Tag: Spiritual Life

What I Read

This post may interest you and then it may not. 🙂
Like you, I read.  

Some of the periodicals I read are chosen because they help me keep up with the Christian world. Other reading is an attempt to stay aware of what is happening in the world and culture. Yes, I realize that much of this awareness may not come from reading. And yes, some of this awareness may come from the movies and television programs as well. This post, however, is focused specifically on the periodicals I read.

The following is a sample:

1. Each day, I look at the online editions of: The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Drudge Report, and the World News websites. I typically look at the Sunday edition of the New York Times more closely. I usually glance at the lead article of the The New York Times Sunday Magazine. When reading these papers, I pay particular attention to the column that lists the most emailed articles.

2. The New York Times Book Review and The New York Review of Books. I skim through the print editions of both of these. I also look at the rankings of the books (both non-fiction and fiction) in The New York Times Book Review. These two periodicals help me keep up with what many people nationally are reading. Skimming these reviews surfaces common themes.

3. Conversations. A very good journal. The subtitle is: “A Forum for Authentic Transformation.” The most recent issue has articles by: Eugene Peterson, John Ortberg, Dallas Willard, and Richard Foster, etc. This journal typically offers much to feed the soul.

4. Christianity Today. I do not know of a better one-stop source for keeping up with Evangelical Christianity. In just about every issue, I find at least one article that is very interesting and thought provoking.

5. The Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care. This is a fairly new journal that originates from Biola University. This journal is published twice a year and contains articles and book reviews that are thought provoking. It tends to be academic and scholarly and yet is tied to life in he church. There are often articles that focus on the practice of spiritual formation in a congregation and are helpful. I usually read one or two articles that really do cause me to think.

6. The Christian Chronicle. This is a monthly news paper that reports the news from Churches of Christ. It is a good newspaper and is one of the ways I am able to keep up with the ministries of others within our movement.

7. Periodically, I spend time in a library, such as the one at Baylor University, to skim through various scholarly theological journals. (See this list for a nice sample of these.) In particular, I will pay attention book reviews. There are also certain authors who have my attention whenever they write a new article or book.

8. Leadership Journal. A very good journal that continues to offer help and insight about ministry in a congregation. This journal is typically very practical. I am particularly interested in simply being able to look over another minister’s shoulder and see how this person thinks or does his work.

9. I occasionally go to the magazine area at Barnes & Noble or Borders and glance at the titles of articles on the covers of certain popular magazines. It is interesting how often common themes, needs and desires seem to surface in these titles.

I am not suggesting that you need to read the same journals or periodicals that I read. Your own reading may be very different from mine. Nevertheless, perhaps this will helpful to some.

 Question

What other periodicals do you read on a regular basis that you enjoy and/or find helpful?
  

Taking a Retreat From Humility?

Some people seem to have taken a retreat from humility. When they are around others they don’t appear humble but they behave as “know-it-all’s.”smug.jpg

1. The man in a small church who had a master’s degree. Most everyone else never went to college. This was a farming community filled with many hard-working people This one man stood out in this church not because of his education but because of his attitude. He would often comment in Bible classes at his church with an air of authority about what a certain passage really meant. I remember the Sunday morning he read to all of us from the dictionary the definition of “spirit,” proving to us that any talk of the Holy Spirit being a living, distinct being was nonsense.

2. The minister in a church who had a way of conveying to those around him that he had little, if anything, still to learn. At one point, he told a younger minister, “We know all that we need to know; we just need to do it.” Needless to say, he saw little value in serious study and reflection.

3. The young parents who have read the latest parenting book and know all about rearing children. Now most young parents feel anything but confident in rearing children but this particular couple did. They had read the latest, greatest book and now they had the answers. When other young parents expressed confusion or frustration about their work as parents, this couple had the answers.

I’m not telling you anything you don’t know. You’ve seen these people. Gracious is not the word that I would use to describe them.

