06.29.19 - week 10
‘at my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. may it not be charged against them, but the lord stood by me and strengthened me.’
2 timothy 4:16-17
it’s very easy to make yourself the wounded one.
they should have X. why didn’t they Y.
this is especially true when you feel like a victim of injustice. it’s tempting to start making a list (and checking it twice an hour) of those who didn’t stand up for you. who didn’t defend you.
i think anyone reading this would have to acknowledge that if there was a power ranking of servants of jesus christ, you would fall in line behind the apostle paul. no matter how faithful you have been, you didn’t write romans or win a theological argument with peter.
yet, when paul was presented at trial, potentially to be killed, and the moment came, tumbleweeds. no one was there to advocate on his behalf. not one solitary person willing to put their neck out for him.
paul had every right to start dropping bombs….
thx barnabas + onesimus, appreciate your help #not #sorrynotsorry #badfriends
but he doesn’t. he requests grace for those who didn’t lean in to help at all. the lord supplied what he needed, so he found it possible to be gracious.
so i wonder, is the reason you are so tied in knots because you haven’t leaned into the lord’s strength enough to receive the strength to burn the list of people you are angry with?
Cup of Leadership
you know that weird thing where you are talking to your sister about some band you saw in high school and then an hour later you get an email trying to get you to watch their new video?
that sense we all have somewhere in the subconcious that our phones are watching and listening way more than we realize.if attention is the most monetizable commodity on the planet right now, we are pricing ourselves too cheap.
if it isn’t good or helpful, don’t look at it.
we think it’s so innocent. we’re just lurking. trying to get the lay of the land.
that reality show makes us feel better about our own problems. that story about the latest political whatever will get our blood boiling in a way we don’t want to admit, kinda feels good.
but it’s because we have undervalued our swipes/clicks/eye-balls.
when you consume it, you are sending a message that the world needs more of it.
passive consumption is a perpetuating endorsement.
Book Review
crazy good. super rich + nuanced but with prose that’s pleasant to read.
given the title, it may seem super negative and heavy, but reading it wasn’t like that.
the intellectual rigor gave me a deeper understanding than ever of the ‘whys’ + ‘hows’ of what entangles us.
3 Things I Really Liked This Week
1. on a roadtrip, this week, we made a playlist of kristen + i + the kids favorites, put on shuffle and play, you might dig it.
2. while driving, i have been listening to this podcast, its super weird + riveting (The Shrink Next Door).
3. went and saw hillsong united earlier this week, absolutely loved this song live, what a beautiful vision of the god who is doing new things.