There has been a lot of posts about what will happen to print material over the next several years with the introduction of the iPad and other already existing devices like the Kindle and Nook. Although my mother clings dearly to them, I know for me, it’s probably been a good six or seven years since I last opened an actual dictionary to find a definition.

Encyclopedias? I don’t think I stayed in school long enough to really grow accustomed to using them. The internet seems to do the trick nicely.

Well, today, as I was browsing the net, I came across this image on thereifixedit.com. It seems to serve as what might be a pretty accurate omen to the future of most print material.

The Encyclopedia Britannica, conveniently modified into a broom to brush away debris on the floor.

Having little higher education, and not having read too much up until about four years ago, I personally have no attachment to the printed medium of literature. Well, other than the fact that I don’t really want to sit in front of my computer screen to read. But, with the advent of a versatile digital media device like the iPad, I can foresee a time when I don’t have a single book shelf in my home and all of my books are consolidated into one little digital media portal. Not unlike the way we’ve ditched shelves and shelves of DVD and CD cases.

I have friends who decry this attitude of mine. Clinging to the nostalgic feeling of several hundred pages bound together to tell a story or communicate an idea.

But a post of Craig Mod’s blog seems to sum things up pretty nicely. Well, for the immediate future, at least.

He argues that a huge amount of our familiarity with the written word will be challenged. Nothing is necessarily sacred. Just because we have lived for hundreds of years interacting with books on a page-by-page basis, doesn’t mean we will continue to. In fact, a digital medium will explode the formatting potential of our literature. Hopefully, in a good way.

As someone with no attachment to the analog methods we’ve used for centuries, I say bring it on!

It’s March. It should be cold. But the last few days have been so beautiful that my daily routine has moved to the back patio. There’s nothing quite like a good cup of hot tea, a fresh bowl of moassal, calm and brisk 60 degree weather, and God’s Word to help bring focus and reflection.

I couldn’t help but take the chance to invite you into my morning routine from the last few days… you know, before the rain starts and spoils it all!

In Tim Keller’s book Counterfeit God’s he has a chapter devoted to the allurement of power and how, as human beings, we often elevate power a success (both socially and professionally) to the level of a deity.

As Americans we often have the idea that we can do ‘whatever we set our mind to’, but Keller asserts that:

“We are not nearly as responsible for our success as our popular views of God and reality lead us to think.”

As Keller describes, we have a tendency to want to see our lives as a blank canvas for us to draw on as we go. As children and young adults, we see things in our family and parents that we vow never to emulate. But before long, any rational assessment of our lives will reveal just how much our family and life circumstances have shaped who we are, what we do and what we like to do.

With just a quick step back, we can see these are things we have had no control over whatsoever. We do no choose when we are born, where we are born and to whom we are born.

If these are three things shape a massive amount of our character and person, they are also sure weights in the balance of our success in all kinds of areas of life.

We are therefore profoundly naive to ever honestly believe we are really ‘in control of our destiny’ so to speak. If we believe in the God of the bible, we must be humble and confess that we are not in control of our lives in the way that we would like to be.

Keeping this in mind is a humbling thing and massive step toward trusting God and having confidence in his decision making.

A video blog by me, of me, about five things I love. Can you pick out which of those statements wasn’t true? I’ll bet you can.

(Can’t see the video? Watch it on YouTube!)

Meditating on God’s word is an ancient command and tradition. Joshua 1:8:

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Of course, not everyone during Joshua’s time, or even Christ’s time would have access to their own personal copies of the scripture. The idea was that they would know it and remember it. It would be a constant reminder to them.

Today, we have the same need and command to remember God’s word. And our memory hasn’t gotten any better. In fact, with the instant nature of the internet and entertainment, it’s probably gotten worse.

This is why, even though actually reading the bible every day is not exactly a biblical command, we should do it daily. With our plethora of resources, it’s likely the best way we can fulfill the commands to remember God’s word.

There’s just no good excuse not to.

Romans 6:19:

“…For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.”

There’s an important truth embedded here that I sometimes overlook.

“Lawlessness leading to more lawlessness…” Sin leads to more sin. Have you ever been stuck in a series of habitual sins? Have you ever told yourself that quitting cold-turkey would be too hard and so you thought you might try and ease yourself out of your sin pattern? I definitely have. It’s never worked for me and I’m betting it didn’t work for you either.

That’s because sin begets sin. When we sin, we sin more. That’s the problem. If we want to break our sin-patterns, we’ll have to stop more than that sin in specific, but focus on Sin as the grand tyrant it is.

I’m currently reading Tim Keller’s Counterfeit Gods with a friend. After reading the introduction, I can’t help but feel like the book comes at a time when my spirit is soft enough for the words to cut through.

In the first chapter, Keller write:

“The most painful times in our lives are when our… idols are being threatened or taken away.”

When I read this, something resounded in me. A sense of illumination was splashed on so many of these noted painful times. In virtually every instance my memory presents, I can see there was something underneath the discomfort or pain. Although still not something I’m able to fully understand.

Nevertheless, I’m convinced that Keller is correct in his assertion that there were idols present there. My emotional response was to the prospect of losing them. And, while most of those things which were ‘threatened’ were eventually lost, I have the sinking suspicion that whatever idol was present is still reigning quietly.

At the same time, however, I’m encouraged that God would deal patiently and graciously, working to remove destructive idols that stand to inhibit my satisfaction that could, and should, be had in Him.