:A Christian Blog

A lot has went on since my last entry. First, two of my relatives were diagnosed with and lost the fight to cancer. One was my step-grandfather who was over 70, the other was an aunt that was in her 40’s. Both smoked. Both died within a week of each other right after Thanksgiving. With cancer, the diagnosis is the tough part, watching a person try to fight through it is even more tough. After all of that, the death seems to finally bring some peace. It was a very sad time for both families, but brought people together in a very good way. I’m glad it’s over, and I hope they are both enjoying heaven at this moment.
On a lighter note, as my regular readers can probably tell, I’ve upgraded to Wordpress 2.0. I’m really liking it so far, with the exception that plugins will be sparse for a while, and a new template will have to be designed since the other one seems to be broken. Other than that, I plan to write a post on faith this week. I’ve been planning to do it for months, but never can get the right words in my head. I’m just going to sit down this week and do it. Thank you for continuing to read A Christian Blog.

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Sorry for the flood of posts today, but that’s just my writing style. When I have something to write about, I’ll post it, when I don’t, I’m not going to just blog to make things look busy. Anyway, over at Broken Messenger, there is a long post about Joel Osteen’s interview on Larry King Live. The author is a bit rough on Osteen, but nevertheless, he transcribes the interview for you to read and make up your own mind. I was, at times, impressed with Osteen’s answers. He seems to know what it takes to be a medium between non-believing and believing. I invite you to read the interview, then post your comments.

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Just an addendum to the post earlier to today. I found this daily devotional from iEQUIP.com (John Maxwell’s organization) to be particularly fitting also. When looking at a leader like Pat Robertson, you should also question whether they should be followed. The list included in this devotional might be a good starting place.

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Pat Robertson is all over the news again. I don’t ever watch the 700 Club, but it makes me think that Marguerite does (Trading Spouses). MSNBC reported “Conservative Christian televangelist Pat Robertson told citizens of a Pennsylvania town that they had rejected God by voting their school board out of office for supporting “intelligent design” and warned them Thursday not to be surprised if disaster struck.” Now my guess is, this is how these people get publicity. The news doesn’t cover boring, so to get on camera you have to do or say something outrageous, like Marguerite or Pat Robertson. That’s the problem though, I don’t think we should strive to be in the news. If we all did our job as Christians, the news would come to us.

Strangely enough, I think the verse of the day over at BibleGateway.com fits:

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. ”- 1 John 2:15-16

You can also read a lot of other comments on this at ThinkChristian.net.

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Did anyone see this program last night? If you didn’t, you really missed Christians being represented in a interesting way. Trading Spouses is a show that takes two families, and the wives swap families for a period of time. The two families, as usual, couldn’t be more different.

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From Fox’s web site:

D’AMICO-FLISHER FAMILY
Jeanne is a specialist in hypnotherapy and uses this valuable tool to help people reconstruct their lives, Chris works with astrology to help clients find their true life’s purpose. Chris believes that astrology provides people with their personal owner’s manual and can aid them in career and relationship decisions. He is also a writer and a mandala artist who has used his experiences in life and loss to guide others through similar challenges.

PERRIN FAMILY
The Perrin family has always been a very close family and the unexpected pregnancy of Ashley brought them some rocky times but it was God and their faith that kept them close as they welcomed the birth of Abigail into the Perrin home. Abigail is now considered the heart of the household. They consider themselves Christians in a sense that they believe in God and they believe that Jesus gave his life for all of us. Marguerite is a firm believer that God loves everyone unconditionally and does not like any alternatives brought into her life or her family’s life.
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The events that unfold when the wives enter the other family’s house are very eye-opening to say the least. One is closed to other people’s ideas and beliefs, the other is open and respects others. One screams and shouts in anger when someone doesn’t believe the same things she does, the other listens intently. One got up and left during a celebration having nothing to do with religion, the other held hands and prayed when the family did. Which one do you think was positive and understanding? Surprisingly, it WASN’T the Christian. Isn’t that odd? Someone that thinks they are following God to the letter, and yet they represent God by acting like that.

Let me ask you a question. Who do you think we’re supposed to witness to?

Matthew9:9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

10While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ’sinners’?”

12On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Luke 7:33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.” ‘ 35But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”

Now, I know that you read the Bible and read about those nasty Scribes and Pharisees. The law mattered more to them than loving and giving to others.

Luke 11:37 Now when He had spoken, a Pharisee asked Him to have lunch with him; and He went in, and reclined at the table.

38When the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised that He had not first ceremonially washed before the meal.

