Where does your worry find rest?
I have a little confession to make. When things get stressful in life, in thought life, in pace of life, in cost of life I have found myself taking refuge in T.V. I don't know about you, but sometimes it is so nice to sit down and and just veg for a while. When there is to much worry, when there is too much to do, when you have no money to do anything else, just turn on the TV and turn off your brain. I don't have to worry, I don't have to be doing something else, I don't have to worry about the self control of not spending money, because I'm not anywhere to spend money. I'm just there on my couch in la la land. And we can take entertainment with us anywhere now. With our smart phones we can watch netflix where ever we go. If the signal isn't good enough there are always audio books. This same media could be used to teach us about God to experience him. But do we really use it for that? Really...do you...be honest.
In 1 Timothy chap 6 there is a great deal of counsel about money. Paul exhorts Timothy not to chase after money as a man of God he is to keep himself from these pursuits. Paul goes on to give Timothy instruction to command the rich to place their trust in God not in their wealth. I was having a hard time relating to this idea sense I really don't have all that much money. I don't really feel secure in finances. I do have a hard time sometimes finding what ever creative way I can think of to make ends meet. There are times when I obsess about it and this is a pursuit of money which distracts from placing my trust in God to be sure.
But what I do have is entertainment. What I do have is a couch and a TV. What I do have is food in the fridge, well most days anyway unless I haven't been to the store for a while. When things get stressful I turn to these for sources of comfort and place my trust in them to bring me peace. When finances are hard to come by or the pace of life is just to stressful, I find repose in media. Doesn't the bible say something about God offering us a peace the world cannot understand? So while I might not be looking to wealth of dollars as the support of my life, I do tend to go somewhere other than God for the peace in my life.
The problem of course is that it never satisfies. When the TV is turned off the stress is all still there. There is no lasting peace, it was only a distraction. Paul goes onto tell Timothy to trust in God because he gives us all we need for our enjoyment. To serve others through good deeds and generosity. These are the teachings he is commanded to share with the wealthy.
God can be the source of my enjoyment? Yeah, he can. I can also give generously of my time and do good deeds with the time I would be vegged out with the TV. And in this case I don't think if means do more or make my pace of life more stressful. But rather to find peace and enjoyment in God, a source that will last. To rest in God. I recall a little family getaway to the beach just a couple of weeks ago; walks on the beach and reading a good book, which drew me all the closer to God. Yes I still listened to music and audio books on my walks, but there was a different content in those few days and a deeper peace and enjoyment.
May we find ways to trust God with all different aspects of our lives today. Financially to be sure, but also for peace, rest, and even...enjoyment.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Lots and lots of sisters (1 Timothy 5)
Honor younger women as sisters, with all purity!
I remember asking a friend of mine when was it that the evil of pornography had become apparent to him. He told me it was when he had daughters of his own. He knew then he would never want someone staring at them from the other side of a computer screen in all the positions and situations he had scene so many other women. As I think about it now I pray my daughter never ever finds herself in any of the pornographic images that have passed through my life.
Don't get me wrong sexuality is created by God and is a holy and wonderful gift to marriage. But is has been distorted so badly through the mess of pornography and the entertainment industry in general. I mean really! God created man in his image, male and female he created them (Gen 1). Shortly after that the bible describes the first marriage of man and woman coming together to be one flesh. (And we know scripture is talking about marriage, because Jesus uses the same phrase when talking about divorce. We also know it is talking about sex, because paul uses the same phrase when talking about uniting yourself with a prostitute. Just in case someone out there is rationalizing.)
Man and woman created in the image of God then uniting in marriage to be one flesh. Oneness is one of God's obvious attributes. The trinity, Jesus' prayer for his disciples to be one with him as he is with his father, Paul says the mystery of oneness has to do with Christ and the Church. When man and woman unite together in oneness this is one of the times they are reflecting the image of God the most. No wonder the Devil wants to distort marital oneness as much as possible.
Ok, let me get off of my soap box for a moment and come back to 1 timothy. Chapter 5 begins with the way we are to treat others. Older men as fathers, young men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters. Paul says a little later in the chapter that not taking care of our family is worse than denying the faith. So we are suppose to take care of our family...and everyone is our family. I don't want to lessen the weight of needing to care for our immediate family that Paul brings out in this passage. I just want to highlight something in light of the previous discussion.
