Why aren't we (conservative mennonite culture) having more impact in American culture? Good question.
After reading a thought-provoking blog post by firefliesanddandeliondust, I would like to weigh in with several thoughts.
I. Spiritual apathy causes lack of spiritual impact.
It's important to remember Christ's number one commandment. Before you do anything else: Love God. Ours is a resultant-based life. The natural result of loving God is keeping His commandments. And guess what one of His commandments is? Of course: Love others! (I wonder if I can memorize this one?) Pretty simple, but maybe not pretty easy. So if you have trouble loving others check your love for God.
If you're like me, you do this once, and you're like, "I've got this one taken care of. It's fixed." And then you go on your merry way and forget about it. The problem with love is that it can cool off. This then translates into an attitude of apathy towards God. Oh, we may claim to love God, but our lives say otherwise.
This was obvious in the lives of early church Christians, a fervent love for others was displayed as a result of their fervent love for God (think: Stephen).
Any love not based on a love for God is fake. This is a strong statement; is it true? I think it is, but I'm open to be corrected. I would maintain that any show of love that is not rooted in a love for God is in the end done for selfish purposes and is therefore not true love. Read I Cor. 13. One may perform all sorts of sacrificial deeds that look loving, but if they're not done out of love, they are futile.
II. Salvation is the means not the end.
The main theme of the Bible is not man's salvation. The main theme of the Bible is God's glory revealed. It's pretty easy to get caught into a "me-centered theology" because I am very important to myself. (After all, if I didn't exist, I wouldn't be here to write this post. Ha ha ha!) It's not about primarily about me, it's about God. Now fortunately for us, it brought God glory to invite us into His kingdom (think: the Gospel). But alas, we cannot enter due to our sinful condition. However, God in His mercy brought salvation for us through Jesus Christ.
It's not about "fire escape salvation", either. One revivalist from the past (Spurgeon, I think) said he questioned anyone's salvation if they had only become saved to escape hell. Ouch.
As one who was motivated to make a commitment to Christ based on a fear of hell, I now wonder about the sincerity of my commitment. To me the Christian life was reduced to a couple of "thou shalts" (daily: read your Bible and pray) and a bunch of "thou shalt nots". Ugh. How tiresome. What a drag. Originally what kept me from making a commitment was the fear of losing my indepenance. Self. Yet I realized it was in MY best interest in the long run to "accept Christ". Still selfish.
God meets us where we are, though, and so maybe He grows us out of this selfish thinking on salvation. Then turns it into what it should be: a denial of ourselves and a following of Him instead. Salvation is simply the way we enter God's kingdom.
III. Who says we're doing nothing?
Based on tangible results, it would seem that we have become irrelevant to our culture around us. However, not all results are immediately evident to us. There are those among us that are active in ministries of various capacities, but we just may not hear much about it. I think this is true in the church that I attend. Not everybody knows everything I'm involved in, and I don't know everything they're involved in (for better or for worse). Nevertheless, we are still working together to build the kingdom in our different capacities. Could we do better? Um, I think so.
I would also challenge the assumption that is made at times in our Christian culture that there are both secular and holy compartments of life. Or secular activities and holy activities. Really? Then to be truly holy, we should only do holy activities. If what we mean holy activities are only those things that pertain to ministering to others and to God, then I would disagree. What makes an action holy is not so much what it is but more why it's done. Any right action done for the glory of God is holy.
Therefore, it could be holy to dig ditches. In fact, it's possible, depending on the situation, that it could be more holy to dig ditches than to *gasp* preach the gospel.
So maybe our problem is we don't do things to bring maximum glory to God, and that's where we fail.
Please feel free to express any amounts of disagreement you may have. Thank you. (Is this on? *Squeal*)
Friday, January 29, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Hindsight 2009
CHAPTER 2
And after some time had elapsed, Wengediah journeyed forth into the land of the north to FBEP. For he desired to learn of the teachings delivered there by many of the hoary head. There was in the same place, a student who at that time began to make sport of the teachers there, for it was a talent show. And he didst put forth the theory that FBEP was symbolic, for he said it standeth for the Federation of Bearded Professors. And as he spake these things in their presence, they didst laugh at themselves for there were many of them who wore beards. And he spake yet even more and lifted up his voice saying, "Not everyone of these doth wear a beard, but they that do, make up for them that do not." And this did bring the house down, as it were. And after these sayings, he did sing a rap song based upon Proverbs 31.
