Consider others more important than yourselves.
Paul, Philippians 2:3
I wish it were easier to keep our loves rightly ordered. Alas, I have to put out very little effort to look out for my own interests – and love myself – but I need to work to love God first and others second.
Death: I have stopped being surprised by those who are unwilling to face their own death. But I haven’t accepted it either. Instead, as a pastor I make it a point to preach on death and bring it up in casual conversation. I’m sure some find it off-putting. But “to live is Christ and to die is gain,” and we need to learn to number our days.
It’s Time to be Reminded About this Year’s College Freshman: For over twenty years, Beloit College issued a report that shocked us with statements such as, “Today’s college freshman: think Wi-Fi is an entitlement; have never licked a postage stamp; have never known a world in which humans were not living (not just traveling) in space, or where same-sex marriage was not legal somewhere.” Last year, Beloit published their 21st – and last – list. But a new group has taken it over, and you can find their 2019 list here.
Tradition: This week I ran across a definition of tradition worth passing along. “Tradition is a set of solutions for which we have forgotten the problems. Throw away the solution and you will get the problems back.” BTW, the fact that I think this is an insightful definition probably means that I qualify as old.
Loneliness is Trending: Richard Foster called loneliness “inner emptiness,” and compared it disfavorably with solitude, which is “inner fulfillment.” He might have also called it trendy. Just over a month ago, then Prime Minister Theresa May appointed a Minister of Loneliness to her cabinet. And this week I ran across a Forbes article suggesting that loneliness may now kill more people than cancer or obesity.
Quotes Worth ReQuoting:
- Human beings are the only animals that blush, and the only animals that need to. Mark Twain
- We have to be careful not to elevate our preferences to moral standards and judge others by them. We only do so to feel superior. Tim Keller
- According to a recent Pew Study, Soviet Atheism failed. Today only 14% of the region’s population identifies as atheist, agnostic or a “none.”
- Wealthy students demonstrate higher rates of drug and alcohol abuse than poor students do and suffer depression and anxiety at rates as much as triple those of their age peers.
- In 1962, the American Bar Association declared that there are “approximately 1,300 fee-earning hours per year” available to the typical lawyer. Today the number has risen to 2,400 billable hours. BTW, to bill 2,400 hours in a year would require working from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. six days a week, every day of the year, without vacation or sick days. (Those sound like the hours a pastor works).
- The number of babies born in the US fell to a 32 year low, and the US’s general fertility rate – defined as the number of births per 1,000 women aged 15 – 44 – fell to the lowest level since the start of federal record keeping.
The Church: Several years ago, then Senate Chaplain Richard Halverson offered the following summary of church history: “In the beginning the church was a fellowship of men and women centered on the living Christ. Then the church moved to Greece, where it became a philosophy. Then it moved to Rome, where it became an institution. Next, it moved to Europe, where it became a culture. And, finally, it moved to America, where it became an enterprise.” May the enterprise die and our life re-center always and only on the Living Christ?
Sorry God, but….: New York pastor, Tim Keller, identifies the top three reasons we disobey God. The first is by claiming that we cannot possibly forgive XYZ for what they did; the second is by claiming that we cannot tell her (or him) the truth (I would be humiliated or they would be destroyed); and the third is, I cannot resist doing this, even though I know it is wrong.” Keller goes on to note that we should note that we may not be able to obey through sheer willpower. But adds that we can get help, admit our problem, humble ourselves, cry out to God for mercy and transformation and seek accountability from others we respect.
Closing Prayer: O God Almighty, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, grant us, we pray thee, to be grounded and settled in the truth, by the coming down of the Holy Spirit into our hearts. That which we know not,…reveal; that which is wanting in us,…fill up; that which we know,…confirm, and keep us blameless in thy service; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. –Clement of Rome (died around 100)