tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14718222640462679222024-02-20T11:04:34.694-06:00Just sayin'Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06418141427127732724noreply@blogger.comBlogger419125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1471822264046267922.post-42976871333924607162017-02-13T23:45:00.002-06:002017-02-13T23:45:44.020-06:00Retro Post from Feb 2011<h2 class="date-header" style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 0px; position: relative;">
Friday, February 18, 2011</h2>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="3926759640485274661"></a><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="margin: 20px 0px 0px; position: relative;">
A Tour of the House that Was...</h3>
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When we left for work Wed. morning, there was a house next door. When we came home - there wasn't. The entire lot had been swept clean - no fence, no Crepe Myrtle tree, no rose bush, no shed, no storage building, no carport - no house. Just wide open space, a cracked concrete drive leading no where and fresh dirt brought in to make the yard even with the drive.<br /><div>
But the memories were still there; both good and bad. And certainly, there was no lack of either. For the first 15 years of our marriage, a retired preacher, Cecil, lived there with his second wife, Thelma. After we had our son, Cecil became "Pap-aw" and Thelma became "Granny" and they certainly lived up to their names!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGQwGkvqIcLGn0-ZkiHeh9ZRlXwXGUvuFTvIEVccqPIbwakpCyKq2syZFSV7jaBSmUEwUQ3Zmcf994YkW6t3z_0CtsiKGTiTBFVA4dem9HZLT7m2vmYcSYY5KDfBZ4a32KF9dWTd-eWIwu/s1600/scan0006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; color: black; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGQwGkvqIcLGn0-ZkiHeh9ZRlXwXGUvuFTvIEVccqPIbwakpCyKq2syZFSV7jaBSmUEwUQ3Zmcf994YkW6t3z_0CtsiKGTiTBFVA4dem9HZLT7m2vmYcSYY5KDfBZ4a32KF9dWTd-eWIwu/s200/scan0006.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="200" /></a> As I think about them, memories speed by. Coming home from the hospital with our newborn son and going straight to their house so that Thelma and Cecil could see him. It was the first of many visits our child would make over there. In fact, it was in their living room that David took his first steps. And it was there that he learned to wrestle with Pap-aw. Cecil had heart disease and diabetes and couldn't get down on the floor so he would pull David into his recliner and that's where they would "arm-wrastle". It was a toss-up as to who enjoyed it the most.</div>
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Thelma was a fanatic about cleanliness. When David was still just an infant, she decided their old carpet had to go. I told her the carpet they had was just fine for when David started crawling; she insisted that the decision to get new flooring had nothing to do with the baby but we all knew that wasn't true.</div>
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She also cooked for us. Sometimes I would come home worn out and she would greet me with the words, "Come on over! I've got something for you!" The "something" would turn out to be an entire meal cooked from scratch. David grew up loving her homemade sweet pickles and her PBJ sandwiches - which he begged her to teach me how to "cook"...:( </div>
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But I guess the main memory I have is of going over about 8 in the evening to say "good-night". By this time, Cecil had moved to Heaven and Thelma was alone. So every day after school, DAvid and I would go over to check on Thelma and almost every evening, we would go over to give her a good-night hug. As we approached the house, I would see her through the window. She would almost always be sitting in her recliner, large print Bible open on her lap, reading. She had had to drop out of school after the third grade in order to work in the cotton fields so reading was tough work for her. Yet every night, before retiring, she would move her finger across the printed page while her lips silently "sounded out" the words. I read all the time but never with the discipline and devotion that she applied to the task. </div>
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All things come to an end. In 2001 she had to sell the house so that she could move closer to her daughter and to this day, I still miss her. </div>
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In the summer of 2001, a middle-aged man and his 19-year-old daughter moved next door. She was expecting her first child and about to be married, a really beautiful girl who was excited about the changes in her life. She had her son in January and by May, she had abandoned her husband and her baby in order to run off with a drug-dealer.</div>
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From the summer of 2002 until Feb. 2010, this girl cycled in and out of her father's house and we soon learned to dread her appearance next door and I'm not kidding. She never came alone and she never came without first wearing out her welcome elsewhere. I can't ever remember a time when she or her current boyfriend weren't wanted by the police. And somehow, though it seemed impossible, she always managed to find a worse boyfriend than the one before.</div>
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Now, the house next door was characterized by traffic coming and going 24/7, by police raids, by violence, and eventually by prostitution as the daughter descended deeper and deeper into drug use and eventually had to ply the streets of our area in order to pay for her "highs". Over the years, the utilities were constantly being turned on and off and during the times when they were off, we were routinely asked for water, for the use of our phone, and even for electricity -during one bitterly cold snap my husband ran an extension cord over to their house so that they could run an electric heater. Eventually, whenever I went to Sam's Club, I bought some extra food and water for them. What else could we do? I couldn't see them starve and Phil couldn't see them freeze so there we were.</div>
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And then there were the times when father and daughter would abandon the place temporarily and the girl's "friends-turned-enemies" would break into the house and as the dad would later lament "clean him out". Phil and I lost track of the times the door was kicked in one summer. The dad would come by long enough to assess the damage and put the door back up but nothing stopped the thieves from coming, even when it seemed there couldn't be anything left to steal. Finally, when they pulled the copper tubing out of the place, they were done and the dad moved back in with his daughter not too far behind him.</div>
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And then there was the trash. A yard that hadn't been mowed in forever - grass knee high. Broken furniture, dishes, debris spilling out of the back door into the backyard. Unbelievable.</div>
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And then a year ago in Feb., we came home to find about 10 emergency vehicles blocking our road while various agencies were mopping up a sting operation. They netted three meth labs and one homemade bomb. The daughter had just been released from prison a few weeks before all this came down. Where she went after the drug bust, we have no idea. We just know that we were so grateful that A) our house didn't get blown up. (The police said the house contained enough combustible materials to blow up our entire street) and B) that the city took over the property.</div>
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When it was put on a list of condemned houses and slated to be torn down, we felt nothing but relief. Then the construction workers came out this past Saturday to gather whatever salvageable material they could before beginning the demolition. There wasn't much to salvage - basically the siding and the carport roof and that was it. But to us, it was a signal that the beginning of the end of an era was finally here.</div>
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Once we knew it would be a matter of mere days before the house disappeared, we both had mixed feelings about wanting to go inside it one more time. It had been years since we'd walked in the living room and somehow, I kept seeing David taking his first steps from the coffee table to the couch. The construction people had said we could go in - that they had already been through the house and didn't want anything in it - but we weren't sure if it was the right thing to do or not. When it was still standing Tuesday evening, we decided we'd try it.</div>
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All I can say is that Thomas Wolfe was right.. you can't go home again. Once inside, even though we thought we knew what to expect, we really didn't. We expected trash everywhere but hoped some remnant of Cecil and Thelma would somehow remain. What we encountered was the complete physical and moral wreckage of what could scarcely be called human lives. We didn't linger.</div>
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There were however, two things that caught our attention. The first were plastic looms that had belonged to Cecil. He had ordered them through the mail and used them to make place mats. Unbelievably enough, after all these years, they were still hanging on the wall where he always kept them. I still have the place mats he made for us and now I have the looms as well. They probably cost about 20.00 all told and I may never figure out how to use them., but inexplicably, I'm glad to have them.</div>
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The only other object that stood out was an old photo album. It had pictures of a little red-headed girl, first as an infant, then as a toddler, then as an elementary student, and finally as an adolescent. It was clearly the girl next door, taking milk from a bottle, holding a fishing pole with a fish dangling from it, playing on a swing, and then looking like she was decked out for her first prom. I thought her dad might want it - although the chances are remote that we'll ever see him again.</div>
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I don't know how things can go so wrong. Sometimes as a teacher, when I think of the wasted life that once lived beside us, I just want to shake students who joke about drug usage. Even more to the point, I want to bring them over here and take them on a tour of the house that was. Or show them a slideshow of a red-headed baby morphing over the years into a burned-out shell of a person before the age of thirty.</div>
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But I can't. Right now, all I can say is that surely all drug dealers smell of fire and brimstone.</div>
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Obviously, the razing of the house next door has evoked some powerful memories - memories that have never been far from my mind this entire week. Like taking a mental tour of Heaven and then of Hell. I don't want to forget the love, laughter and blessings that flowed from Thelma and Cecil. </div>
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And I don't think I can forget the girl who lived next door and the mess that became her life. I don't think I have that luxury.</div>
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<span class="post-author vcard" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 1em;">Posted by <span class="fn" itemprop="author" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><a class="g-profile" data-gapiattached="true" data-gapiscan="true" data-onload="true" href="https://plus.google.com/117111681991755704791" rel="author" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" title="author profile"><span itemprop="name">cathy liz</span> </a></span></span><span class="post-timestamp" style="margin-left: -1em; margin-right: 1em;">at <a class="timestamp-link" href="http://cathie-justsayin.blogspot.com/2011/02/tour-of-house-that-was.html" rel="bookmark" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" title="permanent link"><abbr class="published" itemprop="datePublished" style="border: none;" title="2011-02-18T23:12:00-06:00">11:12 PM</abbr></a> </span><span class="reaction-buttons" style="margin-right: 1em;"></span><span class="post-comment-link" style="margin-right: 1em;"></span><span class="post-backlinks post-comment-link" style="margin-right: 1em;"></span><span class="post-icons" style="margin-right: 1em;"><span class="item-action"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/email-post.g?blogID=1471822264046267922&postID=3926759640485274661" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" title="Email Post"><img alt="" class="icon-action" height="13" src="https://resources.blogblog.com/img/icon18_email.gif" style="border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-style: none !important; border-width: initial; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.5em !important; position: relative; vertical-align: middle;" width="18" /> </a></span><span class="item-control blog-admin pid-1137117704" style="display: inline;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1471822264046267922&postID=3926759640485274661&from=pencil" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" title="Edit Post"><img alt="" class="icon-action" height="18" src="https://resources.blogblog.com/img/icon18_edit_allbkg.gif" style="border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-style: none !important; border-width: initial; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.5em !important; position: relative; vertical-align: middle;" width="18" /></a></span></span><div class="post-share-buttons goog-inline-block" style="display: inline-block; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; position: relative; vertical-align: middle;">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06418141427127732724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1471822264046267922.post-78559609654035019292016-03-22T12:49:00.001-05:002016-03-22T13:00:27.799-05:00God Is not a Gumball Machine...<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="6j6vu" data-offset-key="gvcf-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
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<span data-offset-key="gvcf-0-0">I wanted to share some things that I learned from Kate Bowler's book, <u>Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel</u>. She studied the Prosperity movement for 8 years and wrote her book for her doctoral dissertation. The book is good but because it is her dissertation, it's a bit dry in places and somewhat repetitive as she covers all bases with various groups in each chapter. But it's still surprisingly readable - I really enjoyed it.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="e49kc-0-0">The study, as she put it, was not just academic for her because she was chronically ill during the last years of her research. Then, after her book was published and her health had improved, she was suddenly diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. She is about 34; she and her husband have a toddler.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="dunmk-0-0">I learned about her through her blog entry called, "Death, the Prosperity Gospel, and Me." And I really respected her for her honesty in that article. It was short but had a huge impact on me.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="9kppk-0-0">One of the things that really stood out to me from her book was about how the Prosperity movement started. It apparently began as sort of a mish-mash of Eastern mysticism, positive thinking, and cherry-picked Scriptures, among other things.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="di8qf-0-0">What really caught my attention is that during its formative years, leaders began to delve into the names of God, delineating Hebrew names such as "Jehovah-Jireh", "Jehovah-Rapha", etc. There's nothing wrong with looking at the names of God in either Hebrew, Greek, English, or whatever. It's good to know and think about the attributes of God.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="9p4cd-0-0">But they specifically wanted to know these names so that they would know what "buttons" (i.e., names) to push in order to get what they wanted. And that's why they began to search out the hyphenated Jehovah names.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="156gn-0-0">Basically they taught that if you called on God as JEhovah-Rapha, then he had to heal you. IF you called on God as Jehovah-JIreh, then He had to fork over money or some type of material blessing. When put that way it sounds kind of crass. So I need to say that's not the terminology Kate used; it's mine....</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="2shqe-0-0">The hard core prosperity preachers saw salvation as a legal contract that included forgiveness of sin, instantaneous sanctification, restored dominion over life and death (back to Adam and Eve before the Fall), physical healing, and material blessing. </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="66qgv-0-0">They saw this contract as legally binding on God. If you were saved, then He HAD to heal you; He HAD to give you your requisite number of years on earth; He HAD to bless your socks off with material wealth; and He HAD to give you deliverance from any trials life might try to throw your way.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="2jap1-0-0">The power of positive thinking strand in all this eventually morphed into: if you say something negative such as "my cancer is not responding to treatment" or "I'm having a lot of pain" - then you lost your contractual right to healing. By your spoken words you are healed and vice versa.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="57htp-0-0">She emphasized that there are a lot of variants on the prosperity Gospel movement - not everyone believes the same things. In looking for the good in the movement, she said that they do get people to work hard and they excel at having faith. The unpleasant secret within the movement is that people often feel isolated and judged when they are sick or in trouble. Essentially, when they experience their greatest need, the church is uncomfortable with them.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="6r5bf-0-0">She said that the prosperity Gospel measures their faith and spirituality by external things which keeps the believers on a treadmill of "try harder." And that basically they are working from their desires backwards to God whereas, as a Christian, she feels we should start with God's desires and work backward to ourselves.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="25bcd-0-0">In her blog she said that she knew her friends and acquaintances in the prosperity Gospel would say that she lacked faith and that was why she was suddenly very ill. Some "hard" prosperity Gospel people would attribute her illness to some sin she had knowingly or unknowingly committed. Most would reason that it could never be God's will for a toddler to grow up without his mother - that the death of a mother of a young child would violate Romans 8:28 - therefore it was clearly not God's will for her to die young. </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="4irev-0-0">But since she was not God, she couldn't honestly say that it was best for her toddler to grow up with a mother. Because, unlike God, she could not see the end from the beginning.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="7uq60-0-0">I apologize for this being so long. Right after I read Kate's book, my study group started a book by an evangelical Bible teacher on the names of God. (Now my church is getting ready to start a similar study by a different evangelical Bible teacher.)</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="3tqhc-0-0">KNowing that the "names" studies - which have a lot of good in them- originated with not-so-good-scholars, some of whom lacked integrity - and was for the primary purpose of knowing how we could turn God into a gumball machine - that knowledge has kind of put a "brake" on my thinking as I've gone through this study.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="83n64-0-0">It seems to me that studying the names of God - in any language - is like standing on a grassy plain that has a sudden drop off. As long as my motive is to know God's attributes so that I can worship Him better, it's all good. Even taking comfort as I call on God by different names and titles, reminding myself of what He can do, that is good too. Last night I fell asleep running the attributes of God through my mind and this morning I woke up with His names and titles still on my mind. It was a wonderful way to start the day.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="2hn8c-0-0">But emphasizing His names (and/or how they are pronounced) so that I can demand blessings, favor, and rewards now and in the Millennium- to me that is when you have stepped off the grassy plain and will eventually find yourself struggling to get back on solid footing.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="57eh9-0-0">I think a lot about the ten Boom family. Corrie and Betsie were both ill in Ravensbruck. They both were severely underweight. Betsie had a heart condition; Corrie had edema. They were both healed.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="2gpb6-0-0">Corrie spent some time in the camp infirmary before she was released - they wouldn't let her go until her swelling went down (because it made the camps look bad to release obviously ill people). Even though the infirmary was far from wonderful, she did get well enough to be released.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="1qqvr-0-0">Betsie died in the camp. Her healing came in Heaven. Of the two women, Betsie had far more faith than Corrie did.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="4lrac-0-0">Finally, recently I heard an interview with Miss Hellen Roseveare, a missionary doctor to the Congo in the 1960's. For five months she and others were held prisoners by some very brutal rebel soldiers. She was severely beaten (her back teeth were kicked in) and she was raped twice during those months. AFter she was rescued and returned to the U.K.,sometimes people would come up to her and say, "Why did God rescue some of you but let this poor English boy die over there? Why wasn't He good to these others too? Why did He let them die???"</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="ata3q-0-0">She said that she and others who had been rescued would look at people like that and think something along the lines of: are you serious?? The ones who were shot were the fortunate ones!! We are still living in pain!! </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="dfj57-0-0">In fact, right before the first rape, a soldier put a gun to her forehead and told her to proclaim their patron saint as the savior of the world. She said she didn't even have to think about it; she knew that was not right and that Jesus was the only Savior the world has. So she just blurted out that she could not say that because it wasn't true and that man could only be saved by Jesus.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="lseq-0-0">At that point, being a doctor, she hoped that the soldier would go ahead and shoot her in the head because it would be clean and quick and she knew that if he didn't, what would follow would be savage, humiliating, and hard to recover from. And it was. </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="e44nv-0-0">God is not a gumball machine. We don't know the earthly end from the beginning in our individual stories and the stories of those around us. His names are wonderful ways of worshiping Him, reminding ourselves of His attributes. But they aren't buttons we can push on demand. Or say correctly with the certainty that we'll be rewarded for how we say it.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06418141427127732724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1471822264046267922.post-65004473070209941442016-01-16T15:57:00.001-06:002016-01-16T16:00:42.870-06:00Here's to Beverly Carter....<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
