Just when I think I'm humble, I'm proud. Just when I think I'm accepting, I'm judgemental. Just when I think I'm mature, I'm immature. Just when I think I finally get it, I realize I know nothing. Just when I think I'm loving, I'm selfish. Just when I think I'm giving, I'm greedy. Just when I think I'm compassionate, I'm spiteful.
"that which i do not want to do, i do; that which i do want to do, i do not do."
yeah, paul, i get it now.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
26 September 2005
16 September 2005
[exploring love; an exposition on increase]
it has been my observation that those people who feel they are not giving enough to help the world are the ones who are already giving much. maybe they see ways to improve upon their giving, maybe they don't. but the ones who give the most feel they are not giving as much as they can.
it seems, to them, that the more they give away, the more they actually have.
having been in the pentecostal/charismatic circle a while, i have heard all the teachings on "give to God's work and watch Him give you back 30, 60 and 100-fold."
many preachers, evangelists and ministers use these Scriptural promises for personal gain or to further their ministries, but they are lacking one key ingredient when they serve up their offering requests.
they stop after saying the more you give to God, the more He gives back to you. many of them say "give out of your need" and it should be translated, "give out of your greed."
it has been estimated that the global christian church rakes in 11 trillion dollars annually (that's individual christians). if the people only gave what they were required (ten percent), that's 1.1 trillion dollars. (1.1 TRILLION!) that's definitely enough money to make a difference. so where does that money go? it goes into homes, food, cars, toys, education, etc.
the average christian spends 700% more on entertainment than they do on anything religious. the average christian spends 70x's more money on dogfood than on world-evangelization. and thirty times more on sodas than on international aid.
where does the money that does come in go? 86% of all money given in the past decade has gone into church building funds. 90% of that was in churches that didn't particularly need a new building. 65% of what was left over went towards local programs (which isn't necessarily a bad thing, because people here need the Gospel message just like the people in other countries). i was talking to a friend of mine a few days ago and they were telling me about a road in their city that has six or eight multi-hundred million dollar facilities on a short stretch of it! what are we doing?
we horde our cash and save it until it can buy us massive buildings and facilities and then parade and preen like peacocks while millions of people starve to death. we whoop and holler about how we are blessed and do little to help the millions of people dying without hope. we say how good our God is yet we betray His goodness by showing off our congregational greed.
it's time for us to get off of our blessed assurance [props to bro. dwight] and go do what we say we believe. we've talked about it; we reminisce about it. we can't change our past. what's done is done and there's no use trying to smooth things over and trying to cover it up. it's time to stop pretending and time to start being.
a different friend of mine [yes, i have more than one...] recently gave me something to read from the classic story the velveteen rabbit. skin horse is telling rabbit what it takes to be real:
it doesn't happen all at once like being wound up, but bit by bit. it doesn't happen all at once. you become. it takes a long time. that's why it doesn't happen to people who break easily, or who have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. generally, by the time you are real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. but these things don't matter at all because once you are real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.
my friend, who is one of my heroes is at a religious learning institute [think mainline bible college], went on to pen,
"christians today need stop being so fearful about spending time with the 'wrong' kind of people, get in the world, and really start reaching the lost. people don't care to see how perfect we are; they need to see how perfect God is. they don't think that christians don't sin; they need to know about God's amazing forgiveness. the lost don't need to hear that they need to change their lives; they need to know how God will change their lives. they don't need to hear us talk about the truth, they need to see us trusting and living out the truth."
amen.
let's increase our giving, but not to the building fund. let's increase our time with the people. let's increase our exposure to the needs of others. let's increase our exposure to God and decrease our exposure to ourselves.
[live the revolution!]
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
it seems, to them, that the more they give away, the more they actually have.
having been in the pentecostal/charismatic circle a while, i have heard all the teachings on "give to God's work and watch Him give you back 30, 60 and 100-fold."
many preachers, evangelists and ministers use these Scriptural promises for personal gain or to further their ministries, but they are lacking one key ingredient when they serve up their offering requests.
they stop after saying the more you give to God, the more He gives back to you. many of them say "give out of your need" and it should be translated, "give out of your greed."
it has been estimated that the global christian church rakes in 11 trillion dollars annually (that's individual christians). if the people only gave what they were required (ten percent), that's 1.1 trillion dollars. (1.1 TRILLION!) that's definitely enough money to make a difference. so where does that money go? it goes into homes, food, cars, toys, education, etc.
