I have read articles by researchers who have hooked monitors up to guys while they watched television. You know what they found? Not a lot of brain activity. In fact, about as much as someone trapped in a coma. So when asked what we did last night, it makes sense a lot of sense to say we vegged.
So how do we kick the habit? Stirring up a little enthusiasm to get out and do, sometimes lasts about as long as the thought. But lately I have been viewing my own tendency toward passivity as a trouble light, an indicator that I am spiritually hungry. Instead of reaching for the remote, I have determined to reach for my bible or a christian book. And it has worked.
The takeaway I offer from this post is a list of five books that have challenged me over the last couple of years to pursue real life and true godliness. And I suspect that they will challenge you as well.
Not in any particular order:
- Wild at Heart, by John Eldredge
- The Search For Significance, by Robert S. McGee
- A life God Rewards, by Bruce Wilkinson
- Our Jealous God, by Bill Gothard
- Experiencing Spiritual Breakthroughs, by Bruce Wilkinson
As usual, comments are welcome, and warmly encouraged. Feel free to add to my list of five. What books have influenced your life? Please share them here.
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7 comments:
Along with picking up the Bible and other godly books we should try the old TV toss, remote and all. What a liberating feeling! :)
Humility : True Greatness
by C.J. Mahaney
Awesome book...
Yes, you have hit on something key there - 'Passivity' for men, just like a 'sense of futility being in subjection to a man' for women...
My own latest revelation: since the garden, women have their desire and happiness tied up in their husbands (Gen 3:16). Whether treated well or not, we keep going back for more - we are BOUND to go back for more. Intellectually, theoretically, physically, etc. etc. we KNOW we can function on our own... but at the core, no happiness or contentment comes without our husband's heart toward us; simply, incredibly, it makes us whole. And, as life has it... eventually his attentions are drawn elsewhere and we feel every bit of that void; and it's torture "I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer." (Song of Solomon 5:6).
But as soon as he turns his heart back to us, if our hearts are soft and open, just as the Lord wishes, we are miraculously restored and healed!
That is the 'rule' that men have over us. It's a dichotomy to us but a necessary part of the God-ordained story-telling that is this precisely orchestrated life. This is the eternal, internal struggle of women, I think. Manifested in many different disguises; to work or not to work, to have a baby, to not have a baby, to leave or stay, to move or remain...
Sincerely, I think we will each endure the burden of our unique part of the fall until we are made new and all this is wiped away.
Hi Shirley, CJ Mahaney was the pastor who mentored Josh Harris. Josh wrote a couple of books, one called I kissed dating good bye.
p.s. I am trying to get Vera to call you.
Hey Lisa, nice to hear from you. Please say hello to Kelly for me.
I am a bit confused regarding your comments though; are you saying that the desire to please you husband is a burden, or the feeling of being independent? Do you see a solution and why do you think God designed men and women the way He did?
Thanks for comments!
Hey Cuz... love reading your posts... thanks for the url.
Side note:
My parents knew Josh Harris's parents when we were growing up... something regarding homeschooling... so long ago now. He also wrote: Boy meets Girl. Both are good books for young people. :)
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