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Pets
I'm reminded anew of God's grace in allowing us to have domesticated animals. They give us so much joy. And I have realized there are things that these animals teach us about ourselves and about God.
1. God bestows common grace through pets.
His common grace refers to that grace of God bestowed to all people, including unbelievers. Examples of His common grace include good food, sunshine, rain, clothing, art, and definitely pets. The limitless joy that caring for animals gives us is a taste of God's goodness.
2. We are not animals.
Despite Darwin, despite Nietzsche, despite the cruel barbarism that "modern science" teaches, humans are not animals. We are created in the image of God with a unique, spectacular purpose - to mirror the glory of God to the rest of the world. We were given dominion over the animals. Jesus didn't die for cats. He died for His people.
3. Curiosity is a virtue.
When we go for walks, Kit sniffs everything - the rocks, the road, the weeds, the litter. She is enamored by the world. In awe of the way the air smells. Starved for wonder. She wants to see and hear and do and explore everything. And I smile - because she reminds me that curiosity didn't kill the cat; it opened her eyes to countless new and wondrous things.
4. Happiness is found in simplicity.
Kit does not live a lifestyle of the rich and famous. She eats dog food and drinks water and gets to roam outside and sleep in a warm bed. But she is undeniably, inescapably happy. It's true, we aren't dogs, but she reminds me that joy is found in simple living.
Humanity is consumed with a devout pursuit of happiness - and we attempt to find it everywhere except its solitary source, God. True, lasting joy is found in delighting in the Lord and gratefully rejoicing in the people He's given us and the place He's put us.
Sola Scriptura
The Reformation principle of sola Scriptura has to do with the sufficiency of Scripture as our supreme authority in all spiritual matters.
Sola Scriptura simply means that all truth necessary for our salvation and spiritual life is taught either explicitly or implicitly in Scripture.
It is not a claim that all truth of every kind is found in Scripture. The most ardent defender of sola Scriptura will concede, for example, that Scripture has little or nothing to say about DNA structures, microbiology, the rules of Chinese grammar, or rocket science.
This or that “scientific truth,” for example, may or may not be actually true, whether or not it can be supported by Scripture—but Scripture is a “more sure Word,” standing above all other truth in its authority and certainty.
It is “more sure,” according to the apostle Peter, than the data we gather firsthand through our senses (2 Peter 1:19). Therefore, Scripture is the highest and supreme authority on any matter on which it speaks.
But there are many important questions on which Scripture is silent. Sola Scriptura makes no claim to the contrary. Nor does sola Scriptura claim that everything Jesus or the apostles ever taught is preserved in Scripture.
But there are many important questions on which Scripture is silent. Sola Scriptura makes no claim to the contrary. Nor does sola Scriptura claim that everything Jesus or the apostles ever taught is preserved in Scripture.
It only means that everything necessary, everything binding on our consciences, and everything God requires of us is given to us in Scripture (2 Peter 1:3).
Photo Courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons and Steve Snodgrass.
Without Joy
Yesterday Dad preached on Hosea 9:1-9, a situation that found God's people without joy because they were living in sin. Through the text, Dad gave us three applications that Christians without joy today need to hear and do.
1. Call out to God and ask Him to reveal your sin.
This is no airy-fairy, dream-like revelation in the sky you're praying for, Dad assured us. It's actively reading God's Word and seeing your sin revealed through that. To have joy, read the Bible.
2. Call upon the Holy Spirit to convict you.
If you don't have joy, that is ultimately your problem, not God's. There is sin in the way. Ask the Spirit to bring that sin to your mind so that you can repent and deal with it. God will give you joy - but it is only found in faithful living.
3. Look to Christ and His work on the cross.
Joy isn't found in doing what you want to do. Joy isn't found in people. Joy isn't found in food or money or popularity or any ephemeral thing that we are tempted to trust in. Joy is found in depending on Christ through good or bad.
Are you without joy today? Look to God, the author and giver of joy.
7 Reasons
Here are seven reasons to stop making excuses and start reading (something) today:
1. Reading introduces you to new ideas. Fiction and non-fiction both transmit a worldview and address ideas. Every book in existence is about ideas. Some are lovely, and some are violently evil. But you will never know them if you do not read.
