I haven't written in a while. That's what happens when you get busy.
I WILL write and do stuff at some point this week (being that it is Spring Break).
This is the best verse I can find to describe my life at the moment: "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21
3/28/2010
3/17/2010
Disputable matters, part 1
I just had something start to click for me, and it's not a huge thing, but it's very interesting. I was thinking about how to live a life of worship, what to do, what to avoid, etc., and I was reminded about Pastor Dan saying something about watching Survivor, and how that doesn't make him a bad person, but just a person (. . . that was an unnecessarily long sentence). I have the feeling that some people in the church were a little taken back by that. Instead of jumping to judgement, let's look to the Bible.
"Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord." Romans 14:1-8
(DISCLAIMER- I am not trying to imply that if you don't watch Survivor, your faith is weak. Neither will watching it help your strengthen your faith either. It has everything to do with living in God and nothing to do with the TV shows that we can/can't, should/shouldn't, or do/don't watch).
Basically, to apply this to the example above, if you feel like watching Survivor will lead you to sin, then don't watch it. But don't judge those that do; that's not your job.
On the other side, if you can watch something in a way that doesn't cause problems for you, great; but don't treat others as though they are lower than you because they "can't handle it."
Either way, there should be no doubt in your mind how you stand on the matter is OK, and ultimately we should be focusing on God through whatever activities we do.
(I'm gonna take an aside and say: This is NOT the same as moral relativism in that there are definite sins ("I (fill in the sin) for the Lord" doesn't cut it in God's eyes, as He outlines a lot of specifics throughout the Bible). This is only for "disputable matters." To me, that means situations that aren't specifically outlined. After all, we are not bound by the law, but by grace. It is because of the freedom of grace that we obey, and not the other way around, since our actions will never get us to Heaven).
I think this is also a great passage for the "church music" debate. Don't be quick to judge churches that "don't use enough" old hymns, or use "too many" of them. After all, it's not really about music; it is about the object of worship!
It also applies to the idea of the "church dress code." Are there things inappropriate for church? Yeah; you shouldn't be distracting or bringing attention to yourself. For me, while I won't come to church in ripped jeans and an undershirt; however, I do not feel guilty wearing sandals and shorts when the weather is nice. I also don't judge people who wouldn't be caught dead NOT wearing a full suit to church. "Come just as you are." I could go ahead and defend myself, but that would defeat the whole purpose of this entry :)
Remember- each of us belongs to the Lord, whether we are living or dying to Him. With the exception of outright sin, your opinion about another's life choices do not matter. It's one thing to go to a brother or sister who is clearly disobeying God. It's another to tell them that their preferences are wrong because they are not YOUR preferences.
In the same way that a thought by itself is not sin until we give in and do something with it, so is a disputable matter not sin unless it causes us to stumble.
Moral of the story? God made us all unique, and He prefers our individual heart worship above all else. If He has an issue with something that we are doing, He'll take it up with us.
Man. . . there is so much more to this discussion in the rest of Romans 14, but I don't have time to continue. Maybe I'll do the next entry expanding on this.
"Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord." Romans 14:1-8
(DISCLAIMER- I am not trying to imply that if you don't watch Survivor, your faith is weak. Neither will watching it help your strengthen your faith either. It has everything to do with living in God and nothing to do with the TV shows that we can/can't, should/shouldn't, or do/don't watch).
Basically, to apply this to the example above, if you feel like watching Survivor will lead you to sin, then don't watch it. But don't judge those that do; that's not your job.
On the other side, if you can watch something in a way that doesn't cause problems for you, great; but don't treat others as though they are lower than you because they "can't handle it."
Either way, there should be no doubt in your mind how you stand on the matter is OK, and ultimately we should be focusing on God through whatever activities we do.
(I'm gonna take an aside and say: This is NOT the same as moral relativism in that there are definite sins ("I (fill in the sin) for the Lord" doesn't cut it in God's eyes, as He outlines a lot of specifics throughout the Bible). This is only for "disputable matters." To me, that means situations that aren't specifically outlined. After all, we are not bound by the law, but by grace. It is because of the freedom of grace that we obey, and not the other way around, since our actions will never get us to Heaven).
