"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it." --Matthew 13:43-46

Last Sunday's ABF Recap:

What are some lies that Surburbia tells us that we find easy to believe?

• I should have a larger income in 5 to 10 years.
• My kid's success, or lack thereof, reflects on me.
• My decisions do not impact others.

  Desiring God, John Piper

• ______________________________
• ______________________________

Now what should we do about these?

We have started a new series examining the book Death by Suburb: How to Keep the Suburbs from Killing Your Soul. David Geotz states,

"I think my suburb, as safe and religiously coated as it is, keeps me from Jesus. Or at least, my suburb (and the religion of the suburbs) obscures the real Jesus. The living patterns of the good life affect me more than I know. Yet the same environmental factors that numb me to the things of God also hold out great promise. I don't need to escape the suburbs. I need to find Jesus here (Goetz, 3)."

Each week we will be discussing a toxin which keep us from God, and those practices which will help us have a vital relationship with Christ. As an introduction, this past Sunday we explored the more basic question: What is our treasure in life (Matthew 13.44-46)?

We watched the video clip on the right, then discussed our impressions.

Books will be available this week. Or order now from Amazon.com.

This coming week we'll talk about the first Toxin,

"I am in control of my life."

How can we combat this? David Goetz' answer is:

the Prayer of Silence.

Join us as we not only scratch the surface of this concept, but also talk about how to put it into practice.

Want to dig even deeper into Death By Suburb, click here.

Suppr Six sign-ups will be coming soon.

New to Supper Six? Sign up and you'll be assigned with two other couples to meet for dinner once monthly for three months. It's a great way to get to know other folks!

Laughing Matters
Charles Marshall

I want to make it clear that I do not believe in aliens. Having said that, I think it would still be wise to have a plan in place in case of an alien invasion.

The following are my suggestions in such a case:

1. Let the aliens keep the kids for the weekend.

   How this would work: The aliens would come down and start doing their War-of-the-Worlds thing, and we would say, "Hey, you got us. It's obvious we're out-smarted and out-gunned. Tell you what, we're going to take off for a last hurrah before you take over the planet and whatnot. By the way, we're leaving the kids with you. We'll be back late Sunday afternoon. Bye-bye!"

   Why this will work: First of all, the grandparents always fall for it, so the aliens certainly won't know what hit 'em until the kids are tearing up their spaceships.

   Second, the primary difference between a grandparent and an alien from outer space is that a grandparent knows when to duck. An alien would be fooled by a child's deceptively diminutive size and not be on his guard. I can't tell you how many times I've had the fool beaten out of me by the kids while we were just hanging out, watching TV. Leave the kids with the aliens for the weekend and I guarantee you that the kids will snap their scrawny alien necks and be playing kickball with their over-sized, bulbous heads by Sunday afternoon.

2. Give the aliens all our PCs, especially if they're running a Vista operating system. We humans are used to computer manufacturers taking a perfectly good product, ruining it, and charging us for the service, but this process would blow an intelligent species' mind.

   Giving an alien from an advanced society a PC would be a lot like giving a Mac user a PC. They simply would not be able to comprehend how anyone could possibly live with such a moronic piece of equipment and would go insane trying to figure it out almost as quickly as a Mac user would.

By the way, this column was written on a PC and I would have finished it a lot sooner if I hadn't had to keep telling my moronic PC that I don't want updates and that, yes, I know my security software is about to expire.

Additionally, I had to do a search for a file, which means I had to wait about three days for my computer to find said file. In the meantime, this irritating little dog icon popped up on my desktop and pantomimed scratching the dirt and paging through a book, ostensibly searching for my file. And the one thought that kept going through my mind as I watched this unimaginably annoying display is, "I wonder how much quicker the computer could find my file if it didn't have to use up valuable memory maintaining a picture of this dumb little dog on my desktop?" This thought, of course drives me insane, but then again, I used to be a Mac owner before switching to a PC.

So, I say let's give the aliens some PCs and then watch their brains melt.

Yep, it's a stressful world alright, what with all the babysitting, PC problems, and alien invasions, so what's a body to do with all the stress?

I'll tell you what helps me. I know I'm supposed to offer some amazing technique or revelation here but what works for me is actually quite simple, and therefore all the more valuable I believe.

I read my Bible.

That's it. Like I said, it's pretty simple really, but here's the thing -- it works. There is just something about God's word that puts everything happening in my life into perspective and helps me to clarify my focus.

It helps me to see just a glimpse of God and that one little peek changes me somehow. It puts my mind at rest and reassures me that there is a loving God who is in control of my little world, even when it is being invaded by the kids while I'm trying to work on my PC.

So let the aliens come, I say. But, um, let's make sure they're hostile aliens before we sic the kids on them.

Copyright 2008 Charles Marshall. Charles Marshall is a nationally known Christian comedian and author. Visit his Web site at http://www.charlesmarshallcomedy.com or contact him via e-mail at charles@charlesmarshallcomedy.com.

Keep an eye out for the new folks who will be overseeing the Care Ministry, party-planning duties, etc., etc. You'll see some sign-up sheets that will be going around soon looking for volunteers to help out in these and other areas.

Enjoy your week. Send an encouraging e-mail to a friend.

RG