The Tithe You'll Love!

I bet you've never heard a sermon on Deuteronomy 14:22, 25-26:

"You shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year ...then you shall exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses. You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household" (NASB).

We're continuing our study of pleasure, and Gary Thomas in his book, Pure Pleasure, draws our attention to those verses. He writes, "I've never heard a preacher tell the congregation to save even part of their tithe and use it to go to an expensive restaurant, order filet mignon and a fine wine." (pg 80).

Of course, Gary balances this by saying we need to give our tithe to the church, etc, but he does find it interesting, and so do I, that the Lord in His Word encourages us to enjoy a part of the tithe for whatever we want! (Hmm, I will try to resist going to the jewelry store. Hey! God did say "whatever your heart desires!")

Gary's point: "Do you see how selectively we emphasize certain passages about duty, sacrifice, and obligation while almost completely denying corresponding passages that talk about celebrating, having fun, and even throwing a party?" (pg 81).

He continues, "It doesn't mean we shouldn't give sacrificially. It does mean we can and should acknowledge the role of reverent pleasure, realizing that God created us to enjoy pleasure and that receiving such pleasure is, in God's mind, an act of worship." (pg 81).

Gary's ideas continue to challenge me because I'm all about duty, sacrifice, and obligation. Maybe God is saying to me, "Lighten up! Have some fun! Enjoy!"

Is He saying something similar to you?

Again, I recommend Gary's book for your reading pleasure!

It's Not What You've Been Told

Young people are abandoning the church, right?
Christians have the same divorce rate as unbelievers, right?
Prayer, Bible reading, and evangelism are decreasing, right?

If you agreed, you might be encouraged to find that the opposite is actually true. There's an interview by Ted Olsen in Christianity Today, Sept, 2010 issue, with Bradley Wright who wrote Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites...and Other Lies You've Been Told (Bethany House). Mr. Wright is a University of Connecticut sociologist.

I was encouraged to read these quotes by Bradley Wright:
"Not to be glib, but the good news is that most of the bad news is wrong."
"Take the divorce rate. For years, studies have shown that Christians have lower divorce rates than others. But people aren't interested."

Ted Olsen summarized the book by writing, "Young people are not abandoning church. Evangelical beliefs and practices get stronger with more education. Prayer, Bible reading, and evangelism are up. Perceptions about evangelicals have improved dramatically."

One "downer" is this: Mr Wright said, "If you're wondering what I was hoping would be good news but wasn't, it's race. I thought we were doing better. But white evangelicals have more racially prejudiced attitudes toward African Americans than do white non-evangelical Christians and (especially) white non-Christians." That is sad!

Reading the article prompted me to think that so often when we hear supposedly bad news like 'young people are abandoning the church,' we become discouraged, wondering if God is really working. Of course, we don't need to make such a conclusion because God is always working. He never stops.

The final comment by Mr. Wright is, "These fear messages demoralize people, hinder the message of the church, and hide real problems."

Let's not contribute to that most unfortunate perspective.

Afraid of Feeling Happy?

It's been interesting to continue thinking about pleasure. As a recovering perfectionist, I have trouble with not making things "all or nothing." Enjoying pleasure seems dangerous because won't that mean I'll go to the extremes?

I remember many years ago (many!), being in a Bible study with a Christian woman who knew and told us she was depressed. Her doctor gave her an anti-depressant. After a few weeks, we asked her how things were going. Her words were, "Oh, I threw them down the toilet. They made me feel happy."

I'm sure you're as amazed as I was at the moment. No wonder I've always remembered what happened. To tell you the truth, I didn't know how to respond to her. I don't think any of us said anything. It just seemed too bizarre. This woman seemingly was afraid of feeling happy. Evidently, that scared her.

