i just realized i never explained why i labeled the last post "cowbells". well here's the explaination for all you curious minds out there. i love this song by Jack Johnson called "Flake" from his Brushfire Fairytales CD because it has cowbells in it that come in in the middle of the song and keep coming in 'til the end of it! it's awesome!! and it reminds me of the cowbell skit with will farrell. scrumptillacit.
i just asked kristen "aw, isn't this song beautiful"? (it's the Mesmerized song by Meredith Andrews) and she said "yes, but not as beautiful was your mom." awwwww! that was sweet. kristen, that was nice. punk.
today is Sunday, let us all rejoice.
i went to campus church this morning. i'm so hooked on this series that johnnie moore's doing. it's called "Holiness Means Wholeness". today he spoke on Galations 6:6-10. i'd like to entitle it "You Sow What You Reap" because that's what he kept saying. :) anyway, the following summary comes out of what he said, so i can't claim all of the following ideas as my own. i'm not that smart.
how many times in life do we start a ministry and then think "what good is this doing for anyone, anyway? this ministry isn't having an effect on anybody". or how many times do you go to do something that you know is wrong but you reason "this one time isn't going to have any consequence, i'm just going to do it this once." these are lies that mock our great God who is all-powerful.
believing our ministry is ineffective and useless proves how near-sighted we as Christians can be sometimes. we only see the "here and now" outcome, but we fail to look at the bigger picture. when we take the time to invest in people's lives, we get discouraged if they don't respond right away the way we want them to. we lack faith in believing God will use us for His glory and He will accomplish much through each of us. Galations 6:9-10 says, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers."
and then back to "how many times do you go to do something that you know is wrong but you reason 'this one time isn't going to have any consequence, i'm just going to do it this once.'" johnnie specifically brought up alcohol and porn right away but then he showed us how relationships can be ruined by 1 "tiny, little" choice to sin. with alcohol and porn, it was pretty obvious - the drunk at the bar probably didn't drink his 1st sip of alochol thinking, "this is it - with this one drink, i'm going to become a drunk for the rest of my life." of course not. but he took that first sip, and continued to allow the "poison" into his veins more and more until he couldn't get enough. those 2 areas are talked about a lot in the Christian-circle. but then he talked about a less-obvious area. all it takes is one or two times of losing our temper with somebody, or doing something unjust to somebody, and then we continue to do it more and more until we've hurt so many people so many times that people start distancing themselves from us. and when we come to a point where we need a friend to be there for us, no one is around to help. wow...talk about being nearsighted. and how is it mocking God? because it's like we're saying, "Look God, i know You don't like what i'm about to do and You've warned us against doing it in Your Word, but i really don't care right now - i'm going to do it anyway, just this once." it's like we're mocking God's authority, His commands, His desire for us to be pure.
i realized how often in life i am nearsighted with decisions i make. i don't think of the "down-the-road" consequences of decisions i make, even things i think are tiny and insignificant.
Galations 6:7-8, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life."
one point of application is this: this week at LU is "Unplugged Week". this group on campus is urging everyone to go unplugged from a part of media. you can take that extra time to spend in God's Word, preparing your "soil" to be in good condition to reap a harvest this summer while we're at home or wherever you're going.
alright, stepping down off the soapbox now. i just wanted to recap what i learned at church today so that, if for no other reason, i can read this later down the road and be reminded to stop being nearsighted. :)
keep it real.
~jen~
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