Church

Apparently I have more to say then I realized :). I don't believe in coincidences. Just the other day I was talking to my friend Julie, and for some reason or other we were talking about churches. I talked about my frustration with churches getting so stuck on doing things a certain way, being small minded and confined to a box, and also my frustration with churches getting torn apart over arguments that don't matter in the long run. Please keep reading before you make any comments on those statements. My non-coincidence is that last night I felt like I should re-read 1 Corinthians. So, I read chapter 1, and guess what it talks about? Divisions in the church. I think churches as a whole need to rethink how they are doing things and WHY they are doing things. Sometimes a church gets so stuck on it's denomination and following the rules of the denomination I think they miss the point. When we start making all these extra rules and making those rules more important than the gospel and sharing that gospel with a lost and dying world I think we're being a lot like the Pharisees. They were so wrapped up in following their rules, and being righteous in their own eyes that when God was right before their eyes they didn't even recognize Him. Sad, sad day for them. 1 Corinthians 1:10 says, "Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment." This summer I decided to get a "grown up" Bible (meaning I got a Macarthur Study Bible, that has notes), because the Bible I had was a $10 Bible my dad had gotten me to take to class. Nothing wrong with that Bible, it was still God's word, but I had underlined and made so many notes in it that I was always drawn to what I'd underlined and written and was just skimming that rather than really taking in the word. I also decided to switch from NIV to NASB just for something different. Anyway, the notes on that verse say, "Doctrinal unity, clearly and completely based on Scripture must be the foundation of all church life. Both weak commitment to doctrine and commitment to disunity of doctrine will severly weaken a church and destroy true unity." It also says that Paul is talking about unity among the local assembly of believers, and not the universal church. Last night I looked at the beliefs of some various denominations. Most of them believed that a relationship with Jesus is the only way to heaven. Many of them have similar foundational beliefs about the trinity, heaven, and what's to come. The place where they really differ is what sorts of things are emphasized after salvation (for example: baptism or speaking in tongues). If at the core of it all the churches in a community believe that Jesus is the only hope for our lost and dying world, then why can't they put aside the other differences and work together to spread that hope? The speaker at the Disciple Now weekend I was just at at my parents church down in Lawton said that most people don't have a problem with Jesus, they have a problem with Christians (something along those lines). It's so frustrating to me to see a church reject something because that's "not how things have always been". Let me say it again, "If you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you've always gotten." Different isn't necessarily bad. And if you aren't pleased with the results you are getting then maybe different is what you need. It's also frustrating to see churches get wrapped up in an argument, and maybe even split, because if as Christians our focus is on fighting one another then we are being removed from the real fight that is going on, the one we can't see. One that gets me the most is predestination. Does it necessarily matter if we are predestined or not? I believe the great commission says to go to "all the world", not "all the world that I chose ahead of time." Now, let me clarify something, I believe that you need to know what you believe and why. I'm not saying we need to go out there willy-nilly and just accept everything that is given to us by any church leader. To grow as a Christian we must be constantly looking at God's word, taking it to heart, and using it as the standard to measure anything that anyone tells us. If you can't find where it lines up with what God has to say, then it's probably not something you should take to heart. I don't know if my point is being made clearly here. I just feel like if churches in different communities were united in the cause of reaching our LOST and DYING world with CHRIST'S LOVE we would see something amazing happen. In the end, accepting Him as savior is what's going to get you into heaven...not baptism, speaking in tongues, the Lord's supper, going to church, dancing or not dancing, the music your church plays, whether or not their are instruments, or whatever. We shouldn't be about growing the Baptist church or the Pentecostal church or the Methodist church or the Lutheran church or what have you, but on offering salvation to as many people as possible. I will end with another non-coincidence. I was looking through "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis looking for a quote of his that I really like. I never did find it, but I ran across something else I underlined that deals with this subject. (You may notice that I quote a lot of books, music, movies, etc..if someone else has already said it well, then why should I try to say it any different?).

"In the same way the Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself are simply a waste of time. God became Man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose. It says in the Bible that the whole universe was made for Christ and that everything is to be gathered together in Him."

