I just learned that there are 10,080 minutes in a week. I learned this while eavesdropping on THIS conversation between Andy & Tim Timmons. …Tim points out that Jesus’ wife invests approx 80 minutes per/week singing Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, confessing sins and faith, receiving assurance of forgiveness, and attending to the supernatural revelation of God as a group all gathered together in person. This weekly family reunion [this 80 minute (ish) one-in-seven-day commitment] is essential to our self-care! Which is why God says, “Don’t neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encourage one another.” You cannot be confident, truly secure, feel safe, experience emotional, physical, psychological, and/or spiritual health without committing to this weekly worship gathering as the joy set before you.

But what about the other 10,000 minutes? Are we supposed to wallow in anxiety, anger, and apathy? Are we obligated to spew our criticisms, concerns, and condemnations on social media? Must we doom ourselves to the gangrenous misery of chronic malcontent? Are we supposed to get offended, defensive, and dismissive every time we encounter something we don’t agree with? OR are we FREE to not be conformed to this world, but instead incessantly receive the transforming workmanship of God in our lives (see 1 Corinthians 15:10, and Ephesians 2:8-10). Are we FREE to accept the renewing artistry of God in our minds and hearts? Are we FREE to be slaves/servants of the Lord? Are we FREE to not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, patiently enduring evil, correcting our opponents with gentleness (like Alyosha Karamazov)? Are we FREE to optimistically believe that God may perhaps grant our enemies repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth? When we feel outrage and sorrow are we FREE to simply lament? Are we FREE to laugh in the face of wickedness and evil, knowing that all authority in heaven and on earth belongs to the crucified King (Psalm 2:4; 1 Corinthians 2:2; Hebrews 12:2)?

I invite you to eavesdrop on THIS conversation between Andy & Tim, and listen to how they live as citizens of the True Kingdom (which is a Kingdom not of this world), and notice how they inhabit the tension of the already and not yet of the True Kingdom. Join these fellow adopted brothers as they relish their union with the crucified, servant, King; lamenting and laughing amidst their sojournings on this temporary planet.

…And as an encore, here’s a quote from The Brothers Karamazov:

“The man who lies to himself can be more easily offended than anyone else. You know it is sometimes very pleasant to take offense, isn’t it? A man may know that nobody has insulted him, but that he has invented the insult for himself, has lied and exaggerated to make it picturesque, has caught at a word and made a mountain out of a molehill–he knows that himself, yet he will be the first to take offense, and will revel in his resentment till he feels great pleasure in it. …Above all, avoid lies, all lies, especially the lie to yourself. Keep watch on your own lie and examine it every hour, every minute. And avoid contempt, both of others and of yourself: what seems bad to you in yourself is purified by the very fact that you have noticed it in yourself. And avoid fear, though fear is simply the consequence of every lie. Never be frightened at your own faintheartedness in attaining love, and meanwhile do not even be very frightened by your own bad acts.”
― Fyodor Dostoevsky