Control: (v) to exercise restraining or directing influence over
(n) power or authority to guide or manage
How many times have you seen something along the lines of this: "Take control of your...life, finaces, relationships, bills, waistline, family, hair, dog, ect!"? We live in a society that is all about YOU having EXCLUSIVE and DIRECT control over EVERY aspect of YOUR life. It is your life after all, and the only one you'll get, so why shouldn't you throttle it with your bare hands, twisting every situation into exactly what you want to make yourself happy and satisfied?
In the words of the dastardly Jafar, "The universe is mine to command! To control!"
We all saw how fabulously that worked out for him.
But as Christians, haven't we given up our control? Haven't we put our trust in Jesus Christ, and sworn to do anything and everything that He asks? How many times have we sang:
"Wherever He leads I'll go..."
"I surrender all..."
And countless other songs that pledge with all of our hearts to give up everything and do only what Jesus would have us to do.
But when we're asked to give up some simple pleasure in life, we throw ourselves into intellectual tantrums that rival that of the two year old screaming for candy in Walmart.
For example: Alcohol.
We probably have a chapel over alcohol at least once a semester here at Grace University. It basically consists of this: "If you're 21, you can drink, but don't get drunk. However, while you're enrolled at Grace, we don't want you to drink at all. So we ask you to sign a contract that says you won't." Pretty simple. For the 4 or 5 (or 6 or 7) years that you attend Grace, don't drink alcohol. It shouldn't be that hard, since most of Grace's students are between 18 and 20 when they enroll, and legally should not have had alcohol at that point.
And of course, there are the legalist who will rationalize, "Well, during Christmas break and summer, I'm not technically enrolled at Grace, so I can drink."
Here's what I think: Is it really that big of a deal? Do you really need to drink? No. Do you want to? Yes. Why? Various reasons:
"I enjoy the taste."
"It goes well with this certain dish."
"I'm a social drinker."
These are not compelling enough arguments to justify drinking despite signing a contract that says you won't.
"Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one." Matthew 5:37
I'm not saying that no one should drink ever. What I'm saying is, you said you wouldn't so keep your word. Give up this little bit of control over your life for this short time.
And don't hide behind the mask of "Christian liberty" to justify your doing whatever you want without regard to others.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Hey God, check this out...
Isn't it interesting the language we reserve for prayer? How often do we say "pour into" during a normal conversation? Or use words like "passion," "abundance," or "blessing?" Do we save this language for God in order to honor Him or do we not know how to relate to God in a human way? God became a human at one point, why should we struggle to communicate with Him?
Why do we need formulas for prayer? Is it so hard to sit down with the God of the universe and be honest and tell Him how you feel and what is going on in your life? Why do we need the ACTS model, the TPS, or the hand model to communicate with God? And what does that say to God about how we feel when we talk to Him?
"Gee God, I'd love to talk with you, here's my agenda for this prayer."
What has God done that has made us so insecure that we find it difficult to be honest with Him?
In the United States, we have so many formulas, plans, gimmicks, and accronyms designed to make our Christian walk easier and more convenient. We've placed our spirituality on a "To Do" list along with homework, work, soccer practice, appointments, errands, and projects. It's become another part of our busy schedule, when God should be the driving force and delight of our lives. We're so wrapped up in our facades and plastic, sterile lives that we can't even be real and raw with the Creator who knows us so intimately that He knows our hearts' desire before we even do.
When I come to God, I want to feel the weight of my humanity. I want to see the stark contrast between my God and me, and I want to feel the grace that falls over me and makes me more like Him.
Why do we need formulas for prayer? Is it so hard to sit down with the God of the universe and be honest and tell Him how you feel and what is going on in your life? Why do we need the ACTS model, the TPS, or the hand model to communicate with God? And what does that say to God about how we feel when we talk to Him?
"Gee God, I'd love to talk with you, here's my agenda for this prayer."
