Whenever I am tempted to buy something, I ask myself, "Will it bring me closer to God?" The average person is exposed to three thousand advertisements a day through radio, TV, newspapers, bus signs, billboards, Internet, magazines, and store windows. Many of us have access to cash or credit. What will we buy? Our culture shouts and screams just one thing: consume. How do we resist the world's cornucopia of goods, services, and merchandise when we are told by every input, both conscious and subconscious, that there is some thing that will make our lives just a little bit better, fuller, or more convenient? How do we resist the temptation of a laptop that is 5/8 of an inch thinner than the one we curretnly own and were thrilled to own twelve months ago? Haven't we denied ourselves a giant-screen TV... or a flat-screen LCD... or a plasma-screen TV long enough? What's the harm of one more pair of shoes to go with the new dress bought last week? And what about a purse?
Where is God in all of this consumer rumination? If you haven't found God at home, will he be more likely to inhabit a vacation home?...
The Christian is not at liberty to do whatever he likes. Christians are constrained by conviction to think about their lives, their actions, and their responsibilities. One of the litmus tests for a decision is: Does this action, saying, movie, etc., bring me closer to God? The more this question is entertain, pondered, and posed, the closer to God a Christian will find himself. ...
We exist in a living, created world in which the Bible tells us that God knows every scale on a fish, every hair on our head, and the flight of every sparrow. We are to aspire to all things godly; therefore, it would be wrong to go through life in an unthinking or uncaring way. Similarly, we are are not to ruminate or worry excessively. Try to keep a balance and harmony, seeking in all things to grow closer to the joyous bounty that God has provided in his natural world.
Now lets talk about food.
Food for Thought
Two thousand years ago, Christ was born in a barn and laid in a feed box. This was a humble beginning, but not a cruel or unsafe one. In contrast, no one on the planet would want to give birth to a child in a modern factory barn. There are many industrial farms in our land in which animals never see a star, feel the warmth of the sun, or enjoy the rain. They live unable to lie down, suckle from their mothers, or mate. Animals that God created as vegetarians, such as cows, are fed other cows that have been industrially processed. In order to survive, they are given antibiotics and supplements. Dairy cows are injected with hormones that cause their udders to swell and produce more milk.
Surely if the God in heaven is the author of our Bible, he is dispelased with the treatment of animals in industrial farms. To excuse this sort of mistreatment, some quote the "dominion" phrase out of context. They ignore the Bible's hundreds of guidelines about the ethical treatment of animals....
Our current food supply is largely a product of the consumer movement that grew in the 1960s and 1970s. It started for good reasons, and with the best of intentions. But when consumerism becomes the driving ethic, it has only one commandment: Get the most by paying the least. In this system, dignity, ethics, beauty, fairness, and families that live on small farms do not figure. The only line is the bottom line...
To obtain billions of hamburger patties for a few ents each, America's fast-food restaurants buy much of their meat from Central and South American farmers. These farmers clear-cut forests, often starting a cattle-raising process that can be sustained for only a few short years. The loss of rain forestes in South America means that the clouds they once made no longer blow across the Atlantic to drop their water on Africa. As a result, the Sahara grows by thousands of acres a year. What is the bottom line for Africans? More starvation. And the bottom line for Americans? Cheap burgers and growing waistlines. ...
To fight world hunger we need to do more than spend money to relief organizations, although that is a vital part., We need to change the manner in which we eat.
-These are a couple of experts from J. Matthew Sleeth's book Serve God Save the Planet.
There are some really great things to think about in this book. It's not just about fighting world hunger. it's about fighting for our planet. About being more in tune with God and the things he created to nourish and sustain us. And it helps you think about what you can do in your own life to live a little more intentionally.
Alright... Off my soapbox. Preachy preachy. Sorry. But really. Burgers- cows- South America- clear cutting- no rainclouds- bigger African dessert- starvation. The butterfly effect, man. It happens.
