Christianity,Tuesday, February 20, 2007
I recently started reading a set of expositional commentaries by James Boice . Thankfully, I don’t have to deal with a complete collection of books, it’s conveniently in electronic version through Libronix Software. Anyhow, I just finished reading his exposition on Romans 12:2 (ESV)
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
In our culture, television is probably one of the most common influences, bringing the world into our home. Boice’s commentary made a very keen observation about how television quickly goes from image to image with little relevance between them.
Rational thought requires such connections. It depends on similarities, contradictions, deductions, and the development of probable consequences. It requires time. It is what books and other serious print media give us. But this is precisely what television does not give. It does not give time for thought, and if it does not give time for thought or promote thought, what it essentially amounts to is ?diversion.?
Boice, J. M. (1991-c1995). Romans (1534). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House.
I’ve often experienced this when sitting and watching T.V. whether it’s a news show or one of the new reality shows. I’ll be watching something that may be shocking or thought provoking. I might even begin to say something about it out loud. However, the show quickly moves to the next scene or situation and my thoughts become distracted as my attention turns to the next images that are shown on the screen. Television doesn’t give us time to think and talk about things that we experience. We don’t take the time to discuss and learn from these experiences. It’s just one experience after another.
Perhaps Tivo provides some hope for us to pause television and talk about what we see, but we first of all have to watch thought provoking and meaningful programming, and we have to get out of the habit of wanted to be entertained. Meaningful programming for a Christian is rarely on television. We’ve started getting Netflix movies, and some of the documentaries are valuable for learning about the world around us, and DVD gives us the chance to pause and think. But most popular television programming is mindless trash with only value for entertaining.
If American’s want to avoid becoming a nation of mindless people and if Christians want to fill their mind with spiritual things, they are going to have to turn off the television. Pick up a book, read and think about something meaningful. I’ll leave you with one more excerpt from Boice’s commentary.
I close here by mentioning a helpful little book by John Stott, the Rector Emeritus of All Souls Church in London, titled Your Mind Matters. It deals with six spheres of Christian living, and it argues that each one is impossible without a proper and energetic use of our minds: Christian worship, Christian faith, Christian holiness, Christian guidance, Christian evangelism, and Christian ministry. We need to think.
Stott argues that ?anti-intellectualism ? is ? part of the fashion of the world and therefore a form of worldliness. To denigrate the mind is to undermine foundational Christian doctrines.? He asks pointedly, ?Has God created us rational beings, and shall we deny our humanity which he has given us? Has God spoken to us, and shall we not listen to his words? Has God renewed our mind through Christ, and shall we not think with it? Is God going to judge us by his Word, and shall we not be wise and build our house upon this rock??? They are important and helpful questions, if you think about them.
Boice, J. M. (1991-c1995). Romans (1537). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House.
Christianity,Friday, October 20, 2006
Today, we find an emphasis on the sensual. Through advertising and many other means of communication, people are emphasizing feeling over thinking. The churches are being effected by this trend.
Many churches adjust by mimicking modern communication styles. Providing video clips and sound bites to produce emotional responses in the viewers. The idea is that by moving peoples emotions, they will be moved to embrace the deeper truths. However, there is such an emphasis on producing feelings in the attendess that the thinking portion is often poorly delivered. The emotions may experience a push, however, without the corresponding, thorough convincing of the mind, the emotions soon fade and behaviors remain the same. Only when our minds are transormed, will our behaviors begin to follow. This is not easy work, because it is best done with rigorous thinking. Meditating on God’s word, and the truths is holds, which carries the power of God to transform our minds.
Christianity,Friday, October 06, 2006
Some of you may already know that I’ve been very interested in ethics and health surrounding the food my family eats. Activism in the area of food has long been associated with wacko liberals. Organizations like PETA are well known for their crazy tactics. This has caused a negative reaction to the very mention of animal rights, etc. However, I think there is a new breed of conservative in the making. Richard Dreher wrote a book Crunchy Con that coined a category for a new brand of conservatives. I have yet to read the book but I think I probably fit into that category. I think there will be more Christian minded people who care about being good stewards of the gifts that God has given them. This worldview includes proper stewardship of all the resources God has given us. This includes land, money, animals, and people. Each area is a struggle and each area has room for improvement.