the average christian spends 700% more on entertainment than they do on anything religious. the average christian spends 70x's more money on dogfood than on world-evangelization. and thirty times more on sodas than on international aid.
where does the money that does come in go? 86% of all money given in the past decade has gone into church building funds. 90% of that was in churches that didn't particularly need a new building. 65% of what was left over went towards local programs (which isn't necessarily a bad thing, because people here need the Gospel message just like the people in other countries). i was talking to a friend of mine a few days ago and they were telling me about a road in their city that has six or eight multi-hundred million dollar facilities on a short stretch of it! what are we doing?
we horde our cash and save it until it can buy us massive buildings and facilities and then parade and preen like peacocks while millions of people starve to death. we whoop and holler about how we are blessed and do little to help the millions of people dying without hope. we say how good our God is yet we betray His goodness by showing off our congregational greed.
it's time for us to get off of our blessed assurance [props to bro. dwight] and go do what we say we believe. we've talked about it; we reminisce about it. we can't change our past. what's done is done and there's no use trying to smooth things over and trying to cover it up. it's time to stop pretending and time to start being.
a different friend of mine [yes, i have more than one...] recently gave me something to read from the classic story the velveteen rabbit. skin horse is telling rabbit what it takes to be real:
it doesn't happen all at once like being wound up, but bit by bit. it doesn't happen all at once. you become. it takes a long time. that's why it doesn't happen to people who break easily, or who have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. generally, by the time you are real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. but these things don't matter at all because once you are real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.
my friend, who is one of my heroes is at a religious learning institute [think mainline bible college], went on to pen,
"christians today need stop being so fearful about spending time with the 'wrong' kind of people, get in the world, and really start reaching the lost. people don't care to see how perfect we are; they need to see how perfect God is. they don't think that christians don't sin; they need to know about God's amazing forgiveness. the lost don't need to hear that they need to change their lives; they need to know how God will change their lives. they don't need to hear us talk about the truth, they need to see us trusting and living out the truth."
amen.
let's increase our giving, but not to the building fund. let's increase our time with the people. let's increase our exposure to the needs of others. let's increase our exposure to God and decrease our exposure to ourselves.
[live the revolution!]
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
12 September 2005
[a divine falling out: the wrath of God and the institution of religion]
in a previous post, i briefly pointed out scriptures that show that God does not destroy the wicked without first issuing a warning.
today, i would like to focus on the initial striking point of God's wrath on the earth today. what, exactly, is the wrath of God? have we seen it evidenced in modern times? are sept. 11, 2001 hurricane katrina and the tsunami of 2005 agents of God's wrath on this fallen world?
or, have we simply forgetten eschatology and that God promises storms and wars just before the end of the world?
we need to look at wrath in both a historical and a prophetic light. the earth has only once experienced the full-fury of God's wrath and even then i am hesitant to use the word "full."
our visions and ideas of hell come more from dante's inferno than from biblical evidence. all we know is that it will be a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth and anyone who goes there will be forever cut off from God.
our concepts of wrath stem from the fall-out of human interaction. both of these are incomplete visualiztions of wrath because they stem from human experiences and ideas. jonathan edwards sermon "sinners in the hands of an angry God" is the most eye-opening (not to mention the scariest) visualization i have ever heard of or read of the wrath of God. [disclaimer: notice i said that i have heard of read; i realize that this is subjective and not merely objective, but i am convinced that anyone who reads this sermon would agree that it is one of the most powerful pieces of writing on the wrath of God if not the most powerful aside from the Scriptures.]
many christians would draw the conclusion of God's wrath when referring to hurricane katrina and september 11, 2001. hurricane katrina, more so for it's apparent similarities to the destruction of sodom and gomorrah. but here is my question: when God's wrath is poured out on people, the land suffers but the people are utterly destroyed; they are wiped out. no one survives save for the few God selected to rescue (i.e. lot and his family; noah and his family; joshua, caleb, moses and the children of israel under 21; etc.).
with this precedence, if katrina was God's fury, why were so many people saved?
now here's a question i get all the time: if God is a God of love then how can He be a God of wrath. the answer to that is not that He isn't a God of wrath, but that He is a God of justice and His wrath was not intended for humans. His wrath was intended for sin. He won't simply earse sin from the world. why not? because doing so would be against His nature. He is a God of love. to erase sin and force mankind into living in righteousness is not love. love gives the receiver the choice- not the giver. pure love does not seek it's own. He wants us to make the choice between what we choose to love and Him. He is not giving us a blind choice, we know that the wages of sin is death and those who claim not to know chose ignorance. those who do wrong and say they were unaware of the consequences are lying. they may want to believe that there are no adverse consequences, but they will discover their faith was in vain. only an insane person will believe in something they know to be false.
