Proverbs Chapter Eighteen:
A recluse is self-indulgent, snarling at every sound principle of conduct. (vs. 1)
I have no idea what this means. Which is why I thought it was interesting. What happens when you get to a verse, and you have no clue what it's trying to say? Do you pray that God would reveal to you what it means? Or do we just pretend we get it?
Maybe I'm just tired - but again, I have no idea what this verse is trying to say. I can be reclusive at times, so I would like to know what it means, just in case it applies to me. I'll look in a commentary and see what I can find.
Intelligent people are always open to new ideas, in fact, they look for them. (vs. 15)
Have you heard about the seven word phrase that kills a church every time it's said?
"We've never done it this way before."
(Okay, I checked again. It is seven words. Whew!)
Why is the church so afraid of change? Why is it so hard for the church to adopt new ideas, new strategies, new ways of thinking? I was talking with someone the other day, and he told me that the most controversial, most emailed topic that comes into Focus on the Family is not abortion; it's not homosexuality; it's not politics; it is church music. Why is it that when a church decides it's going to "get contemporary" or change from hymnals to powerpoint or add drums and a guitar - that such changes can split a church?
It's not like the first century church were gathered around an organ, singing hymns written by Charles Wesley out of a hymnbook!
In Isaiah somewhere (too lazy to look it up right now), God says, "Do not dwell on the past. Behold, I am doing a new thing. Do you not perceive it?"
Is it because of the memories that the past reminds us of?
It reminds me of what happened today. I put in a CD that I found in a box, and it had on it a bunch of pictures from my first student ministry (you can see them on my facebook). It got me thinking about those days, and what great memories I have of those days, and how hard it is to compare anything else ministry-wise to those days, because they were special and different and amazing and...then I realize I'm dwelling on the past. And if I compare what's happening now in my life to what happened back then, I will never get over those days and will never live in the present. I think one of the reasons I had such a hard time in Dallas - even though we did some great things in the student ministry there - is that I was always comparing those kids to the kids I had in Colorado. I was comparing the sponsors (or lack of) to the sponsors I had in Colorado. I was even comparing the trips, and Dallas was always falling short. Could it be that the reason those trips fell short in my mind is because I didn't put in a full 100% because I was comparing?
God wants to meet us in the here and now. He has provided in the past; he will provide in the future. Some great things have happened in my life in the past, great things will continue to happen in the future. He wants me here in the present, meeting with me in the here and now, growing me today, at this moment, at this time of my life.
1 comment:
Well I don't have an answer either for that first verse. The first part is obvious..if you're a recluse there is no one to indulge or think about but yourself..I like the word snarling :) It makes me think of some kind of mountain man haha..they do tend to be a little "crazy" in conduct.
I think one of the reasons I like listening to worship at Apex is because they do hymns, they do contemporary, but they also do songs that no one has ever heard of ..they are written by the some of the worship team members.
I think when you are in a time of transition it is so easy to focus on the past. Take the good things from the past and move on to the future. That's easier said than done :)
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