We have been looking at the book of Acts at church for the last couple months and we are at the part just after Peter and John get out of jail for healing a man that has been paralyzed for 40 years. The whole church is so excited about the miraculous things that are happening.  Then we get the following section of verses that seems so ‘unspiritual’.

Acts 4:32 says “All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had”  and later on in verse 37 we find that, “Barnabas sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles.

This is a great story of sacrificial giving and the body of Christ coming together to help those in need. There was of course no mandate from the leaders for everyone to sell there stuff and bring the proceeds to the church. From time to time some were prompted by the Spirit to give of what they had. This was a very spiritual undertaking.

The thought that was most intriguing to me was that Barnabas just gave the money to the apostles. We would think that he would give it to those that were in direct need of his assistance.  This made me think, ‘you haven’t really given until you have given up the control’. So many times in our American culture we give with strings attached. But is it giving if we tell the recipient what we want them to do with the money?

Some times people have given me $100 and said, “Now go have some fun with this, don’t spend it on your bills”. I received something, but has that person truly given it away? Maybe the most fun thing would be to have my bills paid! Or if you give your kids an allowance and then proceed to tell them all the things they need to spend that money on.

This is why special offerings or when specific disaster strikes we awaken and start giving generously, because we want to know specifially where those funds are going. General giving is not as glamorous to us.

How about we just give and give liberally to organizations or people that have proven themselves to be good stewards of resources and then step away.  Don’t tell them what you want them to do with it. Don’t have strings attached to your giving. 

Because, have you really given if you still want to have control?

So I was watching one of my favorite movies the other day with the kids. Actually they were watching it with me. I was the one that started it with no one else in the room and they all gathered together within minutes of hearing the theme song. You know how it is when you have an urge to watch something. So there I was on the couch watching “The Incredibles” One of the best movies ever.

The essence of the story as you remember is that you have a super hero, ‘Mr. Incredible’, who has been asked along with the rest of the ‘Supers’ to integrate back into society and not do there superhero work anymore. So we find Bob Parr (aka Mr. Incredible) relinquished to the cubicle world of an insurance agency. He dreamed of being back out on the street helping people and was hating his new job and living in a cookie cutter neighborhood. Why would someone not care for a stable family, job and house in the middle of the suburbs?

Because he had been ruined for the ordinary. He used to be a crime fighter, lifesaver, and front page news. Once you have experienced something really great you do not want to go back to just everyday living.

Ever had really good sushi? You have no desire to buy that party platter at Costco ever again.
Have you have ever been to a really great water park? The kiddy pool seems so anti-climatic after that.
Been to Powell’s bookstore? There doesn’t even seem to be a need for a Borders anymore.
Have you swam the water in Hawaii or the Caribbean? Nothing else compares.

You get ruined for the ordinary once you have experience some the of the finer things of life.

This reminded me of the story in Acts chapter 4 and 5. Peter and John just healed a guy that had been paralyzed for several decades. Because of that, they get in a bit of a pickle with the religious establishment. They are imprisoned and told not talk about Jesus or heal anymore. They are told to just be normal, like the rest of the loyal citizens. They were faced with being excommunicated from the church, being imprisoned and possible being put to death.

But on their day of freedom they prayed for more boldness, more healings, more miracles. They pray for the same things that got them in trouble. (or better said) They pray for the finer things of life. They had been ruined for the ordinary way of going about their day to day life. They just saw a man get healed and you can not go back once you have seen that. They had been ruined for the ordinary.

As I was watching Bob Parr transform back into Mr. Incredible I wondered why he would want to put the work in to getting in shape. Why would he forfeit making an actual salary? Why would he want to put his life and families life back into danger? Oh that is right, he was ruined for the ordinary.

What things have you experienced that make you not want to go back to the ordinary?

So I have been drinking water in substitution for all the other drinks I might consume for over a week now. I am doing this for the 40 days of water campaign to raise money for drinking water wells in Uganda.  Check out my progress thus far.. http://40days.bloodwatermission.com/josephfehlen

I have also been feeling really much better about myself while doing it. (after I got through the caffeine headaches.)  I came across these states about water that would seem to back up how I have been feeling.

Always remember that 23% of stats are made up on the spot…or was that %34?

 

#1.   75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. (Likely applies to half the world population)

#2.     In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is mistaken for hunger

#3.    Even MILD dehydration will slow down one’s metabolism as much as  3%.

#4.   One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.

#5.     Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.

#6.    Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.

#7.    A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page 

#8.   Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%., and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.

Are you drinking the amount of water you should drink every day?

 

 

 

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Has your mother or father ever said, “don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today”?  Or have you had a teacher that got on you for procrastinating?  I find myself most Friday afternoon wondering why I didn’t study more during the week for my messages. Procrastination is not a good thing…unless.

Unless you are procrastinating your worry.  Worry is a perfect thing to put off until tomorrow and if you do today well it just might not be there when tomorrow rolls around.

Gail Hyatt wrote a great piece recently. In it she says,  “You may have very good reason to worry. The worst-case may indeed come to pass. But … not today. Just wait to worry”  Coming from a women with great motherly advice this is a great article for you to check out.

As I have said many times, do today well and tomorrow will take care of itself.  We only have the time we are in currently and if we do that well the rest will be better. Worry is a thing that hinders us from doing the now well. I would encourage you to wait to worry.

I have been feeling this uneasy pressure lately that I am becoming engulfed by media and what it is developing me into. Then I read “Vertical Self: How Biblical Faith can help us discover who we are in an age of self obsession” by Mark Sayers. This is ultimately a book about finding our true identity in God as we move more towards peace and balance in our lives. But ultimately I saw it as a great eye opener of how our culture and media is imprinting its identity and expectation on us.

Sayer takes great pain to move us from our horizontal self that is being formed from our surroundings to being a part of a greater reality, our vertical self. He takes a new and updated approach on the classic literature we have on holiness and purity. Through a tremendous amount of stories, studies and personal experiences the author brings you right into the book. A chapter does not go by where you do not see yourself or someone you are in close relations with in the words he writes.

He hits hard our concept of cool, sexy and life being about “me”. Because of these pursuits for horizontal experiences we have lost the vertical experience with God. We have become consumers of Christianity and have not allowed it to change us.

This is a great read. Not to heavy, not to light. I have personally started to change some of my life habits as I detox a bit from my horizontal self.

 

“I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review.”

 

 

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