another test

 trying to figure out my settings.

this is a test

 can you see me?

Is the Concept of Sacrifice a Dialectic?

Our church is reading Bill Mowry's book Walk With Me.  Last night we met to discuss chapter 1.  Don and I presented differing ideas about sacrifice.  His was - when you do things for people you love it isn't a sacrifice.  Mine was - doing things for people takes time and energy and therefore it is a sacrifice.  Maybe it is both?

Don and I really like our "me" time.  We both have lots of interests.  I don't know the right word for it but we are kind of loners/introverts/selfish with our time.  Soon I will write a blog about "love" but for now let's just stick to sacrifice.  

The longer I am a Christian the more I am changing to be less like the world.  As that happens it becomes a new normal and what may have felt like a sacrifice decades ago no longer feels like a sacrifice.  

On the other hand, each day holds an opportunity to watch and listen for the moving of God in my life.  And many days I am so absorbed in my own schedule and thoughts I miss it.  I miss an opportunity to give of myself for another person.  

How can I live more in the present with God in order to hear and see where he is leading me?  I love God and I want to have more of Him and less of me.  

For me that means I have to give away what I value most:  being understood, my time, my energy, my money to name a few.  For me, this is a daily sacrifice.  For me, if I waited to "love people" my circle of care would probably be very small.

I'm just thinking out loud on paper this morning.  What can you add?

Great Reversals

Today I was reading in Psalm 107 in the New English Bible.  I was struck by how many situations were spoken of and how God intervened.  I will start with just the first example (v. 4-9) so you can see how the passage is laid out.

"Some lost their way in desert wastes; they found no road to a city to live in; 

hungry and thirsty, their spirit sank within them. 

So they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he rescued them from their distress; 

he led them by a straight and easy way until they came to a city to live in. 

Let them thank the LORD for his enduring love and for the marvelous things he has done for men: 

he has satisfied the thirsty and filled the hungry with good things."

There are four stanzas that are almost identical. Here's the layout:

Some people were in situation "X", so they cried out to the Lord, the Lord does "X" to get them out of said situation, the people are instructed to thankfulness.  

The New English Bible is difficult to find online.  Check it out here.  Read verses 1-32.

What I loved in each of the scenarios is the pattern.  In the one above the people were wandering in the desert and could find no road to the city and they were hungry and thirsty; they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and He gave them a way to the city and provisions; and afterward the people thank Him for loving them and providing for exactly what they needed. I've highlighted the repetitive things in this first example so you can look for them in the last three examples.  

God is a God of great reversals of circumstances. "I was lost but now I am found."  "I was blind but now I see."  He meets us where we are at and gives us exactly what we need.  Praise Him!

God's Word and Why I Harp on It Sometimes

My conversations of late and that conference session I spent time on have kept my focus on the importance of knowing God's Word.  It happened again this morning.

I decided to begin reading the chapter of a book our church's small group is doing, a chapter that I volunteered to facilitate.  I liked the title which is something about God going slow.  I settled in to read.  And right out of the gate I was interacting with the author.  Ok, I was refuting his using the scriptures the way he was to prove his point.  I don't set out to do this.  It just happens.  And is is good and wonderful thing.  In fact, I think this is similar to Paul commending the Bereans for judging his words against the scripture. 

Yesterday I had great conversations with my almost 25 year old granddaughter while we worked on a project together.  We talked nutrition, exercise, abortion, homosexuality.  The foundation of her thoughts on these ideas has been totally shaped by the culture and her own thoughts and feelings.  That makes me sad.  

But it also makes me think that sometimes Christians have their thoughts not so much tuned to the Bible but tuned to a certain slant of the Bible.  I can tell you there short stories from my own life.  

The first story takes place when I am a baby believer open to truth.  I am given a book by my sister which has some doctrine in it that would go against the teaching of the church I was attending.  I read it anyway and am astounded.  I bring the new ideas to the pastor who does not in fact point me to the Bible to search for the truth....which he could have because like so many doctrines you can find proof texts for almost anything...instead he insults me.  True story.  

I begin looking for a church that would preach these new-to-me doctrines (ok, spoiler alert.  I wind up in a reformed church, I had been in a southern Baptist church). So I end up with people (my future husband and his mentor) who have a practice of turning books over before reading them to see where the author went to school and would only read books by conservatives.

Then a decade into my Christianity I had a steady diet of Focus on the Family and their slant or flavor of Christianity. 

Through all these situations I was reading my Bible.  And praying to know the truth.  I had a very questioning mind which had been ignited by my southern relatives when I was only eight years old.  They had a take on the Christian life that was much different than the Catholic church upbringing I was receiving.  They grilled me on Christ being the ONLY mediator between God and man.  I had never heard the Bible quoted to refute something before.  It was very impactful and I believe to this day made me listen carefully to the things I hear and read.

So was it a good or a bad thing having someone refute what my parents were trying to teach me?  Was it a good or bad thing to flip books over or listen exclusively to conservative radio shows? Was it a good thing or a bad thing to protect my children, or try to, from inappropriate movies, books and co-ed sex education classes?  Aren't I glad today for my southern relatives exposing me to something different, something more true than what I was learning at home?

My take away from all these musings is that most people do get exposed to mostly one way of thinking about everything. Getting to know your Bible can allow you to be open to listen to a lot of different takes on life and faith instead of just listening to people who think and feel like you do.  We can have an open posture if we know the scripture and commit to it's authority.  Did I do right by sheltering my kids?  I think so.  Do I wish I had had a better balance of thought while raising them?  Yes.  But on this point I agree with the author of the book I picked up today.  Growing is a lifetime process and it is a slow process.  I'm giving myself grace today.

Read your Bible. Pray to know truth.  It is a prayer I know God will answer.

The Importance of Knowing God's Word

The title of this blog post is like the first page out of the talk I gave at a conference last weekend.  The session was called Putting First Things First.  THE first thing to be put first is our commitment to know the Lord and do His will all the days of our lives.  Period.  Why should we be any different than Jesus who came not to do his own will but the Father's will?  How can we hope to know God's will for our lives?  Start with scripture, stay with scripture and end with scripture.  Yes, there are a few ancillary ways:  prayer, meditation, counsel - to name a few.  These, however, must be in line with scripture.

Hear these words in the New English Bible that I read this morning.  They really speak to me as I have been hanging out with some people lately who do believe lies, and they are stubborn in their belief of these lies.  Read that as "there is no reasoning with them".  I have tried.

"Destroyed they shall be, because they did not open their minds to love of the truth, so as to find salvation.  Therefore God puts them under a delusion, which works upon them to believe a lie, so that they may be brought to judgment, all who do not believe the truth but make sinfulness their deliberate choice." II Thessalonians 2:10-12

We are all susceptible to the lies that our culture throws at us.  Let us commit to reading, knowing and doing God's word.  Amen.

Continuing My Blog

It has been over 2.5 years since I posted.  So much has happened since just before the pandemic hit the USA until now.  As hard as the pandemic has been worldwide, these last two years have been great for me personally.  First and foremost I was off work for a full year and paid to stay home because of my vulnerability to the virus because of age!  Secondly, I found a church home and a half year later Don even started coming after pledging he was "done with the institution".

I have recently finished writing and delivering a breakout session at a Women of Truth conference.  During the weeks of prep I wrote nearly every morning and I have decided to continue that practice in my blog and writing poetry, prayers and personal correspondence.  Not sure what form this blog will take going forward.  In the past mostly I wrote about my gleanings from scripture, other books, and my personal thoughts.  

I look forward to any feedback.  Peace out!