Psalm 100:2 says " Serve the Lord with gladness." I wrote in the margin: " What if I don't ?"
Then for some reason, I wrote next to it Deut 28:47-48
It says: " Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things ; therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you."
Basically... if I dont' serve with gladness... I will serve my enemies. This tells me that God takes joy very seriously. He is opposed to our complaining and murmuring.
Are you serving with gladness or a bitter spirit ?
Monday, June 23, 2008
Thursday, June 5, 2008
busy people
“Just look for a moment at our daily routine. In general we are very busy people. We have many meetings to attend, many visits to make, many services to lead. Our calendars are filled with appointments, our days and weeks filled with engagements, and our years filled with plans and projects. There is seldom a period in which we do not know what to do, and we move through life in such a distracted way that we do not even take the time to rest and wonder if any of the things we think, say, or do are worth thinking, saying and doing. We simply go along with many of the ‘musts’ and ‘oughts’ that have been handed to us and we live with them as if they were authentic translations of the gospel of our Lord. People must be motivated to come to church, youth must be entertained, money must be raised, and above all everyone must be happy. Moreover, we must be on good terms with church and civil authorities; we ought to be liked by a majority of the congregation; we ought to move up in the ranks according to schedule; and we ought to have enough vacation and salary to live a comfortable life. Thus we are busy people and just like all other busy people, rewarded with the rewards which are rewarded to busy people.
Why is this so ? Why do the children of light so easily become conspirators with the darkness ? The answer is quite simple. Our identity is at stake. Who am I ? I am the one who is liked, praised, admired,disliked, hated or despised. Whether I am a pianist, a businessman, or a pastor, what matters is how I am perceived by my world. If being busy is a good thing, then I must be busy. If having money is a sign of real freedom, then I must claim my money. If knowing many people proves my importance, I will have to make the necessary contacts. The compulsion manifests itself in the lurking fear of failing and the steady urge to prevent this by gathering more of the same – more work, more money, more friends. It has been said that anger and greed are the sour fruits of our worldly dependencies. What else is anger than the impulsive response to the experience of being deprived ? When my sense of self depends on what others say of me, anger is quite a natural reaction to a critical word. And when my sense of self depends on what I can acquire, greed flares up when my desires are frustrated.
Anger in particular seems close to a professional vice in contemporary ministry. Pastors are angry at their leaders for not leading and at their followers for not following. They are angry at those who do not come to church for not coming and angry at those who do come for coming without enthusiasm. They are angry at their families, who make them feel guilty, and angry at themselves for not being who they want to be. This is not an open, blatant, roaring anger, but an anger hidden behind the smooth word, the smiling face and the polite handshake. It is a frozen anger, an anger which settles into a biting resentment and slowly paralyzes a generous heart. If there is anything that makes the ministry look grim and dull, it is this dark, insidious anger in the servants of Christ. “
Taken from “ The Way of the Heart” by Henri Nouwen page 22-24
Why is this so ? Why do the children of light so easily become conspirators with the darkness ? The answer is quite simple. Our identity is at stake. Who am I ? I am the one who is liked, praised, admired,disliked, hated or despised. Whether I am a pianist, a businessman, or a pastor, what matters is how I am perceived by my world. If being busy is a good thing, then I must be busy. If having money is a sign of real freedom, then I must claim my money. If knowing many people proves my importance, I will have to make the necessary contacts. The compulsion manifests itself in the lurking fear of failing and the steady urge to prevent this by gathering more of the same – more work, more money, more friends. It has been said that anger and greed are the sour fruits of our worldly dependencies. What else is anger than the impulsive response to the experience of being deprived ? When my sense of self depends on what others say of me, anger is quite a natural reaction to a critical word. And when my sense of self depends on what I can acquire, greed flares up when my desires are frustrated.
Anger in particular seems close to a professional vice in contemporary ministry. Pastors are angry at their leaders for not leading and at their followers for not following. They are angry at those who do not come to church for not coming and angry at those who do come for coming without enthusiasm. They are angry at their families, who make them feel guilty, and angry at themselves for not being who they want to be. This is not an open, blatant, roaring anger, but an anger hidden behind the smooth word, the smiling face and the polite handshake. It is a frozen anger, an anger which settles into a biting resentment and slowly paralyzes a generous heart. If there is anything that makes the ministry look grim and dull, it is this dark, insidious anger in the servants of Christ. “
Taken from “ The Way of the Heart” by Henri Nouwen page 22-24
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
on female dress
I found this in article written between 161 -230 A.D. buy a man named Tertullian :
here's an excerpt:
" But why should you be a danger to your neighbor ? Why should you excite him in lustful desires ? In amplifying His law God makes no distinction of penalty between lust and fornication, and it will scarcely be that they escape punishment who have been to another the cause of perdition. That other, as soon as he has lusted after your beauty and in his mind committed the lustful act, perishes; and you have been made the sword of his destruction. "
He goes on to address why women change their appearance ? " Doubtless they are dissatisfied with God's skill in crafting them. In their own persons they convict and censure the Artificer of all things..."
here's an excerpt:
" But why should you be a danger to your neighbor ? Why should you excite him in lustful desires ? In amplifying His law God makes no distinction of penalty between lust and fornication, and it will scarcely be that they escape punishment who have been to another the cause of perdition. That other, as soon as he has lusted after your beauty and in his mind committed the lustful act, perishes; and you have been made the sword of his destruction. "
He goes on to address why women change their appearance ? " Doubtless they are dissatisfied with God's skill in crafting them. In their own persons they convict and censure the Artificer of all things..."
best Bible advice
When I read " Living By the Book" ( Howard Hendricks) he talked about reading repeatedly. I think this is some of the best advice I have received on Bible study. We read too much and comprehend too little. Whenever we read repeatedly, we can saturate, soak, and immerse ourselves in the Word. Here's what happened one day while doing this:
I was reading in 2 Corinthians 7 ( for about the third day in a row) and I found this verse...
( verse 4)
"...I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction..." So Paul is in affliction (which can be translated pressure) and he says, " I am overflowing with joy." WHAT ? How can anyone overflow with joy in affliction ? I cry, pout, write blogs and complain when I am in affliction. However, I kept reading and noticed that in verse 6 he explains how he could overflow with joy in affliction... it says ( my translation): " God comforted us with the coming of Titus..."
Something clicked in my head... Paul was overflowing with joy in affliction because he had a friend. If you have a friend in ministry or in life you can have joy. If we all had one good friend, we probably would not need psychiatrists. Back in September of 2007, I prayed that God would send me a good friend here in El Paso. God answered that prayer. It is so good to have someone to bounce ideas off of and share in the pain and joy of life. Do you have one good friend ? If not, cry out to the Lord and see if He will answer your prayer.
I was reading in 2 Corinthians 7 ( for about the third day in a row) and I found this verse...
( verse 4)
"...I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction..." So Paul is in affliction (which can be translated pressure) and he says, " I am overflowing with joy." WHAT ? How can anyone overflow with joy in affliction ? I cry, pout, write blogs and complain when I am in affliction. However, I kept reading and noticed that in verse 6 he explains how he could overflow with joy in affliction... it says ( my translation): " God comforted us with the coming of Titus..."
Something clicked in my head... Paul was overflowing with joy in affliction because he had a friend. If you have a friend in ministry or in life you can have joy. If we all had one good friend, we probably would not need psychiatrists. Back in September of 2007, I prayed that God would send me a good friend here in El Paso. God answered that prayer. It is so good to have someone to bounce ideas off of and share in the pain and joy of life. Do you have one good friend ? If not, cry out to the Lord and see if He will answer your prayer.
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