Tis the season…

I know it is a little early, but retailers are already vying for our money and maybe our souls.I was convicted when I watched this video…. too often the true focus of Christmas is eclipsed by unbridled consumerism.  And I admit that I have fallen prey to marketing ploys and societal pressures in years past.  This year I vow to give gifts that promote life.  Join in on the conspiracy at Advent Conspiracy.

If you are interested in giving the gift of life by providing clean drinking water check out Charity Water.  100% of your donation will go to drilling wells in Africa.

Thanks for checking it out, RT

Getting Dirty

I heard a line in a movie or read it in a book that goes something like;” What are you going to do, talk him to death”?  It is not important where it came from, rather what is important, I believe, is that this is what is happening in so many aspects of modern culture including the church.  Case in point: some of you would like to discuss/debate my use of the term “modern” culture.  I mean, is it really modern or is it post-modern, post-Christian, or maybe simply emergent?  Does it actually matter what we call it?  All of the blog-space, debates and literature given to defining these and other terms correctly amount to nothing more than pious fence sitting.  And that fence is sagging from the weight!

                                                                                                

Culture doesn’t need to be defined and labeled; it needs to be embraced, celebrated and lived.  The church doesn’t need to be defined, it needs to seek God’s will through prayer and His word, and then be His body on earth.  The church is a living organism which, if we are not careful, could be talked to death right before our eyes.

 

In and before Christ’s time, Jewish students studying after a certain rabbi would often follow him so closely that they would actually walk in his footsteps.  The results would be that they were covered in the dust of their rabbi.

 

So let’s quit talking and start getting dirty in the “dust of the Rabbi”.

 

Feeling the need to get dirty, RT

Pity from a Perspective of Prosperity and Privilege

Damn Home and Garden TV!  Damn DIY Network!  Damn Home Depot!  Why you ask?  They appear harmless enough at first glance, but they are in league with the prince of darkness himself.  I can’t watch HGTV or DIY without realizing my need to renovate my home and my need to spruce up my landscaping.  Then, along comes Home Depot and seduces you with the promise of low monthly payments.  All of this combined, forms a sense of discontentment and despair. 

 

This distorted self pity comes from a perspective of privilege which blinds us from reality.  All of these “needs” imply prosperity and privilege.  The need to improve a home implies the privilege of home ownership, hence prosperity.  Landscaping is a privilege, just to have a place for a vegetable garden is a privilege.  But we as a nation of consumers can only hunger and thirst for more.        

 

Shouldn’t just having a roof over my head, food in my stomach, and clothes on my back be privilege enough?  Could I be a better steward of what I have been given?  Could I need less and give more?  I think so.  How about you?

 

Check out how much you have been given in comparison with others:  http://www.globalrichlist.com/

 

It is all in your perspective, RT    

Blessed are the Persecuted?

In His sermon on the mount, Christ said “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  Blessed is good, right?  Does that mean persecution is good?  If so, then why do we react so negatively towards persecution?  I admit that I often want to react in anger when I perceive persecution towards another or myself.

 

The persecution of Tibetan monks by Chinese officials has made headlines recently.  It has cast a dark shadow over China’s attempt to present itself as open and worthy of the world’s trust/trade.  There have been calls for Olympic boycotts, trade sanctions and protest.  The torch bearers have become clandestine candle carriers as protesters try to steal or extinguish the flame.  Blessed are the persecuted?

 

Christians in China are blessed by persecution as well, but not by the media. Their house arrest, imprisonment, torture and executions are not news worthy.  Where are the calls for Olympic boycotts, trade sanctions and protest to bring freedom and justice to these Christians?  Blessed are the persecuted?

 

During a discussion of these topics, a sister in Christ recently expressed that her views of persecution have changed after time spent over seas.  That maybe persecution is a good thing; at least you know who the “real” Christians are.  I wondered about those early Christians who where alive during the time Constantine put his stamp of approval on Christianity.  Talk about revival.  Billy Graham would have been pleased with the number of converts to Christianity in the following days.  In the midst of this whirlwind of soul-winning, how did they know who the “real’ Christians were?   Blessed are the persecuted?

 

Christ said, “Persecuted because of righteousness”.  Now there is an often misunderstood and misinterpreted word; righteousness.  It can bring about thoughts of religious piousness and better than thou”ness”.  (There is some persecution I could get behind.)  However, if we look to the Eastern meaning of the word righteous we find it equates to “just”.  As in God is just, therefore Jesus is just.  Righteousness then takes on a meaning of justice.  Justice takes on a meaning of doing God’s will.  And if we are doing God’s will/Great commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself”, would there be any persecution? 

 

Blessed are the persecuted, but what about those who do nothing to stop it?

 

Thinking out loud, RT   

Ghana Bound

A young couple, Shane and Tanna, will be leaving May 1^st for Ghana on a medical mission.  Tanna, a PA student, will be doing one of her residencies there through the Institute for International Medicine (INMED).  They will be taking three other people along with them.  Tanna will be there six weeks, while the others will only be able to stay for three. 

This is a group of young people with love and passion for Christ.  The Lord opened a lot of doors, moved some mountains and softened a few hearts to bring this mission to fruition.  The purpose of me telling you this is to ask you to include this group in your prayers.  Pray for their safety and the fruitfulness of their mission. As always, RT Link to Tanna’s Ghana Blog:  http://inmedblogs.us/tannadonalson