Shawn

The Economy of Environmental Ignorance and Irresponsibility

2008-03-20T12:35:00.001-04:00

It is easy to make a foreboding list of statistics that lament the ways humans have left a “footprint” on the earth. There is no shortage of data to testify to the negative impact humans have had on creation. And we continue to produce this data because we need to be informed about such issues. However, this does not address the root problem or reason the problems exist. Perhaps the more difficult issue to address in terms of environmental degradation is the motivation behind why we seem so willing to inflict pain on the earth. The problems we are experiencing are directly connected to our economic practice, and, unless we examine some of our economic assumptions and practices, the data on environmental degeneration will only continue to accrue. I propose, therefore, as long as the belief in the legitimacy of self-interest and unmitigated growth goes unabated, creation will continue to suffer. Our commitment to economic growth is not only unsustainable, but hinders us from measuring human activity beyond the ‘bottom line.’ Self interest works against the care of creation in that it makes profit-maximization by the individual or firm the primary concern while care for creation, on the other hand, is largely ignored. Although this topic cannot be pursued comprehensively, the goal of this paper will be to demonstrate the destructive nature which our current economic thinking has on creation and to propose an economic ethic that includes care for creation.

Growth and Other's Backyards

Our society lives as though perpetual, exponential economic growth is possible. However, given that the earth's resources are limited, this is a profoundly confusing economic belief. As the scientific data showing the destructiveness of this idea continues to pour in, we continue, unwavering, down this dead-end path in the pursuit of unhindered economic expansion. Faith in growth remains relatively unchecked. Why is this the case? I submit there are a number of reasons, but one important one is that the type of growth we pursue favours the luxurious lifestyles of certain nations at the expense of the backyards of other nations. We live in an age of comfort and prefer to live with a defective and contradictory worldview—if it best fulfills our wants and desires. This problem spans the entire market: from the producers of goods all the way to the consumers. The dilemma on the manufacturing end of the market is that our economic system exists in a constant tension between fulfilling the desires of the moment while creating an ever-present and insatiable thirst for more. The moment society becomes sated would mark the beginning of an economic collapse. Thus, it is in the best interest of the economy to keep the people wanting. But environmental problems arise because the satisfaction of our wants comes at the expense of other people’s backyards (and our own!) As Wendell Berry notes, “most people aren’t using or destroying what they can see...to build houses here, we clear-cut forests there. To have air conditioning here, we strip-mine the mountains there. To drive cars here, we sink our oil wells over there” (Berry, Wendell. “Conservation is Good Work,” 37). He further notes that as consumers, “living as we do now in almost complete dependence on a Global economy, we are put inevitably into a position of ignorance and irresponsibility” (Berry, 37). It seems to be as impossible to be well-informed about the environmental impact of our economic practices as it is to be responsible for its plunder. The simple phrase “out of sight, out of mind” well describes our relationship to the environmental damage that has been done (and perhaps will be done). It is relatively safe to assume that if our neighbourhood was being raped for these resources we would have protest signs in our front yard, or perhaps make our presence known at the next city council meeting. But the fact that the defacement of creation happens in other parts of the world removes from the consumer both the knowledge of the damage and our responsibility to it. With comfort as our god, an integral and consistent worldview has become less than first priority for most consumers and producers alike.

