The qualitative properties of salt

Productivity and Prayer

Chapter 3 of Richard Lamb's book discusses prayer as a foundation for our lives. Although short, this chapter is very important. We constantly ask ourselves, "How can I be productive in God's Kingdom? What's my purpose?" We can get so caught up with doing things and having so much service that we can loose sight of Christ. Lamb calls this "serving Christ without loving Christ."

Funny concept, but is it possible? How can you serve God and not love him? Lamb gives and example of this in Luke 10:38-42:

Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."

Sure, cooking dinner for Jesus and his disciples is and would be a great honor. Two women her are caught up in two different things. Martha is caught up making preparations. Which is important because without those preparations there would be no food. [But I get the feeling that Jesus, being appreciative for the gesture, was not really concerned with eating.] Mary, on the other hand is caught up in the presence of Jesus. What Martha was doing is perfectly all right, but she was distracted by her preparations. To look at this discussion thoroughly just read this chapter.

Prayer keeps us close to God. If we study the scripture without prayer, we can become Ivory Tower theologians that sit around and make theories. If we serve without prayer, we just do community service.

I know for me praying each morning before I go to work is a difficult task, but I could change and I'm working on it. Prayer and quiet time before productivity can give you focus in your work, love in your heart, and a constant exposure of Christ.

I've got to say, "This is cool."

This is Apple's new Mac Mini. It's small, it's cool, it's a computer that is just as big as my first portible CD player.

Check it out.

"Context changes, convictions don't"

In Richard Lamb's second chapter he speaks of convictions, identity, and temptation. The blog title states that we should use what you know. "The rules have not changed [from college]. " We know what we need to do and be; we learned while at college just do what you should.

I spent a minute or two and put down on paper what some of my convictions are that I carried over from college, but not necessarily practice them yet.

Spending quiet time with God

Heavy study of Scripture

Constant fellowship with other Christians

Hospitality

Prayer and study with other Christians

Benevolence

Constant worship

Mission minded/ mission focused

Of late I have found that keeping too busy is a hindrance to keeping my convictions; you may or may not feel the same. As an undergraduate student I had frequent breaks during the day, and was able to work on projects whenever I felt I had the time. I was able to hangout and work at the UTC Christian Student Center whenever I liked. There was definitely time for fellowship and spontaneous study with other Christians. Now-a-days, working full time and going to graduate school full time, squeezing in scheduled worship times can become and arduous task. It's not only that you don't feel that you have much time, the other problem is that you have to make it a point to hang out with other Christians. This can be tough for me. So far I've only had time to hang out with some old friends at Karaoke on a few Thursday nights, and then I have to check out my planner to see if I am free to do just that. So for me, my next step is to not be so busy. At Fortwood, I will be going part-time so I can allow for my increasing school schedule and that I can make sure that I devote every Thursday night with you guys out there.

Take some time and note what your convictions are and how your new context has threatened them.

Lamb also notes in this chapter "transition brings in temptation." Any sort of transition period is going to be tough. And Satan knows that, so you can count on him being there right with you, making you doubt your convictions and time you spent showing other people Christ while you were in college. He'll make you think, I should have studied on Tuesday nights instead of hanging out at the CSC, I shouldn’t have went on that mission trip the summer before last; I should have taken that internship at TVA and be making more money now.

We should remember to not fall into these traps. How could spending you life dedicated to God ever be wrong, especially when you choose it over loads of money?

"Bear Fruits Worthy of Repentance " : My own response to 'Lifetime Discipleship'

For the past year I have been eyeballing this book on amazon.com. So I finally purchased the book for myself for Christmas. I've gotten through the preface and 1st chapter, and planning on just reading one chapter at a time.

Because I have this blog, I will review this book chapter by chapter and post my thoughts. After March, I am thinking about starting a group of post-college and "fixin' to graduate college students", to discuss some of these thoughts and continuing a post-college fellowship. If interested just post a comment below.

Richard Lamb first addresses our expectations and assumptions that we have after graduation. Some of us have no clue, as some of us have every aspect of their lives planned out for the next 75 years. Regardless, it seems as most of us expect to graduates, get the coolest job, get lots of money ("We do have a degree after all?"), and get an awesome apartment equipped with a fireplace, hot tub, and balcony for reliving all of those college experiences. Note: The balcony provides great height enough for dropping or throwing authorized objects such as water balloons, shoes, saliva, couches, and even using it to burn notes and assignments from horrible class experiences. Richard Lamb presents other assumptions that we can have with education, church, lifestyle, friendships and marriage (read previous post). A bad assumption we usually make is that we will find security in these items. If you're already out of college, and have a job, you know that you don't have as much income as you assumed, you apartment is not all that you dreamed it would be, and that new girlfriend/boyfriend isn't giving you the spiritual/personal growth as you thought that it would.

Now, don't misunderstand Lamb through what I am writing. Getting a job is good. Income is good. Getting clean, non-health-hazardous apartment is good. Finding a great romantic relationship is good. Getting married is good. It's just the problem that we have the assumption that all we are looking for and our security will come from these things. Lamb illustrates that we are just dangling from a cliff, holding on to our branches of assumptions. We think these branches are our security, that they will save us. In fact all they can do is retain the status quo, if not make you fall. Jesus is the only one that can pull us up from that cliff. He is the only security we can have in this life.

How do we do this? Lamb refers to John the Baptist in Luke 3:7-14. It reads:

"You brood of snakes! Who warned you to flee God's coming judgment? 8 Prove by the way you live that you have really turned from your sins and turned to God. Don't just say, 'We're safe – we're the descendants of Abraham.' That proves nothing. God can change these stones here into children of Abraham. 9 Even now the ax of God's judgment is poised, ready to sever your roots. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire." 10 The crowd asked, "What should we do?" 11 John replied, "If you have two coats, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry." 12 Even corrupt tax collectors came to be baptized and asked, "Teacher, what should we do?" 13 "Show your honesty," he replied. "Make sure you collect no more taxes than the Roman government requires you to." 14 "What should we do?" asked some soldiers. John replied, "Don't extort money, and don't accuse people of things you know they didn't do. And be content with your pay."

Simply, "bear fruits worthy of repentance." You are a Christian, or thinking about it. Live your live in such a way that you show that you are thankful for a new life. Repent or turn-away from false assumptions and trust in Christ. Live a life that depends on Christ.

Great News

For the rest of the world out there, my five readers, here is the news if you have not heard.

Wendy and I are engaged as of 1/7/05. I would have a picture, but I am the last person in the world that does not have a digital camera.