And there Wengerdiah did learn of things even more profitable than this, for he did take a class of the Kingdom of God. And he did consider the ways of the world as it opposeth the ways of God. And he did study the history of theology and God's church. Also he studied upon the making of music at that time. And he wondered greatly upon these things.
And it came to pass, in the first year of the reign of Obamanus, that Wengediah returned to the place of his dwelling in the South. And it was that while he was reclining and taking his ease, behold, his LG 8300 did shine upon him with a bright light, and he heard the sound of the harp coming forth from its speakers. So he laid hands upon the device with haste and didst speak unto it, and the voice of Jonathas answered him from within saying, "Have I not need of thy services at this time, and why layest thou around wasting away? For there are some brick to be laid. Dost thou find it in thine heart to render unto me assistance?"
And Wengediah went forth to assist him, for the thing seemed good in his sight. And he did realize that though eating and drinking and taking his ease was pleasurable, behold, it doth have its drawbacks, for it causeth many of his garments to shrink. And in those days, when he didst step upon the scales, behold, a voice would call out from inside the scales saying, "One at a time, please." And he was grieved over this matter. And many were the scales that suffered at his hands in those days.
And when his days of servitude for Jonathius were accomplished, he went forth and did haul sand and gravel for the labor that he would perform upon his own dwelling place. And as he journeyed to his house from the gravel pit, lo, much gravel began to scatter upon the highway, and he did fear greatly for windshields and paint jobs of the others on that highway. And he thought it needful to stop beside the road and remedy the situation, and he was downhearted over this thing.
And straightway he heareth a voice saying, "Yea, my child, thou shalt surely leave this place. For I have a plan for thee. Thou shalt go to Minnieapolis, and thou shalt work for Billy Grahamus. For surely he doth have need of thee." And he wondered within himself saying, "From whence cometh this oracle, and what is it's source thereof? (And why shall it speak unto me in King James English?) " Then did he remember that Billy Grahamus was not a resident in Minneapolis in those days, and he knew through his discernment that this thing was not of the Lord. For this thing had previously been spoken unto a man whom he had listened to on a tape.
And so Wengediah hearkened not unto the voice and did not travel to Minneapolis to work for Billy Grahamus. But instead he searcheth and he discovereth a hole in the trailer that alloweth the gravel to spew forth withersoever it wisheth. So he laid hold of his shovel and scooped the gravel forth from the brink of the opening, and he was met with success in this thing. And he did fix this hole for the hauling of the sand, and his heart did rejoice in this solution. For the Lord helped him according to his need. And so he continued to labor for himself in those days and paid himself whatsoever he did require of himself.
And it came to pass that he went journeyed toward the East and there visited his friend in the city of Jerusalem. And he was in that same place for one month, doing all manner of tourism, relaxing, and a little labor.
And after some time had elapsed, Wengediah journeyed forth into the land of the north to FBEP. For he desired to learn of the teachings delivered there by many of the hoary head. There was in the same place, a student who at that time began to make sport of the teachers there, for it was a talent show. And he didst put forth the theory that FBEP was symbolic, for he said it standeth for the Federation of Bearded Professors. And as he spake these things in their presence, they didst laugh at themselves for there were many of them who wore beards. And he spake yet even more and lifted up his voice saying, "Not everyone of these doth wear a beard, but they that do, make up for them that do not." And this did bring the house down, as it were. And after these sayings, he did sing a rap song based upon Proverbs 31.
And there Wengerdiah did learn of things even more profitable than this, for he did take a class of the Kingdom of God. And he did consider the ways of the world as it opposeth the ways of God. And he did study the history of theology and God's church. Also he studied upon the making of music at that time. And he wondered greatly upon these things.
And it came to pass, in the first year of the reign of Obamanus, that Wengediah returned to the place of his dwelling in the South. And it was that while he was reclining and taking his ease, behold, his LG 8300 did shine upon him with a bright light, and he heard the sound of the harp coming forth from its speakers. So he laid hands upon the device with haste and didst speak unto it, and the voice of Jonathas answered him from within saying, "Have I not need of thy services at this time, and why layest thou around wasting away? For there are some brick to be laid. Dost thou find it in thine heart to render unto me assistance?"