Self Interest and Profit Maximization

Our economy, according to Mary Jo Leddy in her book, Radical Gratitude, “is based on a belief in an ‘invisible hand’ that guides the competition between the various interests in the free market—for the benefit of all…it endorses the belief that the good of all is enhanced when each group pursues its own interests” (Leddy, Mary Jo. Radical Gratitude, 122). Though this is accepted economic practice, the pursuit of self interest has had a destructive impact on the environment. The self interest of individuals and firms, most clearly seen the pursuit of the bottom line, wards off (and writes off) a creation-care ethic because it discounts costs that fall outside its own sphere of operation; i.e. the environmental impact of its activities. Environmental cost is rarely calculated into the cost of doing business because our current economic system has no means of measuring individual responsibility directly related to particular problems. As Donald Hay notes, "A private firm will have no incentive to incur the cost of safe disposal of a poisonous effluent which will pollute the water supply to other citizens of firms. A private motorist will drive his car in a crowded city without paying the cost of congestion that his car is inflicting on other users of the city. An aeroplane flying overhead may cause acute discomfort because of noise, but the airline pays no price for it" (Hay, Donald. Economics Today, 155).
Individuals of firms who have their sights set on profit maximization can rarely factor in the environmental cost of their market operations. Most often the responsibility to creation falls into a blind-spot or becomes an operational footnote. And those who do take into account their impact on creation often see their responsibility more as a necessity to conform to governmental regulations. The false logic is often “to ‘earn’ more money through more production so that we can fund improvements to the environment” (Goudzwaard and de Lange, Beyond Poverty and Affluence, 66-67). But this approach, however, as Goudzwaard and de Lange note, does not work at a fundamental level because it “puts the cart before the horse.” This logic is typical of profit-first self-interest.

Hay illustrates these ideas well by using the example of fishing firms whose primary focus is profit maximization (Hay, 296-306). In this illustration he shows the interplay between a profit maximizing firm and the environment consequences. He further shows how consequences are magnified when there are a number of firms operating in close quarters. As mentioned earlier, in a firm primarily driven by profit and self-interest, the resource from which the profit comes is often denied any inherent value unless it is being used (Hay, 300). From this perspective, the cost of the resource can only be measured in terms of the cost of production (Hay, 300). The goal then becomes a matter of running “down the resource as fast as possible within the constraints of the fleet” (Hay, 300). To put this into the context of the fish farm, the individual firm maximizes their ability to catch the maximum number of fish before the population of the fish will plummet to the point of either uselessness or unprofitability; both of which result in the destruction of creation. Therefore, because this economic practice finds little or no creational value in a resource and the “biological process is just too slight to make it worth waiting for it to produce a natural surplus” the law of supply and demand supersedes all natural law (Hay, 300. Italics added).

We have also introduced another problem here with self-interest –and that is that firms acting in their own interest fail to take into consideration other firms working within close proximity. In the case of a fishery, each firm is trying to catch as many fish as possible without considering that their collective activity could have destructive consequences for the resource. If each fishery were limited to the control of one firm per geographic location the environmental impact would be far more subdued—but this is not the case. Rather, the problem is magnified because it is most often the case that many firms are competing in the same area and using the same principle of self interest. The first, and most obvious problem with many firms sucking up the fish from one location, is that the stock of the fish will diminish at an exponential rate compared to the depletion rate of just one firm. So, even if the firms can clearly see that the fishery’s resources will be destroyed, “no one firm has an incentive to change its behaviour” (Hay, 300). There is no system of control in an economy that is controlled by the law of supply and demand. And there has yet to be an incentive to consider the environmental cost of doing business. Therefore, as long as self interest remains as a legitimate pursuit, creation will never have its say on the limits of economic operation. Thus self interest works against creation care because it can only measure operational costs and because it fails to take into account others working with similar interests in close proximity.

An Economic of Care

As we can see from our discussion, we have only briefly addressed the destructive nature of our current way of economic thinking. However, from this small introduction, we can none-the-less critique the economic system in place and begin constructing an economic system based on care instead of self interest and perpetual growth. In this final evaluation, I would like to outline three areas that contribute to an economic system of care. My first evaluation is in regards to creational value. I suspect that an economist would plead innocent to the accusation of reducing all of creation to a list of resources or latent financial value—as I am sure that they could assign some kind of value to it (sentimental, aesthetic, etc.)—but their actions are often self-incriminating. As a Christian, I firmly believe that creation has a much greater value than we could ever describe (or ascribe to it). For example, it is impossible to assign a value that can measure the amount which something reflects the glory of God, or, for something that God proclaimed “Good.” An economy of care rests in the belief that creation is, indeed, valuable—to God, to us and to future generations. Second, I find it very difficult to biblically support an economic system that is guided by wants, needs and the desires of the heart. In our current economic system “all critical questions affecting our use of the earth are left to be answered by ‘the market’ or the law of supply and demand, which propose no limit of supply or demand” (Berry, 37). The law of supply and demand is entirely subject to the wishes of the heart, but scripture often refers to the dangers of relying on the deceitfulness of our hearts, and our demented world is living proof that often what seems to be the best way to satisfy the desires of our heart is the worst thing for creation. And finally, we need to recover the understanding that we are part of creation. It is only in the past one hundred years or so that we have really developed the idea that we are transcendent over creation, but in reality we are part of its every ecosystem.

