Modern-Day Manna

by Heather Myer

Have you ever experienced a time of being low on cash? A time when you sought food for its price and not for its quality? College students are skilled at this task. Top Ramen Noodles are a universal answer to hunger. Available in pork, shrimp, vegetable, chicken, and beef, these dried curly noodles cost only a quarter. Elizabeth frequently resorted to Toastio’s, an off-brand version of Cheerios. I ate hard boiled eggs and instant oatmeal for all three meals. Perhaps the most creative were Erica, Theresa, Katie, and Dallas. Erica waited until after 7 PM when the Fast and Friendly Gas Station sold hot dogs and hamburgers for half-price. Mixing minute rice and salsa together satiated Katie. English muffins topped with cheese and tomato sauce substituted Theresa’s longing for Papa John’s. Dallas mixed together tuna and macaroni and cheese to balance carbs with protein. College was a time when Stephen cherished pop tarts for their real fruit filling, and Cassie ate peanut butter in lieu of meat. It was a time of frozen pizzas, hot dogs, and microwave popcorn. Adults with kitchens cook pancakes, beans, potatoes, and meatless spaghetti when money is low. Now, pick a food item that you ate regularly out of necessity.

Do you have your food in mind? Good! Now, do you still enjoy eating it? Now that you have tasted the flavors of steak, penne pasta, and asparagus, could you go back? Back to a time of eating purely to stop hunger and not to satisfy your taste buds? If only for the simplicity of being content with what you had, would you want to go back? Knowing that the pricier items did not matter, because you could not afford them anyways? Life was simple in college. Dinner options were either between tomato soup or corn flakes. This was a time before choosing Zio’s over Macaroni Grill was even an option. Yet God always provided and brought us through.

Consider the Israelites, as they wandered in the desert for 40 years. God had promised to deliver them into a land flowing with milk and honey. Yet they dined on four decades of manna and the occasional quail. Manna was bread that God caused to fall like rain and cover the ground like frost. It was white, flaky, and tasted like wafers made with honey and olive oil. The Israelites had to rely on God to feed them. The manna would turn to maggots if they hoarded it overnight. They could save some to eat only for the Sabbath, God’s day of rest. Think of your food staple again. College was 4 years of instant oatmeal. This grew old quickly. Now imagine 4 decades of ramen noodles. Try to conceive four decades of nothing other than macaroni cheese and tuna. Would you remain thankful? The Israelites could not. They groaned and even wailed with out ceasing, “If only we had died in Egypt! We have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!” God had delivered the Israelites from persecution, slavery, and genocide. Yet they wailed and groaned because of their food. Because of constantly eating a honey-flavored wafer provided by God, the Israelites were willing to forgo Canaan and return to a land where their lives were forfeit and their doom certain. Yet God had plans for his people to prosper and thrive in a new land.

What has God delivered you from? How has he carried you through difficulties? During your own time of eating manna and the occasional quail, consider how he sustained you. Some of us are still in the middle of wandering in the desert. We can choose to be thankful for our minute rice and salsa or we can wail and groan because of another PB&J. God is in the process of delivering us from our own Egypt and bringing us to Canaan. Until we reach the land flowing with milk and honey, let us be thankful. Let us praise God for his provisions. May we find comfort the manna that he has given to us.

Money and the Bible, Part III

In our study of money and the Bible, we move from giving to maintain to giving to accomplish mission. Listen now…

Money & Identity: Moving Beyond Obligation to Grace

from Pastor Lane

Money…it makes people do funny, stupid, and unbelievable things…not unlike this video of the Flying Lizards illustrates.

Why do we hold such a strong desire for money? I love the answer that James MacDonald gives: “Because we believe money can do things that only God can do.” The truth is, money is only temporal and cannot sustain our needs. “Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death” (Prov. 11.4). Nevertheless we continue to put our hope in it, believing that it will make us happy, content, appreciated, feel better about self or accepted by others.

When money is esteemed as providing for life what only God can provide: provision, security, safety, purpose, etc. we place our hope in it and establish our identity and value in life by it. Proverbs 18.11 says, “The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it an unscalable wall.” When do I know that my hope is in money? When I think more highly toward those with money because I see that their house is nicer, their clothes are newer, their car is better, their luxuries are more abundant, and in all of these things I cannot help but think how much better my life would be…not with all of them, for that would be greedy…but maybe with only a few of them.

When must I confess that my identity is wrapped up in my wealth? I must confess this when I think less highly of those that do not, or at least do not seem to, have money. My thoughts toward others that may, or at least seem to, have less are not as high in respect. I may even have a thought of pity toward them because their clothes are not as nice, their car or house is not as new. I must confess this when I’m hesitant to let my kids play with theirs or to bring them too close in my life. Sure, the excuses that I put forth to avoid awkward situations are sound reasons that make complete sense. But the deeper thoughts of motivation rest with other perceptions.

When can I be sure that my trust is in my bank account? When I have the opportunity to give it away, even some of it, for purposes that I know to be God-ordained and yet I cannot let it go. I’m willing to give some, but not enough to in any way endanger my security, my safety, or my separation from the part of the world that I want nothing to do with.

A Time to Embrace

by Heather Myer
Louise and Kyla formed a friendship that grew beyond age barriers. Louise was a kind 90 year old lady who enjoyed working on word search puzzles while volunteering at a local community organization. Kyla, a 23-year-old employee helped her find tricky backwards and diagonal words. Their friendship formed over a year of joint work on puzzles and conversations about life. One day, Louise had a stroke. Kyla continued their friendship by visiting Louise in the care facility for 1–2 hours a day. Louise was not lucid. Her voice slurred, and she was confused. She was not alert to person, place, time, or date. Unsure whether Louise’s condition would decline or improve, Kyla pulled up a chair beside the elderly lady, whom she loved. She took the small, aged hand between her own strong hands. Her slender fingers stroked those crippled from arthritis and pain. Laughing, Kyla told Louise about her day, the news, work, her wedding plans, and her pug dogs. Still holding hands, they watched cartoons and sitcoms, as Kyla laughed and encouraged Louise.

Scientific studies have proven that hand holding has very specific health benefits. Heart rates slow. Blood pressure lowers. Respirations are fewer. Endorphins, hormones that allow for good feelings, are released. Stress levels are lowered. Tension in the temples and between eyebrows vanishes. Shoulders, weighed by life’s burdens, are lifted. In the simple act of grasping Louise’s hand as they sat together, Kyla administered a treatment that modern medicine could not: time, reassurance, familiarity, and love.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, and a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. —Eccles. 3:1–8

Money & the Bible, Part II

As we continue studying money and the Bible, we look at giving in the contexts of tithe and sacrificial generosity. Listen now…

Money & the Bible, Part I

As we begin studying money and the Bible, we study our identity in the context of money and move from obligation to grace. (Due to technical difficulties, this week’s audio file is unavailable. We’re sorry for the inconvienience.)

Biblical Repentance

No one really gets excited about repentance because we don’t understand it. If we don’t understand biblical repentance, we can’t be Christians, and we can’t live the Christian life that God intends for us. Listen now…