May the reading of His Word be a lamp and light to you and your life.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
May 2014
Not one to wait until the last moment. :-) Here is May's reading list:
May the reading of His Word be a lamp and light to you and your life.
May the reading of His Word be a lamp and light to you and your life.
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
"Remember, it is not hasty reading, but serious meditating upon holy and heavenly truths, that make them prove sweet and profitable to the soul...It is not he that reads most , but he that meditates most, that will prove the choicest, sweetest, wisest and strongest Christian." - Thomas Brooks (1608-1680)
Monday, April 14, 2014
Monthly Memory Verse
I really need to be more diligent in memorizing His word! A dear sweet sister in the Lord had this encouraging post.
This month's memory verse is:
Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. - Psalm 105:3
This month's memory verse is:
Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. - Psalm 105:3
Soooo, I thought I'd 'tear' it apart a bit. :-) Hopefully I'll actually meditate upon it and have it memorized by the end of the month. I know, I know best get busy as the month is half over!!!!!
Psa 105:3 Glory H1984 ye in his holy H6944 name: H8034 let the heart H3820 of them rejoice H8055 that seek H1245 the LORD. H3068
Glory - H1984 - A primitive root; to be clear (originally of sound, but usually of color); to shine; hence to make a show; to boast; and thus to be (clamorously) foolish; to rave; causatively to celebrate; also to stultify. (Stultify? - verb: cause to lose enthusiasm and initiative, esp. as a result of a tedious or restrictive routine.)
Used 165 times in 140 verses - most prominantly in Psalms (94 matches) then in Proverbs (9 matches).
holy - H6944 - From H6942; a sacred place or thing; rarely abstractly sanctity.
- H6942 - A primitive root; to be (causatively make, pronounce or observe as) clean (ceremonially or morally).
name - H8034 - A primitive word (perhaps rather from H7760 through the idea of definite and conspicuous position; compare H8064); an appellation, as a mark or memorial of individuality; by implication honor, authority, character.
I found this definition interesting, what does our name say about us? When someone hears our name, do they know us to be one of His?
heart - H3820 - A form of H3824; the heart; also used (figuratively) very widely for the feelings, the will and even the intellect; likewise for the centre of anything.
- H3824 - From H3823; the heart (as the most interior organ); used also like H3820.
- H3823 - A primitive root; properly to be enclosed (as if with fat); by implication (as denominative from H3824) to unheart, that is, (in a good sense) transport (with love), or (in a bad sense) stultify; also (as denominative from H3834) to make cakes. (There's that word again, stultify!)
rejoice - H8055 - A primitive root; probably to brighten up, that is, (figuratively) be (causatively make) blithe or gleesome.
seek - H1245 - A primitive root; to search out (by any method; specifically in worship or prayer); by implication to strive after.
And this is where I'm falling short. I'm not seeking Him as I should. I'm not wrestling with Him, drawing closer, deeper, more intimate. I'm lolly gagging around, wasting time. His time. I seem to forget He's the Master, I am the slave. All I am, have, or ever will be, every drop of my time and talents are to be dedicated to HIM and HIM alone.
Lord - H3068 - From H1961; (the) self Existent or eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God.
- H1961 - A primitive root (compare H1933); to exist, that is, be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary).
So perhaps this lethargy or whatever this 'feeling' is, is because I'm not seeking to spend time with Him as I ought. How much time to outside activities, interests, etc. am I allowed to give? I don't know that there is a measurement, 6 hours here, 1 hour here, etc. Rather, we are all individually called to give an account of how we spend HIS time, what may be a waste for one person, may not be for another.
I do want to rejoice in Him, to glory in His name. O' Lord, forgive me when I indulge my flesh and am a lazy, vile creature, forgive me Lord, when I place other things before spending time with You. Forgive me Lord for neglecting to truly seek after You. Cleanse me O' Lord, wash me fresh, give me a desire to be a better reflection of You. To honor the use of Your time given to me on this temporal plane. Help all of us Lord to glory and rejoice in and for You.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Motivational Speaking Is Not Biblical Preaching
Interesting post as a pastor responds to an inquiry from a 'seeker' about how to be successful.
By Conrad Mbewe - The Curse of Motivational Speaking
"Last Sunday, a young man came to see me after our church service. He is the kind of guy who shows up at church once in a while and then disappears for a season. My guess is that he goes around churches sampling sermons and looking for answers. On this visit, he asked that I help him to overcome a failure in his life, and it was a failure to progress. He said that his greatest problem is that he does not believe in himself. Could I help him believe in himself so that he could become successful?
I asked him whether he was a Christian. His answer was, “Do I really need to be a Christian in order to be successful? Are you telling me that all those successful people out there are Christians? Aren’t there general principles that I can apply to my life—whether I am a Christian or not—that can catapult me to success?” I challenged him to answer that question himself. After all, I was sure he had done enough rounds among motivational speakers to have the answer.