A few months ago I listened several times to a radio drama put on by Focus on the Family. Essentially, it is the story of a former detective who had a disastrous case many years earlier. A case of a runaway teen who committed suicide before the detective could rescue her.</div>
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The drama opens with the detective getting a bizarre call while he's on a talk show. The caller brings up the death of Patricia, now just a closed missing juvenile case in some dusty police records but still very much alive to the former detective-turned- Anglican-priest.</div>
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Then the eerie caller says (using a smarmy, falsely jovial voice), "It's deja vu aaaalllll over again... " And it is. The detective-turned-priest learns that another teen-age girl has run away under circumstances that are almost exactly like Patricia's. How weird is that?</div>
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As the story unfolds, the nasty caller continues to "check in" with the priest at unexpected times, taunting him, goading him, teasing him, tormenting him.</div>
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Because it is a radio drama - as opposed to real life - the priest is able to find the current runaway just in the nick of time and the story ends.</div>
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Except not quite...</div>
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When the weary priest returns home, adrenaline depleted, soul weary -strange things begin to happen. The caller's voice begins to ring out through his house, describing the futility of what the frantic priest tries to do. The priest runs to the phone and the oily, unseen voice gloats: it won't help you to try to call anyone... the phone isn't working... You are aallll alone...</div>
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After a few frantic moments of trying to get to a place of safety, the priest finds himself caught in a surreal sort of evil supernatural surround sound system, while his unseen nemesis' voice becomes harsher and louder until unbearable accusations are reverberating all around the beleaguered priest.</div>
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Finally the priest begins to shout the words of the Lord's prayer and the evil voice is vanquished.</div>
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Sound hokey?</div>
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It did to me too the first time I heard it. But after tangling with someone who can only be described as evil, it didn't sound so cheesy to me the second time around.</div>
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On the second go round, something stood out to me that I'd never picked up on before. At the height of this supernatural battle between pure evil and frail, faulty, frightened humanity, the Adversary's voice crescendos until he finally blurts out his real goal - which is nothing short of destroying the human soul. He was never really fixated on the physical death of the teen-age girls - as he puts it, hurting the body is mere child's play; instead his eye was on the ultimate prize which was nothing less than the priest's soul. If he could hold the Father's head, so to speak, under the waters of bitterness, self-loathing, unforgiveness, and hatred long enough, then the priest would lose his love for God and his capacity to love mankind as well. Evil would win.</div>
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Which brings me to the real point of this seemingly pointless blog: this week we had a rather sensational murder trial going on in our city. If ever there was a show down between good and evil, I think this was it.</div>
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No wicked, taunting voices emanating from an unseen source filled the courtroom, but, still, evil personified in human form was there none the less. Unbridled arrogance, vicious slander, and atrocious poor-me-I-can't-get-justice rants were lobbed around in probably the most stately building in this area, a bastion of marble and stone which has symbolized justice for me as long as I can remember. An august place that even when trimmed with CHristmas decorations still sobers me each time I enter it.</div>
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Guilty of a horrendous kidnapping and murder, a narcissist of the first water took the stand Friday and tried to hoodwink justice, the public, and even the handful of people who might have felt some semblance of loyalty to him. IF there was anyone he didn't throw under the bus in a futile effort to save his own skin from a life sentence, I don't know who it would have been.</div>
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But this is the deal: over 50 years of her life, the victim - Beverly Carter - did well. She overcame obstacles I couldn't have; she triumphed in that she held steady, kept on keeping on, and obviously brought a lot of life, love, and laughter to others. Her smile pretty much says it all.</div>
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What she suffered in the last 24 hours of her life is horrible and I cringe when I think of it. IN fact, I could hardly bear to read about it. Definitely, I don't want to minimize her terror and anguish in any way at all. She suffered horribly for the last 24 hours of her life.</div>
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However, when those few hours are juxtaposed against 50 years of living life and living it as well as I think anyone could - it's clear that the decades far outweigh the one day.</div>
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The truth is that her suffering was short lived. The truth is that she knew her Creator. The truth is that she suffered for a short time and then moved to another locality where evil is totally unknown. The truth is that she is living There right now, today.</div>
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The truth is that the big prize in all this as far as Evil is concerned (and I'm not talking about the human pawn - or should it be spawn? - who showed out in the courtroom yesterday before being justly sentenced to two consecutive life sentences) - as far as Evil is concerned, the real contest here is, I think, for the souls of Beverly Carter's friends and family.</div>
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It took 5 or 6 minutes to brutally snuff out Beverly's earthly existence. However, the mental replays of how she suffered can go on and on indefinitely in the imaginations of those left behind.</div>
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Plus, while the family was reeling from the senseless murder of Beverly, Evil threw in some of the most vicious lies I've ever heard in an effort to smear this woman who could not defend herself. (Can we say, "despicable"?) Kidnapped. Murdered. And then pilloried to a degree that boggles the imagination.</div>
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Enough to crush the heart and soul of anyone who loved her.</div>
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Yet, from what I've seen, it didn't happen.</div>
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Apparently Evil didn't win.</div>
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The family has grieved in untold ways and is still walking a hard road even as I write this. It's not over til it's over and part of this will never be over until they eventually move to Heaven to be with Beverly.</div>
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However, almost from the moment it was learned that Beverly's soul had flown to higher places, the family has worked hard at turning the worst lemons life can hand you into life giving lemonade for the many. They have been proactive in launching a campaign to prevent this type of thing from happening to other realtors. They have been gracious under intense pressure and scrutiny. And like their matriarch, they have somehow kept smiling, even through this awful trial this past week.</div>
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Could it be that they want justice but at the same time, they don't want to be overcome by evil themselves but rather they want to overcome evil with good?</div>
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Whatever their reasons, I hold the family in highest regard for the way they have handled this long ordeal in the public eye. They have done well, far better than I think most people would have done. The way I see it - Evil has deeply wounded them but it hasn't won- obviously Beverly Carter's family can still feel, live, love, laugh - and even show mercy - under the most difficult of circumstances.</div>
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When this story comes up in the collective psyches of all who have heard about it, the family hopes that the name of their loved one, Beverly Carter, will shine forth and that the notoriety of the one who murdered her will be obscured by the sands of time.</div>
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Amen and Amen...</div>
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Here's to a beautiful lady who stayed the course and in spite of the vicissitudes of everyday reality, by all accounts lived a good life. Her smile as well as her family testify to who she was ... and is.</div>
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Here's to Beverly Carter, someone I absolutely look forward to meeting when I transition to the only City which has foundations.</div>
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Beverly Carter - may her memory - as well as the good her family has tried to bring out of all this - live long in all our minds and hearts.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj68L_WYUv8ZzdFZ9-urlRisWfaAWvLUbG-5eWpc4OTYHcpAHjhyphenhyphenrftBoMZDMKAxFTRixVv2HriyvwlorZs8FGMFQevT_o-JGSO_GWrWJZpAXQx5NeMWDsK4Vw2Psxq2Q1n8coFGMnUrarM/s1600/beverly+carter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj68L_WYUv8ZzdFZ9-urlRisWfaAWvLUbG-5eWpc4OTYHcpAHjhyphenhyphenrftBoMZDMKAxFTRixVv2HriyvwlorZs8FGMFQevT_o-JGSO_GWrWJZpAXQx5NeMWDsK4Vw2Psxq2Q1n8coFGMnUrarM/s1600/beverly+carter.jpg" /></a></div>
Here's to Beverly... <i class="_4-k1 img sp_fM-mz8spZ1b sx_62a652" style="background-image: url("/rsrc.php/v2/yx/r/pimRBh7B6ER.png"); background-position: 0px -204px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: auto; display: inline-block; height: 16px; vertical-align: -3px; width: 16px;"><u style="left: -999999px; position: absolute;">heart emoticon</u></i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06418141427127732724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1471822264046267922.post-34264603337674072342015-10-17T18:06:00.000-05:002015-10-17T18:13:35.901-05:00A Fight to the Finish<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Thoughts from II Cor. 10:3-5
as well as James 4:7, Eph. 6: 13, Philippians 4:4-8, II Cor. 2:10-11<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1.<span style="font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--> As the cartoon character said, “This is
WAH-UR!” In other words, we are living
on an active battlefield. A Nigerian
friend once told us that Americans were
too casual about religion, that in their country supernatural manifestations
were fairly common and people had no problem believing in the supernatural
realm. They understood that in a war the first casualties are fence-sitters so
most people in her native region planted themselves on one side or the other: Islam, Christianity, or tribal
religions. Very few acted like religion
was something they could take or leave. (When we knew our friend, she had a
Masters degree from Princeton, she now has a PhD in statistical research from
Penn State University but she is still very proactive about her faith).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 24.5pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">2.<span style="font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Fleshly weapons
are about as effective in spiritual warfare as a popgun would be in the Red
Zones in Iraq. To me, fleshly weapons include all the human tricks of the trade
when trying to get our way with God and man.
Depending on our own intellect instead of leaning on God. Verbal manipulation. Emotional manipulation.
And towards God, legalism – as in, “if I do X, X, and X… then the Almighty has to do Y for me…” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 24.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">3.<span style="font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Our enemy (with
our compliance) is an engineering expert.
He specializes in building fortresses in the human heart/mind. Fortresses (<u>bastions, citadels,
strongholds</u>) are large buildings which are designed to withstand attacks. We
can’t breach them but God can. (It’s
kind of neat to know that He has divine bunker buster weapons. However, I digress…)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 24.5pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 24.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">4.<span style="font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Since we are in a
war, we need to be prepared. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 42.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A.<span style="font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--> I know this is sort of Mickey Mouse info. but
the first thing we do is, um, report for duty.
As in, we show up. As in, we raw
recruits acknowledge (<u>submit, swear fealty to</u>) our King. Fresh off the farm, we hesitantly wipe our
muddy shoes on the manicured grass, leave our muzzle loaders at the back
entrance to the biggest, state-of-the-art, palatial structure we’ve ever seen,
and humbly walk inside, awe stricken, and not sure how all this is going to
work. Think Norman Rockwell painting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">B.<span style="font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Having put on
humility, we hold on to it tight-fisted as if it were our only defense against
the elements, twisting it like a battered hat in our stained hands. We hang on to it because to do the opposite –
to clench our pride in both hands - is the same as handing our rifle to the
enemy while saying, “Ah, I’ve got this!
He’ll never shoot me!!”
Essentially pride makes us think we’re hot stuff while at the same time
it transforms us into a bunch of spiritual Barney Fifes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">C.<span style="font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->We make sure
there are no budding strongholds in our own hearts. (The Bible calls this confession/repentance.) In other words, it’s hard to fight the other
guy when the enemy is, at least in part, us.
An effective prayer someone
shared with me is: Lord, show me if
there are any lies I am believing. Help
me to admit it if I have opened myself up to deception.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">D.<span style="font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Ditto for grudges
and/or withholding forgiveness – might as well lay out a welcome mat for the
devil with the words, “Tromp all over me” written on it if you won’t forgive or
can’t quit nursing a grudge. (The mind can have instant replays ad nauseam. Trust me on this…) II Corinthians 2:10-11<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 42.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">E.<span style="font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->We ask God to
“suit us up” in the armor He provides, which is the only armor that works. We may not be enamored of it because we can’t
see it or touch it, but then we can’t see or touch our adversary either. And the truth is that we understand the need
to dress against the elements, yet we often go rushing into a Red Zone without being
appropriately attired. I mean, do
soldiers in a danger zone just wear whatever they want? I’m not sure but I think a chem suit is a
little more troublesome to put on than a
panama hat and Bermuda shorts but still…
( Eph. 6:10 -18) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">F.<span style="font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->We read, know,
memorize, and handle accurately the <u>entire</u> manual. We don’t pick and choose the parts we like.
We don’t gloss over or twist the things we don’t like. We don’t make the manual say things it
doesn’t say. And we don’t dismiss the hard parts by rationalizing: well, that’s
for the other guys. I probably won’t need that, that’s not me…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 42.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">G.<span style="font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->We pray (wield)
the Word as the Spirit of God leads us.
Different blades, um, verses, for different situations. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 42.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">H.<span style="font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->We go forward to
battle carrying the shield of faith. Which
hopefully we’ve asked God to activate before we go charging out to dodge the
flaming arrows the Adversary pelts (on
some days <i>bombards)</i> us with<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 24.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">5.<span style="font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--> What happens as we suit up, study up, pray
up? Almighty God tears down and
disintegrates speculations as if they were newspapers left out in the mud and
the rain. Incidentally, “Speculation” <u>means reasoning,
hypothesizing, guessing, reading between the lines, and/or as one dictionary
said, “doping things out”.</u> (Not
kidding). IF we or someone we know spends most of their time speculating about
things that can’t truly be resolved, that’s a pretty good tip off that the
battle is on. Our commander wants us
focused; the enemy wants us distracted by fruitless speculations, knowledge
that puffs up, thoughts that feed our intellectual pride but in the final
analysis are essentially futile.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 24.5pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 24.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">6.<span style="font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Once speculative
thought is cut off, its offspring goes by the board as well: any lofty thing
raised up against the knowledge of God folds up like a house of cards because
the foundation has been destroyed.