As strange as that example is, I think it's actually an example of what Gary Thomas is talking about in his book Pure Pleasure. He writes, "The problem with the poster that reads 'If it feels good, do it' is that its underlying philosophy has birthed much misery and many pleasure-destroying addictions. Feelings can lead us astray. Our appetites may lead us to ruin. We do need to set some boundaries.
"But a corresponding challenge threatens us as well: as Christians, we feel so frightened of the decadence that we often denounce the desire. The Bible calls this prohibitionist response an unhealthy and unproductive way to handle pleasure." Then he quotes Colossians 2:20-23. (pages 73-74).

I think Gary's insight into denouncing the desire because we're terrified of going too far is really important. God gave us our desires. God created chocolate (or whatever is your favorite pleasurable food) for our pleasure and enjoyment. Even sugar is God-made.

Now that's sometimes hard for me to believe. Since I'm a chocolate and sugar lover, it's hard to believe God created such things. And anything can become an idol, yet it wasn't created by God to be an idol. He wants us to enjoy His creation. (And by the way, that includes sex!) Satan is the one who takes God's enjoyable things and entices us to make them idols. He is the father of lies and one of his lies is suggesting we'll be even happier the more we eat or anything else that can go too far.

But that shouldn't make us despise the desire or have an "all or nothing" attitude that refuses to enjoy anything. I do understand that a recovering alcoholic needs to never even sip a drink and that a former drug addict shouldn't take any drug. But for most other things, we can enjoy God's blessings of good things.

I recommend Gary's book for your reading pleasure. :-) Let me know your thoughts on desire and dealing with decadence.

Do You Have Gladness in Pleasure?

We housed some new friends this past weekend. After they left on Sunday, I went into the bathroom they used to gather their towels for washing. I was surprised to see that they had only used one set. One set? The other set was hung just the same as before. Why did they share? I felt so sad that what we'd provided wasn't enjoyed.

As I thought of what happened, I reflected upon what I'd been reading in Gary Thomas's book, Pure Pleasure: Why Do Christians Feel So Bad About Feeling Good? (Zondervan) For whatever reason, our guests didn't take advantage of a small pleasure. I related because at times, I have a hard time appreciating the joys that God provides. I think many Christians do.

I really appreciate all of Mr. Thomas's books and this one is no different. He gives a very balanced view of how pleasure can indeed become an end to itself but can also point us to God.

On pages 56-67, he points to Ecclesiastes 5:19-20: "When God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work--this is a gift of God...God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart."

Gary writes, "Look carefully at what God's inspired Word really says: when God gives someone possessions and enables that person to enjoy them--this is God's gift.

"The ability to truly enjoy food without becoming a glutton, to handle sensual pleasure without becoming its slave, to truly laugh in a healthy way, to manage wealth responsibly and without becoming proud or selfish--these are 'Creator' blessings that also require the Redeemer's touch. When the Bible says God 'enables' us to enjoy them, we can fairly assume this enabling to be a second work of grace. Some people who don't honor God may have such things, but not the grace to truly enjoy them."

Gary continues, "Given all this, doesn't it seem far more profitable to teach the church to thank God for good pleasures rather than to obsessively fear that somehow we must compare and contrast our appreciation for a beautiful painting or a stirring piece of music with our enjoyment of reading through the book of Psalms and meditating on god's loveliness? God wants both acts to point us toward him."

Gary's thoughts are challenging me to wonder whether my enjoyment of some things maybe aren't really as excessive as I accuse myself of. I often feel guilty because it feels like I lust after chocolate. I'm keeping an open mind as I continue reading Gary's book. It will be an interesting journey.

Memories of My Father

Thirty-five years ago last night, my father died at age 50 of a sudden heart attack. Within seconds he was gone and the paramedics were unable to bring him back.

Because it's been so long, it's strange to me to think that I felt so weepy this morning remembering him and what it would have been like if he had been around all these years. I don't know that but I have memories of him that are sweet like...

...walking into my parent's bedroom after he's taken a shower. The room smells of Old Spice aftershave. He is cleaning under his fingernails with his pocket knife. His arm has a tattoo from his old Navy days.

