Resting in the gospel. I need to be ‘reborn’ every day. Not in the sense of gaining/losing/gaining/losing salvation… no, not that at all. Rather, leaning my full weight upon Jesus to lead me in killing the old nature afresh and walking alive in His mercies. The gospel-centeredness you describe was the driving meaning for ‘evangelical’ not too many years in the past. Sadly, ‘evangelical’ has been watered-down and diluted in the church as liberals and fence-sitters co-opt the term for their own use and make it little more than a fancy churchy word.

It is a gripping thought that we will be reminded of the cross of Christ eternally through the visible marks left on His body. The cursed cross is the tale-bearer of a love beyond knowing shed upon a people beyond saving to bring them to a hope beyond imagination.

Resting In Him With You,
Dave

You bring up excellent points about the use of new media. And while I could go on and on about the cautions with Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, etc. the truth is that it is just as much of an issue on any other internet site – even blogs like this one!

I personally think that the balance is found in asking “is this helpful to my learning how to glorify God as part of the believing community?” Because if it isn’t, then it’s just recreation. Recreation has a place, indeed perhaps even an important place, in our lives. And yet never before in history has recreation consumed so many hours of our days.

I’ve personally made some choices to limit my use of media to what I find to be truly helpful so that I can then spend more time with my family, in God’s Word, etc. rather than reading what somebody else is saying about God, surfing the internet, and similar pursuits. This translates into reading a very select group of sites online and then intentionally seeking to spend more time with those that are actually physically present in my life. As I heard one person say about this very issue “be all here” – meaning, we should put our first and best efforts towards those that we are actually, physically in community with rather than faceless internet sites which will be gone in the next decade.

Generations before us had an attitude which I have found helpful to emulate: “work hard and then you can play hard.”

As you said, our brains get fuller and our lives get emptier – not less busy, but empty of the good deeds God would have us do and virtue that we should pursue. It continues to be a struggle for me.

I’ve written a little bit on busyness (in my free time – LOL).

Dave