Some people seem to think they know most everything. They have a way of correcting you in a way that feels condescending. You slip and make a mistake. They have the answer or feel like they have to make some kind of demeaning comment. They have a way of making you feel silly for each and every blunder you make. After all, they are evidently beyond all of this.

Then, there are those people who never do take a retreat from humility.

These are gracious people.

People who are not gracious have a way of leaving others feeling less than, taken for granted, or diminished in value. They may express little gratitude. Nor do they express any joy in the things that bring you joy. No, they seem to communicate that their own world is more important and more significant than whatever you might have to offer.

Contrast this attitude with that of a businesswoman on the West Coast who recently made a business trip to a city in the South. Her host picked her up at the airport and the woman’s graciousness began immediately. She asked her host question after question about life in this city. She genuinely seemed fascinated with what she saw and heard. As they drove along, she talked about the beauty of her surroundings. She asked questions about some of the favorite foods of the area. She also asked her host about some of the “must see” places in that city.

At the end of the day, she impressed her host with her graciousness.

Question:

Why might someone come across as a “know-it -all”? In contrast to this, have you known people with a graciousness that impressed you?


   

Question: What Body Issues Are a Part of Our World in 2009?


Recently, one of my daughters sent this video to me. This pressure is very real.


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We live in a time of great confusion about the body. Think about what we talk about or experience in this culture. We have conversations about:

  • Obesity
  • Anorexia
  • Botox
  • Breast Augmentation
  • Pornography
  • Cosmetic surgery
  • Thinness
  • Starving, gorging, and purging ourselves
  • Exercise
  • Body image
  • Sexual abuse
  • Physical abuse
  • Cosmetics, diets, clothes
  • Body Dysmorphic Disorder (imagined ugliness)
  • Bulimia
  • Fitness
  • Sexuality

Questions:

What should Christians be saying about the body? What other body issues would you add to this list? What stress do people face today because of the culture’s view of the body?

You might read the paragraph below:

“. . . It is important to discover the emotions and feelings that underlie your negative body image. The statement ‘I feel fat’ is never really about fat, even if you are overweight. Each time a woman looks at herself in the mirror and says ‘Gross, I’m fat and disgusting,’ she is really saying ‘There is something wrong with me or with what I’m feeling.’ When we do not know how to deal with our feelings we turn to our bodies and blame our bodies for our feelings. Every time you say ‘I’m fat’ you are betraying your body, and you are betraying and ignoring your underlying feelings. Remember that ‘fat’ is never a feeling, it’s avoidance of feelings. Learn to discover your emotions and feelings and realize that focusing on your body is only distracting you from what is ‘really’ bothering you.” Nicole Hawkins, Eating Disorder Referral Information Center

Interview with Darryl Tippens (Part 4 – Conclusion)

Darryl Tippens is Provost of Pepperdine University and the author of Pilgrim Heart: The Way of Jesus in Everyday Life.    In this interview, Darryl has made some very interesting and thought-provoking observations about what it means to follow Jesus in the 21st century. His words have been encouraging. darryl_tippens.jpg

These concluding remarks are a reminder of the compelling nature of Jesus.

(Remember that by making a comment in this or any one of the other three posts, you become eligible to win a free copy of Pilgrim Heart. You can find part one here, part two here, and part three here.)


In the Introduction you challenge the church to believe Jesus‘ call “…not just to believe what he taught, but to act like him” (p. 14). What is there about Jesus that you sense 21st century men and women might find attractive and even compelling?

Darryl Tippens: The fact is, Jesus stands very well on his own, without much help on our part, when he is simply received as Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John present him. Jesus doesn’t need to be “gussied up” or sanitized or modernized or edited or explained.

