I believe my appreciation of art has grown since my relationship with Christ has grown. I think I always knew beauty existed and was real, but until given a Jesus-centric world view, for me, art was stale. I could easily dismiss something as not art, rather than embracing the creative nature of it. Now I see it in everything.
-- Post From My iPhone
In my readings of scripture, I don't get the impression Jesus spent a lot of time discussing what the Hebrew means here vs. the Greek there in the scriptures. I don't get the impression he spent a lot of time discussing the science of salvation. I don't get the impression he spent a ton of time discussing the nature of existence or transubstantiation or how to run a contemporary worship service.
God didn't come into the world to say "Hey, this part of scripture means that!" Instead, God came into the world to redeem it and explain the simplicity of that message. It is a fulfillment of the law, not a re-clarification of the law, but a fulfillment.
I'm sure there is something wrong or confusing about my thought here, but I wanted to get it down before I forgot it while falling asleep.
Jesus didn't come to be a scholar, but a savior.
Track with me on this (it is a developing string of thoughts) and let me know what you think.
A)
1)We are made to worship
2) We worship things we see *perversion of true worship*
3) We assign to them divine status
4) These things fall short and break under the pressure of the worship
B)
1) We are made to have worth
2) When we find worth, we can become worshiped *perversion of true validation*
3) When we are worshiped, we can denounce it, or acknowledge it
4) We will crack under the pressure of being worshiped and help to perfection
C)
1) We are made in God's image
2) We are made to worship God
3) Perversion of worship leads to us worshiping things that could replace God
4) Therefore, we worship each other
"So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring it's own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today"
- Jesus
Just listening to a co-worker talk about how she is so close to retirement but how much she hates her job breaks my heart. But she can't quit yet because she'd lose out on a pension and be short on collecting Social Security. This, to me, highlights how America's system can potentially lead us to disregard the advice/commands of our creator. Not that planning is bad. I am not trying to suggest that. I am saying that we put ourselves through undue hardship worrying about tomorrow. Perhaps less focus on retirement and more on today's impact is the focus we must have. For me, this means realizing I am at Ameren today and this is the work the Lord has put before me today.
Note: I just got the BlogPress app for my iPhone so I can blog a bit more off the cuff because I just have not been writing since I started work. So my posts will be more often, but also more 'thought' than 'statement.' I still hope to put out logical ideas and truths that are challenging to me and others. Good Tuesday to you all!
This time of food, family, and celebration has been glorious. Here lie the remains of our dessert. I hope you were able to celebrate the Glory of the Son today with someone you love.
Maybe this is obvious, but we are escapists. America is running.
We run from debt by creating credit.
We run from families by staying late at work.
We run from real manly relationships with sports.
We run from real feminine relationships with gossip.
We run from pain with substances.
We run from deep thoughts with shallow ones.
We run from poverty with the suburbs.
We run from our own home life with sitcoms.
We run from the sting of death by respawning in video games.
We run from the reality of pain by making it distant in CSI, and news about the Third World.
We run from personal interactions with emails and texts.
We run from eye contact with others with smartphones.
We run from our own death with anything that will allow us.
We run from the inconvenience of a child with abortion and birth control.
We run from a personality to a social status with a nice car.
We run from our consequences.
These are some fairly fresh thoughts, but I strongly believe we will do almost anything to escape reality. We have numbed ourselves to a reality that is right in front of us. And I do not consider myself somehow innocent.
Now, I feel that anyone that knows I am a believer of Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah could easily say that my faith is an escape as well. That my belief in Jesus is just a comfort for death and a way to impose my thoughts on others. And heck, I'm sure you have awesome philosophical, psychological, economic, and sociological arguments for why I am wrong. I'd actually love to hear them, as I am truly trying to understand what we are running from and what it is ok to dwell in.
I disagree though, that faith in Christ is a form of escape. It can be. We can get caught up in dogma, theology, and color of the pews. However, I believe the Jesus of the Bible and an authentic faith in him works towards not ignoring death and pain, but rather staring it in the face.
Not that all of these things I mention are inherently evil, but...We must not serve two masters (God and money; God and television; God and whatever may be your idol). Jesus is the master and we must live in the weight of a reality that is largely beyond our control. Let's not escape it, but run directly to it to learn what it is. This includes studying things that I just said we run to with theology and science and philosophy. I think these are good things to delve into, as they will reveal the nature of humanity as much as we can see, and I believe will open us to the nature of God all the more. The problem always come when we make them our God and ignore God by studying them.
God and the Cubs, physics, philosophy, family, and television can coexist. Just make sure you recall the most important.
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