Eternal Decisions

The Power of Being Saved - Euphoria Part 1

2009-07-19T16:08:00.007-04:00

Since I started this blog, I've been getting emails from all kinds of people that have read it. Some are Christians, some are not and some are just confused. I've been asked a lot of questions and I reply to everyone the same way, I am no theologian by any means, I use Bible Gateway just as much as the next guy and I'm just trying to share my experiences. I'd love to give you advice, but if I'm not sure of the answers, I just can't give them to you. A few of these email conversations have started to grow into some nice (online) friendships, though, and for that I am very grateful.

One young lady I have been talking to has been sharing her experiences of being "saved". Notice, I say experiences. Plural. When we were sharing our testimonies (which I absolutely love and and going to write more about soon), she explained to me that she has been saved many, many times. About 75 or so, she thinks. Here is an excerpt from her email (with permission, of course)...

The first time I was saved was in October 2006. I was invited to a performance of Heavens Gate, Hells Flames and it really touched me. I knew about halfway through the show that I wanted my name in the book of life and I wanted to spend eternity in heaven. We were in a mega church in Texas and when the preacher did the alter call, there was at least 300 people that went up front. As I was saying the prayer, I felt something possess me and I started crying and shaking. By the time we were done and I had been prayed over by so many people, I had experienced something so profound I knew I would never feel that way every again. My life had been changed.

It was euphoric.

This is a great testimony and I was really touched and had to stop reading for a moment. You see, I came to Jesus following a performance of Heaven's Gates and Hell's Flames too. Then, I realized the first line from her email, The first time I was saved was in October 2006. The first time? Ok, so I know that many people rededicate themselves after going through a rough patch, that is also part of my own testimony, but I've never referred to it as THE FIRST TIME. I always say that I was saved at this time and that I rededicated myself at this time. Anyway, curious, I kept reading...

Well, my Christian dance wasn't going so well there were a lot of missteps so when someone invited me to a revival about 6 months later I jumped at the chance. I knew I needed to be filled with the spirit and I figured that this would be just the place to get me back on track. It was amazing, everytime a person broke down and gave themselves over, the entire croud, about 8000 people just started cheering and praising. The person would just look around the room with this goofy smile and glazed eyes. I wanted to be that person.After an intensive 6 hours, I gave myself to Jesus again. It was just like the first time, uncontrolled sobbing, my body was shaking, my knees gave out and I fell to the floor. I couldn't see straight, I couldn't think, it was much like the hallucogenic drugs I had done in my past life. Throughly undescribeable.

After that, I found myself travelling to revivals, Christian concerts, youth camps anything I could to be in a place where I could be filled with the spirit. I wish it was possible to experience the same rush at home, it would be far less expensive and more fulfilling I imagine. But so far, I feel that Jesus only personally touches me when I am in a large experiencing something so powerful. I'm sure he is touching my life every other day as well but not in such a commanding way. I've lost count at this point, but I figure I've been saved about 75 times. 75 times of that euphoric, gleeful, jubilant, energizing, intoxicating state. And I can't wait for the next one.

Now, I have to tell you, my friends, that I didn't believe this was real at first. I had spoken (or rather, emailed) back and forth with this young lady about 6 times before this. She had a lot of questions and seemed fairly sincere in her faith, if a little naive. So when I got this email I though it was a joke but since talking to her since then, including once on the phone, I've deciphered that it is the very real ramblings of one confused young woman.

Well, I'm not here to judge, that job has been given to someone else, but like everyone else on Earth, I do have opinions. So here is my take:

I agree that there is some state of euphoria to being saved. Certainly, ever person's experience is different but I do remember feeling so alive when I first came to Jesus. But that feeling was quickly replaced with another emotion, humility. It literally only took moments for me to be humbled by the reality of what Jesus Christ did for every one of us, that He gave His life. I was also humbled at the knowledge of the promise that I had just made... to be Christ-like in every way possible. Those are some pretty big shoes to fill, after all!

I also understand the desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit. What a great gift for God to give you, a piece of Himself just simply because you choose and work to honour Him. But, Madame E-Mailer, I and many other Christians across the Earth, are filled with the Spirit every day of our lives, even when we are outside of a church, or a revival meeting. And I tell you, you think the Spirit being alive within a group of people is amazing, just wait until it hits you when you are alone. That one-on-one connectedness to God Himself is... absolutely indescribable. There will just never be enough words to explain.

