LEFT OUT or SET APART

So your friends are at a party and you're told you cannot go. The obvious primal feeling would be to feel left out. Now there are variables, of course.

1. It depends on the type of party going on. What's the buzz?

2. Who else will be there?

3. How big and famed the party will be. - Will it be talked about for "years to come?"

4. How old you are.

As we grow older the urge to go to the "big" party becomes less and less. But let's face it, no one likes to be left out. How is it you think technology spreads among consumers? We used to call it keeping up the Jones'. Now we just call it jonezin' - ([jonezin] may or may not still be right in today's speak, alas, I no longer care).

The iTablet was debuted on Wednesday, but long before that the "buzz" was huge. Now the price tag will be whatever it be, but rest assured it will gobbled up to the delight of Credit Card companies (banks).

I recently saw a report that said in 1991 Cell Phones had only a 15% saturation in the U.S. Now, huh! 270-million Americans own a cell phone. A saturation of 90% or more! Computer saturation is at 85% now. Up from some 10% in 1994. WE GOTTA HAVE IT.

No one wants to be left out. If everyone's talking about it, you don't want to be the one who has nothing to say.

Marketers are human. They went to school. They know first hand the difference between the "cool" kids and the ones not in. And so do we. So we buy in to be "in." This of course has deleterious effects though. More on that shortly.

First, fame and media works in much the very same way. Would you want to the one who doesn't know the latest stars, fashion, movies, music? In some cases not knowing who Lady Gaga is, can get you put out of the group quick! Again, as we older, who cares. But for many this is not the case, even among co-workers in their 20's, 30's, 40's, and so on.

 So the pressure of keeping up with the fashion of today can and in some cases is, an essential part of getting on well at the battleground of school, work, and social groups. Being neglectful in these areas can even hold one back from advancing. But this is not without consequence. Referring first back to the parties.

 1. Who knows what can happen at these parties. (Many do not end well. Fights, destruction of friendships, rumors of who did what, and who did whom. These are things that if we didn't go we wouldn't have missed).

 2. So too if we do not always buy in we can be better off. (We do not have cable [by choice-Cox was gouging us]. And so we don't spend the days flipping through 500 channels with nothing on. Our child is not exposed to deleterious programming. NO ALCHOHOL ADS! And we are greater control of the images our child sees).

 3. Not knowing all the fashion can in it's self set us apart and makes one a more stable sturdy person in the school, work, and/or social setting. The key is being comfortable in one's own skin. And being able to laugh with those who laugh and cry with those who cry based on honest care and concern for those around.

Others may say "you're so square, but that's cool." It happens everyday. People like stable ports in the storm. In particular, as long as that port is there for them inviting and safe, not brutally dangerous and potentially deadly jagged rocks; or for lack of a better analogy, being an accusatory and judgmental person.

But listen carefully. Am I talking about parties, technology and what's in fashion, or being a faithful follower in Christ who is in the world, but now because of Him no longer of it?

Dominion or Stewardship

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1

This weekend I took my son and this time my bride also came with us to partake in the event of watching Avatar.While some have said the message is "liberal" I couldn't disagree more. It was a good story with great brand new cutting edge graphics. Some conservatives have said it diminishes or even casts aspersions on our military and our efforts in the Middle East. Ridiculous!

Our mlitary is amazing and our soldiers are throwing their own bodies on the line to protect us. God bless them. Amen! The two events couldn't be more apart.

We are not "invaders" rather we have been engaged in self protection. On the issue of Iraq, there is plenty of room for debate. But not for me, and that conflict is for all intent and purpose coming to a close.

But what cannot be in dispute is our (mankind) treatment of this earth and some of its people. Ideology is an opinion if the instances have very little basis in truth. And this issue is replete with actual occurences and indeed is not far off our own history.

From the Aramaic translation we get a more accurate picture of our life in conjunction with the earth and all its life and life being;

Genesis 1:24-26

And God said, "Let the earth produce living souls in harmony with its nature, herds and four-legged animals and creatures of the earth, according to their kind," and it was so. And so God created the creatures of the earth according to their kind, and the herd animals according to their kind, and all the four-legged animals according to their kind, and God saw that they were beautiful. And God said, "We shall make the human being in the image of our likeness, and they shall have authority over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky and the herds and all the creatures of the earth and all the four-legged animals that walk on the earth."

Yes, God gave us authority over the entire earth and it creatures but did that mean our sovereign right meant we could do irreparable harm to it? Remember the shrewd manager in Luke 16.

Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.' "The manager said to himself ‘what shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg—I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.' "So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' ”‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,' he replied. "The manager told him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.' "Then he asked the second, 'and how much do you owe?' ”‘A thousand bushels of wheat,' he replied.”He told him, 'Take your bill and make it eight hundred.' "The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

Instead of getting all the money owed to his master from debtors. He lowered their bill so they could afford to pay the manager and in kind their debt to the master. The master commended the manager’s thinking. He not only got most of the debt paid but he made friends among the debtors. But unfortunately many do not do so with the clear authority we’ve been given by God over the earth. Instead many are driven to squeeze every last drop the earth and its inhabitants have to give to fill their own coffers. This is unwise.

This kind store up wealth here only, and in doing so they lose their treasure in heaven. How we treat this earth and its creatures of all kinds matter to God. Do not forget that in the original Aramaic text all living things have a soul! There needn’t be a question of this any longer. But the Native Americans and the Bison of that era were all decimated to make room for the nation we now call home. This is historical fact, not an opinion.

If anything, what I come away with from watching Avatar beyond just having a great movie experience is we should take care of our earth not in a liberal fashion but to balance all things. It’s our right to eat, build, and use the resources of this earth but to do so with the knowledge God wishes us to do so in harmony with its nature, Genesis 1:24. Sometimes taking less gains us so much more; this is not liberal, but good sense. It is authority used with stewardship and is no doubt pleasing to God, who is Master of all we have authority over.

GREAT TO BE BACK

It’s indeed great to be back!

A new year is upon us and new challenges for sure. We serve a living God and therefore as imperfect beings we can expect that He is never done working on us. Paul reminds us of the strain we must undertake to reach greater depths in Christ, in his letter to the Philippians 3:12-14.

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

We must always keep in mind we are a work never complete. "From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain, prophets and priest alike all practice deceit." Jeremiah 6:13

Now I'm not saying we are deceitful as individuals, or greedy. We do not all wrestle with all manner of sins, but of sin itself. And we do so not without struggle nor without the temptations of things we've never really dealt with from from arising or re-arising. This is the nature of things. So we fight without rest to make ourselves ready for the great rest in Christ Jesus! So too, must remember not to place so high a priority on the things of this world.

"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." Philippians 3:20, 21

It used to be said, "God, family, country, in that order" But of late and in particular, on Twitter the many tweets are "country, country and country!" The argument is we must fight the evil in government. But we must beware, and let us not get caught in the devils trap!

This country, though I would not like to see it, will pass away. All countries, empires and kingdoms do. So too will this entire earth, it is written. But this country will go faster if we make it so much our fight that it becomes idolatry.

If at the end of the day we go to our beds angry about the status of this country, the line has been crossed. "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Ephesians 4:26, 27. There is no wiggle room here! Neither our anger nor our country can become our god. For our God is a jealous God, and he will have no other gods before him.

I love my family so I will put my God first! I love my country so I will put my God first! 'Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart and with ALL your soul and with ALL your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:37-40

Again, the argument will no doubt be "I am putting God first by taking on my government when it goes wrong. But Christ never said "fight your government."

He did say; "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." Mark 16:15-18

Yes the line is fine, just the way the devil drew it. God's line is not fine it's narrow. On one side it's love and life on the other it's hate and death. We must resist the temptation to spend too much time engaging in politics and rather work on our own salvation, with prayer and meditation in the word, learning how to love despite our natural instincts. And it's with saving individuals in our neighborhoods, and communities and beyond.

If we've told our leaders "be saved, go and sin no more," and they do not, move on. God will deal with them. Trust God! If we've said abortion is evil, and they do not change, God will deal with them and the government. In fact He already has.

But when preaching to people our tone should not be one of condemnation, but of love without condemnation. Saying and exemplifying that Christ came to save sinners from death out of love. Letting them know without question "believe, be baptized, love one another and go, sin no more." The good news is for individuals, not governments.

Trying to change government or the people working within that worldy principality, is like trying to fix a burned out light bulb. Yes, we must engage, but not so much that it takes up our time from preaching the good news and indeed BEING the good news, of the Agape love Christ to all we happen to meet.

The great news is, if we are not getting it right God will not destroy us. We are not under condemnation! Rather, it's just something we need to work on to become more perfect as He is perfect. And make no mistake it is something we need to work on. (I am speaking to myself as well friends).

Yet, it's just one more thing in a list of things we must strain toward the better of in reaching for the prize. So let's have a mind of preparation for change, because God is the unchanging changer. He has no need of changing, but we do.