Posted by: Michael Feather in tv
The LOST finale was satisfying in a fallen world sort of way. It was a good ending to a great series, but it left me feeling there was something missing. There was. I think people are looking for what is significant, what gives their lives meaning, what helps them to see things correctly. What is frustrating is that they are stumbling around in the dark—on purpose! God has told us what is significant and what gives our lives meaning. He has given us all that we need to know and cared for us perfectly, but we choose to ignore what He says and to live our own ways.
It wasn’t a “Christian” ending, whatever that might mean. What people typically mean by that is that it doesn’t line up with the Christian worldview. I am constantly amazed that we expect things of this world to line up perfectly. It was as close as you can get from a pagan team. It was inclusive of most religions and true of none of them. Any time you mix all the religions together into a blob, you lose the significant aspects of each. I am most offended that the distinctives of Christianity are lost, but what would I expect. It is my job, as someone who believes in the one true God, to proclaim His excellencies to everyone. (1 Peter 2:9) I want a television show to do that for me, but how stupid is that?!
As I said, I finished watching this season with a feeling that something was missing. So much was missing. What I realized this morning was that I actually like that fact. If LOST fulfilled all my desires and ended as the perfect story, I would want to live in that story. I would make it into an idol. I would create my own version of the story and mentally live there for the rest of my life. I don’t want to do that.
I live in the only perfect story. I live in the one I was created for and it really is not about me. This story is about God and His glory.
We take something created and expect it to fill us, to help us, to fulfill us. Do we really think that will work? Are we that foolish? Are we that willing to turn away from what God says? In most cases, yes.
I have other thoughts and hope to post them soon. But the reality is that as Christians, we should not look to LOST for the answers. God has already given them.
Posted by: Michael Feather in love
What exactly do you expect of 20 year olds? It seems that our expectations of young people is that they are going to be a little (or a lot) distracted and self-absorbed. Many think they will live it up while they are in college on their parents money and then get serious, magically, when they get a real job. What a sad indication of our worldview!
I have been savoring a journal of a young man you have probably heard of–Jim Elliot. Here is a picture of a young man who longs to make much of Christ. He struggles, but so do the rest of us. What I love is that he is so singularly focused. He is truly a soldier of Jesus.
Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. (2 Timothy 2:3-4 ESV)
This book that I am reading is filled with bits of his journal. Enjoy just a taste of this wonderful book that is so encouraging and convicting to me.
“God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn up for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life but a full one, like you, Lord Jesus.” Shadow of the Almighty:The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot page 55
In a letter to his future wife he wrote, “So He has, by His concealing of Himself, given me longings that can only be slaked when Psalm 17:15 is realized.” Psalm 17:15 says, “As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.” (Psalm 17:15 ESV)
Can you describe your longing for God this way or your deepest desires for your life? I know I need to learn from this 20 year old. How about you?
It has been a hard week in our home. The kids have both been sick, fortunately at different times. I have also been sick during this time. Pam is the only one that has escaped so far. Pray for her that she does not get whatever it is.
All of this got me thinking about the gospel in relation to sickness. If the gospel is meant to be the driving force in my life and if it is to impact everything going on with me, what does it have to do with being sick?
- Being sick reminds me of my dependence on God for everything. I cannot do anything on my own. I like to think I am independent, but that is folly. I need Him.
- Being sick brings all of my sinful attitudes to light so that I can deal with them. Nothing like feeling sick to see how selfish I am. I really am a big baby when I am sick. I hear that most guys struggle with the same problem.
- Being sick reminds me that I will not live forever. It reminds me that Christ has accomplished so much more than simply making people well here on Earth. He promises eternal life. I need that. My time here is numbered.
- My kids being sick, on the other hand, reminds me that my treasure is not here on earth. It is so easy for me to make idols out of my children; I love them so much. But when they are sick it reminds me to look beyond them to the One who has given them to me to take care of.
What do you think about concerning the gospel and being sick? I would love to hear how you seek to treasure Jesus in times like this.
Hello world.
I am still here. I have not disappeared from the face of the earth, though it might have seemed that way.
I have just been working hard on the counseling class that I have started through CCEF. I am loving the class, but it has taken more time and work than I initially expected. It has already been worth the extra work, but I do want to get going on posting here yet again.
So, what have you been reading lately that we can discuss? What is God teaching you? I will be posting some things in the next couple of days, but if you have something to contribute, please do.
I have been reading David Martyn Lloyd-Jones and that has been wonderful. I truly enjoy his writing and the major biography by Iain Murray. More about this soon.
That’s all for now. I just wanted to say, “I’m back!”
See you soon.