couch ‘christian’
It’s super bowl Sunday. Will you be watching?
For many, plans have been made, snacks purchased and all that’s left is waiting for it to start. Two teams will face each other and when all is said and done just one team will be the winner.
Tomorrow there will be many couch quarterbacks who will be giving their imput on what happened and what should have happened. For that matter, there will be couch quarterbacks during the game. Some people are down right funny to watch.
Then there are all those replays. A bad play can live on and on — repeated over and over again. Then just because they can, it will be played in slow motion.
All of this has me thinking about life. I am glad that there isn’t an instant replay on my life. I am equally glad that my mistakes don’t play over and over again in slow motion.
Just like there are couch quarterbacks I believe there are couch ‘christians’. Oh they don’t call themselves christian at all, but yet there they are talking about other christians like they are the expert.
I really got a kick out of a professing atheist who said that prayer should be done only in a prayer closet. Oh there is scripture for that kind of prayer. There is even a reason for that kind of prayer. Yet that is not the only way to pray.
The Bible says to pray without ceasing. Hmmmm, does this mean we live in our closet? No. It means to have an attitude of prayer. To live in such a way that communication is flowing between you and God at any given moment.
What is prayer anyway? It is talking with God. It involves talking and being quiet. It is a way of life. It is inviting God into your life. Phillipians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” In everything……. pretty much sums it up………everything.
The Bible also talks about praying for one another. It talks of praying for your enemies. God’s house is to be called a house of prayer. No prayer is not just for your closet.
I am glad that in the game of life I am not a couch ‘christian’. I am also not a couch quarterback! I have never been one to like to sit on the sidelines. Life is meant to be lived.
Now about the game…………………wonder what half time will be like?
til next time
innocent lamb entering the den of wolves (?)
I’ve been banned from an atheist’s blog site.
Occasionally I find a few minutes to read random blogs. I was reading some that were tagged Christianity. Christianity - not Atheist!! I happened upon one that, once there I realized that “this ain’t Kansas anymore”.
I left a comment expressing who my God was. This led to an exchange of 50 or so comments before I was banned. (Note to self — when entering other blogs see if there is a comment policy page. I didn’t even know there was such a thing until he banned me. Personally, I think I was getting to him.)
I guess it is alright to use profanity, vulgarity and name calling but prayer is what scares him??
My crime – My response to a quite vulgar, profane man who called ‘christians’ (and since I was the only one on this site speaking for christianity, of course I took it personally) deluded, brainwashed puppets and referred to God as something any decent man would not put down in print about anyone. This is what got me banned.
Here is my comment:
“I don’t even know how to respond to this. Just a little more anger directed at me than I care to respond to. If i am a deluded, brain washed puppet as you claim then I am the most peaceful, content, joyful, full of life puppet around!!!! You, my friend have just gone to the top of my prayer list. Only God can replace such hatred in your heart.”
At which point I was banned. It was alright for everyone else to share their view and opinion, to use profanity and name calling — kind of reminded me of bullies on a playground – but any mention of prayer and the owner runs scared. I need to mention though that not everyone was resorting to name calling or profanity. You know how it is on playgrounds — there always have to be a few who are mean but many aren’t.
Oh, in his defense, the author of the site had listed in his comment policy that prayer would get you banned. Here is my question, does he really think that the only time Christians pray is when they say they are going to? So if he can stop them from saying it on his blog, then he has succeeded in stopping them from praying for him or anyone else making comments? I was praying the moment I saw his poster.
The sad thing for me is that up to that point, for the most part, the conversation was worth my time. When was the last time you talked with someone who doesn’t believe there is a God? It is a whole different ball game. It is an education into the mind of some who call themselves atheist or agnostic. I, however, will not make the same mistake that Mark has. I will not lump all atheists or agnostics into a category based on what they have said and done.
So to ‘HeHe’ who referred to me as the “innocent lamb entering the den of wolves” I want to thank you for your kind words that you wrote after I was banned and to remind you that christians are not innocent but forgiven and loved by the Creator of the Universe.
God is my strength and my ever-present help in any situation. God’s love, grace and mercy are available to anyone.
til next time
putting the pieces together
Sometimes life can look like this pile of puzzle pieces. 
Everything can seem all jumbled together. I am a wife, mother, friend, pastor’s wife, pastor, worship leader, co-worker, daughter, sister, aunt, …….. At any given moment there can be a multitude of things going on and things needing attention. Life can be messy. Trying to balance it all can be overwhelming.
The God factor — God takes the pieces of my life and fits them all together. There are times I certainly don’t see how anything good can come from a particular situation but then again I am not God. What I do know is that He brings purpose, peace and beauty.
When you take just one piece of the puzzle by itself, it doesn’t tell the whole story. A trap that many fall into is to fixate on that one thing. Worry and fear can take over. ‘What ifs’ aren’t far behind.
