Pinterest, its fueling and fanning of the female fanish flame.

So I definitely just had to search how to spell that word.

My good friend recently posted a status on facebook: "Pinterest's main message seems to be "It's okay to be fat, but you should also have six-pack abs, and here's a million pictures of cake." Now, I don't know a lot about pinterest, admittedly, but I have some experience in culture. The inconsistency of it all is stark. Pinterest is a place on the internet where girls go to feed their most girlish desires. I'm serious. I'm not getting on there right now because I'm at Mugwalls and everyone walking by would see me on there and that's not happening. I'm sure if I got on I would see exactly what every girl wants most. You have the marriage albums, the food albums, the good looking men albums and so on. The girls want to be accepting of who they are and so their cool with flaws. At the same time there's a desire for flawlessness because the world will be the world and have its way. And though there's nothing wrong with flawlessness, it is what we're called to, it isn't physically achievable.

Beyond that, Pinterest feeds a mighty fire of fanhood. Pinterest is a brand new machine that runs the factory of obsession. I was thinking today about the coming and going fads. Highschool Musical, The Jonas Brothers, Justin Bieber, The Lord of The Rings, Hannah Montana, Twilight, Inheritance Cycle, The Hunger Games, and Webkinz (That's right, I went there.) just to name a few. They come and they go, and now Pinterest is a means of that. I saw lately. Is this wrong? No, nothing is really wrong in and of its self, but there's a lot of potential for evil. I recently saw on facebook a picture of some girl's album filled with pictures of Josh Hutcherson, who played Peeta Mellark in the recent Hunger Games movie. It was titled "My Future Husband." I can't help but shiver at the thought of it. Clearly this is too much. Even if she doesn't really think she's going to marry him, she is pouring her thoughts, emotions and time into obsessing over him. He's something that's going to be old news before we know it. (unless he gets a lot better at acting soon.) How much time is Pinterest taking away from what really matters? And worse, how is it affecting the minds of those on it? Take me seriously now, I know I'm starting to sound like an old conservative geezer.

My point is, Pinerest brought to mind the temporariness of so much that we invest in. So much of what we talk/think/complain/worry about does not matter. Often times it's hurtful. At one point in the gospels, Jesus calls Peter "Satan" for thinking about earthly things over heavenly things, it's a big deal. So I suggest if you read this far, think about what you worry about and spend your time doing, because that's what matters to you. Simple as that.

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
Colossians 3:2

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Philippians 4:8

Jesus

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Valuing the Physical while knowing a Spiritual Creator

Over spring break I lost my bible. I'm pretty sure the day of presentation written in there by my parents is June 30th 2003. It's not just any bible, I've spent my most significant years of my spiritual growth reading that copy of the Word. I admit as much as the other bibles I have are just as much God's Word it has been a struggle to get as much out of time in them. Hopefully I will find my old NKJ somewhere someday but I bought an ESV yesterday that I've really enjoyed so far. (Nonetheless, if anyone happens upon a blue bible that's falling apart in either Galveston, B/CS, Frontier Camp or anywhere in between please let me know!)

I bring this up because of a few reasons. Ben Stuart of Breakaway Ministries last night had a tangent about the physical. He mentioned how as the church we have a tendency to over spiritualize Christianity. We forget that God made the world and all the physical existence and that it is good. So when we do this I feel like, for me personally, I start to phase out the value of physical ability, appearance, and behavior. These things matter (hah, get it? They matter because they... yeah forget it.) and we shouldn't detach them from how we live spiritually. We, as humanity, are the coming together of both the spiritual and the physical. When we were made in God's image we were given souls, we are the grand finale of the Conductor's great symphony of creation of the physical realem. We can't suppose that our lives aren't directly linked the the physical world around us. We are emotionally and spiritually affected by the physical. The position that you pray in doesn't matter as far as being acceptable but it being on your knees means something. I don't have to have a bible similar to my old one, the way it's tall and thin, but the new one is familiar and comfortable to handle and read. Also it's green, and has a cool cross design on the cover.
We can't write off ritual or tradition as weird symbolism of olden days. We take the bread and the wine, we eat and drink in remembrance of a physical death. One goes on his knee to propose to a girl to form a relational bond. We are baptized into water as a testimony of faith in the unseen. We cry when we're sad. There is a clear physical connections to the relational/spiritual/emotional aspects of life.

I don't know if there's a word for it yet, but I am the sort that views everything as significant or potentially significant. As a significantist, I have a good memory... I can also be sappy at times. All this to say, I don't think it's wrong to value the physical. There are little things in this world that mean something to me. From a hat to a train ticket, and I know I'm not alone in this. God knows this and blesses us by it. He gets us, I don't think we realize that enough. Of course we know that all will be burned away someday and we are only left with God and us so we need a good balance, which is almost always the case. God created a world full of opposites, most of them can oppose or complement each other. For example: the present case of physical and spiritual but also male and female, night and day, work and relaxation, sleep and wakefulness, talk and silence, truth and grace in their own way and etc. These are all good things (note that some opposites are not) but too much of/emphasis on one over another would be wrong. So much of life is a balancing act of our prospective and my prayer is that ours as individuals and as a church will be godly. For we walk by faith and not by sight.