So, I've done some research and apparently the addiction to the euphoria of "being saved" is a rather common one. There are groups of people who travel across countries together just to get to the next place where they will meet their rush and be "saved". Since this is my blog and I can express my opinion here, I'll say this: To me, this sounds like the guy coursing the streets looking for his dealer so he can get his next hit to get high. It doesn't last long and soon he's at it again.

I was raised on the school of thought that you only can be "saved" once. And that when you make mistakes, even if you make a lot of them, as long as you are truly repentant, the Lord God will forgive you because you have already committed yourself to Him. Some people "rededicate" themselves, as I did, after a rough patch or number of years away from the church, but it's not about being saved again, because that's already happened, it's about reminding yourself that you are God's child and that you have made a commitment to serve Him.

So what have I advised this young woman do? I told her she needs to talk to her pastor at her home church. Then I told her she needs to find herself a home church since all she has done for 2 1/2 years is travel the country, never visiting the same church twice. But most importantly, I told her she needs to talk to God. I truly feel that she is being touched by God, perhaps even each and every time she is "saved", but she is also being pulled by the enemy. I think she wants to know God, she just doesn't know how. And since she has no family and no home church background, she has absolutely no support. So I told her to talk to God. To spend time alone with Him, to just pour her heart out to Him. And when the Lord feels that her heart sincerely wants a relationship with Him, He will build a network of support around her. Then, He will fill her with the Holy Spirit. The real Holy Spirit, not just the rush of being in a crowd of people. And when He does, she will never again feel the need for anything else in her life, because she will be filled with everything she needs.

So readers, tell me what you think. Have you ever known anyone addicted to being "saved"? Did you feel euphoric when you gave your life to Christ? And what would you have said to this young woman if you had been in my place?

*Note* I know that there are many spelling and grammar mistakes contained within this blog, in trying to keep the spirit of this email true, I copied it directly from the email with no changes to it at all.

My next step...

2009-07-18T12:50:00.003-04:00

Every once in while, I imagine, a blogger or writer comes to a topic about which they just can't cover in one article or book.

Over the past two weeks, I have found myself in a number of situations that have revolved around one topic and I am feeling the Spirit pushing me to write about it. So, for the first time, I am going to do a series of blogs on Euphoria. I don't know if there will be two articles or ten, so bear with me while I travel along this new path of "installment blogging."

Please pray with and for me that I am able to convey this message the way the Spirit wants me to.

I expect the first edition will be out sometime tomorrow.

God Bless!
Melissa

I Love You, so I'm not gonna lie to you...

2009-07-11T10:24:00.005-04:00

One of the most difficult questions I ever get asked when I am witnessing to someone is, "But surely, you don't think I am going to hell?"

How do you respond? As a human being, trained to be politically correct and sensitive to other people's feeling, we want to beat around the bush, we want to spare the person from the harshness of reality and perhaps most of all, we still want the person to like us after the conversation is over. As a Christian, we want to scream, "YES! Please, please come to know Jesus before it is too late!" So where do you draw the line between being human and being Christian?

I remember a number of years ago, sharing the gospel with my sisters. My mom got pretty upset when I told them that you had to be 'saved' and let Jesus into your life before you would gain a ticket to Heaven. My family believes in God, sure, but they don't really think that you have to do anything other than believing that He exists in order to gain entrance to Heaven. I tried to explain this to my mom and she asked me the dreaded question, "Soooo, you think I am going to hell, then?" Well, back then I was pretty immature in my faith and I didn't know how to answer her, especially without upsetting her and hurting our relationship. I just KNEW that I was right.

Well, these days I'm a little smarter and I understand a lot more about what I believe. It's been on my mind a lot lately, and I want to revisit the issue. And I know what I going to say.

I love you Mom, and I want nothing but the best for you. I don't want to hurt you and I don't want to see you hurting, but this may sting for a short time. You remember all those times you grounded me and said, "I'm doing this because I love you"? Well Mom, I'm doing this because I love you. It's really not all that hard to get into Heaven. You see, Jesus came to the Earth to save us all, because His Father wants each and every one of us to spend eternity with Him. He does have some rules for us to follow but He also gave us this really great instruction manual on how to live our lives. Parents always say they wish kids came with instruction manuals... well, there is one, it's called the Bible and it has the answer to every single question you will ever have. A lot of people think that if you just follow these rules (and sometimes rather loosely) and lead a "pretty good" life you'll get into Heaven. And while I told you it's not hard to get into Heaven, it is a little harder than that. You see, God needs to know who's really dedicated to living their life with the goal of Heaven with Him in mind. So, just like a cellphone carrier, he wants you to sign a contract. He wants people to admit, out loud, that they want to live their life for Him, through His Son, Jesus Christ, and that they want to spend eternity in Heaven with Him. It's kind of like housework, if I just say to myself in my head that I want to get the floor washed, it may not get done, but if I've told my husband that I am going to wash the floor, all of a sudden I have someone to answer to so it's more likely to get done.

