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10/31/2017

IS GOD BORING? (revisited)

That is not a fair question.. I know people may say church is boring, but God? boring? I would not say that, but then look how He stacks up with our 24/7 Entertain me NOW society.

Let's start with SUNDAYS: You can choose to spend several hours sitting on the 50 yard line cheering your team as they play their hated rivals on a beautiful fall day doubly blessed with vendors who for a few dollars deliver to you your favorite snacks and beverages.
IN CONTRAST.. You could spend several hours sitting on a hard wooden pew in church singing a hymn or three, listening to a sermon where the vendors are replaced with ushers who also take your money but there will be no food for you!.. Advantage.. FOOTBALL

Next, Food Glorious Food: The world offers wonderful dining opporunities of all cuisines whether you dine out, drive through, or have your meal delivered right to your door.
IN CONTRAST.. the church offers potluck dinners where there are more ways to fix a macaroni cassarole/hotdish than there are stars in the sky. Advantage: DINING OUT

Kim Kardashian v Mother Theresa Reality TV Superstar Kim has over 20 million twitter followers with the focus on I guess watching Kim be pampered.
IN CONTRAST.. Mother Theresa ran hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis; soup kitchens, dispensaries and mobile clinics; children's and family counselling programs; orphanages, and schools... BUT still no Twitter followers. So based on Twitter stats.. Advantage: KIM

Truth: The bible teaches God's never changing loving truth for mankind, and there is but one God.
IN CONTRAST.. Society teaches truth is a relative state of being for progressive thinkers. Our world is polytheistic where there are many ways to find god and/or truth. Based on the appearance of inclusivness (though Col Jessup scares me).. Advantage: SOCIETY

Cosmology v Theology: Cosmology is the science of the origin and development of the universe. With an annual budget for space exploration of around $18 billion in the US, Resources like the images from the Hubble Telescope are used to support their studies.
IN CONTRAST.. Theology is the study of the nature of God and religious belief. Of course there is no annual US budget on Theology. Resources like the bible are used to support these studies. If money means anything.. Advantage: NASA

The above examples are a bit over the top but with a thread of 'humanistic truth' (please note humanistic truth is an oxymoron). How can the church compete with the glitz & glam, the look & presentation, and budget found in our 24/7 self serve society?
but..
What if part of the next year's $18 billion NASA budget was spent on understanding our creator rather than His creation?
What if our very broken society honored the Truth of our bibles?
What if we quit following the vanity tweets of Kim Kardashian, but instead emulated the selfless work of Mother Theresa?
What if on Sunday we honored God with our worship with more passion than we show the Super Bowl?

So my conclusion: God is not boring, but the little box we attempt to put him in is pathetic. What if there was a spiritual revival of our nation where we pursue God like a spiritual Hubble Telescope? I know one thing.. we would not be bored.

May God bless each of us today free from society's buffet for the senses, but instead pursue what is important. To love God and care for others (God's two greatest commandments Mt 22:36-40) is anything but boring!

Blessings

Jeff

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10/30/2017

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The Skosh-Meter

SKOSH.. From the Japanese word "sukoshi," pronounced skosh. That also means a little bit. For example, "I'll have just a skosh of that pie..."

Skosh is a great underutilized word, and though I don't recall Skosh ever making it into any translations of the Bible I am sure it can by implied and rest assured it will be in my Back Pew paraphrase. In fact I would like to create a Skosh-Meter to measure small amounts (a skosh) of.. 'stuff' you cannot measure with your standard ruler or scale.

For example, Ned crossed through the Red Sea with the nation of Israel in Exodus 14 and the Skosh Meter would indicate with just a Skosh of faith.

or..
when God asks Adam and Eve "Did you eat of the forbidden fruit?" .. They answered in unison.. "Umm.. maybe just a skosh."
but
the Skosh-Meter is waved and.. beep, beep, beep
Oh they ate more than a skosh.

Then out of the pages of the Back Pew Bible paraphrase and into those loving words shared between a husband and wife.

Wife: "Honey, are these pants too tight?"
Husband: "umm, maybe just a .. skosh tight"

Ok on this one, don't wave your Skosh-Meter anywhere near your wife's butt (can I say butt?) You might as well paraphrase President Trump and say "My dear, you look a bit BIGLY for those pants!

Then if I had a SKOSH-METER to measure my love for God
Let's try it on God's two greatest commandments.
Q: Do I love the lord God with all my heart and soul and mind, and others as myself.
A: After a long work day, I would sigh, but still say.. Yes
But.. I am not really sure what my trusty SKOSH-METER will say. I want it to be pegged all the way to the right by the words WITH ALL MY HEART, and far from the left side of the skosh-meter by the red letters -just a skosh- and no beeping sounds please

Then again, I really don't want a Skosh-Meter thank you very much. I prefer God's grace and God's Truth better. God will not reject me from Heaven for scoring 67/100 on Heaven's Entrance Exam. He knows I have problems memorizing scriptures and story problems confuse me.

I mean missing out on Heaven by 3 lousy points (technically a skosh) is very un-Godlike. *note* To those of you that I worried for a moment.. There is no Entrance Exam. No minimum score.. only grace for the repentant heart.

But seriously back to loving God with all your heart soul and mind and others as yourself. These truly are the two greatest commandments and my daily pursuit until someday Heaven. Pursue God with my whole heart (not a skosh) put all (not a skosh) of your hope in Him, and I believe my love cannot help but grow for Him and a natural extension of this love for God is a love for others.

May God bless each of you in your journey to know God, and.. to know God is to love God.

Blessings

Jeff

Oh, and if you ever have theneed to move a mountain.. I hear just a skosh of faith (mustard seed size for you gardeners) you can toss it into the sea.

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10/21/2017

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Some call me.. TRON?

In this modern world 'good parents' monitor the time their kids play video games, and the content of those games.

After all, staring at a screen for hours clicking on buttons living a virtual existence stimulated by role playing, and first person shooter games while never interacting with a real person is not healthy, wealthy, or wise.

And let me add my 2 cents. "Hey video playing KID, turn off your Xboox/Playstation/Nintendo game thingy, get outside breath some air, talk to real people. build something, read a book, do something, ANYTHING that does not involve electronic brain manipulation."

Kids these days.

Then I settle in after another long work day. I'm tired per usual and plop down in my comfy chair and with one hand I turn on my HD TV to watch the evening (all bad all the time) news, followed by 3 hours of channel surfing.
I then order pizza delivery from my smartphone with my other hand while tweeting with my 'peeps'.
By my side I have my laptop to browse for any nook or cranny of input my overloaded brain may have missed with my smartphone and HD TV.
-gasp- I am like the movie Tron!

Then I hear tapping on my window the above mentioned kid who shouts to me..

"Hey OLD MAN, turn off your TV, smartphone, and laptop too. Go outside make some friends that are not on Facebook, and stop tweeting. Build something, read a book, do something, ANYTHING that does not involve electronic brain manipulation".

I hate that kid.. "GET OFF MY LAWN."

So for evenings like this I am reminded of Paul writing. whatever is true, .. noble, .. right, .. pure, .. lovely, .. admirable, AND if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—I will think about such things. Phil 4:8.

Well there is no Philippians 4:8 channel on my TV, so (and I hate to say it) it's time to start listening to that kid.

Lord I desire to stay informed but pray I am not sucked in by 24/7 gloom and doom fake or baked news. God I thank you for my very REAL family, friends, and a church home that desires to serve you. I even thank you for that smart mouthed kid on my lawn. - Amen -

Jeff (not Tron) Larson

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IS GOD BORING? (revisited)

The Skosh-Meter

Some call me.. TRON?

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