To shop or not to shop...

I don't normally go out shopping on "Black Friday" because I can't stand the crowds and the stress. PLUS - I'm not a morning person, as most of you know, so getting up at 0-dark-thirty does NOT work for me. However, there are a couple of things on my kids' lists that will be at pretty good prices this coming Friday. I now find myself torn. To shop or not to shop? Online shopping is much more appealing, but I don't know if these same deals will be available online. A friend and fellow blogger, Mandie, informed me of the website that shows all BF ads, so that's how I found out about the great upcoming deals.

Another thing that I'm going back and forth on is a ministry opportunity that our Jr. High minister has offered. He has suggested that a group of people go with him to these BF sales and offer hot chocolate and snacks to the people waiting in line. He says this would be a great way to demonstrate the love of Christ, by being there to give rather than to get. I agree. I think it's a great idea! Again, I think of dragging myself out of bed in the wee hours of the middle of the night (is it OK to use those terms together?) and trying to overcome my grumpiness to demonstrate love. I'm not sure it would work. It would be like Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker fighting! I'm ashamed to say that at that time of the day, I would look much more like the cold, angry shopper than the loving, humble Christ who died for my sins. I hate to admit it, but there it is.

I do believe that I have grown quite a bit spiritually in the last few years. However, I have a LONG way to go. A friend and I are currently reading the book, You are Gifted (see previous post). In the second chapter one of the discussion questions was "Do you feel you have already 'arrived' spiritually"? Heck no! I don't see how anyone could answer that one affirmatively this side of heaven.

Well, after talking this out with you all, I still don't know what I'll be doing on Friday morning. How about you? Are you going to venture out into the cold dark of night/morning to wait in line for awesome "deals"?

a new read

Sorry for not posting in so long. I haven't had any inspiration of late. However, I started reading a new book and I wanted to share the name of it with you. It's called You Are Gifted by Ken Hemphill (link is to Amazon). I've wanted to do another study on spiritual gifts as well as the role of women in the church. When sharing my desire with a friend at church, she asked if I wanted to study together; I immediately said, "Yes!". It's always so much better when their is someone to discuss things with and be held accountable to. This is our first week to get together and discuss what we've read. I will tell you that I'm very excited about this book. I have already read chapter one TWICE! The second time I went through and underlined and highlighted several things. My initial intention was to NOT write in the book at all so that I could share it on PaperBackSwap.com, but this book is a definite keeper for me! One of the things written in the book that really stood out to me is this: The author was talking about how the Jews were angry with the followers of Christ and accused them of pretty much rocking the world. The author then asks why believers today are not accused of the same thing. Great question! I've wondered this myself. Apparently we do not truly believe in the power of Christ and that this power is IN US, or else we would be really shaking things up. Hopefully I will get to the point of belief and begin exercising the God-given power on a daily basis.

Well, that's all I have time for today. I encourage you to get a copy of the book, read the Scripture the author uses, and ask God to shake things up in your life!

Thanks for stopping by.

The Gov't Can - an amusing video by Tim Hawkins

Here's a link to a really funny video.

video



I tried posting the video itself, but it didn't fit properly on my blog for some reason. Anyway, the video is well worth your 2-3 minutes.

Spiritual Feedings

When reading my Bible, I usually don't read any commentaries because I don't want another person's opinion clouding my understanding of what the passage is saying. However, I did read a commentary on 1 Peter 2, and I'm glad I did because it actually flipped on the "a-ha" switch! 1 Peter 2:2 says, "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good." How many times have I read and heard this passage? Multiple times, of course. I've been a believer for over 30 years now. Well, the commentary on this helped me to better understand the probable emphasis that Peter was trying to convey. I frequently use e-sword - it's a free service that you can download, and it has greatly helped me in my Biblical studies; I highly recommend that you utilize it. Anyway, while reading 1 Peter, I glanced at the Matthew Henry commentary that comes up on the side (I think it's an extra download that I added). Here are his observations on this passage:

"The apostle, like a wise physician, having prescribed the purging out of vicious humours, goes on to direct to wholesome and regular food, that they may grow thereby. The duty exhorted to is a strong and constant desire for the word of God, which word is here called reasonable milk, only, this phrase not being proper English, our translators rendered it the milk of the word, by which we are to understand food proper for the soul, or a reasonable creature, whereby the mind, not the body, is nourished and strengthened. This milk of the word must be sincere, not adulterated by the mixtures of men, who often corrupt the word of God, 2Co_2:17. The manner in which they are to desire this sincere milk of the word is stated thus: As new-born babes. He puts them in mind of their regeneration. A new life requires suitable food. They, being newly born, must desire the milk of the word. Infants desire common milk, and their desires towards it are fervent and frequent, arising from an impatient sense of hunger, and accompanied with the best endeavours of which the infant is capable. Such must Christians' desires be for the word of God: and that for this end, that they may grow thereby, that we may improve in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour."

This reminded me of when my son was born. He was ALWAYS hungry (still is, by the way) and I found myself nursing him every 1 1/2 to 2 hours! I was one exhausted mother. Remembering his constant hunger for milk and how I should be like that with God's word really got me thinking. Now I know that I should be well past the need for "spiritual milk" and require more "meat", this analogy still hit home with me. I don't think that I should cut back on the frequency of my feedings now that I'm spiritually older. If I picked up and read my Bible every two hours or so, how much more would I feel full? It's definitely something that I want to challenge myself to do.