So after you've told God how much you want to live your life for Him, you just do it. It's not always going to be easy. You'll face adversity and temptation but if you keep in constant touch with the Father, he'll always help guide you out of any mess you're in. You'll still make mistakes, the only sinless human was Jesus, but when you do, you'll recognize it, you'll repent and it'll be over. The greatest thing about God? He doesn't hold a grudge. If you apologize and you're sincere, He forgives you, just like that.

So you see Mom , it's really not that difficult. You tell God that you want to live for Him, that you believe that Jesus died so we can live and you live your life for God. In return, you get an eternity in Heaven and the most forgiving, understanding, faithful, loving Father imaginable. And the best part of all is that you and I will never be separated, even in death, because we will be able to spend eternity together in Heaven.

Now this time, I'm not so worried about hurting my mom. It's more important for me to see her living her life for Him and getting to the ultimate reward, than it is for our relationship here on Earth to be perfect. I pray that the Holy Spirit will be upon her, that her eyes will be opened and that I will get the opportunity to see my mom, sitting in Heaven beside Jesus. My Saviour and my best friend, together for eternity.

Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
2 Corinthians 5:1

Make a Joyful Noise

2009-07-07T11:46:00.002-04:00

Like most churches, we have a combined summer service schedule. Our kid's programs also change in the summer. For all the children who are in the "big kids" program (ages 2 1/2 and over) they don't go down to attend their classes until after worship ends in the sanctuary. Now, I've always thought this was a great idea. I love seeing kids in the sanctuary, I believe that it's really important in a family's faith walk to celebrate church together. Until this year, though, I've never quite understood why the parents look so harried by the time worship ends and they head with their kids downstairs.

Up until this year, my kids were young enough to be in the nursery or toddler room, which still provides care before the beginning of service.

I thought that having my toddler in service with me was going to be great. He loves music, he always wants to watch the choir warm up in the mornings, so I thought he'd really love to be in the big service. And I was right, he does love it, for about the first 3 minutes after which he reverts to his toddler self and starts squirming, whining, talking during prayers and just generally being a normal toddler. Our first week in service together I was given some advice by a great and wonderful man in our church. He said, "Go ahead and let him make a joyful noise, the Lord loves it and this is really where the children belong." I appreciate the advice, I really do, but it's a little different to put into practice when your child is the only one in church saying "poo poo", and rather loudly, I might add, while everyone else is praying. Great advice, and advice I will probably dole out myself, once my children are my age and if they squirm and whine in church, it'll be their wives problem and not mine.

We got out of the worship issue for a couple of weeks when I was back to teaching but this week began my summer off, so we were back in service. For the most part, he was pretty good. He was squirmy, but I just held onto his hand so he couldn't run away and was able to still worship. Then, the talking started. I shushed him a couple of times and heard the people behind us giggling. I fed him some mints form my bag which gave another few moments of peace. I picked him up, pointed to the stage and he was quite happy watching the choir sing until prayer started. Just as the prayer ended, he started to talk again and as I started to shush him, he looked at me, put his finger up to his lips. Then, he shushed me!

He reverted his eyes back to the stage and raised his hand in the air and started his own type of singing along with the choir.

It was then that I realized just how much influence we have on our children. From my shushing that morning, he picked up my bad habit and turned it right back on me. And then another realization, if the powers that be in my church and other churches across the world weren't prepared to hear the joyful noises made by our children when they are in service, they just simply wouldn't arrange for them to be there. Families do need to worship together and children will never learn the proper church etiquette if we never have them in the sanctuary with us to learn. This summer will be hard for me, no doubt. Old habits die hard and I will have to remember to bite my tongue every time I go to shush him, but in the end, I know that he will be learning a valuable life lesson and we will be able to share in worship to our God together, which is more precious than gold. And next summer, I'll get to do it all over again with the other one.

