In order to receive a scar, there must have been a wound. The deeper the wound, the bigger the scar.
Physical scars make it easier to judge how deep the wound was. You can imagine the level of pain involved when you see a scar on another person. People readily accept that when they see a scar, there was once pain for the person with the scar. The color of the scar is an indication of how recently the pain was inflicted. Physical scars are acceptable and result in empathy.
Emotional scars are not acceptable and rarely is anyone empathetic to the scar. Emotional scars aren't visible, so their very existence is sometimes questioned. The size of the scar isn't known, so "did it really hurt that bad?" The color isn't seen, so anything that happened more than a week ago should be "all healed up and causing no more troubles."
We will discuss physical scars anytime with people -
"How did you get it?"
"How painful was it?"
"Does it still bother you?"
The physical is sometimes seen as a badge of honor. People think you have overcome something tragic and most definitely painful.
ZERO questions will be asked of an emotional scar! Why? Because asking someone about their emotional scars may cause us to look at our own and recognize we too have scars. Not only are emotional scars hidden from view from others, we try to hid them from ourselves as well - pretend they don't exist.
But what if we did ask? Could we help someone ease their pain? Lighten the color of the scar (healing) a little maybe? Would it help our own scars to lighten? Would it take territory back that Satan stole from us?
Very scary questions, but something to think about as I walk toward Jesus.
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Monday, August 3, 2015
Real Christianity
"Authentic faith has always thrived under persecution. During such times, it is not easy to be a Christian. There are no lukewarm believers or halfhearted followers of Christ in times of great difficulty. The battle lines are clear during such times, and it becomes evident that the kingdom of Christ is not of this world. The greater the difficulty, the closer it drives us to Christ. Only in Him do we find refuge. We truly become pilgrims and strangers. We carefully examine and cling to the basics of the faith. They become an anchor in the storm."
"Ironically, peace and prosperity have the opposite effect. When all seems to be going well, we tend to forget that we are engaged in warfare. The intensity of faith that gets us through the tough times tends to languish when life is easy. The Church becomes assimilated into the culture and cultural Christianity replaces authentic faith. The distinctions between Church and culture become blurred."
"If this is the case, it is easy to figure out where our country falls at the moment. The Church has become part of the culture. It has blended into the landscape as another institution. It is financially prosperous. It has become a force in politics and the law. Even the clergy are so enmeshed in the concerns of proper society that they have lost their spiritual distinction."
"In times like we are living in, ideas of radical obedience and self-denial fade into the background. Even faithful Christians become soft and more tolerant of the moral decline of the world around them. In general, most men and women think little about issues of faith. Since the majority of nominal Christians don't think much about their faith or take the time to study the Bible, it should not surprise us that they are not familiar with the very foundational tenets of authentic Christian faith. Only those principles or doctrines that fit with the general tenor of the culture are observed as common practice. The truths that stand in stark contrast to the systems of the culture are almost totally forgotten. This is especially obvious when these teachings confront the problems of pride, luxury and conformity to the culture. Even the clergy seem afraid to tread too heavily on these subjects in their preachings for fear they will be regarded as fanatics."
Sounds like this was written within the past year of so here in the USA, but the above is a direct quote from the book, "Real Christianity" written by William Wilberforce and was written in 1797. No, that's not a typo it actually says 1797! It is sad how little we have grown in the past 200 years as Christians, and humans. We are still making the same mistakes, walking in the same circles and wondering why things aren't better than they are. We are also still blaming God for all the troubles and questioning why He isn't doing anything and why we haven't been warned before this.
I highly recommend reading "Real Christianity" to everyone. It has convicted me greatly and is helping to guide my steps as I walk toward Jesus. I hope it does the same for you!!
"Ironically, peace and prosperity have the opposite effect. When all seems to be going well, we tend to forget that we are engaged in warfare. The intensity of faith that gets us through the tough times tends to languish when life is easy. The Church becomes assimilated into the culture and cultural Christianity replaces authentic faith. The distinctions between Church and culture become blurred."