Note: speculative thought can
lead us away from God entirely, in which case human reasoning becomes our
god. But it can also lead us into
pseudo Christianity, where we remake the God of the Bible into our own image
instead of vice-versa. Pseudo
Christianity can present God as anything from a benevolent, never-say-no,
sweetness-and-light Santa Claus to a ritualistic, nit-picking, judgmental
legalist. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 24.5pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 24.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">7.<span style="font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Nature doesn’t
like a vacuum and neither does the spiritual/mental world. Once hostile territory has been taken it has
to be rebuilt and maintained. In II
Corinthians 10 Paul refers to this as taking every thought captive to the
obedience of Christ – our end game. The
Bible makes it clear that our thoughts are going to be dominated by one side or
the other. It hardly makes sense to be
on the victor’s side and then go back under subjugation to the one who would
destroy us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 24.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">8.<span style="font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Finally, if you
don’t know what thoughts are “keepers” and which should be deadly discards, Paul
gave us a handy check list and I think
we’re meant to use it… Frankly,
although it may be heresy to say it, I think we need to use this check list
even in regard to Christian radio, t.v., and internet – all of which I love but
some of which is filled with speculation and inflammatory, emotional rhetoric
which smacks of the enemy to me. Just
sayin’….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 24.5pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 24.5pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Anyway, here is the <b>checklist</b> to use regarding anything we routinely listen to, watch,
read, and/or hang around (as in friendly conversation…).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 24.5pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 24.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="line-height: 200%;">Is
the input I’m receiving <b>True</b>? (<span style="color: #c00000;">Dead on target, literal, verifiable, honest, correct </span>as
opposed to <u>incorrect, false, insincere, counterfeit, wrong</u>.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 24.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="line-height: 200%;">Is
it <b>Honorable</b>? (<span style="color: #c00000;">Straight forward, trustworthy, sincere, unstained </span>as
opposed to <u>deceptive, devious, dishonest, irresponsible</u>).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 24.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="line-height: 200%;">Is
it <b>Right</b>? (<span style="color: #c00000;">Appropriate,
justifiable, merited, equitable, scrupulous </span>as opposed <b><span style="color: grey; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 128;">to </span></b><u>imprecise, inaccurate, evil,
fraudulent, improper</u>).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 24.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="line-height: 200%;">Is
it <b>Pure</b>? (<span style="color: #c00000;">Authentic,
plain, out-and-out, unalloyed, unadulterated, clear</span> as opposed to <u>cloudy,
confusing, embellished, uncertain, tainted, vague.)</u><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 24.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="line-height: 200%;">Is
it <b>Lovely</b>? (<span style="color: #c00000;">Pleasing,
exquisite, classic, sweet, attractive, amiable </span>as opposed to <u>disagreeable,
insignificant, ugly, unhappy, unpleasant</u>).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Are the things you are reading,
listening to, watching, absorbing, and singing centered around behavior/people/events
that have a <b>good reputation</b>? Are <b>examples of excellence</b>? Are <b>worthy
of praise</b>?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Summary:
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We
have a stealthy enemy who is spying, strategizing, seducing, fighting,
regrouping, and counter attacking all the time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We have a commander who has given us: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">ü<span style="font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--> Instructions on
how to prepare for battle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">ü<span style="font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--> Vital intel on
our enemy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">ü<span style="font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--> Supernatural
armor which can enable us to stand firm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">ü<span style="font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Divinely powerful weapons which the enemy cannot
withstand.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This spiritual <i>Capture
the Flag</i> is really a deadly game of <i>Capture
the MInd –</i> ours and others – by breaching enemy strongholds and bringing
every thought captive to Christ. The goal is to avoid becoming a P.O. W. of
Satan and the only way to do that is to become servants of and warriors for Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06418141427127732724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1471822264046267922.post-49217888762526018432015-08-21T12:07:00.001-05:002015-08-21T12:10:36.182-05:00Formulaic God...<br />
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As many know, a man was murdered Wed. night down the street from us. Last night my husband was working on a car for a friend and he told me he was going to stay with it until he got it done and that it was going to take a while. I knew that meant it could be really late before he got home and it was - well after midnight.</div>
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During the day I wasn't frightened by the news that someone had been killed on our street; only shocked and saddened. Last night with darkness all around, I told myself I felt a little uneasy. When I heard Phil's voice over the phone at ten til 1 saying, "I am almost home", I started silently crying. And that was when I knew I was more than just sad, shocked, and/or a little uneasy. I was scared.</div>
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Then at about 2 a.m., 5 or 6 firetrucks, with sirens blasting, roared past our bedroom window and turned onto a nearby side street. And we wondered whose house was in danger, was it serious, and, in light of Wed. evenings events, was it just a fire?</div>
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<i>Just a fire?</i> As in: just a house possibly going up in flames due to natural causes is, um, a relatively benign thing... comparatively speaking...</div>
<div style="margin: 6px 0px;">
This morning I woke up early, unable to go back to sleep, feeling old, under par health-wise, and defeated by life in the 'hood.</div>
<div style="margin: 6px 0px;">
But just last night I sat in front of my computer sort of bug eyed, listening to a speaker tell me that all I have to do is say to sickness, credit card debt, stress, and/or any type of affliction:, "Grace! Grace!". He assured me that if I did this, all my troubles would vanish. I sat there for a few minutes, mesmerized by this message, waiting for the speaker to whip out a top hat, wave a wand over it, and yell, "Rabbit! Rabbit!" only to see a bunny come hopping out of it. With gold bars in its paws.</div>
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When I ex-ed out of the sermon, maybe I felt a tiny bit superior to the people in the audience who were commanding their credit card debt to go away? I don't know. I hope not.</div>
<div style="margin: 6px 0px;">
Because, honestly, the first thing I journaled this morning was: <i>I sooo started out this day wanting to manipulate God with all my heart, mind, and soul, wishing I could make Him appear like a genie out of a bottle to do my biding.</i></div>
<div style="margin: 6px 0px;">
As this sentence flowed from my heart onto my paper, I realized I was basically wanting to say "Jump" (respectfully of course) and hear God reply, "How high?" Talk about wanting to make a spiritual bunny hop out of a religious hat....</div>
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Almighty! Form-u-laic! God!!!</div>
<div style="margin: 6px 0px;">
Is there such a thing as a formulaic God? /=</div>
<div style="margin: 6px 0px;">
If so, which formula is the right one?<br />
If I pray hard enough, long enough, with the right words, posture, Scripture, and faith...then I'll get what I want.<br />
IF I meet with the right people, say the right words, study the right translation, and follow the rules, then God will have to bless my flesh.<br />
If I avoid the wrong people and eschew the wrong foods, entertainment, fads, and places, then God will confer great honor on me.<br />
IF I give to the poor, post spiritual memes on FB, listen to inspirational music, and serve worthy causes, then ...<br />
(Or do I follow the high road and expect nothing from God here on earth in the way of physical blessings because to never be disappointed is the same as being blessed?)</div>
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As these random (and, yes, terrible) thoughts went through my mind, I opened my Bible and read through tired eyes:<br />
"Now when the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people of the exile were building... [they]said to them, "let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God..."<br />
"But Zerubbabel and Jeshua... said to them, "You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God..."<br />
"Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building, and hired counselors against them to frustrate their counsel..." (Ezra 4:1-5)</div>
<div style="margin: 6px 0px;">
Not everyone who says, "Lord, Lord" and espouses a predictable religious formula is seeking God. On my down days when I'm wishing God would magically appear and do my biding because I'm "doing the right things and life is too tough" - that includes me.</div>
<div style="margin: 6px 0px;">
There will always be enemies and sometimes they are us. Not just people who are openly hostile to God. Not just people who appear to have successfully bagged God and put Him in a box. But people like me - who get tired at times and just feel with all their heart, mind, and soul that just once they need God to show up and fix everything!!! Sometimes I am my own worst enemy, spiritually speaking.</div>
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But the book of Ezra doesn't end with chapter 4, verse 5. The Jews were discouraged. They were stymied. The enemy was winning. They needed something from their God. And He did indeed give His downtrodden people help. However, it didn't come in the form of instantaneous freedom from all opposition coupled with an instant, super-sized, magically produced temple. Instead He gave them the ability to go on, He made a way for them to keep building, and He empowered them to carry out His will - which was not necessarily synonymous with their own will on every. single. God-given day.</div>
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I believe that God gave me that Scripture this morning to remind me that He is building, He is working. Even in the 'hood. And that when we feel tired and discouraged, He may perform a miracle. But He may just also enable us to put one spiritual foot in front of the other. When the work is done, He may reward us Here or He may wait until we are There. Either way, it's okay.</div>
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Formulaic God?</div>
<div style="margin: 6px 0px;">
IF there is one, I haven't found Him yet.</div>
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And I'm alright with that.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06418141427127732724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1471822264046267922.post-40710130251106467352015-08-20T14:01:00.001-05:002015-08-20T14:01:19.548-05:00Today...<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
I went to sleep at 1 a.m. last night - which is pretty normal for me. At 5 a.m. our son opened our bedroom door, which is not normal. Light flooded in and I think I yelled... a tiny bit.</div>
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Phil had parked the van behind the car DAvid is driving and David doesn't have a key to the van so before the crack of dawn DAvid was standing in our doorway whispering, "Mom! Mom! I need the key to the van! I have to move it so I can get to work!"</div>
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We took care of that and then I fell into a light sleep before waking up at 6:30 when Phil left the house. Then I woke up at 8 but went back to sleep and slept soundly (finally) until 9:30. (The joys of being retired!) At that point I panicked because I was supposed to be at a neighbor's house by 10. So I frantically scrambled around here in order to make it on time.</div>
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When I got to my neighbor's house, he told me a friend had called and asked if he was okay - that the news had mentioned a shooting on our street and given his address.. We both kind of looked at each other and I said, "Doesn't look like anyone was shot here to me..." He said, "No, not that I know of..."</div>
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My phone started ringing - another neighbor calling - and at the same time I got a text from my sister-in-law. I glanced down at the text from my sister-in-law, not realizing it was the second one she had sent me and saw something like, "Okay. It was at the other end of your street, near the woods." ????</div>
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By this time I'm thinking: I really should have gotten up at 8 instead of going back to sleep... Brain is still struggling when apparently all the little grey cells need to be up and firing...</div>
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The bottom line is that we have about 30 or more new brick homes that have gone in at the end of our street. Most of them haven't been occupied yet although almost all have "sold" signs on them. Some houses are still going up, driveways being poured, sod still being laid, etc. It was in one of these new homes that a shooting occurred last night, the last place we would have expected it.</div>
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I don't know anything about the family who lives there and obviously feel sorry for them. But we are fine and didn't even know it happened until I started getting texts.</div>
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So that's been my morning... Had a great visit with a friend of mine who met me at the neigbhor's house - the three of us laughed and talked and then briefly prayed at the very end of our visit. Afterwards Stephanie and I drove into the new housing division and saw a Channel 11 reporter standing beside the house in question, talking into a mic while a cameraman filmed it. And that was it. I came home and checked the news on the internet to find out what was going on so if you watched the news first thing this morning or read the paper, you knew more about it than I did...</div>
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<br />I have thought quite a bit this afternoon about what Corrie ten Boom wrote - that there is no place safer to be than in the will of God and I hope/trust we are in it. No doubt we will be praying and checking with God just to be sure He still wants us here.</div>
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I have also thought a lot about things I've heard recently from people who either have grown kids on the mission field or who are home on furlough from the mission field. Some of the things I've heard have made me ramp up prayers for their safety in areas I never even thought of as being particularly dangerous.</div>
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And the last thing I thought of is that this is the mosaic of life: joy and laughter with friends, sadness and tragedy just a few blocks down the street... Death coming unexpectedly to an older, seemingly stable resident while a house not far from us that is definitely associated with young people on drugs - that house is untouched. We may think we'll know when our time is coming but we really don't know when we'll leave this earth. We can, however, know our destination if we belong to Jesus.</div>
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So my big concern right now is: did I pass out a Christmas baggie to that house last Dec? ANd did our 2014 greeting in the Christmas baggie have a plain enough message about the gospel so that anyone could understand it? I really can't remember if we got to that house or not and that is what bothers me - that and the grief they must be experiencing today. How I pray (and ask you to pray) that they do not grieve as those who have no hope in Christ.</div>
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The truth is that the Bible says it is appointed for each of us to die some day and after death there is judgment. However, Romans 8:1 says that for the Christian, there is no condemnation. This is not a small thing.... At all.</div>
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So, yes, we need to be ready. But our neighbors need to be ready also. And if we don't tell them, who will?</div>
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<a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/romans10?source=feed_text&story_id=10200983751033134" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl" style="color: #627aad;">#</span><span class="_58cm">Romans10</span></a>:17<br /><a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/john14?source=feed_text&story_id=10200983751033134" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl" style="color: #627aad;">#</span><span class="_58cm">John14</span></a>:6</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06418141427127732724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1471822264046267922.post-60523540799022672552015-07-13T23:23:00.000-05:002015-07-13T23:23:06.413-05:00When the Impossible becomes Possible...<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">I have been thinking
about something that may look both simple and impossible at the same time:
forgiveness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Sometimes
forgiveness really is simple - no big deal.
The initial offense was not that bad.
We can simply process the incident rationally, remember times when we’ve
hurt others, and forgive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">However there are
those traumatic experiences that cut deeply.
Or those prolonged experiences where we forgive and it happens again,
usually with some loved one whom we want to believe and/or someone we feel we
can't just cut out of our lives.
Sometimes it happens with a person who has what I call a "cat and
mouse" mentality. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The cat/mouse
person is good at pouring on the love but they can't help mixing the good with
the bad - loving and nurturing for an indeterminate amount of time but always
falling back at some point on the tools of their trade: the silent treatment, sarcasm/belittling
words, outbursts of anger that can go on for hours, attempts at intimidation, deception,
and in too many cases, actual physical harm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">In those cases,
forgiveness is the same as in the first case scenario - it is an act of the will. But because of the depth of the hurt, what is
doable in the first case seems impossible in the second case.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">For a minute, I'd
like to turn that question around. What
if you are the person who has been the "bad guy"? What if you are the one who “occasionally
lets their temper get the best of them”? The person who repeatedly slanders
others? The salesman who is <i>mostly</i>
above board in all his dealings? (Note: another problem with forgiveness – we tend
to minimize our sins while magnifying others).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Or let’s up the
ante. What if you are the wife - as an
older lady once confided in me in a very sanguine fashion - who just couldn't
be faithful to her husband? The woman I knew
said her husband was a good man and she knew it was wrong to cheat on him but
she just couldn’t help herself. And even
as she told me, I have to say that she didn’t sound too remorseful.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">What if you are the
guy who swindled a handful of elderly people out of their life savings? Or maybe you just slipped a few dollars here
and there out of the company till, intending to pay it back but not really
being too concerned about it because, after all, you worked hard and you
deserved it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Or maybe it’s
really bad – maybe you are the guy who accidentally killed someone else while
driving drunk as a neighbor of mine did when he was very young – a thing he
could never erase from his mind and/or make restitution for. The memory of it followed him to an early
grave.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">I wonder if we
could take it a step further. Let’s say
you've committed some heinous sin against another, either over a prolonged
period of time or in just a onetime event.
And now you've changed. To put it
in Christian terms, you have repented.
You've stopped what you were doing and you've started doing the
opposite, either through a self-help program or through the grace of God. (Personally I recommend the grace of God).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Can you ever truly
make up for the anguish you've caused another?
What I mean is this: you can
start doing good deeds - and that's a great thing to do. You can give money to the ex-wife you
withheld support from for 10 years - and you should. Or you can begin to "pay" for your
bad deeds by giving back to humanity in general terms through great programs
like "Habitat for Humanity". <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> Essentially we can make amends for some of the
damage caused, but there are some things which simply can't be “fixed”. The memories of daddy grabbing mommy and
throwing her up against the wall once in a while can linger for a long time.
The sleepless nights while the abandoned mom cries and wrestles with “what ifs”. The family who visits a grave every year
because of an intoxicated driver. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">We can readily see
that those are heinous offenses which leave indelible scars on the heart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">For those of us who
believe in God, what about His heart?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">When King David
committed adultery and murder, he recognized that his sin went beyond the human
drama that we can easily see. To the
surprise of many who read the Bible, David cried out to God, </span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">"</span><span style="background: #FDFEFF; color: #001320; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Against You, You only, I have sinned. And
done what is evil in Your sight</span><span style="background: #FDFEFF; color: #001320; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">.” Psalms 51:4.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="background: #FDFEFF; color: #001320; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Yet when the prophet Nathan convicted David by telling
him the story of a rich man who stole the poor man's only sheep, David got
it. He knew what he had done, he knew
that his sin was against Bathsheba as well as against all of Uriah's loved
ones. He knew he was the rich bum who callously betrayed one of his military leaders
and then took this man’s life in order to “beat the rap” that would surely come
if his sin was known. (Uriah would have
been justified in leading a revolt against David and it is possible that as a
military leader of integrity, he could have done it).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">However when King
David came before God in anguish, he recognized something deeper: that his sin
was ultimately, at rock bottom level, an offense against His God. In other words, his sin had wounded the heart
of his God as <i>all sin, large and small,
does</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">DAvid had
consequences to bear here on earth and they were serious. (Note that David’s punishment fit his sin –
he wasn’t told to go out into the desert somewhere and become a hermit but rather
he was told that bloodshed and betrayal would become a part of his family life. And it did. In the natural order of things,
sin begets sin.). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> But what about his responsibility before
Almighty God - how could he bear that? How could he just make his sin against
the heart of God… go “poof” and simply disappear? Because again, sin is not
just a matter of the flesh but also of the heart, of the soul. And God has the biggest heart of all as well
as the only pure one.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Against Thee and Thee only have I sinned…<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">All sin,
ultimately, is an arrow, a dagger, or a sword which pierces the heart of God. Because God is complete love, He feels that
wound. And there is no amount of good deeds that we can ever do to remove that
wound from the heart of our God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">So He did it for us.
He sent His Son, who knew no sin – none at all – to live on earth, suffer and die on a cross, to pay for each and every
sin that we have or could ever commit.