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Psalm 98:4

Equally Opposites

2009-06-30T13:16:00.002-04:00

Facebook has been inundated lately with quizzes. From the completely absurd "when will you die" and "what kind of jeans are you" to ""how many children will you have" and "what are your spiritual gifts". While we all know that facebook quizzes cannot predict the future and are, for the most part, a complete waste of time, they can, at times be fun so sometimes we do them anyways.

This week I decided to do a "How well are you and your partner matched?" quiz. I'd like to think I know how well we are matched, we have been married for 9 years and have two lovely little boys together, but hey, let's see what facebook has to think about the situation. So here's how it went:

1. You feel like going dancing. Your partner...

a) has the car started before you can even finish your makeup
b) looks up from his video game long enough to say "see ya later"
c) goes, but stands against the wall most of the night and gives you his 'are you ready to go home yet' look for 3 hours straight

Answer: B, in fact, I just went dancing on the weekend with my friends

2. Your partner's friends think you are...

a) awesome, and they constantly ask you how he managed to catch you
b) a third wheel, it's not you, per se, but they just prefer to have guy time
c) great, but they're all my family members
d) friends? He doesn't have any friends!

Answer: C

3. Your friends think your man is...

a) good for you, although a little boring at times
b) up to something no good
c) the best guy ever, they're all a little jealous of you!
d) invisible, they've either never met him or rarely see him

Answer: D

4. When it comes to religion you guys...

a) believe in all the same things, in fact you met in youth group
b) believe that religion is like politics, if you don't talk about it everyone will be happy
c) respect each other decisions, even if the other person is completely wrong

Answer: C

5. It's time for dinner. It's hot and you just want a salad, he...

a) says "Cool! More meat for me!"
b) agrees and you share a chicken and goat cheese salad for two
c) eats you salad dinner with you and discreetly hops out for mickey d's later that night

Answer: A

6. Time to head to the gym. Does he...

a) hop on the elliptical next to you and challenge you to a race?
b) ask if you can pick him up a bag of chips on the way home?
c) head there with you but is never to be seen, leaving you to wonder if he ever even made it to the change room?

Answer: B

Well, after the results are tallied my result is:

DESTINED FOR DISASTER
Although you love each other, love can't do everything. You're going to have to try to become more compatible or you're going to be headed for divorce court.

So where am I going with this? Well, just as my husband and I are complete opposites, that's pretty much the same relationship I have with Jesus. He is sinless, I am a sinner. He is good and kind, I am often selfish. He forgives people without any effort at all, I have to work really hard at it. He is so full of compassion, I try really hard but sometimes catch myself thinking that the person brought their situation upon themselves. He has loved me always, I often tried to push Him away.

So if I can have this amazing relationship with Jesus even though we are so opposite, I have pretty good faith in my marriage, facebook quiz or not.

Lord, I thank you for my husband and my marriage. Lord, I know that you say a cord of three strands is not easily broken, but I also know Lord, that our cord of two strands together is strong enough to hold onto him until he is ready to open his eyes to your grace and understanding. Father, I thank you for giving me the strength that I need to continue working towards that relationship of three strands. Lord, you have reminded me of the earlier part of this verse, "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up" and I know that this is the reason you have put us together, to make sure there is someone to help him up every time he starts to stumble. I know that you have plans for me and for him, Lord, and I look forward to those plans being played out in our lives. What a wonderful thing to look forward to. In Jesus' name, Amen.

A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

2009-06-28T20:08:00.003-04:00

So, my blog today was supposed to focus on this video that I heard about earlier this week. And while the video is still a central figure in my story, I've decided to take a slightly different route because of the circumstances that life has given me since hearing the audio track from this video.

You may have heard about a video posted online that was of a group in Conneticut performing an exorcism on a young man to chase away the demons in is body that were making him homosexual. I haven't seen the video, after hearing about 15 minutes of the audio, I couldn't bear to watch. It was pretty terrible. The fact that I heard it being played on the radio during a morning show and the fact that the on-air hosts were laughing at it was even more terrible. The way that it has affected my life this week has impacted me signifigantly.

While listening to the radio show, I was disgusted by what I was hearing from the video and what I was hearing from the on-air hosts. Yet, I found myself unable to turn the dial. Was it God that wanted me to hear this, or was it the enemy? At the time, I thought it was God. I thought that He wanted me to know everything I could about the situation so I could do something about it. How naive I was.