2. Reading introduces you to new friends. Whether it's the author or characters, there is a unique parasocial bond that is created through books. You feel like you know these people, like the imaginary ones exist and like the real ones are now your friends. What joy can be found in reading about people you care for.
3. Books make you smarter than television. Books are not easier than television. You need to think to read, need to stretch your mind and invigorate those brain cells. Movies are so much more easily accessible. You can just "turn off your mind." But is that what we really want? Is that making us more intelligent beings? Sure, television in moderation is okay (if you're watching the right stuff), but are you sacrificing reading for it?
4. Books just make you smarter. In general, books increase your intelligence. They expand your vocabulary, invite you to understand new concepts, shift your paradigms, allow you to become a generally more well-educated individual.
5. Reading makes you a more critical thinker. If you read, you will inevitably come up against beliefs that you disagree with. Engage with that conflict. Think more deeply about what you believe and why you believe it. Analyze reasoning.
6. Reading makes you feel things. Emotions are not inherently bad. Feeling grief, feeling joy, feeling humor or delight through books is nothing to be ashamed of. It is a wondrous side effect of being invested in literature.
7. Reading makes you a better Christian. Even if you're not reading the Bible, you are applying your Christian worldview - your beliefs in depravity and redemption and restoration - to what you read. You are reading books that make you a more thoughtful individual, a more mindful person of the world God has created.
Photo Courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons and Martin.
Making Time
(HBR) - My workday is tied to fast digital information: a keyboard, a big glowing screen, an Internet connection, data in and data out, crises to handle, fires to extinguish. While I can make some changes to how I approach that workday, it’s almost impossible for me, for most of us, to escape the digital flows of information during working hours. For me it’s been more effective to start weaning myself from digital inputs during my life outside of work.
I’ve used “reading books again” as the focus of my efforts—to unplug from the flow of digital information, and reconnect with that slower kind of information, the kind I used to get so much pleasure from.
I’ve settled on three hard rules that achieve two things: they get me reading books again, and they give my brain a break from constant digital overload. Here are my three rules to read again:
1. I get home from work, I put away my laptop (and iPhone). This was probably the scariest change—there is an expectation that we are always on, always connected for work. But, for me, there are very few emails that arrive at 10:15 p.m. (or 8:15 p.m.) that need to be answered right away. There are crunch times when I need to work in the evenings, but in general having a clear, well-rested mind when I start my work in the morning is far more valuable than having an overtaxed, exhausted mind from too many emails the previous night.
2. After dinner during the week, I don’t watch Netflix or TV, or mess around on the Internet. This is probably the change that has had the biggest impact. That hour or two of post-dinner wind-down is, for me, the only real free block of time in my day. So, once kids are in bed, dishes cleaned, I no longer even ask the question; I just get out my book and start reading. Often in bed. Sometimes at an outrageously early hour. I thought this change would be most difficult, but it’s been the easiest. Making time to read again has been a real pleasure. (And I enjoy the TV I do watch more than ever.)
3. No glowing screens in the bedroom (Kindle is OK, though). This was my first move away from digital overload, and even if I cheat on the other rules occasionally, this is the one rule I never violate. Not having a connected iPhone or iPad by my bedside means I am no longer tempted to check email at 3:30 in the morning, or visit Twitter at 5 a.m. when I wake up too early. Instead, in those moments of insomnia or an early wake up, I reach for my book (and usually fall right back to sleep).
Following these three rules has made a huge impact on my life. I have more time—since I am no longer constantly chasing the next byte of information. Reading books again has given me more time to reflect, to think, and has increased both my focus and the creative mental space to solve work problems. My stress levels are much lower, and energy levels up.
Managing the flows of digital information in the workplace, and in our personal lives, is going to be an ongoing challenge for all of us in the years and decades to come. Digital information flows will get faster and more voluminous. The internet is just a couple of decades old, and we’ve only had smartphones for less than 10 years.
We are still learning how to live in this information ecosystem, and how to build the ecosystem for humans rather than for the information. We will get better at it—as humans, and as builders of technology. And in the mean time, reading books again will help.
Read the rest here ->
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