There is considerable respect for Jesus in the non-Christian world, to the degree that he is known. But his bickering, checkered followers are another matter. Too often we stand in the way, obstructing the view of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Not everyone will follow Jesus, of course; but when he is seen as the original Evangelists present him, it’s hard to treat his call or his claims trivially. We’ve got to do a better job of getting Jesus outside Sunday school literature, the sermon, the church, and the machinery of American politics (left and right), and back into the marketplace, the lecture hall, the workplace, and the home where he can stand on his own quite powerfully.

What men and women of the 21st century will find most attractive and compelling are people who incarnate Jesus, people who have “learned Jesus” or “learned Christ” (Ephesians 4:20). When people see the “way of Jesus” in ordinary people “in everyday life,” they will find it rather hard to ignore him. It’s happened this way in every century since AD 33. It will happen in the 21st century. Indeed it is happening now.

Question

What has been your experience when you have seen people in the world actually exposed to the incarnate Jesus?


Interview with Darryl Tippens (Part 3)

When I read the words below from Darryl Tippens, I thought, “Wow!” I then slowly read these thoughtful, timely words again.

Darryl is the author of Pilgrim Heart: The Way of Jesus in Everyday Life. I read this book several years ago and found it to be very encouraging. The author is Dr. Darryl Tippens, Provost at Pepperdine University. Darryl has graciously consented to participate in an interview on this blog. You can find part 1, here and part 2, here.

(This week, I will be giving away two autographed copies of this book. To be eligible for the drawing, leave a comment on this post.)tippens-darryl.jpg


What concerns do you have for 21st century Christ-followers and their spirituality? How can the church better address some of these concerns?

 Darryl Tippins: As Philip Jenkins and others are demonstrating in their books, Christianity is alive and well in the world–truly flourishing in parts of the globe (such as in South America and Africa). But the Christian faith is not doing so well in what we usually think of as the Western world. Christianity in the U.S. is beset with both internal and external challenges. Forces of secularization are strong, especially in media circles and education. I see expressions of hostility towards Christianity in the press today that would have been viewed as shockingly irreverent or blasphemous only a few years ago. We’re all aware of the new “fashionable atheists,” with their best-selling books. Consumerism, extreme individualism, and vague, self-concocted “spiritualities” abound–which makes the transmission of faith to our children and the next generation rather difficult.

We must find ways to practice Christianity as a robust minority religion–just as they did in the earliest centuries of the Christian era. If Christianity is to flourish, we have lots of work to do:

(1) We must build very strong local faith communities that are rich in community life, rich in tradition, rich in memory, and rich in knowledge of God’s word. The members of these faith communities must not only be thoroughly knowledgeable in the Word of God, they must also be profoundly experiential. (“O taste and see that the Lord is good!”) They must offer their members a true, holistic “way of life,” rich in practice. They must be more than fact-based. They must touch people’s lives to the core in multiple ways. They must be “incarnational” and “sacramental”–linking faith and everyday experience in numerous ways. Recently, I inventoried Christian practices of the early church as recorded in early church history. I came up with a list of over 35 specific rites and practices early Christians engaged in–many of which would look strange and foreign to us today. If we are not to engage in all these early practices today, well, fine. But my question is this: What are the “dynamic equivalents” to these ancient practices today? I think today’s Christianity looks sadly reductionist and stripped down when placed beside early Christianity. We ought to reflect on this, for it may explain why it’s harder and harder to hold on to our children.

(2) We must build communities that amaze the world with their good works, including especially a non-judgmental care for people in need outside our communities–the homeless, the destitute, the sick, the bereaved, the unemployed, the imprisoned, the sexually confused, etc. As in the first century, non-Christian people today should see our good works and be impelled to say, “See how they love one another!”