For the last 3 days, I have obsessed about this video. I have been outraged,shocked and perfectly sick to my stomach. I have spent hours in prayer over it, hours in research about the prevalence of religious sects that perform rituals such as these and countless hours just sitting quietly with the audio from this video running through my head. Needless to say, my nights have been very long and sleepless. So it wasn't until this morning, when I started to pray before opening my Sunday School class that I realized... I haven't prayed about anything but this video for 3 days. And not only that, but my prayer has been all convoluted. I haven't been offering any praise to the Lord, I haven't been telling Him how good and awesome He is. I haven't thanked him for all the wonderful things He does for both me and the people around me. I haven't prayed for my husband, my children, my ministry at church, my friends or anything else. It has all been focused on just the one topic and I haven't gone about it in the right way at all. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't think that it was worth praying about, because it certainly was, but the way I obsessed over it for 3 days, that wasn't right. When I really spent no time at all thinking about anything but that video... the enemy definitely had a hold of my thoughts.

Deuteronomy 6:5 says "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength." Mark 12:30 takes it further when it says, "."Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength

Well these two passages are what have my stomach all in knots today. I spent 3 days with the Lord secondary in my mind. I allowed myself to put something else before Him. Even if it is a worthy cause, nothing is ever more worthy than Him. So this afternoon, I fell to my knees and confessed my sins to Him. I apologized for hurting Him so and asked Him to forgive me. As I finished the words from 1 John 1:9 came to me, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." Being given a scripture dvinely like that is always a blessing and always seems to serve as a receipt of sorts, that the Lord has heard you and realizes that you need His comfort right away so He gives you a wonderful gift, a piece of the Holy Spirit wrapped up in a beautiful scripture.

Thank you, Lord for having grace and patience with me, for understanding that I sin but still forever loving me. Thank you, Lord, for filling me with your strength to overcome the enemy when he is trying to fill my head with thoughts of anything but the one that matters most, You. I understand Father, that I am not strong enough to overcome this alone and I am so thankful that I have a good and kind and fair God who is still willing to work for my soul even when my soul is not working for Him. In Jesus' name, Amen.

The Labels We Wear

2009-06-12T18:10:00.002-04:00

Constantly throughout our lives, we are given labels. Children can be "difficult" and "precocious". Teens are "rebellious, jocks, skaters, popular". When we become adults, the labels get harder and harder to define. How to fit such a complex human being into a one or two word label? Unlike high school, where we often had one love and did that and only that, as we grow older we become much better multi-taskers and can fit any number of labels through each and every day. One of these such labels? "Christian".

When I say it, it's a source of pride, a badge of honour. I AM ON GOD'S TEAM AND I AM PROUD, I want to shout. But other times, other people may use the word as something less... positive.

In the not-too-distant past, we had someone new start at work. They were standing with another chef and talking about the kitchen and being introduced to everyone. I had to rush past them to go grab a pot, STAT, and I heard "And that's Melissa, she's a Christian." Well, when I heard this my first reaction was, "I sure am!" But as the day drew on, I began to contemplate the particular person who gave me this label and what they meant by it. Unfortunately, it wasn't the most positive. Where did the negative connotation come from? Why do some people consider "Christian" to be a four-letter word? And why do we bother labelling people at all?

I am a Christian, and very proud of it. I am also many other things. I am a wife, a mother, a chef, a cake maker, a runner, a reader, a Sunday School teacher, a collector... why didn't this friend at work refer to me by one of those labels? "That's Melissa, she has two kids" or "That's Melissa, she only works here part time because she has her own business"?

Labelling people is something we all do on a daily basis and most of it is perfectly harmless. Labelling people can help you remember their names and what they do for a living. But, labelling people can also have catastrophic effects. I went to school with two other girls named Melissa (popular 80's name). One called herself MJ and the other one Missy. Well, I had such a hard time with Missy, dislike her so much that even to this day I have never allowed anyone to call me Missy because as soon as I hear it, it brings back 20 year old images of this girl. There's even a girl at work these days named Missy. I only ever call her Melissa. Thankfully, the effect of my labelling is only personal and haven't hurt anyone else. What about the negative labels that people give each other? She's ugly, he's fat, she's a liar, he's a (sneer) Christian... This label won't just affect ourselves on the inside, but it will affect the other person quite possibly for the rest of his/her life. The consequences of our actions can be so far reaching.

Next time I meet a person, I will definitely think twice about "honouring" them with a label. Will the Lord really be okay with me thinking of someone as One Eye Ish or Never Stops Talking Kim? Probably not. I think I'll just stick with "Ish, child of God".

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28

Serving...it's not just for waiters...

