In our recovery group, we are increasingly turning toward the military and the religious orders as examples of how to infuse our life with meaning. For instance, we commission addicts to a life of sobriety using a formal and public dedication. And we refer to roles in jobs and families as missions,--hat whatever we do be done to the glory of God.
When I think of the obesity epidemic, I wonder if a monastic vow to restrict calories and fast from processed foods might be the only answer. Nothing else seems to be working.
Sadly, what many churches do is create and maintain their own addictions, which frequently revolve around status-seeking and celebrity disguised as spirituality.
I can’t agree more. We see people who’s primary focus has become their church attendance or church service rather than Jesus’s great commission.
Personally, & I may be missing something, I’m a huge fan of regular church involvement for the teaching & fellowship aspect however the great work is done in our respective homes & communities so that is where my focus is primarily.
It’s not enough to say no to something. There has to be a yes that animates us toward the Story, God’s story He’s trying to write on our hearts & in the hearts of others through us.
When I counsel one of my guys through abandoning the sexual immorality of porn I also talk about replacement of that behavior with a grander purpose. For me the purpose was the message me watching porn sends to my wife (when I gave up porn I didn’t have a wife or any prospects yet I wanted a wife). To tell “the one” God, the Maker of the Universe, was crafting for me that she wasn’t good enough nor would she ever be good enough broke my heart. I knew what that feeling was like & I refused to cause that harm to my special someone. That was, in my eyes, loving as He first loved us & laying down my life for her benefit & the results have been amazing. I have gotten married & my wife never gets that feeling from me for that reason.
In our recovery group, we are increasingly turning toward the military and the religious orders as examples of how to infuse our life with meaning. For instance, we commission addicts to a life of sobriety using a formal and public dedication. And we refer to roles in jobs and families as missions,--hat whatever we do be done to the glory of God.
When I think of the obesity epidemic, I wonder if a monastic vow to restrict calories and fast from processed foods might be the only answer. Nothing else seems to be working.
YES!!! Being Mission minded definitely keeps us on our toes & oriented in the only True & correct direction.
Sadly, what many churches do is create and maintain their own addictions, which frequently revolve around status-seeking and celebrity disguised as spirituality.
I can’t agree more. We see people who’s primary focus has become their church attendance or church service rather than Jesus’s great commission.
Personally, & I may be missing something, I’m a huge fan of regular church involvement for the teaching & fellowship aspect however the great work is done in our respective homes & communities so that is where my focus is primarily.
It’s not enough to say no to something. There has to be a yes that animates us toward the Story, God’s story He’s trying to write on our hearts & in the hearts of others through us.
When I counsel one of my guys through abandoning the sexual immorality of porn I also talk about replacement of that behavior with a grander purpose. For me the purpose was the message me watching porn sends to my wife (when I gave up porn I didn’t have a wife or any prospects yet I wanted a wife). To tell “the one” God, the Maker of the Universe, was crafting for me that she wasn’t good enough nor would she ever be good enough broke my heart. I knew what that feeling was like & I refused to cause that harm to my special someone. That was, in my eyes, loving as He first loved us & laying down my life for her benefit & the results have been amazing. I have gotten married & my wife never gets that feeling from me for that reason.