Contemplations…

I was talking with a friend the other day. I have been feeling a “calling,” an inkling, an urge, a leading… If you are a believer, than you know what I am talking about.

Today, I heard a familiar voice reading a Christmas scripture on the radio… I am very thankful that we have great Christian radio where I live. He was reading the part of the story where the angel appears and says what every angel says… “Do not be afraid”… I started to look into this phrase… this is not a traditional Christmas blog…sorry if you were mislead…

I thought to myself, I need to hear that… “Do not be afraid”, cause I honestly am at my core…. scared… I am not claiming to have had a vision, with an angel… I am just saying… I find comfort and solice in the words that can often be overlooked in the story, “Do not be afraid”…

Hope everyone has a great Christmas holiday season!

Tags: Christmas, Christian, Fear, Angel, Devotional

I grew up in a small church. Small by the standard of the current culture of church. It is a great place, where the people took great care in training and teaching the bible. There are many people there that still pray for me, and that fact has always humbled me.

I grew up in a predominately Irish and Italian suburb, and so, it was also predominately Roman Catholic. Many of my friends went to Catholic school. So, being a non-Italian, nor Irish, and a Protestant Christian put me in the minority. It was also, in my opinion, the beginning of the end of the value of attending church. Despite being from any specific religious background, attendance of your local gathering place had lost its importance. I don’t have the time, but would suggest that this could easily be linked back to the decline of the family unit.

Long set up to tell you this… the church I grew up in probably seats 250 if it is packed. On a normal Sunday attendance while I was a kid was probably 80 – 125… so it always seemed half-full. Except on Christmas Eve, it was in fact standing room only. And it was also the only night that all of the “church kids” sat with their family instead of in the balcony, a long standing tradition. I would often see some classmates who came to church with their families. And it looked like it was very much against their will.

I was bitter. I was upset. How is coming to church on Easter and Christmas Eve compare with the fact that I was there every time the lights were on… my first camp trip was at 4 months old. It was a lifestyle. These people were cramping and crowding my church. And they were doing it on my favorite night. We had a candlelight service, and it was always very meaningful and beautiful.

I am now grown… and I travel to my parents’ home for the holidays and go to my sister’s church for Christmas eve, which has become a delightful new tradition. But, it leaves me not going to that old church’s service, and also never having attended my now-home church’s Christmas eve service. I would really love to attend my now-home church’s service, but I realize the value of spending time with my family.

Again, lot of info, and still haven’t got to why I decided to write in the first place… I realized this morning that it was really selfish of me to think the way that I did. To think that it was a bad idea for these people who dearly needed to hear the Good News to be in a church was crazy. To think that going to church twice a year isn’t better than not going at all is silly. Don’t know why it took me so long to get here. I am not advocating that this should be your goal, but, if you are like me… and it kind of bugs you when your church routine is cramped by visitors… just remember, this is what it is all about… I mean… there is a certain joy that warms my heart, that despite the motivation for being there, I know that there are many people who don’t know the amazing love of our Savior, and they will have the opportunity to hear that message.

A special encouragement to those who may be involved in planning or even may be speaking at Christmas eve… which seems like it goes without saying…It is my firm belief that it would be a grave mistake to not take this into consideration… what I respect greatly about the pastor of my sister’s church is that, he unabashedly presents the Gospel in his service…

I didn’t mean for this to become so long… but, I guess that is what I get for not writing for a few days…

Tags: Christmas, Christmas Eve, Church, Gospel, Christian

American Heritage Dictionary –

ster·e·o·type (ster’e-?-tip’, stîr’-)
n.
1. A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image.
2. One that is regarded as embodying or conforming to a set image or type
3. Printing A metal printing plate cast from a matrix molded from a raised printing surface, such as type.

I just got back from dinner with some friends, where we discussed on several levels the topic of stereotyping. I am new to the blogging world, and I am realizing that it is full of stereotyping. I have been told what I believe, I have been judged for things I have not even said… I am disheartened by the ability for thoughtful writers to attack faceless groups through the use of stereotyping.

I realize that this is a hard argument to have, in that many different people perpetuate stereotypes. i.e. our waitress was horrific, so, do I jump on the fact that she is from a certain ethnic group, age classification, gender, or religious background; and attack the group? or do I just say, in fairness to her, “tonight, she gave us poor service in my opinion” My point is that I tend to make statements that involve the words “she” or “he” as opposed to “they.” And I am becoming quickly frustrated with those who use the term “they” (crap i just did it, did you catch that… i said “those” which is a form of they…) I should say… I am frustrated with the blogs that I have recently read where there has been “they” language.

Can anyone help me see this clearer?

Tags: Blogs, Stereotype, Blogging, Racism, Discrimination

I will be the first to admit that i am not the biggest Old Testament scholar… I just made it through my classes in school. I have come to over time really appreciate the amazing stories and gems in the OT. Even the stories that I remember hearing as a child, a million times over.

I was talking with a friend today at lunch about how we are really called to be moving. We were both sharing stories of where we felt God was calling us. I have been thinking lately about the Joshua and the battle of Jericho. I think one of the key elements in the story is the fact that God had them circle the city… they were called to move. I am not going to try to super-impose something that isn’t really there, but, what we do know is that they were told to circle, to march, to move. I think of Abraham being tested with Isaac, and it required him to act, to move, to go. I think of Noah, Moses, fill in the blank OT story.

So, I think that it is clear that we can assess that God is calling us to move, to be active, to be headed forward…

This might seem like a gross overstatement of the obvious, and yet, I know that I need reminding of it.

Tags: Christian, Christ-follower, God, Calling, Old Testament

Took a personality profile that pegged me pretty accurately…

I had mentioned before that i had entered into a theological dialogue with a good friend the other night, and I am still reeling from some of the things we have discussed…

One of the things that came up i was reminded of when reading a blog I found here at http://godtaughtme.wordpress.com/

It was talking and referencing a book written by Ted Haggard, the currently defamed church leader. He came up in my dialogue the other night.

As we were discussing grace and its sufficiency, my friend brought up King David’s life and how he is referred to as a man after God’s own heart. And yet we look at the way in which he made some really poor decisions. If David were a leader in our current time, would he not receive the same judgement that has fell on the fallen Haggard.

It is hard to tie this back to the fact that in the end, who is not to say that God might not say that Haggard is a man after His own heart?

I have been around some incredibly Godly men, in positions of authority, and thankfully only seen a few of them fall. But, I think that we need to not throw out the work they have done, nor do we need to cast them away. I don’t by any means advocate for them to re-established into the position of authority. I think that the concept of “above reproach” is obviously compromised.

I guess the point of this is… what do we have control over? …ourselves. And as my friend and I discuss and agree, we might stumble, we might fall, but, we hope to come to the knowledge that we are known as being after God’s own heart.

Tags: King David, David, God, Christian life, Christian, Ted Haggard

I ended up in an interesting discussion over im with a dear, dear friend of mine, concerning my last post “struggle to justify”

I want to point out that in all of my writings and thoughts, I am writing from my perspective and my heart… if there are questions posed, they are more often than not, questions I am posing to myself… if they are helpful to you, then fantastic, if they aren’t, then they aren’t…

The discussion last night centered around my post imposing a certain level of self-guilt, or worse self-loathing… or more specifically using this self-imposed guilt as a motivator towards action… (unfortunately for many of us who grew up in the church, this is not uncommon) It was in no ways meant or intended as such… the true heart is “how am I spending my time, and does it line up with who I believe God has created and called me to be”

Sorry if it came across misleading or pious.

Tags: Justification, Guilt, Struggles