Most recent sermon by Pastor Mark Driscoll (Seattle WA) - on how the Lord uses SUFFERING in our lives to expose the inner workings of our hearts, the "functional saviors" we choose for ourselves to free us from our "pain" or even just our discomfort.
Contained herein is a word against the lusts of our hearts, up to and including gluttony - and rather finding Christ SUFFICIENT! and being truly satisfied in him. ("Taste and see that the Lord is good!") A very good message concerning how we CRUSH the idols of our hearts, and find freedom in becoming what we were always created to be - worshipers of GOD.
Please take a listen....
http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/trial/suffering-to-worship
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Set Up for a Health Disaster, part 8 of 9
~experimental medicine? or growing in grace and the knowledge of the Lord's design for the body?~
(aka: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means....")
As recently as last week, I read an article in which suggestions were made for more "naturalistic" medical care of one's pet(s), and in this article it was stated that such remedies - once considered reserved for the fringe and the freaky of our population - were increasingly becoming more the norm. Additionally, there was some hint, by the author, of a certain kind of American hubris as many so-called "strange" medicines which we are only just now beginning to embrace have been, in fact, in use with some regularity the world over....I can't comment intelligently on the statistics of usage; my own experience with such things is more colloquial. But I will say this: *I* was of the class of people inclined to turn up my nose at the notion of naturalistic or holistic health care, because I felt these treatments were only employed by the so-called hippie crowd (so what if they were or are?), and ... well, I scoffed at what I perceived to be anecdotal success at best, and an overall apparent "lack of scholarship."
If you've looked over the links to the right, or if you've read any of my previous posts, as yet, you have no doubt already picked up on the fact that the above prejudice is, at least most likely, no longer applicable.
...I think my "revelation" has come hand in hand with a spiritual humbling that has been progressively taking over my life in recent years.
Some lessons learned....
*I don't know if this is true for all of humanity - though I suspect it is - but I have found myself VERY quick to consider the way that I think about the world around me as solely RIGHT just by virtue of the fact that I have been immersed in my own expectation of "normal." My .... preconceived notions .... continue to be challenged, the older I get, and the more I experience.
*This ... afront, so to speak ... to what I have considered normative has had the effect of humbling me - This is not to say I AM humble - I suppose I would say I am just beginning to really appreciate the fact that I am NOT humble, in my natural self. And most of my "expectations" on others around me - up to and including the medical community, up to and including health afficianados, up to an including major drug/prescription companies and vitamin supplements manufacturers and infomercials and (and and and) - have been shaken, simply by virtue of the fact that I have been forced (!) to acknowledge that ... um ... I don't ... know ... everything.
*I've touched on the idea before, but akin to my realizing that *I* don't know everything has been the realization that ain't NONE of us knows everything - that is, I am increasingly less apt to place unwavering trust in so-called "experts" - and this seems to be occurring simultaneously with a growing LOVE for the word of God. I realize this will have the earmarks of "foolishness" to some, but I find I am being challenged to either believe a "human expert" in this or that field OR to believe the word of God - as if they are always mutually exclusive. a) I'm suspicious of any notion that they MUST be mutually exclusive, but b) where they are, I will believe Scripture FIRST....
*why does that matter. Well, for example, I don't believe scientists have ANY legitimate idea of how old the earth really is. I don't believe they CAN know this, despite whatever tests they can best devise to discern our history, ad infinitum.....And where said derivations and speculations and ponderings and conclusions come up with descriptions of earth's geological or archaelogical or stellar past contradict the revealed word of God? I have a decision to make. And I am convinced - not merely persuaded by evidence, to be clear, I am unfalteringly CONVINCED - that the word of God is TRUE, such that it is TRUER than any "illusion" of truth otherwise "discovered."....yeah. *sigh* I do know what I'm saying. As an intellectual, a student of philosophy, and (I hope) a sometimes fairly articulate, even scholarly individual, I am prepared for the scoffing that is sure to follow this declaration. I can only "shake my head" at it. Because - in a way that defies the time and space in THIS post to explain - I can not doubt the authority and the enduring veracity of the word of God, Genesis through Revelation....And I can see that will probably need to be "a whole 'nother conversation." ;)
*Therefore, I will trust God's design for the human body, and the veritably miraculous way it "heals" itself, BEFORE I will place my trust in a host of other derived knowledges and solutions and medications. Am I turning fanatic, and discounting the value of modern medicine? NO. I marvel at the knowledge we possess as a contemporary community .... I do not see this as a contradiction. (think what you will) I LOVE the vast amounts of knowledge about the human body and other aspects of Creation - but I am not placing my TRUST there, FIRST. This is the difference. This is huge - cuz I have been apt to FIRST reach for my migraine prescription before (for example) I will pray for the Lord to reveal to me perhaps the root cause of it, or to pray for relief from it....I'm not saying I won't take the pill - I'm just saying I need to learn to get my priorities straight.....
