The Fallen
Posted on | May 12, 2012 | 1 Comment
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So Sage was trying to explain how God feels about people. He says that He is very sad.
“It’s like this Mom. Imagine you had a new dog that was nice and playful. Then the next day, it bit you. And the day after that it bit you again. And it kept on biting you every day. He is sad because we are His greatest creation and just look at us.”
God did promise not to wipe up out again, but I’m sure we’re sorely trying His patience. I’m sad too.
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Stan
Posted on | April 6, 2012 | 1 Comment
The fact that it’s Good Friday has got me thinking about what Jesus means for us to do with His sacrifice. All too often, people get the idea that choosing the correct beliefs is what it’s all about. I don’t think that’s quite it, since we won’t know exactly how things are this side of heaven. I think it’s a mistake when people strive to be quite certain about what each word of the Bible means. Perhaps a good idea is to follow the example of Red Letter Christians.
I started thinking about the person who most clearly demonstrated God’s love to me. This is a person who would not be accepted by many Christian churches today, yet this untraditional Christian sowed a lot of seeds.
The person I’m thinking of is my former boss, Stan. He was the head of the counseling department when I worked at Job Corps many years ago. He has since died of AIDS.
Here’s the thing. He was the person responsible for teaching staff about blood-borne pathogens on our campus. Of course, HIV prevention was a part of the curriculum. He would hear our staff — people he worked with each day — make statements such as “I hope all the fags catch HIV and die.”
At the time, he was HIV positive. No one knew except myself and one other person at the school. When he told me about some of the comments made during a particularly harrowing training session, I expressed the appropriate (I thought) amount of outrage.
I don’t remember his exact words, but forgiveness and love were mentioned. I never saw him express anger or hatred towards those people — he just seemed a little sad sometimes.
He absolutely modeled “Love thy neighbor.” He didn’t only love or forgive when it was easy.
He continues to be an inspiration to me today — almost 20 years later.
Love Is a Choice
Posted on | March 31, 2012 | No Comments
The love of Jesus is sacrificial. He loved those who beat him, spit on him and crucified him. We are called to be like Jesus. Not an easy thing! Some describe Christianity as “believing in Jesus,” but nothing could be further from the truth, as the devil believes in Him. No, we need to try our very best to love like Jesus.
Agape love, this sacrificial love, is love that we will by choice, rather than a love that rides the waves of emotion. It takes no account of the wrongs done to it. This love never fails.
I listened to a Tim Keller sermon this morning that talked about adversary being a way to grow. Sounds cliche, but believe me, Keller can make dead words come to life. It was what I needed to hear at that exact moment.
Being a Christian is a total paradox for me. Loving in the face of disdain, accusations and anger is not an easy thing, yet God makes it so much easier for me to cope with upsetting things in life as a result of my making the effort.
*The flower is out of focus, but I love the background in the photo. The Arboretum is simply gorgeous.
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Posted on | March 23, 2012 | Enter your password to view comments.
Choices
Posted on | March 20, 2012 | 2 Comments
I’ve been thinking about choices. I have them. For example, tomorrow we are expected to have severe storms here with hail, lightning, high winds and flooding. There is a luncheon I am supposed to attend right about the time the storms are expected to get here. I don’t like driving in storms, especially bad ones.
So for a long time, I’ve equated not liking something or being afraid of it with not being able to do it. This is not true. I am simply choosing to spare myself the discomfort.
I am hoping they cancel the luncheon tomorrow. If not, I’m not sure what I will do. I’ll probably stay home. And if I do, it will be because I’m choosing to, not because I can’t go.
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On another note, I just heard from Sky. He and his Dad will be driving through this area on the way to Austin, where Sky will stay for one day and then hitchhike to Florida to catch his plane to Colombia. I hate that he’s going to Colombia. One way ticket and all that. But, it’s looking like we’ll at least get to have dinner with him before he leaves.
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Sage turned 13. We took him and his friends to see The Lorax and then to an Asian buffet restaurant. Everybody had a great time. I’m picking a few of them up again on Saturday to take them to see The Hunger Games. I’ll definitely be staying to watch it with them!
Liberty to the Captives
Posted on | March 16, 2012 | No Comments
The spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God. To comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. That they may be called trees of righteousness. The planning of the Lord that He might be glorified. Isaiah 61:1-3
This is one of my favorite verses in scripture, because it is predictive (hundreds of years in advance!) of the coming of Jesus and that it proclaims liberty. As one who has been bound and imprisoned for many years, I have a special appreciation of this verse.
I have to admit that all mention of vengeance in the Bible really used to bother me. This is no longer the case. I don’t think I could at all relate to a God who could watch the evil decisions that much of mankind makes and not exact justice. I mean, if you could smite every child pornographer and pimp, wouldn’t you do so? It helps me to understand the Hebrew part of the Bible so much more, as well as mentions of judgement in the New Testament. Of course, as Christians, we are to love and forgive. You just have to hope you won’t be challenged to do so with one of the aforementioned individuals.
God’s mercy is simply amazing. His love is a bright light that has convinced me of His truth.
I am so thankful that he gives me a garment of praise in return for the spirit of heaviness. He knows there are many things in my life I could have a heavy spirit about. I thank Him that I can wake up singing.
On another note…
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