Skip to main content

Consumerism in an enlightened economy.

Despite the big title this blog is about shopping. For over two and a half months, the buses in my region have been on strike leaving many stay at home moms, the elderly and students with little or no way to get to where they need to get during the working hours of the day. Churches can step in here for those who have absolutely no where to find transportation, an opportunity to show compassion. We live in a world that needs to shop. We shop for basic needs like food, but we love to just get out of the house for no reason at all to spend something on our kids or on ourselves. The malls this time in the new year are winding down from the busiest season on the calender and with the buses not running here in Markham, the mall is relatively a quiet place to do some shopping. I have to add a warning.

Not everything you may think you need is something you should pursue. Most of us at around spring time like to empty our our closets and prepare for summer shopping, it's at this point that the cloths we have been wearing for several years we feel need to be updated. Question: What if you waited an entire year and only bought one or two new items of clothing for yourself? Do you think you could do it? It reminds me of the 40 day fast that Jesus took, but would a cloths fast make you more holy? Despite the obvious pun, there are times when we desperately need something, and our needs can turn into necessity very easily.

I love going to the local mall, but I must say that this 12 week or so fast of not having the means to get to the malls during the day, has brought me a better mental health, and has re-prioritised what is really necessary.

this is mike.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

On Christian Marriage. (Short)

On Christian Marriage. (Short) The modern co-habitation crisis has produced a lot of single moms and dads, and has fractured "family units" allowing other family members and relatives to take a bigger role in these "Separated families." There isn't a "one cause" why families have separated or divorced, it is a complicated issue, sometimes resulting in very hard emotions for Society to process. Things like the "millennial sexual revolution" have contributed to the widespread "non-committal" attitude, which in turn has given the traditional marriage the "black eye" it currently has and has turned many Christian men away from seeking a life partner. The more society devalues "traditional marriage" the more co-habitation you will see in all the other generations as well as the Millennials. This is Mike.

Why Christians must show Mutual Concern for One another.

  Look and see, there is no one at my right hand; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life. Psalm 142:4. Christians in the church should have mutual concern for one another, this is what it means to be part of the body of Christ, 1 Corinthians 12:25. It’s takes good pastoral leadership to foster this sense of concern, and where it is missing, individuals who are suffering in the church are overlooked and not supported. Every believer needs support and encouragement, but when this is missing, the church divides and loses it power and testimony. Christians live like the world, and become vulnerable to Satan’s attacks when nobody is supporting them outside the church. I used to belong to an evangelical church which had great leadership, and something called small groups. This church felt like a family and I had people who shared my Christian walk with me when I was not in the church building. I have been attending a different denomination that doesn’t hav...

The Biblical Meaning of “Life in the Spirit.”

  “Life in the Spirit” is an example that the Apostle Paul gives in the book of Romans starting in chapter 5 and going through to chapter 8. He begins by telling us we are justified by faith (5:1), and have gained access by faith into the grace of God (5:2). We have been delivered from God’s wrath (5:9) and we have been reconciled to God through the death of His Son (5:10). He goes on to explain that through Adam all die (5:12), and that the free Gift of God brings justification and righteousness to the believing sinner (5:15-17).   Through our conversion we are baptized into Christ and into his death, which frees us from the law and makes us dead to sin (6:2-4). He explains that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we are given new life in Christ (6:4). Our old unregenerate self was crucified with Christ so that our body of sin might be done away with (6:5-6). Because we have died to sin, we now submit ourselves to God being that we are now under grace, not the law (6:8-1...