God factor – no matter what is happening I am never alone. Fear, worry and ‘what ifs’ aren’t from God. God says to give Him my cares and concerns and He will make a way where it seems there is no way.
The first thing I do when putting a puzzle together is the border. It is important to remember to create a border around my life. (I sometimes call it a margin.) This border gives me breathing room. It is not wise to pack my schedule so full that enjoyment goes out the window.
God factor – He wants us to have life and life abundantly! He is not out to make my life miserable. It is just the opposite. God gives to those who trust Him a joy that nothing can take away. He pours in peace when difficulties come. His strength has carried me on many occasions. God is good!
This is the finished picture. Beauty, peace and warmth all wrapped up in a picture.
Life is not finished. Yet, as I look back over my life I can see God’s fingerprints all through out my life. The ‘chance meetings’ that altered the course of my life (by the way I don’t believe in happenstance – God directs my steps – it isn’t by chance), the situations that turned around to be the best possible thing that could have happened, and all of the people I have had the privilege to call friend – how God has used and is using them to shape my life.
til next time
first impressions can be wrong
Just how important is a first impression?
For the most part I think I pick up on things and read people’s body language, tone, etc pretty well. Yet I don’t put a lot of stock in first impressions anymore. Don’t judge a book by its cover can apply quite nicely to people also. First impressions can lead to wrong impressions.
24 years ago I was a deli supervisor at the college I had just graduated from. I had no idea what I was going to do with the rest of my life. A few months earlier my doctor had told me to change jobs, get insurance and then set up my surgery to have my tonsils removed. This job came along complete with health benefits. It also fit my budget and social calendar quite nicely. I was in no hurry to do anything else.
Then this guy started coming in to the deli. Oh he had my attention alright. I would tell my friends that I just didn’t know what I had done to him. He seemed to be mad at me.
One day he stopped in later than normal. He actually spoke to me. I was a bit shocked. (check out his side of the story here). Then he left.
While I was still mulling over what had changed, he shows up again. The next thing I know I have a date for that night. My friends were more than a bit concerned. He was just getting out of the Marine Corp. I knew nothing about him.
One of my friends thought she should really go with. There were no cell phones back in the day and she had watched one to many abduction movies. She gave me the low down on what to expect from a Marine. She was pretty funny. I reminded her that I was a big girl and could take care of myself.
This guy continued to amaze me. My first impressions were all wrong. It was the Marine Corp facial expression that had tripped me up. He wasn’t angry at all. I had not been treated with such chivalry before. Who was this guy?
As we talked later that night, he mentioned that since he had just gotten out of the corp he was going to date at least five girls before getting serious with anyone. I was totally ok with that. (less than 7 months later we were married)
Looking back now, a couple of things are real evident. He is a guy who makes a plan, follows that plan and accomplishes the mission. I am the girl who can cause the guy to deviate from the plan when it is in his best interest. He never did date those other four girls.
The Bible says that a wife is to submit to her husband. I knew that I would marry Curt the night he wanted to introduce me to his youth group and I did not want to do that. In the past if I didn’t want to do something - I didn’t. Yet here I found myself submitting to his leadership and allowing him to take me out of my comfort zone in a huge way. Who was this guy?
I have often told people that when the husband loves his wife like Christ loves the church it is not a struggle to submit.
Oh, by the way, I never did have my tonsils out. Personally I think it was God’s way of getting me to where I needed to be. He does work in mysterious ways.
til next time
something has to change
Any of these sound familiar?
Something has got to change!
I don’t know how much longer I can do this?
All I do is work, work, work.
How much more of this can I take?
I don’t have time for me.
Or maybe something a bit more spiritual -
God does not call His children to burn out.
This is not the abundant life the Bible talks about.
I must be doing something right cuz the devil won’t leave me alone.
Ok, so I have said all of the above at one time or another.
Long about last April hubby found me starting to use the phrase “Something has got to change” quite a bit.
I am all about getting into the solution not wallowing in the problem. Yet I hadn’t a clue what that solution was, so I found myself wallowing. Some days were much more difficult than others – pretty much that is how life is. Good days – not so good days.
I chalked it up to pre-menopausal issues. It was a viable excuse. Yet I have heard that this (menopause) can go on for years. I certainly did not want to battle such emotional days – at least not in the ineffective way that I found myself dealing with them.
I began to look at peace very closely. During my menopausal days it was my peace that was out of whack. Stress level high – peace level low.
A few months back I begin to entertain the idea of going part-time at work. It would open up some much needed time. Yet I didn’t want to give up sick time, holiday pay, etc. I couldn’t see past the NEED for my income so I brushed it off, gave myself a good pep talk and carried on.
