Showing posts with label Devotional. Show all posts

The Bible Is Not An Owner's Manual

Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2011 by Jim Leave a comment

'1957 Lloyd 600 owners manual' photo (c) 2009, JOHN LLOYD - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Good stuff from Chaplain Mike over at Internet Monk:

The Bible is not an “owners manual for life,” a handbook that instructs us how to be healthy, wealthy, and wise, with well-behaved children and without financial debt. It does not give therapeutic counseling for emotional problems nor does it hold the key to being healthy and fit. You won’t find “15 Steps for Overcoming Discouragement” or how to build a “successful” church or ministry.

In fact, the longer we meditate on Scripture, the more we see it is not really about us at all; that is, it was not given to meet our “felt needs.” Rather it was given to tell the story of what God did to restore his blessing to creation through his Son, Jesus Christ. And it calls us to let him integrate the stories of our lives into that bigger story by his saving grace and mercy.

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Two Things I'm Reading Devotionally These Last Two Weeks of Lent

Posted on Wednesday, April 13, 2011 by Jim Leave a comment

The 4th station of the way of the cross on the...Image via WikipediaStations of the Cross

I'm a big fan of the work of Michael Spencer, the "Internet Monk" who died last year.  I've not been able to read all of his stuff, but, during Lent, I've tried to go back and read some of his older posts. They challenge what is is I believe about the church and how I view my own evangelicalism, which I know doesn't look like the "evangelicalism" I grew up around.  The blog is now being carried on by those who worked and talked and learned and journeyed with Michael.  I'm enjoying the daily reflections on the stations.

Reflections on "The Our Father"

Jennifer Fullwiler is someone I've gotten introduced to lately.  She grew up as an atheist and converted to Catholicism, entering the Catholic church on Easter in 2007.  While she dives into her new faith, she knows what it's like to be outside of it as well. I have appreciated her reflections on The Lord's Prayer.



Do check these devotionals out for yourself if you'd like.  I can highly recommend both of them.

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Looking to God for Help

Posted on Thursday, April 15, 2010 by Jim Leave a comment


Today, before lunch, and after far too long a process for finally getting out the door, our two youngest went outside with me to "shovel" snow.  The sun had finally hit high enough in the sky that our driveway -- or at least what serves as one for us -- had some sunshine on it.  It was only about 32 degrees outside but the sun was warm.  Anyway, I had them "shovel" snow for a while, which really amounted to getting some snow on their little shovels and tossing it almost, but not quite, on their feet.  My main job was trying to make sure they didn't inadvertently hit the other girl with the shovel.
About fifteen minutes into our sunshine and snow, I remembered that there was an old tennis ball right at the edge of the driveway.  It was under the five or so inches of snow we had since last night and I made the search for it into a treasure hunt.  After looking for all of 30 seconds the twins turned to me to find it...which I did.  They were just as excited as if they had found it themselves.  We kicked the old ball around.  While it's nice outside today, that ball had seen better days.  It had been well loved by a dog at some point in the not too distant past.  But it didn't matter to the girls who could kick a little farther than they could throw snow.

While playing, Abigail lost sight of the ball as the snow was just deep enough in places to, kind of, cover it.  She looked for it, turning around and around, saying, "Where's the ball?  Where's the ball?  Where's the ball?"  I kept saying, "There it is," and pointing to its exact location.  "It's right there, Sweetie."  "Abigail, it's over there."  "There it is."  She turned and asked. I told and pointed.  But it wasn't until she actually stopped her asking and turning and looked at me that she should see where I was pointing and find the ball.

We can be like that with our faith.  We have questions.  We have needs.  We seek the treasure God intends for us.  But so often we spin around, trying to rely only on ourselves, not looking to the One who can really help us.

2 Chronicles 20:10-12 puts it this way as Israel faces an enemy:

"And now it's happened: men from Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir have shown up. You didn't let Israel touch them when we got here at first—we detoured around them and didn't lay a hand on them. And now they've come to kick us out of the country you gave us. O dear God, won't you take care of them? We're helpless before this vandal horde ready to attack us. We don't know what to do; we're looking to you." (The Message)

We need to look to God... our ever-present help in time of need.

Interestingly, right after Abigail saw where the ball was, she was done with it and moved on to something else.  Perhaps there's another illustration in there.

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Needing Something Bigger

Posted on Wednesday, April 14, 2010 by Jim Leave a comment


Last night I attended class #11 (out of 13) for Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University.  It's been a good course although the drive into Anchorage on Tuesday nights has gotten old...particularly those weeks where I drive into town on Wednesday.  Well, last night was all about finding the right job for who you are, with all of your interests, passions, and abilities.  And there was one illustration that made me stop and think.  The illustration went something like this:

There was a psychological study done near the site of a college campus to see how much value persons place on money for the work they do.  So the researchers put up fliers on the campus, advertising a job digging ditches at $7 an hour.  The next day, a good number of "starving college kids" showed up to put in a day's worth of hard labor.  They were shown some ground and told to dig a ditch.   None of them, as one might guess, were particularly fond of ditch digging.  But, $7 an hour was more money than they could get in many places at the time.  So the started digging.


During the lunch break their bosses (really the researchers conducting the study) came to them and told them to fill up the ditch--to take all the dirt and rocks they had just removed and put them back in the ditch.  When asked why this was the case, the researchers just told them that $7 an hour was good pay and they should just do as directed.  Filling up the ditch took the rest of the afternoon.


When the ditch was filled and it was time to break for the day, their bosses came and told them that, if they came back the next day they would be paid double, $14 an hour, an extraordinary amount.


The next day only 40% of the workers showed up.  And, on that second day, the same scenario played out.  The workers dug a ditch, filled in a ditch, and were told that the following day they would be paid an additional $7 an hour, bringing their hourly wage up to $21 for unskilled labor.  The following day, another 60% of the workers decided to "ditch" the job--with only 15% of the original workers there on day three of the experiment.


The researchers concluded that money, in and of itself, was not a strong enough motivator to keep persons coming to a job that seemed to have no purpose, no meaning, and was not part of a bigger picture.  Perhaps if they were digging a ditch to put in a cable line or to serve as a drainage ditch that would have made some sense to them and they would have come back to work.  But the promise of good pay wasn't "good enough" for college kids, hungry for money, when they couldn't see the point of what it was they were doing.  They refused to show up.


Now, Dave Ramsey told this metaphor in a class related to finding the right job for yourself.  His point was that money can never be your primary motivator.  A job that is not fulfilling will continue to be so no matter how good the pay is for you.  It's not worth it.  You need to find a job that gives you some purpose, that satisfies you, that aligns with your passions, that connects with who you are as a person, and gives you some meaning in life.  Otherwise, like the college students, you won't want to show up for work.

But the entire time the DVD was playing and Dave was talking, I was thinking about the church.  No matter how good the "pay is" -- eternal life, fellowship, fabulous music, standing in community, knowledge, etc. -- church needs to be a place where we are able to see the larger picture.  We need to see that it has purpose, that it aligns with our passions, that connects with who we are as a person, and gives meaning in life.  That is a challenge for every pastor.  However, it is the challenge for congregations as well.   They need to live their lives as if to show the world that their faith matter for how they live in the world.  They need to live as if their community of faith provides them the "something bigger" in life that they need to be connected with.

Perhaps this is what Jesus means when he talks about the "abundant life" he offers us in John 10:

So again Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

I feel a sermon coming on....  Do I hear an "Amen."

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