39But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness.

40″You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also?

41″But give that which is within as charity, and then all things are clean for you.

42″But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

Have we turned into the Scribes and the Pharisees of the 21st century? It seems to me that when I see a Christian on television, it’s always about no. It’s always about what they can’t do, instead of what they can do. Have we forgotten that we follow the living God?

The episode will conclude next Wednesday at 8 CST. Watch today’s church-going Christian fight the battle of good and evil for all of us…by shutting the doors on her home to all who don’t believe like she does. I’ll leave with the same verses I referenced earlier in the week, because I just don’t think anyone has read this part of the Bible.

Luke 14:12 And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment.

13″But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,

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This will most likely be a weekly part of this blog where I, oddly enough, ask you to go elsewhere to read other’s opinions about differing subjects. If a good post is made somewhere, I definitely want to recognize it.

So much more than a bowl of candy

The World is not Enough

If it looks like a duck

All of these deal with materialism, something that’s been on my mind lately. Why give my views on it though, when I can give you three? Feel free to read these articles, you can post comments here or on the author’s site. Also feel free to post your own articles on this subject or your ways of rejecting materialism in exchange for faith in God. It’s something that everyone wants to talk about, but few act upon it.

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Luke 14:7And He began speaking a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them,

8″When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him,

9and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place.

10″But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you.

11″For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

12And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment.

13″But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,

14and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

15When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”

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Luke 6:42″Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

While I was reading “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey, one section in the book particularly caught my eye. It was about being proactive. I’m going to quote it here, because I sometimes have the same problem described.

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“I would challenge you to test the principle of proactivity for thirty days. Simply try it and see what happens…make small commitments and keep them. Be a light, not a judge. Be a model, not a critic. Be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Try it in your marriage, in your family, in your job. Don’t argue for other people’s weaknesses. Don’t argue for your own. When you make a mistake, admit it, correct it, learn from it — immediately. Don’t get into a blaming, accusing mode. Work on things you have control over. Work on you. On be.

Look at the weaknesses of others with compassion, not accusation. It’s not what they’re not doing or should be doing that’s the issue. The issue is your own chosen response to the situation and what you should be doing. If you start to think the problem is “out there,” stop yourself. That thought is the problem.

People who exercise their embryonic freedom day after day will, little by little, expand that freedom. People who do not will find that it withers until they are literally “being lived.” They are acting out the scripts written by parents, associates, and society.”
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That seems like a great message and a great attitude to have in the world doesn’t it?

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I’ve spent a good portion of the night surfing through many Christian blogs. I was surprised to find that there are many blogs out there that have set up an online ministry. It seems as though everyone is a Billy Graham as soon as they get a blog. I’ll have to admit after looking back through some of my posts, I am guilty of this sometimes as well. Is this really what the world needs, another minister? Or do they need to relate. I know I am. I’m looking for someone that is going through the same struggles that I am. I’m also looking for someone that’s already been there, so they can guide me to the right path. Where are these blogs? Where are the Christian blogs that make mistakes, sometimes give in to temptation, get angry, and admit they aren’t perfect? How can we build relationships as bloggers, when the platform is the internet equivalent of a podium?

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As any Southern Baptist probably knows, once saved, always saved. Those that go back to their sinful ways are just “backsliding”. I guess that can somewhat define my blog for moment (not the sinning part, just the backsliding). I have been rather sick for a few days and even though I was able to post, I just couldn’t muster anything new or innovative to put on the site. My point here is quality, not quantity, and I hope that most of my readers use an RSS feed reader to keep up-to-date since you don’t have to visit the site directly. You just visit one central location each day and it tells you when this blog has been updated. Most blogs that put up internet ads to try to make a profit don’t really like this method, but since I never intend to try to make a profit from A Christian Blog, I don’t mind and even encourage it.

One note, however, is Casting Crowns. Being sick leaves you plenty of time to listen to music and watch television. The self-titled album, Casting Crowns, is one of the most inspirational I have ever heard. Every time my CD changer makes it around to that CD, I automatically want to go out and save the world. I’d highly recommend it to anyone that likes contemporary Christian music. Even if you don’t, just reading the words to the songs are worth the price of the CD. Their second CD, Lifesong, is a little slow for my tastes. I love upbeat music that has deep meaning and gets you going in the morning. I can’t define it, but Casting Crowns strikes a chord within me.

Being on a budget, I don’t exactly have the funds to just buy every Christian CD on the top 10 list. If anyone has any suggestions on music that is a lot like Casting Crowns, I’d love to hear it.

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