Posts tagged ‘Bible’

Burned out on technology that teaches

By Monica Brand, 30 April, 2009, 9 Comments

It’s Wednesday night – Family Night at church - and I’m looking for any excuse not to go.

Book of Revelation. Good, meaty theology there. But I still don’t want to go to Bible study tonight and it’s nothing against John or end times prophesy.

It’s the DVDs. Not the message – the method. I’m tired of watching DVDs. Sitting, listening, listening to a lecture. I don’t want a monologue, especially one where the preacher whips it out at a rapid fire pace leaving no room for his audience to breathe.

I don’t want to go. No lecture tonight, no more non-interactive DVDs.

Give me the fellowship and back-and-forth dialog with a real person.

I feel badly for Pastor. It must be easier for him to just pop in a DVD than prepare a lesson each Wednesday. He’s okay, but I suspect he’s content to let Famous Preacher Man share all his Revelation knowledge with us.

Too bad it’s via one dimensional media.

I’d much rather go for a drive tonight; think I will. Maybe I’ll go to the mall and walk around. I can’t bear sitting tonight…

***

Postscript:

I journaled this an hour before leaving for church yesterday with all intentions of escaping after dropping off the family. Never happened. Too much guilt: “The kids and Doc are here, so I can’t just leave.” Too much fear of being judged.

Maybe you are judging me now too.

I love being at church, I love the Word, and great teaching and preaching. Being with my second family. But like I wrote above, sometimes those DVDs… I’m home all day with the kids and as much as I love Twitter and social media, I crave human interaction. You don’t get a lot of that with a DVD. No, you don’t get any interaction from a DVD.

I did stay. I listened. I learned a few things I didn’t know before. I’m thankful for all that.

Yet I can’t wait for this DVD series to be over. Maybe I’ll start praying for the player to break. You never know – perhaps the Lord is tired of it too.

The beautiful cross

By Monica Brand, 10 April, 2009, No Comment

If you are unfamiliar with the cross and why I think it’s beautiful, you can read the story of Jesus’ crucifixion at YouVersion.com. Plug Luke 23 into the search, that’s a good place to start. (The default translation is King James; click on the down arrow to select a modern text. I like NIV and ESV.)

I’m not afraid of death

Image source

Seen and heard: at the breakfast table

By Monica Brand, 5 March, 2009, 3 Comments

Said one of my boys when he knew I was going shopping for socks and underwear:

“Don’t get me Fruit of the Spirit, I like Hanes.”

Bwahahahahaha. Love it when the lines of The Way and this world are blurred.

Blog tour: The Echo Within by Robert Benson

By Monica Brand, 27 February, 2009, 1 Comment

What does it mean to be called by God?

How do you know if it’s God speaking or just a voice in your head?

Lord, what do you want me to do with my life?

The Echo Within: Finding Your True Calling by Robert Benson is a little book taking on a big subject: the calling of God on your life. I suspect this book will be given to many a graduate in June.

As a writer, I enjoyed following Benson on his journey to find what he was to do with his life. He bounced from job to job before settling into writing professionally. Much of the book is his personal account of how he found peace and confidence in the desire of his heart.

As much as I enjoyed the storytelling and lovely writing, I didn’t care for some of his advice. You know me, I can be… selective.

If it were me advising you about listening to the “voice within,” as Benson writes, I would be sure to tell you that it’s imperative to have the Holy Spirit within you first and that can only be achieved by knowing Christ. Benson does not make this clear when he writes:

There is within each of us an echo of the Voice of the One Who whispered us into being. We must listen for that echo and to that echo; we must listen fiercely and faithfully and fearlessly. Within the echo of the Voice that spoke us into being is the sound of our own true voice.

That last part on the end (the part I put in italics) makes me cringe. In the hands of the wrong person, or reader, it could be understood to mean “I am God.” Please don’t make me explain how wrong that thinking is.

I also didn’t care much for his ease with tossing around the term born again as if one can be reborn with every new discovery in life and personality.

Born again is a phrase we hear sometimes from church folks. It is a way to talk about their spiritual life, and I understand that. Born again is also a way to describe what happens when something begins to shape us in a new way.

Oh dear. What to do with this? *sigh* We church folk didn’t come up with the term born again, Jesus did. Read John 3. It’s all there. (And it’s important stuff, make no mistake. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.)

Okay, I think I better stop there or WaterBrook isn’t going to send me any more free books to review.

