Eric Ebbinghaus and I have been having this back and forth conversation about the Sabbath. He’s currently doing a youth series on the topic and I’m starting one in April. In previous posts(1 and 2), I’ve discussed the “rest side” of the issue, but now I want to look at the other side. This was all prompted by something I heard a pastor say on TV the other day. “Ladies, the Bible says to work 6 days and rest on the 7th, but if the man you’re seeing is too lazy to get off the couch and get a job then you need to send him packing because he is a LOSER.” It was Valentine’s Day message on the type of man a single woman should be looking for. What caught my attention was the “work 6 days” part. Here’s what Genesis 2:2-3(NIV) says:
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
Two things I see. First, God had been working hard and secondly, He had finished His work. He clarified His position in Exodus 20: 8-11(NIV):
8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
“Labor and do all your work…” God spent that first Sabbath enjoying a tremendous sense of accomplishment at what He had created. When the next week rolled around He wasn’t worried about what He put off doing the week before. He was ready for new challenges, tasks, and adventure. It seems to me that procrastination wasn’t part of the equation until after the Fall. It seems to me that we can’t fully enjoy the Sabbath until we’ve given ourselves fully to our work. Why aren’t we giving ourselves fully to our work?
- Lack of Focus/Distractions
- Procrastination
- Laziness
- Lack of Passion
- Health Issues/Fatigue
- Unrealistic Expectations placed on us that discourage our effort
- Family Issues
- Depression
What did I leave out? What are you struggling with? My prayer is that all of us would be passionate and focused about what we have been created to do. That’s what chasing your lion is all about. God was the inventor of Work Hard, Play Hard. Over the next few weeks, I’ll break down these issues and find solutions to get us all on the right track. Thanks for reading.
Sabbath Resources:
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Finding Your Maximum Happiness A Study of the Ten Commandments
By Wilbur G. Williams Maximum happiness! That’s the subject of this study. How does one get it? After one gets it, how is it kept? If one has it and lost it, how is it regained? These are questions we will try to answer. Basically everyone wants happiness out of life. God wants everyone to be happy. Then why are so many lacking in this area? One might expect poor people – who have little of this world’s goods – not to have it, yet many of them do. One might expect people who have everything money can buy to possess happiness but many of them don’t. To study how God planned for us to obtain happiness, let us first ask, on what does true happiness depend? In brief, maximum happiness depends most heavily on one thing: relationship. It is the by product of that and that alone. In the focus of this book, it is a law guided relationship based on a covenant made with God first and foremost. There is a sense in which we never “find” happiness by seeking it. But by seeking God, happiness finds us. |
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Sabbath: The Ancient Practices
By Dan Allender Does resting on the Sabbath mean to cease all activity? In his new book Dan Allender presents an insightful and fascinating look at the origins and purpose of the Sabbath day. Serving as volume three in The Ancient Practices Series, Sabbath examines the key issues of this oft-misunderstood day of the week. This “day of delight,” as instituted by God, has become a dirge for millions of believers. For many, it is simply a break from the busyness of the work week. So, what keeps us from properly understanding, sanctifying and celebrating this important day? Allender looks at not only the history of this discipline, going all the way back to ancient Israel, but also at the modern manifestations and misunderstandings of its practice. Drawing upon the Hebrew word Menuha, Allender bases his premise upon the forgotten definition for this word (best translated as joyous repose, tranquility, or delight) and what it truly means to rest. |
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The Year of Living Like Jesus: My Journey of Discovering What Jesus Would Really Do
By Ed Dobson Pastor Dobson chronicles his year of “walking in Jesus’ sandals.” He eats what Jesus ate. Prays as Jesus prayed. Observes the Sabbath, attends Jewish festivals, and reads the Gospels every week. It’s a journey that takes him into bars, inspires him to pick up hitchhikers, deepens his understanding of suffering—and changes his life forever! 304 pages, hardcover from Zondervan. |
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Rest: Living in Sabbath Simplicity
By Keri Wyatt Kent In today’s fast-paced society, we’ve forgotten an essential truth . . . that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Inviting you to find a balance between work and refreshment, Kent explores six aspects of this Christian spiritual practice—resting, reconnecting, revising, pausing, playing, and praying—to help you experience renewed energy, grace, and joy. 224 pages, softcover from Zondervan. |
Last week I started posting about my journey to observing the Sabbath every week. The process of eliminating certain things from my life has begun so that my time is best utilized doing the things I was created to do. I believe we live in a day and age where rediscovering the practice of the Sabbath is a necessity. Understand that I am writing from the viewpoint of a pastor where Sunday is not a day of rest. It’s usually one of the busiest days of the week. The point of all of this is to have a set aside, holy, Sabbath day every week regardless of what it happens to be.
