Archive for Spiritual Growth

« Older Entries

#612 – iOS 7

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , on June 11, 2013 by scotthiga

ios7

Yesterday Apple introduced iOS 7, its new operating system for iPhones and iPads. From what I’ve gleaned on Twitter, it seems like Apple has taken some notes from Android for iOS 7. I have an iPhone but don’t hate Android or Android users. New operating systems don’t really excite me that much but I’m sure I’ll download iOS 7 as soon as I can this fall.

Even though they don’t really get me going, new operating systems can be a lot of fun. I’ve been looking at the same basic operating system for the past four years. It’ll be like I have a brand new phone once iOS 7 gets up and running. Whether we’re representing iOS or Android, it’s nice to get a new operating system. Things may not change that much from update to update, but every so often there’s a major overhaul and we wind up with something almost entirely new.

I think Jesus works in our lives in the same way. Read more »

2 Comments »

#611 – Grown Up

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , on June 10, 2013 by scotthiga

Grown-ups-movie

I was talking with a student yesterday and he was amazed that I play video games. He seemed to think that as an adult I shouldn’t play video games. I told him that I’m not much of an adult but, even as a 31-year-old man, I do love playing me some video games.

I was always a little scared of growing up and, even now, there are some days I wish I could go back to my younger years.

Every time I write a check for rent I wish I were younger.

Every time I have to have a difficult conversation with a parent or friend I wish I were younger.

Every time I have to go to work instead of sit at home and play video games I wish I were younger.

The student seemed to agree with me that getting older is a little scary. In his mind getting older means not getting play video games. For us who are actually adults, it means not getting to play as many video games and probably a lot more.

We can sit and dream about the days when we were younger and didn’t have as many responsibilities. We can fantasize about days spent sleeping in on summer vacation and hours wasted on video games. We can idealize when we had nothing more to worry about than what friends we were going to hang out with and getting home before the street lights came on.

We can think and dream about being younger, but it doesn’t change the reality that got wants us to grow up and he wants us to change. Read more »

1 Comment »

#571 – The Pursuit of Happiness

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , on April 8, 2013 by scotthiga

borg

The Borg can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the best villains in the Star Trek Universe. The Borg are just as great as Khan and the Klingons and way better than anything else the Delta quadrant threw at Voyager.

I was always scared of the Borg when I was younger. Their cold, lifeless, robotic bodies freaked me out and the thought of being assimilated gave me goose bumps. The Borg thought they were making the universe a better place by eliminating freewill and bringing everyone into their collective. They wanted to make the universe as gray and bland as their skin.

Unfortunately, some people view God the same way. Read more »

2 Comments »

#570 – Hiking

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , on April 5, 2013 by scotthiga

I enjoy spending time with God. For me that mostly means reading God’s word, going through liturgical prayers and spending time in silence. For Alycia, though, that means spending time with God in nature. She likes reading the Bible and praying but she really gets a lot out of nature. So yesterday we went on a hike together.

Here are some nerdy environments through which I would like to take a hike.

Forest Moon of Endor

Endor_moon

Read more »

3 Comments »

#550 – More Lent

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , on March 8, 2013 by scotthiga

wonderyears1

One of my favorite shows growing up was The Wonder Years. I don’t think I fully understood everything that was happening, but I saw a lot of myself in Paul Pfeiffer and wanted to marry Winnie Cooper. I really enjoyed the theme song for The Wonder Years, which was Joe Cocker’s “A Little Help From My Friends”. As a young child I appreciated the line in the song that said, “I get by with a little help from my friends,” but completely missed the line “I get high with a little help from my friends.”

I don’t condone getting high, but I definitely condone getting by with a little help from our friends.

Another week of Lent has come and gone and Carl’s Jr.’s Charbroiled Atlantic Cod Fish Sandwich is still going strong. Hopefully that’s not the only thing going strong. Hopefully whatever commitment you made for Lent is still going strong, whether that was to give something up or add something to your life. Read more »

Leave A Comment »

#545 – Lent Update

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , on March 1, 2013 by scotthiga

Screen Shot 2013-02-14 at 12.48.30 AM

We’re over two weeks into Lent and I was wondering how everyone is doing. Does giving something up for Lent have the same success rate as New Year’s resolutions?