In order to lay the foundation of an ethical economy of care, we need to begin by replacing the principle of growth and self interest with a primary interest in God. When our interests are rooted in our relationship to God, our other relationships (with the non-human creation as well as with our fellow human beings, for example) become better aligned. We begin to understand the intrinsic value of creation; we can allow ourselves to become guided by the Holy Spirit in contrast to the deceitful desires of the heart; and finally, we will recover the biblical view that we are, in fact, part of Creation.

Work Cited

Berry, Wendell. Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community. 'Conservation is Good Work'. New York: Pantheon Books, 1991.

Goudzwaard, Bob , and Harry de Lange. Beyond Poverty and Affluence: Toward and Economy of Care. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995.

Hay, Donald . Economics Today - A Christian Critique . Vancouver, British Columbia: Regent College Publishing, 2004.

Leddy, Mary J. Radical Gratitude. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2002.

Here I sit. Open hearted, Empty, yet Full.

2005-09-24T20:14:00.000-04:00

First, the disclaimer:
My deep apologies to any English majors and to those who require structure in writing to find value. This post may or may not contain fluidity from start to finish; seeing that I'm not even sure where to start or how it is going to finish.

I never had a tough time communicating and socializing in groups or one on one conversation. And up till now filling time with conversation and interaction with people has never been a problem. I never thought that it would take the stripping away of close friends and acquaintances to cause me to realize as well as to remove the barriers that exist between me and Christ. The above sets the stage of this post - "open hearted and empty."

So, here I open myself and reveal my sinful nature. Up until a year ago I had managed to fill my whole life with people and things that filled a void that can only truly be filled with Christ . My entire high school life was filled with people, activities and business that drew me away from Christ and into in self-gratifying sin. At the time, I thought I was having the time of my life. We would go out "shit disturbing," which consisted of vandalizing random property, mailboxes, stealing, removing public road signs - anything to cause disturbance. We would go to concerts, movies, parties, camping - anything to fill time and distract ourselves from real life. During this time I felt like I knew who I was, were I was going in life and felt full and complete as a person. I had friends, a job and a family and never even realized, nor had time to realize, what was missing deep within.

One by one my high school "friends" dropped out from the group, myself included. In reality I was the first one to drift from the group, but it felt like everyone was leaving me behind. One joined the army and now helping maintain peace in Afghanistan, one joined the British Royal Marines, one went off to Mohawk for police training, and the last one, a co-worker, is now going to school for robotic electrical engineering. And to top things off, a three-year relationship with my (then) girlfriend did not work out.

Here I sit. Open hearted and empty.

The feeling of being lonely was not a new feeling by any means. Loneliness was present the entire time - only repressed and forced into the background of my life by my business. This is where Christ in His rich, rich mercy and grace flooded the scene. As sinful and entirely corrupted as I was, I can now see Christ's hand the entire time - not really leading in a sense that I was following - but more so blocking me from doing certain things to protect me. Or to use another analogy: Christ kept me on a leash in order to give me a jerk on the line every time I went too far in the wrong direction.

Through all my sin, Christ had His way of preserving me. He has blessed me with a conscience that would not die. It was almost as if He had to resuscitate my conscience numerous times, but He kept it alive. He first allowed me to see the glaring sins in my life, then eventually to see the finer, more disguised ones. And still, He continues to tune my conscience.

The next example of Christ's preservation still leaves me in awe. While I was in Australia trying to run away from everything: family, responsibility, time, job and God, I felt the most lonely in my entire life. Even though I spent two months with my "best friends," living exactly how I wanted to, I felt horribly alone! During this time God taught me how to pray. I don't even know how I prayed; words just came out of my mouth. I didn't even know if I meant the very words I spoke. But God taught me to pray; to speak freely with Him.