If you are inclined to give The Echo Within: Finding Your True Calling as a gift, I advise you to package it with a Bible. I’m just sayin’. You may read it and get a totally different vibe than I.

Oprah Winfrey and the Christian

By Monica Brand, 28 January, 2009, 15 Comments

Should Christians watch Oprah?

Friends, I’m having a hard time with a definite answer with this, and you know me, I’m always ready with a Yes or No. I thought I had my answer, wrote up my post to publish yesterday, then I started thinking of the people, the Christians, who may take what they read here and run with it, rather than google God*.

Whoa. That’s a sobering thought, A weighty responsibility for a mommyblogger.

So what to do? How to answer the question? Here’s what I’m thinking regarding Oprah and the Christian. We can discuss in the comments. Please understand: I’m not a theologian. I’m just a Christ follower with high speed Internet, so take this free advice for what it is – my best attempt to answer the question and to help the seeker.

Opinion 1: Christians have no business watching The Oprah Winfrey Show because she doesn’t promote the Bible as Truth.

Based on what I know about her program, I think it’s fair to say she’s not a follower of Christ. So why would a believer want to learn anything from her or expose herself to false teachings? Even watching the episodes about harmless topics like beauty and fashion is not okay because it raises the show’s ratings.

Christian, don’t watch The Oprah Winfrey Show; it will only lead you away from God.

Opinion 2: Christians can watch The Oprah Winfrey Show as long as they don’t depend on it for their spiritual guidance.

This is what I did years ago, before I had young ears in the house, and I needed a distraction while folding laundry. Today, I’d want to watch Oprah to see what she’s talking about, who the guests are, or what she’s into just for the purpose of knowing what she’s preaching. For example, I’d like to see the show with Elizabeth Gilbert as a guest, because I frequently write about her book, Eat, Pray, Love.

My regular readers know the way I think. I like to talk when I’m in a chatty mood (read: everyday!), I’ll talk to anyone, anywhere. I’m not shy. So when I say watching Oprah is okay, these are the situations I’m imaging taking place. Oprah as a cultural point of reference between two strangers.

Read this next part twice, it’s important

I admit – Opinion 2 is tricky territory, especially for the newbie Christian. Oprah is slick. She’s a good talker and even has a measure of truth mixed in with all the nonsense, so to watch Oprah means you better know your Bible well. I can understand why some Christians can be deceived.

Of course, if the Lord tells you otherwise, then you better heed His will. A check in your spirit that screams “NO!” when you tune in to her show might be a big clue that the Lord disapproves.

To the Christian Oprah fan

Friend and fellow believer, I pray what I have written here was of help to you. I know it’s helped me to formulate my answer as to what I believe regarding one of America’s most popular television personalities. There is a lot about Oprah I disagree with, but even so, we are called to love her. I do not hate Oprah. I wish her well. How wonderful it would be if she were to give her life to Christ! What a tremendous testimony she would have!

I’ve given a lot of thought to your question, “Should Christians watch Oprah?” I answered it because you asked via a Google search engine, leading you to this blog. Believer, in all honestly, I, nor the Internet, has the answer that will satisfy. Only submitting yourself to the Lord and His Word will give you peace. Please, go to Him in prayer. Read his Word.

Digging deeper into the question regarding Oprah and the Christian, it’s logical to ask, “Is watching Oprah a sin?” I think that’s the true spirit behind your question.

“Is watching the Oprah Winfrey Show a sin?”

He Who Loves Us replies -

… whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthly – think about such things.

In love and humility,

Monica

____

* Google God. I like that – search the Scriptures and pray for an answer. Clever me.

The importance of learning truth

By Monica Brand, 4 December, 2008, 6 Comments

My mom as a young woman, before I was born, worked at a large bank in Manhattan. As a bank employee, she was trained to recognize counterfeit bills. Down in the basement of the bank, my mother counted bill after bill, touching, feeling the money. She learned color, texture, weight of the paper.

My mom, and her fellow bank tellers, learned what was false by knowing first what was real.

Readers, do you see how this applies to us?

Never can we learn the ins and outs of all the false teaching in the world today. There is simply too much of it. Just go to your local bookstore, plug into the Internet, turn on your TV. It’s there.

Christian, be like my mom in the Manhattan bank. Recognize the lie, not by knowing what’s wrong with the counterfeit, but by knowing the truth.

Read your Bible. Get to know the words. Learn to combat the false by knowing first what is true.

When two world collide: Elizabeth Gilbert and why I home school

More thoughts on church: I’ll not give up

Photo: Eric Hauser