God is only angered by sin. He hates sin. He wants nothing to do with sin. however, He loves His creation, specifically the part that He formed in His own image- the part that He breathed His breath into. if we are sinful people, how can He love us? He loves the individual and despises what they do- in short, He has loads of patience for each individual.
now, i know you're wondering where the institution of religion part plays into what i've written. so here it goes: the institution of religion (particularly psuedo-christianity) states that when something bad happens to a primarily wicked lot of people, it is God's judgement. they claim the tsunami was God's judgement on the hindu, buddhist and muslim world; that september 11, 2001 was God's judgement on feminism, homosexuality, sexual promiscuity, lust and greed; and that hurricane katrina was God's judgement on sexual debauchery and homosexuality.
while some of these target groups might actually be reasons for a specific event, it is not God's judgement when He allows something of the magnitude of the tsunami, sept 11, 01 and hurrican katrina. He allows those things to draw people back to Him.
the institution would have you believe that God was angry and He destroyed those people to purge those areas, actual Scripture suggests that it is allowed so that people can return to the Lord, their Creator; their Maker.
the divine fall out is here: *[the institution of religion feeds on fear, the notion of God's wrath in all things adds to the fear. but God is Love Personified. He is Perfect Love. and we know that perfect love casts out all fear]*
there is a lesson to be learned from this though. first, looking back at amos 4, God clearly has set a precedent for allowing disaster to strike to draw men back to Him.
our second lesson can be learned from luke 13:1-5.
now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the galileans whose blood pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, "do you think that these galileans were worse sinners than all the other galileans because they suffered this way? i tell you, no! but unless you repent, you too will perish. or those eighteen who died when the tower in siloam fell on them- do you think that they were more guilty than all the others living in jerusalem? i tell you, no! but unless you repent, you too will perish."
[for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...]
today, i would like to focus on the initial striking point of God's wrath on the earth today. what, exactly, is the wrath of God? have we seen it evidenced in modern times? are sept. 11, 2001 hurricane katrina and the tsunami of 2005 agents of God's wrath on this fallen world?
or, have we simply forgetten eschatology and that God promises storms and wars just before the end of the world?
we need to look at wrath in both a historical and a prophetic light. the earth has only once experienced the full-fury of God's wrath and even then i am hesitant to use the word "full."
our visions and ideas of hell come more from dante's inferno than from biblical evidence. all we know is that it will be a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth and anyone who goes there will be forever cut off from God.
our concepts of wrath stem from the fall-out of human interaction. both of these are incomplete visualiztions of wrath because they stem from human experiences and ideas. jonathan edwards sermon "sinners in the hands of an angry God" is the most eye-opening (not to mention the scariest) visualization i have ever heard of or read of the wrath of God. [disclaimer: notice i said that i have heard of read; i realize that this is subjective and not merely objective, but i am convinced that anyone who reads this sermon would agree that it is one of the most powerful pieces of writing on the wrath of God if not the most powerful aside from the Scriptures.]
many christians would draw the conclusion of God's wrath when referring to hurricane katrina and september 11, 2001. hurricane katrina, more so for it's apparent similarities to the destruction of sodom and gomorrah. but here is my question: when God's wrath is poured out on people, the land suffers but the people are utterly destroyed; they are wiped out. no one survives save for the few God selected to rescue (i.e. lot and his family; noah and his family; joshua, caleb, moses and the children of israel under 21; etc.).
with this precedence, if katrina was God's fury, why were so many people saved?
now here's a question i get all the time: if God is a God of love then how can He be a God of wrath. the answer to that is not that He isn't a God of wrath, but that He is a God of justice and His wrath was not intended for humans. His wrath was intended for sin. He won't simply earse sin from the world. why not? because doing so would be against His nature. He is a God of love. to erase sin and force mankind into living in righteousness is not love. love gives the receiver the choice- not the giver. pure love does not seek it's own. He wants us to make the choice between what we choose to love and Him. He is not giving us a blind choice, we know that the wages of sin is death and those who claim not to know chose ignorance. those who do wrong and say they were unaware of the consequences are lying. they may want to believe that there are no adverse consequences, but they will discover their faith was in vain. only an insane person will believe in something they know to be false.
