Transformed by Truth

Three thoughts...

"The truth transforms us. Spiritual growth is the process of replacing lies with truth..."
This just sort of struck me in light of what Pastor Dave preached about this past Sunday on Pentecost. Jesus sent us to lead us to the truth, not truthiness that we're so inclined to follow. (truthiness, for those who weren't there, has been made popular by Steven Colbert and basically is talking about saying something over and over enough until we believe it is true. For example President Bush in the last election had about three or four things he had to say and he repeated them over and over again until we believed they were true whether they were or not. No need to check into it because we've heard it enough, so it must be true. Urban legends live on that way as well.)

"Anytime you feel you are not learning anything from a sermon or a Bible teacher, you should check your attitude, especially pride, because God can speak through even the most boring teacher when you are humble and receptive." Okay, there was a shot that hit home. How many nuggets of wisdom have I missed because of my pride as I'm listening? I miss all kinds of things and most of it is because I'm thinking things like, "This guys an idiot" or "I could say that so much better than he's saying it." Yeah, nice attitude pastor! So there you have it, I'm human. Hopefully those sitting in the pews on Sunday morning are better listeners...

"Receiving, reading, researching, remembering, and reflecting on the Word are all useless if we fail to put them into practice....Actually, you can be so busy going to the next class or seminar or Bible conference that you have no time to implement what you've learned."
It seems that we in the church aren't always so helpful in this area as we try and provide options, but they feel like requirements. We are called not to just hear the Word. We're not called to just receive the Word, but we're called to LIVE the Word!

Stress

Stress... it's an interesting thing, but I'll come back to that.

You may have noticed I haven't posted in a while. Part of that was due to my being gone on vacation for a while. It was good to get away, even if it wasn't far, and to not think about "job" stuff for a little while and let the head clear. Part of it, though has been related to feeling the stress of all that will hopefully be accomplished over the coming summer. This stress is an interesting thing, though. It seems to me the unspoken rule is that if you have problems you just need to pull yourself up by the boot straps, just dig in a little more and work harder. Stress is kind of like a weed or a virus in that way. At least that's the way it works for me. You see when I dig in more and work harder it tends to make me more stressed because then I don't have the time or the energy for those other things that help me relieve stress like running, watching movies, or sharing a home cooked meal. So what is one to do? If stuff doesn't get done it sits out there in front of you taunting you keeping the stress fresh. I guess all you can do is to slowly chip away at it... for now.