Here is some stuff I learned not to do from this last vacation we went on down to Mount Dora, FL. to see my brother.
Don't ever accept directions on the way out of town that are hurriedly given to you and pronounced as a short cut. We ended up making it out of town just fine but right before we were leaving my brother offers us a shortcut for our trip. Red flags should have went up, sirens went off, somebody should have tackled one of us, but since none of that happened I was like wow I could save a whole 5 minutes sure let me go the new way and take 15 turns.
Apparently in FL there are 7 or 8 480 west roads off of 448 or something like that. The really confusing thing is that all the 440 west turns do not exit the same direction ... some exit to the right and some to the left. You would think if they are all WEST then they would all go WEST. I know some of you are thinking Jarrett they probably exit the wrong way but loop around and end up going west .... oh no ... this is FL! They do whatever they want. I looked and they in fact do not loop around. There are roads in FL named 440 west that in fact go east. So maybe the overall lesson is don't take shortcuts in FL.
Lesson 2 .... Everything in Fl is different! I have been to the beach a few times in Florida and I even stayed in a hotel in Jacksonville once, but I have never lived for like a week in a normal Florida suburb ... let me just say it is crazy. I was having Mississippi culture shock by the time we got home. Kari and I thought about jumping out and kissing the ground when we saw the big Mississippi sign near Tupelo on 78. I met a lady at Thomas church and she said are you enjoying your stay and I said yes but everything is different down here. She said what do you mean. I said well where do I begin. The houses, the plants, the food, the red lights, the animals, the setup of shopping centers, walmart ... at some point she stopped me and agreed the plants were different. Kari and I looked for a walgreens that I had seen the night before for like 30 minutes while she had a headache because their walgreens stores don't look at all like ours here. They have tolls in FL on their roads. You have to pay to drive on the road! I know they have this many places but I am glad they don't have it around here. Missing the tolls was another reason we took the"shortcut". Everything is more expensive. Suffice it to say FL is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there.
Lesson 3 don't purchase a massive fountain drink without tasting it first ... you could be stuck for the next 300 miles with a drink that taste like something out of a science lab.
Lesson 4 and the last lesson of the trip ... don't pull your car up so that the front reaches over the curb and rest on the ground. We did that at the hotel we stayed at on the way home. Unbeknownst to us the front of the car was resting in an ant hill. Fortunately it was not a fire ant hill but a black ant hill. Unfortunately the ants soon learned that we had left a sonic bag from the night before in the passenger side floorboard.
Please tell me what do you do when you come out of a hotel ready to begin a 7 hour trip and realize that the car is black with ants on the inside. Also the ants were not just inside the car but they were actually all under the hood as well because we had placed the nose of the car in their house so they decided to invade ours. I don't know what you do ... but here is what we did. I took the floor mats out and beat them like crazy. I smashed as many ants as I could with my hands. I put all of the stuff without ants on it in the trunk and threw all the garbage away. Then Kari and I took the most uncomfortable ride you can imagine a few miles down the road looking for a car wash and a vacuum.
We finally found one at a service station but not before everyone who saw us thought we were high. We were slapping and twitching and jerking our heads around like we had a bad trip or something. After a couple of hours at the gas station, 1 can of ant spray, 1 awesome interior vacuum, and 1 deluxe car wash we were on our way. We still found a few ants and we still were swatting and twitching for the first 200 miles even when stuff wasn't there. If that is the definition of high then I guess we were high on ant spray. Let ants invade your car and lets see if you don't do some slapping and jerking.
That's all the tips I got. I really wouldn't have known any of these before the trip. We did have an awesome time and my brother and his wife were awesome host. I took naps on consecutive days and to me that is a vacation:)
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
How do you gain instruction from the Bible for your life today?
To take a principal from the Bible and allow it to instruct you today is called application. Application is defined as putting something to use. To apply the Bible means to be a doer of the word and not just as hearer, as the book of James instructs us to do.
