Day 24 – Forty Days in the Word

James 1:22-25

During this week the assignment is to paraphrase the daily scripture. Here is my paraphrase –

"But be examples of those who act upon what the word says, and not merely those who study it but never implement its teaching thus fooling themselves that they are faithful. For if anyone studies the Bible but does not implement its teachings, that person is like one glancing at the face in the mirror, but moves on forgetting what was just seen. But anyone who really studies the complete Bible, the Word of grace, and adopts it into one’s life, not simply reading and forgetting what it says, but effectively putting it into practice will be blessed in the doing."

May my life daily be an example of looking intently into the perfect law, the law of liberty, abiding in it. May I never become forgetful of God’s word, but instead an effectual doer (What does the Lord require of you…) and thus experience the blessing of God in what I do.

Today is Saturday, it is 7:37 am in Springfield, 35 degrees and clear, heading for a high of 55 and sunny.

I have an unusually blank calendar on this Saturday. I will work hard on writing projects – my sermon and my presentation for Tuesday. I got a good night’s rest last night, and my goal will be to get up at 5 am tomorrow rested and ready for the day. I am feeling inspired and prepared to think, write, discern, create. Yesterday on the recommendation of Dave Conley I purchased the Kindle version of Paul Taylor’s The Next America. It has great data and his interpretation of the “looming generational showdown.”

In his preface, Paul Taylor, who turns 65 this year, contrasts the America he remembers with the current reality. He states “Our political, social, and religious institutions are weaker, our middle class smaller, our cultural norms looser, our public debate courser, our technologies faster, our immigrant-woven tapestry richer, and our racial, ethnic, religious, and gender identities more ambiguous. As a society we’ve become more polarized and more tolerant – and no matter what we’re like today, we’re going to be different tomorrow. Change is constant.”

In his chapter entitled “Empty Cradle Gray World” he discusses declining birthrates and introduces the term “sub-replacement-level fertility.” For a human society to replace itself, each woman must give birth to 2.1 children. Japan’s is currently 1.4. The Japanese government’s worst case scenario is that its current population of  127 million will fall to 47 million by the year 2100. I see the direct correlation of this principle in the church – congregations often have a “sub-replacement-level fertility”! Few spiritual new births, members who have been followers of Christ for decades, and then a gradual decline. In any particular church the leaders can decide to focus upon developing more, new disciples. And just as in the culture, this takes energy and effort, an outward focus and a readiness to give one’s life away. Currently the mainline churches have a sub-replacement-level spiritual fertility rate!