Well, I was planning on spending a day on each chapter of Ecclesiastes, but then I went to the library yesterday to return an overdue book. I of course then went and looked for other books to check out, and my eyes fell on a little yellow book in the Christian section. I picked up and started laughing, because the book is called The Search For Satisfaction: Looking For Something New Under The Sun. When I read the title, I knew it was going to be on Ecclesiastes. God certainly does have a sense of humor.
I started reading the book last night, and it's pretty good so far. The author, David McKinley, is a pastor at a church in Dallas they we used to go to for concerts when my wife and I lived there. It's called Prestonwood Baptist, but most people called it either "Prestonworld" or "the Baptidome", because it was a huge church.
Anyway, McKinley talks in the second chapter of his book (which is still about the first chapter) about a Satisfaction With Life test and scale that some psychologist developed. You are supposed to take the below five statements, and put a number next to it corresponding to these feelings: 1- strongly disagree, 2 - disagree, 3 - slightly disagree, 4 - neither agree nor disagree, 5 - slightly agree, 6 - agree, 7 - strongly agree:
_____ In most ways, my life is close to my ideal.
_____ The conditions of my life are excellent.
_____ I am satisfied with my life.
_____ So far I have gotten the important things I want in life.
_____ If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing.
The scale then goes: 35-31---extremely satisfied; 26-30---satisfied; 21-25---slightly satisfied, 20---neutral, 15-19---slightly dissatisfied, 10-14---dissatisfied, 5-9---extremely dissatisfied.
McKinley then gives "Five Myths Of Satisfaction" that he gets from Ecclesiastes. In other words, Solomon developed his own test of satisfaction, things that he tried in order to be satisfied, and found that they failed:
Search #1: Progress
Search #2: Excess
Search #3: Success
Search #4: Possessions
Search #5: Impression (leaving a legacy)
I'm sure we all go through these searches in our lives; for some of us, these searches last several years; for others they may be shorter, but we repeat them over and over again.
I'm excited to continue on in the second chapter of Ecclesiastes, as well as this book I found in the library and Philip Yancey's thoughts on Ecclesiastes tomorrow. But for now, I leave a Yancey quote.
The whole tone of Ecclesiastes reflects the tenor of King Solomon's time, when Israel reached its zenith as a nation. And there's the rub. How can the bleak despair of Ecclesiastes issue from the era of Israel's Golden Age, when things were going so well? The days of slavery in Egypt might produce such a gloomy volume, I reasoned, but not the glory days of Solomon and his royal successors...curiously, I learned, existential despair, whether in the Teacher or in Camus, tends to sprout from the soil of excess...despair arises out of circumstances of plenty rather than deprivation. Indeed, I did not find alienation and despair in the grim, three-volume Gulag Archipelago by Solzhenitsyn; I found rage, a passion for justice, and a defiant will to survive...existential despair did not germinate in the hell holes of Auschwitz or Siberia but rather in the cafes of Paris, the coffee shops of Copenhagen, the luxury palaces of Beverly Hills.
EDIT: I changed this to Ecclesiastes Chapter 2, because the Search For Satisfaction book actually numbered this chapter wrongly - it's supposed to say chapter two!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Jelly Telly
Hmmm.
Jelly Telly is the new creation of Phil Vischer, the man behind Veggie Tales.
There are really only two things I can think of that Christians have created that the world has copied (as opposed to a billion things that the world has created and Christians have copied...hello, Mr. "I put 'Be Wiser' instead of 'Budweiser' on a T-Shirt and thought it was really creative" Christian) - the Jesus fish that some people put on the back of their car; and Veggie Tales. Veggie Tales was using computer animation way before most non-Christian media companies were using it.
Anyway, below you will see Phil Vischer explain what Jelly Telly is all about. Kind of. He actually doesn't really explain what it is. But he does tell us the vision of Jelly Telly. But is it a T.V. show? A website? What?
You can go to Jelly Telly's website for more information.
Jelly Telly is the new creation of Phil Vischer, the man behind Veggie Tales.
There are really only two things I can think of that Christians have created that the world has copied (as opposed to a billion things that the world has created and Christians have copied...hello, Mr. "I put 'Be Wiser' instead of 'Budweiser' on a T-Shirt and thought it was really creative" Christian) - the Jesus fish that some people put on the back of their car; and Veggie Tales. Veggie Tales was using computer animation way before most non-Christian media companies were using it.
Anyway, below you will see Phil Vischer explain what Jelly Telly is all about. Kind of. He actually doesn't really explain what it is. But he does tell us the vision of Jelly Telly. But is it a T.V. show? A website? What?
You can go to Jelly Telly's website for more information.
Ecclesiastes Chapter One
To read this chapter, go here. (I'm using the New Living Translation)
There has been much debate as to who the writer of Ecclesiastes is. He/She refers to themselves as The Teacher, but beyond that, we don't get a name. Some of the verses in Ecclesiastes would suggest that Solomon wrote this book; after all, it talks about a king who is wealthy and has lots of concubines. However, most scholars would say Ecclesiastes was written by a contemporary of Solomon, perhaps a little later in time.
