Consuming Christianity by Jill Carattini

Take approximately 5 minutes to read this shortened version of yesterday's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Post comments to the blog for spiritual collaboration. Please email your prayer requests too.

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.”- Psalm 19:14 NIV

“Starting with Samuel, every prophet spoke about what is happening today. 25 You are the children of those prophets, and you are included in the covenant God promised to your ancestors. For God said to Abraham, ‘Through your descendants^[a] all the families on earth will be blessed.’ Acts 3:24-25 NLT

Slice of Infinity Snippets:
There is a covered bridge in Georgia that extends over a scenic rushing stream. A well-worn trail leads its visitors to a succession of small cascading waterfalls over a series of massive rocks. Sitting atop one of these rocks recently, my husband turned to me and asked, "Do you ever think of the springs in France when you see a bottle of Evian for sale?"

My answer caught me more off guard than his question. I really hadn't ever thought of the springs, or the production, or for that matter, the importing that goes into the 20 kinds of bottled water we see on our grocery store shelves. In fact, I don't usually think about the origins of anything I consume...

Sociologists call this growing trend of perspective commodification, the progression of thought whereby the commodities we consume are seen in abstraction from their origins...

Author and cultural observer Vincent Miller writes of how such a manner of seeing and interpreting is making us more comfortable with engaging religion as commodity, lifting certain portions of a religious tradition from its context and historical background...

In Christ we live as recipients and guardians of a way of life in which belief and practice are intertwined with history, meaning, and hope. There is an origin to the grace we cling to; we are made whole because in Christ we are given a context, a story, a Source.

Comments:
When reading today's writing from Jill, I immediately thought of our detachment from Origin in the teaching of Cosmic Evolution. If we are not aware of the truth of our origin, how can we expect to be who God created us to be? Then, I thought of our culture of consumerism. Americans used to be producers and now we are mainly consumers. Consumerism leads to convenience and convenience to waste. We must be stewards and a return to ancient practices of stewardship should be in our sights. Finally, I thought of our need for a culture of LIFE. Without grounds for origin(God made me with a purpose) and with a convenience (serve me) mindset, we will make decisions based on what we 'feel' is best for us at the time. We need God's word to permeate our very beings on a daily basis; to be sustained by our God. As my friend Rich said in his devotional time this morning, "God still communicates the Truth to us through our hearts. (We) need to meditate on the Word of God and allow Him to lead (us). Lord, please take hold of our hearts and lead us to the Truth. Amen."

Information War by Margaret Manning

Take approximately 5 minutes to read this shortened version of yesterday's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Post comments to the blog for spiritual collaboration. Please email your prayer requests too.

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32)

Ultimately, the truth of the gospel sets us free and liberates us from fear as we follow Jesus. Liberation can serve as our guidepost as we persevere against fear, divisiveness, and a propensity to judge first and listen later--especially towards those enlisted in the same battalion. Our Lord’s words were that we should abide, remain, and rest in him because even the gates of hell--in whatever form they take--would not prevail. Abiding in Christ liberates us to seek the truth through the sea of information, and frees us from the fear of being ensnared by it. Yes, abiding, liberating, and remaining in Christ may seem a simple response to the onslaught of the information war--maybe even simplistic. But perhaps it is necessary regardless, and somehow, by God's grace, it is corrective as well. In the war of information, the truth of Christ cuts a clear path and issues a clarion call. Our confidence is found in Jesus--confidence that liberates rather than wounds, confidence that inspires us to speak the truth in love to a world warring over information.


Comments: About a week ago I decided that I wanted to bathe my wife in the WORD of God so that she would be overflowing with the truth when an onslaught of information comes her way. (So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. Romans 10:17) I have begun listening to 'the Daily Audio Bible' podcast the past few days and I am already seeing the 'benefits' of hearing the word of Christ. There was a verse that came up two or three times in my devotional episodes yesterday. I have always wanted God to give me appropriate versus for situations but rarely have I felt like I could recall scripture the way God would have me do it. However, yesterday, I was able to 'hopefully' encourage a fellow minister through this verse. The verse was at the top of my mind because I was bathing myself in the Word.