(God didn’t just make a list of our sins and cross them out as He hung
on the cross, He felt them as if they were things He Himself had done, the heat
of anger or lust as well as the shame and the guilt. He who knew NO sin <i>became</i> sin on our behalf. II
Cor. 5:21)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Whether our sins
were (in our eyes) mere pinpricks or darts lobbed at the heart of God <i>(I shouldn’t have said that but it’s no big
deal)</i> or whether they were heinous stabs at the heart of God, God and God
alone can (and does) wipe our slate clean. In God's economy there is nothing left that we
owe or need to do in order to remove all barriers between us and His
unrelenting, sustaining love. Because there never was anything we could do in
the first place. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">And it is when we
understand the gravity of our sin and the totality of God’s forgiveness that we
are set free to forgive others. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Or to put it
another way, when we realize the enormity of what God did for us, dying for us
while we were yet sinners, then we can forgive others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Today, what is the
basis of your life? Are you operating out of the sure knowledge that God loves
you, will always love you, will never leave you, and has removed your sins from
you as far as the East is from the West, never to bring them up against you
again? (Romans 8:1).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">If so, then you can
forgive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">After all, what can
the one who has hurt you do … that will
make things right? And maybe more to the point, what can he/she do that
God cannot and has not already done for you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06418141427127732724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1471822264046267922.post-43487230717521025502015-06-28T20:20:00.000-05:002015-07-13T23:23:31.481-05:00Falling Through an American Looking Glass<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
I have a feeling this isn't going to make anybody happy. But these are my thoughts on current issues:</div>
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1. We live in a republic where majority rules. I've followed the trends in current thinking and while I don't agree with them all, I fully expected gay marriage to be legalized in all states eventually by popular vote. And because I value the type of government that we have (as opposed to dictatorships, monarchies, theocracies, military juntas, etc), I am pretty much okay with that.</div>
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2. And yet... at one time our populist votes in the South upheld slavery and in the Dred Scott Decision so did the Supreme Court. And I've never been okay with that...</div>
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3. It's not a cliche to say that "tolerance" means to respectfully agree to disagree. Now it seems to have morphed into this: tolerance means that you give up your beliefs in order to whole-heartedly embrace an opposing belief and/or to embrace the logically impossible belief that all positions are equally valid. IF you have two contradictory ideas, they can both be wrong. However, they cannot both be right. Tolerance means we are allowed to hold onto and respectfully express our opinions while others are allowed to do the same thing.</div>
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4. Frankly, I wonder when we will get our heads out of the bedroom. Sex sells everything. Tires. Food. Household cleaners. Toilet paper. Cars. Reality shows (Now THERE is an oxymoron..) And now it determines our identity. (REally? What if you are celibate? Is that your identity?? Hi, my name is _______, I've never had sex with anyone so I sort of, don't have an identity... I mean, I'm not heterosexual, homosexual, transgender sexual, bi-sexual, polygamous, monogamous. I just... sort of... don't do it....)</div>
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5. While I get it that Americans deserve equal legal rights, I don't get this sappy, sentimental view of marriage and love. Has anyone looked at the divorce rate lately??? I have a good marriage and I'm thankful. But there have still been times when I could have put Phil out on the curb with the morning trash and many more times when he could have (justifiably!) done the same thing to me. The reason we have a good marriage is because we've worked hard and fought to have a good marriage.</div>
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The stuff about the honeymoon ending and about squeezing the toothpaste tube from the wrong end - that stuff IS NOT A JOKE. Marriage and parenthood are the HARDEST things I have ever done!!! Phil and I have changed each other but I can't say it's always been for the best. Hopefully more good than bad here but those bad habits have a way of rubbing off on our loved ones just as the good habits do. (I have certainly, undeniably lowered Phil's standards of perfection... )</div>
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Basically the Bible has it right - any improvement that comes from marriage is like iron sharpening iron. (Think white hot metal sparks flying from time to time as in when someone is welding steel bars together). It's not this dewy eyed picture that we get married, we blissfully enlarge each other's world view, change habits, and "improve" one another while sipping from wine glasses on the beach of life.</div>
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But even more important: when did marriage become a requirement for becoming better than we already are? Excuse me??? What about the single adults in this world?? Is there no hope for them?? Gosh, I guess Corrie ten Boom and Mother Theresa totally missed the boat - poor things never experienced fulfillment or that chance to become the "more" that they were meant to be. Which, now that I think about it, means that Elizabeth Taylor, Stephen Fry, Rosie O'Donnell, Mickey Rooney, Larry King, Kenny Rogers, and Martin Scorsese are the most fulfilled, completed, blissful people on the planet. Because if an active sexual life within the confines of marriage is a requirement for happiness... then they must, by default, lead the way...</div>
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When I was a single adult, I heard a pastor say: do NOT choose your future partner on the basis of passion. Why? Because there are 23 other hours in the day... I was a bit shocked at the time but, you know what? He had a valid point... <i class="_4-k1 img sp_fM-mz8spZ1b sx_5371b4" style="background-image: url(https://fbstatic-a.akamaihd.net/rsrc.php/v2/yx/r/pimRBh7B6ER.png); background-position: 0px -340px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: auto; display: inline-block; height: 16px; vertical-align: -3px; width: 16px;"><u style="left: -999999px; position: absolute;">smile emoticon</u></i></div>
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You don't have to be a heterosexual to be a Christian. But you do have to respect God's word which teaches that we are not defined by our passions but by our identity in Christ. Which teaches that He is the potter and we are the clay. Which means He has the right to set moral boundaries which we are to observe, regardless of how our hormones are bouncing around inside of us. Which means that sex is meant to be between one man and one woman within the bonds of a covenant relationship.</div>
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Those restrictions are not comfortable. You mean I can't stand my husband and yet I can't get him to agree to a divorce so... it's not okay for me to have an affair? Or you mean my wife has a chronic illness so it's wrong for me to have sexual relations with other women once in a while even though I love my wife and I don't love the other person? Or what if I have strong feelings for two guys at the same time? (Ado Annie in "Oklahoma" would get some interesting advice today, based on how we define "fulfillment"...<i class="_4-k1 img sp_fM-mz8spZ1b sx_5371b4" style="background-image: url(https://fbstatic-a.akamaihd.net/rsrc.php/v2/yx/r/pimRBh7B6ER.png); background-position: 0px -340px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: auto; display: inline-block; height: 16px; vertical-align: -3px; width: 16px;"><u style="left: -999999px; position: absolute;">smile emoticon</u></i> Or you mean I'm single and I can't just go sleep with whomever I want? (I remember a dear friend of mine who had just become a Christian. She'd led a bit of a wild child lifestyle prior to this. Totally new to Christianity and very honest, she once asked her mentor, "What does a Christian do when they feel horny?" (I apologize if that offends any of those old enough to recognize the slang. But I have to say, it led to one of the most interesting discussions we ever had in our single adult Bible study... Ha!)</div>
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For those who don't accept the Bible as an authority when it comes to moral issues, I don't expect you to agree with me. I do respect your right to express your own opinions and also expect you to return the same courtesy to me.</div>
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But above all, I wish that our society could get over the idea that our sex life defines us and that marriage magically conveys personal growth and fulfillment which (by implication) singleness can never do.</div>
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What a crock...</div>
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When innocent people (Muslims, Christians, and Yazidis) are being beheaded by terrorists, we can't seem to get our heads out of the bedroom. Or wrap our minds around the concept that fulfillment in life does not come from sex and/or marriage.</div>
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Personally, I wish the Supreme Court had debated and decided that every American should contribute 50.00 a year to providing clean water to people in Third World countries.</div>
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But then, that's just me... Never was good at keeping my priorities straight...</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06418141427127732724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1471822264046267922.post-6203877272782242832015-05-15T14:57:00.001-05:002016-01-18T00:08:19.588-06:00Life Lesson from a Chihuahua... I'm sitting here with an (almost) toothless chihuahua wrapped in a baby blanket and resting on my lap. She's pretty clueless. We can bribe her (most of the time) into taking care of business in the front yard; however... she still has her "on purposes" inside the house from time to time.<br />
She can do a good imitation of a mule when it's raining, digging her heels in and refusing to leave the front porch because a single drop of rain fell on her nose. And yet she can go right outside the side door, directly across our carport, to potty on the driveway in the same rain that is falling on the front yard and she has no problem with that. (Can we say short term memory is, um, <u>very</u> short term??)<br />
Her communication skills are distinctly limited. When she wants something, she does one of two things: she either emits a sound that is like an aborted growl or she gives off a plaintive half note of high pitched grief. When she sees me opening the dog food each day, she does what we call her "happy dance" - circling around on the floor until it makes us dizzy (literally), beating out a tattoo of little feet on the kitchen tile so rapidly that the Shirley Temple version of a centipede could not begin to compete with her.<br />
She supplants Buddie, our other indoor dog who has all his teeth and outweighs her by ten pounds, by <i>making</i> him get off his favorite pillow. How? She simply stands in front of the couch - all five pounds of her - looks up at him (she has to look up to see just about anything!) and barks at him. That's it! That's all she does! And when he's heard enough, he jumps off the couch, gets on her cushion (which is on the floor), and probably thinks dark thoughts about the female of the species while she curls up in the spot that he has obligingly warmed up for her. Does it bother her? Not a bit. She did it yesterday. She did it today. And she'll most likely do it again tomorrow. <br />
She hates men so when my husband or my son say anything to her, even in the most dulcet of tones, she growls at them. And then expects them to feed her part of whatever they are eating. Which they do...<br />
And no matter how many on-purposes she's had or how mean she's been to Buddie, she is always - and I mean<i> always</i> - confident that I'll welcome her with open arms whenever she wants to snuggle next to me in my chair or curl up on my lap.<br />
I don't know where the expression, "It's a dog's life" originated but it certainly didn't come from this house.<br />
Sometimes I look at her as she naps, scarfs food she didn't earn, happily chases the same squirrel in the front yard every day (never catches him which is good because he's bigger than her), and manages to get her way 9.5 times out of 10.<br />
And I wonder: between the two of us... which one is smarter?<br />
<br />
It's sad when a Chihuahua redefines your idea of heaven... Ha!<br />
But I do have to admit that Gracie has seriously given me a better understanding of ... grace.<br />
<br />
<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06418141427127732724noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1471822264046267922.post-18588653289985796412015-04-28T13:19:00.003-05:002015-04-28T13:23:21.329-05:00How Sure Is Your Footing? I thought I had an infinite ability to be lazy.<br />
Now I realize that I'm just a marathon type of lazy person. (Oxymoron) and not an infinite slug.<br />
I have a dilemma. I have had foot pain for a number of weeks now but my fear of doctors is greater than the inconvenience of the pain I'm experiencing. I've had foot pain many years ago and finally, with some anxiety, went to a podiatrist who almost never used invasive procedures. It turned out that I had Plantar Fasciitis and it could be handled with inserts.<br />
So this time around, I diagnosed my own foot problem - similar pains except this time it is in my heel instead of the arch of my foot. I dragged out a couple of inserts I bought way back when and wore them over time until I realized each one was making my pain worse instead of better. <br />
This time around I have found that walking around in my sock feet and/or staying off of said feet causes the pain to virtually disappear. (Right now I have absolutely no pain). But wearing shoes (with or without inserts) increases the pain to the point that I can hardly walk. (The busy weekend I had just two days ago being a case in point).<br />
So yesterday I sat around all day long. And virtually no pain last night or this morning. My husband (patiently) listened to my detailed recital of all my foot problems over the weekend and my comparative ease yesterday and made this suggestion: why don't you cancel your activities for a few days, stay off your feet - since that makes the pain go away - and see if your foot will heal?<br />
Cancel my activities? <br />
It's not like I'm overbooked here.<br />
I'm retarred and I don't even garden...<br />
Besides, I don't want to cancel my activities. ONe day sitting on my duff is fine but two or three or four? Plus, there are at least three things I feel I HAVE to do this week - they can't be put off.<br />
But if severely restricting my activity works and I don't have to go to a surgeon (um, doctor) then ... I wrestled with that decision this morning and finally canceled activities for today (although maybe not for tonight!).<br />
But I didn't like it. Two weeks ago I put almost everything on hold because I was sitting with a sick in-law for several days. Now it's my foot.<br />
Call me "Unreliable".<br />
Call me... um... "Old".<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnv6PC6UfQkySqeDelovPvSnfeuSD6PrUjd1H8gF1ubILIIpZOq7Vsmv2pFECObwd-ra3DTvl_QygTAJxKNl-tCyFpk-yDUsPAE1nl871CL5VLPMn70QTl_WJJWazea5cOXeTTBrvJEyBm/s1600/cold+case+book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnv6PC6UfQkySqeDelovPvSnfeuSD6PrUjd1H8gF1ubILIIpZOq7Vsmv2pFECObwd-ra3DTvl_QygTAJxKNl-tCyFpk-yDUsPAE1nl871CL5VLPMn70QTl_WJJWazea5cOXeTTBrvJEyBm/s1600/cold+case+book.jpg" /></a> But then it hit me - maybe there is more to this than just what I can see. Maybe... just maybe... God wants me to be still. (So I can finish confessing all my uncharitable thoughts over the past couple of weeks while I was playing temporary caregiver? So I can better put myself in the unlucky person's place who was temporarily dependent on me for a few days?)<br />
I know that God has a purpose for everything He allows or sends our way. (I don't think He sent this foot problem my way - I think overeating, lack of exercise, standing on my feet for 30 years in the classroom, and the natural aging factor sent this "gift" my way). But still He can use whatever situation I find myself in. <br />
So last night I sat up until 3 a.m. - it's hard to sleep when you've done nothing all day long - and I read for a couple of hours in the book <u>Cold Case Christianity</u> by J. Warner Wallace. Mr. Wallace was the one who led the conference this weekend that I was privileged to attend.<br />
And now I have time (!) to read his book.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwONWjFbZOc5jkU_qWlviuqvUQgQ7ZCoQ-SRxkFZYAeCMggMC-Hwuy67IRub05tz64zoTeFHr4WfAGPnPu6baWRVM1yPdRXlTWiZnZpyJvCFyMDG2A9OuUt5L_IP_2JPwgq9LR0tUkWpvn/s1600/cold+case.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwONWjFbZOc5jkU_qWlviuqvUQgQ7ZCoQ-SRxkFZYAeCMggMC-Hwuy67IRub05tz64zoTeFHr4WfAGPnPu6baWRVM1yPdRXlTWiZnZpyJvCFyMDG2A9OuUt5L_IP_2JPwgq9LR0tUkWpvn/s1600/cold+case.jpg" /></a> Mr. Wallace is well-educated, articulate, and sharp. He has worn many hats in his lifetime but his primary career has been that of a police detective. He worked his way up from an officer on the beat to homicide to a cold case detective. Cold cases are murder investigations that have been unsolved for years and/or decades.<br />
In the numerous cases he has worked, he has found that DNA has not been helpful. Sometimes DNA even works against the detective by eliminating all the known suspects, leaving the police with no other avenue to explore.<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> By the same token, a murder case of twenty years ago can be so "cold" that there are no witnesses around to interview when the case is being re-examined. No new scientific data to shed light on the case? No old eyewitnesses still around to talk to?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="st" style="background-color: white; color: #545454; line-height: 1.4; word-wrap: break-word;"></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> How can you solve a case like that?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> In his book, <u>Cold Case Christianity</u>, on his website <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><span style="color: blue;">coldcasechristianity.com/</span>, </span>and in his blog,<span style="color: blue;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><span style="color: blue;">pleaseconvinceme.com/</span>, Mr. Wallace shows the average person how to apply cold </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;">case detective </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;">skills </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;">to evaluating the reliability of the Gospels, the authenticity of the</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"> eyewitness </span><span style="line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;">accounts</span><span style="line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"> of the </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;">life of </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;">Christ, and </span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;">the information concerning the resurrection</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"> of Christ. </span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"> Using examples from cases that he has worked as a detective makes this a</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;">somewhat different </span><span style="line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">and fascinating </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"> look at an old story through a new lens.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"> I highly recommend his writings and hope to share what I am learning through this blog.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"> The most important thing in life, in my opinion, is to know that your world view is resting </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;">on </span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;">solid footing, in step with all the reasonable facts that are at our disposal.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"> Ironically one foot problem =/ is giving me time to secure my religious footing amidst</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"> a world </span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;">full of deception. And that is no small thing!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"> As Paul wrote back in the first century: in everything give thanks! So today I am </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;">thanking God for </span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;">foot pain, </span><span style="line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;">forced inactivity, and time to reflect.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06418141427127732724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1471822264046267922.post-76684569290415129852015-04-16T12:05:00.000-05:002015-04-16T12:27:33.394-05:00Hymns and Funeral Home Fans...<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
The past week and a half have been a bit of a roller coaster ride.<br />
I don't like roller coaster rides at theme parks; I certainly don't like them in real life where there is no ticket taker with a measuring stick to ensure that you are tall enough to be allowed on the ride in the first place.</div>
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This morning I am so thankful, even buoyed up by the sparkling new day outside, the gorgeous sunshine after days of overcast skies and intermittent rain. I am grateful that this day is open for me to do whatever I want to do; that I don't have to cope with my sister-in-law this morning (and she with me!)</div>
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And yet....</div>
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I have gained some wisdom and it's this: the curtain will be raised on the next act in my sister-in-law's life sooner rather than later and it won't be good. Today is, I believe, just a small intermission in the drama of her life and consequently in the drama of all our lives.</div>
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The doctor took her staples out yesterday so she insisted on going to her house to resume her normal life. But she was seriously dehydrated Tuesday night and still running a fever when Phil took her home yesterday so how normal can her life be?</div>
