Soul and Spirit

Redeeming Social Life Online

That’s the title of Justin Buzzard’s piece:

Like most other new things, Christians tend to either embrace Facebook uncritically, or retreat from it and condemn its use. Embracing technology uncritically—the “bear hug,” as I call it—means using a technology without thinking through its impact on yourself and others. The “cold shoulder”—ignoring/retreating from/condemning a technology—is often driven by misguided fears and shallow biblical interpretation. While the problems with embracing uncritically are more easily discerned, giving a technology like Facebook the cold shoulder also has its problems.

A pretty good piece, I would say. In it he gives nine ways to not use Facebook as well as six ways to use Facebook to love God and others, and care for your own soul.

Maybe he pushed me over the Facebook cliff. 😆

But I still say that Facebook is The Budget on steroids. If that doesn’t connect for you, it’s OK. 😉

(PS: I drafted this yesterday…then forgot to post it. 🙄 )

Viral Friends

Is this Christian viral marketing?

Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Halberstam died in a traffic accident 5 months before the publication of his landmark book about the US war in Korea. In the days following the author’s death, fellow writers and colleagues volunteered to conduct a national book tour on his behalf. During every engagement, they paid tribute to Halberstam by reading from his new book and offering personal recollections of their friend.

[…]

At times we may feel that witnessing to others about our faith in Christ is a frightening task or a burdensome duty. But talking about a Friend whose presence and influence have transformed our lives helps us see it in a new light.

The gospel of Christ has always been most powerfully presented by the witness of His friends.

— David C. McCasland

I read the full piece in my print copy of Our Daily Bread — you may read it online here.

Picked On?

Not necessarily! Four measuring sticks to answer the question...

Everyone has felt picked on. (I assume that to be a reasonably accurate statement, don’t you?)

Too easily and too often, though, we feel picked on when we shouldn’t.

So, in the interest of clarifying that statement (as well as in the interest of helping you not feel picked on when you shouldn’t), I offer up four measuring sticks to answer this question:

Are “they” picking on you?

  1. If they are just fault-finding, yes.
  2. If they are sincerely concerned about you, no.
  3. If they want to know your view instead of assuming to know it, no.
  4. If they want you to tell them more about The Issue in order to balance their own views, no

Does that makes sense to you like it does to me?

But what if you truly are being picked on?

What are godly responses to being picked on?

  1. Pray blessing on them.
  2. Be open to what might apply to you anyway.
  3. Forgive them.
  4. Look for the opportunities to love them.
  5. Reject anger, bitterness, self-pity, vengefulness, and further fault-finding.
  6. Don’t gossip or resort to evil speaking of them.
  7. Remember: Any “lumps” you get actually are less than you deserve.

Beau Vine

Bovine, actually. Cows, you know.

But first, the owner of the cows around here:

TW tilling our garden...again

Yup, he’s tilling our garden. For the third time in a week. Voluntarily. Free of charge. He’s a great landlord! (Thank you, TW!)

Note: Some of the images below are clickable-to-see-a-larger-version.

But back to bovine matters. Here’s one of the many mothers around here, accompanied by her child:

Mom and kid with God's background

The background is fuzzy but it gives you an idea of the beautiful views we have out back.

Here’s that same mother and kid:

Cows doing what cows do -- staring

Oh, I mentioned the views out back, here’s another one (shot in the evening haze), this one of Oregon’s own Mt. Hood:

Read it all

Tuesday Morning

Andrée Seu reflects over at WorldMagBlog:

On Tuesday, at 7:30 a.m., they took Marie away. I stood in my doorway peeking, like Gladys Kravitz in Bewitched. I can’t tell if they took her out dead or alive. When the ambulance came for my husband, they brought his remains downstairs in a black zippered bag, but Marie’s stretcher looked white, so she may still be alive. They had told her three-and-a-half years, and it’s been three-and-a-half years. I wonder how they know such things.

I prayed in the doorway but felt like an idiot.

Two Men

First, from today’s reading:

Sanduk Ruit is a Nepalese doctor who has used his scalpel, microscope, and simplified cataract surgery technique to give sight to almost 70,000 people over the past 23 years. The poorest patients who visit his nonprofit eye center in Katmandu pay with just their gratitude.

Source: Our Daily Bread: Restoring Spiritual Sight

And next, from yesterday’s selection:

Philip Pullman is a gifted writer of fantasy books. His Dark Materials trilogy includes The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass and is very popular among young readers. But below the surface of these sympathetic characters and compelling subplots is a sinister purpose. The story culminates in a great war against God.

In these books, Pullman views the fall of Satan as a righteous cause for personal independence from God’s “tyrannical” control. He implies that Satan’s attempt to usurp the throne of God was the right thing to do!
Above all, love God!
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