If you are struggling with doubt or questions, may I encourage you to begin bathing yourself in the Word of God. Faith through hearing! Try the Daily Audio Bible podcast, or some other form of getting the WORD into you. In the famed words of Michael Jackson, JUST EAT IT!


Prayers: My Aunt Barb is in Rehab. Kathy Curtis, the wife of my childhood pastor and good friend of my parents, has been diagnosed with cancer in her Lymph nodes. Widows and Orphans. Justice. Our leadership.

Light of the World - by Jill Carattini

Take ~5 minutes to read this 'COUGARS Daily' which contains snippets from A Slice of Infinity. Invite your family and friends to participate in reading with you daily. Then, consider sharing your comments or faith questions at CougarsDaily.blogspot.com

-Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! (Deuteronomy 6:4)

- And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

- Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. (Acts 2:2-4)

A Slice of Infinity snippets:
In this way, we are not only squinting at light, we are being changed by it. Our union with Christ and communion with the Trinity add a certain and heavenly dimension to our lives, and it is indeed one that correctly and profoundly orients us here and now to the world around us. We are at our best a reflection of God when we are drawn into relationships with one another, modeling the love that has been modeled to us. We are at our best a reflection of God when we live in community that expresses God’s concern for all of God’s creation--from the downcast and the powerless among us, to the oppressed and the least throughout the world. If God is light, how are we reflecting it? The hope of theology is always that, like Moses, we may come down from the mountain glowing.

Chad's Comments:
I hope your Monday goes better than mine did last week. Banding together will help. Did you know that each of us creates his/her own gravity? That's right. And, when we get together, our own gravity does not increase, but our combined gravity does. We have a greater 'reach' when we are together.

Happy Monday!

Upcoming Cougars' "Neighbor-Day" weekend:
As a group, I will be challenging you to reach out to a neighbor. To invite someone over to your home whom you have had little to no contact with. This is not an effort to 'evangelize' them on the spot, but simply an effort to begin REAL relationship with them. Be in prayer about whom God would have you invite. More to come.

* Make Space for unbelievers in your life.
* Post your stories of God's intervention on the blog.
* Look for ways to share Awe and Wonder with children - leave suggestions at CougarsDaily.blogspot.com
* Consider joining Life-Devotions (a group of about 100 catholics and protestants sharing their faith through daily devotions and discussion - strong pro Life content)
* Voice of the Martyrs

The Right Side of Pain

"Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain... In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat--for he grants sleep to those he loves" (Psalms 127:1-2)

Slice of Infinity snippets: "Describing the disparity between the mind of humanity and the mind of God, Abraham Heschel writes, “The [human] conscience builds its confines, is subject to fatigue, longs for comfort, lulling, soothing. Yet those who are hurt, and He Who inhabits eternity, neither slumber nor sleep.”(1) In other words, God never sleeps or slumbers because those who are hurting never sleep or slumber. Try as we may as caretakers we cannot be as God to the hurting. We can stay awake with them in their pain and suffering, we can care for them as neighbors, but the house in which the suffering find unfailing love is the Lord’s. This is the house to which we must bring them. This is the house in which we must live. In this season where we journey again to the Cross, might we be as the friends of the paralytic who carried him all the way to Christ.”

Chad's comments: I recently spent some time our pastor discussing reaching unbelievers; he said, “Find a person’s deepest pain and you will likely find what they fear the most. Find the thing they fear the most and you will likely find their deepest pain. Where we haven’t experienced love, pain and fear rule.” It is in the context of pain that I believe we have a great opportunity to minister. By reaching out and touching people in their need (quite possibly by sharing your own pain and sin), we can develop the relationship that may bring the trust to love.