask, What is he saying? but also ask, What shall I do?
If I read the book while subscribing to these two preconditions, what might I have to do, what might I have to give up? I know God has given me so much, so I should not fear what he might ask of me, but I am afraid. I plan to go start reading chapter two in Radical shortly after writing this. While I am afraid, I am also excited for what changes God has in store for me, and where my desire to lean in and grow closer to God and the Holy Spirit shall take me.
Am I Unproductive?
Our people must learn to do good by meeting the urgent needs of others; then they will not be unproductive.
~ Titus 3:14, NLT
This verse was perfect for today. This was the verse I found in my e-mail inbox when I first woke up today from K-Love. It has set my mind racing again because of a book I began to read last night.
I was at a thank you party for some church volunteers last night, and after most of the guests had left there were a few of us left chatting in a small circle. One of the members of the group asked us all if we had read Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream
Now, I have only read the first chapter of Radical, but it hit me hard. I plan to be writing reflections on it as I continue to read. It has really got me thinking about if I take what the Bible, and Jesus in particular, says and apply it in my life. Or do I rationalize what I am told away and think through it and decide that what it really means is different so I am ok? I am both excited and afraid to continue reading this book, maybe you will join me in reading it, and we can have some interesting discussions about what we read.
Term Limits
In talking politics with my family the idea of term limits for our federal representatives came up. In general I like the idea a lot. Sadly there will be members of the House and Senate who work hard and represent their people well who will be phased out if limits are introduced, but the positive aspect of incumbents who are more invested in their own interests (such as passing a health care reform that the people did not want, and last I checked it was supposed to be a government for the people by the people) and padding their pockets being removed from power more than makes up for it. Unfortunately trying to get these limits imposed on the esteemed leadership is a bit of a problem, because they would have to vote on it, and I cannot see them voting to limit their own terms.
One idea I had was that if the American people will get their collective head out of the sand and vote out ALL incumbents in the coming election and continue to do so for the next few years we could turn over the entire representative body (mostly to current politicians toadies and flunkies, but we can hope for better right?) and make it clear that until they are limited in term we will continue to vote them all out. I like this idea, because it doesn’t add any more power to any governed organization, it reminds the politicians that We The People are in charge, and it shows that Americans are paying attention and aware of the political changes happening around and to them.
A second option is state imposed legislation that would limit the term of their federal representatives. This seems like a sound idea, however the Supreme Court has ruled against these limits in the past. In U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U.S. 779 (1995) the court ruled 5-4 that state could not impose qualifications for prospective members of Congress (later expanded to include the House of Representatives) stricter than those in the constitution. On the positive side Justice Clarence Thomas in dissent argued that “The Constitution is simply silent…And where the Constitution is silent, it raises no bar to action by the States or the people.” (findlaw.com) The unfortunate thing is the Supreme Court is even more liberal today than it was in 1995 so the chance of winning a case about this against the president is not very likely.
A final option can be found when we look to the founding fathers.
God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion.
The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is
wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts
they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions,
it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. …
And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not
warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of
resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as
to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost
in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from
time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
It is its natural manure.Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334 (C.J. Boyd, Ed., 1950)
The final option is to rise up as a people and overthrow the corrupt system of government and establish a new revised government that understands it is to serve the people. To serve the people is to put the interests and desires of the public before their own, and we need to remind the House and Senate of this.
Lesson from Luke
Tonight I was reading some from the Bible when my yearly reading plan lead me to Luke 10. Before I began reading I asked God to open my heart and allow me to grasp something new, to have a fire kindled into flame as I read the passages. While I ask this often enough, I find myself struggling more often than not to believe that something will happen. As I was reading the first moment of my dialog with God started when I read:
Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
(Luke 10:9)
Not a big verse, nothing too unusual about it, right? Yes, that is absolutely true, except I was imagining myself taking Christ’s charge for myself and following through with it. I could see myself packing my favorite bag with my toiletries, my Bible, a journal and not much else. But, when it came time to heal the sick, I didn’t know what to imagine. In one image that flashed in my mind I was laying hands on a hurt child and praying. In the next image, I wasn’t praying but wrapping a wound with gauze. I began to think about it, and how healing was often accomplished through prayer and miracle, until we got too smart for God and turned to our own knowledge for healing, and that is what my mind defaults too. I also thought of videos I have seen of people going into an amusement park and praying for healing for people, and my skeptical mind looks at what happens as I doo the latest David Blaine special where I look to see how it was done, to figure out the “magic”. At this point I feel god helped me a bit with this hang up I have had for a while because in my mind I heard the thought “How is it you can read of Christ’s miracles and accept it, believe that he gave his disciples the power to cast out demons and heal others, but when it comes to people in this day and age doing the same thing you cannot believe it could be God?” (I think this is what it was, it is the right idea if nothing else, but I cannot think of the exact phrasing). With that simple thought, I wanted to be praying for the healing of the child, not just wrapping the wound in gauze, I wanted to be praying over my uncle’s cancer, but more importantly praying with him about Christ, and how he died to save us from our sins. So, I have this revelation then continue reading and come to this:
And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
(Luke 10:18-20)
I am claiming these verses, and will be memorizing them and writing them on my heart. Satan shall fall. Christ has empowered us and nothing shall hurt us. The spirits are subject to us. But all of this means so little when compared to the FACT that God has saved my soul, my name is written in heaven!
Thank you God, I can not earn this no matter how long or hard i try, I will never make myself worthy of what you are giving me. Thank You!
Now I am off to finish my reading, I got so excited I had to stop and write this 🙂
Tedward's Ramblings 