If we prioritize our efforts, people would be of highest importance, followed by animals, land and finally money. I think this priority is also modeled biblically. God created man to rule over all creation. Animals have numerous laws in the Old Testament that show God’s heart for the health and treatment of animals. They are even given rest on the Sabbath day. Land of course is a blessing in so many ways, able to sustain both man and animals. Finally, although we should wisely manage our money, wealthiness is not a virtue and is depicted in the Bible as a spiritual burden.
In our lives, we often think of animals as those creatures we see on the discovery channel or the family pet. However, animals have an even more intimate part in our daily lives. They come to our dinner table nearly everyday, their lives sacrificed to help sustain our health and provide energy for us to do our daily work. Yet, we don’t think much about where that animal came from, the life it lived, how it was treated or how it was killed. We have become complacent, unkowing and uncaring about such things. Fortunately, I have become interested in knowing about these things.
Let me take a step back and explain how my family came to this point. It all started with the rental of a movie called “Future of Food” from Netflix. We became aware of the corporate corruption in the food industry. Suddenly, we were acutely aware that we could not trust the corporations that were feeding us. The movie directed us to http://www.localharvest.org where we learned about a local CSA called Live Earth Farm (http://www.liveearthfarm.com) where we can get organic fruits and veggies. We were not only concerned about the pesticides on our food, but we were wanting to take part in a farm that would depend less on oil, pesticides, chemicals, and the corrupt corporations. We have been extremely pleased with Live Earth Farm and they are doing so well, that they have 200 people on the waiting list for next season and only 500 slots available.
In addition to fruits and veggies, I wanted to explore the options for getting chicken, beef, poultry and seafood. Through the www.eatwild.com website we were able to find Morris Grassfed Beef and TLC Ranch for pastured chicken, eggs and pork. Finally, Poppy’s poultry and seafood in Morgan Hill is also an excellent place to get wild fish at good prices. Beef is purchased in split halves (~100 lbs), chicken is purchased whole, and hogs are purchase either half (~100 lbs) or whole (~200lbs). We purchased a large chest style freezer that holds all the meat for use throughout the year.
I pretty much jumped into purchasing organic, grassfed, pastured meat from local farmers believing it was the right thing to do. Recently, I’ve discovered a wealth of information supporting the decision. It’s not only healthier us, but it is better on the animals, the environment, the workers and the local communities. The alternative is to buy from the large CAFO’s (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) and slaughterhouses that have been compromising our health with food-borne illnesses and higher levels of bad fats, mistreating the animals, polluting the environment, mistreating the workers and shutting down family farms that have been running for generations. Read more about CAFO’s at www.factoryfarm.org. You can also learn about the health benefits of Grass Fed products at www.eatwild.com
It is more expensive to buy local organic, however, I don’t see how we have an option. Putting the health benefits aside, mistreatment of the animals, workers and the environment is enough reason to stop buying their products.
God has revealed in the Bible that we should be good stewards of his creation. I found an excellent study of biblical passages on this subject at www.all-creatures.org. (The site is vegetarian, but if you follow the link, it has an excellent bible study for understand scriptures position on stewardship of animals) As a Christian, I don’t see how I can continue to purchase meat from these large corporations and have a clear conscience.
I’ve also found Fast Food Nation to be an eye opening book that reveals the darker side of America’s current food system. A Fast Food Nation movie is soon to come out.
I encourage you all to learn more about this since, as consumers, we are responsible for making wise choices about the products we purchase and the places we put our money. Choose fruits and veggies that are grown locally and organically. Choose meat that has been grassfed and pastured. Support your local farms.
Christianity,Monday, July 17, 2006
Jenn and I have made a recent switch to Grace Presbyterian. The sense of community we have experienced at Grace Presbyterian is amazing.
In less than a couple months, we have attended a dinner and small group Bible study, another dinner hosted by a very friendly and hospitable couple, spent the afternoon with a young family of 2 adults and 4 children, plan to have a cook out with another family, and plan to have people over to our house at some time.
We are very impressed with the desire people at Grace Presbyterian have to form bonds of relationships that extend beyond the Sunday service. We hope to continue strengthening these relationships and building each other up as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Christianity,Monday, July 10, 2006
There’s this romantic worship song called “Draw me Close”, a very popular and emotional song. It’s common to hear people singing this song quite passionately during services. I’ve grown to dislike it because of the somewhat overexagerated, emotional statements made in the lyrics.
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