Tuesday, September 30, 2008
My Wii Fitness Age...
...is 44 years old. Forty-four!! I was pulling for 25. For those of you who don't know, my real age is 31. The Wii thinks I'm 13 years older than I really am. And how was this determined? By how quickly I could get my center of balance within bars that decrease in size and hold it there for three seconds. After an entire summer of exercising faithfully, I'm delivered with the news that my body is that of a 44-year-old. How encouraging! What is the point, I ask, of exercise if it makes no difference in your Wii fit age? I guess I should get back to work so that I can convince an inanimate object that I am worthy of its approval by decreasing my "age" to at least match reality.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
I Pledge Allegiance to the Kingdom of God
Randy Harris reminded us in graduate chapel at ACU on Wednesday morning that despite the political fervor of this season, as Christians, our true allegiance is to Christ the King. Presidents come and go, and in 100 years the outcome of this election will mean little. So, although it is certainly important for us to be discerning about how we will cast our votes, the eventual triumph of God's kingdom is a certainty, and our job as followers of Christ is to hasten the coming of God's kingdom on earth by being dedicated servants to our true King.
So, what does all of this mean in terms of how we ought to conduct ourselves as citizens of this country? First and foremost, we need to realize that good Christian people will be voting for Barack Obama and John McCain. We also need to realize that although we may invoke biblical principles and standards to justify our decisions, those decisions are typically based much more in our own lived experience (as is our interpretation of the very scriptures we invoke). Finally, if we are followers of Christ the King above all, what are the implications for how we treat others on this earth who follow a different earthly, albeit secondary, king than we do? Unfortunately, it has seemed that people who claim to be followers of Christ are the most divisive during election seasons, saying awful things about and to one another. When Christians behave in this way, how can we expect our political candidates to act any differently? Perhaps one way in which we can be about the breaking in of God's kingdom is by refusing to engage in hurtful, mean, and divisive conversation, regardless of whether or not the object of our comments will ever hear what we say about them. If we refuse to engage in these types of conversations, perhaps we can begin to change the political atmosphere in which we live.
"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen" (Eph. 4:29).
So, what does all of this mean in terms of how we ought to conduct ourselves as citizens of this country? First and foremost, we need to realize that good Christian people will be voting for Barack Obama and John McCain. We also need to realize that although we may invoke biblical principles and standards to justify our decisions, those decisions are typically based much more in our own lived experience (as is our interpretation of the very scriptures we invoke). Finally, if we are followers of Christ the King above all, what are the implications for how we treat others on this earth who follow a different earthly, albeit secondary, king than we do? Unfortunately, it has seemed that people who claim to be followers of Christ are the most divisive during election seasons, saying awful things about and to one another. When Christians behave in this way, how can we expect our political candidates to act any differently? Perhaps one way in which we can be about the breaking in of God's kingdom is by refusing to engage in hurtful, mean, and divisive conversation, regardless of whether or not the object of our comments will ever hear what we say about them. If we refuse to engage in these types of conversations, perhaps we can begin to change the political atmosphere in which we live.
"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen" (Eph. 4:29).
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