2009-06-10T10:01:00.004-04:00

I served the Lord with great humility and with tears... Acts 20:19

Do you ever notice that when the bible talks about serving and service, it's often in the same excerpt that talks about worship? We all know worship is brutally important, that it gives us a chance to love and honour God without asking for anything. But do you see service in the same light?

As a leader in children's ministry, we have just completed a month-long recruitment campaign for summer volunteers. Teaching or helping in children's ministry in summer is easy, a once-a-month commitment (that's only 3 times) and all the work is done for you. The lessons are planned and laid out, the crafts are ready to assemble, the videos are cued up to the right spot. And yet, it can often feel like you are begging and pleading with people to help out. This is not like we're asking for donations into our cap on a street corner, this is asking people from our own church body to help shape the lives of their own children and grandchildren, the future of our church. You'd think it would be easy.

There are these two ladies, a mother and daughter, who sit directly behind me in church every Sunday. Each Sunday, as our recruitment campaign was going on I handed the clipboard to them to fill out. Each Sunday the girl wanted to sign up, she picked up the pen and started to put it towards the paper when her mother's hand would shoot out and grab the pen. She's catch her daughter's eyes and slowly shake her head, "NO". So I begin to wonder, why are some people so averse to service? Why does this mother refuse to let her daughter (who by the way, is in her late 20s) help out in children's ministry? Is she scared of something? Does she feel like she's done enough? What is it?

So I started asking some people why they do or do not serve within the church. I got many answers, things ranging from "I have small children, I don't have time" to "I give enough money to make up for my lack of time for service." I also got even more lovely people who spoke about their love of serving, both God and their church. People who spoke about how rewarding it is to work with children, and many, many people who told me "I only wish I could do more..."

Now THAT is what it is all about. No matter how much I do, I want to do more. One, I owe so much to WPA, to the church that brought me into my own, who has nurtured me and my faith, who has helped me grow into the faithful person I am today. Second, and even more importantly, is that the stirring of the Holy Spirit within me makes me want to serve. And every time I do one thing, I feel a stirring to do more, and more. Just like when you start exercising and it becomes kind of addicting and you have to do it every day or you'll have a bunch of excess energy you don't know what to do with, following God's law, bringing honour to Him, serving Him becomes like that exercise addiction, you can't get enough because you know how good it is for you. When you know that your Heavenly Father is delighting up above because of the example you are showing, you become closer to Him.

Consider serving, whether it is within your church or in your community. Picking up trash is just as much of a service and honour to God as teaching Sunday School or leading a prayer group is. Meanwhile, I am going to try again and again, to find a way to open the eye's of that mother to allow her daughter to serve the children of our church.

..not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.

Sorry I've been gone...

2009-06-10T09:57:00.003-04:00

I have not forgotten about my love of writing nor have I run out of things to say... in fact, God has been giving me tons of inspiration while I was away.

I am happy to say that I am back and will be posting on a new subject soon!

Melissa

12 year old girl has the pro-life stance nailed...

2009-04-11T09:56:00.002-04:00

For anyone who has trouble articulating their thoughts about abortion, take a few hints from this young lady. Amazingly well thought out and constructed!

Spiritual Sponges

2009-03-25T10:36:00.002-04:00

The word sponge gets used as a metaphor for many things. Children are sponges when they are little, listening to everything around them and soaking it all up. When we are in college, we need to be sponges in order to soak up the copious amounts of information they throw at us. I read a magazine that warned me to stop being an emotional sponge, feeding off of other people’s bad moods. Funny, it never mentioned their good ones. There is also the “bad” meaning of sponge like when someone is “sponging” off you. The other word for that is parasite. Dictionary.com defines sponge (among other things) as a person or thing that absorbs something freely.

So, in the natural courses of our lives, being a sponge, for the most part, is a pretty good thing. By being sponge-like, we learn language, the nuances of acceptable social behaviour, we absorb information in school and gain enlightenment in spiritual matters. But, I ask, when does that sponge stop working?

Many of us have used a sponge before. So you either hold the sponge under running water or dip it into a bucket and allow it to soak up as much liquid as it can. What happens when the sponge is full? If you’re holding it under running water the answer is most obvious. The sponge keeps taking in water but in order to make room for it, it must let some out. The sponge cannot hold an infinite amount of water. But, if you squeeze the water out of that sponge, it will again pick up water. Over and over again, that sponge will pick up liquid, transfer it to another vessel and pick up more.