A Positive Attitude

I said that part of my purpose in writing this blog was to hold myself accountable... sometimes that will mean admitting things I maybe don't want to admit. This is one of those times. I tend to be a negative person. I get somewhat cynical when it comes to thinking about good things happening to me, and I also worry a lot. I used to tell myself not to get my hopes up too high because I'd just end up disappointed. If you don't have any sort of expectation, you can't be let down, right? And I used to think that I had to worry because no one else would. However, if there was someone else around that was negative or worrying then I would try to make them think more positively or stop their worrying. Don't quite understand my reasoning there. As far as the negativity thing goes my sister, Jessica, is opposite me. If it's a rainy, dreary day I feel like wearing dreary clothes to match. She goes the other way and wears as many bright colors as possible so that there is some brightness in the day. You know the Relient K song that says, "Lately the weather has been so bi-polar and consequently so have I." That could definitely apply to me. And when I have carried on to her about a rough day, she'll say, "Well, what was something good that happened today?" I realize that I have this problem, and they always say (they being the people that say things) the first step in fixing a problem is admitting that the problem exists in the first place. So, I've been working on having a positive attitude lately. It's not been easy either. A lot of people know that I do not care for Tuesdays. Mondays I can handle alright because their the first day of the work week, and it's like a fresh start. Wednesdays are the middle of the week, Thursday is almost Friday, and then Friday is Friday, and of course there's the weekend. Tuesdays are just an annoying filler day. And it seems like things that have gone wrong have happened on Tuesdays, and there are other things that happen every Tuesday that aren't particularly pleasant. Every Tuesday I wake up expecting it to be a bad day. Well, if that's my attitude toward it then most likely it will be a bad day. Not necessarily because bad things are going to happen because I think they will, but because my expectations are set on the "bad" things I will notice them and completely miss out on whatever good things may happen. I feel like the Tuesdays that I make the decision to have a good attitude about end up being even worse than when I just don't think about it. However, I'm only being tested on what I'm trying to do, so I need to continue facing every Tuesday with a more positive mindset. I have a book called, "The Bible Promise Book for Women" that has different Scriptures broken down by topic, and at the beginning of the section on Perseverance (fyi I have a bookmark in that section and read it A LOT) there is a quote from Margaret Thatcher that says, "You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it." I've been fighting this Tuesday battle a lot and losing. Today I think I had some small victories. My kids said some funny things today. They say funny things most day, but I am choosing to remember those things over frustrations and annoyances from the day. We've been working on writing their names a lot, and today the four that were there for the morning did the best they have ever done. It was so exciting to see the work we've been putting in really paying off. My job can be very frustrating, and some times I feel like I'm not getting anywhere, but today I was reminded that sometimes what I say does get through, and that we just have to keep plugging away. As for my worrying issue, I have gotten better at not worrying. The Bible specifically says not to worry in Luke 12:22-34. In verse 25 & 26, Jesus says, "And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life's span? If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why then do you worry about other matters?" I'm pretty sure worrying quickly shaves hours off my life rather than lengthening it or deepening it. That second part just now struck me, about not being able to do a little thing. We can't add time to our lives, so why waste the time we do have being negative and being wrapped up in worry? And I certainly don't think that living life with low expectations is the way to go, because that can turn into a life without hope, and I most certainly have hope, and I think from there can turn into a life of indifference. And an indifferent, hopeless life is not what I'm looking for.

Cats and Christianity

I am not a cat person. However, I am definitely not a mouse person. I had a mouse problem in my rent house, and I caught three mice, but there was one that refused to die. I tried glue traps, snap traps, and poison. At one point I even chased him around my kitchen with glue traps in hand. If you've seen the movie Mouse Hunt, I'm pretty sure my mouse was that mouse's cousin... Anyway, I was so desperate to be rid of that pesk that I got a cat. I NEVER dreamed I would have a cat. The day I made this decision I wasn't feeling very well, so Jessica and Steve went out to the area of the KMart parking lot that is designated for people giving away animals and picked up the cat that is Roscoe. He was seven weeks old when I got him, and he was tiny. He fit in one hand. He was soft and cuddly and so sweet. Then one day he went psycho and he is now the cat that most people know and are unsure of. He is still soft and he's beautiful, but he will turn on you without a moments notice. The scars on my hands, arms, and ankles are evidence of this. I don't know what happened, it was literally an overnight change. Anyway. I was driving home from Lawton today, and Roscoe was sitting in my lap being oh so sweet. All weekend long he tormented all the people staying at my parents house. Everyday when I get home from work he will come and rub on my legs, and I pick him up and within five minutes he is biting me. I've tried a spray bottle, I've tried distracting him with toys, I've tried "time out" (something we read online, don't know whose idea that was), and nothing works. I often catch myself thinking, "I feed him, I give him a place to stay, I provide everything for him, yet he continues to bite my hand and be hateful." As I was driving and contemplating Roscoe's bi-polarness (yes, I'm making up words now), it struck me that Christians do the same thing. We have a God that loves us and provides for us, yet we continue to "bite" Him by doing our own thing, being stubborn and only caring about ourselves and what we want to do. Roscoe is a lot nicer to me when there are a lot of people around. Possibly because there are more people for him to bite, and when certain persons won't stop tormenting him he can come to me for safety. However, when it's just the two of us all bets are off. I think Christians do something like that also. To other people we may talk the talk big time, but when we are alone with God it's a different story. When we face a trial we may appear to be leaning on Him, but one on one we're blaming Him or complaining to Him or questioning Him. How often, I wonder, does He look at us (really I'm talking about myself here) and think, "I provide all this for her, yet she continues to turn on me." And He has provided so much more for me than I provide for Roscoe. I've been told that cats are stubborn, and that people don't own cats the cats own their people. I can't help but think that our attitude should be more like dogs. They're known for their loyalty, and some even show unconditional love to people that don't deserve it. I think one of my favorite examples is from the movie "Up" (and I'm aware that is an animated movie, and not real life). When Dug, the "good" dog, first meets Carl and Russell he says, "I just met you, but I love you." That's a much more pleasant attitude. And leaves less scars on my hands... Clearly if you have an active, growing relationship with Jesus it shouldn't be an "I just met you" love, it should grow deeper every moment of every day, but it should be that pure. I don't know, just thoughts I had.

Note: This time last year I could say without a doubt that I was a different and better person than I had been at that time the year before. Right now I feel like I've gotten stuck in a rut, and it's really frustrating. I've heard a lot lately, "If you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you've always gotten." So, I'm trying to change things up, which is why I'm making it known that I even have this blog. I'm not really looking to have a lot of dedicated readers, but I think just knowing that there is the possibility of people I know reading this will make a difference. Sort of an accountability thing for me. I don't usually like to be very transparent, but I think that is something I need to be doing. I shouldn't feel like I need to hide anything. So, here I am, being transparent. Whether anyone actually reads this or not, or comments or not doesn't so much matter. I just know that it's out there, and that someone could read it. Also, let me forewarn anyone who may read this, I may seem quiet in person, but once I get writing I can go on and on, so don't feel obligated to read every last word :). I'm also banking on this helping me sleep at night, I can get my thoughts out so they aren't keeping me awake all night...5:30 comes fast!