In Jewish law, there were 39 categories of activities that were prohibited on the Sabbath. Each category had subcategories and so on and so on. By Jesus’ time, the focus was more on these rules and regulations rather than God’s original commandment. These prohibited things from weaving to tying a knot to putting out a fire to picking the bones out of a fish. The original intent of these laws to to remind people of the things that they would do on a normal day and the Sabbath was all about taking a break from the norm. Over time, the rules and regulations grew to where most common folks could not keep up. The religious leaders of the time used their ability to adhere strictly to the law(and find loopholes when they couldn’t) to lord over the others. So, when Jesus says in Mark 2:27-28:
27Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
He is tearing down some major walls. One, He is telling the people that they have lost sight of the true purpose of the Sabbath. It was a lot of work to remember what you weren’t supposed to do on the Sabbath! Two, He is chastising the religious rulers for using their man made rules and regulations to rob the common folk of their God given rights(dude, my toes are really hurting right now). The Sabbath is all about liberation. It’s not about being confined. It’s about being set free.
So, what sets you free? What makes you feel like you’re alive? The Sabbath isn’t about being reminded that you’re human. It’s about being reminded that you’re divinely created in the image of God. In a day and age where we spend so much time “working for the man” the Sabbath is that weekly reminder that we are God’s “workmanship” and created for a higher purpose(Ephesians 2:10). Part 3 next week, but while you’re waiting check out these posts from Eric Ebbinghaus, Tim Stevens and Dr. Martin Labar. Eric is a fellow Wesleyan Youth Pastor who is currently taking his students through the 10 commandments. Tim recently posted on a digital detox his family was taking. Dr. Labar is a former professor at Southern Wesleyan University and one of the finest and funniest men I know. Do yourself a favor and subscribe to their blogs.
Currently Reading:
![775563: A Blueprint for Discipleship: Wesley"s General Rules as a Guide for Christian Living](http://ag.christianbook.com/g/thumbnail/7/775563t.gif "775563: A Blueprint for Discipleship: Wesley"s General Rules as a Guide for Christian Living") |
A Blueprint for Discipleship: Wesley’s General Rules as a Guide for Christian Living
By Kevin Watson Watson offers a concrete and practical approach to Christian discipleship that is distinctly Wesleyan. His approach builds on the foundation of the General Rules-do no harm, do good, and practice spiritual disciplines-combined with the exercise of small-group accountability. Watson shows that John Wesley’s method of discipleship is both simple and profound, and can help you develop a faith that affects every part of your lives. |
I think I have been guilty of suffering information overload. Some of this information could be useful like being informed on issues being debated in DC. Some of it is not so useful like knowing that Taylor Swift is in The Hannah Montana movie with Vanessa Williams who is in Elmo: Escape from Grouchland with Mandi Patinkin who is in The Princess Bride with Cary Elwes who is in Days of Thunder with Tom Cruise who is in A Few Good Men with Kevin Bacon. Yes, I know there’s a quicker way to connect Miss Swift to Mr. Bacon, but that’s the point.
At one point I could have told you how many wins Tommy Bowden averaged per year in his 10 seasons at Clemson, but that’s a decade I’m trying to forget.
Here’s a quote I wrote down from the 4 Hour Work Week:
Doing something unimportant well does not make it important.
I know what you’re thinking. Hey, Heath, don’t most youth pastors work 4 hours a week anyway? Do you really need a book to tell you how to do that? Ha Ha. I get the joke and yes, I have lived that joke. Sadly, the flip side is that many people are working crazy hours but accomplishing very little. As I noted in this post, I am trying to be more effective and efficient. Here is where my train of thought is going:
1. I know that conservatives and liberals don’t like each other and go over the top in media to make their points. Do I really need to check 8 different websites a day to confirm what I already know? It’s not going to change my political persuasion. Knowing all this stuff just allows me fodder for conversation. I do have more important things to talk about so I will.
2. I’m a slow learner so it has taken me a while to figure out that very little news happens between when I go to bed and when I get up in the morning. Why do I default to checking all the news and sports sites first thing in the morning on my phone? Can I rid myself of this burning desire to be “The Grapevine” and the first to know everything from what the Senate is debating to who Boston’s middle relievers are going to be to which pastor is going to what church and when in our district? Would it be so bad to hear this news from other people instead?
