Happy Thanksgiving!
Nov 24, 2011 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
In honor of Thanksgiving (and the beginning of the Christmas season), check out the best Christmas ad I have seen in quite awhile.
Tags: christmas, consumerism, materialism, thanksgiving
Great Money Questions
Mar 17, 2011 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
Last weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the first Saturday Night worship service ever at Mars Hill Church in Seattle. During the message, Mark Driscoll shared eight questions every Christian should ask themselves about money. I thought they were excellent and thought I’d repost them here:
1. To whom do you compare yourself financially? Specifically, this was an admonition to have some perspective and realize how rich we are as a culture.
2. Do you worship your money or worship with your money?
3. How do you worship/serve money in a sinful way?
4. What deep idols fuel your worship of money (status, comfort, security, fame, beauty)?
5. How do you define yourself by what you have and consume?
6. How has money enslaved you?
7. If Jesus set your budget, how would it be different?
8. Why is Jesus a better God than money?
Tags: materialism, money
Money – God or Gift?
Nov 29, 2010 Book Reviews
This weekend at Riv, we passed out over a thousand copies of Jamie Munson’s new book Money – God or Gift
Jamie does a great job in this book addressing money in a very Biblical, yet easily readable fashion. The book is broken down into 3 sections, with 5 small chapters per section. We are encouraging everyone at Riv to read this book during the next month and take time to discuss it in their Life Groups. (You can subscribe to Riv Life Group notes by clicking here.)
Here are a couple key quotes from the book:
“Saving is a sin–if it’s done for the wrong reasons. Same goes for spending, working, earning, investing, and even giving. Any financial transaction reveals our heart by presenting an opportunity to worship Jesus or worship ourselves.”
“Jesus does not ask every Christian to sell every possession in order to give all proceeds to the needy…But he leaves us with no choice other than to hold our possessions loosely, and even to seek opportunities to part with them in order to provide for the needy.”
“There is nothing magical or especially holy about money. It’s just a gift. A tool. We can use it wisely or foolishly…”
If you are a Riv attender and you didn’t get a copy, make sure you grab one during the services between now and Christmas.
If you know of a Riv attender who is serving overseas in the military, email me (N...@RivChurch.com) their address and I will mail them a copy of the book since they can’t get it in person. That way they can read along with their spouses who are stateside.
Tags: generosity, materialism, money, stewardship
Why I’m not getting an iPhone4…yet.
Jun 24, 2010 Apple
The iPhone 4 officially hits stores today and I’ve been getting the same question a lot lately:
Are you getting the new iPhone?
I figured I’d just go ahead and throw my answer up here. No, I’m not getting it…yet. Now I know this may kill my reputation as an Apple Fanboy, but here are the reasons I am waiting:
I need to combat materialism in my life. If I were to upgrade to the iPhone 4, it would be purely because I want a new toy. Now that’s not all bad, but for me right now it would be. Between my iPhone and my iPad, I have all the technology I need. Any more would be ridiculous. This week, materialism and idolatry has a face and that face has a Retina Display.
I’m still amazed everyday with my iPhone 3g. Note I said “iPhone 3g” – I didn’t upgrade to the 3gS either. The only reason I upgraded from the original iPhone to the 3g was the GPS functionality. That, for me, was huge. Last week the dock connector died on my phone and the temptation was strong to buy a new one, but I found the part online for $13. If I’m able to get the phone working, I plan on using it for quite awhile longer. It serves my needs and then some. (Check out this great article that essentially says the same thing.) Of course, if the part doesn’t work, the “yet” part of this post kicks in.
Changes are looming. Although I haven’t had too many problems with AT&T, I am interested to see if other carriers are going to be carrying the iPhone soon. There seem to be a lot of indicators pointing in that direction, and since I am not currently in a contract I am not interested in tying myself to AT&T for another two years.
Well, there ya go. I’m not getting an iPhone 4…yet. But if you get one, make sure you let me play with it a bit. You might change my mind.
Tags: apple, iphone, materialism
Poverty Gospel
Nov 25, 2008 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
Yesterday, I posted a clip from John Piper about the “Prosperity Gospel.” This is a theology that is gaining steam in many parts of the world, but quite honestly I don’t run into too many people around these parts who buy into it.
It seems we deal more with the other extreme, which is also dangerous: “Poverty Gospel.” This is the school of thought that says Christ-followers should be poor or should at least redistribute their wealth. It is almost becoming the cool thing to “be poor for Jesus.”
This idea stems from the same problem as the “Prosperity Gospel,” and that is a lack of “Razor’s Edge Living.” Instead of seeing the paradoxical way the Bible calls us to live, we jump to one extreme or another. It’s simpler, it’s less complex, and we can ignore parts of the Bible we don’t like. In fact I just got done reading a very popular book (that has been recommended to me by tons of people). The author basically calls Christians to live with or like the poor and gives us the impression that to do so is more godly than to live in the burbs and drive your new Honda Accord to church.
There are a ton of verses we could look at, but I’ll just slap up one passage. Note the underlined parts:
1Timothy 6:17-19 – Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.
See it? God richly supplies us with things to enjoy. This is not “Prosperity Gospel,” but God giving to us as he sees fit. And part of his plan is that we enjoy these things. But it doesn’t stop there! We are also to be generous and ready to share. It’s a both/and thing.
The reason I wanted to write about this is the current economic times. I am concerned that when things get a bit tenuous, Christians tend to run to one of the extremes. In these times, especially in a state that is so tied to the auto industry, we should all be on guard against both of these errors.
Tags: materialism, money
Prosperity Gospel
Nov 24, 2008 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
There are two equally dangerous traps followers of Jesus can fall into when it comes to our material things. The first is the “Prosperity Gospel.” This trap says you will be materially blessed if you are in “right relationship with Jesus.”
In other words, sanctification comes with bling, an Escalade with rims, and a Chinchilla jacket.
I was going to write a bit on this, but my friend Joel sent me an amazing video from John Piper, so I’ll let him take if from here.
Tomorrow, I’ll write a bit about the opposite trap.
Tags: idolatry, materialism, money
