As I set here on vacation in Florida, a few of the people who are here with us are watching the season premier of the bachelorette, which has to be one of the worst shows ever conceived; alright I can think of worse ones, but it's close! Now, I admit I have watched a Bachelor episode or two, and I have held my breath as that final rose was handed out, but as I hear this episode playing in the background I am just struck with how wrong the whole concept of the show is. Here's this lady who is basically trying out an endless line of guys, initially judging them on their surface attributes. Then as the show goes on she'll kiss this one, and this one will get a special weekend away with her, and everyone will cry at least once. Then in the end she will pick one of these guys that has turned out to be her "soul mate", hand him a rose, and give him a commitment to maybe someday possibly become engaged to him. Maybe.
I believe that this show illustrates the problem that our culture has with commitment incredibly well. Seemingly in everything we do, we have this fear or phobia of being too committed. We lease cars, we have tract phones, and we move in with the one we "love" instead of getting married to them, just in case. this phobia has even crept into our spiritual lives as well. We have this idea, or attitude that we just want to date Jesus. Nothing serious, just a promise here and there, maybe go to church every now and then but we want to keep our options open, just in case. However nothing could be further from what we are supposed to do, and what we are supposed to be.
Jesus tells us that unless you hate your father and mother, then you can't be a disciple of mine. Meaning that the relationship we have with Christ has to be so far above our most intimate relationships that they look like hate in comparison. Jesus isn't looking for a casual relationship, he is calling us to a deeper, all in commitment that makes everything else pale in comparison. The question is, are we willing to accept?
Monday, May 18, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
misplaced passions
I can't help but wonder at times why people can't seem to get passionate about the things that truly matter. We went to a hocky game in Waterloo last year where we sat beside an older couple who never misses a game. I've been to rallies where huge crowds of people get seriously crazy about the idea of making a fortune in no time at all. People laugh at me when they ask what sports team I follow and I tell them I'd rather watch cartoons. If you are anything like me, I praise God that NBC and ABC have started posting past episodes of shows like LOST and HEROES on their website, or I might never leave the house. I have just been struck this morning by how out of wack this truly is!
As I lead the final song this past Sunday morning, it struck me as sadly funny that (at least from appearances) the majority of the people looking back at me would have rather been anywhere else than where they were. Here we were singing a song of praise about how we want to sing and shout Hallelujah to the Lord, and people looked as though they were going to fall asleep standing up. Now don't get me wrong, I realize that not everyone is as emotional as I can be, I realize that sometimes Saturday night can run late and Sunday morning comes early, but where is the passion of our beliefs? Our faith should be something that we are prepared to die for, after all, a song I once heard claimed that if it's not worth dying for, it's not worth living for; and yet we can't even muster up a little enthusiasm about it? I wonder if it's just that people don't understand what it's all about. That has to be it and my heart mourns for them. They will never know what it is to fully give themselves to something that has eternal value!
I feel like there is more to say about this but I can't find the words.
As I lead the final song this past Sunday morning, it struck me as sadly funny that (at least from appearances) the majority of the people looking back at me would have rather been anywhere else than where they were. Here we were singing a song of praise about how we want to sing and shout Hallelujah to the Lord, and people looked as though they were going to fall asleep standing up. Now don't get me wrong, I realize that not everyone is as emotional as I can be, I realize that sometimes Saturday night can run late and Sunday morning comes early, but where is the passion of our beliefs? Our faith should be something that we are prepared to die for, after all, a song I once heard claimed that if it's not worth dying for, it's not worth living for; and yet we can't even muster up a little enthusiasm about it? I wonder if it's just that people don't understand what it's all about. That has to be it and my heart mourns for them. They will never know what it is to fully give themselves to something that has eternal value!
I feel like there is more to say about this but I can't find the words.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Living like You've won
The other day Bruce Luebbers came over to help me set up the trampoline which my kids have been begging for even before all the snow melted. For the winter months I stored the majority of the trampoline above the garage in a storage place between the rafters; I've also stored a lot of my air soft stuff up there just to keep it out of the way. When Bruce climbed up there to get the trampoline stuff down, he also found my bag of air soft supplies, with the intention of ambushing me when I came out of the house. What he didn't realize was that I had taken out my best guns, one of which was setting just inside my door. SO, here Bruce is trying to ambush me with a puny little pistol and I come out of the house with my shotgun! As you can imagine, this didn't last very long, One because the gun he had chosen to use didn't hardly work; and two, the gun I had really stings when you get hit by one of it's pellets.
The feeling that I had from this really got me thinking about my Christian walk. You see, I knew that Bruce probably wasn't going to hit me with the gun he had, especially when he abandoned the pistol and picked up another gun that didn't work at all. I also knew that what I was using, the gun that I held in my hands was so much better than what he had that I knew the fight was over even as it was beginning. Do you see the corillation here? The Bible tells us that we have power through the Holy Spirit! It tells us that we can do anything through Christ who gives us strength! Jesus himself told his disciples that they would do incredible things when the Holy Spirit came upon them. But when you look at Christians around you today, or when you look in the mirror, is this what you see? Do you see power, do you see joy, do you see victory??? My answer is a big NO. The point is that through the blood of Jesus Christ, and his sacrifice on the cross we have already won the battles we have yet to fight, and it is time that you and I begin to live like it! We must stop justifying why we aren't live the way we're supposed to live, and instead begin to rely on the promises of God's Word to live a victorious life, full of joy, and power! After all when we realize that the weapon of God's Word is superior to anything that will come against us, it makes all the difference!
The feeling that I had from this really got me thinking about my Christian walk. You see, I knew that Bruce probably wasn't going to hit me with the gun he had, especially when he abandoned the pistol and picked up another gun that didn't work at all. I also knew that what I was using, the gun that I held in my hands was so much better than what he had that I knew the fight was over even as it was beginning. Do you see the corillation here? The Bible tells us that we have power through the Holy Spirit! It tells us that we can do anything through Christ who gives us strength! Jesus himself told his disciples that they would do incredible things when the Holy Spirit came upon them. But when you look at Christians around you today, or when you look in the mirror, is this what you see? Do you see power, do you see joy, do you see victory??? My answer is a big NO. The point is that through the blood of Jesus Christ, and his sacrifice on the cross we have already won the battles we have yet to fight, and it is time that you and I begin to live like it! We must stop justifying why we aren't live the way we're supposed to live, and instead begin to rely on the promises of God's Word to live a victorious life, full of joy, and power! After all when we realize that the weapon of God's Word is superior to anything that will come against us, it makes all the difference!
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