When we view pleasure as all there is to life, not recognizing the source of all pleasure as God, we become distanced from God, cutting ourselves off from the main supply. When we use pleasure to mask our pain, we only increase our pain, thus needing bigger and bigger hits of pleasure to hide our pain. The gift of pleasure that God has given us then turns into a negative force in our lives.
-Mark Sayers, The Trouble with Paris
Want to see these pipes put in the ground and clean water for a village come out? Join me next Fall in Nicaragua with @LivingWater!
the absence of contentment
I’ve by no means tried everything under the sun.
There are places I haven’t been, things I haven’t done, and conversations I haven’t had.
Bands I haven’t listened to,
movies I haven’t watched,
food I haven’t tasted,
and people I’ve never met.
I won’t pretend to have even imagined some of the lifestyles I haven’t experienced, from lavish riches to destitute poverty.
But I have noticed something—there’s a profound absence of contentment in almost everyone’s life. Or perhaps in everyone’s life, just to varying degrees and evidences.
If you don’t agree with me, then answer me—why?
Why do those who “have it all” pull the trigger?
Why do those with young children spend their time avoiding being attentive parents?
Why do men with beautiful wives cheat?
Why do we rack up thousands of dollars in credit card debt just to go and buy more stuff to replace the stuff we just bought and didn’t need?
Why do we eat poorly and spend more the worse we feel about ourselves?
Why do we kill?
Why do we hate?
Why do we want things we can’t have?
Why do we judge people we’ve never met based on the clothes they’re wearing?
Why do we work ourselves to the bone early in our careers to obtain a certain lifestyle?
I could go on, but I assume you know where I’m going.
Something’s off kilter with what we desire and what it causes us to do.
Something’s doesn’t line up with what we want, what we have, and what we do.
What reflections do you see of the absence of contentment in the world?
This photo pretty much sums up the first day of our drilling experience from last week’s Living Water International trip to El Salvador. Mud, mud, everywhere.
HT: Ashley Dias
How will you choose joy this week?
Our weapon of choice for putting around 200 ft of pipe in the ground to unearth clean water.
It’s like the Kingdom of God being near but going unnoticed. Simply waiting for someone, not to create it, but to show the way.
When Jesus emerged from the tomb, justice, spirituality, relationships, and beauty rose with him. Something has happened in and through Jesus as a result of which the world is a different place, a place where heaven and earth have been joined forever. God’s future has arrived in the present. Instead of mere echoes, we hear the voice itself: a voice which speaks of rescue from evil and death, and hence of new creation.
N.T. Wright, Simply Christian
Losing Our Way?
This morning, just after 5:45, I was strolling through the streets of downtown with an elderly, out-of-shape homeless man. He’s a good, thoughtful man who’s fallen on hard times but is committed to getting his life back on track.
Did I mention he’s debilitatingly overweight? A few weeks ago he couldn’t walk down the hall without feeling winded. This morning he walked at least a mile with me.
After making much discussion about nothing, he mentioned that he had thought long and hard about “going into the ministry.” I pressed him with “why” and the short conversation we’ve had has quite literally shaped almost every conversation I’ve had today.
“Because my people have lost their way.”
As he unraveled the web of thoughts in his head that I could tell he didn’t need to think long and hard to access, it became apparent that he was referring to the plight of the African American community in Dallas.
I, however, thought his words were applicable to all people in all times in all cultures.
“My people have lost their way.”
When I asked him further what he meant by that, his answer became more telling and poignant.
“The kids don’t want anything.”
He could have elaborated more; indeed, he did. But he didn’t need to.
I knew exactly what he meant.
What happens to a community when its children don’t want anything out of life?
What happens when they don’t dream about a better world?
What happens when people are so busy texting and surfing the web and seeking their fifteen minutes of fame that people stop helping people?
We lose our way when we stop wanting something great out of life. When all we desire is petty and self-serving.
You see, whether we intentionally acknowledge it or not, our decisions and actions shape our future. They paint a vivid picture of what we desire. What we want out of life.
What do you want out of life? What’s the vision of the (your) world that drives you to get up in the morning? Is it small and petty? Or grand and in need of God if it will ever work?
And when our time is up, will we leave a world which is more God-oriented because of our time here? Or will it simply reflect the passing of another soul that “got his (or hers)” while they could?
A struggling homeless man, sweaty and tired, spoke of a life that pointed others to something bigger.
We should all aspire to such things.
“How” to Read the Bible
A few weeks ago, I taught a series on how to read the Bible. Not “how to study Scripture,” but how to read the Story of God. How to actually engage with the Bible and it’s vision for life.
So a few thoughts before I set out 4 simple steps of a process…
First is that we often read the Bible in self-serving ways. Our pitfalls are generated around our need to make the Bible conform to our hopes & dreams, rather than learning the hopes and dreams of the Bible and conforming ourselves to those hopes & dreams.
Second, the intention of the Bible is to (re)form us into the image of Jesus, who is the perfect image of God. This means taking on Jesus’ right standing with God, as well as taking on his values and vision for life.
Third, our primary posture when approaching should be that of “listener.” We don’t simply engage with ink and paper, but we engage with words that convey truth to engage with God.Finally, and summarily, we read the Bible to listen to the story of God.
Here’s a simple process that could lead you to read the Bible in a way that honors the whole story and intent of the Bible. It’s not perfect and not necessarily always linear, but it’s a start.
Step One | INFORMED
We read the Bible to become familiar with the story of God. To listen to it, because listening is loving. We read to become familiar with God, to engage with God himself, and not simply paper and ink.
Step Two | REBUKED
We let the story of God punch us in the stomach, roll around in our minds and hearts, and call our life into question. We should be left asking the question: “What are the inconsistencies in my story when compared to God’s story?”
Step Three | RESTORED
The story not only calls our story into question but it gives us a better story. We should learn to pray the story—to submit to it, to honor it as the best possible story. We pray it to align ourselves and restore our brokenness to the truth of God.
Step Four | TRAINED in Right Living
Once the story of God pushes our story out and gives us a better story, we now have a more clear vision of what life should be about. We now live fully into that reality. We read the Bible to live the story of God in our world.
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The above is a collaboration of Eugene Peterson’s thoughts on Lectio Divina in Eat this Book, Scot McKnight’s work in The Blue Parakeet, and 2 Timothy 3:16-18. I’ve made up note card sized handouts to fit in Bibles. If you’d like one, contact me.
While the practices of Christian worship are best understood as the restoration of an original, creational desire for God, practically speaking, Christian worship functions as a counter-formation to the mis-formation of secular liturgies (practices) into which we are thrown from an early age.
I'm a runner, writer, thinker, and pastor. I love to agitate people's consciences. I like to spend my time reading, running, and relaxing with family & friends.