T3

Time to Quit

During this Christmas break I have been overwhelming challenged to simply quit TV! There is so much trash on the tube (not just immoral sexual garbage, but just pure banality!) The commercials are absolutely ubiquitous and the programming (with the exception of The History Channel) are empty and purposeless. If, as Paul wrote, it is true that our transformation into the likeness of Christ and  spiritual revolutionaries takes place primarily by the renewing of our mind; surely television is the greatest, most  powerful detractor we face. I am convinced that the reason we care so much about stupid, meaningless, shallow,and selfish stuff is because of our constant exposure to television and other media made in its image(fueled by our fallen nature). How many books have not been read and written because of TV? How many transformational thoughts have not been thought because of TV? How many hours of intimacy with God have not been enjoyed because of TV? How many meaningful conversations between family members have been missed and how much enriching music has been unheard because of TV? I am convinced that the cause of Christ would experience a significant surge and our spiritual and social fabric would be richer if we just quit.

The Original Revolutionary

This morning I have been reminded that God is the original revolutionary. The American Heritage Dictionary defines "Revolution" as, "A sudden or momentous change in a situation," and a "Revolutionary" as someone, "Marked by or resulting in radical change; One who supports or engages in revolution." In my Advent reading this morning from Matthew 1 and Luke 1 it is clear that God truly turned the world upside down when he sent Jesus Christ into the world. Not just the means by which He came, but even the preparation for his coming was revolutionary! Reading the genealogy of Jesus this morning I was once again struck by God's revolutionary plan for the world. In Jesus' lineage are Tamar, Rahab, and Bathsheba - none of these women represent particularly bright spots in history, yet there they are in the lineage of the Messiah. Of particular note is Tamar, who posed as a prostitute in order to seduce Judah, which she successfully did. Judah then attempts to buy her silence unsuccessfully to cover-up his illicit behavior. When Tamar's pregnancy is revealed, Judah proceeds to act like the typical self-righteous religious person and demands that she be put to death for her act of prostitution, at which time Tamar reveals a few of Judah's personal possessions given to her as a pledge until Judah delivers the fee for his sexual encounter with the prostitute (his daughter-in-law).

Amazing! what is the likelihood that Judah would ever qualify to serve on a church board today? And yet Judah is blessed by his father, Jacob (Gen. 49:8-12) and made the primary ruling tribe among the twelve tribes. The tribe from which the Messiah would one day come. Obviously God does not hold Tamar and Judah up as paragons of virtue, rather as examples of humanity whom God has the power to redeem and use for His glory in spite of their fallen nature. God introduces into His revolution of redemption the power of grace, mercy and forgiveness. With the coming of Jesus, all bets were off and everything - I mean absolutely EVERYTHING - was turned upside down. Jesus was the most revolutionary Revolutionary the world has ever seen! It was God's (and Jesus') thoroughly unconventional means that caused people to sit up and take notice -- they intuitively knew there was something warmly and even frighteningly different about Jesus and His followers. What do they think about us? It is time for us to be Revolutionaries who are living the revolution for Jesus sake. What will you do?

Live the Revolution

This blog, as its name suggests, will contain my ruminations on the revolution that is taking place within Christendom, which is leaving the local church behind for the most part, unless the church wakes up to the realities of the revolution as opposed to being the major stumbling block to the revolution. I will be posting my experiences, thoughts, reflections on books and music, as well as some responses and ruminations stirred by my daily disciplines. I hope you will stop by from time to time and join the revolutionary conversation! Blessings!