Social Morality

The following is an excerpt from 'Mere Christianity' by C.S. Lewis. It is from the chapter, 'Social Morality'. If you have not read this book I would strongly suggest you should.

'People say, 'The Church ought to give us a lead.' That is true if they mean it in the right way, but false if they mean it in the wrong way. By the Church they ought to mean the whole body of practising Christians. And when they say that the Church should give us a lead, they ought to mean that some Christians - those who happen to have the right talents - should be economists and statesmen, and that all economists and statesmen should be Christians, and that their whole efforts in politics and economics should be directed to putting 'Do as you would be done by' into action. If that happened, and if we others were really ready to take it, then we should find the Christian solution to our own social problems pretty quickly. But, of course, when they ask for a lead from the Church most people mean they want the clergy to put out a political programme. That is silly. The clergy are those particular people within the whole Church who have been specially trained and set aside to look after what concerns us as creatures who are going to live for ever: and we are asking them to do a quite different job for which they have not been trained. The job is really on us, on the laymen. The application of Christian principles, say, to trade unionism or education, must come from Christian trade unionists and Christian schoolmasters: just as Christian literature comes from Christian novelists and dramatists - not from the bench of bishops getting together and trying to write plays and novels in their spare time.'

Just a little rant!

Have you ever noticed how sometimes songs that are joyful are sung like a dirge, we slow them down and pause long between the lines. If someone were to hear it they would probably say ‘Wow, those people are really sad about something’ not ‘Wow, that song has really encouraging and joyful words’.
Just take the song ‘I love to tell the story’. This song is an oxymoron. First it is centered on ‘I’ and not actually telling the story at all. If it were true that you liked to tell the story of salvation, you would actually be telling it, not singing about how you like to tell it. Why are we singing songs like this in the worship service?
When I say ‘Britney Spears’ you don’t think of a mother, a wealthy lady, a good singer, you think of a bald, foolish, indecent women. Do you see how people judge you by what you do, not who you are or what you say.
If you sing slowly they think you are sad. If you tell them all about how holy you are(and they know what you do isn't in line with what you say), they think you are piously stupid and proud. On the other hand if you help them when they need it, encourage them, always have a joyful attitude, even when things aren’t going well, they might actually pay attention to what you are doing and ask you why you live such a way.


We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 1:1-3

An odd story.

One evening My brother and I decided to go and have Chinese food. We found what looked like a nice Chinese buffet. The food was good, but not great, it virtually dripped with excess fat. After we had eaten Jeremy sat back and exclaimed "Wow that was fatty and heavy, I feel like I ate Buddha" The End.

Theory vs. Practice

Have you ever noticed that most people generally have all the right answers when you bring a problem to them? They explain in detail exactly how you can fix it and what you should do. I generally think I have all the answers too when we are talking about certain situations or management ideas or how to execute a job well. But then comes the time when I actually am in a situation, or need to execute a job, and suddenly I realize that all the theories I had were nice, but were just words thrown around at coffee time. Actually doing things takes work, and dicipline. I find at times we forget to see all the details when we are making theories, but act like we know it all. Sometimes I think it would be better to just get to work, pay attention, and get it done. Okay so I'm theorizing :-)
Also we might want to stop listening to the people who have so much to say, and pay attention to the the ones who have practice. They usually are quieter cause they know they don't have all the answers. And sometimes they are hard to find cause they are busy doing the things we only theorize about.

Colorado

I am in colorado. Man it's fun being in a warm place! I love it. There is a great church family here as well. Jeremy and I worshiped with them on sunday and were truly edified. I have been driving a Nissan Armada this week and I don't mind the inside but it really has no power. Truly, it can't even hop the curb. Grrr . . . . I don't think I would ever buy one. Also I have been watching Smallville. Great show but I am not so sure that Clark is Superman, cause he always gets nuetralized by the meteor rocks. But if I had to chose between Clark and Lex I would definetly chose Lex. He has such strength of charter. Plus he can quote poetry and he has a great library. Why is it that Mr. Kent can borrow Lex's helicopter, and that is not asking too much, but when Lex asks to stay over at the Kents, well okay I guess. Just because you give from what you have, doesn't mean less when you have more. Now even I am confused so I better stop. :-)

Tyrants have no use for sheep.

A strong man has no need of power. A weak man is destroyed by it.

Virtual Model

Our Refuge . . .

Psalm 64

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1 Hear me, O God, as I voice my complaint;
protect my life from the threat of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,
from that noisy crowd of evildoers.
3 They sharpen their tongues like swords
and aim their words like deadly arrows.
4 They shoot from ambush at the innocent man;
they shoot at him suddenly, without fear.
5 They encourage each other in evil plans,
they talk about hiding their snares;
they say, "Who will see us?"
6 They plot injustice and say,
"We have devised a perfect plan!"
Surely the mind and heart of man are cunning.
7 But God will shoot them with arrows;
suddenly they will be struck down.
8 He will turn their own tongues against them
and bring them to ruin;
all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.
9 All mankind will fear;
they will proclaim the works of God
and ponder what he has done.
10 Let the righteous rejoice in the LORD
and take refuge in him;
let all the upright in heart praise him!