"If this is the case, it is easy to figure out where our country falls at the moment. The Church has become part of the culture. It has blended into the landscape as another institution. It is financially prosperous. It has become a force in politics and the law. Even the clergy are so enmeshed in the concerns of proper society that they have lost their spiritual distinction."
"In times like we are living in, ideas of radical obedience and self-denial fade into the background. Even faithful Christians become soft and more tolerant of the moral decline of the world around them. In general, most men and women think little about issues of faith. Since the majority of nominal Christians don't think much about their faith or take the time to study the Bible, it should not surprise us that they are not familiar with the very foundational tenets of authentic Christian faith. Only those principles or doctrines that fit with the general tenor of the culture are observed as common practice. The truths that stand in stark contrast to the systems of the culture are almost totally forgotten. This is especially obvious when these teachings confront the problems of pride, luxury and conformity to the culture. Even the clergy seem afraid to tread too heavily on these subjects in their preachings for fear they will be regarded as fanatics."
Sounds like this was written within the past year of so here in the USA, but the above is a direct quote from the book, "Real Christianity" written by William Wilberforce and was written in 1797. No, that's not a typo it actually says 1797! It is sad how little we have grown in the past 200 years as Christians, and humans. We are still making the same mistakes, walking in the same circles and wondering why things aren't better than they are. We are also still blaming God for all the troubles and questioning why He isn't doing anything and why we haven't been warned before this.
I highly recommend reading "Real Christianity" to everyone. It has convicted me greatly and is helping to guide my steps as I walk toward Jesus. I hope it does the same for you!!
Monday, July 27, 2015
Blindfolded
I want a church where you are blindfolded upon entrance; someone then leads you to a seat and you aren't allowed to remove the blindfold until the service is over. I don't want the petty distractions of where I sit, who sits next to me, who's in the church, what everyone's wearing and how others are responding - these all take away from what God is trying to tell me. I don't want to just listen to what is being said - I want to hear it! I could do that blindfolded because there wouldn't be external distractions.
We are too concerned with who is and isn't in church, what others are wearing, where we are sitting and how people are worshiping instead of focusing on God. God doesn't care about any of that, so why do we??? Why do churches have so many unwritten rules about who and what is and isn't allowed in their building? We are allowing people to walk around dead to sin because they don't want to do things our way. If they don't want to pray, praise and learn the way we do, then we don't want them.
Just like no two sets of fingerprints are the same in the world, neither are two testimonies and salvation experiences the same. So, why do we think everyone needs to worship and pray the same? Why do we believe that my way of worship and praying is more righteous than your's when the Bible says, "None are righteous before God"? We need to get off our self-righteous, high horse and allow people to praise and worship their Creator and Savior the way they feel they should without judgement or condemnation. Praising God is always the right thing to do - no matter how it is done - for proof read how the king of Israel (David) praised God as the Ark of the Covenant was being brought into Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:12-22).
As I keep walking toward Jesus, I will start praising God the way my heart tells me to!
We are too concerned with who is and isn't in church, what others are wearing, where we are sitting and how people are worshiping instead of focusing on God. God doesn't care about any of that, so why do we??? Why do churches have so many unwritten rules about who and what is and isn't allowed in their building? We are allowing people to walk around dead to sin because they don't want to do things our way. If they don't want to pray, praise and learn the way we do, then we don't want them.
Just like no two sets of fingerprints are the same in the world, neither are two testimonies and salvation experiences the same. So, why do we think everyone needs to worship and pray the same? Why do we believe that my way of worship and praying is more righteous than your's when the Bible says, "None are righteous before God"? We need to get off our self-righteous, high horse and allow people to praise and worship their Creator and Savior the way they feel they should without judgement or condemnation. Praising God is always the right thing to do - no matter how it is done - for proof read how the king of Israel (David) praised God as the Ark of the Covenant was being brought into Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:12-22).
As I keep walking toward Jesus, I will start praising God the way my heart tells me to!
