Tax Incentive

From this article:

Under the agreement announced by the White House, Boehner and Pelosi, individual taxpayers would get up to $600 in rebates, working couples $1,200 and those with children an additional $300 per child. In a key concession to Democrats, 35 million families who make at least $3,000 but don't pay taxes would get $300 rebates. [my emphasis]

Reread the emphasized part. Families who do not pay any taxes are going to receive $300. This is ridiculous. The government is taking money taxpayers have paid into the system and giving it to people who do not pay any taxes.

Heath Ledger

I saw on the news that Heath Ledger died a couple of days ago, possibly from a drug overdose. This saddens me. Here is a man who had what we might perceive as 'everything' and yet his life ended in such tragedy. What comes to mind is the following statement by Christ:

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? (Matt. 16:26)

Dying to Self

One of the books I am currently reading is called The Road Less Travelled. This is one of the most challenging books I have ever read, primarily because the author does not beat around the bush, but is very straight forward and honest. He shares an excellent example of what it means for different parts of the self to die in order to embrace where one is at in life. In the Balancing chapter, the author recounts a story of playing chess with his 14 year old daughter who was very disciplined at going to bed by 9 PM on weekdays. She had been wanting to play for a long time and was very excited about the game. The evening wore on and it started to get close to when she wanted to go to bed so she asked her dad to hurry the game up. He thought she was a bit too rigid about her bedtime and so insisted they keep playing, because "you shouldn't start games that you can't finish." After playing for another ten minutes, his daughter burst into tears and ran upstairs. He says, "I started the evening wanting to have a happy time with my daughter. Ninety minutes later she was in tears and so angry at me she could hardly speak. What had gone wrong?.. I had botched the evening by allowing my desire to win a chess game become more important than my desire to build a relationship with my daughter… Gradually it dawned on me that my desire to win was too great and that I needed to give up some of this desire." Here is where the dying of different parts of the self comes in. What does one do with this? Do you go explain to your daughter the importance of finishing a game—which would be ridiculous, but the thing an insensitive parent who is unwilling to change would do. "I have given up part of my desire to win at games. That part of me is gone now. It died. It had to die. I killed it… When I was a child my desire to win at games served me well. As a parent, I recognized that it got in my way. So it had to go. The times have changed. To move with them I had to give it up. I do not miss it. I thought I would, but I don't." (pages 67-69)

I love the above quote, especially when he states that for a time, his desire served him well, but now, it got in the way, and it had to go. There are many things that at different points in our lives has served us well. But do they serve us well now or are they hindrances to our growth? Does your/my desire to win get in the way of enjoying other people (and they enjoying us)? Do I really need to feel that I have to have everything figured out in order to be safe—understanding that for a time, that knowledge did serve me well, but no longer does? Ultimately, the point here applies to anything in our lives that gets in the way of us becoming people who are free of our own chains. "I can't", "I have to", "I must", "I should"—these are all common, useful phrases that reflect limitations and desires that have served us well. But do they serve you and me well now?

"When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things." (1 Cor. 13:11)

The "D" Word

Dispensationalism. I just finished a book by that title this morning, which is the last of the seven I had to read for a class I am taking at DTS. Wait, don't stop reading! This post may not be what you think it is about to be. I found the material presented in the previous books to be very interesting, relevant, and thought-provoking. This last book was, in a word, boring. I felt frustrated reading this book because I felt like it was splitting hairs. So, I have analyzed my feelings and frustration towards this and have a few thoughts to share.

I am just as guilty as anyone for splitting hairs over theological subjects (and for that matter, any subject). I have a love-hate relationship with debating. I love it for the mental exercise it gives, but hate it because it can be so divisive and emotional, not to mention I don't like being wrong. Sadly, I (and probably most humans) have a tendency to build a good part of my self-worth based on how I think I am being perceived by others and I feel it necessary to "help" that perception by coming across as "smart" and "right". That being said, I don't think the author of the book (Ryrie) wrote it because of this.

Let me say, to the disagreement of some, that I agree with the material presented in the book. But, and here is the question I have been pondering for some time now: to what end? What does this subject add or subtract to my life practically? It changes nothing of my belief in the person and work of Jesus Christ. It changes nothing in how I am to relate to fellow believers. I was tired after reading the book, not because it challenged me mentally, but because it was so nit-picky.

This question (To what end?) has been very convicting to me because it has provided a good look at how much time I waste, in the words of Christ, "straining out the knat but swallowing the camel." (Matt. 23:24) Jesus said this in context of condemning the religious leaders of His day, who focused on the letter of the law, to the neglect of "the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness." (Matt. 23:23)

Thus, I follow this with another question to myself: what is my purpose of going to DTS? If I am not growing in my relationship with Jesus Christ and in loving His people through this experience, then it profits me nothing (1 Cor. 13:2). If it serves to give me more material to buttress my position with and finer strands of hair to split, it is wasting my time. This is not to say the study of Scripture is pointless. I love how Vincent Van Gogh put it: "You read books to borrow therefrom the force to stimulate your activity… but I read books searching for the man who has written them." In my reading and studying the Bible, am I searching for the God who wrote it? Are you?

Dad

I met my dad for lunch on Monday. This was the first time I have seen him in seven years. No, that is not a typo. Seven years.

My thoughts and feelings towards it are different from what I expected. I had built this up for so long in my head that I suppose the idea of meeting him contributed to being an obstacle to actually meeting him. Reality is quite different from what is envisioned and I continue to learn this truth the longer I live. In other words, what I think versus what is, which therefore requires me to change my thinking to conform with what is real!

I don't regret the time it has taken to be at this place. If anything, it is another sign that healing has taken place and I praise God for this work in my life. I will say, that use of the word 'never' is not really a good idea, because God specializes in making the never happen.

One of my biggest questions now is: where do I go from here?