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1 Corinthians 4:8-13: The Testimonies of the Apostles Still Speak

“You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you. For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.”
(1Corinthians 4:8-13)


“ηδη κεκορεσμενοι εστε, ηδη επλουτησατε, χωρις ημων εβασιλευσατε· και οφελον γε εβασιλευσατε, ινα και ημεις υμιν συμβασιλευσωμεν. δοκω γαρ, ο θεος ημας τους αποστολους εσχατους απεδειξεν ως επιθανατιους, οτι θεατρον εγενηθημεν τω κοσμω και αγγελοις και ανθρωποις. ημεις μωροι δια Χριστον, υμεις δε φρονιμοι εν Χριστω· ημεις ασθενεις, υμεις δε ισχυροι· υμεις ενδοξοι, ημεις δε ατιμοι. αχρι της αρτι ωρας και πεινωμεν και διψωμεν και γυμνιτευομεν και κολαφιζομεθα και αστατουμεν και κοπιωμεν εργαζομενοι ταις ιδιαις χερσιν· λοιδορουμενοι ευλογουμεν, διωκομενοι ανεχομεθα, δυσφημουμενοι παρακαλουμεν· ως περικαθαρματα του κοσμου εγενηθημεν, παντων περιψημα εως αρτι.”
(1Corinthians 4:8-13)

"Evan Almighty"

Thought provoking, well reasoned, and spot on - Tim Challies

Read his review on Evan Almighty

"The Secret"

Challies reviews "The Secret"

You need to read the philosophy behind this. Fascinating stuff, but no secret; people have been living this way for years. The secret to having money is below. Take notes...

To become a powerful money magnet:

* Money Be clear about the amount of money you want to receive. State it and intend it!
* (not how much you can earn, but how much you want to receive).
* Fall in love with money.
* (most people do not love money, because they don't have enough of it).
* Visualize and imagine yourself spending all the money you want, as though you have it already.
* Speak, act and think from the mindset of being wealthy now.
* (eliminate thoughts and words of lack such as "I can't afford it", "It is too expensive".
* Do not speak or think of the lack of money for a single second.
* Be grateful for the money you have. Appreciate it as you touch it.
* Make lists of all the things you will buy with an abundance of money.
* Do whatever it takes for you to feel wealthy.
* Affirm to yourself every day that you have an abundance of money, and that it comes to you effortlessly.
* Appreciate all the riches around you, including the riches of others. Look for wealth wherever you go, and appreciate it.
* Be certain that money is coming to you.
* Love yourself and know that you are deserving and worthy of an abundance of money.
* Remind yourself everyday that you are a money magnet, and ask yourself often during the day, am I attracting money now or pushing it away with my thoughts.
* Always, always pay yourself first from your wage, then pay your creditors.
* (in that single act, you are telling the Universe that you are worthy and deserving of more).
* Repeat over and over every day, "I am a money magnet and money comes to me effortlessly and easily".
* Write out a check to yourself for the sum of money you would like to have and carry it in your wallet. Look at it often.
* Do whatever it takes to feel good. The emotions of joy and happiness are powerful money magnets. Be happy now!
* Love yourself!

Wealth is a mindset.
Money is literally attracted to you or
repelled from you. It's all about how you think.

SNL gets it right:

"The Media is a Metaphor"

I like books on culture and I dislike them. I like that I begin to understand the ocean I'm swimming in. I like that there are those who can step out of it, even try to gaze at our stream from another time in history. It is amazing to see what assumptions we have already swallowed. That said, I dislike these books because I cannot read them without a disjointed disillusionment toward all aspects of my culture and everyone I meet. So I hate these books because as a Christian worker my job is to be a bridge-maker. Anthropologists who write such books as this are professional critics not pastors, school teachers, politicians, or businessmen. They don't have to make sense of the nonsense they are describing, only poke fun at it. This is why I do enjoy reading David Wells more than most, because he at least attempts to make sense of an answer. I had to laugh last night because I was reading these exact paragraphs which I have posted below when I came into our church to help clean up for VBS:

I use the word "conversation" metaphorically to refer not only to speech but to all techniques and technologies that permit people of a particular culture to exchange messages. In this sense, all culture is a conversation or, more precisely, a corporation of conversations, conducted in a variety of symbolic modes. Our attention here is on how forms of public discourse regulate and even dictate what kind of content can issue from such forms.

To take a simple example of what this means, consider the primitive technology of smoke signals. While I do not know exactly what content was once carried in the smoke signals of American Indians, I can safely guess that it did not include philosophical argument. Puffs of smoke are insufficiently complex to express ideas on the nature of existence, and even if they were not, a Cherokee philosopher would run short of either wood or blankets long before he reached his second axiom. You cannot use smoke to do philosophy. Its form excludes the content. To say it then, as plainly as I can, this book is an inquiry into and a lamentation about the most significant American cultural fact of the second half of the twentieth century: the decline of the Age of Typography and the ascendancy of the Age of Television. This change-over has dramatically and irreversibly shifted the content and meaning of public discourse, since two media so vastly different cannot accommodate the same ideas. As the influence of print wanes, the content of politics, religion, education, and anything else that comprises public business must change and be recast in terms that are most suitable to television."-Amusing Ourselves to Death

As I read that this is what I walked in to (and I was lucky, if I had come 30 seconds earlier I would have seen our pastors leading our kids in singing and the motions of YVBS! to the tune of YMCA):

But I have to smile. Singing and dance are not a 21st century invention. And this is not the only or primary way in which my church conducts itself or broadcasts its message. I'm too prone to seriousness. And the message of the gospel is not fully captured with stern admonition. I'm glad for both good entertainment and hours of study. And that last night, was good entertainment... Just let it not be the sum total of our message. There is far too much at stake.

Mark Dever on Discernment (Separation)

From the New Attitude Conference, very interesting
Click to listen