Sunday, May 31, 2009

Golden Oldies

"Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe." Philippians 3:1 (NKJV)

When I was younger I used to listen to music on the radio and they had some songs that were called "Golden Oldies". What was meant by that was that these songs were not something that had just been written yesterday but they had been around for a while. The idea was that these "Golden Oldies" were so good that they stood the test of time and you could hear them over and over again and still enjoy them.

I like what Paul said in Philippians 3:1 about writing the same things to the Philippians. Paul was not always looking for some new doctrine to thrill people. Paul knew that the basics principles of the Gospel message were so good that they stood the test of time and you could hear them over and over again and still enjoy them. We should never get tired of the basic truth of the Gospel and the simple truth of God's Word.

This whole idea can be compared with what some pagans did in Athens. There is an interesting verse in Acts 17:21:
"For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing." Acts 17:21 (NKJV)

This is quite a contrast to what Paul said in Philippians. 3:1 Paul told the Christians in the city of Philippi that it was a safe thing for them to hear some "Golden Oldies" but the ungodly people in Athens were always looking for something new. What is really sad is that many Christians today are more like the people in Athens than the people in Philippi!

We live in an age of incredible access to information but we need to be careful that we don't look for some exciting new thing all the time and then neglect the simple, basic, foundational truths of the Word of God. It is not the latest fad that will help us to grow and develop spiritually it is those "Golden Oldies" that people like Paul wrote to us in the Bible. Stay with the Word of God and make sure when you do hear something that is new to you that it always agrees with the time tested truth of God's Word.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Eating Vegetables And Washing Windows

Today I have been at home doing a few different things, including cleaning my apartment. As I was cleaning my apartment I had the thought that it had been a while since I cleaned the windows so I figured today would be a good day to do that. Washing the windows is one of those things, like eating vegetables, that needs to be done but no one really gets too excited about doing it. Well, I got all the windows done and now they look great! It was not a lot of fun to do but the results are worth it.

In our Christian life there are some things we should do but they don't always seem to be fun. Reading and studying the Bible, walking in love, and volunteering to work somewhere at church are all examples of this; I am sure most of us can come up with a few more if we think about it a bit. But regardless of whether or not something is fun or exciting there are some things that are just right to do. I have met more than just a couple of people who were more interested in what was fun than what was right!

So, am I saying that we should never have any fun or even that being a Christian is a miserable thing? Definitely not! But we cannot live a successful and productive Christian life by avoiding what we don't get excited about. It seems like if someone wants to hold a conference on prosperity or the gifts of the Spirit there will not be enough seats for all those who attend. But, if you decide to have a conference on growing up spiritually or walking in love you will have plenty of empty seats. I believe in prosperity and the gifts of the Spirit but I also know that if someone is not spiritually mature and does not walk in love their life will be a mess.

Life can be fun and exciting but the process we go through to live at that place is not always the most fun or exciting. And just like eating vegetables and washing windows, doing what we need to do and what is right to do brings results that are always worth it!