"Mom, I forgive you"

If you listen to no other broadcast, I encourage you to listen to today's. One such caller was calling again, just to update the listeners on her situation. She called  several days ago, at the tail end of the program, hurt and nearly crushed with the pain her mom inflicted on her. The caller and her mom never had a good relationship, until the caller was diagnosed with cancer. Throughout the entire cancer ordeal, the mom was there for her. However, later, after the cancer went into remission, the mom resumed her behavior of shunning the daughter, and denying any relationship with her. As I listened to her story, my heart broke for her. Have you, or anyone you know ever gone through this? To have a parent/guardian just cast you aside, I cannot fathom that. At least not to that degree.

Lord, lord, have we not prophesied.....?

This is the verse that I was trying to think of when penning yesterday's blog. Matthew 7 shows us an illustration of some people trying to get into heaven based on their good works. "Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name?" To which they received the reply, "Depart from me, workers of iniquity, I never knew you". Sad. Now, to the common eye, these people in question probably looked like Authentic Christians. Casting out demons, prophesying, doing mighty works..

Are Christians just Jesus mimes?

"Isn't the true measure of an authentic Christian to practice the teachings of Jesus when no one is looking?" was that status message of a relative on their social network page.  I must admit that I cringed when I read that. Is that how God measures an authentic Christian? No... not really.

We've always done it this way!!

Many times I have heard that exclamation. Both in the church life and work life. Probably even the home life as well. Does that make it right, however?  Does it make it even worth a look? A caller in today's broadcast mentioned an elderly relative wanting to leave her church, due to the fact that the denomination has started to change the way things are done. This particular relative grew up where women were pretty well not allowed to be a visual participant of any church activity. I can relate. Women were to be seen and not heard. We were supposed to show up at every quilting bee, and we could talk there--but heaven forbid that we actually do anything beyond sing and smile on Sunday morning. So thankful am I, that Jesus was the first women's libber! But--that's for another time.

Just who do you think you are??

No, seriously... who DO we think we are? I suppose it might depend on what day of the week you ask us. We might carry the identity of someone's spouse, parent, child, sibling, friend, career person. What happens when we no longer carry that identity? THEN who are we? Any of the above listed identities could change in a split second, through our own choices, choices of others, or because of circumstances beyond our control. Thankfully, we have access to one identity that will never change.

Hi ho! Hi Ho! It's off to work--errr church I go!

That famous Disney song is what comes to mind when I think of church attendance bondage. You know those churches--they make you feel like you are the world's biggest backslider if you're not at church every time the doors open. Between making sure we attend the local church religiously, and making sure we keep our sins confessed and forgiven, when are we supposed to find time to enjoy Christ? When are we supposed to be able to do that resting thing that Jesus promised those who were weary and came to him? I used to think it was when I died and went to heaven. I simply had no time to rest right now... too much to 'do'. Just before I pulled out of the local congregation, I was in more ministries than I cared to be involved in, but felt 'obligated' to be involved--you know.. being God's right hand gal and all...

Why do the ungodly prosper?

......was the ending question of today's broadcast. My heart sympathized with the caller. I can remember back in the day, when it seemed like no matter what I did to get ahead, I always seemed to fall 3 steps back. Meanwhile, some of my family members were living it up in bars, kept making it hand over fist. This realization brought me into the state of depression more often than not.

Real answers for Real People with Real questions

This afternoon's broadcast was pretty solid. One of my favorite broadcasts sharing the Good News of the Gospel, People to People, has a radio show that allows callers to call in with sincere Bible Questions, or questions about life in general, and the hosts enjoy giving the Biblical advice to the callers. If the answer doesn't come from scriptures, it doesn't get broadcasted. That's something I really respect from these guys. It's God or nothing.

There's No Place Like Home, No Place Like Home...

Home. What a wonderful sounding word. To quote the character Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, "There's no place like home, there's no place like home" Or is there?