3. We had our cable TV cut off last summer because my family was going to be in Alabama for several weeks. We never turned it back on to save money. We are doing the Dave Ramsey thing now and downsizing from 4,000 channels to 12(depending on if the government mandated digital converter box is operating properly) has been a great decision. I’m not checking ESPN news, FOX news, or TLC every 15 minutes. I watch three shows a week: Heroes, Survivor, and Extreme Makeover Home Edition. I have almost effectively eliminated channel surfing from my life. For me(the poster child for ADD) this was HUGE. We get a lot of movies from the library so the kids watch those and PBS Kids. Less TV has meant more rasslin in the living room with my children. Put THAT in your talking points memo.
4. Being on a budget has eliminated needless trips to Wal-Mart. I love the deals, but we were spending time and money we did not have every time. Going in to purchase dish shop(crud, we are out of that now) ended with a full cart, empty bank account, and a side trip to the Mcdonald’s that is conviently located inside the stored. Don’t get me wrong. I love me some Wal-Mart, but our family had to take ownership of our buying and spending habits.
I’m not going to pretend that this journey hasn’t been a struggle or that we have it all together now. I just knew that something had to change. I wasn’t at a crisis point, but I could have been. I will leave you my favorite joke from Jerry Seinfeld.
People ask me what I’ve been doing since we ended the show. I’ll tell you what I’ve been doing: nothing. I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that you might like to try doing nothing yourself. Well, its not that easy. Because the idea of doing anything that could easily lead to something that would cut into my nothing and that would force me to have to drop everything.
I had a student one time who was dealing with some serious anger issues. Caught up with them one day to talk about things and they were listening to their iPod. When they took off the earphones all I could hear was rage being pumped through at a barely legal decibel. I said, “Dude, what are you listening to?” “Just some music” was the reply. I asked if they listened to the music because they were angry or if they were angry because they listened to the music. Blank stare. I told them they were just feeding their anger with the music. They had a right to be angry about things happening in their life that was no fault of their own. The problem wasn’t the anger, but the outlet of it, and I believed that their music choice was only escalating an already volatile situation. I helped them picked out some different music and, while their home life did not settle down, they began to deal with things in a healthier and more productive manner. What are you feeding yourself? Yes, if you literally eat junk all the time then eventually your health(and figure) will reflect that. Rather, what are you feeding your mind and soul? The old saying(probably originated with a youth pastor) is, “Trash in. Trash out.” Are you reading anything that is trashing your mind? I am an avid blog reader. Over at Church Relevance, they’ve complied the top 100 Church blogs. Many of them are by pastors. I don’t read all of them, but the ones I do read greatly inspire me. I encourage you to add some of these to your daily reading list. They will lift your spirits and challenge you to chase your lion everyday. #26 on the list is my personal favorite by Tony Morgan. Now, here’s a tidbit for you newbies on how to easily keep up with all the blogs you want to read. Many of them allow you to subscribe by email by entering your information. Many of them have a big orange button(like the one on the right over there) that allow you to subscribe to the RSS feed and receive the blog in whatever format is best for you. Personally, I use Google Reader and it highlights any new entries when I check it. You just need a free google account. By the way, if you’re not using Gmail and all their other tools then I highly recommend them. It basically gets all your life in one place. I would love to hear from you which of the blogs listed you find the most inspiring, entertaining, practical, or helpful. Have a great week and happy reading!
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I love Moe’s Southwest Grill. Whenever I meet Matt Smith for lunch in Greensboro, it is where we eat(next week included). I am trying to start the new year off right by eating healthier foods. Here’s the recipe for some homemade burritos that are about 300 calories each. Great for a snack or double up for lunch(I admit I tripled it yesterday).
I bought all of this at Wal-Mart:
Mission Whole Wheat tortillas
Marketplace Pico De Gallo
Black Beans(or refried)
Sour Cream(give me a break, I love this stuff)
Shredded Cheese
Sliced Buffalo Chicken from the deli.
Drain and heat the beans for about 45 seconds. Heat your tortilla for about 15 seconds. Add your ingredients and then do your best Moe’s employee impersonation and fold that sucker. After 3 days of pounding these for lunch, I am starting to think I’m addicted. For full disclosure let me say that this recipe was my wife’s idea and I forgot to drain the beans which she thought was quite hilarious as the juice ran all through my burrito. I figured that the ingredients last for 3 meals(1 person) and is right around $10. The Pico de Gallo is a little pricey so I will make sure to find and post a nice cheap recipe for it. Enjoy your burritos!
