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Welcome to Varied Expressions of Worship

Welcome to Varied Expressions of Worship

This blog will be written from an orthodox Christian point of view. There may be some topic that is out of bounds, but at present I don't know what it will be. Politics is a part of life. Theology and philosophy are disciplines that we all participate in even if we don't think so. The Bible has a lot to say about economics. How about self defense? Is war ethical? Think of all the things that someone tells you we should not touch and let's give it a try. Everything that is a part of life should be an expression of worship.

Keep it courteous and be kind to those less blessed than you, but by all means don't worry about agreeing. We learn more when we get backed into a corner.

Friday, September 19, 2014

Opus 2014-239: Balance Is Extreme

As I have shared, when I was forced to admit I was diabetic, I lost over 100 pounds and in my case the symptoms went away.  Praise God.  I realize we are all different and this was my blessing.  Now comes the hard part, keeping it off.

One of the things I noticed is that I do a much better job of food control when I am going solo than when I am in a social environment.  Thus, I lost most of my weight in a year when my wife was out of town a lot.  The next year she was only gone a little, my weight ticked up.  The next time period she was home and the trend continued.  I have not given up.  I am still working on controlling my appetite. 

A lot of it is attitude.  I find that if I set a certain level of calories it helps me keep control of what I eat, but attitude takes over.  I start looking at that magic number as a target.  I find that I have tried to get as close as I can without going over.  I can feel good about that but it is the wrong attitude. 

I have begun to realize that my attitude should not be “see how close I can come,” but “see how far away I can stay.” 

Spiritually it is the difference between legalism and holiness.  In the Christian life there is a continuum of responses to the relationship between sin and righteousness.  There are three responses to temptation and sin:  Legalism - Holiness - Antinomianism

Legalism says, “How close can I come.”  Antinomianism, the rejection of any law, says, “It doesn’t matter what I do.”  Holiness is in the middle.  It matters how you stand in regard to right and wrong but the attitude is different.  It is not how close you can come but how far away you can stay.  It is a matter of willing obedience in the quest for the right balance.

Is it the heart of the law.  I seek to stay on that middle ground even though I keep sliding one way or the other.

homo unius libri

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Comments are welcome. Feel free to agree or disagree but keep it clean, courteous and short. I heard some shorthand on a podcast: TLDR, Too long, didn't read.