Thursday, September 17, 2009
Our Calling: A Wartime Lifestyle; Living on the brink of eternity
The title was stolen :) from two subtitles in the book "Desiring God" by Pastor John Piper, Chapter 7, "Money, the currency of Christian Hedonism". This book is available to read online as well as in PDF format if you'd like to read it for yourself.
What is a "Wartime Lifestyle" you may ask and why in the world would it be your calling? As a Christian, the bible tells us that we are in a constant battle with the unseen spiritual world which manifests in our visible physical world in the form of sin, poverty, lack of food and shelter, sickness, disease, malnutrition, etc, in our world (see Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10 through 20.) A wartime lifestyle is about living our lives in such a way as to use our money, our resources whatever they may be, to battle against this physical manifestations of spiritual battles unseen. In other words, there are people who are hungry - feed them! There are people who have no shelter - build them one or share your own! There are people who are unloved - LOVE them! There are people who are sick - comfort them and heal their wounds!
What this means in a practical every day sense is:
1.) "Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that... Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life" 1 Timothy chapter 6, verses 6 through 8 and 17 through 19.
2.)Ralphi Winter gives a good picture of a wartime lifestyle:
This illustration begs us to ask the question, what is it that we think we need, but could actually do without and instead be able to meet the urgent need of someone else in the name of Jesus Christ? Do we really need the spiffy newer car or could we make do with a used one that isn't so flashy, but get's the job done? Do we really need all 500 channels coming into our TV via a satellite or cable connection or would just the basic local channels give you what you really need from TV? Do we really need for each child to have their own bedroom (ie. "we NEED to buy a bigger house") or can they share and learn to live with another human being in close proximity (can we say preparation for being married to one person for the rest of your life anyone??).
Here is something to think about for today, yet another excerpt from Desiring God, chapter 7, pp. 202-203:
What is a "Wartime Lifestyle" you may ask and why in the world would it be your calling? As a Christian, the bible tells us that we are in a constant battle with the unseen spiritual world which manifests in our visible physical world in the form of sin, poverty, lack of food and shelter, sickness, disease, malnutrition, etc, in our world (see Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10 through 20.) A wartime lifestyle is about living our lives in such a way as to use our money, our resources whatever they may be, to battle against this physical manifestations of spiritual battles unseen. In other words, there are people who are hungry - feed them! There are people who have no shelter - build them one or share your own! There are people who are unloved - LOVE them! There are people who are sick - comfort them and heal their wounds!
What this means in a practical every day sense is:
1.) "Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that... Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life" 1 Timothy chapter 6, verses 6 through 8 and 17 through 19.
2.)Ralphi Winter gives a good picture of a wartime lifestyle:
The Queen Mary, lying in repose in the harbor at Long Beach, California, is a fascinating museum of the past. Used both as a luxury liner in peacetime and a troop transport during the Second World War, its present status as a museum the length of three football fields affords a stunning contrast between the lifestyles appropriate in peace and war. On one side of a partition you see the dining room reconstructed to depict the peacetime table setting that was appropriate to the wealthy patrons of high culture for whom a dazzling array of knives and forks and spoons held no mysteries. On the other side of the partition the evidences of wartime austerities are in sharp contrast. One metal tray with indentations replaces fifteen plates and saucers. Bunks, not just double but eight tiers high, explain why the peacetime complement of 3000 gave way to 15,000 people on board in wartime. How repugnant to the peacetime masters this transformation must have been! To do it took a national emergency, of course. The survival of a nation depended upon it. The essence of the Great Commission today is that the survival of many millions of people depends on its fulfillment.5
America today is a save-yourself society if there ever was one. But does it really work? The underdeveloped societies suffer from one set of diseases: tuberculosis, malnutrition, pneumonia, parasites, typhoid, cholera, typhus, etc. Affluent America has virtually invented a whole new set of diseases: obesity, arteriosclerosis, heart disease, strokes, lung cancer, venereal disease, cirrhosis of the liver, drug addiction, alcoholism, divorce, battered children, suicide, murder. Take your choice. Laborsaving machines have turned out to be body-killing devices. Our affluence has allowed both mobility and isolation of the nuclear family, and as a result our divorce courts, our prisons and our mental institutions are flooded. In saving ourselves we have nearly lost ourselves.
How hard have we tried to save others? Consider the fact that the U.S. evangelical slogan, "Pray, give, or go" allows people merely to pray, if that iS their choice! By contrast the Friends Missionary Prayer Band of South India numbers 8000 people in their prayer bands and supports 80 full-time missionaries in North India. If my denomination (with its unbelievably greater wealth per person) were to do that well, we would not be sending 500 missionaries, but 26,000. In spite of their true poverty, those poor people in South India are sending 50 times as many cross-cultural missionaries as we are.6
This illustration begs us to ask the question, what is it that we think we need, but could actually do without and instead be able to meet the urgent need of someone else in the name of Jesus Christ? Do we really need the spiffy newer car or could we make do with a used one that isn't so flashy, but get's the job done? Do we really need all 500 channels coming into our TV via a satellite or cable connection or would just the basic local channels give you what you really need from TV? Do we really need for each child to have their own bedroom (ie. "we NEED to buy a bigger house") or can they share and learn to live with another human being in close proximity (can we say preparation for being married to one person for the rest of your life anyone??).