This challenge reminds me of something I've asked my kids to do with me. I want us to log 100 things that we want to do before we die. You know, a bucket list. I've posted mine before here, but I don't think it was 100 things! I asked my kids to do this because I am daily striving to improve our home school experience. I want them to have a passion for learning and I desperately want to encourage them to strive toward fulfilling their dreams. It has also helped me to know my kids better. I've been surprised by some of the things they've come up with. Well, one of the things that I'm going to add to my list, is to increase the frequency of my spiritual feedings, and read my Bible at least every two hours when possible.

Does God Exist?

These videos are lengthy, but well worth your time. I only wish that I had known about this "debate" when it had actually taken place two years ago. Two episodes of Nightline's "Face-Off" discussing "Does God Exist". If you do take the time to view them, please share your thoughts with me. I can't help but wonder if those who believe other than I do feel that the people representing their beliefs were thorough and concise on defending them.

scrambled thoughts

Have you ever struggled with organizing your thoughts? Do you ever get so easily distracted that you can't complete a thought much less communicate it? Yeah, me too. There are a few things I've wanted to blog about, but when I try to express one, I start thinking about something else. I thought that maybe if I sat down and started typing them out, it might help - even if they are incomplete. Maybe I'll just post the thoughts without elaborating on them. We'll see how it goes.

Thought One: Why do we take for granted those closest to us?

Thought Two: Why do we stop keeping in touch with friends? For some reason an old pen-pal came to my mind last night. This was a person I went to school with for a brief period of time, but we really hit it off. After he moved away we kept in touch through writing letters (long before the days of facebook!). We did this for about two years, then all of a sudden stopped. For the life of me, I can't remember why.

Thought Three: Why am I stuck in a spiritual holding pattern - again!?

Thought Four: Why do I not do something (I don't like how I worded that, but can't think of a better way) unless I can devote ALL of my time to it? For instance:

I'm attempting to research and record my family's genealogy, but I've come to a stand still.
I started to look into "the Law" and why we no longer follow every guideline that was given by God (see this post) but because of the overwhelming number of verses that mention "the Law", I have not pursued that study. In my mind if I'm not able to sit down in a room full of open books, note pads and pencils with nothing else to do but study a particular subject, well then, I shouldn't even bother at all! I mean, I have children to teach, feed, etc. I have a house to clean, laundry to wash, groceries to buy, bills to pay. I don't have time to study my family's past generations or even God's Law for that matter! Seriously! That's how my mind works. I tell myself that if I can't give God at least an hour of study time, then I shouldn't do any. I mean, He deserves more than 5-10 minutes a day - that's an insult! So, I'll admit my short comings and refuse to play the "I gave God some time today" game (which is the reason for number three, I'm sure). Sick, isn't it? I know some of you will say this is the "perfectionist" in me. Here's a list of the ten telltale traits of a perfectionist.

I feel like a hamster in a wheel running, running, running, but getting no where!

That Was Old Testament

I have been reading everyone's favorite book of the Bible - Leviticus. If you've read it you know that there are a lot of do's and don'ts (how to pluralize don't properly?). It got me to wondering why some of these don'ts have become "OK you can do that now". There are many people, and I have probably been one of them on occasion, who say something like, "Well, that was 'Old Testament'". Ohhhhkay - so just because it's in the OT means we should no longer abide by it?

Let me go ahead and tell you specifically what I'm wondering about. TATTOOS. Leviticus 19:28 says, "You shall not make cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the LORD." Now, this is the only place in the Bible where I could find the word "tattoo". I don't know if God is talking about ALL sorts of tattoos that people get for any number of reasons, or if the emphasis should be placed on the part of the verse that says, "for the dead". Apparently this was a custom of pagans during that time and God didn't want His people doing that sort of thing. So, tattoos are OK if they're not "for the dead". This was just ONE of MANY laws given and for the most part, most of those laws are still, for the most part, observed today: Keeping the Sabbath (debate on which day is the Sabbath, but I won't go there), no idols, do not defraud your neighbor, do not hate your brother, do not practice magic or sorcery. These are just a few of the laws given in this specific chapter. There are many others like: no marrying your sister and such. There are also laws about not cutting your hair/beard a certain way. So I'm just wondering when it became OK to stop following these laws. Deuteronomy 11:1 instructs His people to "keep His requirements, His decrees, His laws and His commands ALWAYS" (emphasis mine).

Some will argue that because Christ and died on the cross we are now covered by grace. I get that. HOWEVER, Christ said in Matthew 5:17-18, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."

Paul tells us in Romans 3 that we are no longer saved by keeping the Law, HOWEVER, in verse 31 he says, "Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law".

Now don't think that I'm hatin' on people with tattoos. I'm not. I am only using this one as an example. I am simply thinking out loud here, which is usually dangerous in my case! I have not exhausted all of the verses in Scripture that deal with the Law. Honestly, I don't know if I can - there are SO MANY verses that talk about God's laws, which makes me again wonder why we do what we do today. Why do we fall back on the saying, "that was Old Testament"?