down and dirty scrap booking – man style.
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Monthly Archives: October 2007
I understand that having pictures depicting Jesus is often an emotional need to “feel” connected to him. However, I believe we need to be very careful when using pictures that represent Jesus.
Imagine having a picture of another women in your wallet because you don’t have a picture of your wife with you. I don’t think that would sit so well with your mate. Why would that sit well with Jesus? And, when we enter into the next life, how embarrassing would it be for us to run right pass Jesus because we are looking for some bearded Anglo guy.
Wisdom suggests that we use caution with our icons.
I tripped upon this blog entry from a man that worked me pretty good last year with his book The Myth of a Christian Nation
He continues to throw me in the corner and pummel me.
Again, read a snippet of the entry and click on the link at the bottom if you want to read more.
“It’s hard to deny that capitalism is the best economic system around. It creates wealth far better than feudalism, communism, socialism or any other system one could name. But for all its advantages, capitalism has one major drawback that Kingdom people need to be concerned about: it needs
So it’s not surprising that people raised on capitalism tend to be greedy. We of course don’t think of ourselves as greedy, for it’s hard for fish to notice the water inside their own aquarium. But the evidence is all around us. people to stay perpetually hungry for more. If Americans as a whole ever followed Paul’s instruction to be content with basic food and clothing and not pursue wealth (1 Tim. 6:6-11), the system would come to a grinding halt. The undeniable truth is that capitalism runs on greed.” read more
I thought this was worth posting. If you like what you read here, you can go to the source. The link will be below.
Leader’s Insight: Living with Less
Leading believers to embrace a simpler life (and 3 key questions to get us there).
Everywhere I go these days, big is in. My combo meal is super-sized, my SUV is third row, and the TV of my dreams is 62-inch plasma. We Americans are big eaters, big spenders, and big wasters. Even our churches are into big, owning big malls and even bigger coliseums in order to accommodate big crowds and enable big growth. Like the population at large, we Christians seem to have a growing acceptance of the bigger is better credo.
But all this growth might be creating some big problems.
Our society and systems seem unable of handling the never-ceasing expansion of want and need. Our souls are groaning and the planet is buckling beneath the collateral damage of growth. Landfills are full, the air is thick, and we cannot drink from many of our streams.
In light of our growing problems, maybe the church should give small a chance. I propose that ministry leaders are just the ones to help Christ followers exchange big for small. After all, leaders are supposed to help usher others toward something better (not just something bigger), so maybe we should start ushering folks toward living lives that are less hectic, less cluttered, less selfish and less toxic. And maybe instead of a big ad campaign advertising “LESS!” we should start living with less ourselves. Instead of the pulpit, maybe some personal choices would help slow down the growth, bring some sanity to our lives and make the world more livable.
Divine Reading -It seems as if this ancient discipline is becoming popular again – or at least to Christian protesters (protestants that is). It is showing up a lot these days in my neck of the woods. Just yesterday I experienced it at a student gathering and then again at a group that met at a home.
Personally I have used it for small group gatherings for some time. I see real value in this spiritual discipline and believe it should be practiced.
Yet, I am a bit concerned that it may be the “cool” thing to do right now – like a faddish way of wearing pants.
I hope we stay away from a “consumption” attitude to this important discipline.