And Wengediah went forth to assist him, for the thing seemed good in his sight. And he did realize that though eating and drinking and taking his ease was pleasurable, behold, it doth have its drawbacks, for it causeth many of his garments to shrink. And in those days, when he didst step upon the scales, behold, a voice would call out from inside the scales saying, "One at a time, please." And he was grieved over this matter. And many were the scales that suffered at his hands in those days.
And when his days of servitude for Jonathius were accomplished, he went forth and did haul sand and gravel for the labor that he would perform upon his own dwelling place. And as he journeyed to his house from the gravel pit, lo, much gravel began to scatter upon the highway, and he did fear greatly for windshields and paint jobs of the others on that highway. And he thought it needful to stop beside the road and remedy the situation, and he was downhearted over this thing.
And straightway he heareth a voice saying, "Yea, my child, thou shalt surely leave this place. For I have a plan for thee. Thou shalt go to Minnieapolis, and thou shalt work for Billy Grahamus. For surely he doth have need of thee." And he wondered within himself saying, "From whence cometh this oracle, and what is it's source thereof? (And why shall it speak unto me in King James English?) " Then did he remember that Billy Grahamus was not a resident in Minneapolis in those days, and he knew through his discernment that this thing was not of the Lord. For this thing had previously been spoken unto a man whom he had listened to on a tape.
And so Wengediah hearkened not unto the voice and did not travel to Minneapolis to work for Billy Grahamus. But instead he searcheth and he discovereth a hole in the trailer that alloweth the gravel to spew forth withersoever it wisheth. So he laid hold of his shovel and scooped the gravel forth from the brink of the opening, and he was met with success in this thing. And he did fix this hole for the hauling of the sand, and his heart did rejoice in this solution. For the Lord helped him according to his need. And so he continued to labor for himself in those days and paid himself whatsoever he did require of himself.
And it came to pass that he went journeyed toward the East and there visited his friend in the city of Jerusalem. And he was in that same place for one month, doing all manner of tourism, relaxing, and a little labor.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
This is what really happened -- in Janelle's own words.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I have a story to tell. A story that has endured such name-callings as (I quote) "trashy"or "dumpy," and has been quite gossiped about in several communities.Well, I am here to set the record straight. I will give you all the necessary details here, and if you happen to hear another, somewhat twisted version of this story, please refer to my original.
It all started one evening in Grassy Narrows. My very nice dad suggested to my very nice boyfriend that he(Joe) and I take the trash to the dump so that we could have some time alone together. We very gladly agreed, commenting on the romanticness of the prospective date. So, after devotions, around 11 o'clock or so, we loaded up the numerous bags of yucky trash and headed to the Grassy Narrows dump. In my mind, I considered taking bug spray along, but I said to myself, "Self, we will be in the van the entire time and will have no need of bug spray since mosquitos generally live outside, or should." Instead, I took my camera, because it is not uncommon to see a bear or bears on a visit to the dump.
When we reached the dump, we spotted a bear right off. So, Joe pulled the van up so I could get a nice shot at him(the bear) with my handy-dandy Nikon Coolpix 4600. I opened the window, thus giving entrance to a family of mosquitos. The picture did not turn out and the bear lumbered off. Apparently he does not appreciate bright flashes of light in the darkness, especially whilst he is feasting so luxuriously. I don't remember what happened next exactly, but I guess Joe decided to pull the van forward or something and it would not pull forward. I suppose you could say we were stuck. Quite stuck, actually. He tried for about 5 minutes or so, but to no avail. He suggested we pray about it, which we did. Then we tried again. Finally, after a very long time, the front wheels came out of the rut. Praise the Lord! However, to our great sadness, the back wheels decided that they would like to have a turn at being stuck in the rut too. So we were stuck again. No amount of scratching at the sand around the wheels with a stick or whatever other fancy stuff guys know how to do in stucky situations helped. I think then, we prayed that God would keep my dad awake and somehow let him know that we needed help.
Since we still had not thrown out the trash, we hastily got rid of it. Quickly, so as not to let in too many more mosquitos. They were bad enough already. I could hear them singing in my ears. We were really wishing for my bug spray then. Every once in a while, a bear would lumber by, either checking us out, or looking for tastier trash bags to consume. Several came quite close, but I was unable to get any good pictures of them. One came right in front of us, right in the headlights. It was beautiful.