*In keeping with the above, I have - after much decline and an exponentially increasing level of fatigue that was fast spinning my life out of control (see previous posts for part of the history on this) - decided to go "gluten free." I initially opted to give up gluten just for the period of Lent, to see if it made a notable difference in my symptoms. I have seen an UNPRECEDENTED (in my life) level of improvement. With Easter this past weekend, I may now choose to eat gluten again - but for the moment, I am very hesitant, as I do not wish to return to such a SEVERELY "sick" (fatigued) state. So - I wish to continue to stay gluten free, at least for now....
*I also want to concentrate, more, on learning the significance of REST to my physical body, and good NUTRITION....I think both are parables to what the Creator has intended for me as regards genuine dependent, joyful communion with Him.
*I want to have my mind so "stayed on Him" that my FIRST thought is to pray, not to seek ALL other options first and then only as a last RESORT to pray.....this was brought to the forefront again at work as a coworker was in the hospital this past weekend, very near the end of a battle with pneumonia on top of a several-years' long fight with cancer....a coworker asked me to say a "good prayer" for our friend. Which of course I did, and wanted to! But the fact she called it a "good" prayer, and the fact that she herself is not willing to submit to the authority of the word of God - even on such things as how and why to pray - let me to "feel" like she interpretted prayer as yet another way we can "get what we want" out of God. As though my GOOD prayer would successfully yield our friend's healing, as if I pushed the right button with God.....and I am challenged again to re-examine the whole issue of prayer, its purpose....and fasting, and its purpose.....and what it means to .... "hunger for God" even as I am dependent on him.....
*God, teach me to entrust myself to you fully - even as you have already enabled me to "decrease" as Christ "increases" in me. I thank you for the grace to see "how far" down the path I've already traveled - I do not want to neglect what you have so far taught me. But I do pray, Lord, as you lead me, that I would grow increasingly humble - rather than dependent on my own mind and will and strength....and heart. I would rather love YOU. However foolish that mean seem to all else.
(aka: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means....")
As recently as last week, I read an article in which suggestions were made for more "naturalistic" medical care of one's pet(s), and in this article it was stated that such remedies - once considered reserved for the fringe and the freaky of our population - were increasingly becoming more the norm. Additionally, there was some hint, by the author, of a certain kind of American hubris as many so-called "strange" medicines which we are only just now beginning to embrace have been, in fact, in use with some regularity the world over....I can't comment intelligently on the statistics of usage; my own experience with such things is more colloquial. But I will say this: *I* was of the class of people inclined to turn up my nose at the notion of naturalistic or holistic health care, because I felt these treatments were only employed by the so-called hippie crowd (so what if they were or are?), and ... well, I scoffed at what I perceived to be anecdotal success at best, and an overall apparent "lack of scholarship."
If you've looked over the links to the right, or if you've read any of my previous posts, as yet, you have no doubt already picked up on the fact that the above prejudice is, at least most likely, no longer applicable.
...I think my "revelation" has come hand in hand with a spiritual humbling that has been progressively taking over my life in recent years.
Some lessons learned....
*I don't know if this is true for all of humanity - though I suspect it is - but I have found myself VERY quick to consider the way that I think about the world around me as solely RIGHT just by virtue of the fact that I have been immersed in my own expectation of "normal." My .... preconceived notions .... continue to be challenged, the older I get, and the more I experience.
*This ... afront, so to speak ... to what I have considered normative has had the effect of humbling me - This is not to say I AM humble - I suppose I would say I am just beginning to really appreciate the fact that I am NOT humble, in my natural self. And most of my "expectations" on others around me - up to and including the medical community, up to and including health afficianados, up to an including major drug/prescription companies and vitamin supplements manufacturers and infomercials and (and and and) - have been shaken, simply by virtue of the fact that I have been forced (!) to acknowledge that ... um ... I don't ... know ... everything.
*I've touched on the idea before, but akin to my realizing that *I* don't know everything has been the realization that ain't NONE of us knows everything - that is, I am increasingly less apt to place unwavering trust in so-called "experts" - and this seems to be occurring simultaneously with a growing LOVE for the word of God. I realize this will have the earmarks of "foolishness" to some, but I find I am being challenged to either believe a "human expert" in this or that field OR to believe the word of God - as if they are always mutually exclusive. a) I'm suspicious of any notion that they MUST be mutually exclusive, but b) where they are, I will believe Scripture FIRST....
*why does that matter. Well, for example, I don't believe scientists have ANY legitimate idea of how old the earth really is. I don't believe they CAN know this, despite whatever tests they can best devise to discern our history, ad infinitum.....And where said derivations and speculations and ponderings and conclusions come up with descriptions of earth's geological or archaelogical or stellar past contradict the revealed word of God? I have a decision to make. And I am convinced - not merely persuaded by evidence, to be clear, I am unfalteringly CONVINCED - that the word of God is TRUE, such that it is TRUER than any "illusion" of truth otherwise "discovered."....yeah. *sigh* I do know what I'm saying. As an intellectual, a student of philosophy, and (I hope) a sometimes fairly articulate, even scholarly individual, I am prepared for the scoffing that is sure to follow this declaration. I can only "shake my head" at it. Because - in a way that defies the time and space in THIS post to explain - I can not doubt the authority and the enduring veracity of the word of God, Genesis through Revelation....And I can see that will probably need to be "a whole 'nother conversation." ;)
*Therefore, I will trust God's design for the human body, and the veritably miraculous way it "heals" itself, BEFORE I will place my trust in a host of other derived knowledges and solutions and medications. Am I turning fanatic, and discounting the value of modern medicine? NO. I marvel at the knowledge we possess as a contemporary community .... I do not see this as a contradiction. (think what you will) I LOVE the vast amounts of knowledge about the human body and other aspects of Creation - but I am not placing my TRUST there, FIRST. This is the difference. This is huge - cuz I have been apt to FIRST reach for my migraine prescription before (for example) I will pray for the Lord to reveal to me perhaps the root cause of it, or to pray for relief from it....I'm not saying I won't take the pill - I'm just saying I need to learn to get my priorities straight.....
