All posts tagged ethos

ethos – table of contents

by Ryan Marcum on May 28, 2010 in Blog, Life with No comments

Hey everyone, this is a sneak peek at the table of contents to the book I have been writing. I am putting the finishing touches on a rough draft, the next step will be editing and then hopefully publishing.

ethos

a book by Ryan Marcum

I. simple

II. follow the Leader

III. who is Jesus?

IV. the Great Commission

V. the Great Commandment

VI. a Faith Community

VII. the Last Things

love God love People

The Greek definition of ethos is character; more specifically the character of a specific person, people, culture, or movement.

A few questions I asked myself before writing this book were:

What does the Christian life look like?
What is the Christian life modeled after?
What is the purpose of a Christian ethos?
How is that purpose lived out?
Do all Christians act the same?
What happens next?

This is not an exhaustive book on the subject of the Christian life, nor is it meant to be a theology book it is simple and at the same time it is something very profound that God has placed on my heart. This is merely a book that I felt needed to be written for those who feel like they are on the outside looking in. This book is for the ones who are at the edge of becoming the person God meant them to be! This book is not for those who are looking for a debate on doctrine, no this is just a book written from a Christian perspective, giving Biblical examples of a life devoted to Jesus Christ and His mission for all believers….

Simple Ethos Chapter 4 snippet

by Ryan Marcum on February 15, 2010 in Blog, Life with No comments

Jesus, in Matthew 5 addresses the crowd with this statement, You have heard it said.[i] Jesus was pointing back to the Old Testament, and giving updated meaning to the commands passed down from generation after generation. In the same way we are passing down our traditions and culture to the next. The question is, what are we passing down? Are we passing down a message of fear of the different? Are we passing down a mindset that says do not go downtown! Do not go to the under privileged! Do not. Do Not. DO NOT. I see a current mindset of believers comfortable with giving money so others can go into the dark places but not willing to go and love. We have heard it said….

Emma is four years old now and I am constantly reminded that I have no idea what I am doing. I am new at this Parenting thing. She often asks questions of all types and lately has been asking more deep thinking ones. She recently asked me if children die. I reluctantly said, Well, some children die. I saw tears begin to well up in her eyes and she looked at me once again and asked, Am I going to die? By, this time I was worried where this was coming from. I again answered, Emma, baby everyone is going to die sometime. For the record, Emma is our first and only child so this is new for me. She began to cry uncontrollably. I assured her that she was not going to die and she would grow old and have a great life. She calmed down but I could tell she looked right through my comforting and let out sobs here and there. I thought about it later that day, is my daughter going to live a long life? Is she going to experience tragedy, pain, sorrow, love, joy and all the emotions that come with growing up? Can I assure her that she is going to live? Will I be the parent that passes down a love for all people? Or, will I pass down a fear of people that have less than ourselves?  Will Emma live up to her name sake, all embracing, when it comes to others or will she lift her nose at those who live on the other side?

[i] Matthew 5:21, 27, 31, 33, 38, 43

Simple Ethos Chapter 3 snippet

by Ryan Marcum on February 12, 2010 in Blog, Life with No comments

Have you ever wondered what the meaning of life is? I mean really sat down and thought it through. Take a child for instance the meaning of life is probably in the neighborhood of everything is mine and is meant to make me happy. Take an adolescent the meaning of life might be boys, girls, music, having the most friends on facebook. But then we get older and suddenly the meaning of life becomes about finances and a bigger house finding the right husband or wife and “these things will make me happy.” And suddenly we become seniors and life becomes about memories and leaving a legacy behind. What is the meaning of life? Where do you find meaning? Are you trapped in a cycle of possessions and living from pay check to paycheck, or maybe your stuck in a scheduling nightmare that controls your every moment…

The book of Ecclesiastes gives us great insight on the wisest man ever, and the life he lived in pursuit of the meaning of life. In the beginning of the book Solomon says, that everything is meaningless, wisdom, work, pleasure, toil, wealth…everything is meaningless. Then with perfect harmony lays out wisdom that brings everything into focus. In the Conclusion of the last chapter in verse 13, Solomon says this,

Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.

We are becoming.
Becoming more like what God intended us to be.
A people who fear(love, revere, honor, worship, adore…) Him and obey His commandments. This is the whole duty of man.

This is what it is all about,
…the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
So we have Loving God, Loving People, and everything we do should hang on these. Everything?
Can you imagine a life that revolves around one primary concept? A concept so simple that we sometimes miss… Can you imagine?
Imagine a world, no imagine a people so consumed with loving God not self and obeying the command to love our neighbors. How different would life be? The problem with our western culture is that we are so lost in self preservation and self promotion that the concept of living for something else, other than ourselves, is to faint to recognize. My generation is considered the microwave generation…what will future generations be called? Could the American church slip to obsolete? Or could people catch the life that is Loving God and Loving People?

Simple Ethos Chapter 2 snippet

by Ryan Marcum on February 11, 2010 in Blog, Life with No comments

I wear size 10 ½ shoes. I like my shoe size it is mine; it has been given to me by God. I like my shoes. The pair of shoes I have on right now are almost in my top 5 favorite pairs of shoes. I think my number one pair would be a pair of Air Jordan’s that I wore while playing basketball in a high school league growing up. We went 13-0 that year, it was amazing! And my shoes were there. Our shoes go every where with us, unless we’re on vacation in which case they stay behind only to sulk in a hotel room. Think about it our shoes are a representation of our life. You can document stages of your life by the shoes you wear. Important dates, births, deaths, weddings, sporting events, we have a pair of shoes for every occasion!
Let’s go deeper in our imagination in the context of wearing shoes. Sometimes my shoes get dirty, I mean literally dirty. I step in mud or a puddle of water, or someone’s forgotten gum. If our lives can be described by our shoes what would we look like? If a puddle represented an adulterous relationship? Or a piece of gum represented an abortion? Or what if a pair of shoes that we wore on our wedding day, never to be worn again, represented our relationship with God…

…you know, the shoes that match the suit or wedding dress. We shop around until we find the right ones, for the right price! We put so much energy in these shoes that when we finally put them on… and we can not wait to take them off. They hurt, our feet are not used to them just yet. When the wedding ends and we are back home and slowly we forget about those shoes, we put them away and they are forgotten. For some our relationship with God feels like a pair of wedding shoes.