How often after Sunday morning do you think about the sermon you heard at church?
A. I don't think about it at all...I pretty much forget it about it when I leave the church B. I might think about it if something on a similar topic sparks my memory; otherwise, not at all C. I typically will think about the main theme or something from the sermon during the week D. I make a conscious effort to consider and apply the message in some way throughout the week E. I memorize the sermon after listening to it every day on an MP3 recording
Perhaps I'll post why I ask this question in a future post.
I found the following article incredibly interesting, and actually discussed it with some PHD students I was tutoring last year. It is a 2006 article from The Guardian on their Comments and Features section.
The author takes an evolutionary view of the world, but carries it to logical ends, which I think would disturb many adherents of evolution. To me, it shows some of the contradictions in the views of those who are so concerned about the future of the earth, and the preservation of specific species in general.
Note that I don't post this to suggest we shouldn't care about animals or protecting the world. I post it to invoke discussion about the legitimacy of the evolutionary argument for individual species' protection. Please post comments! http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2006/jun/20/features11.g22
<Deep sea fishing, it was recently announced, is threatening to drive three species of albatross to extinction in the south Atlantic. Should we care? After all, more than 99.9% of all species that have ever lived are now extinct. When the last albatross adds to the catalogue of ex-species it will be a metaphorical, as well as perhaps a literal, drop in the ocean.
Our attitudes to extinction are probably shaped too much by the fate of the dodo. Because it has become a symbol both of humanity's thoughtless destruction, and of extinction itself, the two ideas have become too closely associated. In fact, nature has always managed to kill off species efficiently without our aid, and will almost certainly get around to us one day too.
But isn't there a difference between nature wiping out organisms and humans doing so? No. Homo sapiens is just one species among many, a product of the natural world. The havoc we cause is no less natural than that produced by mosquitoes or Japanese knotweed. The dodo, like many before and since, was simply unable to adapt to its changing environment, and lost out to a species that could. Nature couldn't give a damn.
The only thing that makes humans different is that our ability to alter our environment is now so enormous that we might be accelerating the rate of extinctions in ways that will come back to haunt us. That's not something mosquitoes can do. But that's just a reason to go steady, not to think that no extinctions should ever occur by our hand.
We might also want to keep albatrosses alive because we would feel impoverished by their loss. But that's not conservation for the sake of the birds. To them, death, if it is anything, is not greater because it is of the species as well as the individual. The last albatross to die will not be robbed of any consolation that her ancestors will live on.
Perhaps the real reason that the idea of extinction appals us is that it is too vivid a reminder that all that lives at some point dies. It's hard enough to accept personal mortality, but when even species are doomed, even the hope of a vicarious survival through humankind is squashed. In that sense, worrying about extinction itself, rather than its consequences, is but one example among many of how the modern world's apparent concern for nature reflects an alienation from its harsh reality. >
Monday, 20 July 2009
When Christians in the USA think about China, I think there are two ways of thinking about the situation of the gospel in China which are or have been common, but which both are not fully accurate.
The first is to have the mindset that China is a God-forsaken, communist country with few Christians, compared to places like the US. Certainly this idea about China was prevalent during the "closed" days of China, where there was little word of Christianity within China, and when everything was completely underground. This attitude is much less common today, as news is spread about the growth of the Chinese church.
The second mindset is perhaps something that is increasingly common. As we in the West hear about the scores of people coming to Christ in China and about the growth of the church there, it is easy to think that China is a "reached" country. Is it really necessary to send resources and help there if they have such a robust, healthy church ?
The reality is that China may have more Christians than any other country in the world. Yet within China there remain people groups (with their own cultures and languages) which have never even heard the name of Jesus (see the book Operation: China for a great way to pray for those groups daily). So, yes, God has worked in amazing ways, especially among the Han Chinese majority. But there remain hundreds of minority groups that have few churches and minimal exposure to the gospel. These people may be best reached through Chinese people themselves, but we in the West can certainly partner in different ways with our brothers and sisters in China.
"Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him [Jesus]. 'Teacher', they said, 'we want you do for us whatever we ask.'" (Mark 10.35)
I just read this verse and it blew me away. What were these guys thinking?? Coming up to Jesus and saying....hey, we want you to meet our desires Jesus! I mean, I know these guys were the "Sons of Thunder" but wow, that's some serious boldness. I was a bit taken back.
Then I realized that's how I approach God in prayer most of the time. God, I want you to do for me whatever I ask......
And God's response to me is probably similar to Jesus' response to James & John: "You don't know what you are asking."
God taught me something this morning. I hope that I can learn the lesson and remember it.
This morning when I turned on my computer, instead of booting up as normal and coming up to a windows screen to enter my password, the only thing that appeared on the screen was a “Toshiba” screen. That screen remained on the computer, and nothing else happened. It was as though the computer was frozen. I repeatedly tried rebooting, and the computer was unresponsive. Since I had just had problems with the computer, I was worried this might be the end. Now, because my work was canceled for today, I have the day off, but I was hoping to accomplish a list of things during the day. Trying to fix a broken computer was not something I wanted to be doing, and yet, the knowledge that it wasn’t working was distracting me all during breakfast.
Among the first things I planned to do today was to spend some time in prayer, asking God about the Turkey trip and whether it is something Lisa and I should be a part of. However, with the computer malfunctioning, I was faced with an internal struggle. I really wanted to quickly get on the phone, call Jim Arnold, and fix the computer. I justified this in my mind by saying that then I could be undistracted for prayer and time with God.
Yet at that point, the Holy Spirit brought the verse to mind which says “Seek first the kingdom of God…and all these things will be added unto you.” I knew that my priority needed to be God, and that I could have the rest of the day to try to fix the computer.
As I went to prayer I told God my concern about the computer and about his promise to provide, though I also told him that he had already provided food and clothing, which is really the promise in that passage, though I knew he could revive the computer as well.
After spending some time in prayer, I came back out to the computer. I had restarted it probably 12 times already this morning, with the same bad result. But this time after I hit the power button, the computer launched the windows password screen, and here I am now, typing on my computer as though nothing were ever wrong. A coincidence? I really don’t think so. God is good, and I hope I remember the lesson about putting him first and seeking his kingdom.
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