I've been talking to my spiritual director a lot about my news addiction. I've spent the last decade tied to the news. I think I need to curtail that if I want to get through this election year. It's time to trust in God, and not comb the news, desperately looking for some shred of hope. As my friend, Julio, once told me about his native Guatemala, "There won't be a political solution. God is our only hope."
I am thankful for people like Mark Ongley, Pascal, Kreeft, Reinke, Carnes and a host of others who are voices calling out in the wilderness of our media-drenched society: “Prepare the way of the Lord in our minds, hearts, bodies, and relationships. Make straight in the desert of our media-drenched existence a highway (an experiential place) for our God.” (Isaiah 40:3 paraphrase). It is interesting to observe secular people who are very aware of our predicament, who are practicing “retreat,” “silence,” “solitude” and “stillness” in the midst of their various vocations. Michael Jordan used to go to the basketball court HOURS before the game just to be quiet, to walk around the entire arena, to sit and focus. More and more sports figures, both collegiate and professional, are revealing how they get quiet, meditate, resolve the inner noise, and find personal focus (centering) long before the game begins. Likewise, businesspeople, actors, public media pundits and leaders have come to realize the absolute necessity of quiet, “down time,” and rest. Unfortunately, many of our church leaders and followers seem to downplay what secular people are discovering, culminating in predictable results: burnout, health breakdowns, moral failure, relational dysfunction, and spiritual impotence. Mark’s admonition is more than a pastoral concern, it is a prophetic call and warning that cannot go unheeded. It is really an ultimatum appropriate for our times, and especially for any minister/ministry that is going to be effective in the battle for sexual well-being. "Lord, grant us the clarity and the courage to count the cost and do what we KNOW we must do for your glory and our good. Amen. "
Many good thoughts and insightful quotations here, one and all. I have said this for years regarding cell phone distraction (particularly with our youth), but this problem applies to us all - whether a minister to, or a victim of, the sexual tsunami. Regardless, the end result is the same - we distance ourselves from God - and that is never a good thing. Help us to quiet ourselves, Lord, and to focus on you in our stillness.
I had. And may it, in fact , be so (which as you had noted, is much easier said, than done.) At least for me, observation is far easier than obedience. Peace to you, as well, brother!
I've been talking to my spiritual director a lot about my news addiction. I've spent the last decade tied to the news. I think I need to curtail that if I want to get through this election year. It's time to trust in God, and not comb the news, desperately looking for some shred of hope. As my friend, Julio, once told me about his native Guatemala, "There won't be a political solution. God is our only hope."
I am thankful for people like Mark Ongley, Pascal, Kreeft, Reinke, Carnes and a host of others who are voices calling out in the wilderness of our media-drenched society: “Prepare the way of the Lord in our minds, hearts, bodies, and relationships. Make straight in the desert of our media-drenched existence a highway (an experiential place) for our God.” (Isaiah 40:3 paraphrase). It is interesting to observe secular people who are very aware of our predicament, who are practicing “retreat,” “silence,” “solitude” and “stillness” in the midst of their various vocations. Michael Jordan used to go to the basketball court HOURS before the game just to be quiet, to walk around the entire arena, to sit and focus. More and more sports figures, both collegiate and professional, are revealing how they get quiet, meditate, resolve the inner noise, and find personal focus (centering) long before the game begins. Likewise, businesspeople, actors, public media pundits and leaders have come to realize the absolute necessity of quiet, “down time,” and rest. Unfortunately, many of our church leaders and followers seem to downplay what secular people are discovering, culminating in predictable results: burnout, health breakdowns, moral failure, relational dysfunction, and spiritual impotence. Mark’s admonition is more than a pastoral concern, it is a prophetic call and warning that cannot go unheeded. It is really an ultimatum appropriate for our times, and especially for any minister/ministry that is going to be effective in the battle for sexual well-being. "Lord, grant us the clarity and the courage to count the cost and do what we KNOW we must do for your glory and our good. Amen. "
Many good thoughts and insightful quotations here, one and all. I have said this for years regarding cell phone distraction (particularly with our youth), but this problem applies to us all - whether a minister to, or a victim of, the sexual tsunami. Regardless, the end result is the same - we distance ourselves from God - and that is never a good thing. Help us to quiet ourselves, Lord, and to focus on you in our stillness.
I had. And may it, in fact , be so (which as you had noted, is much easier said, than done.) At least for me, observation is far easier than obedience. Peace to you, as well, brother!