I do belong somewhere

This post was on my cousin's status message on our social network. Her mindset was back in our family reunion, where as usual, we all had a blast.

However, her simple statement of thanks sparked another thought within. We do belong somewhere, and more importantly to someone, namely Jesus Christ. Just like my cousin experienced a room full of love within our extended family, we who are in Christ, can also experience that love, and know that we actually do belong somewhere.

So long.. farewell... auf wiedersehen... adieu

My heart fell, and I cannot fathom why. This evening, my son came home from his church extremely early.  Before eight o'clock tonight, he was home. I, of course, immediately jumped to conclusions and wondered what was wrong. "Ain't nuttin' wrong. Bro. Mark only preached for about 30 minutes" my son tried to reassure me. Only 30 minutes? No way. This was a pentecostal type church. No preacher ever preaches for under 30 minutes, then of course you've got to have the traditional "slain in the spirit" stuff. Only 30 minutes? Hogwash. I was then told that the preacher has stopped 'preaching' for a while, and has started 'teaching'. The attendance has dropped off considerably, and there's not much life going on anymore. For some reason, this news hurt. To drive the knife in a little deeper, I was told that the attendance started dropping off when the last of the live music left.

Doom-de-doom-doom....DOOOOOM!

Thunderstorms are swirling outside our windows. Absolutely breath taking. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I love the rains. Thunderstorms are a dime a dozen here in the southern summers, and unless they turn into hurricanes (which have been known to happen) I'm okay with it.
Why? Well, simply because just for that short time, be it a few minutes, hours, or even days... it's as if God is washing the earth clean--again. When the rain is said and done, the air smells sweeter, the plants look more lush and green, and the chorus of tree frogs and bull frogs down in the river swamp are music to my ears. For just a short while, I feel separated from the cares of this world, and cares there are many.

A time for all things

I just realized something about myself today. I don't do change that well.  A couple of weeks ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to go to a workshop with a co-worker and boss. My boss is great. She and I have so much in common. We're both in Christ, we both love teaching,  and love playing the piano. This is where I get uncomfortable. She plays for a local church congregation, and doesn't understand why I don't. To be honest, I don't  understand it either. I love the fellowship I have online, but it does seem that the piano is laying dormant. So... maybe that was an omen that I should go church surfing again? A friend once told me, "If you find the perfect church, don't go--you'll mess it up!" Of course, he was jokingly being serious, but I got the message. Still, what should I be able to overlook? What should I stand my ground on? Is it time for me to change--again?

Ph.D Piled Higher and Deeper?

As we sat in the frigid gymnasium listening to the governor drone on about the importance of morals and religion in today's politics, I couldn't help but to let my thoughts wander. Today was the ceremony of my niece and her classmates completing their four years of higher education. Today, my niece will graduate with her Bachelors of Science in Education. Yep, like me, my niece has fulfilled her dreams of becoming a teacher.
Watching the graduates, as well as the gymnasium full of spectators, I wondered exactly how important our education is. The speaker jokingly made a remark of whether the students graduated cum laude, magna cum laude, summa cum laude, or even "thank the Good Laude!" the graduates were to be commended. Exactly who thought that up? Why are Latin honors so important? Does it matter?

Discipline From God

Discipline From God

Listening to this program, I could honestly relate to the first caller. I suspect hundreds, even thousands of more people could relate also. She asked about the verse in Hebrews, about God disciplining the one He loves. She mentioned that the word "Scourge" gives the connotation of 'flaying out', as in pretty much filleting the skin. This verse has been used by many legalistic churches to heap guilt on someone. God doesn't punish us for our sins; He punished Jesus. If there was still punishment left for our sins to be had, then Jesus didn't do a very good job of providing the ultimate sacrifice. However, it's easy to see where folks can get mixed up. How often have our own parents threatened to "tan our hides" for misbehaving? How many times, especially with the older generation, were whippings, sometimes to the point of beatings gotten, all in the name of discipline? Why wouldn't we think that God would do the same thing?