God is only angered by sin. He hates sin. He wants nothing to do with sin. however, He loves His creation, specifically the part that He formed in His own image- the part that He breathed His breath into. if we are sinful people, how can He love us? He loves the individual and despises what they do- in short, He has loads of patience for each individual.
now, i know you're wondering where the institution of religion part plays into what i've written. so here it goes: the institution of religion (particularly psuedo-christianity) states that when something bad happens to a primarily wicked lot of people, it is God's judgement. they claim the tsunami was God's judgement on the hindu, buddhist and muslim world; that september 11, 2001 was God's judgement on feminism, homosexuality, sexual promiscuity, lust and greed; and that hurricane katrina was God's judgement on sexual debauchery and homosexuality.
while some of these target groups might actually be reasons for a specific event, it is not God's judgement when He allows something of the magnitude of the tsunami, sept 11, 01 and hurrican katrina. He allows those things to draw people back to Him.
the institution would have you believe that God was angry and He destroyed those people to purge those areas, actual Scripture suggests that it is allowed so that people can return to the Lord, their Creator; their Maker.
the divine fall out is here: *[the institution of religion feeds on fear, the notion of God's wrath in all things adds to the fear. but God is Love Personified. He is Perfect Love. and we know that perfect love casts out all fear]*
there is a lesson to be learned from this though. first, looking back at amos 4, God clearly has set a precedent for allowing disaster to strike to draw men back to Him.
our second lesson can be learned from luke 13:1-5.
now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the galileans whose blood pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, "do you think that these galileans were worse sinners than all the other galileans because they suffered this way? i tell you, no! but unless you repent, you too will perish. or those eighteen who died when the tower in siloam fell on them- do you think that they were more guilty than all the others living in jerusalem? i tell you, no! but unless you repent, you too will perish."
where those who were lost to these great tragedies any worse than the rest of us sinners? no. don't wonder why they died. be concerned that you remained alive and that your life may be required of you at any moment.
sobering words.[for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...]
07 September 2005
[learning experiences: a quarter century of closed doors, poor decisions and burned bridges]
ok, so it's not anywhere near my 25th birthday yet, but it sounded good in the title line...
yeah, so i was reflecting on my life this morning (at 3:52 a.m.) and i saw a pattern emerge. a pattern that i don't really think i like and one that i don't want the next quarter century to be filled with.
it's easy to write of missed chances, bad choices and wrong roads taken (two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and i- i took the one most traveled by...), well for me it is, i guess. it's easy to talk of them and reminice (yeah, so i spelt it wrong, who cares?) on how i felt when those choices were made and sometimes it's a tough pill to swallow to see how those decisions have affected who i am today.
what makes us better is when we acknowledge our errors, get back up off the ground, brush ourselves off and move on. i am as close to being who i was yesterday as i am to who i was 5 years ago.
all i know is that what i'm doing right now, this taking care of business, is what it will take to cool the burning bridges, to cover the closed doors and to pave the way for better decisions.
i know this too... i know that where i am is not where i want to be. i know that where i plan to be soon is not my final destination and what i am doing is not what i want to do with my life.
i know this as well... i know that, like simon birch, God has a plan for me, and that even if it means i die early (actually, it would be right on time), then i will have done something for Him. some how, in some way or another, my life will touch others. and it will be greater than it has already. these hands belong to david joseph huffman, and one day they will touch millions. these feet belong to david joseph huffman, and one day they will walk in nations. these lips belong to david joseph huffman, and one day they will speak to a generation.
yes, my name is david joseph huffman, and i've filled a quarter century with mistakes. but the next few years don't belong to me, they belong to God and are for Him to write the story.
two roads diverge in a yellow wood, and i- i choose the one God travels by.