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She lives by herself although she has neighbors who try to watch out for her. Over the past week or so, we've seen her take too much medicine and not be aware that she was doing it. We've seen her consistently eat almost nothing and drink almost nothing - some days a small container of yogurt, half a cup of black coffee, and half a can of TAB and nothing else until supper time where she would eat a little more but not much.</div>
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Yet for the most part, she is lucid and able to control her own affairs. She is the older sister and the dominant personality in the family. And she has long prided herself on being the master of her fate, the captain of her soul - although she would never put it that way.</div>
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But that's what it boils down to. No matter what topic arises in conversation, she has seen a documentary on t.v., heard about it on the radio, and/or read a book about it. In the past whenever she held forth on a topic, she was usually right and had info none of the rest had at our fingertips.</div>
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She was witty, beautiful, and outgoing and to some extent still is. (Part of the reason she wouldn't eat much was because she knew she wasn't getting much exercise and she didn't want to gain weight) She also has a generous heart and a will to help others - she has blessed quite a few people in her home town.</div>
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But her wit and wisdom have turned into self-serving monologues that tend to keep others at arm's length. And at this point, she is captaining her ship right onto some serious shoals and we know it's just a matter of time before either she calls us and is forced to ask for help again or someone else calls us on her behalf...</div>
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And, seriously, how do you navigate your own ship from this world to the next when you need help accomplishing the simplest things and you are perhaps a little too dependent on pain meds without realizing it?</div>
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Don't we need a Savior?</div>
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The sweetest time that I have had throughout this past week and a half came last Friday night while I was sitting in the car waiting for Phil to take care of a little task for friends who were away for a few days. There in the stillness of the night, just as I was about to become impatient, God met me.</div>
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I don't know how else to put it. One minute I was starting to fret and the next hymns from my childhood just started running through my mind - songs I haven't sung in years.</div>
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Silly songs like "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam..." <i class="_4-k1 img sp_0FWTQ_K3bWk sx_72c37c" style="background-image: url(https://fbstatic-a.akamaihd.net/rsrc.php/v2/yS/r/ckxre_asY0y.png); background-position: 0px -8033px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: auto; display: inline-block; height: 16px; vertical-align: -3px; width: 16px;"><u style="left: -999999px; position: absolute;">smile emoticon</u></i><br />
Childhood songs like "Jesus Loves Me," and "The B-I-B-L-E, Yes, That's the Book For Me!".<br />
Girl's in Action (G. A.) songs like "We've a Story to Tell to the Nations."<br />
Campfire songs like "I Have Decided To Follow Jesus."<br />
And hymns that I associate with my grandmother's little country church (where the singing was less than stellar as I recall <i class="_4-k1 img sp_0FWTQ_K3bWk sx_72c37c" style="background-image: url(https://fbstatic-a.akamaihd.net/rsrc.php/v2/yS/r/ckxre_asY0y.png); background-position: 0px -8033px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: auto; display: inline-block; height: 16px; vertical-align: -3px; width: 16px;"><u style="left: -999999px; position: absolute;">smile emoticon</u></i> Songs such as: "There Is Power in the Blood," "Rescue the Perishing," and "Christ Receiveth Sinful Men."</div>
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This morning as I sat with my open hymnal, those old hymns plus words from a more "citified" hymn spoke to my heart:<br />
<i>Be still, my soul! the Lord is on thy side; bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide; In every change He faithful will remain. Be still, my soul! thy best, thy heavenly Friend, thro' thorny ways leads to a joyful end.</i></div>
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"Leave to thy God to order and provide; In every change He faithful will remain.." (Be Still, My Soul)</div>
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Years ago I acquired a BSE, an MSE, and six graduate hours above that. I have spent most of the years of my adult life promoting education and reading every book I could get my hands on. I have enjoyed all types of music - especially the modern choruses. And I don't know that I have ever valued the "old-timey" hymns that my grandma sang enthusiastically off key while fanning herself with a Funeral Home fan in a swelteringly hot country church.</div>
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Until now...</div>
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This is the bottom line: throughout the lows of these past 12 days, it has been those old, long discarded, "corny" hymns of humid summer Sundays and mosquito- ridden week night revival meetings that God has used to minister to my troubled heart; it has most definitely not been lessons learned at a professor's knee or facts gleaned from my honor's paper or all the books I read during my post graduate summer seminar on world cultures - as interesting as those things were.</div>
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No. The truth is: we are not masters of our fate nor are we captains of our souls. How can we be when we gradually lose the ability to recall and/or master the simplest of tasks?</div>
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The Bible has it right: My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalms 73:26)</div>
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Today I am so thankful that I learned this truth at my mother's knee and heard it warbled off key ad nauseam in my grandmother's small church where harmony was not at a premium but gritty faith was.</div>
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Please keep praying for my sis-in-law.<br />
Thanks.<br />
.</div>
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Sinners Jesus will receive;<br />
Sound this word of grace to all<br />
Who the heavenly pathway leave,<br />
All who linger, all who fall.</div>
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Refrain</div>
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Sing it o’er and over again;<br />
Christ receiveth sinful men;<br />
Make the message clear and plain:<br />
Christ receiveth sinful men.</div>
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Come, and He will give you rest;<br />
Trust Him, for His Word is plain;<br />
He will take the sinfulest;<br />
Christ receiveth sinful men.</div>
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Refrain</div>
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Now my heart condemns me not,<br />
Pure before the law I stand;<br />
He who cleansed me from all spot,<br />
Satisfied its last demand.</div>
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Refrain</div>
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Christ receiveth sinful men,<br />
Even me with all my sin;<br />
Purged from every spot and stain,<br />
Heaven with Him I enter in.</div>
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Refrain<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06418141427127732724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1471822264046267922.post-32764374308566078582015-04-11T12:57:00.002-05:002015-04-11T12:57:26.624-05:00God... Are You serious....?????<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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They say confession is good for the soul.</div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">This is the deal: I fell in love with the Bible study, What Love Is...(as everyone knows by now.) So when I finished it in early March, I immediately started right back on session 1. (As everyone knows by now...) And I loved it just as much as I had before!!! Week one and week two and the first three days of week three were great! Uplifting beyond words! Just like before!</span></div>
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But then...</div>
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The workbook and the Scripture didn't change but life did....</div>
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Suddenly a relative needed help while recovering from a nasty fall and subsequent surgery. I'm the only one in the family not working so I didn't hesitate to volunteer.</div>
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I knew everything would be a little different but it would only be for a few days; plus I'm a loving kind of people-person - so I really had no doubt that I could do it. I understood that the "patient" thinks my personal beliefs are unenlightened and that it's her job to educate me. And it's pretty obvious that she thinks she has the low down on every topic under the sun. (But I know she doesn't ... because, actually, I do... And since we hardly see eye to eye on anything we can't both be right.) And I knew that she was a bit demanding and not prone to express appreciation- although I'm sure she feels it. And I knew that she has a tendency to talk non-stop for,,,, well... hours at a time. But it would only be for a week or two at the most so while I wasn't jumping for joy over the temporary assignment, I wasn't too worried either.</div>
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In fact, looking back I can honestly say that the things that did cause me unease were mechanical issues such as how we would manage the bathroom thing. Or the eating thing. Or the being woozy-headed while walking thing. Or the re-bandaging the wound thing.</div>
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But I always fell back on this thought: it's only for a few days so how hard can it be?</div>
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Well, it's this hard: by the end of my third day of cheerful, selfless,loving care giving ( /= )I was literally wondering whose head I should beat against the wall - mine or hers... You may think I'm kidding but I assure you that I'm not.</div>
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And during the day before that, after one particularly testy and prolonged monologue where I received unwanted instruction on everything from A to Z, I opened my Bible Study workbook only to get this message: lack of love for a brother or sister is a sure sign that you are not in fellowship with God.</div>
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And I just wanted to look up at the Heavens and yell, "God! Are You SERIOUS???? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Do you KNOW what I'm having to put up with??? And besides that, SHE STARTS IT !!! EVERY SINGLE BLINKING TIME!!!! I DON'T BRING UP THE CONTROVERSIAL STUFF!!! AND I SURE DON'T EVER GET TO FINISH IT ... BECAUSE I CAN HARDLY GET A BLOOMING WORD IN EDGEWISE!!!!"</div>
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However, I didn't yell (out loud anyway). Instead I finished day four's lesson because I didn't want to fall behind...and took some aspirin...</div>
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Amazing how quickly a Bible passage can lose it's luster...</div>
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The next day's lesson was, truthfully, even worse. I opened my workbook and this appeared before my mutinous eyes: Jesus told us that there is no greater love than to lay down your life for someone else.</div>
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Seriously?? Lord, I am contemplating laying HER life down... not mine...</div>
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However, I quickly realized that it was okay because this passage would apply to someone who was in a war zone or a robbery or something like that and therefore was not likely to happen.</div>
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I resumed my lesson and the author got to me, as if she had been reading my torqued little mind. Basically I encountered words to this effect: if we just look at that verse in John as if it refers to our physical life only, we've missed the point. Having to die physically to protect someone is not likely to happen to most of us. Plus physical death is actually easier than laying your life down day by day in little ways and large ways for the sake of others.</div>
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I cried. Not a lot but enough to show me where my heart was. Tears of self-pity. Tears of wounded pride. Tears of selfishness.</div>
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Not repentant tears and not confessional tears.</div>
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I came face to face with my own heart and immediately looked away. Soon afterwards I went home (venting all the way), proceeded to eat chocolate (by the barrel full), and watched a movie (Jane Austen).</div>
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This morning was beautiful and the patient was sleeping so I sat outside on a screened-in porch, surrounded by the delightful music of birds in spring. I didn't have an excuse not to do my Bible study so after some procrastination (where I nursed my grudges from the previous days) I opened up my workbook (with some trepidation) and read this:</div>
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"You may be in a place where the Lord is calling you to lay your life down for another in a specific instance. If this is you - even if it seems like the most insignificant of ways - respond to God about what He's asking of you."</div>
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Well...I did...</div>
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My response took up a closely written page - I couldn't even begin to fit it into the answer space provided on the workbook page so I didn't even try. Ha!</div>
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And then I read the next question:</div>
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"You may need a deeper understanding of the love that God poured out on you. You'll never love others if you haven't first grasped His love. Spend more time asking the Lord to open your eyes to the way He's poured His love out for you."</div>
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"You'll never love others if you haven't first grasped His love..."</div>
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Okay, Lord, please open my eyes and show me Your love that you have poured out on me...</div>
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And this is what He showed me: this current trial was a lavish outpouring of His love...</div>
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I cried again. This time with repentance and gratitude. While He continued to open my eyes.</div>
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He showed me that it was His plan for this unpalatable task to clash with the very lesson I was working on at this exact time in this exact week,month,and year.</div>
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Not because He hates me (or my long-suffering in-law) but because He wanted the words on the printed page - guidance in truth and instruction in how to both receive love and give it away - He wanted those words to move from my head to my heart.</div>
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And because He wanted me to see the paucity of my own ability to love so that I would discard my pride and reach out for a deeper in-filling of His.</div>
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That's it. He just wanted to pour out more love on me and my pride was preventing Him from doing that. So He put me in a situation where pride had to go out the window.</div>
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Now that I've been a caregiver for a whacking four whole days, I can honestly say that I don't know how stuff like this ever works on the strictly human level - I tried and just couldn't make it happen without gritting my teeth and/or wanting to do bodily harm to the one I was supposed to be loving.</div>
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But now I know how it works on the supernatural level: you admit you stink at selfless loving. That's the first step. Then you ask Him to fill you up to the brim with His supernatural love until it just slops over onto those around you. That's it: step 1, step 2. He does the rest. (Note: you don't ask Him - through gritted teeth - to give you more love for the one who is driving you crazy - which is the way I had been going about it).</div>
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By the way, I highly recommend the Bible study - What Love Is... by Kelly Minter.</div>
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I just thought I'd mention it in case I haven't told you already...</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06418141427127732724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1471822264046267922.post-51702189840139076222015-03-15T14:25:00.002-05:002015-03-15T14:25:40.550-05:00Seriously...<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
Okay. I blame this on the fact that I stayed up last night until 1 a.m. working on a murder mystery plot. Seriously.</div>
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Today we were supposed to take a neighbor - a lady I'll call Y.. - to church. We've known each other for several years: she's funny, loves to work in her yard, and has a past which is really not... completely past. Earlier in the week I was talking to her about our church and she just asked me (out of the blue) when the service started and told me she really wanted to go.</div>
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She said her husband was having to work out of town this past week and although he would come home for the weekend, she just felt like she needed something to do and she'd been thinking about going back to church for a while. (She was raised in church as a kid but that was some decades ago).</div>
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I told her I would love to have her go with us. Before we quit visiting, she asked me to come over on Sunday and beat on her bedroom wall at 9 a.m. to make sure she was up and I told her that was no problem.</div>
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Last night I asked Phil to go with me to Y's house this morning because they have 3 forty pound dogs and I'm afraid of them. And Y's husband is really bad about leaving the doors unlatched (the dogs can push the front door open) and/or letting them out when people come to call. (Her husband is bi-polar - he's really nice when he's on his meds and not doing pot... However, when he's not on his meds he's a bit anti-social...)</div>
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So this morning Phil and I walk over to Y'.s house (me armed with a walking cane for whacking dogs with) and Phil knocks on her window. She doesn't respond so I start yelling her name and reminding her that we're going to church together. WE hear movement and then she comes to the door, obviously trying to wake up (I know how she feels...) She told us she didn't realize it was Sunday and asks what time she needs to be ready. We tell her that we'll be leaving in about an hour and she says that's fine, she'll be ready.</div>
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And she was. PHil and I usually travel in separate cars on Sunday morning so that he can serve at a local outreach center. So I pick Y. up - she's looking very nice, dressed appropriately (better than me actually). Her make up and hair look nice and her clothes are color coordinated. She's actually very artistic and I could learn a few things from her in that area, definitely. At any rate, she seems happy and immediately starts talking.</div>
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" My husband got home Friday night and he has to leave out again this afternoon for another week b/c they still have to finish up that welding job up in the Northern part of the state. So he asked me yesterday if I could turn him in for his outstanding warrant and when I asked him why, he said he didn't want to go back up North for a week to work, he likes the hotel room okay but he can't stand sharing a room with anybody else. So I told him the warrant he has right now would only get him a fine and wouldn't get him jail time so he needs to just plan on going back to work - he's only got a couple more weeks to go up there. But I may need to call his boss and see if they'll give him a hotel room by himself... If I can't borrow M.'s phone, could I borrow yours after church? My husband got me a phone but he hasn't put any minutes on it yet so it's not much good but at least I've got one..."</div>
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Hi Ho, Hi Ho... it's off to church we go...</div>
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During the service we're sitting there reading the Bible together, singing together (she has a beautiful voice), and hearing the Word preached. Phil and I both are praying silently like crazy for her, so thankful she's finally sitting in church with us after all these years. I hear her sniffling some during the music and feel sure God is working on her heart. And during one prayer we hold hands with each other - I'm thinking how awesome this is.</div>
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At the end of the service the youth leader gets up and announces some upcoming activities which include a paint ball event next Saturday for the teens and whoever else wants to come.</div>
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As we're leaving the church, I'm hoping she'll ask the pastor if she can talk to him about her spiritual life, etc. Really, I'm hoping she'll bust out with words like, "Could you tell me how to be saved??" NO ONE who goes to church with us from the 'Hood EVER says that. (Just once, Oh Lord, just once!!!)</div>
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Instead she tells him that next Saturday sounds great. I'm totally confused.</div>
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As we're walking out to the car, she elaborates. She tells me that she turns 50 on Sunday and that her 17th anniversary is next weekend as well and that the paintball thing on Saturday would be a great way to celebrate their wedding anniversary... if she can talk her husband into it.</div>
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I look at her and realize she is serious.</div>