(3) Finally, just as we must develop the heart and the practice of Christianity, we must develop the head (the intellectual dimensions) of the faith. Christianity flourished in the ancient world partly because it had the best answers to life’s perplexing questions. In the ancient world there were momentous questions about life (why are we here? what is our purpose? why do we suffer? what happens after we die? etc.). To these urgent questions, Christians formulated the most convincing answers. Thus, in those early centuries, Christians were known for their minds. Some Christians were considered among the greatest intellects of the day. This has been true for over 1,500 years. Consider Augustine or Thomas Aquinas as examples–possibly the smartest men on the earth in their days–and they were Christians too. Today, the greatest thinkers — in most cases — are not believers or are not known to be believers. We must address this problem squarely and raise up a generation of Christian intellectuals who can show a hurting, confused, question-haunted world that there are answers, and they are to be found in the context of the Christian faith. A vibrant faith of this century will link head and heart, intellect and good works, in dramatic new ways.

(to be continued)


Interview with Darryl Tippens (Part 2)

If you are like me, you might sometimes feel tired, sluggish, and perhaps discouraged.

I encourage you to read Pilgrim Heart: The Way of Jesus in Everyday Life. I read this book a few years ago and found it to be incredibly refreshing. The author is Dr. Darryl Tippens, Provost at Pepperdine University. Darryl has graciously consented to participate in an interview on this blog. The subject of the interview will be very interesting to readers of this blog. I encourage you to consider his words.

Also, I will be giving away two autographed copies of this book during the week in which these posts appear. To be eligible for the drawing, leave a comment on this podarryl_tippens.jpgst.

The following is part two of the interview. (You can read part one here.)


As I read through the book, I was struck by the quality of the content. Yet, I also sensed that you were not only writing to help other believers but that you also have struggled at times in your attempt to follow Christ. Is that an accurate read? Are many of these practices what nurtured your own faith and life in Christ?

Darryl Tippens: Yes, you’re quite right. There is a great deal of autobiography in the book, evident to anyone who reads closely. One observant reader asked me bluntly one day, “Can you say things like that” (meaning, I think, as a “church leader,” wasn’t I laying myself open to criticism)? My reply was, “Well, I don’t know if I should have said these things, but I did.”

Religious books that sound simple, triumphalist, or Pollyannaish often turn me off. When they offer easy prescriptions like “Follow Jesus, and all will be well–no problems,” I become discouraged because I wonder, “Why is it I try to follow Jesus, but I don’t find it so easy? What’s wrong with me?” Facile claims don’t ring true for me.

I have found the Christian life authentic and exhilarating at times, but truly, utterly daunting at times too. So, I’m encouraged by people who tell the truth about how hard life can be. No one should lie to save God’s honor or make the Church look good. After all, if we worship the God of Truth, if Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, then shouldn’t we tell the truth too? The whole system is bogus if we don’t tell the unvarnished truth. So, I have tried to be honest about my struggles. Life hurts. It’s a fact, so why not say so?

But that, of course, is only the prelude to the main story, not the final episode. It’s in the midst of our misery, that the light shines. I’ve found that when faithful friends received my honest testimony, including my questions and doubts, I didn’t end up believing less. Rather, having “come clean,” I found new space and new motivation to believe again, or believe more deeply. I often say to those with whom I work and associate, “You can tell the truth here.” Since we honor the God of Truth, that seems to be the only proper way to go. That explains why I include chapters on hospitality (welcoming), friendship, confession, listening, and discernment.

I’m a believer today in part because other disciples welcomed me with open arms, befriended me when I was in a crisis, listened to me without judgment, and offered discernment as I plodded the way forward. I believe these practices will work well for others too.

(to be continued)

Questions:

Do you tell the truth about what it is really like to follow Christ? Are you a person who receives people in such a way as to invite them to speak the truth?


  

Interview with Darryl Tippens (Part 1)

Do you need to read a book that will refresh your soul?    

I encourage you to read Pilgrim Heart: The Way of Jesus in Everyday Life. I read this book a few years ago and found it to be incredibly refreshing. The author is Dr. Darryl Tippens, Provost at Pepperdine University. Darryl has graciously consented to participate in an interview on this blog. The subject of the interview will be very interesting to readers of this blog. I encourage you to consider his words.