There are some writers that take a long time to get to the premise of their book/novel. Using creative means, these writers make you wonder for awhile what's going on, and then they hit you with the theme.
Not Ecclesiastes.
Verse 2 pretty much sums up most of what this book has to say: "Meaningless, everything is meaningless!" The word "meaningless" is used thirty-five times, and only in the book of Job does this word occur elsewhere.
One of the things I like about the chapter is the idea that time is pretty cyclical. You may think that something going on hasn't happened before, but as Ecclesiastes asserts, it probably has. It doesn't mean it's happening in the same way, but time is cyclical and there are patterns in history and in civilizations.
Verse 11: "We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now." Mike, the senior minister I work for, had an interesting statistic he threw out the other day. We are starting a series on family relationships, and he said that in most marriages, the problems that couples face in years 1-3 are the same problems that they face in years 10-12. The problems never really go away, it's how you work through those problems that determine whether your marriage will survive or not. That statistic reminded me of the above verse.
As I said in the above post, I also want to include a Yancey quote from his chapter on Ecclesiastes, so here you go:
Once I got over my sheer amazement about the message of Ecclesiastes, certain nagging questions set in. One struck me immediately, as I read the Old Testament straight through. How can Ecclesiastes coexist with its nearest neighbor, the book of Proverbs? Two more unlike books could not be imagined...Proverbs has life figured out: Learn wisdom, exercise prudence, follow the rules, and you will live a long and prosperous life. Its tone of worldly optimism reminds me of Benjamin Franklin's aphorisms, and in face today various industries produce early-American-style wall hangings featuring embroidered verses from Proverbs. Such industries, however, studiously avoid Ecclesiastes, for it depicts a world where none of the proverbs work out. The confident matter-of-fact tone - I've got life figured out and you need only follow this sage advice - has vanished, replaced by resignation and cynicism. Thrifty, honorable people suffer and die just like everyone else. Evil people prosper and grow fat, regardless of Proverbs' neat formulas to the contrary.
There has been much debate as to who the writer of Ecclesiastes is. He/She refers to themselves as The Teacher, but beyond that, we don't get a name. Some of the verses in Ecclesiastes would suggest that Solomon wrote this book; after all, it talks about a king who is wealthy and has lots of concubines. However, most scholars would say Ecclesiastes was written by a contemporary of Solomon, perhaps a little later in time.
There are some writers that take a long time to get to the premise of their book/novel. Using creative means, these writers make you wonder for awhile what's going on, and then they hit you with the theme.
Not Ecclesiastes.
Verse 2 pretty much sums up most of what this book has to say: "Meaningless, everything is meaningless!" The word "meaningless" is used thirty-five times, and only in the book of Job does this word occur elsewhere.
One of the things I like about the chapter is the idea that time is pretty cyclical. You may think that something going on hasn't happened before, but as Ecclesiastes asserts, it probably has. It doesn't mean it's happening in the same way, but time is cyclical and there are patterns in history and in civilizations.
Verse 11: "We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now." Mike, the senior minister I work for, had an interesting statistic he threw out the other day. We are starting a series on family relationships, and he said that in most marriages, the problems that couples face in years 1-3 are the same problems that they face in years 10-12. The problems never really go away, it's how you work through those problems that determine whether your marriage will survive or not. That statistic reminded me of the above verse.
As I said in the above post, I also want to include a Yancey quote from his chapter on Ecclesiastes, so here you go:
Once I got over my sheer amazement about the message of Ecclesiastes, certain nagging questions set in. One struck me immediately, as I read the Old Testament straight through. How can Ecclesiastes coexist with its nearest neighbor, the book of Proverbs? Two more unlike books could not be imagined...Proverbs has life figured out: Learn wisdom, exercise prudence, follow the rules, and you will live a long and prosperous life. Its tone of worldly optimism reminds me of Benjamin Franklin's aphorisms, and in face today various industries produce early-American-style wall hangings featuring embroidered verses from Proverbs. Such industries, however, studiously avoid Ecclesiastes, for it depicts a world where none of the proverbs work out. The confident matter-of-fact tone - I've got life figured out and you need only follow this sage advice - has vanished, replaced by resignation and cynicism. Thrifty, honorable people suffer and die just like everyone else. Evil people prosper and grow fat, regardless of Proverbs' neat formulas to the contrary.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Ecclesiastes Experiment
In December, I blogged for a straight month about my thoughts and observations of the book of Proverbs. It was really tough, but I think I gained a lot of understanding by doing what I did in December.
There are a couple of authors who for me continue to challenge me through their books. One of those is Philip Yancey. I started reading his book "The Bible Jesus Read" again, and it made me remember how incredible Yancey is at examining an issue and looking at it from several perspectives.
So far I've read his chapters on Job, Psalms and just finished Ecclesiastes. His take on the last book so impressed me, that I decided to read through Ecclesiastes again. So last night I read through the first seven chapters, and really enjoyed reading it. Thus the decision to do what I did with Proverbs, only apply it to Ecclesiastes. So for the next twelve days (or so), I'm going to blog each day on a chapter of this great book. I'm also going to include each day an excerpt from Yancey's book, so you can see for yourself how great of an author he is.