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On the way home she talks about how she really needs to call her husband's boss and how she's pretty sure she can use M.'s phone. She thanks me for offering her lunch -Phil and I had hoped Y. and I could talk about things over a quiet meal. However, she has left a pot roast in the oven and needs to get home. Then she tells me how nice it is to have a stove after several years of not having one. She explains that her friend, M., saw this stove sitting out behind a restaurant - obviously about to be discarded - and asked her if she wanted it and she said, "Sure" so they went and got it and it works great.</div>
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Then she switches from that to telling me about how one of her husband's friends has a criminal past - well, they all have criminal pasts - but this one gives her the collywoggles. And one day last summer, back when their electricity was turned off for several months, she was taking a long afternoon nap (because what else can you do when it's hot and the middle of the day and you don't have AC?) and she suddenly woke up to find this guy standing over her and she didn't know how he got in her house because altho she doesn't lock her door during the day, she has those three huge dogs who always alert whenever somebody comes onto their property. But they didn't alert this time and she doesn't know if the guy was wearing a pork chop around his neck or what - but he sure got past them that day. So if we see a certain <span style="background-color: transparent;">vehicle in her drive while her husband is out of town, we should feel free to come over and beat on her door and check on her because this guy really makes her feel nervous because he's a serious offender, not like their other friends, most of which are just crazy.</span></div>
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All the while she's telling me this, I'm praying for an opening to ask her about spiritual things, etc. Finally, just before we get to her house, I interrupt the free flow of her conversation and mange to squeeze in a couple of sentences. I thank her for going to church with us, and tell her I hope she'll go back with us again next Sunday.</div>
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She told me she enjoyed the service, it was nice and relaxing and she didn't know why she cried during the music but she usually does. Anyway, she didn't know if she could go back next Sunday because it's her birthday and she might tie one on the night before but she really enjoyed getting to go today.</div>
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<a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/iamseriously?source=feed_text&story_id=10200428012660022" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl" style="color: #6d84b4;">#</span><span class="_58cm">Iamseriously</span></a>,seriouslybeatingmyheadagainstabrickwall.Seriously...<br /><a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/backtothemurdermystery?source=feed_text&story_id=10200428012660022" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl" style="color: #6d84b4;">#</span><span class="_58cm">Backtothemurdermystery</span></a>....</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Antiquated would-be <br />worker in the 'hood....</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06418141427127732724noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1471822264046267922.post-78518034360713048722015-03-13T13:01:00.000-05:002015-03-13T13:01:30.537-05:00Why Joy Doesn't Come...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm going to make a plug once again for Kelly Minter's study, <u>What Love Is.</u>..</div>
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One reason I'm mentioning it again is because much of what I'm going to share came from video session 7 in that study and I want you to know where I got this spiritual insight - it didn't come from me.</div>
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I listened to the video last night and woke up thinking about it this morning. Kelly is a good story teller but the truths she reveals in those stories are profound, no matter how simple the story may sound on the surface.</div>
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In this session she talked about how she had been a practicing Christian - in Christ, Christ in her, into the Word, etc. - and yet...</div>
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And yet one day when she was jogging, she asked the Lord why there was no joy in her life and to her shock, this thought passed through her mind: because you have idols in your heart.</div>
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She immediately wanted to dismiss that thought but then God showed her that an idol is anything that dominates our thoughts and/or is something we feel we have to have in order to be happy. It is something that, when it doesn't go the way we want it to, we feel despondent or upset.</div>
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Well, I know that... Don't I?</div>
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But really, does that mean that carrying a grudge can be an idol? Or clinging to a relationship when it's not healthy - can that be an idol?</div>
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I began to think about it - what things occupy my thoughts? What things do I feel I have to have in order to be happy? What things cause a visceral gut reaction when I first realize that this or that may be suddenly taking a turn that I don't like and didn't expect?</div>
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Then Kelly goes on to talk about Mary of Bethany. And she brought out a progression in Mary's relationship with Jesus that I'd never seen before.</div>
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First Mary sat and listened to Jesus. We know that story probably - Martha is running around, busy, distracted, and frustrated. WHile Mary is sitting at the teacher's feet,listening, absorbing, learning. Why? Because she doesn't like to wash dishes or cook? (Um... that would be me, actually...)</div>
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No. Because, as Jesus explains to Martha, what Mary is absorbing will never be taken from her. Ever. Not by old age, Alzheimer, or even death. And somehow Mary "got that". So she opted for something that was not an idol, something that couldn't disappoint her.</div>
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But then we see her beside the body of her dead brother. Jesus has a plan but she doesn't know that. And she is deeply grieving. And deeply disappointed. Really rocked to the core of her being.</div>
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And then Martha comes to her and says what Kelly said may be the most beautiful words in Scripture: "The teacher is here and he's calling for you."</div>
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And inspite of her deep disappointment, Mary gets up and goes to Jesus. Only this time she doesn't sit at his feet,smiling, and learning. No. She throws herself at his feet and blurts out her anguish, "Lord, if You had been here then _______________ wouldn't have happened." Scripture doesn't leave a blank there - Mary is specific: if You had been here, my brother wouldn't have died. But I put a blank there because, as Kelly says, we probably all have that cry in our hearts somewhere,harking back to a recent event or even maybe to a long ago event where we just got stuck. Our spiritual heart got mired in the quicksand of, "Lord, if you had been here... " then... my marriage wouldn't have turned to dust, my finances wouldn't have failed, this venture wouldn't have folded before it's time, my kid wouldn't have done this or that, my loved one wouldn't have died, my health wouldn't have gone South, etc.</div>
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So, even though all Mary could see was apparent failure as well as a wall of grief that she could not get around and which couldn't possibly lead to anything good, she still went to the Master, fell at His feet and poured out her grief. "IF only You had been here, then....</div>
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Finally, we see her one more time - this time kneeling at the feet of Jesus, breaking a bottle of priceless perfume/oil and pouring out this expensive liquid over Jesus' feet. Spikenard was used to prepare a body for burial and that is what Mary is doing. Once again, she gets it. What Jesus teaches and what He gives, the way He loves and guides - all of that is lasting. It won't be taken away from her.</div>
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And she understands. HE is the resurrection and the life. She knows it. She's seen it..</div>
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Hence she is thrilled to give everything she has to Him in an extravagant act of love. Because she knows Him and she knows what He is worth.</div>
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Sitting at His feet, learning. Throwing ourselves at His feet, when life takes a turn we didn't expect or want. Pouring out our treasure at His feet in joyful surrender.</div>
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And no room for false idols along the way.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06418141427127732724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1471822264046267922.post-36260340341913432202015-03-11T11:03:00.000-05:002015-05-15T15:00:16.016-05:00It's All Good...<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
Late last night when the house was quiet, I was reading Scripture and praying, basically asking God why I struggle so at times. I haven't had a stellar track record spiritually this past week. Attitudes have not been wonderful, etc.</div>
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And I felt like He gave me an epiphany, sort of. (I mean, how much of an epiphany can you have in a Jim Walter home in the 'hood at 1 a.m. in the morning??)</div>
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But I felt He asked me what my goal in life was. And then answered that question for me in a moment of time. To my surprise, I actually had a goal which I was feverishly trying to accomplish.</div>
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IF you had asked me,I would have told you that I didn't. That I was content with growing older and certain that Heaven would be everything it's cracked up to be and more.</div>
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But last night in a few minutes, a curtain was pulled back, basically, and I realized that in the back of my mind I had an image of myself becoming super Christian, reaching the epitome of my spiritual development (while people oohed and ahhed around me) and then - then once I'd reached that pinnacle of achievement - then I could transition to Heaven... And not until then...</div>
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The problem is that Older Super Christian Woman looks like this:<br />
She's skinny. I'm not. No, wait! She's svelte... (That's even worse if I'm still in the running...)</div>
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She's smart as in she's memorized the Bible (at least the New Testament) and has all the answers. I have a lot of questions and often can't remember my own name. Or my kid's name. Or our dog's name... (So sometimes I just go down the list of names in my memory bank until I hit the right one). HOWEVER I am memorizing Scripture. I memorized John 13:1 last week. And I memorized it again this week...</div>
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She's beautiful. (Aren't all successful women, Christian or otherwise beautiful?)<br />
I'm aging but not like a fine wine, shall we say. (Lack of hormones can do a lot of things to your body, I'm finding out...)</div>
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She's leading national Bible studies. Don't get me wrong - I love video-driven Bible studies and hope to do many more. But about all I myself can do is lead a small group discussion after listening to a video... And I don't always do that well. As in I can't always see what page number the current question is on. Or I read the question with no problem but halfway through I think, "Oh gosh! I never answered that one! And I see why!! It doesn't make a lick of sense to me even now..."</div>
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The perfect Christian woman has a saintly expression on her perfectly made up face, regardless of the trials that come her way. I don't take a ton of selfies. And there is a reason for that. Let's just say when the dog has another "on purpose" on the kitchen floor and I've just realized that our gas bill has doubled which means I'll have to do battle with a phone maze and the neighborhood kids are once again coming over here with muddy feet and all I really want to do is take a nap - well, the expression on my face isn't, um, saintly. Hence not a lot of selfies...</div>
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Back to the triumphant older Christian woman - her kids really do rise up and call her blessed. Mine loves me but, um, he's not a morning person so he doesn't really speak to me when he gets up and I don't really want him to call me blessed... Just making up his bed would be fine with me...</div>
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This perfect woman lives overseas but cares for a whole tribe of adopted kids over here. Without breaking a sweat. And she writes several books about all of it ... with no help from anyone else.. And at least one is a best seller. And her kids (all grown up now) have graduated from Harvard, Oxford, MIT, Moody Bible Institute, and Cambridge and are on the mission field doing pioneer work in a tribe we've never heard of before.</div>
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And I'm supposed to be approaching the apex of that spiritual line of development?? Here on earth? Before I can transition to Heaven and expect to receive a "Welcome Home, Thou Good and Faithful Servant"???</div>
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THAT's been my subconscious goal??</div>
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As I'm digesting that startling thought, God impressed another thought on my mind, equally startling.</div>
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I promise.</div>
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It was this:</div>
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Of the two of us, only one of us expected you to do and be all that...</div>
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<a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/godhasasenseofhumor?source=feed_text&story_id=10200409615640108" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl" style="color: #6d84b4;">#</span><span class="_58cm">Godhasasenseofhumor</span></a><br />
<a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/andonlyheisperfect?source=feed_text&story_id=10200409615640108" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl" style="color: #6d84b4;">#</span><span class="_58cm">AndonlyHeisperfect</span></a>.<br />
<a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/lovehimandsoldieron?source=feed_text&story_id=10200409615640108" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl" style="color: #6d84b4;">#</span><span class="_58cm">LoveHimandsoldieron</span></a>.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06418141427127732724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1471822264046267922.post-74436869028591694302015-02-20T13:24:00.005-06:002015-02-20T13:24:57.515-06:00Something to Think About...<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
Sometimes I wonder about John 14:13. It seems like a carte blanche - ask-whatever-you- want-in-Jesus'-name-and-He'll-give-it-to-you type of deal.</div>
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I've heard the qualifiers to this verse - you can't ask for bad things and link your request with the name of Jesus because bad things and Jesus are incompatible. And I get that. Truly.</div>
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But still, sometimes I look at that verse and others that are similar and wonder... Unfortunately, at times like that a phrase from one of Mark Twain's works invariably goes flitting (unbidden) through my mind: if prayer works then "Why can't Miss Watson fat up?" Odd, the politically incorrect quotes that stick to one's childhood mind like mud sticks to monster truck tires...</div>
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At any rate, I was thinking about John 14:13 the other night and I decided to read it in <u>The Message.</u> "From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I'm doing, I'll do it."</div>
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Along the lines of <i>Who I AM..</i>.</div>
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And along the lines of <i>what I am doing..</i>..</div>
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The first is easy. I can relate to it. For example, I can't imagine my 19 year-old niece going to her mother and asking permission to get drunk this weekend and spend the night in a hotel with her boyfriend. Her mother's character (if not her demeanor upon receiving such a request) would cause a question like that to die an unnatural death before it even saw the light of day. IN short, her mother would kill her if she even hinted at such a request and she knows it. It would go against everything her mom stands for.</div>
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But then there is the second part: <i>along the lines of what I [Jesus] am doing...</i></div>
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God has an agenda.<br />Peter found that out. When Jesus asked His disciples who they thought He was, Peter moved to the head of the class with his famous answer: you are the Son of the living God. (Matt. 16:15-18) He had the "Who I AM" part down pat.</div>
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But then he sank to the bottom of the class just a few short verses later. In Matthew 16:21-23 Jesus explained how He would have to suffer in Jerusalem and even be executed before rising again.</div>
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Apparently Peter heard the words "suffer" and "die" and he reacted logically... as in the way we would react.</div>
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Surely God wouldn't send the Messiah - the One they had been waiting for throughout thousands of years - only to have him die before he even reached the age of 50!!!! Why, he'd only had his ministry going for a paltry 3 years!!!</div>
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And surely God wouldn't let the bad guys kill His only son!!! That doesn't make any sense!!</div>
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And then, surely, Peter was not going to lose his beloved Master and teacher so soon! No way! I mean, he still had a lot to learn! Besides, Peter was no coward and the fact is that a disciple stands up for his master, watches out for him, and if necessary even wields a sword for him!! (John 18:10)</div>
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And we would almost certainly be right there with Peter, saying, "Yes! Absolutely! Lord, Peter's right! Don't you worry - you aren't going to suffer and then be killed like a common criminal, not on our watch!"</div>
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And today we'd probably get down on our knees and hastily back up our words with fervent prayer: Heavenly Father, help us to protect Your Son - we know You don't want Him to be cut down in the middle of His ministry by evil men so we're asking, <i>God, don't let this happen!!!"</i></div>
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Only the problem was that God's plan - i.e., "what he was doing" according to <u>The Message</u> - was for Jesus to go to the cross and be killed by evil men. Which meant that it was actually the Devil who was cheering on Peter's natural (logical) reasoning process in this instance and not God.</div>
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Sometimes it is God's plan to miraculously open the jail cell and let His servants go free. (Acts. 16:25-29; Acts 12:8-15) Sometimes, however, it is in keeping with His plan to let His servants suffer and die. (Mark 6:22-28)</div>
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The key to asking and then receiving whatever we request in Jesus' name lies in knowing<i> both</i> the character of Jesus and also what He is doing in any given situation, ministry, and/or person's life.</div>
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Sometimes we can look at a situation and say clearly, "This is the work of the enemy and we need to ask God to block it!" Other times maybe we can look at a situation and say, "This looks like the work of the enemy but above all that, I can see good that God is working out in this situation so I'm going to ask for __________ to be strengthened, for God's will to be done, and for Romans 8:28 to be clearly manifested." At other times, we may need to really pray and ask God to open our eyes, because even if we have His person (character) right, we may still be fooled as to what His current agenda is and we could easily find ourselves fruitlessly praying and/or actually trying to work against Jesus' plan.</div>
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To put it bluntly, sometimes it is in keeping with His overall purpose for the bad guys to "win" and the "good" guys to lose... for a season.. while here on earth.</div>
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In fact, sometimes His redemptive purposes require it.</div>
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"From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I'm doing, I'll do it." John 14:13, <u>The Message.</u> (See also I John 5:14 NASB)</div>
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Something to think about during this season of Lent.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Libya's 21 Christian Martyrs: 'With Their Blood They Are Unifying Egypt'"<br /><u>Christianity Today </u> Feb. 18, 2015</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06418141427127732724noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1471822264046267922.post-51233370143573584492015-02-02T12:00:00.001-06:002015-02-02T12:02:21.930-06:00Choices... <div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
This morning I was thinking about what it means to abide/dwell in Christ (John 15:4-5). While I was turning that over in my mind, Gracie was snuggled next to me in the chair, her head resting on my knee and her entire body covered by a small blanket. Buddie, our Rat Terrier/Pomeranian mix, was lying on the couch next to us and everything was peaceful.</div>
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Suddenly our dogs in the backyard started barking as they do about a hundred times a day. Heidi and Buster alert over anyt<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">hing and everything: a squirrel in the backyard (Heavens!!!!). The neighbor's dog who is about 20 pounds overweight and mostly blind and can only lumber down the road for a bit before getting worn out. (Wow! What a threat!) The meter man in his fluorescent vest. (Now THERE's a real danger!!!!) And then there's the garbage truck, kids on bikes, and David, Phil, or I pulling into the driveway. (Wow!!! It's THEM again! Who would have thought????? We haven't seen THEM for at least an hour or two... Maybe more!!!! And they came back!!!!!)</span></div>