Shortly after my return from Australia I began to see Christ's face. It was interesting for me to note that: the more friends I lost, the more time I had for Christ and the more He revealed Himself to me. Ever since that trip, God has placed many people and things in my life in order to draw me back to Himself: brothers, parents, aunts, uncles, books, the Bible, a new girlfriend, and new friendships.

God is good. God is merciful. God is gracious. God is also righteous in His judgment. His judgment could not let me stay where I stood in my sin. He has convicted me, but He also gave me the strength and mercy to get up, 'repent, and sin no more.'

It is tough to wrap my mind around that fact that Christ loved me so much that first of all, He died for my sins in order that I have a chance to spend eternal life with HIM! And secondly, He loved me so much that He was willing to contintuously send diverse people into my life to draw me back to Himself.

Here I sit. Open-hearted and honest about my past, empty from close friends, yet being constantly filled with Christ. I hope and pray that my heart will be led and drawn to new friends that truly lift me up and encourage me in faith.

Praise God for His infinite love for His fallen people!

Thank you God for your gift of salvation in Christ! Thank you God for the people you have place in my life to draw me back to yourself! Thank you God for your gift of Amyann!

I've been thinking

2005-04-30T22:44:00.000-04:00

Over the past few months God has taught me a few things. One thing He has taught me is that He answers prayers in unbelieveable ways. By "unbelieveable" I mean incredibly glorious in terms of my spiritual growth, and in the human sense where it feels like I've been "through the mill." As a feeble human I ask for things and sometimes don't even expect them to happen, or when I do ask for them I have set in my mind this perfect, ideal way of receiving what God has to offer. Well, I am beginning to understand that God has a much larger picture in mind for my personal faith development. God works in mysteriously awesome ways. I can see God's handi-work through the trials recently encountered in my life. And I thank God for allowing me to see through the stormy blasts! Praise God!

I say the above to three reasons:
First, to encourage you in your faith to hang in there and dialy submit yourselves to Christ even when there seems to be no end to your sturggle. There is an enormous light and reward at the end of the tunnel!

Second, to explain, not excuse my presence on my blogsite and in comments on other sites. My life is in a serious state transformation and my priority has been to absorb and soak up as much life as possible from the word of God.

And Lastly, I'm asking you to pray for me. I am weak. I am human. I am sinful. I need prayer. Pray for my spiritual growth, and that God will allow me to see His controling hand throughout all the trails that come my way.

Praise Him!

Neo-Calvinist insite required!

2005-04-02T21:11:00.000-05:00

In a ongoing battle between a respected coworker and I, he stated the following which I am having a tough time digesting. How do you respond to a statement like this?

"Neo-Calvinism has many good qualities, but they have to understand that you don't have to rumage through the trash cans of society to find something worth redeeming."

I Wonder...?

2005-04-02T20:37:00.000-05:00

I wonder
What kind of church would my church be,
if every member was just like me?
How many souls would be saved today,
if it all depended on what I Say?
I wonder
How many times have I said I'm a Christian,
but turned a deaf ear to a need?
How many time have I said I love Jesus,
but everyone saw what I lead?
I wonder
How many luxuries have I passed by
to have more to give to the Lord?
Jesus I promise as long as I live
from now on I'm going to do more.
I wonder
How many prayers would my Lord have to answer,
if all that he heard came from me?
What kind of church would my church be,
if every member was just like me?

This is a really good song found in the album What Kind of Church, by The Watchmen.

I think everyone that reads this blog will come to two conclusions; First, the impossibility of every member being exactly the same, and the second, thank God not everyone is just like me!

Christian Approach to Entertainment

2005-02-23T22:52:00.000-05:00

First, A deep apology to all who have been continuing to visit this site during it's dormant stage. I am trying to organize my life a little more lately to spend more time in reading, reflection and prayer. Well, here is the opening paragraph and an attempt to keep what faithful readers I have, faithful.

