godthoughts.net

I like to eat honey.

I use it as a sweetner for my brewed tea. I eat it with peanut butter sandwiches.  I pour it on pancakes and waffles.  I try to get it locally because it’s supposed to be helpful to my allergies(pollen/honey is local so immunity built up against local allergies….haven’t really noticed a difference, but it sounds good so I go with it).  I think it’s interesting that I enjoy what basically is bee spit!

There’s a lot I didn’t know about honey, however….

Which state produces the most honey (35 million pounds) in America?

How many flowers are tapped by bees to make one pound of honey?

How many miles do bees fly in order to get the pollen for one pound of honey?

The average worker bee makes how many teaspoons of honey in its lifetime?

Honey bee pollination supports $_____Billion worth of agriculture in the USA?

Go ahead and make your guesses before peeking below for the answers….

North Dakota

2 million flowers

55,000 miles

1/12 of a teaspoon

$15 Billion

Pretty amazing for such a little creature!

Stats courtesy of Sept, 2009 issue of Fast Company

I live in an area of the country where college football is a very important activity.  I very much enjoy watching college football, yet I do so typically only on TV.  Recently I had the opportunity to watch a game at the stadium.

What a difference!  Judging by the tailgating setups, people put a lot of time and energy into game day enjoyment.  Elaborate campers with banners and tents were in place.  Exotic smells wafted from the various grills.  Flat screen TVs perched in the back of huge SUVs so none of the pregame would be missed.

Then on to the stadium.  People streaming in the gates, even in the rain.  There was something worthwhile happening inside that people wanted to get to.  The loudness of a stadium crowd at kickoff cannot be duplicated in a TV-watching experience.  People up on their feet, yelling at the top of their lungs, clapping or waving their arms in anticipation of the start of the game.  Graphics around the stadium and on the huge end zone screen only added to the experience.

A long pass to the receiver….he caught it!…..he’s free and around the defender….he is going all…the…..way….Touchdown!   The crowd went nuts.

I wonder if this is not so different from contemporary mega-churches?  People stream in the doors of the “popular” church down the road.  A loud, exciting band gets the crowd on their feet and ready.  Huge screens only add to the experience.

Yet, there seems to be more energy and excitement in going to a college football game than there is to going to church…no mystery there, really.  Yet I am curious as to what would happen in churches if people got as excited about praising God as they do about a kickoff return.  How would the anticipation affect the worship experience if people actually showed up early and prepared for encountering God, rather than timing it down to the minute and coming in late?

And, what does it say about our churches that people don’t do this?  What does it say about the worship that occurs in churches?  Granted seeing a fleet runner take off down the field is a tangible event.  Witnessing spiritual growth in a person is less easy to see. 

Also, while there were thousands of people at the stadium, there were many more at home, watching the game by themselves.  This too, is much like church/worship.  Many folks come to the specific place at the specific time for worship, while others remain at home and watch some type of worship (hopefully) on TV.

What do you think?

Quote from Bart Campolo (see the whole, short video from which it came, here…thank you Andrew Martin).

“Living by faith:  Living as though what you hope is true, actually is true.”

In the Sept, 09 issue of Wired, page 26, there was a short blurb on how geographers at Kansas State produced some infographics on the 7 deadly sins–plotting per capita statistics for things like theft (envy) and STDs(lust).  You can see their maps here, but here’s how the 7 deadly sins panned out across the nation:

GREED - average income compared with number of people living below the poverty line.

Lots in most of California and SW Arizona, southern tip of Florida, encircling the Great Lakes area and the DC-New York corridor.

ENVY - total thefts per capita

Plenty around Los Angeles, southern tip of Florida and all the way up through AL, GA, SC, and NC, pockets around Dallas, and up in Oregon/Washington State.

WRATH - number of violent crimes per capita

all over New Mexico, a swath running from all of Louisiana up into Tulsa, OK area and over to Missouri and into Tennessee, Memphis area.  Almost all of Florida, All of South Carolina, much of NC, southern half of Georgia

SLOTH - Expenditures on art, entertainment, and recreation compared with employment.

not much anywhere really, except one tiny corner of Oregon, and one little square of Montana.

GLUTTONY - Number of fast-food restaurants per capita

A bunch around the coast of NC and into Virginia and another cluster in SW Texas, Austin area.

LUST - number of STD cases reported per capita

huge swath running from Dallas, TX through all of Louisiana, all of Mississippi,most of Alabama, southern Georgia, much of SC and half of NC, into Virginia (basically the whole Bible Belt!). Another cluster in South Dakota, interestingly enough. 

PRIDE - Aggregate total of the other six offenses–because pride is the root of all sin.

Almost all of California, Sw Arizona, all of Louisiana, much of Arkansas, all of Mississippi, southern half of Alabama, southern Georgia, all of Florida, all of SC and nearly all of NC, central New Mexico.

You can make your own observations as to why this is the way it is, according to their research!

Over many years I’ve heard a lot about tithing.  I’ve listened to people talk about how we should, and why we shouldn’t.  I’ve explored the biblical verses on tithing and money and possessions and giving and the poor.  I’ve had conversations with folks who are very much for tithing, and others who are very much not for it.

I can understand why people who go to, or are a part of a church, might not want to tithe if they think that it simply goes to pay the pastors a lot of money or trim the sanctuary doors in gold, for example.  If they give they want it to go to “ministry” (whatever that may be…feeding the poor, sharing Jesus with others, etc.).  Okay, fair enough.  But that’s not what I am talking about with this post.

What I don’t understand is why people, regardless of whether they tithe or not, or are a part of a church or not, have such a problem with 10% of one’s income being given.  One of the five pillars of Islam is giving 2%, so why do folks who are followers of Christ have such pushback with 10%? 

Take out of the discussion whether tithing is an OT concept, whether Jesus talked about it, what Paul meant when he talked about giving, etc.  I’m just wondering why giving 10% of one’s income is such a problem.  I mean, it’s really easy to figure and calculate and everything!

I’m guessing here, but maybe it has less to do with the Giving of the 10% than Where the money actually goes.  Perhaps people don’t have a problem giving but want a say in where it goes and for what cause?

Thoughts?