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  • Mark 10:24 am on January 24, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

    Piles of Money 

    Isaiah 60 is all about the economic development of Jerusalem as they begin to return from exile.  The promises of vast, global wealth are almost unbelievable for a pitiful, beaten nation who doesn’t even have a wall of protection built around its perimeter…and at least for the rest of Biblical history, there was never any major comeback for the Jews; they were more or less passed from one roaring empire to the next.

    So what’s with all the predictions on incredible influence and wealth? Did God “over promise and under deliver?”

    There are hints of this prophecy fulfilled; specifically when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. (Matthew 2:11) Somehow I don’t think that the exiled Jews of the 5th Century BCE were satisfied with this interpretation – they wanted piles of money! They wanted the honor and recognition of the nations!  ”The flocks of Kedar!  The rams of Nebaioth!  The camels!  Where are my camels?!”

    I wonder if this is how Christians understand their relationship with God.  They sense that there is a pile of blessings, maybe even actual money, waiting on the other side of a “right relationship with God.”  They think that if they love God hard enough, if they believe the right things, if they just do it all right, then they’ll have life right where they want it.

    Trouble is, life is never quiet as we want it – but its right where God has it. He has sprinkled the fulfillment of his promises to bring blessings to his people from the far corners of the earth – he does it in the birth of Jesus; secretly, and its just enough money to keep a family of three out of the cold and filthy stables and enough to get them down to Egypt, where they can safely escape disaster.

    THAT is the blessing of God…the wealth of heaven.

    Yes, wealth seen in the light of God’s nature is not something that we can put in a bank account, but something that gives us another chance to dive deeper into him – knowing that we may not have enough to survive on our own, but plenty to keep following…for one more day.

    But why would God make all these promises of very specific assets that exiles would gain from as they returned to the holy land of Jerusalem?  I think its important to remember that each of us come to God for personal, selfish reasons.  God knows this, he loves you for it – and he wants you to know that the things you care about are important to him too – even if he sees how short-sighted they are.

    So he’ll help you get out of debt if that is something you see as important – and then he’ll remind you that you’ll always be in debt to him.  He’ll help you with as much worldly wealth as he’s called you to…then he’ll call on you to give it all back to him…

    In other words, our tangible gifts are only whispers of the real gifts he hopes to give us. The question is, can we let go of the tangibles in order to receive what truly matters…?

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  • Mark 2:28 pm on November 12, 2010 Permalink | Reply  

    A Tale of Two Peanut Butters 

    Sometimes I think that the difference between those in the current and the previous world-view can be measured in terms of how they like their peanut butter.

    Take the “mainstream” peanut butters of today and of your childhood.  If you’re under 60 years old, you’ve enjoyed peanut butter that you never had to stir.  It came ready to scoop and serve.

    If however you’ve ever bought “natural” peanut butter or remember the days before they added preservatives and cottonseed oil into peanut butter, you know that there’s a little work involved in getting your peanut butter jar ready to use.  The first time you open up the can, there’s a lovely pool of peanut oil congealing at the top… not something you want to nibble on with your morning toast.  So you spend 3-5 minutes stirring and mixing the PB until its up to snuff.

    Why does anyone buy peanut butter you have to work so hard to eat?  Easy – just turn the jar around – the ingredients of natural PB are “peanuts, salt.”  That’s it.  There’s nothing between you and the joy of eating ground up peanuts.  There are fewer additives, chemicals…its less “sciencified.” Its closer to the source.  Even better – you get to be a part of the process of making it your peanut butter. It tastes a little better when you help out.

    Maybe our world is willing to do the work again.  Maybe we can sort recycling out from our rubbish, maybe we can make our own cleaning supplies.

    Maybe we can simplify our church community in similar ways – choosing to BE the church we want to see in the world.  We can do it ourselves – we don’t need professionals to stir our spiritual peanut butter for us!  We don’t need them to do the work – we can handle it – in fact, we find joy in the process!

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    • Seth Cox 3:33 pm on November 12, 2010 Permalink

      Maybe so!

  • Mark 9:30 pm on January 3, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Sterile 

    Sometimes its easy to see the tree and lose sight of the forest.  “Without oxen a stable stays clean,” the proverb begins.  Just think of the owner of the stable – if he’s lazy, he might find himself relieved to see that his daily work of cleaning up after the ox is no longer necessary.  If he’s short-sighted, maybe he’s more interested in a clean barn than in a harvest.

    “But a strong ox is needed for a large harvest.”  (Proverbs 14:4)

    How many cars are washed and detailed but never driven?  How many homes are spotless but everyone living there is miserable?  How many McMansions with pools and “entertainment rooms” have gates surrounding them to keep their guests out?

    Now, how many small huts are filled with hospitable hearts that give everything they have to the stranger that needs a place to stay?  How many clunker cars are what get a day laborer to his job each morning to help him feed his family?

    The word “sterile” comes to mind when I read this proverb.  The double meaning of sterile is at once “free of dirt and germs” and “fruitless.”  What is the purpose of YOU?  What stables in your life are empty and clean, yet sterile and fruitless?  What would it feel like to get those areas dirty for the sake of truly fulfilling their purpose?

    This is a great time of year to re-examine your life’s purpose – and to get focused once again on the harvest.  Don’t lose sight of the purpose of the things you have.  Don’t lose sight of your own purpose.  Make sure there are no “sterile stables” in your life.  Yes, try to keep your stables clean, but do it so your ox is happy, and so your harvest is that much greater.  This makes your life messy – you’ll say things like, “my life was so much simpler without the headache of working in this field.”  But when the harvest comes, you’ll be glad you got a little dirty.

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    • millertalbot 9:16 am on January 6, 2010 Permalink

      great reminder brother. i love the imagery! some of us need a little more bull crap in our lives… and i like the double entendre in the word “sterile”, i think both meanings apply. in fact, in this instance it would be difficult to apply one without the other.

    • Mark 11:41 am on January 6, 2010 Permalink

      miller – thanks for the comment! i tried to find a photo of “bubble boy” from Seinfeld (remember that episode?! PRICELESS). But I realized that they never showed him – only his tubular arm as he choked George in fury. Haha.

      He was both meanings of “sterile” too. He might have stayed clean all his life, but its hard to imagine bubble boy “bearing fruit” or multiplying…in fact I’d rather try my best NOT to imagine such a thing… :)

      Bring on the bull crap!

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