Now, as for the spiritual side of our sponginess, I think that we have been given very clear instructions about how to use the information we possess. Think, if we sit in church every week and listen to the sermon, if we participate in a Sunday school class or another small group class, we take in a lot of information. When it comes to information about God, more is always better. The more we know God, the more we love Him. The more we study His word, the more we understand His nature. But God wants us to learn about Him, love Him… and SPREAD THE WORD. God doesn’t want just some of us to have a relationship with Him, He wants every single person on Earth. Well, sometimes people are too afraid to take a step alone, sometimes people live in places where they have no access to God’s word. But God still wants them so how does He expect these people to find out about Him? From the rest of His sponges of course! God wants us to soak up all the information we can and then go out into the world to be squeezed. Luke 12:48 says, “To Whom much is given, much is required.” God not only wants us to share our knowledge of Him and His word, He requires it of us! So the next time you realize that you’ve been soaking up all that information and haven’t shared it with anyone else, remember Luke 12:48 and go out and share, it’s a small payment for a God who has given us so much!

Hey Jesus, like my shoes?

2009-03-20T09:41:00.001-04:00

I love Christian apparel. I know many people have differing opinions, but I can’t help the fact that I love it. For me, there’s nothing better than a really great “I love Jesus” t-shirt or a WWJD bracelet. One, it’s a reminder to me that I live in a great country where I am allowed to wear this stuff. There are so many Christians around the world being persecuted for their beliefs, who cannot even admit that they love Jesus, much less wear a t-shirt proclaiming it. Secondly, there is no possible way you can have a bad day when you look down at said bracelet or see your t-shirt in a mirror. As soon as you see it, you remember that no day you have could possible worse than that day that Jesus had, hanging on the cross for you. Last, they say a t-shirt can be read over 3000 times before it is thrown away. What an opportunity to remind other people of God’s love for us! Sometimes people ask what your shirt means, sometimes they don’t, but regardless they have read the shirt and once again, the thought of Jesus has been brought to the forefront of their mind.

So although I have never intended to use my powers of blogging for commercialistic ventures, I want to take the opportunity to weigh in on a few of the best Christian wear retailers out there on the web.

Without a doubt, I think withinhisgrace.com has got to be almost at the top. Pages and pages of quality Christian wear adorn this site. It runs the gamut from shirts, guitar picks, buttons, hats, plus sizes and… SHOES! Now Christian shoes are a new territory for me, I honestly never knew they existed, but I have to say I am already addicted. They’re very cute shoes and the Bible verses on them just make them that much better. Kudos to this site for offering women’s shirts, toddler and youth sizes, plus sizes and everything in between.

Silverfishjewellery.com is amazing. Based in the UK, they do some of the most beautiful gold and silver work I have ever seen. Creative designs, a huge selection and proceeds on some of their items goes to charities like Release International. Currency converter right on screen so you can see the prices in whatever currency you need.

Kingdomwear.com is also tops on my list. This semi-personalized jewelry is fantastic, they offer the designs and you get to pick the verse. With a huge selections of rings, earrings, key chains, t-shirts and get this, 8 pages of women’s necklaces, you’re sure to find something you like. Added bonus: free shipping. J

C28.com is another HUGE store. This one is bit edgier, catering more to the young adult crowd and their clothing styles definitely hold their own against the big mall stores that teens like to shop in these days. Cute girl-shaped shirts, handbags, wallets, kids shirts, car decals, hats, shoes and more. They also have a massive clearance section at almost anytime with even better prices than their already great prices. A book and cd/dvd section is also a great source for all things Christian, I’m going to admit that I’ve been coveting James Beverly’s Religions A-Z which they offer for a great price. Free shipping on orders over $75 (and you can get a lot on this site for $75) makes this one sweet shopping experience.

I just recently ordered my very own 1M4JC (1 Million 4 Jesus Christ) from 1m4jc.com. The shirts are all identical except for a tag on the sleeve on the arm, which individually numbers your shirt. So, we are all the same and all different at the same time. I haven’t received the shirt yet so I can’t comment on the quality yet but if the company’s customer service is any indication, it’s going to be great. The day I made my order, co-founder Rob Gettemy found me on Facebook, sent me a friend request and a personal note. He sent me another message when he shipped my shirt. I think that it’s pretty obvious that if I ever had an issue with this company, they would bend over backwards to fix it.

There are a ton of retailers on the web offering Christian apparel. I focused on retailers that are solely Christian, who have websites that are easy to navigate, that have good return policies, fast shipping and great customer service. I know there are many more that I couldn’t get to but I’m not trying to publish a Mr. Blackwell list here, just trying to give my brothers and sisters a line on some of my faves.