A few convictions help in this process. The Bible is a book unlike other books with the power to radically change your life! Nothing in the Bible was written by accident; it is all important. The Bible is not merely to be heard or understood, but lived and practiced.With these convictions in mind, perhaps the most important thing we will ever do is discover how to live out and practice what the Bible is teaching!Some passages are very straightforward and need little help with application. "Do not steal". Application could be made helping us to think of stealing in some different ways than we normally do, but all understand what stealing is. Do not steal makes for easy application because it is both specific and makes sense within our culture.
What about Jesus command to love your neighbor as yourself? This command is easy enough to understand within our culture, but how many ways can you say, "I love you" to someone? If this command is to be lived out daily we must make it more specific. How will I love people today? God's word fleshes this command out throughout Scripture. For example there are 52 "one another" commands in the New Testament that help flesh out specifically how to love our neighbors ... greet one another, serve one another, bare with one another, forgive one another, etc. To live out loving our neighbor we must make it specific.
Sometimes the Scripture will already be very specific, but it is speaking of things that are foreign to us culturally. An example of this is Paul’s instructions about eating meat sacrificed to idols in I cor. 8. In Paul’s day a debate arose about if it was wrong to eat meat that was sacrificed to an idol. The meat could be purchased by people at a discounted rate and many believers saw nothing wrong with eating it; since they did not participate in the pagan worship. Other believers thought it was wrong to eat this meat precisely because it was used in the worship of another god. Paul weighs in on the issue and teaches that if a believer whose conscience is offended by eating this meat sees another brother eating it then he may be tempted to eat also. If the weaker brother eats it and his conscious is offended then it is wrong for him. Because whatever we do we should do out of faith and not fear. So Paul’s instruction to those who have no problem eating the meat is: "Don't do it if it causes your weaker brother to stumble".
This passage was used during the 60's to condemn men for wearing their hair long. People would say you don't need to do anything that offends your brothers and the older folks are offended at your long hair. If you loved Jesus and your brothers you would cut your hair they would say. The problem with this application is that when you take a specific principal of Scripture and generalize it to fit life today you must take all of the teaching precisely as it was taught then. Paul’s concern was that weaker brothers might be tempted to engage in activities that their conscious told them was wrong. In this case they would eat out of fear instead of faith. There was no temptation for older people in the 60's to wear their hair longer. The passage was incorrectly applied because those using it only applied half the teaching ... the part about not doing stuff that offended people. In that case the teaching could have been used the other way to say, you who are older should get over people having long hair and not be offended because they are younger in age and possibly in the faith.
A more accurate application of this text in our day would deal with drinking alcohol. There is not a command that says, thou shalt not drink, but there are many warning passages that tell us it is unwise. Obviously it is a divisive issue just like eating idol meat was in Paul’s day. It could be said if a brother is offended in conscious, but sees you who are stronger drinking and is tempted themselves to drink then you have destroyed your weaker brother so that you could drink.So when a passage is general you must make it more specific to live it out and when it is specific and different from your culture you must generalize it, making sure you take all of its teaching into account.
What changes are you making in your life today because of the teaching of the Bible?
A few convictions help in this process. The Bible is a book unlike other books with the power to radically change your life! Nothing in the Bible was written by accident; it is all important. The Bible is not merely to be heard or understood, but lived and practiced.With these convictions in mind, perhaps the most important thing we will ever do is discover how to live out and practice what the Bible is teaching!Some passages are very straightforward and need little help with application. "Do not steal". Application could be made helping us to think of stealing in some different ways than we normally do, but all understand what stealing is. Do not steal makes for easy application because it is both specific and makes sense within our culture.
What about Jesus command to love your neighbor as yourself? This command is easy enough to understand within our culture, but how many ways can you say, "I love you" to someone? If this command is to be lived out daily we must make it more specific. How will I love people today? God's word fleshes this command out throughout Scripture. For example there are 52 "one another" commands in the New Testament that help flesh out specifically how to love our neighbors ... greet one another, serve one another, bare with one another, forgive one another, etc. To live out loving our neighbor we must make it specific.
