As you might of noticed, there's an election coming up. Here's an interesting piece on what scripture says about good leaders. It doesn't suggest a particular candidate, just sets out scriptural standards to measure candidates against. Its at:
Sunday, September 30, 2012
A little off topic, but worth checking out
As you might of noticed, there's an election coming up. Here's an interesting piece on what scripture says about good leaders. It doesn't suggest a particular candidate, just sets out scriptural standards to measure candidates against. Its at:
Monday, September 24, 2012
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Filling in the Spaces
Our mission is to
grow as much high quality produce as we can—the more we grow the more folks are
fed. To do that we try to make the most of the finite amount of bed space we
have. Empty spaces result in less produce and less people being fed. We’re not perfect in filling all the spaces
all the time, but we do try.
One
of the ways we do that is by planting extra crops in empty spots within beds.
Earlier this season we put squash plants in the otherwise empty ends of the tomato
and pepper beds. We recently sowed mustard greens in several spots where kale
or turnips didn’t fill their beds as completely as we expected. The extra food
generated by those add ins doesn’t come right away, and its impact on our
overall production is subtle, but it does come eventually and it does increase
our overall fruitfulness. Plus it’s really cool to see those extra plants grow
where nothing was.
Galatians 6:8-10 tells us that the same dynamic can be present in our walk with Christ. Verse 8 tells us “those who plant for the benefit
of the Spirit will harvest … from the Spirit” (Contemporary English Bible).
Verse 9 acknowledges that it will take some time for the resulting crops to
come in, but promises that it will be worth the wait.
So
how do we do that? By looking for otherwise empty, unproductive, spaces in our
day-to-day lives and sowing seeds of Godliness there. Turn the radio off while
you’re driving and pray or think about a scripture passage you recently
read/heard. As you do mindless chores,
think about the good things that God has provided you and thank Him. Ask God to get/keep you on track in your workday
by praying every time you wash your hands. Or, as Galatians 6:10 implies, look for simple
acts of goodness to do in the midst of your day and do them.
Those little
things are the spiritual equivalents of sowing in empty spaces in a garden
bed. They may not instantly or
completely transform you, but they will in definitely increase your
fruitfulness over time and you (and others) will enjoy the resulting growth.
One final
note—this is not mere theory, it definitely works. I devoted my commuting time
to prayer during Lent, and was so pleased by the resulting closeness to God
that I’ve (mostly) kept that up since. And that is experience is not unique to
me; check out the classic Christian book Practicing the Presence of God.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
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