What has God done that has made us so insecure that we find it difficult to be honest with Him?
In the United States, we have so many formulas, plans, gimmicks, and accronyms designed to make our Christian walk easier and more convenient. We've placed our spirituality on a "To Do" list along with homework, work, soccer practice, appointments, errands, and projects. It's become another part of our busy schedule, when God should be the driving force and delight of our lives. We're so wrapped up in our facades and plastic, sterile lives that we can't even be real and raw with the Creator who knows us so intimately that He knows our hearts' desire before we even do.
When I come to God, I want to feel the weight of my humanity. I want to see the stark contrast between my God and me, and I want to feel the grace that falls over me and makes me more like Him.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Delay
Delay: cause to be slowed down or delayed; act later than planned, scheduled, or required; stay; stop or halt.
Have you ever been traveling somewhere by plane? It's always a hassle because you have to be at the airport two or more hours before your flight takes off and you have to find someone to take you there (and pick you up, hopefully) or park your car and pay outrageous fees for it to sit there and collect bird poo. Once you've secured a ride and arrived at the airport, you check your bags and hope that it's under the weight limit and will end up in the same destination that you do. You take shuttles and trams to your gate and when you finally arrive with plenty of time to spare, you see those terrible terrible words: FLIGHT DELAYED.
What? Delayed? How can this be? The simple truth is that somewhere along the line someone got held up or something broke, thus resulting in your delayed flight. Of course, you assume it's because some evil airline pilot is out to get you, which is rarely the case, but regardless, you are pretty ticked off at this delayed flight. Now you're going to be inconvenienced and your entire schedule will need to be rearranged. Preposterous.
But...have you ever purposely dragged behind so you could delay doing something? A social gathering, a presentation, a class, homework, anything? Of course you have. We all do. Rarely will someone look forward to an unpleasant event, say, a root canal, with excitement. We, as humans, do not like being uncomfortable and do not like being pulled out of our comfort zones. Even more so in America, we don't like being inconvenienced. So when our flight is delayed, or an important piece of mail gets held up, or we're stuck in traffic, or for some reason we're delayed from going about our typical daily business, we get a little ruffled.
But we have no problem delaying someone else.
How many times has God told you to go talk to this person, go sit next to that person, help that family whose mother is sick, give to this ministry, give that person a ride, volunteer for that outreach ect, all these things to help further the Kingdom of God.....and you delay.
"I'll do it next week."
"I don't know what to say."
"I don't have the resources."
"I'm scared."
Weak. Every one of those is a weak excuse. Why would the God of the universe, the One who holds all things in His hands, ask you to do something if He wasn't going to help you? That doesn't mean you'll find success in all that you do for Him, but that's okay. He doesn't call us to be successful, He just calls us to be obedient.
Delay is a dangerous thing. When your flight is delayed, do you begin to feel anxious and hurried? The same thing happens in real life. Life is short. Severely short. And when we delay doing the things God asks of us, that time is shortened even more. We do not have the liberty to delay.
Just recently, I was made aware of my habit of delaying by someone who doesn't delay. It hit me hard. I push things off all the time, for the same weak excuses that everyone else gives. And I've seen time shorten before my eyes. I've decided I won't let that happen again. When God tells me to reach out to someone, I'm going to do it in His time. That doesn't mean I won't be scared or I won't mess up. I will. But I know my God just wants me to be obedient. His Spirit is more than enough to make up for my short comings. And I know I can't afford to delay any longer.
"Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts." Hebrews 4:7b
Have you ever been traveling somewhere by plane? It's always a hassle because you have to be at the airport two or more hours before your flight takes off and you have to find someone to take you there (and pick you up, hopefully) or park your car and pay outrageous fees for it to sit there and collect bird poo. Once you've secured a ride and arrived at the airport, you check your bags and hope that it's under the weight limit and will end up in the same destination that you do. You take shuttles and trams to your gate and when you finally arrive with plenty of time to spare, you see those terrible terrible words: FLIGHT DELAYED.