Does everyone who gave up social media for Lent take two weeks off and then just blow up Instagram with all the pictures they’ve been saving?

Do people who’ve given up Starbucks for Lent take two weeks off and then get an IV with Pike’s Place hooked up to their bodies?

Do people who’ve given up television for Lent take two weeks off and then call in sick and watch everything stored on their DVRs? (If you give up TV for Lent is saving everything on your DVR and watching all your shows after Easter cheating?)

I don’t know how everybody else is doing with their Lenten commitments but, by God’s grace, I’ve been doing pretty well with mine. I gave up sleeping in because I wanted to have more time in the morning’s to spend with God. While I haven’t batted 1.000 in my efforts, I have been able to get more and better quality time with God. It takes effort to start my day with God, but it always gets me off on the right foot and I never regret it. Read more »

4 Comments »

#544 – Definitely vs. Definately

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , on February 28, 2013 by scotthiga

Led Astray

Because of sin we live in a broken world. We see the effects of sin all around us and in everything that attempts to lead us astray.

Victoria’s Secrets catalogs.

Old people writing checks at the grocery store.

The Playstation 4.

Sleeping in.

Star Wars pinball on the iPad.

The world is full of people, places and things that can pull us away from God. Most of these are not evil in and of themselves. They become detrimental, though, when we allow them to influence our lives and our choices too much.

The situation is even scarier when we don’t realize that we’re being pulled away. Read more »

3 Comments »

#534 – Lent

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , on February 14, 2013 by scotthiga

Screen Shot 2013-02-14 at 12.48.30 AM

As I mentioned yesterday in my post about Ash Wednesday, I didn’t grow up in a liturgical environment. Traditions likes Ash Wednesday and Lent were foreign to my good Baptist upbringing and me. In recent years I have learned more about liturgical styles of worship.

I’ve learned more about different liturgical seasons like Lent. Before I thought Lent was a time to give up chocolate and eat Filet-O-Fish sandwiches at McDonald’s. My exposure to Lent was limited to people giving up random things, like trying to break an addiction to caffeine or reality television. Thankfully, others less ignorant than myself have expanded my view and shown me what Lent is really all about.

Lent is the season of the liturgical calendar that leads up to Easter. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and continues for the next six weeks. Even as early as the first century Christians have used this period of about 40 days to model Jesus’ fasting in the wilderness. Since Jesus gave up food for 40 days then we as Christians should be willing to abstain from something for 40 days.

But does what we give up for Lent really matter? Read more »

5 Comments »

#524 – Stewarding Star Wars

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , on January 31, 2013 by scotthiga

jj-abrams-star-wars

Earlier this week I wrote about J.J. Abrams directing Episode 7. I wrote that he’s a good choice to continue the Star Wars saga and that he will be a great steward of the franchise. Faithful reader and commenter, Mike, shared that Abrams’ faithful stewardship of Star Wars could encourage us to faithfully steward those things entrusted to us.

Sadly none of us have been entrusted with stewarding Star Wars (unless J.J. Abrams reads this blog, in which case, one of us has been entrusted with stewarding Star Wars). While we may not be the stewards of a galaxy far, far away, God has made us the stewards of everything he has given us. Read more »

1 Comment »

#518 – Service and Sacrifice

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , on January 23, 2013 by scotthiga

Service-and-Sacrfice

I believe that there is a lot of scientific evidence that points to a Creator. It seems unlikely to me that the entire universe happened by accident. I know plenty of people don’t hold that opinion, but the universe is just too beautiful and too perfect to have been the result of the equivalent of a cosmic lottery ticket.

I also think that there is a lot of the human character and condition that speaks to a Creator as well. When we see examples of courage, love, service, selflessness and sacrifice, something stirs deep within our souls.

When Han shows up to help Luke destroy the Death Star, something stirs deep within our souls.

When Spock sacrifices his single life for the good of  many lives, something stirs deep within our souls.

When Dobby gives up everything he has to rescue Harry, something stirs deep within our souls.

Even though these are just fictional stories about service and sacrifices, they reflect the very present reality of a God who also serves and sacrifices. Stories of sacrifice, fictional or nonfictional, always stir something in us because they reflect the heart of our Creator. And instead of just being moved by stories of sacrifice and service, we should live lives of sacrifice and service. Read more »

2 Comments »

« Older Entries
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 1,811 other followers