A McDonald’s Happy Meal

Take a look at the two pictures below for a moment:

Earlier this year, Sally Davies decided she wanted to see how a McDonald’s Happy Meal would hold up over time.  She left the burger and fires out on her kitchen counter and took several pictures.  Unless you read the captions in the pictures, you probably never would have guessed that they were taken 180 days apart.  That’s a 6-month time span!  With VERY few differences.  After six months, the only major change she noticed was the food becoming rock hard.  Magazines and TV shows like “Good Morning America” have been raving about this project.  Even though this was not a “scientific project,” one has to wonder what kinds of preservatives are put into our food which enables it to last so long.

Certainly there are hundreds of applications which could be drawn from this story.  However, the goal of this article is not to say whether people should or should not eat McDonald’s.  The goal is always to draw spiritual parallels and conclusions.

The results of this experiment were shocking and, well, flat-out gross.  We know that very little in our world is supposed to hang around like that.  God specifically designed food and most materials to decompose over time.  He even designed our bodies to get old and die (2 Corinthians 4:16-5:5).  However, God did create something in us He wishes to preserve for all time; our souls.  Matthew 16:26 shows the soul is more important and precious than anything this world has to offer; even the entire world itself.  If there is anything on this earth God wants to preserve, it is your soul and mine.

In order to preserve our souls, God has even gone so far as to tell us what “spiritual preservatives” to have in our lives.  Let’s focus on just one; God’s Word. James 1:21 says, “Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.”  When God’s word is received and implanted in our lives, it will save and preserve the soul.  Vs. 22 goes on to explain this further by saying, “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”  Not only should we receive the Word, but we must also be doers of the Word.  No soul can be saved without obedience to God’s Word.  We must make sure God’s Word is intertwined in our lives so intimately that it is who we are and what we do.  This is what it means to have the “word implanted.”  One cannot be saved without receiving and doing God’s Word.  Clearly God’s Word is a vital “spiritual preservative.”

While people try to preserve food, beauty, youth, and a plethora of other aspects, none of these can be preserved for long.  God made the soul something which can be preserved by obeying His Word.  Let’s continue to keep the spiritual preservatives in our lives which save and preserve our souls.

The Miniskirt Ban

A very controversial topic has been flooding search engines and news sites the last few days.  It is about something called “The Miniskirt Ban.”  Luigi Bobbio, the mayor of a small town in Italy, has proposed to put a ban on miniskirts. This ban should be accepted and go into effect immediately.  Violators would receive up to a $700 fine if caught.  As to be expected, female politicians, women’s rights activists, and countless others have been heavily opposing this ban.

This ban is not just about miniskirts though.  It will also outlaw men going shirtless, sunbathing and undressing in town, blasphemy and foul language, and playing football in public spaces since they often result in fights.  Bobbio had this to say about the ban, “It’s a matter of common sense, of common decency” (Christian Science Monitor).  So, let’s get this straight.  Under this ban, people would have to dress better, be more decent in public, speak better, and fight less.  Is this law really so bad?  It seems this controversy is not so much about the length of a skirt or women’s rights, but that these people simply do not want to be told what to do.

No matter what opinions people may have, what is most important is to see what God has to say about all of this.  In 1 Timothy 2:9, God said, “I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly…” (c.f. 1 Peter 2:11-12; 3:3-4; Romans 13:13-14; etc).  Obviously God wants people to dress appropriately.  As we know, modesty is not just for women.  Bobbio must have known this since he included men under the ban as well.  Lust is something that applies to both genders, and God has clearly told us to stay away from it (Matthew 5:8; Romans 6:12-13; 2 Timothy 2:22; James 1:14-15; etc).  God wants both men and women to dress in a modest fashion and in a way that will not bring out lustful thoughts.  If anything, this ban brings people one step closer to what God plainly commands.

While there is not as much controversy about the “blasphemy and foul language” part of the ban, God has also spoken on this as well.  Ephesians 4:29 states, “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth…” (c.f. Matthew 12:34-37; Ephesians 5:3-5; Colossians 3:8; etc).  Undoubtedly, God wants people to dress well and speak well.

We live in a world which is at a highpoint on the “indecency scale.”  It is encouraging to see a mayor taking bold steps towards “common decency.”  Obviously we too should seek to be modest in the way we dress and wholesome in our speech.  However, these are probably commands we have already applied to our lives.  So, beyond that, hopefully some of Bobbio’s boldness will rub off on us and we too can stand up for things which are pure, wholesome, and above all else, what God commands (Philippians 4:8).

Spiritual Carelessness

(The photo above is of the EMPAC Concert Hall’s Ceiling)

When a concert is going to take place, there are many people who get involved in the setup process.  One particular job requires the workers to walk across four-inch rafter beams, which are a hundred feet or more above the floor, and hang up speakers and spotlights.  One singer by the name of Steve Green said this about those workers, “The fellows I talked to weren’t bothered by the sight of looking down a hundred feet.  What they didn’t like, they said, were jobs in buildings that had false ceilings (acoustical tile slung just a couple of feet below the rafters).  They were still high in the air, and if they slipped, their weight would smash right through the flimsy tile.  But their minds seemed to play tricks on them, lulling them into carelessness.”

Many times this is exactly how sin works in our lives.  It is much easier to resist sin when we see the tremendous fall that is right under our feet.  We understand that if we commit this sin, there will be very serious consequences.  However, it is much more difficult to resist some sins when the fall does not look all that bad.  We think, “oh, this is not that big of a deal,” or “I’m not going to fall into this, I can handle it,” or “Just this once…”  Just like with the stage workers, it is these types of sins that bring down our guard and cause us to be spiritually careless.  Satan has done a great job in our culture by not blatantly scaring us away from sin, but instead he gets us to bring down our guard and think we are not in as much danger.  He wants us to become careless spiritually.  Once he gets us to bring down our guard, we become much more comfortable and are in incredible danger of falling into sin.