Recently I found myself extremely upset and repulsed with the morals of many shows, the use of sexuality to sell almost every product, the lack of respect for God, the course and perverse language that has become socially acceptable and much, much more. In previous discussion in regards to this topic I leaned towards condemning television as a whole and not being involved with it at all. After reading Creation Regained by Al Wolters it has opened my eyes to see a better picture of our world in which we live and how to analyze certain and particular aspects of this world. It has shed a new light on the topic of entertainment the form of television. In this excellent book Wolters explains how to look at everything in the “corrective lenses” of the Reformation worldview. Through the scope of Creation, Fall and Redemption we can see exactly what God created as normative and good, how the fall into sin has corrupted and penetrated every aspect of creation, and then heavily sift through every part of life, finding the created good and embracing it. With this as a structure we can then begin chose our direction in which we travel. With the idea and assumption that Christ is permeated in every sphere of life, and that nothing on earth remains in a neutral category belonging to neither Christ or Satan, we must attempt redeem all normative goods for, and in the name of Christ.

Informed, Misinformed and Ignorant: Complete

2005-01-17T20:23:00.000-05:00

Many analysts of our culture would describe this day and age "the age of information." With all the different types of media today there is no doubt that this is, indeed, the most well informed age in history - with information that Neil Postman in Amusing Ourselves to Death would better describe today's epistemology as Entertainment. Logically, information is essential to have an informed opinion or make a right decision, but equally important to the actual information is the context of which the information is found. Today, Information/Entertainment is thrown at us in an incredible rate. Technology has allowed access to fragments of information from the other side of this globe in split seconds, to both our advantage of global awareness and also to fuel our North American misconception of what it means to be well-informed.. Television has the ability to shape, change and distort our view of reality in a very dangerous way.

We must first acknowledge that everything on TV is packaged as entertainment. Everything from commercials, programs, and even the 10 o'clock news. I don't think that too many of those reading would be shocked to hear that commercials and television programs are entertaining, but I would like to suggest that the news programs also are delivered as a piece of entertainment.

Even the newscast that is viewed on the television set has to be packaged in a certain way to attract attention; from the cheerful music they play between newscasts, the physical appearance of the news anchors/actors, the stereotypical, easy-going sports and weather guy, to the flashing pictures and streaming three second audio-video clips that push ideas and morals "... into and out of consciousness that neither permit nor require evaluation."-Postman. By adding the cheerful music, humourous news story and/or cramming a nonsense commercial a split second after casting about the horrible AIDS situation in Africa does not convict me that their story is so terrible and a worthy cause of my attention. Therefore, becoming nothing more then entertainment.

What is the purpose for the newscast? Is it to bring to our attention the fact that AIDS is a huge crisis in Africa? or Do they seriously want us to consider the situation and see how we, the audience, can help? Not even the people in the newscast room have a purpose or message to take from the actual image that the viewer just saw. Without a purpose, how are the viewers supposed to interpret a meaning or message? Because we aren’t actually informed with the whole situation the story has no context, because this situation has been taken out of context it has no meaning, and because it has no meaning it becomes entertainment. If the situation is a fact it is useless and nothing more then another fragment of information irrelevant to our daily lives!

Because the news has no value to be drawn from it, it has very little if any weight in our daily lives and decisions. Because our knowledge on a certain topic derives from television, the information that we are given is extremely tainted and give us opinions about anything and everything based on NOTHING. Nothing consists of nothing. This is obvious and let me explain; “nothing” consists of no morals, no message, meaning, purpose, or context. How then, are we to derive our opinions on something that is not a true reflection of reality? This is obviously an extreme case where one only collects information from the television set. It would be ridiculous to think this as true, but with the extreme decrease in reading of print based material and the drastic increase in televised information in today’s youth, one’s view are fairly heavily weighted by the source most often sought after.