I never imagined that nighttime in a dump could be beautiful. The sky was clear, and the stars were bright. The Milky Way was clearly visible and we saw several falling stars. Yep, the dump was beautiful. We sat there and talked and talked and talked and talked, until around 2 A.M. when we saw headlights splitting the darkness. It was my Daddy coming to rescue us.
So, there you have it. That's what really happened. No more, no less.
It all started one evening in Grassy Narrows. My very nice dad suggested to my very nice boyfriend that he(Joe) and I take the trash to the dump so that we could have some time alone together. We very gladly agreed, commenting on the romanticness of the prospective date. So, after devotions, around 11 o'clock or so, we loaded up the numerous bags of yucky trash and headed to the Grassy Narrows dump. In my mind, I considered taking bug spray along, but I said to myself, "Self, we will be in the van the entire time and will have no need of bug spray since mosquitos generally live outside, or should." Instead, I took my camera, because it is not uncommon to see a bear or bears on a visit to the dump.
When we reached the dump, we spotted a bear right off. So, Joe pulled the van up so I could get a nice shot at him(the bear) with my handy-dandy Nikon Coolpix 4600. I opened the window, thus giving entrance to a family of mosquitos. The picture did not turn out and the bear lumbered off. Apparently he does not appreciate bright flashes of light in the darkness, especially whilst he is feasting so luxuriously. I don't remember what happened next exactly, but I guess Joe decided to pull the van forward or something and it would not pull forward. I suppose you could say we were stuck. Quite stuck, actually. He tried for about 5 minutes or so, but to no avail. He suggested we pray about it, which we did. Then we tried again. Finally, after a very long time, the front wheels came out of the rut. Praise the Lord! However, to our great sadness, the back wheels decided that they would like to have a turn at being stuck in the rut too. So we were stuck again. No amount of scratching at the sand around the wheels with a stick or whatever other fancy stuff guys know how to do in stucky situations helped. I think then, we prayed that God would keep my dad awake and somehow let him know that we needed help.
Since we still had not thrown out the trash, we hastily got rid of it. Quickly, so as not to let in too many more mosquitos. They were bad enough already. I could hear them singing in my ears. We were really wishing for my bug spray then. Every once in a while, a bear would lumber by, either checking us out, or looking for tastier trash bags to consume. Several came quite close, but I was unable to get any good pictures of them. One came right in front of us, right in the headlights. It was beautiful.
I never imagined that nighttime in a dump could be beautiful. The sky was clear, and the stars were bright. The Milky Way was clearly visible and we saw several falling stars. Yep, the dump was beautiful. We sat there and talked and talked and talked and talked, until around 2 A.M. when we saw headlights splitting the darkness. It was my Daddy coming to rescue us.
So, there you have it. That's what really happened. No more, no less.
I tried to leave this as a comment, but, alas, it didn't work out (unlike the expendable crewman)
For those who wondered, here it is:
http://www.rmhiherbal.org/review/2002-1.html#harm
I know this is shocking, but (are you sitting down?) . . . not all of my blog posts have a point -- well, unless you count the entertainment I get from writing them as part of the point.
The reason I posted the previous one was because someone from Facebook wanted to see it again.
Yes, it was a rerun.
Yes, it was fictional.
Actually, the story was based upon the experiences of one of my NYP coworkers. Yes, she really did get stuck in the landfill with her boyfriend.
Isn't that romantic? (Or just "tic"?)
Now are you people with female brains getting "high" off of this? (I refer you to a recent post from examininglifesmysteries.) I'll quit before I cause any added addiction.
http://www.rmhiherbal.org/review/2002-1.html#harm
I know this is shocking, but (are you sitting down?) . . . not all of my blog posts have a point -- well, unless you count the entertainment I get from writing them as part of the point.
The reason I posted the previous one was because someone from Facebook wanted to see it again.
Yes, it was a rerun.
Yes, it was fictional.
Actually, the story was based upon the experiences of one of my NYP coworkers. Yes, she really did get stuck in the landfill with her boyfriend.
Isn't that romantic? (Or just "tic"?)
Now are you people with female brains getting "high" off of this? (I refer you to a recent post from examininglifesmysteries.) I'll quit before I cause any added addiction.
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