The End or Just the Beginning?

Hall Photography

For the past 17 or 18 weeks, I've been taking a "Creative Use of the Computer in Ministry" class. It's been fun learning different tech related things, exploring thoughts and ideas trending toward all things digital, and . . . . growing as a blogger. That was not a result I necessarily anticipated. Blogging has actually been one of the hardest "requirements" for this course but in reality, I think I've grown the most from this activity.

Blogging has been something I've wanted to do for a few years now. I started a blog and had a few posts randomly here and there, but, I was never consistent at it. This course required us to have weekly blog posts (give or take here and there). For me, it's a journal of things I'm thinking about, or, working through. Most of my posts have been something close to the heart. A few have focused on current events. My hope from each has always been to spark some thought and discussion on how to help each other live Godly lives. This blog has done that for me. And for that, it has served it's purpose.

My hope is that I will continue in this venture called blogging. At times it will require me to force myself to write something. I hope you will take the time to ask me now and then how it's going, or, what I'm thinking and kindly suggest that I throw it out there' (Or, maybe just be blunt!) Thanks for reading thus far. I eagerly anticipate your comments and discussion in the future.

Rest

I've been working my way through the "Life Apps" sermon series that took place a few weeks ago at North Point Community Church. Today I listened to Part 4, The Rest App. The series is based on James 1:22 which states; "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." Part 4 is all about the idea of rest. God took a day of rest, why don't we?

In our crazy, fast-paced culture, we don't take the necessary time to rest. I'm as guilty of it as the next person, and, honestly, I'm pretty burned out in a lot of areas right now because of it. In this message, Jeff Henderson talks about how we are an exhausted society and this continued behavior is robbing us of the joy of life and it's robbing us emotionally, physically, relationally and spiritually. He goes on to talk about how our relationships with God and others are enriched when we are refreshed, energized and recharged rather than suffer due to being drained and lacking energy. One statement in particular stood out; "Your life moves to a better place when you move at a sustained pace."

That's so true but often we continue to think we can fit it all in or we're afraid we're going to miss something. Some of these things are even good things, but too much of it can rob us from being effective, joyful, and fulfilled.

Maybe this is something I should be paying closer attention to. Shortly after listening to this message, I read a blog post by our Youth Pastor that touches on a similar subject.

I suppose these two instances are further evidence that it's time to stop listening only . . . . and start doing. (And by doing, at least in reference to this post, that means rest and not more doing!)

Interaction

He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation." That is the charge presented in the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 16, verse 15. 

Photo courtesy of www.parade.com

I recently read an article in Parade Magazine entitled; "2 EGGS, OVR EZ, HLD BCN." The premise of the article was about how some restaurants are allowing people to place their orders via text messaging. I was pleased to see that the article took a direction other than one I was expecting. At first, I thought that the article would detail advances in modern technology, but thankfully, it did not. Now I'm a huge techie nerd, but not everything should jump into the digital age.

This article went into detail about how human interaction is still necessary in our modern society. A subtle glance, an interesting fact, human emotion. These are all often forgotten in our crazy, online culture. It's easy to become isolated, even unaware. But, if we profess to be followers of Christ, we cannot isolate ourselves from the world. We must interact with and engage with it. We can proclaim Christ all day, online, from our homes, and there is a place for that. But, the world needs to see us living it out, in plain view. Maybe it's time we learn to go old school. That's the way Jesus did it.

A Celebration of Death

I couldn't help but read the Facebook and Twitter posts last night regarding the death of Osama Bin Laden. I had mixed emotions. While I agree that he was one of the most evil men in history, I found it hard to "celebrate" his death. So many were singing and chanting "USA" "USA" and yet I wondered what our response as Christians should be? Should it be celebratory? Would Jesus have celebrated this man's death?

Photo courtesy of www2.timesdispatch.com

One post in particular said only this: "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles." Proverbs 24:17 (NASB)

One friend said it this way: "Not to be a kill-joy, but there's only one death I will ever celebrate and that's only because He didn't stay that way!" 

Another article I read said that the CIA watched the raid take place in "real time" from a conference room in Langley. I found that hard to swallow.