One day at work (happened to be working on my day off) it was like God removed the blinders to my problem and clarity landed. Looking back I think He was trying to do that all along, but it didn’t make sense to me and so I would brush it off.
Finally it became crystal clear that I was working too much. I am older now (ugh I never thought I’d use such a sentence) but it is true. So with age should come maturity. You’d think with all this maturity I would remember that God does things His way.
It still did not make sense to me – oh it was clear alright just didn’t work out on paper. In fact, it made even less sense because Curt’s salary has been drastically reduced the last 3 months. My income is needed now more than ever. Yet, it was crystal clear to me. A weight had been lifted. I would talk with doctor about going part-time.
In making that decision many other issues were also settled. It was kind of like a domino effect. It can be easy to get out of balance. For me it is always in the area of ‘doing too much’. It is true, by the way, God does not want His kids to burn out.
I had my review last week. It was amazing. All I can say is that God showed up and handled it. (I am grateful that I work for a boss who also loves God). He did ask me to give him one more week as full-time. That was a hard week because I wanted to shout it from the rafters, but I knew that he needed to be the one to tell my supervisor.
Today I go to work and he has indeed talked with my supervisor so now it is official. My first week as a part timer. Yes, I have been doing a happy dance.
How will the budget work out? I don’t know, but I know God and He will make a way. I guess this is my next step of faith in the journey of life.
til next time
agenda – did he go to far?
It seems that no matter what situation I may find myself in, there are those who have an agenda. Now a lot of times this isn’t a problem.
For example, I go to work and my boss’ agenda is that I work. (I did tell him today that I would rather operate in the comic relief department but since that wasn’t an option then I would continue doing my job.) As a christian I should not only do my job but do it with excellence!
It bothers me when people have hidden agendas. It bothers me when I come away from something feeling like I have been manipulated or at least that was the idea.
God does not have a hidden agenda. His plan is that ALL would come to accept the free gift of salvation that His Son paid the price for. His agenda is that we (christians) would be His vessel that He could use to reach out to those who are misguided, hurting, lost, angry and/or just messed up.
So I am listening to the Christian radio station the other day and I hear this interview with a minister that gave the opening prayer at the Iowa House of Representatives. The outcome of his prayer is that future ministers will now have to submit their prayer ahead of time for approval. Censorship? or did he go to far? Click here to check out “Censor public prayer“
Sometimes we, in our zeal for Christ, can go to far. Did he? I don’t know. The agenda was to open the meeting in prayer. This is our government, they certainly don’t need to allow that to continue. What was this pastor’s agenda? I don’t know. Can we pray a sincere prayer without bein”g offensive? Do we even care if we are offensive? Should we care?
When I am talking with someone who is clearly living in sin and knows it, I don’t focus on that sin. I focus on who my Jesus is and what He means to me. You see if they can grasp even a tiny portion of what that is, then maybe, just maybe they will want to know more about who this Jesus is that makes my life so full and complete.
til next time
some have asked me about comments — there is a place at the bottom of this post that says comments — all you need to do is click there and enter your email address (not published) and share you thoughts
hold on – things change
Suffering - trials - tests - problems – hardships – call it what you will, but it all boils down to life not going the way we had intended it to go.
Although if things always went our way we would just end up being an adult with the character and conduct of a baby.
Character is developed in the midst of trials.
I would like the tests/trials to wait their turn though. It would be nice if problems were only allowed to come at you one at a time. Even better if you only encountered one a week. Ok, back to reality.
I heard a definition on the radio that I liked but as always I have to change it a bit. Personal interpretation and all that —
trial – a painful situation, which God allows, that will aid in changing my conduct and my character. One purpose is to make me a better person. However, better becomes bitter if ‘i’ get in the way.
“In acceptance lieth peace” Either God is in control or He isn’t. And I believe God!!! He is all knowing, all powerful, and holds all things together.
Nothing, absolutely nothing is going to happen to me today that You (God) and I can’t handle.
Nothing, absolutely nothing will take God by surprise.
Helen Steiner Rice penned a great poem. This too shall past.
One of my favorite lines is “If I can but endure for a moment whatever is happening to me…” sometimes you just have to hold on to God and wait, knowing that this too shall pass.
This Too Shall Pass
by : Helen Steiner Rice
If I can endure for this minute
Whatever is happening to me,
No matter how heavy my heart is
Or how dark the moment may be-
If I can remain calm and quiet
With all the world crashing about me,
Secure in the knowledge God loves me
When everyone else seems to doubt me-
If I can but keep on believing
What I know in my heart to be true,
That darkness will fade with the morning
And that this will pass away, too-
Then nothing in life can defeat me
For as long as this knowledge remains
I can suffer whatever is happening
For I know God will break all of the chains
That are binding me tight in the darkness
And trying to fill me with fear-
For there is no night without dawning
And I know that my morning is near.
