Nothing ruins a good action movie like the main character drifting off into some daydream sequence, away in some peaceful place with his family……
When I watched "The Gladiator" with Russell Crow years ago, I was in awe. That’s the kind of movie that makes you want to be noble, to do the right thing, and in some weird way learn how to fight with a sword. (more…)
There’s a saying in the software world "Good, Fast, Cheap, pick two". The basic premise is that you can make software that is good, and it’s done fast, but it won’t be cheap. Or it can be done fast, and cheaply, but it won’t be good. Or it will be good, and cheap, but it will take forever.
It seems to me that in our culture, there’s a widespread trend of buying lots of stuff, as soon as you can, for as cheaply as you can. This brings me back to the title of this post. (more…)
Christians in high-profile positions of ministry have suffered some embarrassing scandals and marriage failures. I’m sure the reasons for this are very complex, but I’m going to take a look at an attitude that I think has contributed to it’s fair share of scandals and divorces. (more…)
It was already 1:30 and we were walking back into Lowe’s for the 4th time. Not 4 separate trips, one trip. 4 times in and out of the store. Each time we made it through the checkout line and back to the car, we immediately realized we had forgotten something we needed. My wife will tell, this kind of thing drives me crazy. Because when your expectations of what you’re going to accomplish in a given day are as high as mine, there’s not much room for things to go wrong.
I began to realize sometime last year that my perception of what a "normal" day was, had grown bloated. The problem is, I had started looking at certain tasks that I didn’t particularly like as short, get-it-done-and-move-on tasks. The more things I committed too, the smaller those things got to be in my mind. Banking? No problem. Doing laundry? No problem. I’ll do it right after I get done updating the church website.
The problem is, those things aren’t short little things. They take time. And I was doing myself a huge disservice by not accepting that fact. So I’d end up planning my day full of so many things that I’d end up feeling like a failure by the end of the day because not everything had gone perfectly.
This also exposes another problem. My expectations are based on perfection. I base what’s normal on what’s really exceptional. I still remember the night I bowled a 221 back at Manheim Lanes. No one was there to see it, but it became my new "normal" bowling score. From that point on, if I didn’t make 221, I was failing to play up to what I was capable of.
So because there have been a few days where I got an enormous amount of things done because everything went exactly as planned, that has become my idea of a "normal" day. So anytime anything goes wrong, it feels like I’m failing. Because I’m looking at near-perfect and confusing it with "normal".
As I look around at American culture, it becomes obvious to me that I’m not alone. I think that collectively we have a distorted view of what "normal". Of what one person should be able to do. Technology has cut so many corners for us, leaving gaping holes in our day, that we then fill with more stuff. Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if I just accepted the fact that I can only get one really important task done in a given evening, and then limited my responsibilities around that reality….
"Can I have another shot of those eye drops?" I asked the nurse. I had barely slept the night before because my eyes were hurting so bad. It felt like a grain of sand under my eyelid, and nothing I did could get rid of it. I went to the emergency room the next morning where they put some drops in my eye that numbed the pain.
I would have done anything to get rid of that pain. I knew the drops were not good for my eyes in the long run, but I just didn’t care. Once I experienced even a little bit of relief, I just wanted to keep the pain away. Thank God the doctors weren’t allowed to give me what I wanted that day.
Sin is medication – Most things that we consider "bad" are really just pain medication. Most people feel a dull ache in their soul and will do anything to find some satisfaction. That ache comes from a lifetime of missing the one thing that can fulfill us completely.
The ache inside - Most of us crave attention. We long for someone to tell us we’re valuable. There’s a reason for that. We were all born incomplete. There is a need for validation, affection, completion, and affirmation that every single person needs. Parents, peers, children, and friends cannot completely fill this need.
So some people turn to Jesus. They’re promptly taught that the answer to that ache is to serve Jesus. To do good works. But they never really learn to experience God rather than serve him. They continue doing God’s work, thinking that in that work come fulfillment. But the hunger deep inside for approval and validation continues to hurt.
Is it any wonder that so many people turn to alcohol, drugs, pornography, gambling, sex, fame, or any number of other things? What do you do when nothing anyone says takes away the ache in your soul? If you can’t fix it, than you might as well numb the pain.
Addicted to numbness – There is a physical side to addiction, but I believe there’s also an emotional side to it as well. How many people get completely wasted because for a couple of hours they feel free from the cares of the world, and they temporarily stop feeling that something is just wrong without being able to fix it. To feel that temporary freedom becomes an addition. And pretty soon the physical catches up with the emotional and now our bodies are as addicted as our souls are.
Living Water – God is the only thing that can take away the ache in our soul. The feeling of emptiness. But it doesn’t happen by studying the Bible if we still view him as a far-in-the-distance God. Until we come to grips with the fact that he wants to be integrated into our lives like breathing will we experience the fulfillment that only he can bring.
I have to admit, I’ve grown quite attached to the idea that God made the way I am, with the interests and talents I have. For months I’ve been coming to this realization of how personal He is to me. So when I get excited about something as silly as finding a new program for my Mac that will help me make instructional videos for PeacefulTech, part of the excitement is simply digging further into who he has made me. Me, individually. Anthony Stauffer. Just as I am. But then I had an awful thought today….
For years I felt as if I was running. Like being stuck on permanent Fast-Forward. Driven to get to the next place, to do the next thing. Nothing was ever done, there was always more to do. And it had nothing to do with anything physical.
The relationships that I got into were short and dramatic. I had my heart broken in quick fashion. Twice I thought I had met the girl I was going to marry. Until it fell apart. The drama was like a drug, I didn’t know what life was like without it.
When I met Lori, I experienced a peaceful relationship with no drama. It seemed strange and wonderful, but my soul was still in motion, still running. So I worked. And worked. And worked. Kept busy chasing that thing that was always just around the corner. The record deal. Whatever. Missed many quiet evenings together. I was fast-forwarding through life.
But finally, I have come into a place of peace. I have found what I was looking for. I have found my significance in the only thing that matters. After 31 years of chasing what can’t be caught, my soul is at rest.
A few weeks back I went out raking leaves in the community with some guys I know from other local churches. It was really funny to see people try to find an adequate way to pay us for what we were doing, because we weren’t asking for a donation, or even to talk to them about church. We simply came to rake their yard because we love God.
In our largely materialistic culture, there’s a real drive to own more and more stuff. Houses, cars, pools, spas, decks, HDTVs, mowers, jetski’s. The list could go on a very long time. Maybe some of it stems from our fear of boredom, or a sense of entitlement that comes with never being taught how to work hard. In the end, it doesn’t matter. The fact is that ownership of stuff presents a paradox best summed up by this line from the movie "Fight Club"
The things you own end up owning you.