I have heard it said the wake up call for pornography is to realize the woman on the screen is somebody's daughter. It is also true of the men being someones son. They are real people and if we were to place our children in their place we shutter to think of it. This is true!
It is also true that we all are the children of God. And all of those women out there...men...are to be treated as your sisters. And all of those men out there...women...are to be treated as your brother. So if the shutter factor of your children in those situations is not enough or if you don't have children yet. Then perhaps the gross out factor of naked pictures of your siblings will be the wake up call that you need.
I know there is much more that goes into addictions and recovering from them. But let this be perhaps the wake up call to shake you out of the stupor in which you may be stuck in. TREAT YOUNGER MEN AS BROTHERS AND YOUNGER WOMEN AS SISTERS WITH ALL PURITY!!!
OK, I'm done. If anyone is struggling in this particular addiction, please get help. There are good resources out there. And just as Paul later in the chapter admonishes us to care for our families, let's lift one another up in this issue...please...love, support, and accountability are so, so, so important!
Ok, I'm really done now.
I remember asking a friend of mine when was it that the evil of pornography had become apparent to him. He told me it was when he had daughters of his own. He knew then he would never want someone staring at them from the other side of a computer screen in all the positions and situations he had scene so many other women. As I think about it now I pray my daughter never ever finds herself in any of the pornographic images that have passed through my life.
Don't get me wrong sexuality is created by God and is a holy and wonderful gift to marriage. But is has been distorted so badly through the mess of pornography and the entertainment industry in general. I mean really! God created man in his image, male and female he created them (Gen 1). Shortly after that the bible describes the first marriage of man and woman coming together to be one flesh. (And we know scripture is talking about marriage, because Jesus uses the same phrase when talking about divorce. We also know it is talking about sex, because paul uses the same phrase when talking about uniting yourself with a prostitute. Just in case someone out there is rationalizing.)
Man and woman created in the image of God then uniting in marriage to be one flesh. Oneness is one of God's obvious attributes. The trinity, Jesus' prayer for his disciples to be one with him as he is with his father, Paul says the mystery of oneness has to do with Christ and the Church. When man and woman unite together in oneness this is one of the times they are reflecting the image of God the most. No wonder the Devil wants to distort marital oneness as much as possible.
Ok, let me get off of my soap box for a moment and come back to 1 timothy. Chapter 5 begins with the way we are to treat others. Older men as fathers, young men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters. Paul says a little later in the chapter that not taking care of our family is worse than denying the faith. So we are suppose to take care of our family...and everyone is our family. I don't want to lessen the weight of needing to care for our immediate family that Paul brings out in this passage. I just want to highlight something in light of the previous discussion.
I have heard it said the wake up call for pornography is to realize the woman on the screen is somebody's daughter. It is also true of the men being someones son. They are real people and if we were to place our children in their place we shutter to think of it. This is true!
It is also true that we all are the children of God. And all of those women out there...men...are to be treated as your sisters. And all of those men out there...women...are to be treated as your brother. So if the shutter factor of your children in those situations is not enough or if you don't have children yet. Then perhaps the gross out factor of naked pictures of your siblings will be the wake up call that you need.
I know there is much more that goes into addictions and recovering from them. But let this be perhaps the wake up call to shake you out of the stupor in which you may be stuck in. TREAT YOUNGER MEN AS BROTHERS AND YOUNGER WOMEN AS SISTERS WITH ALL PURITY!!!
OK, I'm done. If anyone is struggling in this particular addiction, please get help. There are good resources out there. And just as Paul later in the chapter admonishes us to care for our families, let's lift one another up in this issue...please...love, support, and accountability are so, so, so important!
Ok, I'm really done now.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Tip jars and christianity (1 Timothy 4)
Does what we place in the tip jar say anything about our faith?
As I write this blog in the gloomy morning light of a rainy day in Portland, I'm sitting in a local coffee shop. I walked in today and stepped up to the counter. I ordered my drink and picked out a cheddar bagel. I gave them my card and the slip came back to me with space for a tip. I reflexively crossed out the tip line and left the total unaltered. I mean its just a cup of coffee, it takes them a minute or two and I served myself the bagel. Why would I need to give a tip? I began to think about this as I sat down at my little table and plugged in my laptop.
