Here is how to join us in reflection of the spirit of this upcoming holiday season.
On my mission trip to Ecuador a few years back, I was very much struck by this particular passage. It was the first time I'd really departed the "Western World" and entered into another culture so deeply that I witnessed their everyday life, their history, their struggles, and their bravery- in a world that was both literally and figuratively a million miles away from my own.
It was the first time I truly realized how numb and insulated my upper-middle class life in America had made me to others around the world, with a great job, a home in the suburbs, a fully stocked kitchen, savings in the bank that distracts me from the needs of others- both near and far from me. How easy it is to be lulled into a sense of apathy by the standards of my western lifestyle and to think little of those around the world who live a life drastically different than mine. I have the volcano photo framed in my office, with the scripture verse printed below to remind me of the lessons I was taught on that trip.
I also think this specific verse is a great one to study each and every single word, for they are all so powerful and all connected to the power of the verse. I've heard several sermons on this verse, and I'm most inspired by the fact that the Christian's work is to resist the ways of the world and then God will be doing the transforming. Don't try to transform yourself, because it will be God who will change you from the mind by a renewing. This renewing indicates that it was something that you once had or obtained that just needs to be refreshed. Each and every word of this verse is great for study and is a perfect example of how much meaning can be derived and inferred from the powerful words of scripture.
GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I'm headed home to Houston tonight, after almost a week on the road!
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