“That is the problem,” he said, “I have been told that such principles exist and I have tried them. They seem to work for a while and then I am back to my old self again. I want you to help me find that formula that will help me go forward and never slide back to the place where I do not believe in myself.” To cut the long story short, I finally persuaded him of the need for reconciliation with God before anyone can break free from the frustrating rut that God locks unreconciled sinners in.
I gave him a booklet to read, entitled, What is a Biblical Christian? When we met the following day, he was honest enough to tell me that he was disappointed with what he read because it was not telling him what he wanted to hear. “What I want to know is how I can be successful. This booklet did not say anything about that.” I repeated what I told him earlier. What he needed was not belief in himself but belief in a Saviour sent from heaven. He needed forgiveness as a foundation for his life.
Yesterday, a church member told me that he met the young man in the local market. He had two booklets in his hands. The first was the one I had given him and the second one was by Joel Osteen. He told our member, “Pastor Mbewe gave me this book but I don’t like it because it makes me feel guilty. I prefer this one by Joel Osteen because it lifts me up. It motivates me.” I am very concerned about this and so I decided to put some thoughts together about the curse of motivational speaking.
Sadly, motivational speaking has become the staple diet of many evangelical pulpits. The message being heard is, “God has put the potential in you and all you need to do is believe in yourself to unlock that potential. Have a grand vision and live out that vision. You must be a man or woman of destiny and the sky will be the limit for you. Don’t let your past failures get in your way of success. Look beyond them, as Jesus looked beyond the cross and thus overcame it. You are the head and not the tail. ”
In the light of the plethora of motivational speaking, it begs the question, “Is this how Old Testament and New Testament preachers preached?” If I summarise the preaching of Noah, Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Jonah, Paul, Peter, etc., in the Bible, is this the kind of message that I will find there? I do not think so. Granted, motivational speakers borrow words from these men, but borrowing someone’s words is not the same thing as saying what he is saying. “A text without a context is a pretext.”
My chief quarrel with motivational speaking is that it reduces God to a means rather than an end. Men and women are not made to see that the nature of SIN lies in the letter “I” in the middle of the word. Instead, motivational speaking feeds that same ego and points to God as the one who can spoil it to the point of intoxication. That is a lie! It is God alone who must be at the centre of our lives. Christianity demands a dying to self, a taking up of one’s cross, and a following after a suffering Saviour.
Whenever I listen to motivational speaking, I seem to hear the message, “Peace, peace,” where there is no peace. It sounds to me like a doctor assuring a patient who has terminal cancer in its final stages that he should not worry because all will be okay if he only believes in himself. The guy is dying, man, for crying out loud! It is the height of insincerity if a preacher knows that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) and instead makes those heading for the slaughterhouse feel nice.
Motivational speaking makes people feel good, whereas the gospel first makes people feel bad—until they find their all in Christ. True preaching must make people face the fact that they are living in rebellion against God and that they need to repent or they will perish. It is only as people recognise this and cry out, “What shall we do to be saved?” (Acts 2:37, 16:30) that true preaching gives them the good news, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13).
Motivational speaking is an attempt at trying to kill a charging lion with a pea-gun, using freshly cooked peas, spiced with the most aromatic seasonings. The aroma may be tantalizing to the taste buds, but it is totally useless in bringing down that ferocious beast. Men and women outside Christ are DEAD in trespasses and sins. Exciting their senses with nice-sounding platitudes will not give them life. They need the law to kill their fallen egos and the gospel of Jesus Christ to give them life.
I know that motivational speaking is filling up our church buildings until they look like football stadiums. In this world of misery and gloom, we can all do with some encouragement. But is that all that we were called to do as preachers? What good is it if men feel inspired and motivated, and then go back home to live a life of sin and selfishness? Sadly this is the norm in so many evangelical churches. The churches are filled to capacity with people determined to drink sin like water the whole week.
Motivational speaking is not biblical preaching. It is a blight on the landscape of true evangelicalism. It is filling the churches with dead people who are being told to live as if they are alive. We need to return to the good old gospel that truly gives life to the dead and sets men and women free. Like Paul of old, every truly evangelical pulpit must sound out the clear message of “repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). Let us get rid of this curse of motivational speaking!"
By Conrad Mbewe - The Curse of Motivational Speaking
"Last Sunday, a young man came to see me after our church service. He is the kind of guy who shows up at church once in a while and then disappears for a season. My guess is that he goes around churches sampling sermons and looking for answers. On this visit, he asked that I help him to overcome a failure in his life, and it was a failure to progress. He said that his greatest problem is that he does not believe in himself. Could I help him believe in himself so that he could become successful?