I was reminded of the Chinese restaurant my wife used to work at when we were in seminary. They had a lunch buffet, a pretty good one too. There was a professor from the seminary who used to frequent the buffet on a fairly regular basis. Laura knew him and greeted him when he came in. When she went into the back of the restaurant the owner pointed out the professor and called him the 52 cent man. Laura gave her a quizzical look and the owner explained. "Whenever he comes in for the lunch buffet he rounds up his check to the nearest dollar which is only 52 cents." This was the whole amount of the tip he left. The owner didn't know who he was, she didn't know he was a professor at the seminary, she didn't know he was a public evangelist who lived his life proclaiming Jesus. All she knew him by was the 52 cents he left as a measly little tip.
In 1 Timothy chap 4, Paul continues to instruct his young mentee in what it means to be a good minister to his community. The chapter finishes with the statement, "Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do you will save both yourself and your hearers." Watch both your life and your doctrine Timothy. Not just your doctrine, not just your life. You have to watch them both. What if Timothy taught the love of Christ and then when he went to his local seafood restaurant and left a 52 cent tip. In the 1st century that might have been a lot, but you get my point.
Jesus lived and taught a life of generosity. Sell all you have and give the money to the poor, if you are commanded to walk one mile carrying a soldiers pack walk two instead, if a man asks for your coat give him your shirt as well. Paul tells Timothy to watch both his doctrine and his life. The two must meet, live together, become one. "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young," says Paul, "but be an example in speech, life, love, faith, and purity. Devote yourself to the teaching and preaching of the word of God." They are both there life and faith enmeshed with one another. Faith and the tip jar are related.
Rob bell has said one of the exhortations in the 1st century was, may the dust of your rabbi cover you. May you be close enough to your rabbi that the dust of his feet covers you. May we walk today covered in the teachings of Jesus. May our life be covered in our faith.
If you would excuse me I have a date with the tip jar.
As I write this blog in the gloomy morning light of a rainy day in Portland, I'm sitting in a local coffee shop. I walked in today and stepped up to the counter. I ordered my drink and picked out a cheddar bagel. I gave them my card and the slip came back to me with space for a tip. I reflexively crossed out the tip line and left the total unaltered. I mean its just a cup of coffee, it takes them a minute or two and I served myself the bagel. Why would I need to give a tip? I began to think about this as I sat down at my little table and plugged in my laptop.
I was reminded of the Chinese restaurant my wife used to work at when we were in seminary. They had a lunch buffet, a pretty good one too. There was a professor from the seminary who used to frequent the buffet on a fairly regular basis. Laura knew him and greeted him when he came in. When she went into the back of the restaurant the owner pointed out the professor and called him the 52 cent man. Laura gave her a quizzical look and the owner explained. "Whenever he comes in for the lunch buffet he rounds up his check to the nearest dollar which is only 52 cents." This was the whole amount of the tip he left. The owner didn't know who he was, she didn't know he was a professor at the seminary, she didn't know he was a public evangelist who lived his life proclaiming Jesus. All she knew him by was the 52 cents he left as a measly little tip.
In 1 Timothy chap 4, Paul continues to instruct his young mentee in what it means to be a good minister to his community. The chapter finishes with the statement, "Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do you will save both yourself and your hearers." Watch both your life and your doctrine Timothy. Not just your doctrine, not just your life. You have to watch them both. What if Timothy taught the love of Christ and then when he went to his local seafood restaurant and left a 52 cent tip. In the 1st century that might have been a lot, but you get my point.
Jesus lived and taught a life of generosity. Sell all you have and give the money to the poor, if you are commanded to walk one mile carrying a soldiers pack walk two instead, if a man asks for your coat give him your shirt as well. Paul tells Timothy to watch both his doctrine and his life. The two must meet, live together, become one. "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young," says Paul, "but be an example in speech, life, love, faith, and purity. Devote yourself to the teaching and preaching of the word of God." They are both there life and faith enmeshed with one another. Faith and the tip jar are related.
Rob bell has said one of the exhortations in the 1st century was, may the dust of your rabbi cover you. May you be close enough to your rabbi that the dust of his feet covers you. May we walk today covered in the teachings of Jesus. May our life be covered in our faith.
If you would excuse me I have a date with the tip jar.
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