Also, I will be giving away two autographed copies of this book during the week in which theses posts appear. To be eligible for the drawing, leave a comment on this post. The following is part one of the interview:


Several years ago, you wrote a book that I found very helpful and encouraging. The book, Pilgrim Heart: The Way of Jesus in Everyday Life has been helpful to many people. What would you say to tired, overwhelmed church leaders/ministers/pastors as well as many other everyday believers who might be reading this?

Darryl Tippens: First, I would say, “you are not alone.” You belong to a vast company of fellow pilgrims. Struggle, weariness, even exhaustion, are to be expected among people who make the long journey of faith. Yet Jesus promises relief for the weary and hope for the downtrodden. He promised the woman at the well that there is such as thing as “living water.” Those who drink of this water “will never be thirsty.” “The water I will give,” he promised, “will become in [you] a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” (John 4:14) That water is still available.

I live in a desert climate. It is not unusual to go from May until December without a single drop of rain. Yet not far from my house there is a spring that flows year round. Despite the parched earth and the brown hills in the hot summer months, the spring just continues to flow. Jesus saw a similar phenomenon in ancient Palestine — sweet water endlessly bubbling up in the hottest, driest conditions. Spiritually speaking, we have access to a stream that can nourish us even in the darkest, most sterile times in our lives.

How do we gain access this life-giving resource? Of course, the simple answer is “Jesus.” He is the life-giving stream. But that doesn’t answer the practical question of how precisely we receive his life-giving nourishment, when we are depressed, sick, or lonely. Pilgrim Heart is my modest attempt to offer some provisional answers, which are derived from three sources: (1) Scripture, (2) the personal testimony of believers through the ages, and (3) my own autobiographical experience. I believe that these three sources of data mutually confirm and reinforce the truth that certain spiritual practices (taught by Scripture and tested by believers through the centuries) open that cleft in the rock from which the life-giving waters can reach our parched spirits. While this life-giving water is truly God’s gift to us (we do not create the water), we can do certain things to ready ourselves to receive this gift.

My book is an effort to propose ways to prepare ourselves for the reception of the life-giving waters, primarily through what we commonly call “the spiritual disciplines.” By no means do I think my description of spiritual practices is complete or authoritative. I’ve only scratched the surface. On the other hand, I think there is strong evidence that these practices do make a difference in our lives. In fact, I would argue that we have 2,000 years of testimony that these practices belong in our daily lives.

Furthermore, the testimony from readers who have written me convinces me that the spiritual practices delineated in Pilgrim Heart make a difference. Just today, I received an unsolicited note from a prominent citizen who confessed that though a dedicated Christian all her life, she had undergone “years of spiritual struggle.” But, she added, the discussion of the spiritual practices in the book had been “a balm to [her] battered heart.” I don’t take credit for the help she received, as I was merely the reporter, but I thank God that I was able to show what Christians have been doing for centuries to take care of themselves as they make the arduous pilgrimage of faith.

(to be continued)

Question:

Have you observed church leaders/minister/pastors who seem very weary? What has been your own experience with spiritual fatigue and weariness?



“She Doesn’t Know How Pretty She Is”

woman_shadow315

I remember the Sunday morning that our friend made this statement. She was talking to Charlotte about her daughter-in-law. She beamed with admiration as she described a wonderful quality of her son’s wife. “She doesn’t know how pretty she is.”

This conversation took place one Sunday morning about a year ago when we were traveling and visiting another church. Charlotte and I were visiting with a young couple that morning who we have now been acquainted with for several years. We really like them both. They are good people and really have their heads on straight. He is a fun guy who laughs a lot but who also has a deep commitment to the Lord. She is a warm, attractive, young lady who, in conversation, has a way of really focusing on the other person. This young lady is not self-focused at all.