With this in mind, the North American definition of what it means to be “informed” must be revamped! Currently, western culture has define it as a wealth of information and “knowing about lots of things,”says Postman, not “knowing a lot about things”. The western culture believes that we live in the most informed era of history, to which I would much rather suggest that our culture is more ignorant than it is well informed. I would say that most reading this critique know of the AIDS crisis in Africa, but would venture to suggest that not very many reading would be able to tell me what language they speak in South Africa, or what religions are prevelent, what government they have in place, or what “tucka; mayuc’kala” means. Postman asks an awesome question when he asks: "Ignorance is correctable, but what shall we do if we take ignorance to be knowledge?" pg.109

Let us first look at some definitions. These definitions seem simple, but really look at what they mean.
Entertainment:
Something that amuses, pleases, or diverts.

-Amuse:
To cause to laugh or smile by giving pleasure.
Originally meant: To delude or deceive.

-Pleases:
To give enjoyment, pleasure, or satisfaction
To make glad or contented.

-Divert:
To turn aside from a course or direction
To distract
To entertain by distracting the attention from worrisome thoughts or cares
(courstesy of Dictionary.com)

By realizing that everything on Television is packaged as media we can then draw some conclusion to the effects that this form of media can have on us. The point that I find quite disconcerting is that everything points to distraction, deceptions, and pleasure and eludes any sort of assessment on life, critique and thinking. Other points I wish to discuss are that television gives us a misconception of reality, it takes the glory of God and places it upon our pleasure, and has the very real ability to divert us away from God by acting as a comfort, or an escape from reality.

First, an interesting fact that I wish to point out is, clearly in the definition of the word “amuse,” deception was its original meaning. Although it may not use in this way today, I think it very mush so applies to the description of entertainment. If our culture recognizes that what we see on the television set may not be reality, how are we to decipher what is real and what is not? We have all used or heard the line "its only TV." or "its only a movie." Let me clarify something: television is not a true reflection of reality, it is merely what the author thinks that you think would be ideal. Such is the outline of every commercial you see on TV. In many cases it comes very close to making us think that it is reality. I do not wish to leave you with the lasting impression that the news is not important nor that actual event is real, but what I want to stress the effect and ability that the television has to alter and form the way we think of certain topics to their advantage. Television is a dictator, a one way form of communication, it tells you how and what to feel. If communication is supposed to be a two ways, there is obviously something wrong.

In a sentence or two let me briefly touch on the topic of “reality” television shows. Reality television shows are nothing but a few select individuals with certain, very strong personality traits that are forcefully assembled together so that North America can be grossly entertained by their sinful nature unfolding in a “mere game” where biblical principles like that of honesty, integrity, patience and love are not embraced or seen as positive traits but more so as a hindrance to that of the earthly prize! Such as the phrase from Survivor goes, “Outwit, Outplay, Outlast.” Need I say any more.

Secondly, our purpose on earth is the honor and glorify God, celebrate in Christ’s victory over death and in turn spread the gospel to those in need. My question is: where in the definition of entertainment does the glory point towards God when everything points to pleasing ourselves?

Finally, in the list of definitions we find “divert:” -To distracte the attention from worrisome thoughts or cares. Is this the biblical way of dealing with our thoughts and cares? In Psalm 55:22 the psalmist writes “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.” In Revolution in the World Missions by K.P. Yohannan, he asks an interesting question, “why is it that in America we feel the need to be constantly entertained and assaulted with media...? It is as if we are trying to disguise a guilt that we have not yet defined.” He goes on to suggest to possibilities of straying from out walk with the Lord, or the guilt of over-eating, big houses, or nice cars, meanwhile, we are letting thousands die to the name of Satan every day.

In conclusion, television is a powerful force of deception. It is easy to slide into a state of constant entertainment and media assault without even noticing. As Christians we must realize the dangers that exist and also fight them. Satan would love it if we were to turn to our television sets in order to temporarily escape this world, and for us to believe the lies that is displays. It is easy for one to defend television in the fact that it never openly lies, it only tells half the truth. But as K.P Yohannan says "the interesting thing about the half truth is that they in themselves contain an entire lie."pg 101 God is truth, let us focus on God and not constantly being entertained. To Him be the Glory, and may we fall on Him for our comfort. Amen.

Now it is your turn. What is your response?