Romans 10:15, “… how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Now, please excuse me while I go make my feet even more beautiful with some purple walk on water shoes.

Waiting on God

2009-03-17T20:38:00.000-04:00

Oftentimes, we ask God for advice, we ask Him to interpret various things for us, we ask Him what road we should take. Eventually, God will always answer your prayers, but boy oh boy, sometimes it can be awfully hard waiting.

I am by nature, an impatient person. If I decided today that I wanted to start skiing, I’d find a way, even though it was a lovely, sunny, no sign of snow kind of March day. Waiting has never been my strong suit. I’m the person that starts hitting random numbers as soon as I hear the automated voice on the phone because I know that if I mess up the system it’ll just patch me through to a live person. I’m also the person who sometimes runs yellow lights, who line jumps at the grocery store and the person who keeps snacks in my purse because heaven forbid I should find myself even the slightest bit hungry while out and about. So frankly, sometimes waiting for God to speak to me is a little like that Chinese Water Torture device.

Usually, I’m great with my first request to God. Even my second, most times. But by the third time, I have to keep reminding myself the God is in charge here, not me, and that I need to wait for Him. I also need to remind myself that in order to hear Him speak, I may just have to shut my mouth for a moment or two.

Sometimes, God answers us almost immediately. There have been many times where God has answered me before I even finish praying. For me, this is like all my birthdays and Christmases all rolled up into one. I always have a silent time during prayer, time to give myself a chance to reflect, to catch my breath and to try and hear if God is speaking to me. Many times He does. Other times, I am waiting for hours, days and in one certain case, even years for God to answer my prayers. I know that God is working on this request, I can see some of His work, but it just isn’t finished yet. Even the Almighty has to take a break sometimes from this seemingly impossible task I have put upon Him. Of course, nothing is impossible for Him but sometimes He needs to let nature take its course, as well.

Although my impatient nature loves it when God answers me immediately, in some strange way, I also love when He takes His time. There is such a peacefulness that comes over you when you know that you have lifted your requests to God and that He is taking care of them. Even when you are still waiting to know what His decision or actions on the request are going to be, it is incredible knowing that if you wait for His answer, it will be the right one.

So for now, I continue to wait for God, knowing that He is helping me build my character by making me wait and knowing that His intervention, when it comes, will be at the perfect place and at the perfect time. What more could I ask for?

If It Looks Like a Duck....

2009-03-14T18:56:00.000-04:00

We’ve all heard the expression, if it looks like a duck; if it quacks like a duck then it probably is a duck. I’d like to quash that idea once and for all. If you apply that same theology to other situations it can seem extremely prejudiced and downright wrong, so why are we trying to shove all these duck-like creatures into a one size fits all box?

Every day, we see an awful lot of ducks. The ducks are of all different shapes; sizes, races, socio-economic backgrounds and all have varying degrees to their duck-likeness. I’ve seen ducks that like to strut their stuff for all the attention and laughter of the park goers, I’ve seen ducks that like to shy away in the corner until everyone leaves and then come out to see what scraps of bread have been left for them. Sometimes, ducks can be very social creatures, you often see them in groups but every once in a while you see a lone duck in a very odd place, hanging out all by themselves. I remember once watching a duck that upon leaving the water, looked down at her feet, walk back over to the water and dip a foot in, shake it off and then dip the other foot in and shake the water off. Then she finally rambled up onto the grass and proceeded to eat. I watched this particular duck do this several times. I finally left the area but continued to watch from afar. After there was no one around, the duck completely changed her behaviour. She went for another swim and this time when she got out, not only did she forget to wash her feet but she crouched down into the dirt and started flapping her wings, sending up a dust storm around her. If ducks can smile, this one was. She was reveling in being away from the attention and getting a chance to be her true, slightly messy self.

So where do we (and ducks, of course), get this incredible desire to be someone different whenever someone else is around? Why are so many ducks of the world pretending to be clean, when they really enjoy being dirty? Why do ducks pretend to enjoy each other’s company when all they do is fight when food shows its face?

Oftentimes, our desire to be accepted and liked precedes our design and what our true selves really are. We strut like roosters when we really are just hens. We act like a lamb when inside we want to growl like a lion.
My challenge this week is to act like the duck that I am. Me, I think of myself as a yellow rubber ducky type. I’m bright and cheery, I love to take baths and if you squeeze me, I may even squeak a little. :)