On this Sunday morning, Charlotte noticed that she looked especially nice in a particular dress. Charlotte complimented her on her appearance. Later, Charlotte expressed the same thought to her mother-in-law who was also a member of that church. Her mother-in-law smiled and acknowledged that her daughter-in-law did look nice. She then said, “The best thing is that she doesn’t know how pretty she is.”

Have you ever known someone who didn’t seem to realize just how effective, how impressive, or how attractive he/she really was to many others? Then, can you recall being in the presence of someone who seems quite impressed with himself or herself?

1. I know a man who did very well academically while in school. He earned the highest academic degree in his field. Unfortunately, he has a way of communicating to others that he sees himself as smarter than most people. Quite often this comes out in sarcastic humor. Whether or not he intends to communicate a feeling of superiority is not the point here. The point I am trying to make is that many others perceive him this way.

2. I once knew a woman who seemed to pride herself on her social sophistication. She saw herself as being “in the know” about so many things. She took pride in being aware of all the designer labels in women’s and men’s clothing. She took pride in what she knew about pop culture. When someone couldn’t identify a certain band or movie star, she had a way of making that person feel foolish. No graciousness here. Rather, she seemed to see these moments as opportunities to humiliate and embarrass.

3. I have known many, many ministers. Some ministers seem to forever be measuring themselves against other ministers. At times they seem to pride themselves on how well connected they are to other ministers who are highly visible, well known, etc. Meanwhile, they have a way of ignoring other ministers who would love to have a cup of coffee or in some way connect with them.

The ministers who impress me the most are those who seem to have little self-consciousness. These people don’t seem to be trying to impress or communicate that they are a cut above other ministers. In fact, I admire some of these people who don’t seem to be aware of just how impressive they really are.

Bottom Line: People who are not self-conscious do not have to constantly call attention to themselves. When we don’t have to be noticed, we are free to live for others.

What if you did not have to talk about your church as if it were the only game in town? You might be free to notice the good that other churches are doing.

What if you did not have to prove that you know more than others? You might be free to affirm another’s knowledge and insight.

What if you did not have to be noticed (in terms of your personal attractiveness)? You might be free to affirm another’s appearance.

What if you did not have to be all-knowing? You might be free to learn from others.

Perhaps the most impressive people are those who have no idea just how impressive they really are.

Ten Ways to Enjoy Life and Be Effective (Part 4 of 4)

sign.jpgThis is the final post in this series.  The ten practices listed in these four posts might be helpful to you or someone else toward enjoying life and yet being effective.  These are practices that have been helpful to me.  (You can read part 1 here, part 2 here, and part 3 here.)   

The final two practices I want to mention are:

9.  Take a good look at both your priorities and your procrastination.  I noticed something a couple of years ago.  I realized there were certain tasks and projects that I kept putting off.  I noticed that certain action steps would remain undone on my to-do list.  Certain projects would remain on my list without any progress being made.

I realized that quite often the action step on my list was far too vague.  At times the "step" actually took four or five actions to get it done.  Consequently, I would look at a step like "Put together leadership retreat" (for example) and completely avoid it. It was so large and non-specific that it was just easier to do something else.  This was actually more than one step as it required a number of actions to get anything done.

I also began to realize that some of the very things that I procrastinated were actions necessary to make progress on my priorities.  So, I might spend time working on something that was actually a very low priority while a higher priority was not even being addressed.  Of course, this had a way of coming back to haunt me as something very important became due and I had not spent adequate time working on it.

So, here are a couple of important questions that I ask myself as I look at my "to-do" list for the day:

*  What action steps have I listed here really do have a bearing on one or more of my priorities?

*  What are one or two action steps that I could take today that might advance a project and consequently make progress on a priority area?

10. Finish strong!  I want to finish strong.  I want to finish my life and my ministry strong.  Yet, there are forces that work against this.  I have seen some very good men and women start off well only to crash and burn somewhere along the way.  Sexual immorality.  Dishonesty.  Pornography.  Poor judgment.  These are some of the big ones. 