Challenging Quote

2005-01-06T21:13:00.000-05:00

"If you don't sincerely attempt to live out what you claim to believe, then don't claim to believe it." -Anonymous

The Phrase "How's it Going "

2004-12-25T16:21:00.000-05:00

When used in the proper context, "How's it going" is an appropriate phrase for greeting someone. While this is socially acceptable it is also an over-used, inauthentic method of greeting. I find we too often use this phrase without actually meaning what we say.

An authentic greeting is supposed to express a honesty that is shared when two parties meet. Unfortunately, this phrase has been much abused and is, in many cases, an easy way to escape a moment social awkwardness at initial encounter. In the event that you do get an answer it is usually one of the the classic, socially acceptable, answers like "fine," "good," or maybe even "great." Consider going to church: have we all had a splendid week? is everything fine and dandy? Where has our true and real communication gone? There is such a thing called "social grace," but I believe we have mistaken social grace with authentic communication.

Recently I overheard a brief conversation between two co-workers. To understand the story you must know that one co-worker only asks a question for on of two purposes; first, to initiate a conversation in order that he could tell you something, or second, to say some sort of sarcastic or smart-ass remark. The conversation was very short, but says tons about our society. It went like this:

"John ... how are you doing?"
"What do you want Steve?, because you really don't care how I'm doing"
-Steve walked away without a response.

Now, John's response seems a little harsh but it gets the point across well. This exact situation might also explain why many people do not even repond to this question. In many cases we can see through the question and notice that the questioner doesn't really want to know to answer nor is prepared to listen if the answer is a negative one.

I do not want to suggest that we spill our feelings to everyone that we come into contact with, but I do want to stress the importance of authentic communication. God designed us to have different types of relationships throughout our lives, some being far deeper then others. One being companionship, others being close friends, friends, and some aquaintances. None or these alone can completely satisfy our social lives, but together they make it whole.

Social grace is not the ability to talk to anybody easily. Social grace is the ability speak authentically when in contact with people from all different levels of intimacy. Greet people with respect. Respect includes asking real questions as well as listening with an open mind and ear when their answer should come about. Here are three things that will help with authentic communication.

There are a three basic things that make up true communication. The first one I want to mention is Physical contact. There are a few ways to achieve this and they range from a kiss or Holy kiss to a hug or firm handshake. Physical human contact is something you must go out of your way to accomplish. This is a subconscious and simple means way to show authenticity in you greeting.

My next comment may be harder for some then others. You must spend more time listening then talking. If you listen to people, who are relatively open, long enough, you will notice most people have a lot of things to say and would appreciate nothing more then for you to just listen. It is a humbling and great experience to put someone else before yourself.

The last part of face to face cummunication that I want to mention is the actual words you speak. Do not use slang. Slang words, cursing, and swear words are so broad that they lack meaning. When you speak, use words that accurately discribe how you feel and what you want to say. Ask questions to further the conversation. Dig deeper. When you are not sure about motive behind a statement, ask about it.

Relationships are a gift from God which take time, effort, and cultivating. We must exercise this gift and give thanks and glorfy God through our relationships while here on earth.

What Would Jesus Say?

2004-12-12T17:36:00.000-05:00

"Where did I say that you should buy so much stuff to celebrate My birthday?"

Grow and Help Grow

2004-12-09T01:06:00.000-05:00

I would like to propose a challenge to those reading. To no credit of my own, the following challenge was once proposed to me. I felt so compelled to do so, that I wish share with you my experience.

Find someone that you know that is either struggling in their faith life or totally outside the faith, sincerely and intensely pray for them until you recieve the courage through the spirit of God to go out of your way to build a relationship with this person and direct him/her to Christ.
After praying deeply for that person you immediately begin building a relationship, and eventually this relationship reaches a plateau unless further cultivated. Without speaking a word, you begin to feel very connected with this person and God creates a strong desire to begin the next step of relationship. And so the journey of discipleship begins.

Consider.