*In keeping with the above, I have - after much decline and an exponentially increasing level of fatigue that was fast spinning my life out of control (see previous posts for part of the history on this) - decided to go "gluten free." I initially opted to give up gluten just for the period of Lent, to see if it made a notable difference in my symptoms. I have seen an UNPRECEDENTED (in my life) level of improvement. With Easter this past weekend, I may now choose to eat gluten again - but for the moment, I am very hesitant, as I do not wish to return to such a SEVERELY "sick" (fatigued) state. So - I wish to continue to stay gluten free, at least for now....
*I also want to concentrate, more, on learning the significance of REST to my physical body, and good NUTRITION....I think both are parables to what the Creator has intended for me as regards genuine dependent, joyful communion with Him.
*I want to have my mind so "stayed on Him" that my FIRST thought is to pray, not to seek ALL other options first and then only as a last RESORT to pray.....this was brought to the forefront again at work as a coworker was in the hospital this past weekend, very near the end of a battle with pneumonia on top of a several-years' long fight with cancer....a coworker asked me to say a "good prayer" for our friend. Which of course I did, and wanted to! But the fact she called it a "good" prayer, and the fact that she herself is not willing to submit to the authority of the word of God - even on such things as how and why to pray - let me to "feel" like she interpretted prayer as yet another way we can "get what we want" out of God. As though my GOOD prayer would successfully yield our friend's healing, as if I pushed the right button with God.....and I am challenged again to re-examine the whole issue of prayer, its purpose....and fasting, and its purpose.....and what it means to .... "hunger for God" even as I am dependent on him.....
*God, teach me to entrust myself to you fully - even as you have already enabled me to "decrease" as Christ "increases" in me. I thank you for the grace to see "how far" down the path I've already traveled - I do not want to neglect what you have so far taught me. But I do pray, Lord, as you lead me, that I would grow increasingly humble - rather than dependent on my own mind and will and strength....and heart. I would rather love YOU. However foolish that mean seem to all else.
Soft, Corn Tortilla Shells instead of Pasta...
I have been REALLY enjoying how corn tortillas cook up - so much so, I have speculated they would make a good substitute for pasta (moreso than merely the "gluten free" options) -
They add a WHOLE different flavor - one that is fast becoming preferable to me. :) Cuz I LOVE the texture of a soft shell corn tortilla when it is baked into some kinda of wetness (like a mexican pizza with a "sauce" on the shell).....
I realize I am not the first to have this idea - having done some hunting online, I have found some Mexican Lasagna recipes, and hope to experiment with those recipes (rather than reinventing the wheel), but hopefully end up with something more "italian" tasting.
(Marinara, vs. Salsa, for example)
http://www.world-food-and-wine.com/mexican-lasagna-az.html
http://www.thatsmyhome.com/venettos/pasta/santa-fe-lasagna.htm
just for some ideas......
They add a WHOLE different flavor - one that is fast becoming preferable to me. :) Cuz I LOVE the texture of a soft shell corn tortilla when it is baked into some kinda of wetness (like a mexican pizza with a "sauce" on the shell).....
I realize I am not the first to have this idea - having done some hunting online, I have found some Mexican Lasagna recipes, and hope to experiment with those recipes (rather than reinventing the wheel), but hopefully end up with something more "italian" tasting.
(Marinara, vs. Salsa, for example)
http://www.world-food-and-wine.com/mexican-lasagna-az.html
http://www.thatsmyhome.com/venettos/pasta/santa-fe-lasagna.htm
just for some ideas......
Friday, April 10, 2009
Why would God make us Hunger and Thirst?
~Why would God make us Hunger and Thirst?~
(aka: "Our best HAVINGS, are WANTINGS....")
Pastor Kevin Wilkening on "Fasting and Praying",
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=21107184618
This is an EXCELLENT sermon about "satisfaction" in God....how man is not the center of the universe, GOD is, AND how we become the "satisfaction" OF God.....
It's only a half an hour long. Please feel free to take the time to listen. ;)
(aka: "Our best HAVINGS, are WANTINGS....")
Pastor Kevin Wilkening on "Fasting and Praying",
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=21107184618
This is an EXCELLENT sermon about "satisfaction" in God....how man is not the center of the universe, GOD is, AND how we become the "satisfaction" OF God.....
It's only a half an hour long. Please feel free to take the time to listen. ;)
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