Here is something to think about for today, yet another excerpt from Desiring God, chapter 7, pp. 202-203:
In Ephesians 4:28, Paul says 'Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.' In other words, there are three levels of how to live with things: (1) you can steal to get; (2) or you can work to get; (3) or you can work to get in order to give.
Too many professing Christians live on level 2. Almost all the forces of our culture urge them to live on level two. But the Bible pushes us relentlessly to level three. 'God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work' (2 Corinthians 9:8). Why does God bless us with abundance? So we can have enough to live on, and then use the rest for all manner of good works to alleviate spiritual and physical misery. Enough for us; abundance for others.
The issue is not how much a person makes. Big industry and big salaries are a fact of our times, and they are not necessarily evil. The evil is in being deceived into thinking a six-digit salary must be accompanies by a six-digit lifestyle. God has made us to be conduits of His grace. The danger is in thinking the conduit should be lined with gold. It shouldn't. Copper will do.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
How can eternity influence a mother's daily tasks?
Here is something that I read on the website desiringgod.org and found it very inspiring and wanted to share :) At the bottom of the page it grants permission and encourages sharing of the material so here it is!
How can eternity influence a mother's daily tasks?
By John Piper July 16, 2008
The following is an edited transcript of the audio.
How can eternity influence a mother's daily tasks?
I believe it is a very high calling to be a mom charged with teaching everything she possibly can to one, two, or eight kids.
The women who flourish most and who delight most in that calling—and who are best at it—are not women whose lives are circumscribed by their houses. They are women who are aware of the world. They're aware of God's global purpose. They're aware of the ultimate purposes of God in history. They're aware of things in history and in the far off reaches of the world today that God is doing. And those are part of what they want to build into these children. They want to raise global Christians, world Christians.
A mother will delight most in the little baby in front of her when she has a vision of God and a vision of the world that's big enough to admit that this little child has a destiny in front of him or her and might become this or that.
If she is totally circumscribed by her little home—with no vision for the world—then I think her domestic scene is probably going to shrivel up on her, and she is going to feel that it is small and constraining. But if she sees it in the wider context of what she is a part of in the missionary enterprise, I think every detail of her life can take on a global significance, indeed, an historical significance.
I really believe that. When I used to sit down for devotions with our four boys at home my mind wasn't simply, "OK I have a duty as a dad: I'm supposed to do devotions at night." My mind was, "What will they become?"
Ralph Winter used to say that nothing has an impact on kids except what they do daily. So we did Global Prayer Digest daily, and we did devotions daily.
The goal isn't just to fulfill some little task that dads are supposed to do. Rather, you're building men who hopefully someday will have absorbed so much of God and so much of the Bible that it's going to shape their whole world. And they might wind up going to Pakistan to help build shelters for earthquake victims.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Easy Peasy Red Beans and Rice!
Easy Peasy Red Beans and Rice - crock pot style
2lbs dry kidney beans
2 cups brown rice
8 - 12 chicken bouillon cubes
garlic powder
onion powder
3-4 bay leaves
Soak your beans over night or do a quick sock (as described on the back of the package). Dump in your 6 qt crock pot and fill with water until the beans only take up only half the space in the water. Add your two cups of brown rice (uncooked), garlic powder and onion powder to preference, chicken bouillon cubes and bay leaves. Cook on high until beans are soft and rice is done (you can cook longer and it won't hurt it). It will take approximately 6 hours on high or 10-12 hours on low. Taste great served with chips, on burritos or with cornbread. Top it with a bit of cheese, sour cream and or salsa. Just as a side note, mine needed a little more salt and pepper before eating - I used 6 bouillon cubes. My hubby likes to add red pepper to his personal serving :).
2lbs dry kidney beans
2 cups brown rice
8 - 12 chicken bouillon cubes
garlic powder
onion powder
3-4 bay leaves
Soak your beans over night or do a quick sock (as described on the back of the package). Dump in your 6 qt crock pot and fill with water until the beans only take up only half the space in the water. Add your two cups of brown rice (uncooked), garlic powder and onion powder to preference, chicken bouillon cubes and bay leaves. Cook on high until beans are soft and rice is done (you can cook longer and it won't hurt it). It will take approximately 6 hours on high or 10-12 hours on low. Taste great served with chips, on burritos or with cornbread. Top it with a bit of cheese, sour cream and or salsa. Just as a side note, mine needed a little more salt and pepper before eating - I used 6 bouillon cubes. My hubby likes to add red pepper to his personal serving :).
