Day one of regular scheduling in the new year has gone well. But then.....we usually do start new ventures well, then grow weary with the trudging and pushing on, and give up. I'll try to hang on to slower beginnings rather than going all gung-ho at it and tiring out.
I did finish my first book last night. Well, I started reading Ordinary by Michael Horton back in March. A friend gave it to me because so much of it's content touched on things we had discussed between us. It was a VERY good read. I read it with a lot of verbal, out loud agreement. He speaks of the way that our society (in every setting, including church and Christianity) seems to be lurking about, restless, and searching for something more. Bigger. Extreme. etc, etc. But.....we forget that God works more often in the ordinary aspects of every day life.
Some quotes that jumped out at me:
page 127 "In most cases, impatience with the ordinary is at the root of our restlessness and rootlessness. We're looking for something more to charge our lives with interest, meaning, and purpose. Instead of growing like a tree, we want to grow like a forest fire."
page 15 "Changing the world can be a way of actually avoiding the opportunities we have every day, right where God has placed us, to glorify and enjoy him and to enrich the lives of others."
page 27 "Maybe if we discover the opportunities of the ordinary, a fondness for the familiar, and marvel again at the mundane, we will be radical after all."
I think this is one of the keys to a happy and peaceful life. Thrilling in the ordinary, for that's where we live.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today, after work, as much as I tried to talk myself out of it (It's too cold. Sean leaves tomorrow. I have laundry to do. Etc) I did go for a good walk after work. And Sean joined me. Now to keep doing this......at least 3 days a week. More would be better, but this time I'm going about this steady and slow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I started reading my next book, What Does the Bible Really Teach About Homosexuality , by Kevin DeYoung, today. This is going to be a good read. He is a good writer: forthright, clear honest and humble for starters, able to teach the truth with clarity, without apology, but in such a way that is winsome and unoffensive. In the introduction, he is clear about the standpoint from which he begins. He also speaks to the three different types that will likely read the book. First are the convinced.
On page 17 he states that these are those who believe that the Bible condemns homosexual behavior as wrong.
"I'm going to argue for that same conclusion, but the right conclusion can be handled in the wrong way. Focusing on other people's sins, while ignoring our own, would b the wrong way. Being haughty about biblical correctness, instead of humbled by our own fallenness, would be the wrong way. Turning every conversation into a theological throwdown would be the wrong way. Treating people like projects to fix, or problems to solve, or points to be scored, instead of people to love, would be the wrong way."
He goes on to point out that although being pure in heart is a good thing, so is being merciful and mournful.
It grieves me so much that there is such misunderstanding about the motives and meaning of 'Christians' on this issue. The voices that speak the loudest, and gain the most media time are indeed those who focus on this letter of the law without regard for the rest of Scripture. The loudest voices have indeed been hateful and very much the opposite of Christ-like. But to say that one is hateful because they believe differently than you? To think that I would behave like those loud voices toward you because I think your chosen sexual orientation is sin? My own sin is as grievous to God as yours is. And I am no better than anyone else. The only merit I can claim is that I am Christ's, and am washed clean of my guilt and sin daily by Him.
I appreciate DeYoung's candor, as well as his humble and loving spirit.
No comments:
Post a Comment