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Buddie can't stand it when the big dogs begin to bark. He becomes frantic, jumping off the couch, adding his voice to the melee, running back and forth between me and the front door like, "Don't you know what's going on??? Don't you even care????" He just can't resist it no matter how many times it pans out to be... nothing... once again.... You'd think he'd wise up but he doesn't.</div>
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But little Gracie? She stays put. If the commotion becomes too bad, I may see the shape of her little head raise up under her blanket but that is as far as it goes. It doesn't take long before her little head is nestled on my knee again and she is as still and as warm as she can be.</div>
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And. oh. so. loved.</div>
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I actually delight to have her snuggle next to me and am amazed at how wise she is. When Buddie is beside himself over nothing, it's as if Gracie lifts her little head and weighs the pros and cons: do I want to go out into the freezing cold to run around in pointless circles for about 15 minutes, yapping my head off just because Buddie, Heidi, and Buster are doing it? Or do I want to stay here next to my master for as long as I can, warm, well-fed, protected, and loved?</div>
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And she usually opts to stay in spite of the pull to do otherwise.</div>
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And I think that is a picture of what it means to abide in Jesus and to allow Him and His word to abide in me - not alerting over flash-in-the-pan-stuff when we have the opportunity to spend time in His word and to snuggle down in His love.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06418141427127732724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1471822264046267922.post-30801753415771353272015-01-27T13:02:00.000-06:002015-01-27T13:02:10.869-06:00Profound Love...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I am thankful for an abundance of, well, an abundance of upper respiratory bodily fluids???</div>
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That didn't sound exactly the way I meant it to...</div>
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But I am grateful for a minor inconvenience that has turned into something so over and above what I would have experienced without it. (For those who are seriously ill, please don't think that I'm saying illness is good or that I don't dread illness as much or more than the next person).</div>
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But this has been a light virus (which perhaps unfortunately has exhibited itself in an overabundance of written words... There are viruses... and there are viruses...)</div>
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I am a comfort-seeking creature... And this is never more true than when I am sick enough to justify being lazy but not too sick to enjoy all the attention and comforts of home...</div>
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I want chocolate, Jane Austen movies, chocolate, a warm blanket, chocolate, and a snuggly (ornery) little dog beside me in my favorite chair.<br />I want ice from Sonic and a legitimate excuse not to cook. And I want to enjoy napping without all the guilt and above all I want to read what I want to read - mostly murder mysteries, not to put too fine a point on it.</div>
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And so I have been reading for pleasure and it was with a bit of a sigh that I realized Sunday night that I would soon need to put the "fun" stuff aside and get back into my new Bible study - whose daily lessons were turning out to be a lot more time consuming than I expected. A LOT more time consuming....</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8TOwfkr6Wr7F3m032XG1Lp4JBdzsBNt9mwEsSX56xg6ZmWAsSJePlNCQpM_UiR9rPfP-6YANYN6VnNSbU2zBsdrrY9t6F1QYeQZzHUY0RICGdO2wBMq6AwIYv0oQSMFqBwz1ckShBGfwl/s1600/what-love-is1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8TOwfkr6Wr7F3m032XG1Lp4JBdzsBNt9mwEsSX56xg6ZmWAsSJePlNCQpM_UiR9rPfP-6YANYN6VnNSbU2zBsdrrY9t6F1QYeQZzHUY0RICGdO2wBMq6AwIYv0oQSMFqBwz1ckShBGfwl/s1600/what-love-is1.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a>I mean the first four daily lesssons were about 10 times longer than the whole chapter they were meant to delineate. I mean... honestly.. in answering those questions, I'm pretty sure that i wrote more than the apostle John did eons ago when he wrote the first chapter (all ten verses) of his first letter.</div>
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And yet...</div>
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And yet...</div>
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Yesterday morning I sat down with my plethora of multi-colored pens and highlighters, my Bible study notebook, and my Bible - comfy chair, blanket, and Gracie beside me. My plan was to knock out the last lesson from week 1 - I was behind - and then go on to do days 1 and 2 of this new week.</div>
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But that didn't happen because somewhere along the way, God arrested my attention and I found myself spellbound, really contemplating words I thought I knew. I managed to get through day 5 and that was all.</div>
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But it wasn't. Because now I couldn't wait until the evening when I could start on week 2, day 1. I looked forward to a quiet evening after everyone was in bed, a time when I could curl up next to the vaporizer in the spare room, snuggle down (this time with a different dog, Buddie... <i class="_4-k1 img sp_A5xgVemSHVm sx_92231b" style="background-image: url(https://fbstatic-a.akamaihd.net/rsrc.php/v2/yM/r/PobfUeW5-O9.png); background-position: -85px -394px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: auto; display: inline-block; height: 16px; vertical-align: -3px; width: 16px;"><u style="left: -999999px; position: absolute;">smile emoticon</u></i>, and just let God be God. I felt an anticipation that somehow, as cheesy at it sounds, that eternity would once again light up my little cluttered room here in the 'hood.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHY_0PfCKk9oHzl7E4Nq1Z17IQ_x9e2Zy0EGfcPPxtqYQkMHiIXAtLisxGGcxphrlnWja1cH6nEu7PZAikIsOsn_TnlXoVa8qeB4ezubDBr-u60EQiq79Q-b2ctuKIdEwjwZHL9NvkTrRd/s1600/kelly+minter+justice+and+mercy+in+amazonian+region.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHY_0PfCKk9oHzl7E4Nq1Z17IQ_x9e2Zy0EGfcPPxtqYQkMHiIXAtLisxGGcxphrlnWja1cH6nEu7PZAikIsOsn_TnlXoVa8qeB4ezubDBr-u60EQiq79Q-b2ctuKIdEwjwZHL9NvkTrRd/s1600/kelly+minter+justice+and+mercy+in+amazonian+region.jpg" /></a>And it did. Not in the way I expected. This time I found all my deep questions coming to the surface; I found myself pouring out all the "whys" that are part and parcel of the baggage that I subconsciously carry. But the question marks weren't punctuated by whines or self-pity - only a certainty that God had invited me (and all of us) to call unto Him, giving us His unbreakable word that if we do that, He will hear us and He will tell us things that are too great and mighty for us to discern on our own. And I fell asleep in that assurance - that He heard me and that He would reveal whatever I needed to know.</div>
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This morning I woke up with that same sense of expectancy - of meeting Him once again in a quiet house with a quiet heart. I opened my notebook which now has every ink color in the rainbow traced on every page that I've read and I knew He had something for me.</div>
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And He did.</div>
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His answer to my questions? Himself.</div>
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I read the other day that when Martha and Mary were grieving over the death of their brother Lazarus, Jesus didn't explain everything. Instead he offered Himself as the balm to their deep hurt by saying, "I am the life." (John 11:25)</div>
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At the time that I read that, it didn't make a lot of sense to me. This morning it did.</div>
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But that wasn't all...</div>
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If you are willing to set aside some time (you can always pray for a small virus...)</div>
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OOPs... Let me try that again!</div>
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If you are willing to set aside some time because you recognize a need to make a quiet space in your life for Jesus, because you need to hear from Him - then I highly recommend Kelly Minter's study guide "What Love Is".</div>
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I have loved/enjoyed just about every Bible study I have ever done. But there are only two that I would describe as profound.</div>
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And this is one of them.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06418141427127732724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1471822264046267922.post-40450421692464146522015-01-24T13:45:00.002-06:002015-01-24T13:55:10.892-06:00Minor Inconveniences plus Worry... :(<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
I don't mean this in an arrogant way at all.</div>
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We've all been sick at our house, one at a time. My husband was diagnosed with bronchitis this past Tuesday and that was a blessing. The medicine is working and he's up and around again, back at work, missing only two days - and he really, really needed the rest even before he got sick.</div>
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I ended up going to the doctor Friday - nothing major at all, just a sore throat, sinus stuff, mild fever, enlarged tonsils - not even serious enough to have a name! :)</div>
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I opted for cortisone pills instead of a shot and realized that was a mistake about 2 a.m. this morning while I was trying to keep down my sixth pill for the first day plus my second antibiotic.</div>
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And I thought about loved ones who have gone through chemo and I found I could give thanks for 8 small pills in 10 hours.</div>
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So first came my (naturally) whiny thoughts: my stomach is messed up... I'll never get to sleep... yada yada yada</div>
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And then the belated recall of how others whom I love have suffered tons more with far less "poor me" thoughts and I was humbled.</div>
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So my thoughts were back on track - being thankful for what I had (and didn't have) and putting everything into proper perspective.</div>
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And then my thoughts took a nose dive again... If I can't handle a little cortisone and an antibiotic, how would I ever handle chemo? All the "what ifs" came crowding into the spare room like gremlins to keep me company. "You know you aren't getting any younger..." "Most people get cancer sooner or later... " Yada yada yada.</div>
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So first I had rank ingratitude and some over dramatization of my basically comfortable situation. (As long as I can sit up and read, I'm really okay).</div>
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Then back on track with thanksgiving and thinking of others.</div>
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Then nosediving into fear of the future - when God only gives us grace for today.</div>
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And the "poor me" as well as the "what ifs" are really basically sin. They are the opposite of having faith in God.</div>
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I read somewhere - John Piper, I think - that worry is a sin in that it's like having muddy rain splashed on your windshield. Suddenly you are navigating along with low visibility, barely able to see where you are going by faith. Sin clouds our vision.</div>
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Corrie ten Boom agrees. In her stellar little book - the best one she wrote in my opinion - called Jesus is Victor (part of an anthology called<u> Corrie ten Boom: Her Story</u>), she said this:</div>
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<u>"Worry is Sin"</u><br />
"I had to learn that worry is sin before I could get rid of the worry. First I tried to "fear not" as an act of obedience. It was as successful as trying to kill a lion with a toy gun.Then I began to learn the secrets. First you must ask forgiveness for your sin of worry. Then you need to accept the cleansing of the blood of Jesus. Finally you need to let God fill you with the Holy Spirit. When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, the spirit of fear will flee, forced out by power and love and a sound mind."</div>
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In another place in this little gem of a book, she talks about how she had two speaking engagements in Canada. A woman volunteered her husband to drive Corrie to Ottawa, not knowing that her husband had been drinking and, as Corrie put it, it was not a little that he had enjoyed! The roads were icy and treacherous and as they began the journey the car was sliding from one side of the road to the other.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGEFGIevUXg4YKOeHkpdYNve5XUZ7AcVnDZMElZ6Pm4YIjNDZgtBBc68z3wV3uVB6pJz8CEYoprBwjcPEmCZg2Akq_IpGwgSJpkXJ_B7qkqFrJICqulOGAf9ckkYcmXqtuCZjQy20MqFy0/s1600/icy+roads+at+night.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGEFGIevUXg4YKOeHkpdYNve5XUZ7AcVnDZMElZ6Pm4YIjNDZgtBBc68z3wV3uVB6pJz8CEYoprBwjcPEmCZg2Akq_IpGwgSJpkXJ_B7qkqFrJICqulOGAf9ckkYcmXqtuCZjQy20MqFy0/s1600/icy+roads+at+night.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a>Corrie was worried as you can imagine. But they were driving at night, in the middle of nowhere, and she had no other alternative. Finally she told the Lord that she would never be able to speak at her next place if she continued to be tense and worried. She finished her prayer and then turned to the driver and told him she couldn't do the driving for him so she was going to sleep and leave it in the Lord's hands. The man agreed to her bargain <i class="_4-k1 img sp_A5xgVemSHVm sx_92231b" style="background-image: url(https://fbstatic-a.akamaihd.net/rsrc.php/v2/yM/r/PobfUeW5-O9.png); background-position: -85px -394px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: auto; display: inline-block; height: 16px; vertical-align: -3px; width: 16px;"><u style="left: -999999px; position: absolute;">smile emoticon</u></i>. He drove. She slept. And when she arrived at her next meeting at 8 P.M., she was ready to speak for the Lord.</div>
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In times of great stress, that story comes back to me.</div>
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In times of minor stresses, I need it just as much.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06418141427127732724noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1471822264046267922.post-4538382235259024332015-01-24T08:30:00.000-06:002015-01-24T08:30:00.908-06:00Finally... :)And now we get to steps three and four:<br />
Live the life.<br />
And share it.<br />
<br />
That's the last two steps. <br />
Live the life. You know... if you are married, you live like a married person... You don't take your ring off and flirt with other people. You don't join single chat rooms. You don't stay gone for extended periods of time without letting your spouse know where you are... that type of thing.<br />
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Instead, you come home at night to the same house and the same partner. You work with them, take note of what pleases them, and love them. More than that, you identify with them. "My husband..." "My wife..." "My Savior..." Oh, but wait...I'm getting ahead of myself...<br />
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Anyway, it's the same thing if you have a job: you conduct yourself during business hours (and often during non-business hours) in keeping with that profession. You live your job by dressing, speaking, and working according to company rules and guidelines. <br />
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Our son is a personal trainer and one day, as I was talking to a lady he trains, she looked at me and said, "The proof is in the pudding. When I looked at your son, I thought: he knows what he is doing." She wanted to train with him because he obviously works out and looks the part.<br />
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Another example: my sweet sister-in-law tried a new hairdresser (a healthy young woman) who is bald. She said that the woman's baldness didn't inspire confidence in her skills somehow, explaining that it was like an oxymoron to her. The bottom line is that she'll be finding a new hairdresser :)<br />
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Living the life simply means living out what you profess to believe and value. And that really comes back to the Word. If you know what God values and you let His thinking saturate your mind, your thoughts (which are lower than God's) will begin to change and your image (which is much lower than God's) will begin to conform to His. (Romans 12:1-2) You'll begin to think His thoughts after Him and the Holy Spirit will begin to change your conduct as you yield to Him.<br />
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And then the fourth and final step will follow - sharing your lifestyle and the rationale behind it with others.<br />
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I am an overweight, geriatric woman. I hate exercising. Seriously.<br />
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But I'm in the gym now almost every day.<br />
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Why? Because I live in a house with a gym rat, a personal trainer, an advocate of exercise and healthy dieting. (He hasn't convinced me about the diet yet but he does have me on vitamins...)<br />
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Our son isn't real outgoing and maybe it was hard for him to broach the subject of going to the gym with his overweight, sedentary, bookish mom. But he did it. Again and again. Why? Because he believes in it. Because he has seen what this lifestyle is doing for him.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2OsVt33qU9T7Ys-oGZv-GP9B1JtEzdXu1X1ewUeiFxb4B7eB94Jk1dnFDJFzpWMT3gJMl5d4E7EHYsnSzFAf1VvFKFwjEgzTHBAt4HkJ9LKZEQgv_4LHNIESLoLOL1jJrnYSNVsmetgB8/s1600/RonDiCianni-TheSower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2OsVt33qU9T7Ys-oGZv-GP9B1JtEzdXu1X1ewUeiFxb4B7eB94Jk1dnFDJFzpWMT3gJMl5d4E7EHYsnSzFAf1VvFKFwjEgzTHBAt4HkJ9LKZEQgv_4LHNIESLoLOL1jJrnYSNVsmetgB8/s1600/RonDiCianni-TheSower.jpg" height="320" width="182" /></a>As Christians we have an even better reason for sharing our lifestyle and beliefs with others: Jesus commanded it. He told His followers to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19). Paul wrote in II Timothy 2:2 that we are to bring in people so they can raise their hand, get saved, and be added to the church roster...<br />
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Oh, wait.. No that's not right. <br />
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Paul actually said to learn the Scriptures and then find someone who has the potential to lead others and teach them, invest in them, disciple them... So that they can disciple others.<br />
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For our son to disciple me in physical training, he talks to me about it and he stands with me while I'm at the gym - directing me from this machine to that, adjusting the weights (to zilch... ) to accommodate my current weakness, explaining the benefits of each form of exercise, and encouraging me - "Keep your back straight... perfect!" "How does that feel?" "Let's don't do everything today since you don't feel well... Let's just keep it light..." "Tomorrow we'll..." <br />
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At times I feel like I must be an embarrassment to him but when I apologize for being so out of shape, he just says, "Mom, you are in better shape than most of the others out there driving by simply because you are in here and you are trying..." He's extremely fit but he never makes me feel bad because I'm not - he just takes me where I am and works with me, reminding me that in the end it will be worth it.<br />
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In order to do all this with me, he schedules time to train me - he makes it happen. Evenings, afternoons - whenever we can work it in. (Neither of us is a morning person so that's basically out. However, I have seen him get up daily at 4 a.m. in order to train someone at 5, fitting his schedule to theirs. I would say that is living the life...).<br />
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And I wonder: are we making discipleship happen? <br />
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Without that fourth element, the other three are good but not complete.<br />
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Dawson Trotman used to ask people: who will be in Heaven because of you?<br />
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It's a good question to consider at the beginning of 2015. May we all use our time wisely so that this time next year we'll have an answer that pleases us as well as our Savior.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06418141427127732724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1471822264046267922.post-39277209076119445932015-01-23T08:30:00.000-06:002015-01-23T08:30:00.836-06:00Next... <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Following on yesterday's blog, I'd like to say a little about the second vital ingredient to spiritual growth: prayer.<br />
Talking to God. Respectfully. Yet honestly. And listening. Obediently.<br />
There is something that bothers me about church. (And,yes, I love going to church, but still...) It is when people wear their church faces - you know, all squeaky clean spiritually speaking - when they wear that sanctified look <i>Sunday after Sunday after Sunday after Sunday...</i> If Nehemiah could look sad in the presence of the king, I think we can too. I mean, joyful is good! But not when it's a facade, a lie, a cover-up. <br />
God is light and in Him is no darkness. Deceit of any kind is darkness.<br />
But even more than that, the King of all Kings invites us to come to Him, not when we have it altogether, but when we are heavy burdened, worn out, perplexed (but not despairing...struck down but not destroyed ala II Cor. 4:7-8. Sorry.. I couldn't help but burst into a little Scripture there...).<br />
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This same (and only) God listened to Elijah who, worn out from great spiritual victory, collapsed emotionally and spiritually and wailed (sort of), "This is it! I am done for! And I'm the only one left!! And that Wicked Queen is going to killlll meeeeee!!!!!!" (My paraphrase.. ha!) <br />