...the time he took me to the baseball game--the Dodgers in Los Angeles--all by myself. What a thrill to have my daddy's undivided attention. And he always bought me any treat I wanted. For some reason, my memory is vague, he suggests we leave early. We make our way out to the car but realize that every car is stack-parked. We can't leave until those around us do. So we sit in the car and listen to the game on the radio.

...asking him if he believed in God. When he said he did, I was so overcome with emotion, I couldn't say anything more.

...him sitting in a church for a revival--because I asked him to come. My mom told me later that it was pure agony for him to sit there because he was having such horrible back problems. But he did it because I asked him to come. Only now that I've gone through my own painful back problems, can I know what it meant for him to sit there.

...carrying me on his shoulders across the living room on Christmas morning with a blanket over my head. My mom insisted we kids eat before opening our gifts (otherwise we might not eat at all), and since Santa left behind unwrapped gifts, and since the living room was between the bedrooms and the kitchen, we had to be carried through the living room with the blanket over our heads.

...him calling the police to report a man who had called me on the phone and asked indecent questions. I felt supported by him taking my story seriously.

...him sitting on a bar stool holding six-month-old Darcy whom he adored. When he died, she was 16 months old. He missed seeing Mark, Kelly, Scott and Megan, his other grandchildren.

I don't know why my dad left us early, but I trust in God's plan.

If you are a parent, know that the memories you make with your children are important. I'm so grateful that my mom has invested in my children, her great-grandchild, and all our family all these years.

Memories....Make them!

Are You in Orbit?

As I thought more about growth being like a spiral (see yesterday's post), I thought of how the earth orbits the sun. In that orbit, every year between August 9 and 13 when the Earth passes through the orbit of the Swift-Tuttle comet, we see the Perseid meteor shower. I always look forward to that.

Unfortunately, you and I don't look forward to when we "orbit" on our growth spiral and hit up against our sinful tendency that hasn't yet been completely overcome. I gave the example in my last post of my "all or nothing" tendency that is a part of my perfectionism. I will most likely "orbit" into my perfectionistic tendencies for the rest of my life, but praise God, it bothers me less and less. And I'm able to catch myself more quickly when I start to get hooked by it again.

I realized that I needed to say that there are indeed many sinful reactions that God does completely heal and give us the power to overcome. Not everything is going to continue to bother us as we spiral or "orbit" in our growth closer and closer to Him. But there are usually self-protective sinful strategies that we've devised which are so ingrained that they will indeed be a temptation for the rest of our lives.

But that need not discourage us. They will lessen and their power over us will diminish, even if they don't disappear completely. And most importantly, each temptation is an opportunity to seek Him more deeply and depend upon Him more fully.

Where does your orbit bring you to that is a consistent and persistent problem? Don't be discouraged but continue to turn it over to the Lord again and again.

Growth Is A Spiral

It always surprises me when a weakness I've been working on for a long time--and I think it's been buried--rises up again. Then I must remind myself that growth is not based on a time line but a spiral. If growth is based on a time line, then a struggle can seemingly be left behind. It's over and done with. That's what we would like, but a weakness is more often not completely conquered. More often, it reveals itself in subtle new ways.

Instead, growth is actually like a spiral. If we picture going up a spiral, some weaknesses will flare up again when we hit the left side, for instance. Take my "all or nothing" attitude. Yes, please take it! Please take it away--completely! (Even "completely" is an all or nothing attitude).

As a broad category weakness for me, I've been working on it for decades! It's one of the characteristics of my perfectionism. I'm a recovering perfectionist and as I travel down the sanctification path, my "all or nothing" weakness gets tweaked every time I hit the left side of the spiral. I think I'm doing great and then boom!, it shows it's ugly face.

I see it when I put things on my desk with the thought, "I'll wait until later when I have time to do it all." Instead of only touching a piece of paper once, I make piles waiting for the perfect period of time when I can do it all. Instead of doing something, I do nothing, waiting for the moment I can do it all.