One thing that is certain – change will come. What looks bleak today may actually turn out to be the best possible thing that could have happened. Even if it isn’t, God has a way of turning things around and making beauty out of ashes.
til next time
blessed to be a blessing
Here I sit in my warm house with the sound of my 20 gallon fish tank in the back ground. –Fish have been directly linked to reducing stress – It works for me until I have to clean the tank. Ugh!
–It sure seems the older I get the easier it is for me to get side tracked. This blog isn’t about my fish –
Ummm “Honey the computer just went down and the fish tank isn’t making noise?”
Curt was changing the light switch in our bedroom — happy sigh — but somehow the power went out in the dining room. ?? Imagine my surprise when I rebooted the computer and everything was still up – facebook, wordpress and the first two paragraphs of this blog post had saved. Weird.
How appropriate though. Here I am typing away in my warm house that is filled with expressions of love from my friends. The electricity works (once Curt turned the power back on *~*). I am blessed!
I am able to go into the kitchen or one of my two bathrooms and get fresh water. I did two loads of laundry without ever having to get dressed. I am blessed beyond measure.
Tomorrow our church is taking an offering to send to Convoy of Hope to help them in their efforts to minister to the people of Haiti. I can’t even begin to imagine what they are going through. The pictures look like something from a bad movie scene.
Yet it isn’t a bad movie scene. It is real life drama unfolding in the lives of hurting men and women. I can’t hardly think about the children.
I can do something. I can make a difference. You can do something. You can make a difference. It is a group effort. Convoy of Hope was already there before the quake. They were already feeding 7,000 children every day. As we send our monetary gifts they will take that gift and be our hands extended to the hurting. It will make a difference.
Oh, I know that money is tight. Most everyone has been affected one way or another by our shifting economy. We’ve taken a cut in pay the last 3 months. It isn’t easy trying to adjust the budget.
Yet people still go out to eat and purchase things that are not a true necessity. (the whole need vs want — Oy don’t even get me started on the ways I have learned that lesson) Yet I, for one, still love to eat out. My favorite place these days is Quiznos — they have a great Beef, Bacon, and Cheddar torpedo for $4.00. Funny it doesn’t hardly seem like a budget cut either – but it is. A meal at Quiznos or a meal at Red Robin?? You do the math. Again I digress.
So tomorrow I am cutting into that portion of our budget so that others will be able to eat. I am blessed to be a blessing! God will take care of us. He always does.
Matt 25:40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me.
I’ve included a video of Hal Donaldson from the Convoy of Hope. Reach into your pockets and make a difference. It is indeed more blessed to give than receive.
til next time
saying good bye
Psalm 116:15 “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints”
Sometimes there just are no words that express what we feel inside. Death has a way of bringing important things to the top of the list and the realization of how unimportant so many other things really are.
I lost a good friend yesterday. It is true that some people walk into your life and you are forever changed. Their footprints are visible.
My husband and I have been in ministry for a lot of years. We have seen the really fantastic side of ministry and we have experienced the not so pleasant side of ministry. There are those who are with you and those who pretend to be.
When I first actually met Larry all I knew was that he was going to marry my dear friend. I was a little skeptical but really it was probably more protective. I wanted to make sure that he was going to treat her well. I wanted the ‘moon’ for her. I earnestly prayed that God’s will would be done.
It didn’t take me long to realize that he was a great guy, that he loved her and would do anything for her.
There were many times that Larry would come to church and Joann would be in too much pain to come. He always asked for prayer for her. I could see his love for her in the way he talked about her, in the concern that was in his voice, and in his desire for her to be pain free.
Another thing that made Larry stand out was that he would make it a point to share with me something that ministered to him in the worship time. (I usually led worship for the service he attended). It didn’t matter if it was a song he knew or one he had never heard before. God was touching him through the music.
This was huge to me because so many men (sorry that it seems that I am stereotyping here but this is my take on it) think that worship is too long. Here was a man that got what worship was all about. I have song lists circled because it wasn’t just one song but the whole list that he loved.
He also had a favorite hymn. It just happened to me by mom’s favorite also. He Set Me Free — now he is truly free from all pain.
As he was leaving church he would most often thank Curt for being his pastor. That is a footprint that forever stays on your heart.
I had so hoped that God would heal him and let us have him longer. Yet God’s ways are not our ways. I don’t understand the reasons why but I am not God. I know that God is in control.
My heart goes out to my dear friend. I know that God has her in the palm of His hand.
Death is not the end. We shall one day be reunited with all those who have gone before us. The Bible tells us that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Jesus is THE way, THE truth, and THE life. Larry knew this.
til next time
About
Welcome to my fish bowl!
Things that matter to me are: God, family, friends, helping people, taking time to really live in the moment, and trying to slow down in a fast paced world.
To find out more click here.
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