What? Delayed? How can this be? The simple truth is that somewhere along the line someone got held up or something broke, thus resulting in your delayed flight. Of course, you assume it's because some evil airline pilot is out to get you, which is rarely the case, but regardless, you are pretty ticked off at this delayed flight. Now you're going to be inconvenienced and your entire schedule will need to be rearranged. Preposterous.
But...have you ever purposely dragged behind so you could delay doing something? A social gathering, a presentation, a class, homework, anything? Of course you have. We all do. Rarely will someone look forward to an unpleasant event, say, a root canal, with excitement. We, as humans, do not like being uncomfortable and do not like being pulled out of our comfort zones. Even more so in America, we don't like being inconvenienced. So when our flight is delayed, or an important piece of mail gets held up, or we're stuck in traffic, or for some reason we're delayed from going about our typical daily business, we get a little ruffled.
But we have no problem delaying someone else.
How many times has God told you to go talk to this person, go sit next to that person, help that family whose mother is sick, give to this ministry, give that person a ride, volunteer for that outreach ect, all these things to help further the Kingdom of God.....and you delay.
"I'll do it next week."
"I don't know what to say."
"I don't have the resources."
"I'm scared."
Weak. Every one of those is a weak excuse. Why would the God of the universe, the One who holds all things in His hands, ask you to do something if He wasn't going to help you? That doesn't mean you'll find success in all that you do for Him, but that's okay. He doesn't call us to be successful, He just calls us to be obedient.
Delay is a dangerous thing. When your flight is delayed, do you begin to feel anxious and hurried? The same thing happens in real life. Life is short. Severely short. And when we delay doing the things God asks of us, that time is shortened even more. We do not have the liberty to delay.
Just recently, I was made aware of my habit of delaying by someone who doesn't delay. It hit me hard. I push things off all the time, for the same weak excuses that everyone else gives. And I've seen time shorten before my eyes. I've decided I won't let that happen again. When God tells me to reach out to someone, I'm going to do it in His time. That doesn't mean I won't be scared or I won't mess up. I will. But I know my God just wants me to be obedient. His Spirit is more than enough to make up for my short comings. And I know I can't afford to delay any longer.
"Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts." Hebrews 4:7b
Saturday, May 9, 2009
An Introduction and Warning
Soliloquy: A dramatic convention by means of which a character, alone onstage, utters his or her thoughts aloud - used to inform the audience about a character’s motivations or thoughts.
If anyone has known me for longer than an hour, they know that I am prone to my own outbursts of soliloquy. It happens at any given moment on a wide range of subjects, whether it's my annoyance at a certain situation, while it is happening at the moment or because I've been stewing on it for some time, my excitement over any random event of my day (finding a Starbucks gift card in my book bag), or my need to be transparent. It is always unpredictable, often appalling, and usually peppered with what I like to think is good-natured and quirky humor.
So welcome to my blog. I don't promise to be consistent and I don't promise to always be entertaining. In the course of this blog you may find yourself offended, confused, or bored. I apologize for none of these things. It's your time, spend it as you choose. Consider this fair warning for the trecharous waters ahead. And don't be afraid to jump ship.
If anyone has known me for longer than an hour, they know that I am prone to my own outbursts of soliloquy. It happens at any given moment on a wide range of subjects, whether it's my annoyance at a certain situation, while it is happening at the moment or because I've been stewing on it for some time, my excitement over any random event of my day (finding a Starbucks gift card in my book bag), or my need to be transparent. It is always unpredictable, often appalling, and usually peppered with what I like to think is good-natured and quirky humor.
So welcome to my blog. I don't promise to be consistent and I don't promise to always be entertaining. In the course of this blog you may find yourself offended, confused, or bored. I apologize for none of these things. It's your time, spend it as you choose. Consider this fair warning for the trecharous waters ahead. And don't be afraid to jump ship.
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