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
The good news, elementary style :)
In our small group, we are about to start a study in the gospel of John. One of the first questions before starting the study itself was "How would you describe the bible and what it is to an eight year old?" The question intrigued me! How would I do that?? How would I explain the gospel as well? So here is my attempt at it (keep in mind, I'm only human LOL this is my best attempt - which isn't saying much...) :D
Everything was made by someone.
Everything except God - that is what makes him more special than everything else.
God has always been here and will always be here.
God wants us to know him.
God gave us the Holy Bible so that we can know him.
The bible tells us about God and what he says about every part of life. We choose to believe this and that is called having Faith. Faith is believing and trusting.
The bible tells us that God loves us and wants us to love him back.
The bible also tells us that we do not love God until he opens our eyes to see his love for us. This is because everyone thinks mostly of themselves, from the moment they are born. This is called selfishness. The bible says that everyone is selfish. That is called having a "sinful nature".
The bible tells us that being selfish will lead us to do things only for ourselves, hurting others and the things around us. The bible also tells us that this is NOT how God wants us to act. It is wrong and we know that because the bible says so.
The bible gives us certain rules to help teach us how he wants us to live. But we can not do these things because we are selfish. We need God's help.
The bible tells us that God will help us if we ask for his help. Once we know and say out loud that we are selfish, we also can ask God to help us to not be selfish. The bible tells us this is called "repenting" or turning away from our sins (our selfishness). Repenting means feeling sorry for our selfishness and asking God to help us to not be selfish and asking God to teach us how we can love him back.
When we ask God to help us and teach us to love him back, he sends his Holy Spirit to live inside of us. We can not see his Holy Spirit, but we can feel him with our emotions and see the things that he does.
God teaches us to love him back by having us read the bible. This is how we learn about him and the things he loves. The bible also tells us about the things God does not want us to do because these are selfish things and are wrong.
As we learn to love God, we learn to be happy because of God and all that he does. This happiness makes us want to do things that make God happy. Making God happy makes us even happier! We learn what makes God happy by reading the bible.
This happiness also makes us want to tell everyone about God and how he has made us so happy because of who he is and what he has done for us. He has taught us about himself and he has taught us to not be selfish anymore.
We will still make mistakes and be selfish sometimes. The bible tells us that when we do this, we should tell God that we are sorry and ask him for his help to do what is not selfish even though we do not deserve help. But God wants to helps us. This makes us happy and we want to tell everyone about how happy we are and why we are so happy because of God.
When we tell everyone about our happiness because of God, people will see God and want to know him too. Then you can tell them how to know God, just as I have told you.
Everything was made by someone.
Everything except God - that is what makes him more special than everything else.
God has always been here and will always be here.
God wants us to know him.
God gave us the Holy Bible so that we can know him.
The bible tells us about God and what he says about every part of life. We choose to believe this and that is called having Faith. Faith is believing and trusting.
The bible tells us that God loves us and wants us to love him back.
The bible also tells us that we do not love God until he opens our eyes to see his love for us. This is because everyone thinks mostly of themselves, from the moment they are born. This is called selfishness. The bible says that everyone is selfish. That is called having a "sinful nature".
The bible tells us that being selfish will lead us to do things only for ourselves, hurting others and the things around us. The bible also tells us that this is NOT how God wants us to act. It is wrong and we know that because the bible says so.
The bible gives us certain rules to help teach us how he wants us to live. But we can not do these things because we are selfish. We need God's help.
The bible tells us that God will help us if we ask for his help. Once we know and say out loud that we are selfish, we also can ask God to help us to not be selfish. The bible tells us this is called "repenting" or turning away from our sins (our selfishness). Repenting means feeling sorry for our selfishness and asking God to help us to not be selfish and asking God to teach us how we can love him back.
When we ask God to help us and teach us to love him back, he sends his Holy Spirit to live inside of us. We can not see his Holy Spirit, but we can feel him with our emotions and see the things that he does.
God teaches us to love him back by having us read the bible. This is how we learn about him and the things he loves. The bible also tells us about the things God does not want us to do because these are selfish things and are wrong.
As we learn to love God, we learn to be happy because of God and all that he does. This happiness makes us want to do things that make God happy. Making God happy makes us even happier! We learn what makes God happy by reading the bible.
This happiness also makes us want to tell everyone about God and how he has made us so happy because of who he is and what he has done for us. He has taught us about himself and he has taught us to not be selfish anymore.
We will still make mistakes and be selfish sometimes. The bible tells us that when we do this, we should tell God that we are sorry and ask him for his help to do what is not selfish even though we do not deserve help. But God wants to helps us. This makes us happy and we want to tell everyone about how happy we are and why we are so happy because of God.
When we tell everyone about our happiness because of God, people will see God and want to know him too. Then you can tell them how to know God, just as I have told you.
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