Yet, the threat is present on another level as well.  It is possible for a person to start a ministry or a particular project with great hope.  Perhaps this person had a dream — a kingdom-size dream.  Yet, something happened along the way.  Perhaps this person was mistreated by a church.  Maybe this person was unable to raise enough money to begin or continue this work.  Disappointed and disheartened, he or she may have become cynical.  A dream has died and something in this person has also shut down and died.

I want to be aware of the negative possibilities that I have just described.  At the same time, I really want to finish strong.  I want to be fully alive and present in the moment each day that I am alive.

What other practices would you add to this list?

Ten Ways to Enjoy Life and Be Effective (Part 3)

ten.pngLately, I have been reflecting on some habits or practices that have been important to me in learning to enjoy life and be effective.  (You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.)   Please feel free to add, in the comments, some of the practices that have been helpful to you but I have not yet mentioned.

7.  Give yourself away to others.  Generosity can be very enjoyable.  Maybe generosity is enjoyable because it is Godlike.  Most of us have so much to give.  Yet, many people go through their day ignoring many people.  Some people are dismissive of others.  They treat some people as if they do not exist.

I have found that people are often shocked and amazed at someone who just wants to give and who expects nothing in return.   Let me invite you to give yourself to other people. 

What can you give? 

*  Your smile!  Give a smile to a clerk who appears to be bored.  Smile at a grumpy looking person.  Smile at someone who seems to appear invisible to other people (the clerk, the cashier at the grocery store, the custodian at your office).  A simple smile can brighten someone’s day.

*  Your thoughtfulness. At a church dinner or at the office, ask another if she/he would like a refill on the iced tea.  Open the door for another.  Let another have their preference.  Let another choose the restaurant.  Be thoughtful.  Be considerate.  Be gracious.  Remember the little things!  They will be big in someone else’s mind.

*  Your attention.  We love to have the attention of people who matter to us.  We may love the attention of someone who seems important or admirable to us.  

Yet, there is something to be said for noticing people who often get very little attention.  Pay attention to children and older people.  Listen, really listen, to others as they talk.  Listen as if there is no one else present in the entire room.  I am still working on this, but I have seen just how uplifting listening can be to others. 

8.  Take care of what God has given you.  When I was in high school, I worked at a Jack-in-the-Box restaurant (fast food).  I learned much and had some interesting experiences while there.  This particular restaurant had a drive-through for customers.  One night a beautiful royal blue Chevrolet Camaro waited in line.  Finally the last car ahead of the Camaro moved forward and the Camaro moved up to the cashier’s window.  The driver paid and then received his food.  The driver was also drunk — very drunk.  Instead of exiting the drive-through, the driver began spinning his tires.  The car remained by the cashier’s window while this driver revved his engine and spun his tires.  A cloud of black smoke poured out of the back of the car where the hot tires were burning.  Still he continued to spin his tires.  Piles of rubber began to build up behind the car until finally there was a loud bang!  One of the tires blew.  Later a wrecker came and towed the car away.

At the time, I thought about how wasteful this person had been.  This was a nice car, almost new, and yet the driver chose not to take care of it.  I would have loved to have had a car like that one at sixteen.  Yet, this driver, drunk as he was, did not take care of this car.  In the same way, far too many of us just do not take care of what God has given us.

Are you married?  Nurture your marriage.  Treat your wife/husband well!  Treat her/him with dignity, respect, and appreciation.

Do you have children?  Give them the very best that God has to offer.  That is, give them Jesus.  Teach them how to pray.  Show them through your example how a child of God lives who is committed to holy living.

What about your mind?  Nurture your thought world.  Read.  Grow.  Learn something!  Don’t settle for the status quo.

What about your body?  Take care of yourself because you have been given a body as a gift from God.  Treat your body in a way that reflects your awareness that it is a gift from God.  Sleep.  Eat food that fuels your body.  Exercise.  Why?  You are simply trying to take care of what God has given you. 

What else would you add to this list?