I asked him whether he was a Christian. His answer was, “Do I really need to be a Christian in order to be successful? Are you telling me that all those successful people out there are Christians? Aren’t there general principles that I can apply to my life—whether I am a Christian or not—that can catapult me to success?” I challenged him to answer that question himself. After all, I was sure he had done enough rounds among motivational speakers to have the answer.
“That is the problem,” he said, “I have been told that such principles exist and I have tried them. They seem to work for a while and then I am back to my old self again. I want you to help me find that formula that will help me go forward and never slide back to the place where I do not believe in myself.” To cut the long story short, I finally persuaded him of the need for reconciliation with God before anyone can break free from the frustrating rut that God locks unreconciled sinners in.
I gave him a booklet to read, entitled, What is a Biblical Christian? When we met the following day, he was honest enough to tell me that he was disappointed with what he read because it was not telling him what he wanted to hear. “What I want to know is how I can be successful. This booklet did not say anything about that.” I repeated what I told him earlier. What he needed was not belief in himself but belief in a Saviour sent from heaven. He needed forgiveness as a foundation for his life.
Yesterday, a church member told me that he met the young man in the local market. He had two booklets in his hands. The first was the one I had given him and the second one was by Joel Osteen. He told our member, “Pastor Mbewe gave me this book but I don’t like it because it makes me feel guilty. I prefer this one by Joel Osteen because it lifts me up. It motivates me.” I am very concerned about this and so I decided to put some thoughts together about the curse of motivational speaking.
Sadly, motivational speaking has become the staple diet of many evangelical pulpits. The message being heard is, “God has put the potential in you and all you need to do is believe in yourself to unlock that potential. Have a grand vision and live out that vision. You must be a man or woman of destiny and the sky will be the limit for you. Don’t let your past failures get in your way of success. Look beyond them, as Jesus looked beyond the cross and thus overcame it. You are the head and not the tail. ”
In the light of the plethora of motivational speaking, it begs the question, “Is this how Old Testament and New Testament preachers preached?” If I summarise the preaching of Noah, Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Jonah, Paul, Peter, etc., in the Bible, is this the kind of message that I will find there? I do not think so. Granted, motivational speakers borrow words from these men, but borrowing someone’s words is not the same thing as saying what he is saying. “A text without a context is a pretext.”
My chief quarrel with motivational speaking is that it reduces God to a means rather than an end. Men and women are not made to see that the nature of SIN lies in the letter “I” in the middle of the word. Instead, motivational speaking feeds that same ego and points to God as the one who can spoil it to the point of intoxication. That is a lie! It is God alone who must be at the centre of our lives. Christianity demands a dying to self, a taking up of one’s cross, and a following after a suffering Saviour.
Whenever I listen to motivational speaking, I seem to hear the message, “Peace, peace,” where there is no peace. It sounds to me like a doctor assuring a patient who has terminal cancer in its final stages that he should not worry because all will be okay if he only believes in himself. The guy is dying, man, for crying out loud! It is the height of insincerity if a preacher knows that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) and instead makes those heading for the slaughterhouse feel nice.
Motivational speaking makes people feel good, whereas the gospel first makes people feel bad—until they find their all in Christ. True preaching must make people face the fact that they are living in rebellion against God and that they need to repent or they will perish. It is only as people recognise this and cry out, “What shall we do to be saved?” (Acts 2:37, 16:30) that true preaching gives them the good news, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13).
Motivational speaking is an attempt at trying to kill a charging lion with a pea-gun, using freshly cooked peas, spiced with the most aromatic seasonings. The aroma may be tantalizing to the taste buds, but it is totally useless in bringing down that ferocious beast. Men and women outside Christ are DEAD in trespasses and sins. Exciting their senses with nice-sounding platitudes will not give them life. They need the law to kill their fallen egos and the gospel of Jesus Christ to give them life.
I know that motivational speaking is filling up our church buildings until they look like football stadiums. In this world of misery and gloom, we can all do with some encouragement. But is that all that we were called to do as preachers? What good is it if men feel inspired and motivated, and then go back home to live a life of sin and selfishness? Sadly this is the norm in so many evangelical churches. The churches are filled to capacity with people determined to drink sin like water the whole week.
Motivational speaking is not biblical preaching. It is a blight on the landscape of true evangelicalism. It is filling the churches with dead people who are being told to live as if they are alive. We need to return to the good old gospel that truly gives life to the dead and sets men and women free. Like Paul of old, every truly evangelical pulpit must sound out the clear message of “repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). Let us get rid of this curse of motivational speaking!"
Friday, April 11, 2014
Text Neck
There really is a (growing) phenomena called Text Neck.
Doctors and chiropractors say people hunched over their mobile gadgets are developing neck strain, headaches and pain in the shoulders and, sometimes, in arms and hands. What’s more, all that curving of the body to text, type, watch videos and play games could cause debilitating pain that lasts a lifetime, they warn.