It is important to keep in mind the words found 1 Peter 5:8-9, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.”

If we are going to keep from falling, it is incredibly important to “be of sober spirit” and to “be on the alert.”  This carries the idea being prepared, attentive, and watchful to where we are, what we are doing, and what is going on around us.  If we are spiritually “alert” and “of sober spirit,” then we are much less likely to become careless and be deceived by Satan and sin (2 Corinthians 3:11).  The problem with the workers was when they started to become carless with the path they were on.  We too are on a spiritual path, and we are told that the path that leads to life is narrow (Matthew 7:13-14).  Let’s never get spiritually careless, and make sure we stay firmly on the path that leads to heaven.

Josh Hamilton’s Non-Celebration

The World Series is quickly approaching.  As of right now, the Texas Rangers have been playing very well and could possibly end up in the World Series.  One of their key players is Josh Hamilton.  He has played very good throughout the season and is a major contributor to the team.  Since the Rangers have had success throughout the season, and now even in the post season, this has resulted in many celebrations.  The way most teams celebrate is to go back to the locker rooms, put on some eye protection, and basically spray, drink, and pour champagne all over the place.

For those who are not familiar with Josh Hamilton, here is a little background information.  Josh was the number one overall pick back in 1999 and seemed like picture perfect role-model.  Unfortunately, Hamilton struggled greatly with drugs and alcohol for several years and even dropped out of baseball while he tried to overcome his struggles.  In fact, it very nearly ended his career permanently.  Through dedication, Hamilton was able to get clean and claims that he has been clean since October 2005.

Since Josh Hamilton has had major issues with drinking and drugs, these celebrations posed a dilemma for him.  Alcohol has been a major struggle for him.  He knew how tempting it would be to drink when he began to taste and be around the alcohol.  So, what did he do?  He did not even show up for the celebration.  In fact, he did not show up for the past two team celebrations because alcohol would be present.  “Not only did he want to avoid any temptation to slip up on his never-ending fight against addiction…Hamilton said he didn’t want to give his fans the wrong impression” (Yahoo Sports).

What a great decision and a great example Josh Hamilton has given us!  People struggle with so many different sins across the board, but what we do with these struggles and temptations is what really makes the difference.  The nation of Israel struggled greatly with idolatry.  Near the end of Joshua’s life, Joshua told Israel not to worship the idols, serve them, bring others to this life, and even to talk about it (Joshua 23:7).  Joshua was trying to cover all stages of involvement so that these people could completely get rid of this sin.  In a similar way, we need to not participate, not be around, eliminate it from our speech, and completely remove the things we struggle with from our lives.  For Hamilton, that meant not even showing up for the celebration with his team.  For Joseph, this meant literally running away from the temptation (Genesis 39:6ff).  For you, it may be a different solution.

It can be so easy to fall into sin, especially when it is fun, popular, and there is pressure from other people.  However, in the case of Josh Hamilton, his choice brought him respect from his teammates.  On the second day he decided to stay away from the celebrations, his team came to him and they all dumped bottles of Ginger Ale on him.  They wanted to include him and yet respect him at the same time.  Even though it may not be immediately popular, people will respect us for making the right decisions in our lives.  But even more important than anything else, we will be in a right relationship with the Lord (1 John 1:5-7).  Josh Hamilton made a very courageous decision to stay away from temptation.  What are we willing to do to make sure we stay away from our temptations?

Children’s Greatest Fears

Do you remember what your greatest fear was when you were a kid?  Maybe it still is your greatest fear today.  Thirty years ago, researchers at John Hopkins University reported that the five greatest fears of grade school children at that time were:

(1) Animals.

(2) Being in a dark room.

(3) High places.

(4) Strangers.

(5) Loud noises.

As we all know, many aspects have changed over the past thirty years.  However, what children are afraid of today is very disturbing.  Compared to what kids were afraid of thirty years ago, today’s kids are afraid of the following:

(1) Divorce.

(2) Nuclear war.

(3) Cancer.

(4) Pollution.

(5) Being mugged.

What a drastic change over this time period.  I was shocked that kids in grade school even knew what some of these are; much less know enough about them to be their greatest fears.  However, when we take a step back and take a look at our culture, what do we see?  We see the media hounding subjects like murder, war, cancer, pollution, crimes, politics, and other similar topics.  We see video games where the person playing the game has the freedom to run around streets and mug people, steal cars/possessions, kill police officers/other people, and other similar actions (Example – games like Grand Theft Auto).  We see movies, TV shows, and even some video games that are characterized by topics like divorce, cheating, war, cancer, and are exceedingly gory and violent.  We have also seen divorce happen so often that it has become ordinary.  It is no wonder our children are afraid of these types of situations.

While it is not necessarily wrong for children to have some basic level of knowledge about these subjects, most of these should by no means be prevalent in their lives, especially during grade school.  This raises the question about what we are allowing to enter into our homes, our children, and ourselves.   Let’s re-familiarize ourselves with the following verses:

“Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.”- Proverbs 22:6

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”- Deuteronomy 6:7

“If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”- Joshua 24:15

We simply cannot afford to let our households be filled with some of the sinful aspects of this world.  Let’s make sure we are controlling what our families and our children are experiencing from TV, video games, music, media, etc. as well as guard what they are filling their minds and hearts with.  Let’s bring more righteous and spiritual aspects into our lives and keep the sinful ones out (Romans 6:12-13).