[for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...]
yeah, so i was reflecting on my life this morning (at 3:52 a.m.) and i saw a pattern emerge. a pattern that i don't really think i like and one that i don't want the next quarter century to be filled with.
it's easy to write of missed chances, bad choices and wrong roads taken (two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and i- i took the one most traveled by...), well for me it is, i guess. it's easy to talk of them and reminice (yeah, so i spelt it wrong, who cares?) on how i felt when those choices were made and sometimes it's a tough pill to swallow to see how those decisions have affected who i am today.
what makes us better is when we acknowledge our errors, get back up off the ground, brush ourselves off and move on. i am as close to being who i was yesterday as i am to who i was 5 years ago.
all i know is that what i'm doing right now, this taking care of business, is what it will take to cool the burning bridges, to cover the closed doors and to pave the way for better decisions.
i know this too... i know that where i am is not where i want to be. i know that where i plan to be soon is not my final destination and what i am doing is not what i want to do with my life.
i know this as well... i know that, like simon birch, God has a plan for me, and that even if it means i die early (actually, it would be right on time), then i will have done something for Him. some how, in some way or another, my life will touch others. and it will be greater than it has already. these hands belong to david joseph huffman, and one day they will touch millions. these feet belong to david joseph huffman, and one day they will walk in nations. these lips belong to david joseph huffman, and one day they will speak to a generation.
yes, my name is david joseph huffman, and i've filled a quarter century with mistakes. but the next few years don't belong to me, they belong to God and are for Him to write the story.
two roads diverge in a yellow wood, and i- i choose the one God travels by.
[for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...]
03 September 2005
[reflections on katrina: was katrina God's judgement?]
two days ago i received an email from a friend regarding hurricane katrina. this friend had forwarded an email list from an organization claiming to speak for God.
the gist of the list was that because the city of new orleans openly celebrated it's sin and welcomed homosexuality in particular (mardi gras, girls gone wild videos and abortion clinics all get honorable mentions), God chose to decimate it. then, in one final attempt to solidify that this storm was, indeed, an act of judgement, the author leaves the reader with these words from matthew 5:45- [God] sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
my problem with this "judgement" logic is simply this: God is not random. God does not dispense wrath at random. biblically, all judgements have been preceded by prophetic warnings. God has always given people a warning and a way out.
God told abraham in genesis that He was about to destroy sodom and gomorrah. He sent two angels to rescue lot and his family so that the city could be destroyed. when those who heard the warnings laughed or didn't repent, they were destroyed. God even promised abraham that, if even ten righteous people could be found there, then sodom and gomorrah would not be destroyed.
in exodus, at the foot of sinai, israel was full of sin. God's anger burned within Him and He told moses that He would simply destroy israel and begin again. moses' intercession was enough to save his people.
and finally, just to show that i didn't pick out two random references to build my platform on: when God sent jonah to ninevah, He did it to warn the people of the impending judgement, to give them an opportunity to repent and change their ways.
now tell me, or show me, who was giving the specific warning? who did God use to warn the people of new orleans and how specific were they about His message? if katrina was God's judgement, and the people were warned, where were the intercessors praying for restoration?
i don't believe katrina was a judgement. i believe what God says about storms and disease in amos chapter 4. He did it to draw us to Him. He is showing us that He has the real power and that we are so dependent on our labels of independence that we are slaves to our egos.
yes, we need to repent as a nation. yes, we need to relearn how to approach the Holy One. but katrina is not a judgement. katrina was created to cause us to reflect on how we are living our lives, what we can do to change our lives and how we can live our lives for the glory of God.
katrina was a wake-up call, not a farewell speech.
[for the world-wide renown of His sovreign glory...]
the gist of the list was that because the city of new orleans openly celebrated it's sin and welcomed homosexuality in particular (mardi gras, girls gone wild videos and abortion clinics all get honorable mentions), God chose to decimate it. then, in one final attempt to solidify that this storm was, indeed, an act of judgement, the author leaves the reader with these words from matthew 5:45- [God] sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
my problem with this "judgement" logic is simply this: God is not random. God does not dispense wrath at random. biblically, all judgements have been preceded by prophetic warnings. God has always given people a warning and a way out.