Sometimes the Scripture will already be very specific, but it is speaking of things that are foreign to us culturally. An example of this is Paul’s instructions about eating meat sacrificed to idols in I cor. 8. In Paul’s day a debate arose about if it was wrong to eat meat that was sacrificed to an idol. The meat could be purchased by people at a discounted rate and many believers saw nothing wrong with eating it; since they did not participate in the pagan worship. Other believers thought it was wrong to eat this meat precisely because it was used in the worship of another god. Paul weighs in on the issue and teaches that if a believer whose conscience is offended by eating this meat sees another brother eating it then he may be tempted to eat also. If the weaker brother eats it and his conscious is offended then it is wrong for him. Because whatever we do we should do out of faith and not fear. So Paul’s instruction to those who have no problem eating the meat is: "Don't do it if it causes your weaker brother to stumble".
This passage was used during the 60's to condemn men for wearing their hair long. People would say you don't need to do anything that offends your brothers and the older folks are offended at your long hair. If you loved Jesus and your brothers you would cut your hair they would say. The problem with this application is that when you take a specific principal of Scripture and generalize it to fit life today you must take all of the teaching precisely as it was taught then. Paul’s concern was that weaker brothers might be tempted to engage in activities that their conscious told them was wrong. In this case they would eat out of fear instead of faith. There was no temptation for older people in the 60's to wear their hair longer. The passage was incorrectly applied because those using it only applied half the teaching ... the part about not doing stuff that offended people. In that case the teaching could have been used the other way to say, you who are older should get over people having long hair and not be offended because they are younger in age and possibly in the faith.
A more accurate application of this text in our day would deal with drinking alcohol. There is not a command that says, thou shalt not drink, but there are many warning passages that tell us it is unwise. Obviously it is a divisive issue just like eating idol meat was in Paul’s day. It could be said if a brother is offended in conscious, but sees you who are stronger drinking and is tempted themselves to drink then you have destroyed your weaker brother so that you could drink.So when a passage is general you must make it more specific to live it out and when it is specific and different from your culture you must generalize it, making sure you take all of its teaching into account.
What changes are you making in your life today because of the teaching of the Bible?
Why do we worship on Sunday instead of Saturday? (The Sabbath)
Colossians 2:16-17 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
Hebrews 4:8-11For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.
Romans 14:5-8One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
It is clear from these passages that the sabbath day that the Jews observed under the law was not something that Christ followers were intended to follow in the same way they did. The sabbath day had many purposes under the law but one of its primary purposes was to point the Jews toward the one who would come and give them true rest from all their work. Jesus work on the cross put an end to all the working to try to be good enough or make up for all the wrong we had done. Jesus would later look out into a crowd of people who understood the sabbath and the law and say, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28
Jesus was offering real rest to people; not just a day off from chores and your job, but a deep rest of the soul. Jesus was offering to walk with us in this life and the one to come and join Himself with us so we never have to do life alone again. This is one of my favorite Jesus promises!We as Christ followers now celebrate and worship on Sunday the day Jesus rose from the grave and made His offer for real rest valid. The Jews observed the sabbath on Saturday; the day before. Our celebration on the day Christ rose is part of the fulfillment of the promise which the 1st passage says was a shadow of things to come.
How well are you resting in Jesus?
Hebrews 4:8-11For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.
Romans 14:5-8One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
It is clear from these passages that the sabbath day that the Jews observed under the law was not something that Christ followers were intended to follow in the same way they did. The sabbath day had many purposes under the law but one of its primary purposes was to point the Jews toward the one who would come and give them true rest from all their work. Jesus work on the cross put an end to all the working to try to be good enough or make up for all the wrong we had done. Jesus would later look out into a crowd of people who understood the sabbath and the law and say, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28
Jesus was offering real rest to people; not just a day off from chores and your job, but a deep rest of the soul. Jesus was offering to walk with us in this life and the one to come and join Himself with us so we never have to do life alone again. This is one of my favorite Jesus promises!We as Christ followers now celebrate and worship on Sunday the day Jesus rose from the grave and made His offer for real rest valid. The Jews observed the sabbath on Saturday; the day before. Our celebration on the day Christ rose is part of the fulfillment of the promise which the 1st passage says was a shadow of things to come.
How well are you resting in Jesus?
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