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According to my Bible, God didn't turn a deaf ear or say, "Elijah!! Get up off your duff!!! Repent!!! And sing, "I love the wonderful feeling that I feel when I get together with God's wonderful people..." ten times!!!! Boy! PUT that sanctified smile back on yore face!!!" Instead He told Elijah to rest beside a brook and He sent ravens to feed this worn-out, gut-honest man of God.<br />
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So prayer begins with reverence - remembering who God is and giving Him the praise He deserves. But it goes on to what is in the heart - your heart. And ends with what (and whom) is in/on His heart.<br />
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<i> And Scripture is key to all of that.</i><br />
The Word of God is powerful, able to divide soul and spirit and also able to reveal the thoughts and attitudes of our heart. Hebrews 4:12.<br />
How many times have I started to pray what I <i>ought</i> to be praying ( a <i>nice</i> prayer) when suddenly the Spirit would arrest my words in mid sentence and gently say, "Cathy, here is the real issue, the real need, etc." And then, lo and behold, there would be my heart - laid open for me to see - and there would be the issue I had been studiously avoiding, the real source of my anxiety, my tears, my fears, etc.<br />
For me, prayers of healing begin with God's word flowing through my heart and mind.<br />
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Also, we have this promise in I John 5:14 - 15, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us and if He hears us, then we can know that our request will be answered.<br />
But how can we know His will if we don't know His word? If it isn't flowing through us?<br />
I thought of this scenario: <i>what if</i> your child came to you and said, "I really want a pet rat. J.B. has one and it's so cute! And smart too! And you can train it and feed it and I would take good care of it!" <br />
Some parents would be okay with that. As it happens, this parent wouldn't be because rats aren't high on my list of things to train, nourish, and love. I know other things about rats that would trump any argument any child of mine could dredge up...<br />
My point is that if this hypothetical child knew the parent's will in this situation, they could marshal their arguments to better purpose, asking for a pet that coincides with the parent's list of pets-that-are-okay-to-keep.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5d8_tkbc_oHoHliZPJaZHEyMsnawAb7avgdcOmTbf7cqIcNNlaU35prWLmAMxTycvn-r9khcfa7aLXj8WHInGXgCk_mBdb8uZ6WrlUjrlJqnYEwEdWQMK3LIY3fh3_trbHqp_bBX9W0iS/s1600/rat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5d8_tkbc_oHoHliZPJaZHEyMsnawAb7avgdcOmTbf7cqIcNNlaU35prWLmAMxTycvn-r9khcfa7aLXj8WHInGXgCk_mBdb8uZ6WrlUjrlJqnYEwEdWQMK3LIY3fh3_trbHqp_bBX9W0iS/s1600/rat.jpg" height="123" width="200" /></a> Okay. Sometimes we come to God asking for things that are covered in glitz, like Cinderella's Coachman, who was really a glorified rat.... This is the deal: God knows if the thing (or person) we want is really a rat in disguise. He sees the things we cannot.<br />
If you can delight yourself in the Lord and soak in His word, then I doubt you'll be insisting on getting the livery-coated rat of your temporary heart's desire. (Psalms 34:7) If that makes sense. <br />
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And then there is this: ultimately prayer is not about what is on your heart but it's about what is on His heart. And what is on His heart is revealed in His word. And when we get that, the ultimate prayer - "Lord, please put on my heart what is on your heart; cause what brings joy to Your heart to bring joy to my heart and let what breaks Your heart break mine too!" - the ultimate prayer is inextricably tied to... yes... to His Word.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06418141427127732724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1471822264046267922.post-64962416469667402982015-01-22T13:57:00.000-06:002015-01-22T16:27:31.383-06:00Soapbox... :)<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
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Growing...<br />
I remember those days when my feet dangled above the floor whenever I sat on a church pew. At that time, I was sure that this would be my situation for the rest of my life - everyone else would have long legs and mine would always be short.</div>
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Although this did not turn out to be the case, at every stage of my development I still feared that my friends would keep on growing while I... somehow... would not...</div>
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I wonder why we don't fear the specter of "not growing" when it comes to our Christian development?</div>
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Most of us know that there are four key elements in spiritual growth:<br />
One is to be in the Word: to do daily devotional reading.<br />
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Devotional comes from the word "devote". Synonyms for "devote" include: <i>dedicate, entrust, pledge, give away....</i></div>
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The idea is that we dedicate ourselves to Someone, to our Heavenly Father, to our Abba. That we give away our heart to our ultimate Love. But on a lengthy reading plan I can find myself devoting myself to a schedule, a task, an assignment,a check list, if you will. And not to the God of the Universe who loves me and, inexplicably, wants to fellowship with me. (I John 1:3)</div>
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And then, when I'm done with my check list, I promptly forget what I read and begin to pursue my favorite mental activity which is fretting. I could win an Olympic medal for fretting... seriously. Maybe you don't know how to fret but I do...</div>
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And, yet, fretting is a skill... sort of. And what can be used for the negative can be turned into something positive.</div>
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So here is a suggestion for devotional reading for 2015. Take the portion you are going to read tomorrow and start reading it tonight before you go to bed. (Or, if you are like me, after you go to bed but before you are ready to sleep.).</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKAOJ3fyi7n678WCjYKyhT2YK-Qco9uF-spgBwUUzcc_Wk1CLaR6GHvnIDugfjOE3SKbK3ZIOQNvul1MtckGl4B-M1N1-qaq1czGL5dzYEsXGgTHwutJ6vUVNkDGdUJpPCZa5FGp_d66X5/s1600/scripture+memory+card.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKAOJ3fyi7n678WCjYKyhT2YK-Qco9uF-spgBwUUzcc_Wk1CLaR6GHvnIDugfjOE3SKbK3ZIOQNvul1MtckGl4B-M1N1-qaq1czGL5dzYEsXGgTHwutJ6vUVNkDGdUJpPCZa5FGp_d66X5/s1600/scripture+memory+card.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>When you get to a verse or phrase that speaks to your heart,say it over and over. Or write it on a card and prop it up by your reading lamp where you can see it. Meditate on it as you fall asleep*. (Meditating on Scripture is synonymous with the phrase "good fretting"... Truly! You can keep on fretting -i.e., wearing a groove in your mind...! Only now you are creating mental pathways that are positive and productive instead of debilitating because you are sowing God's truth into your mind before and during sleep).</div>
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Then the next morning finish your devotional reading, looking for any other verses or phrases that go along with the phrase you meditated on the night before. You will be surprised at how many times God will bring the same concept to mind, reinforcing that truth on your heart.</div>
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As you meditate on that phrase or verse, consider memorizing a whole verse once a week. Or two! Write the verse(s) down. Sing them. Pray them. Whatever... (As someone has said, if you can remember your name, your address, and your birthday, you can remember one verse a week).</div>
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AS you read, memorize, and meditate, you will find yourself going automatically into the second key to spiritual growth which is praying. You will find yourself automatically praying the Scripture back to Him as you meditate on it.</div>
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But that's the second step - for another day, another blog entry. Got to go soak my head, literally... ! Love sinus stuff in winter time!!!</div>
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*I got this idea from a book called, appropriately enough, "Meditation" by Jim Downing.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06418141427127732724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1471822264046267922.post-63191606736445213222015-01-09T13:25:00.000-06:002015-01-22T15:16:32.061-06:00Which Is Easier?<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
Reading this morning in Matthew 9.<br />
A paralyzed man was brought to Jesus and Jesus spoke comfortingly to the man, telling him that his sins were forgiven.<br />
This ticked the pharisees off b/c they knew only God could forgive sins. So they understood Jesus was saying He is God.</div>
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But that was only half the problem in their eyes. I mean, if Jesus is God, then why doesn't He heal the man, hmmmmm?</div>
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Jesus called them on their snide thoughts.<br />
And then He healed the paralyzed man.</div>
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We all know the story, right?<br />
But I didn't notice until today that when Jesus busts out their hidden arrogance - He asks them a question: Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'.</div>
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Obviously they thought it was easier to say, 'Your sins are forgiven' than to actually speak decayed and useless limbs into life and movement. Maybe deep inside we think the same.</div>
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And it would be easier if, when Jesus spoke those words about removing sin, nothing happened supernaturally. If the man's sins were still weighing on his conscience, if he was still carrying the normal human load of "coulda, shoulda, woulda...", if Jesus' words were just words and nothing else, the pharisees would have been right.</div>
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But for those sins to actually be shifted off this man's conscience and onto the Savior, to be totally removed as far as the east is from the west never to be brought up again - that apparently requires more power than to make neurons and spinal fluid and nerves and blood suddenly come together in harmony to orchestrate life where there was no physical movement or response before. Which means that sin is more devastating than a broken spinal cord, not too put it too bluntly.</div>
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Sin isn't: "I didn't do my best today."<br />
Sin is: "I didn't measure up to Holy God's standard today."</div>
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Jesus' answer to that is, "I know you didn't. You can't. And so I came down from Heaven and did it for you."</div>
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All the religions in the world can pretty much be broken up into two camps:<br />
Man's efforts to reach up to God.<br />
Or<br />
God reaching down to man.</div>
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The first is called "works" - i.e., working hard to establish and maintain a relationship with God.<br />
The second is called "grace" - i.e., trusting in what God has done for you and living a life of faith and gratitude because of it.</div>
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This week I sat with an extremely moral, loving, hardworking person - someone I highly respect - and listened to that person brokenly sob off and on for a couple of hours. Why? Because the sins of parents some three decades ago are still with my friend.</div>
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When my friend does their best and life happens and things still fall apart b/c of circumstances beyond human control - at those times my friend still sees the anger in a parent's eyes, still remembers the blows, still hears the messages: you could have done better, you should have known better, you could have worked harder, you can be perfect, people in our family always succeed, if you do your best, things will work out, God helps those who help themselves, yada yada yada...</div>
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And I realized that sin has long tentacles made out of tough fibers called lies, half-truths, and deceptions- tentacles that can stretch out over decades and do harm for a lifetime. ANd beyond.</div>
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And today I understand that,yes, sin is harder to get rid of than physical paralysis. And I thank God that He can do both.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06418141427127732724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1471822264046267922.post-57170915900084961242015-01-04T22:59:00.001-06:002015-01-04T22:59:34.373-06:00The Right Diagnosis....<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
I've been thinking... and that can be dangerous... <i class="_4-k1 img sp_5Em_GKHOCoP sx_984323" style="background-image: url(https://fbstatic-a.akamaihd.net/rsrc.php/v2/yg/r/N74Yz5v6w2Z.png); background-position: 0px -8088px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: auto; display: inline-block; height: 16px; vertical-align: -3px; width: 16px;"></i><br />Most know that 19 years ago my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in stage four and given 3 months to live. (She went on Hospice and lived 6 months).</div>
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A few months after she died, I found myself chatting with a woman who, it turned out, was rejoicing that her doctors had found her cancer - also pancreatic - five years earlier by accident. It was stage one at that time and she had just received her 5 year cancer free report.</div>
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It sounds like a simple story at this point - one lady lucked out and my mother didn't- instead she had the outcome that many pancreatic patients have b/c the cancer truly is a silent killer.</div>
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But it's not that simple.</div>
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Four years before she was diagnosed, my mom had three severe bouts with pancreatitis. Each time a young doctor at the med center, a resident or intern, checked her out and told her it was nothing to worry about.</div>
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EAch time she was relieved. And in time the doctors discovered the cause of the pancreatitis - she had scar tissue from an ulcer that was causing problems with her stomach. So the doctors tackled that problem and eventually told her she would be fine. Three years later she was back in the ER, admitted to the teaching hospital, exposed to a series of tests,and given an estimated time for how long she had left on earth. In four years she went from, "'You are fine' to 'you are terminal.'"</div>
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The young doctor who misdiagnosed mom - to his credit - looked us up in the hospital and he apologized to us as a family. I respect him to this day b/c he acknowledged (without our seeking an apology or any redress) that he had not taken her illness four years earlier as seriously as he should have and that if he had, the outcome could have been different. That took courage.</div>
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Everyone makes mistakes - it's not so hard to accept when a teacher loses a kid's paper (and has to have the kid do it over again). Or a secretary temporarily misplaces a file. Or a spouse accidentally backs into someone else's car on the parking lot. It's just so much harder to accept when a medical person does it because they deal with issues of life and death.</div>
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AT first I was very angry with that young doctor, but then God clearly spoke to my heart and I knew that this was simply HIs time to take her home. Once He impressed that on my heart -while I was waiting at the hospital for the results of her tests - I never had any anger towards him again - it vanished instantly.</div>
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And truly the issues of life and death belong to God and to Him alone. Doctors - most of them - do their best. But they aren't gods; their skills are limited.</div>
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But tonight I've also thought about this. When mom was told in 1990 that her pancreatitis was not something to worry about, we were relieved as you can imagine. We rejoiced and she went on with her daily life on the strength of that assurance and the fact that the bouts didn't last long, didn't happen often, and could be handled with a careful diet, etc.</div>
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But her emotions and her daily actions - feeling happy, not worrying, getting on with the daily routine, planning for the future - the relief she felt and the sense of security she felt were pleasant. Unfortunately they were not rooted in the truth.</div>
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I fully understand that if you fear that you have a dread disease in your body - that you want to go to the doctor and hear good news. But if you actually have a serious disease and the doctor doesn't tell you... or gives you the wrong diagnosis... later you will wish you had gotten the truth from the get go, no matter how unpleasant it might have been.</div>
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What is true for the body is also true for the soul.</div>
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There are many pleasant teachers and religious organizations that will give you some truth, half truths, or distorted truth. Deceptive teaching always sounds palatable and it usually leads us along pleasant paths where we look good, feel good, etc.</div>
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But a life lived on the foundation of spiritual half truths or no truths is the spiritual equivalent of someone who has cancer and has been told they are fine.</div>
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My brother once told me: if someone will lie for you, they will lie to you. In other words, if a person or group will lie or deceive in one area, they will do it in another. And if they can take in someone else with their mixture of truth and deceit, they can take in you as well when the time comes simply because you trust them and believe it can't happen to you.</div>
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I would encourage everyone who has never done this to set aside preconceived notions and read the New Testament a chapter at a time this year, starting with the gospels. Read the gospels all the way through prayerfully and ask God to show you what is true and what isn't. Don't take someone else's word for it; go straight to the Source.</div>
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Because in the final analysis, a life lived on half truths or no truth is really no life at all.</div>
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#2015<br /><a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/readthenewtestamentallthewaythrough?source=feed_text&story_id=10200198894332207" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl" style="color: #6d84b4;">#</span><span class="_58cm">readtheNewTestamentallthewaythrough</span></a>.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06418141427127732724noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1471822264046267922.post-12769652499401098452014-12-26T23:03:00.000-06:002014-12-26T23:03:17.475-06:00Thinking It Through...<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
Okay... hmmm...<br />I believe in the Bible and it says that God created the world.<br />So that requires a lot of foresight, like omniscient foresight..., to figure out how to establish the world so that it continues through the millenniums.</div>
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And it would also require a lot of power as well, like as in omnipotent power in order to create the world...</div>
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And so, seriously... Is there anything about my sin that He doesn't know about or see? Past? Present? Future? As in - is there something about my sin that I've managed to hide from Him?</div>
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To the point that when the Bible says that all of my sin was paid for at the cross... there's a loophole in there somewhere, like as in a tax code several miles thick ...</div>
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Or like as in maybe the Bible actually reads: when Jesus died at the cross all my known sins were nailed to the cross but the hidden ones weren't? Or my future ones weren't... (Oh! Wait! All my sins were future back then, right? Because I hadn't been born yet...).</div>
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Or maybe He paid for this sin but not that one - the one I still cringe over when I remember it, even years later? Because doesn't He have a sliding scale - a list of various sins and how much forgiveness each requires as well as a list of my righteous deeds and how much each one earns? (Or am I confusing that with drill team and football, where you have merits and demerits? I forget...)</div>
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I mean murder can't be forgiven, right? Except Christ forgave His executors while He hung on the cross... And then there's David... But the Bible says God loved Him... So maybe God can forgive one murder but not two?</div>
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But then there's Paul who actively sought the imprisonment and execution of a bunch of people ... Oh, but he has to be okay because he wrote about 2/3rds of the New Testament... Well, maybe adultery... that's a really tough one... But not as bad as murder... And there's a prostitute in the lineage of Jesus... And then there's the woman at the well...</div>
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When God forgives, He forgives completely, fully knowing every sin you will ever commit before you even drew your first breath.</div>
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Forgiveness is not based on what you do. It is based on what He did.</div>
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When the guilt and shame of sin has been lifted from your shoulders for-ever, you can't help but love and adore the one who set you free.</div>
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If He has forgiven you... who are you to withhold forgiveness from yourself? He's unlocked the door; all you have to do is believe in Him and accept the freedom and purity that He and He alone can give.</div>
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2 Corinthians 5:21 New American Standard Bible (NASB)<br />21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.</div>
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