I'm sure the response is different from those that had a personal connection to 911. I'm sure the response is different from our Military brothers and sisters. I can't even say that I'm not happy that he's gone. I guess I'm just intrigued by the response.

I'm sure this is and will continue to be a heated debate. I'm not at all discounting the lives lost because of his actions. He was evil, plain and simple. I'm just wondering what the appropriate response should be? I also wonder what will happen now?

Thoughts?

Pre-Conceived Ideas

"Happy Easter Eve!" That was the greeting I received while entering the auditorium to attend Easter celebration services....on Saturday night. We planned to attend with Nancy's family and the majority decided that attending on Saturday night would be the better option for the weekend. I believe there were several reasons for doing so including the idea that there would be more room for someone else on Sunday morning if our whole family didn't take up an entire row. A valid response I suppose. 

For me, I was having a hard time thinking about attending an Easter service on a day other than Easter. Is it really an Easter service that way? What if they do something different than they would do on Sunday morning? What if we miss something cool? What if I miss seeing someone I would normally see on Sunday morning? What if I missed the point?

I think it's easy to get caught up in traditions. It's easy to get caught up in our own pre-conceived ideas about what something in particular should look like. We are all guilty of that. I am guilty of that. Did I turn something so significant as the Resurrection of Jesus Christ into something based on tradition, perception, or, something that shows up on the calendar?

The point is, something as monumental as the Resurrection cannot be contained to one day. Sure, we set aside a certain day to remember it and celebrate it. But, the reality is, we get to celebrate that everyday. Jesus sacrificed His life for us. But it didn't end with His death. He arose and He's asking us to live with Him. How will we respond to that? What will we do with that? Will we set aside one day to remember that or will we be involved everyday?

It's not about one particular day on a calendar. It's about living our lives for Christ and celebrating the fact that He has risen and conquered death. 

So.....Happy Easter Eve. Happy Easter. Happy Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday . . . . you get the point.

Application

Photo from www.northpoint.org

I listened to the first message of a new sermon series going on at North Point Community Church titled "Life Apps." I encourage you to check out this particular message from Andy Stanley here. One of the things that stood out to me that Andy said was this: "Believing is fine; intending to is fine; application and what you actually do is what makes all the difference!" 

This is something I've been contemplating in my own life. I've been trying to determine what my "application" should look like on a regular basis.  The opening scene from the video mentioned above is a montage of different "apps" one can download on their phone in an attempt to seemingly make our lives easier. The point was made though that none of these apps actually make us do anything. They may encourage us or assist us in something, but we actually have to decide to partake of that activity before it can be accomplished.

This correlates to our spiritual lives. There are "apps" to teach, train, equip, etc. But, if all we're doing is studying, believing, and intending to, then we may be missing our opportunities for application. Application not only in our own lives, but in others around us who need to know Christ.  Don't get me wrong; we need to continue to learn and refresh. But, we have to balance our input with output.

This is pretty easy for me to talk about but much harder to apply!

Old Vinyl

I just read an article in the newspaper about a trend among teenagers with collecting and listening to old vinyl records on actual turntables. They were talking about how the sound was so much better and that earlier music was never meant to be digitized. 

I'm one that is easily caught up with new technology. I love the stuff. It intrigues me and interests me. But, I wonder, what is the cost of "Out with the old and in with the new?" A colleague at work today was telling me about a story he heard on the radio this morning. They were discussing that people hardly need to know anything anymore in the era of the internet. If one doesn't know or can't figure something out,  it's Google to the rescue.

I got to thinking about the church. I again am one that loves progress in the church. I like the new music and modern technological advances. It works for me. It sets a certain atmosphere for me. But, I wonder what things we've left behind that were also beneficial.  What if that is not "working" for someone else? Are we missing our opportunity to share Christ? What can we learn from the "old guard" that we can put into practice today? What methods worked for them that we can use today? What if those ways become the new "trend?" Will we be too involved in our new technology to respond?

Ecclesiastes 1:9 (New International Version, ©2011)

⁹ What has been will be again,
   what has been done will be done again;
   there is nothing new under the sun.