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30
Nov 2011

Distracting Ourselves to Death, The Final Chapter

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Bible © by Savio Sebastian

Editor’s Note: This post is the final post in the “Distracting Ourselves to Death” series. You can find the previous posts here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

The enemy is crafty. Just after coming off the “high” of my sabbatical, I immediately went about making changes. I was excited to initiate many of them. My confidence was high, my vision was clear, and my path seemed a little straighter than it had in years.

I woke up every day excited about the new direction I had for my life. I was finally starting to see my way out of the ruts I mentioned in my first post. Unfortunately, a trend started to develop. For almost two months, after my “life-changing” sabbatical with the Lord, I cracked open my Bible very few times. I didn’t journal, worship or even pray much. It was a subtle drift, but one day led to two days, then a week, and eventually an entire month had passed and then two. [Read more...]

Categories: Spiritual Growth, Stewardship Tags: , , , ,
23
Nov 2011

Distracting Ourselves to Death, Part 4

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Mesmerized by Television © by mabbink

Editor’s Note: Click below to read the first 3 parts in the series: Distracting Ourselves to Death, Part 1,

Distracting Ourselves to Death, Part 2,

and Distracting Ourselves to Death, Part 3.

When it was time to leave the secluded lake house after 5 days with no technology or human contact, I was ready to interact with the world around me again. However, there was one really strange thing that happened soon after:

Way before I reached for my iPhone or hurried to find an internet signal, I wanted to find some good food. My time was really amazing, as I mentioned in last week’s post, but all I could think about was high-quality food. I went to the first restaurant I could find and picked a table in front of a TV. It was tuned to a 24-hour news station, and I was excited to see what had happened in the world while I was away. [Read more...]

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16
Nov 2011

Distracting Ourselves to Death, Part 3

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Holy Spirit dove window © by hickory hardscrabble

In the church where I grew up, the phrase “hearing the Holy Spirit” was never really uttered. Well, maybe someone in a back hall said it, but it sure didn’t get mentioned enough where I could hear it. Therefore, I never really connected it in my young mind as being a “normal” part of the Christian life. For almost two decades as a Christian (ages 10-29), I did not pursue a relationship with the personhood of the Holy Spirit. Sure, He was with me at all times, and led and protected my steps in countless ways I’ll never know, but I never actively pursued to hear His voice or call Him by name.

I was 29 when I went on my first sabbatical, and in the couple of years leading up to that time I kept thinking that there had to be more to the Christian life than what my life had become. I had allowed myself to fall into the greatest trap in western Christianity: to become comfortable. To achieve “nice guy” status rather than becoming a reckless follower of Jesus Christ. [Read more...]

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09
Nov 2011

Distracting Ourselves to Death, Part 2

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288/365 - Prayer Journal © by aithom2

Facebook, Twitter, television, websites, commercials, billboards, radio, sports, up-to-the-second news, iPhones—the Enemy loves it.

I’m trying every day to still myself before the Lord, but a lot of times I let these good things from the modern world devour the great things the Lord has for me. Oh, the power of daily resistance to settle for good and not great. That’s why I’ve found it invaluable to go on periodic sabbaticals or spiritual retreats from time to time, even if it’s just for a weekend.

Last week, I discussed my first, and longest, sabbatical which lasted 5 days back in 2010. A little more detail about the preparation I did in advance: [Read more...]

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02
Nov 2011

Distracting Ourselves to Death, Part 1

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Editor’s Note: Each month we will feature one writer in a four-part series on our [root]WORK topic. Ryan, our first series contributor, takes a candid look at resisting all of the noise in our lives.

As I was a few months from turning 30, I did a quick flip through the pages of my journal, and I saw just how badly I had digressed into all kinds of ruts—my social life, dating life, work life, spiritual life, health, everything.

As an entrepreneur, I let books about successful living from a wordly perspective have too much influence over my life.
I let TV commercials tell me what I needed.
I let songs on the radio guide my desires.
I let characters on TV shows replace real relationships.

Television © by Medhi

I was consciously and subconsciously seeking counsel from idiots, and the last person I was listening to was the Holy Spirit.

I needed some kind of catalyst to kick me in the butt and get me moving in a new direction. All I knew was that I could not let my 30’s start the way my 20’s were ending. I had some work to do. [Read more...]

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