July - August, 2009
Greetings!
Hope you all have some time to rest, relax and re-create this summer.
Back in 1995 a medical doctor named Richard Swenson wrote a book called ”Margins: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial and Time Reserves To Overloaded Lives.” As a physician Swenson saw a steady stream of exhausted, hurting people coming into his office. He suggested that a majority of his patients were suffering from an uncontrolled societal epidemic: living without margin. Interesting idea!
Swenson's thesis is that something has gone wrong in our society. Our lives have become overloaded-emotionally, physically, financially, and socially. One of the causes is an overloaded schedule. We try to cram too much into too few hours. We are reluctant to admit that we are not infinite. We watch TV and see runners and swimmers breaking old records nearly every year. These athletes keep getting bigger and faster but the day will come when the records will no longer be broken. Someday the athletes will reach a built-in physiological limit.
At some point each week, we also reach a physiological, psychological, and spiritual limit. We do not have an inexhaustible source of energy. We cannot run on empty. We have real limits to what we can accomplish. Another book on time management, another day planner or another time saving device will not help us get more done in fewer hours. Swenson's writes that limits are real. Limits are not the enemy. "Overload is the enemy."
Jesus knew about limits. He knew about the importance of margins. So after his disciples returned from their preaching mission he tried to take them away from the crowds; away from the busyness of life; away from all the activity of ministry to a quiet spot in the desert.
He wanted to be alone with them so that they could be refreshed. He wanted to enjoy their friendship without the pressures of life interrupting their solitude. He wanted them to enjoy their relationships with one another.
Have you ever considered that Jesus would like to be alone with you? Have you ever thought about the importance of having time that does not require anything of you except your presence? Swenson refers to this time as margins; - Time between the edges of life and the activity of life. Time in which nothing happens. Time in which we sit in quite solitude and relax without a TV or an I-Pod, without the ring of a cell phone and the endless chatter of another person. Time to enjoy our friendship with God.
One of the reasons getting alone with God or creating margins in our lives is important is because it prevents overload and it sharpens us for the future and for what God is calling us. My next point is from Stephen Covey on the Habits of Highly Effective People.
There were once two men who began arguing about who was the better woodsman. One challenged the other to a contest of strength and skill. They agreed to an all-day wood chopping contest. The duel began early in the morning. With the first swing of the ax, wood chips began flying. The challenger attacked the logs with a passion. All morning long, he swung his ax, taking only a brief lunch break. Throughout the afternoon the intensity of his work never diminished. At the end of the day they measured the stack of wood. The challenger was surprised to discover that the other man's stack was higher than his own was. "I don't get it," he said. "Every time I checked, you were taking a rest, yet you chopped more wood than I did." "But you didn't notice," said the other woodsman, "that I was sharpening my ax when I sat down to rest."
Time alone with God in solitude is the most fundamental exercise in the spiritual life. It strengthens our inner spirit. It is time to sharpen our ax. It is time to live with in the margins that God has given. Use this summer to re-new!
In Christ
Pastor Littleton
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Answers from June, 2009
Q. Of what were the oldest manuscripts of the Bible composed?
A. The papyrus plant - a tall marsh reed that was cut into thin strips, then criss-
crossed to form a flat surface to write on. Skins of sheep and goats were made into parchment – more durable and expensive than papyrus.
Q. What is the Codex Sinaiticus? A. The British Museum in London holds the world’s oldest copy of the complete
Bible, the Codex Sinaiticus. Written in Greek, it dates from around A.D.350.
Questions for July - August, 2009
Q. Other than Jesus, King Herod was involved in the execution of whom else?
Q. Where are these words found? “The Lamb of God who takes away the sins
of the world”. |
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Thoughts 4-U-2 Ponder by DSP |
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Learn from YESTERDAY…Live for TODAY…Hope for TOMORROW. |
“A Very Faithful Woman”
An elderly lady was well-known for her faith and for her boldness in talking about it. She would stand on her front porch and shout "PRAISE THE LORD!" Next door to her lived an atheist who would get so angry at her proclamations he would shout, "There ain't no Lord!!"
Hard times set in on the elderly lady, and she prayed for GOD to send her some assistance. She stood on her porch and shouted "PRAISE THE LORD. GOD! I NEED FOOD!! I AM HAVING A HARD TIME! PLEASE LORD, SEND ME SOME GROCERIES!!"
The next morning the lady went out on her porch and noted a large bag of groceries and shouted, "PRAISE THE LORD." The neighbor jumped from behind a bush and said, "Aha! I told you there was no Lord. I bought those groceries, God didn't." The lady started jumping up and down and clapping her hands and said,"PRAISE THE LORD. He not only sent me groceries, but He made the devil pay for them. Praise the Lord!" |
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Worship with Music by Kirsten |
For you non-computer types, a blog is similar to an on-line diary/journal. Mr. Chris Winston has an interesting site that is currently debating the use of contemporary music in worship. There are several additional links on the page as well. Please note: this is strictly his opinion, but I think it serves as a good link to describe the issues church musicians now face in the churches today.
Music focus: Summer vacation
While the choirs rest, I am well at work, beginning the music planning from September 2009 to June 2010. If you feel so inspired to speak with me about some of your favorite hymns or contemporary pieces you’ve run across in your listening library, I am very happy to hear your suggestions!
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We are called to serve, celebrate and proclaim Jesus to All people |
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