I think this is also a great passage for the "church music" debate. Don't be quick to judge churches that "don't use enough" old hymns, or use "too many" of them. After all, it's not really about music; it is about the object of worship!
It also applies to the idea of the "church dress code." Are there things inappropriate for church? Yeah; you shouldn't be distracting or bringing attention to yourself. For me, while I won't come to church in ripped jeans and an undershirt; however, I do not feel guilty wearing sandals and shorts when the weather is nice. I also don't judge people who wouldn't be caught dead NOT wearing a full suit to church. "Come just as you are." I could go ahead and defend myself, but that would defeat the whole purpose of this entry :)
Remember- each of us belongs to the Lord, whether we are living or dying to Him. With the exception of outright sin, your opinion about another's life choices do not matter. It's one thing to go to a brother or sister who is clearly disobeying God. It's another to tell them that their preferences are wrong because they are not YOUR preferences.
In the same way that a thought by itself is not sin until we give in and do something with it, so is a disputable matter not sin unless it causes us to stumble.
Moral of the story? God made us all unique, and He prefers our individual heart worship above all else. If He has an issue with something that we are doing, He'll take it up with us.
Man. . . there is so much more to this discussion in the rest of Romans 14, but I don't have time to continue. Maybe I'll do the next entry expanding on this.
3/13/2010
I haven't forgotten about this!
I've just been very busy in my own personal study of things. I can't say when I'll get back into a regular circuit here, but I'm OK with it, because there have been some very eye-opening and amazing things revealed to me in the past couple weeks. It all seems like a blur, partially because I've been living day to day a lot, and partially I think because of FCAT season and all the craziness with the schedules and such. I know I've got a lot on my plate and a lot on my mind, and I just need time to sort through it all. I don't know if I need some time "away" or time spent doing something "different" (meaning doing something I don't do very often) or just plain "time", but it's not all a bad thing by any means. I just feel like my brain and my heart are packed full of all this knowledge, and I desire to figure out where it all fits into life before I explode!
It's very late, so I'm going to go to bed, considering we lose an hour tonight. . .
It's very late, so I'm going to go to bed, considering we lose an hour tonight. . .
3/10/2010
just a random thought
I'm preaching to myself mostly here, but I feel lax in my blogging lately (lots of exciting things have been going on in my life, but don't worry; Lucado will return someday!), so I thought I'd put something here as food for thought.
As Christians we are called to evangelize. I think a big thing that keeps us from doing so is the fear of ridicule, mockery, or just having people think differently of us.
. . . . don't we WANT people to think differently of us?
As Christians we are called to evangelize. I think a big thing that keeps us from doing so is the fear of ridicule, mockery, or just having people think differently of us.
. . . . don't we WANT people to think differently of us?
3/09/2010
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 8:35, 37-39
Romans 8:35, 37-39
3/07/2010
3/05/2010
A New Beginning?
I had the beginnings of an epiphany last night. I have been reading "Reclaiming Surrendered Ground" (Jim Logan) and finally started to understand the idea that Christ has already won the victory over sin. Satan is already defeated by Christ's victory over death on the cross! Yes, He will come back and finally finish off the job once and for all at the second coming, but His victory isn't just for eternity; it's for us at the moment when we accept Him into our lives! The difference between fighting to gain victory and fighting from a position of victory makes all the difference in the world. I can't gain victory by myself, and I don't have to! I already have it!! I don't have to grit my teeth and just endure temptation; that's winning in the flesh. I just have to tap into the power of the Holy Spirit, become totally dependent on Him for strength and guidance, and realize that Satan has no power over me other than influence and lies (also, it never occurred to me that all thoughts that enter my head aren't my own; some come from the Holy Spirit, which I have experience, but that some come from the devil never crossed my mind. It's not a sin to experience such thoughts, but I certainly don't have to entertain them!). Hallelujah!!!
I don't know what all this means for me quite yet, but I know I feel a whole lot lighter than I have in a while :)
I'll get to Lucado soon, I promise, but sometimes you just have to take what God is giving you instead of trying to force your will on His way.
I don't know what all this means for me quite yet, but I know I feel a whole lot lighter than I have in a while :)
I'll get to Lucado soon, I promise, but sometimes you just have to take what God is giving you instead of trying to force your will on His way.
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