I don't know if you caught this news yesterday, but an Italian Catholic priest was planning an online beauty pageant for Nuns. He has since suspended the beauty pageant because of pressure from his overseers. This is fascinating to me. (I personally was looking forward to the priests to have a weightlifting contest after the pageant.)
Here's my one of my observations...the church is deep trouble when we have to uphold the beauty of our women to get the attention of the world. It would be far better to uphold the beauty of Christ, for His glory is never fading.
What do you think about this beauty pageant for Nuns?
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Contentment
I was teaching on contentment last night at our Bible Study from Philippians 4:10-13. One of the things that I did not get to teach on was that there is such a thing holy discontentment. The Apostle Paul indicates that is good and right for us to learn to be content in any and all circumstances. As I said last night, contentment is a learned virtue and a trust issue. We have to lean to learn and learn to lean. Contentment is about trusting God with joy no matter what.
But there is a kind of discontentment that is good. I would call it holy discontentment. It is the kind of discontentment that you find Paul speaking of in Philippians 3. Unholy discontentment leads us to things like grumbling, complaining, coveting and stealing. Holy discontentment leads to things such as repentance, humility, obedience and innovation. It takes us toward God rather than away.
So, when I find myself discontented and doing unholy things and having unholy thoughts I should immediately be alerted to the fact that I am experiencing unholy discontentment. But if I find my discontent leads me to greater repentance, obedience and creativity then I am experiencing holy discontentment.
But there is a kind of discontentment that is good. I would call it holy discontentment. It is the kind of discontentment that you find Paul speaking of in Philippians 3. Unholy discontentment leads us to things like grumbling, complaining, coveting and stealing. Holy discontentment leads to things such as repentance, humility, obedience and innovation. It takes us toward God rather than away.
So, when I find myself discontented and doing unholy things and having unholy thoughts I should immediately be alerted to the fact that I am experiencing unholy discontentment. But if I find my discontent leads me to greater repentance, obedience and creativity then I am experiencing holy discontentment.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Right Voice, Wrong Face
Did you catch the story from the opening ceremonies of the Olympics? It was the one where China had the pretty girl lip sync the Chinese national anthem. The reason they went "Milli Vanilli" on the national anthem was due to the fact that the real singer was not pretty enough. It's amazing to me that they couldn't find just one cute girl who could sing out of about 1.5 billion people.
This problem is not isolated to the Chinese. Whenever appearance is more important than substance it always ends up being ugly rather than beautiful. It is like Jesus pronouncement concerning the Pharisees in Matthew 23:25-26. He says, "You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but the inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence." In other words, when you do things for appearance sake you don't solve the problem. You make the situation uglier when you look a little closer.
This problem is not isolated to the Chinese. Whenever appearance is more important than substance it always ends up being ugly rather than beautiful. It is like Jesus pronouncement concerning the Pharisees in Matthew 23:25-26. He says, "You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but the inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence." In other words, when you do things for appearance sake you don't solve the problem. You make the situation uglier when you look a little closer.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Big Foot
If you have been watching the news lately then you know that "Big Foot" has made a return. Two dudes in North Georgia claim to have found "Big Foot" and his family. (Here is one of several hundred links in case you are not up to date - http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/08/15/big-foot-discovery.html.)
I got to thinking about this fascination with "Big Foot". Why are people so enamored with the news of "Big Foot"? I think it has everything to do with a desire to come close to that which is holy. Discovery is important to humanity because he longs to see the mysterious revealed. People are fascinated with the unknown. It is the reason people are searching the water for the LochNess monster, the sky for aliens and the land for "Big Foot". They want to have knowledge of the HOLY. Holiness means more than just purity. It means that a certain thing, person or place is set apart from the rest. It is the desire to discover holiness that drives us to look in the water, to the skies, in the woods and even in ourselves to find that which is holy. This is where the problem lies. We will never find the holiness we desire in those places or things.
True knowledge of the Holy is revealed in God's Word. It's the place to search if you want to find that which is set above all the rest. Discover the Holy in the Bible.
New Link info on "Big Foot" - http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,406101,00.html
I got to thinking about this fascination with "Big Foot". Why are people so enamored with the news of "Big Foot"? I think it has everything to do with a desire to come close to that which is holy. Discovery is important to humanity because he longs to see the mysterious revealed. People are fascinated with the unknown. It is the reason people are searching the water for the LochNess monster, the sky for aliens and the land for "Big Foot". They want to have knowledge of the HOLY. Holiness means more than just purity. It means that a certain thing, person or place is set apart from the rest. It is the desire to discover holiness that drives us to look in the water, to the skies, in the woods and even in ourselves to find that which is holy. This is where the problem lies. We will never find the holiness we desire in those places or things.
True knowledge of the Holy is revealed in God's Word. It's the place to search if you want to find that which is set above all the rest. Discover the Holy in the Bible.
New Link info on "Big Foot" - http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,406101,00.html
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