There are a couple of authors who for me continue to challenge me through their books. One of those is Philip Yancey. I started reading his book "The Bible Jesus Read" again, and it made me remember how incredible Yancey is at examining an issue and looking at it from several perspectives.
So far I've read his chapters on Job, Psalms and just finished Ecclesiastes. His take on the last book so impressed me, that I decided to read through Ecclesiastes again. So last night I read through the first seven chapters, and really enjoyed reading it. Thus the decision to do what I did with Proverbs, only apply it to Ecclesiastes. So for the next twelve days (or so), I'm going to blog each day on a chapter of this great book. I'm also going to include each day an excerpt from Yancey's book, so you can see for yourself how great of an author he is.
Monday, May 25, 2009
The Cursing Psalms
One of my favorite authors is Philip Yancey - time and time again I read his books and am reminded of how similar his questions and thoughts reflect my own. I'm currently rereading a book of his called The Bible Jesus Read, which looks at the Old Testament. Right now I'm reading through his chapter that talks about the Psalms, and I included a part of what he wrote in my devotional thought on Sunday morning in church. Like Yancey, I have struggled at times with Psalms, because although I love some of the worship and praise parts of the book and appreciate the lament psalms, it's hard to understand what Yancey calls the "Cursing Psalms", where statements such as "Happy are those who take your infants and dash them on the rocks" happen.
However, Yancey reminds us that the Psalms are essentially flawed humans' prayer journals, and oftentimes these journals reflect my own journals. Lately I have struggled to write in my prayer journal; when I was leaving Colorado in a wave of confusion and heartache, I wrote in my journal much more frequently. I may deplore the words and attitudes of the cursing psalms; yet I guarantee you there are some sections of my journal I would be ashamed to show anyone, because they contain angry words (even some cursing), frustrations, lashings out at God, and more. It just happens that the writers of Psalms had their curses published and are read by billions of people. Thank goodness it's not the case for me.
However, Yancey reminds us that the Psalms are essentially flawed humans' prayer journals, and oftentimes these journals reflect my own journals. Lately I have struggled to write in my prayer journal; when I was leaving Colorado in a wave of confusion and heartache, I wrote in my journal much more frequently. I may deplore the words and attitudes of the cursing psalms; yet I guarantee you there are some sections of my journal I would be ashamed to show anyone, because they contain angry words (even some cursing), frustrations, lashings out at God, and more. It just happens that the writers of Psalms had their curses published and are read by billions of people. Thank goodness it's not the case for me.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
New Changes To The NHL...
I thought this was rather amusing...
NHL Tries To Woo Fans By Increasing Scoring With Bigger Nets, 3-Point Line
NHL Tries To Woo Fans By Increasing Scoring With Bigger Nets, 3-Point Line
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
The Continual Burnt Offering
I have a devotional book that I go through on an almost daily basis. It's called The Continual Burnt Offering and the copy I have is from 1944. Each day there is a short devotional along with a song or poem that corresponds with it. I thought that today's devotional was really good:
"I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord" - Zephaniah 3:12
It is the troubled and distressed who find their relief in God. Ofttimes temporal prosperity proves to be a hindrance to spirituality. It need not be so but we are so constituted that when all goes well in this scene and we have abundance of the good things of life we are apt to forget the Giver and be more occupied with His gifts than with Himself. In our afflictions and needy circumstances, if we turn to Him we learn how marvelously He can satisfy our hearts and lift us above the trials of the way.
---
Considering that the average income in the U.S. was 22,000 in 1944 (in 2004, it was 43,000), this was even more interesting to me.
"I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord" - Zephaniah 3:12
It is the troubled and distressed who find their relief in God. Ofttimes temporal prosperity proves to be a hindrance to spirituality. It need not be so but we are so constituted that when all goes well in this scene and we have abundance of the good things of life we are apt to forget the Giver and be more occupied with His gifts than with Himself. In our afflictions and needy circumstances, if we turn to Him we learn how marvelously He can satisfy our hearts and lift us above the trials of the way.
---
Considering that the average income in the U.S. was 22,000 in 1944 (in 2004, it was 43,000), this was even more interesting to me.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Apple Mac Music Video
I'm not the biggest Mac Evangelist, although I made the switch four years ago and definitely prefer macs to pcs.
I thought the below music video was very creative, although I really can't stand the song!
I thought the below music video was very creative, although I really can't stand the song!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Simplified Missional Living
I thought that this blog post by Jonathan Dodson was a really good reminder of the small ways we can pursue missional living. Sometimes we can get all dreamy and think of these huge ways we can be missional Christians - yet because they are these big dreams and visions, we end up failing at them because we didn't start small.
I really want our church to impact the city of Miamisburg in big ways - yet by doing some of these smaller missional-minded steps, we can accomplish so much more than just dreaming about it.
I really want our church to impact the city of Miamisburg in big ways - yet by doing some of these smaller missional-minded steps, we can accomplish so much more than just dreaming about it.
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