Going off the grid... Well sort of

I decided to go off the grid.  

I've heard of people taking a break from Facebook, or the Internet.  But I don't belong to any of those social media sites, so I just decided to turn off my phone.  

For 48 hours.

I didn't do anything dangerous; no cliff diving, bungee jumping, or jumping out of an airplane.  The most dangerous thing that happened was I got stung by a bee. But that's because I like to walk around my 5 acres barefoot.  You see there are some risks I'm willing to take. 

So what did I discover? That I still love the same things I always have.  Waking up to a good cup of coffee, reading my Bible, praying, kayaking, bike riding, playing my guitar, good red wine (no surprises there), even mowing the lawn.

While I was out running I came across a baby colt.  It came up and looked as if it wanted to talk to me.  I stuck my hand through the fence and it let me rub its head and touch it's face for five minutes.  It was a simple sweet profound moment.

I went to the local hardware store to pick something up.  And there up on the wall was an archery set.  I used to love archery when I was a kid at YMCA camp. So I bought it.  I picked up three bales of straw and built myself a target.  After a few rounds I got the hang of it again.  And what do you know; I'm actually pretty damn good.

So I think I'm probably going to go off the grid every now and then.  I would recommend it.

It's really quite simple actually.

You just push a button on your phone.

Who's In Charge?

God created humans in his image and invited them to participate in creation and gave them authority over that creation.

It was good.

But then something went wrong.

Humans decided to seize that authority for themselves rather than share in it.  What we might term "the Fall" begins with a corruption of that authority.

When that authority organizes into social political structures and institutions it becomes what Paul says in Ephesians are rulers, powers, and authorities that we wrestle with.  Walter Wink terms this "the domination system". These political systems from Babel to Egypt to Babylon to Rome bring with them horrible injustice and slavery.

So authority that was good becomes a horror.

Jesus claimed that all authority has been given to him.

What does true divine granted human authority and power look like?

It looks like becoming a slave on behalf of another.  It looks like giving yourself over completely even to the point of death for another.  It looks like becoming last rather than first.  It looks like self giving sacrificial love.

So authority isn't the problem; it's actually the solution.  It just looks completely different than we think.

Redemption stretches further then our internal human hearts.  It goes all the way to the top... to who's in charge.