If I keep thinking growth is on a time-line, I'll become discouraged by "I'll never conquer this. I might as well give up!" But if I see growth as a spiral, I can realize, "Yes, here's my weakness again. I have another opportunity to deal with it and turn it over to the Lord. Help me, Lord, in this moment to do the right thing."

Could seeing your struggles as growth opportunities on a spiral help you? I hope so. Don't be discouraged, just keep turning it over to the Lord.

A Small Simplicity Tip

I've been unsubscribing from emails of stores, etc, that I never actually go to their websites. It won't save me loads of time, but I'm hoping it makes the long list of emails I receive feel a little less burdensome.

Ah! The Joy of Surrender

How does it feel to successfully surrender something to the Lord? It truly is a wonderful adventure which I regretfully don't choose enough but over the last two days I did. I hope my tale will encourage you to do the same.

I was on vacation when my sister called to say she would be returning to Japan to visit her daughter--something I'd been wanting to do for some time. The timing would be perfect for me to join her. But the problem was, my passport was at home and she needed it to book my flights. I would have to wait a week to return home and hope the fares didn't go up.

At home, yesterday/Friday, I excitedly found the flight online but the fare had gone up $150. Well, that wasn't too bad; I would still do it. I reached for the file that held our passports and couldn't believe it when our passports weren't in the file. I always put them there. Where could they be?

Over the next 24 hours, I almost frantically searched in every possible file in the office. Larry and I tried to remember if we had hid them at some point and couldn't remember. But all possible hiding places turned up nothing. (Note to those of us older: don't hide something without sending an email telling yourself where you hid it!) Where were the passports?

As the hours passed and my frustration grew, I began to question the Lord. "Don't you want me to go, Lord?" I didn't understand why it wasn't a good idea. What was going on?

The next morning, this morning, I wanted to resume the search but I knew I needed to be faithful to keep my devotional time. I did. As I read the Bible and prayed, I felt at peace. James 4:13-15 ministered to me, "Come now, you who say, "'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.' Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.'" (NASB)

I figured that if the passports didn't surface today, the prices would most likely go up again and make it unaffordable. Today would determine whether I went. Regardless of the cost, it seemed God was using this to guide. "OK, Lord, if you don't want me to go, then I know you have a better plan. I surrender. I'll see how you lead today."

My surrender was a point of victory. I felt like Lady Galadriel, played by Cate Blanchett in the story, Lord of the Rings. She is tempted to take hold of the ring and when she resists, she declares, "I passed the test." I felt the same. I'd passed the test. I would peacefully and joyfully surrender to whatever God wanted. And at that point, I didn't have much hope of something changing.

This afternoon, I decided to clear the desk and make sure that somehow the passports weren't lurking under some pile, even though I'd searched before. I reached over to a nearby table and grabbed a holder of CD's. They spilled out onto the floor and into a tiered file tray. I started gathering them up and reached down into the file tray on the bottom tier to pull out the CDs and instead pulled out the passports. When I called to Larry to tell him the good news, he came into the office and exclaimed, "Oh, now I remember. I'd put them there to file them later" (several months ago!) Because the file tray was on the floor and was turned backward, it was very hard to see into it and I never would have looked there. I felt like the Lord guided me through some spilled CD's and smiled as He said, "Go to Japan!"

I excitedly called my sister and logged onto the airline's web site. Lo and behold, the fare was back to the lower cost! I booked my flight.

As I told my sister, Karen, the story and related how I'd thought, "I passed the test," she told me how when her daughter helps her toddler do something, she exclaims, "You did it!" But of course, the mother actually did it! Karen said, "Isn't that just like the Lord? He gives us the power to obey so that we can say we passed the test."

How wise. Any obedience or surrender comes from His Holy Spirit which empowers us. How grateful we can be to a mighty God who indwells us and strengthens us. And then we experience the joy of obedience and surrender.