God told abraham in genesis that He was about to destroy sodom and gomorrah. He sent two angels to rescue lot and his family so that the city could be destroyed. when those who heard the warnings laughed or didn't repent, they were destroyed. God even promised abraham that, if even ten righteous people could be found there, then sodom and gomorrah would not be destroyed.
in exodus, at the foot of sinai, israel was full of sin. God's anger burned within Him and He told moses that He would simply destroy israel and begin again. moses' intercession was enough to save his people.
and finally, just to show that i didn't pick out two random references to build my platform on: when God sent jonah to ninevah, He did it to warn the people of the impending judgement, to give them an opportunity to repent and change their ways.
now tell me, or show me, who was giving the specific warning? who did God use to warn the people of new orleans and how specific were they about His message? if katrina was God's judgement, and the people were warned, where were the intercessors praying for restoration?
i don't believe katrina was a judgement. i believe what God says about storms and disease in amos chapter 4. He did it to draw us to Him. He is showing us that He has the real power and that we are so dependent on our labels of independence that we are slaves to our egos.
yes, we need to repent as a nation. yes, we need to relearn how to approach the Holy One. but katrina is not a judgement. katrina was created to cause us to reflect on how we are living our lives, what we can do to change our lives and how we can live our lives for the glory of God.
katrina was a wake-up call, not a farewell speech.
[for the world-wide renown of His sovreign glory...]
01 September 2005
adventures in divine discontentedness
that's right, the title is not a mistake. we're all looking for that one thing that can make a us content. the beauty of God's design for discontentment is that is draws the seeker to Him. sure, we sometimes step away, or our eyes catch something pretty or flashy.
while other people tout God as being the answer to our divine discontedness, i believe it goes beyond that. i am restless and discontent, yet i "worship" God. now why on earth did i just put worship in quotes? because i am about to re-define worship. worship is both a noun and a verb. it is our fault that worship is considered a noun (person, place, thing or idea). we define our meetings by calling them "worship" services. there are two types of verbs (uh-oh! a grammar lesson!) there are action verbs (think about things that you can do all around a room- run, jump, laugh...) and then there are being verbs (think exist).
can you worship around the room? of course. does worship define our services? not as much as it should.
i truly think emerson was inspired by God when he penned the words, i see young men, my townsmen, whose misfortune it is to have inherited farms, houses, cattle, and farming tools; for these are more easily acquired then got rid of. better if they had been born in a field and suckled by a wolf, that they might have seen with clearer eyes what field they were called to labor in.
while emerson was referring to men who were working in fields while having the dreams and, in some cases, the skills to be working a different job; his statement translates so easily into the spiritual world.
while other christian leaders have written books about divine discontentment in reference to God being the only One who can make us content, my intent is to show that unless we become the christians we are supposed to be, we will still be discontent.
the beauty of discontent is that it pushes us to find contentedness. it doesn't allow us to settle. it drives us onward in our journey.
i see my friends, my collegues, my fellow christians, whose misfortune it is to have inherited hopelessness, taken jobs and careers, and purchased toys that break; for these are more easily got than got rid of. better they had begun humble in the beginning, that they might have seen with clearer eyes what field they were called to labor in.
while other people tout God as being the answer to our divine discontedness, i believe it goes beyond that. i am restless and discontent, yet i "worship" God. now why on earth did i just put worship in quotes? because i am about to re-define worship. worship is both a noun and a verb. it is our fault that worship is considered a noun (person, place, thing or idea). we define our meetings by calling them "worship" services. there are two types of verbs (uh-oh! a grammar lesson!) there are action verbs (think about things that you can do all around a room- run, jump, laugh...) and then there are being verbs (think exist).
can you worship around the room? of course. does worship define our services? not as much as it should.
i truly think emerson was inspired by God when he penned the words, i see young men, my townsmen, whose misfortune it is to have inherited farms, houses, cattle, and farming tools; for these are more easily acquired then got rid of. better if they had been born in a field and suckled by a wolf, that they might have seen with clearer eyes what field they were called to labor in.
while emerson was referring to men who were working in fields while having the dreams and, in some cases, the skills to be working a different job; his statement translates so easily into the spiritual world.
while other christian leaders have written books about divine discontentment in reference to God being the only One who can make us content, my intent is to show that unless we become the christians we are supposed to be, we will still be discontent.
the beauty of discontent is that it pushes us to find contentedness. it doesn't allow us to settle. it drives us onward in our journey.
i see my friends, my collegues, my fellow christians, whose misfortune it is to have inherited hopelessness, taken jobs and careers, and purchased toys that break; for these are more easily got than got rid of. better they had begun humble in the beginning, that they might have seen with clearer eyes what field they were called to labor in.
deitrich bonhoeffer penned the words: time lost is time when we have not lived a full human life, time unenriched by experience, creative endeavor, enjoyment and suffering.
[for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...]
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