Materialism - Some Holiday Thoughts ... Briefly

Condemning materialism has become a commonplace during the holiday season around Thanksgiving (in the US) and Christmas. I won't question the sentiment, but will ask what it means. How meaningful is criticizing materialism if you believe the world is nothing more than material? How meaningful is your criticism if you offer nothing greater than the pursuit of material goods and experiences? The only thing you can control is what you do, so what does what you pursue say you believe in?

Gym-Rat-ian Confessions, Part 4 - Shoes & Exhilaration

Just a couple of little things ...

Up till this time last year I had noticed that my shoes - I usually was using two pair in alternation, bought 2-3 months apart - were lasting 6-9 months before the soles wore through in spots to inner layers. That was the point where I replaced them. I joined the gym and started mainly using a treadmill at the end of last year. My two current pair of shoes were bought in April and July of this year. Neither show signs of significant wear in the soles, despite 2-5 miles a day on treadmills plus two half marathons between them. Evidently the treadmill belt is considerably less wearing than concrete sidewalks. With my usage pattern this fact could save $50-$100 year in shoe costs! This is something I did not think of a year ago when I joined the gym.

About 6 weeks ago I walked in the San Jose Half Marathon, for the second time. I'm happy to say that my time over the same course as last year was 20 minutes faster! A good improvement! I'm so far from the league of competitive runners that my standings vs. otherrunners doesn't much matter to me. What I'm "competing" against is myself - being able to finish, improving from previous performance. All in all, I was very happy with how I did (as well as very tired). But that exhileration is not something that lasts - just like most/all accomplishments in life. The moment passes, the consequences play out and become background - normal. Human minds most easily "see" immediate things, that which we are currently living or have just experienced. But true long-lasting joys are found in things that last - people who live long lifetimes and eternal things.

The Illusion of "Sign Gifts"

An article I read recently concerning a conference in Southern California attacking Pentecostals and charismatics made a point I thought interesting. People who teach that certain gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased operating after the First Century AD - "Cessationism" - make a point of using phrases such as "revelatory gifts", or "sign gifts", as if those terms came from Scripture. While there maybe some descriptive utility in this usage, it can also be misleading if one assumes Scripture makes such a distinction. It does not. Making this distinction is foundational to Cessationism. It separates the gifts of the Spirit into two classes of gifts, setting up the possibility that one class ceased, while the other continued. In other words, part of the conclusion has been built - consciously or subconsciously - into one of the premises.

By way of contrast, Scripture speaks of the gifts of the Spirit, undifferentiated, all supernatural, all empowered by the Holy Spirit. This is seen in both Romans 12:6-8 and 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 & 28-30. Both mix the the obviously miraculous gifts and those less obviously so as having the same character, differentiated only by the sort of need each meets. Aside from refusing to accept gifts God has given to the Body of Christ for its benefit, the danger in distinguishing the more obviously miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit from those that seem more ordinary is to fail to recongize that the working and empowering of the Holy Spirit is just as intrinsic and critical to gifts such as teaching, serving, hospitality and giving as to speaking in tongues or healing. One may teach or serve or give with one's natural talents and means, but not so the obviously miraculous gifts. The path from distinguishing the obviously miraculous gifts from those less obviously so, through failing to recognize the less obviously miraculous as, nevertheless, the work of the Holy Spirit, to operating on natural talent rather than relying on the Holy Spirit is perilously short.

Gym-Rat-ian Confessions, Part 3 - Bohhhh---Riiiiinnnngg!

Half an hour or more on a treadmill or elliptical or stationary bicycle is just plain boring - just being honest, here. And done 5 or 6 or 7 times a week, that boredom would soon become a mental barrier to working out. So, what to do?

When I was walking outside on the streets, music was sufficient. The scenery and people I met changed continually, and I had to pay attention to things like uneven sidewalks and traffic (even if I get flattened by a driver who is in the wrong, I'm still flattened!). One thing I found handy was Bluetooth headphones. That way I don't have to worry about where to keep my smart phone so that the cord between the phone and headphones will not be so tight it pulls out or pulls the phone out of my pocket so it falls to the ground. At the gym, I probably see some one accidentally yank their phone or MP3 player off a machine's shelf a couple times a month. I cringe every time I see it! The Bluetooth headphones I've found that have good sound and are durable (I've spent hours sweating on the treadmill and walked a half marathon using them) are LG HBS700. But on a treadmill, music alone wasn't enough for me.

I've seen others reading magazines and books. That can work pretty well, and I have read books while on the treadmill. But books can be a little awkward. Another thing that has worked well for me is reading books on my tablet computer (an e-reader will work just as well, though tablets can have apps for more than one e-reader format). By using my tablet, I can (and often do) read from more than one book over my time on the treadmill. Often I read 2-5 chapters from the Bible (I have two translations on my tablet at present), and then read in whatever other book I happen to be reading at the time. The latter, lately, have been novels by Jules Verne and Charles Dickens (complete works of older authors can be very inexpensive). I also have the book our church home group is using on my tablet. Imagine trying to read from 2 or 3 "dead tree" books while using a treadmill (or elliptical or stationary bicycle)!