From Beware Text Neck From Too Much Gadget Use
This article How Texting Can Give You a Permanent Pain In the Neck, hit a (ahem) nerve...I'd just gotten a smart phone (heh) and was instantly captured by Words with Friends - I had up to 15 games going at once - I'm slightly obsessive.
The first week didn't see too much of an impact (or nerve compression) as my regular chiro was on break and I absolutely REFUSED to see the sub (Pain In The Neck) so I'd been taking Aleve regularly. Went off of it when my chiro came back into town, but whoa! Neck stiff, hurting, pain shooting down the arm AGAIN. By the time I made it in Monday I was convinced it was a set back from the bad adjustment.
Not so...chiro asked if I'd changed anything, suggested using a different pillow (I'd already bought a new one months ago to help with my neck). Think, think, think...
Ahhh, wait...I'd gotten the new phone, lots of bells and whistles I'd not had with my flip phone...plus games...hehehehe...ow, ow, ow!
Moderation is obviously KEY to playing or using the phone (or any device). Some suggestions from How Texting Can Give You a Permanent Pain In the Neck:
So for those of us who sit and stare at computer screens all day - this site listed some stretches for the neck.
This article covers the growing trend of text neck. There is even the Text Neck Institute. So if you're experiencing pain in your neck, back, shoulders, take a moment and assess whether you need to change how you use them or find alternatives (if possible). And pass this along, the scary part is people may not realize they are causing damage to their spine and they could possibly, in the long term, cause themselves major, long term and potential irreversible problems.
Doctors and chiropractors say people hunched over their mobile gadgets are developing neck strain, headaches and pain in the shoulders and, sometimes, in arms and hands. What’s more, all that curving of the body to text, type, watch videos and play games could cause debilitating pain that lasts a lifetime, they warn.
From Beware Text Neck From Too Much Gadget Use
This article How Texting Can Give You a Permanent Pain In the Neck, hit a (ahem) nerve...I'd just gotten a smart phone (heh) and was instantly captured by Words with Friends - I had up to 15 games going at once - I'm slightly obsessive.
The first week didn't see too much of an impact (or nerve compression) as my regular chiro was on break and I absolutely REFUSED to see the sub (Pain In The Neck) so I'd been taking Aleve regularly. Went off of it when my chiro came back into town, but whoa! Neck stiff, hurting, pain shooting down the arm AGAIN. By the time I made it in Monday I was convinced it was a set back from the bad adjustment.
Not so...chiro asked if I'd changed anything, suggested using a different pillow (I'd already bought a new one months ago to help with my neck). Think, think, think...
Ahhh, wait...I'd gotten the new phone, lots of bells and whistles I'd not had with my flip phone...plus games...hehehehe...ow, ow, ow!
Moderation is obviously KEY to playing or using the phone (or any device). Some suggestions from How Texting Can Give You a Permanent Pain In the Neck:
If you’re a regular smartphone user, follow these tips to reduce your risk of text neck:
- Hold your phone up when you text or play games, instead of looking down. Position it at a proper reading angle, directly in front of your mouth at a comfortable viewing distance, a few inches across from your chin. This allows you to avoid strain because you can look at the screen by gazing down with your eyes rather than bending your neck. Your shoulders should also feel relaxed when you’re interacting with the screen. If they’re not, adjust your position.
- Dictate. If your phone’s texting app has a dictation program, use it – again, holding the phone in front of your mouth.
- Take frequent, regular breaks. Excessive use is a key factor in text neck, so avoid prolonged bouts of texting, gaming, surfing or reading emails. If you tend to lose track of time while using your smartphone or lack the self-control to put it down, download a timer app and set it to remind you to take a break after 5, 10 or 15 minutes.
- Support your range of motion. When you take time to exercise something other than your texting thumbs, focus on movements that strengthen your neck, back extensors, rhomboids and latissimus dorsi muscles. Peper suggests some stretches for just this purpose on his blog.
- Stay hydrated. Proper hydration all day long eases stress throughout the body, from your neck down. “Your cervical spine discs, and every other body part, will thank you,” Markison says.
- Communicate with friends and family another way. Leave a voicemail, send an email from your (hopefully ergonomically correct) desktop computer, or better yet, get together in person to share a cup of coffee, with your phones safely stowed away.
So for those of us who sit and stare at computer screens all day - this site listed some stretches for the neck.
This article covers the growing trend of text neck. There is even the Text Neck Institute. So if you're experiencing pain in your neck, back, shoulders, take a moment and assess whether you need to change how you use them or find alternatives (if possible). And pass this along, the scary part is people may not realize they are causing damage to their spine and they could possibly, in the long term, cause themselves major, long term and potential irreversible problems.
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