Resolutions for 2010 on YouTube
The 10 Minute Trainer from Beachbody
Beachbody’s Insanity program with Shawn T
Rescue Nepali Girls from Bonded Servitude
The final step to freedom for slavery survivors is employment and independence. Jobs at the Destiny Center in Calcutta offer survivors them the chance to rebuild their own bright futures.
Well, we are basically a month into the Chase Your Lion dot com era. Thanks so much for your continued support of our mission. Our prayer is to equip and motivate you to discover and pursue your purpose, passion, and possibilities. We want to provide the top Christian Resources. Here are the top 6 and bottom 6 posts from month #1, October 2009.
Top 6
1. October is Pastor appreciation month
2. Rob Bell resources and Drops Like Stars Tour Review
3. Healthy-living-and-lion-chasing
4. Toms Shoes
5. A Detour that helped me Chase My Lion
6. Franchis Chans-new-book-forgotten-god/
Bottom 6
New-music-and-book-releases-October-27/
The Outsiders-review-needtobreathe
Fit Friday-My-workout-routine(so-far)
Tony Morgan-interview-with-David-Crowder
Today marked a full 5 weeks of going to the gym. I feel I’ve learned a lot from the trainers there in a short time and am trying to incorporate different things everyday. I know I promised videos on my youtube post the other day, but they aren’t ready yet. So, here’s an idea of what I’ve been doing.
1. Eat breakfast as soon as I get up. This is the hardest part for me.
2. Take vitamins and supplements. I mentioned those here.
3. Warm up on the elliptical machine for 5 minutes.
As of right now, we’ve learned a good chest routine, back routine, arms and legs. I do 3 sets of each exercise with 15-20 reps using moderate weight. There are typically 5-7 exercises in each routine. I always finish with the ab machine, 3 sets of 20, and 15-30 minutes of cardio. I did the bike today for the first time and I can totally feel it in my gluteus maximus. I’ve been battling illness and just didn’t feel like I had the energy to get a good workout in on the elliptical or treadmill.
Chest Routine-I’m sure there are official names for some of these exercises, but I don’t know them and you probably don’t either. So, this is may best attempt at explanation.
1. Dumb bell bench press while on the exercise ball.
2. Dumb bell exercise where you bring the weights behind your head and back to above while laying back on the exercise ball.
3. Chest exercise on the fly machine where you’re bringing your hands together.
4. Chest press machine
5. Up/downs-from a standing position, drop down and do a push up then get back to your feet and jump as high as you can. Repeat for a set of 10. I call this one the butt kicker.
6. Finish with ab machine and cardio.
Next week, I’ll go over our back routine. Remember, I’m no expert. I’m just sharing the advice and exercises that my trainer has given me. Always check with your doctor before starting an exercise routine. Listen to your body and don’t overdo it.
With cold and flu season upon us it is very important to look at ways to improve our immune system through proper diet, exercise, and rest. It’s important to realize that taking care of our bodies and health year round is truly to key to preventing and overcoming common illnesses. It doesn’t hurt to also use a little common sense and wash your hands often, don’t hang out with people who have the flu, and listen to your body. If you feel an illness coming on then go ahead and rest up before it’s full blown. Here are several articles discussing the topic. You can also check out anytimehealth.com for various resources.
1. 10 Foods to Kick a Cold and Boost Your Immunity
2. 21 Foods to Boost Your Immune System
4. 6 Tips to Boost Your Immune System
Well, it’s Fit Friday and time for more Health and Wellness tips. My eyes have recently been opened to the fact that many of the foods I was eating were literally poisoning my body. I have been scared straight as far as examining what I eat and moderating my portions. Now, I’m not starving myself or anything drastic like that, but we all could make smarter, healthier food choices. Over at the Food Network site they have an entire section of healthy recipes and meal ideas. Think about what your life would be like if you:
1. Took the time with your spouse to prepare a healthy meal.
2. Took the time to enjoy that meal with your family while your phones and TV were turned off.
3. Took the time to talk to your family about purpose, passion, and possibilities.
Chances are you’re thinking, “Dude, we don’t even have the time. We’ve got this practice and that game and blah blah blah. We hardly ever eat together.” Is it any wonder that the divorce rate is so high? We have removed “quality time” from our lives and let activities plan our days for us. It’s time to slow down, get in the kitchen, and dust off the dinner table. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some meals to plan.