Power of Prayer

2004-12-03T19:29:00.000-05:00

Recently, after reading John 15 as part of my personal devotions, I noticed something that has been told to me many times before but this time it was revealed in a new light. That is that God craves to give us gifts, also known as: the Fruit of the Spirit. Because I grew up in a Christian environment, this didn't particularly slap me in the face, but what stood out was the amount that God gives compared to the amount that He receives. This realization made me take a step back and stand in awe. What an awesome God we have that He so freely lavishes His gifts upon us. It is such a humbling fact to know that we cannot possibily give back what has been given.

This does not means that we are free to receive without giving. Gifts from God are to have a cause and effect; to futher your relationship with the Lord and to glorify His name. We are called to develope these gifts in order to further God's kingdom and increase in love and understanding.

In this chapter Jesus compares our relationship with God to a vine; where we are the branches and God is the vine. To grow in our faith lives we must remain in Him, which is to say, first we must remain in love. At this point Jesus makes it clear that if we want to grow in our faith we have to ask for it.

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. - John 15: 7-8

Lately, in my life there have been obstacles larger then I can see past. And by these things I felt trapped with nowhere to turn. At this point all have I have to fall back on is God's word and prayer. When I found no solution within myself for these obstacles, God began to reveal His word to me. Just like in any trade, you need the right tools for the right job. In order to deal with life I need the right tools. In the process of searching for these tools I came across Galasians 5, part or which lists the fruit of the spirit. If I want to grow in faith, I have to ask for it.

Over the past six months God has worked in wonderous ways. My life has forced me to turn to God in prayer, and in return, God reveals to me his power and makes me thankful. With this kind of God, I can't really loose.

A topic of which we talk about frequently in our circles, but rarely take time to focus on is the power of prayer. Prayer is a very broad topic, and I only wish to address it in the light of us asking God for His gifts. Prayer is only effective when it is sincere, that is when we actually believe the God can make a difference. Often our prayer contains this disclaimer "if this be your will." It seems as if we allowing God an "out," or neglecting to set ourselves up for disappointment if we don't get what we are asking for. This frustrates me! If we are praying sincerely for God to nurture our faith life, Jesus promises us "...ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you." This does not mean you will recieve without hardship and struggle, but you will get what you pray for.

Prayer invovles a few things: our prayer, God's giving, and our receiving. Asking for God's help in our developement is only part of the equation required of us. The other part being; praise and thanks. Pray that God will make you aware of His work in your life so that you may give Him the glory and forever be thankful to our Lord, Jesus Christ. For we are mere servants of God and shall be humbled by that!

In summary, be bold in what you ask for, expect changes, be prepared to follow where God leads you, and never stop praising God!
God is powerful. Let Him display that power though your prayer.
Pray about it.

Purpose and Audience

2004-11-26T20:20:00.000-05:00

Having read quite a few blogs from the Redeemer crowd and most of the time finding them very intresting, challenging and eye opening, I have concluded that the use of Blogger.com has more redeemable values then not.

Before I really get started on this whole blogging world I would have to say: Any blogger who hosts a page fully developed with hundreds of links, pictures and profiles would have to admit to spending too much time behind a computer screen.

I wish to make this clear: this is a blogsite, not my life. I refuse to make this site control my life. However, I do feel that writing blogs is a worthwhile activity and I plan to make the time to keep a current site. Because I am in a non-academic setting all day blogs make me take the time to write out a well thought out and efficiently articulated idea. It forces me to think deeper than what meets the eye. It forces me to dig for rusty vocabulary and stretch the brian which has been relaxed since highschool graduation. Personally, I find having an in-depth discussion with someone acts as a great form of self-evaluation and ultimately works the best for me. But the next best thing would be writing my thoughts out. Whether that be via pen on paper or in the new-found form of a blog.

I would like to compare my blogsite to a friend. One in which I trust to share ideas, challenges and concerns with. Expecting an honest and heart-felt response when wisdom or insight could be added or topics debated. My audience being anyone who feels that they can relate to a real and living relationship with the Lord, Jesus Christ.

May I conclude by saying posting and commenting on blogs can be edifying and much enjoyed, but may we not let it slow and stop our work for the kingdom of God.