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
The Big "S"
Ugh! No one wants to hear the word "sin," or think about it and certainly not talk about it. But really, what is sin? A list of don't in the Bible that is different depending on who's reading/interpreting them? Are the 10 commandments the definitive list or are there more? Are there things in life that we should or shouldn't be doing? Yes, but what makes something sin?
It really isn't that complicated. Sin is any thought, action, person, or situation that takes us farther from God - draws us away from Him. Well, that could be anything! Yes it can and that is the point. Sin isn't just one specific thing, it is anything or anybody that is pulling us away from our relationship with Christ.
Everything we do, every choice we make, will do one of two things:
1. Draw us closer to God
2. Pull us away from God
Anything that accomplishes #2 is sin. Really very simple. The hard part comes in acknowledging the sin and then turning from it back towards God. It is very hard to take a step back and acknowledge what is going on in our life sometimes. We want to just keep moving forward, like nothing is going on. But, if we want to keep walking towards Jesus, we must be willing to take time to evaluate each day if those things in our lives are drawing us closer to God or pulling us away.
It really isn't that complicated. Sin is any thought, action, person, or situation that takes us farther from God - draws us away from Him. Well, that could be anything! Yes it can and that is the point. Sin isn't just one specific thing, it is anything or anybody that is pulling us away from our relationship with Christ.
Everything we do, every choice we make, will do one of two things:
1. Draw us closer to God
2. Pull us away from God
Anything that accomplishes #2 is sin. Really very simple. The hard part comes in acknowledging the sin and then turning from it back towards God. It is very hard to take a step back and acknowledge what is going on in our life sometimes. We want to just keep moving forward, like nothing is going on. But, if we want to keep walking towards Jesus, we must be willing to take time to evaluate each day if those things in our lives are drawing us closer to God or pulling us away.
Monday, July 20, 2015
Reconciliation 2
God is all about reconciling us to Him. Reconciliation first came through offerings - sin, peace, meat, etc. These were never enough though and had to be repeated continually. God then sent His Son to the Perfect offering for all sin. It is though Jesus' blood that we are reconciled to God . God never wanted to be separated from us in the first place - that's why He created the garden of Eden, to be with us always. It was free will that led to our choice of sin which led to us walking away from God. He didn't leave us, we left Him. He wants us back - loves us that much - and was willing to allow His Son to die in order to get us back.
Daily I do my best to walk toward Jesus - to rebuild the relationship that was broken through sin. Some days I do better than others, but I don't stop trying when I do mess up. The relationship with Christ is like any other relationship - it takes work. It is unlike any other relationship in that Christ will never leave me or forsake me. I need to pattern my human relationships after the one I have with Christ - there would still be challenges, but the underlying theme would be of love.
Daily I do my best to walk toward Jesus - to rebuild the relationship that was broken through sin. Some days I do better than others, but I don't stop trying when I do mess up. The relationship with Christ is like any other relationship - it takes work. It is unlike any other relationship in that Christ will never leave me or forsake me. I need to pattern my human relationships after the one I have with Christ - there would still be challenges, but the underlying theme would be of love.
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Puzzles
Our lives are a puzzle - literally. Each lesson learned, each experience, every person we meet are one piece to the puzzle. We don't understand what the puzzle is going to look like when it is finished - kind of like trying to put a 500 piece puzzle together without the picture on the box - so we can't understand how all of our life is working together. Our frustration comes in when we try to cram pieces in places where they don't belong. No matter how bad we may want them there, if God doesn't want them there, they will never fit. It is very difficult building a puzzle without the picture on the box to look at.The key to remember is that God is the puzzle maker and His pictures are always beautiful. The picture of our life will not be complete until we are in heaven with God. He will then show us how everything fit together for His glory and beauty. Right now as I look at my life all I see are some very oddly shaped pieces with no edges and no real understanding of how it is all going to work together. I must trust that God is giving me just the right pieces when I need them and that they will fit together perfectly. It's all part of learning to walk toward Jesus.
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