Christianity Community

God & America... is there a significant relationship?

2008-09-07T05:41:42Z

I was reading Matthew,
43Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

and I had some thoughts...

has there ever been another nation that has had 'in God we trust' on it's money?

I know I'm in the minority... but I don't think it's a completely ridiculous notion that falwell had about God letting 9/11 happen, because of the increase in the acceptance of immorality in America.

originally... America, as we know it today, was largely a church plant, from England.
'Godly' principles were so embedded in the culture that the national textbook taught things like the ABCs with scripture.

sometimes I wonder if this whole idea of 'if America falls... then Christ will come back.' isn't groundless.

While in many ways errant, like say a David... America has been a unique experiment:
our very structure of government is founded on OT scripture

this nation has also been a profound force for the evangelism...

thoughts?

edit:
http://whune.livejournal.com/852322.html

Prayer Request

2008-09-07T05:22:55Z

I just found out a girl I have gone to school with all my life, from grade school to my senior year of college, was hit by a car while biking (the driver ran).

She is a great girl with a bright future ahead of her. She is okay right now, but has skull fractures and has some speech and hearing impairment at the moment. Please pray for her. Thanks.

Stop Commodifying Christianity!

2008-09-07T01:33:47Z

Today, I stumbled upon a local station affiliate that played Christian music and called themselves " The positive alternative". Positive? Check. Alternative? WHOA.. hold on a second there!

If my interpretation of scripture is correct, the idea is to be in the world, not OF the world. The world we live in here in the US is mainly a market-driven, culture-conscious, and consumerist society. To sell goods and keep the economy going, we aggressively market products that reflect the lifestyle that is most idealized. This comes with pluses and minuses, but is a necessary part of any capitalist economy.

The station says it seeks to honor Christ, So where's the problem?

Christian media has started to reflect market Data. The band that you hear on this "alternative" station sounds exactly like the other bands on secular radio, uses the same look, jargon, and style, slapped with the obligatory mentions of Jesus and Lord, Saved, Blood, etc. It seemed like every other song was about "Me", or " I", talking about how the person was so grateful, so broken, so this, so that, so forgiven. Buzzwords combined with loud guitars in a way that was very catchy. Even I found myself pulled in by the guitar riffs. Still,I found the emphasis, time after time, was on the singer paying homage to his actions before God, but not about God himself. These musicians wanted to praise God, but instead started with their Ego's first, it seems. Appeals for what you could do for the station outweighed suggestions about what you could do to enhance your relationship with God.

Interestingly enough, not one song mentioned the Holy Spirit in any form, as if the idea of it wasn't trendy enough.

This leaves me concerned.. Where is the line between what is really Christian and what is secular drawn? Do we have to comercialize our faith for it to survive? Is the Holy Spirit "Unhip" to have on a youth-oriented station?

I shudder to think what will happen as we start to create Christ in our own image ( which I think most of us can agree is happening).Is being a Christian about listening to only Christian music? or is it about more than our labels? Christ came to shatter image, to shatter ego, and to shatter once and for all the way of sin and death. Let us not shatter HIS image by creating a "Hipster Christ".

De iugīs ('on yokes') [or also "more on fruit"]

2008-09-07T00:47:44Z

To preface: I wrote this entry in my own journal a few days ago, but I decided to post it here in case someone would like to read it. I thought it might be a good read for some, or that I could maybe get some more input on it. It's actually kind of a part of a 'series' I have been writing on fruit, which would be hard to find in my journal because I didn't put them in memories, although if you want to search for me on Facebook and read all of these in my notes you can (info in my userinfo). Now then:

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.--Matthew 11:29

Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." John 8:31-32

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?--James 2:19-20

Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.--Luke 9:23

Come, follow me...--Matthew 4:19 [partial]

All too often I have heard, 'It doesn't matter what I do. I'm saved,' or ,'I'm forgiven, so what does it matter?' Or even, 'I'm not saved through works, so it doesn't matter what I do or don't do.' This is dangerous thinking.

To be sure, nothing we can do will make us righteous in the eyes of God. Christ flat out says this to us after Jesus tells the rich young man he must sell his stuff and follow the commandments to be saved. The disciples are astonished at the dialogue and ask 'who then can be saved?' Jesus says that you can't with man (works), but 'with God all things are possible.' (Matthew chapter 19). We are saved by grace through faith, and only God can work that out.

But this isn't really about faith vs. works. It's about yokes and why the aforementioned anecdotal statements are dangerous.

What is a yoke? Well, if you really want to know, just ask the Israelites pre-Christ. In fact, just ask practicing Jews today. Either that, or ask a farmer. A yoke is something that is put on an animal in order to attach things to it, like a plow or something. But what is this to the animal? It is a burden.

I don't think it's unfair to say that the Law the Israelites were under was hard. How could it not be? How can you live up to perfection as a flawed human? But what many Christians (or possibly even secular people who are interested) today perceive the Law is that it was some weird rules that God put on the Jews for whatever reason. But the Law had a purpose. It kept the Israelites distinct and separate from the many groups of people around them. It set them apart in such a way that they could eventually see the culmination in God's perfect plan: the Christ, the Messiah to the Jews and Gentiles. It put them on a path toward the most life altering event in history.

And there we see the other purpose of a yoke. A yoke isn't just something that weighs animals down. A yoke also keeps them on a path. It keeps them from going astray for the purpose their master has in mind. In the case of the Israelites, it kept them on the path which would bring glory to the entire world.

You may be thinking why all this talk about the Law is about. "We're Christians!" But clearly Christ knows that the yoke isn't done away with. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, as referenced above is a pretty important statement. Sure it seems like a great thing to read. It makes you feel good inside. And it should! But there is still a point to be made: 'Take my yoke'. There is still a yoke. And then go further: Jesus says to learn from Him. In John 8 He's clear that learning from Him is not only important, but essential to the life as a disciple. In fact, if the translation I used can be reliable, He even adds a 'really' or 'truly' in the statement. 'You are truly my disciples.' Jesus knows that there will be people who profess Him with their lips, but that can just be for their own reasons. If they don't hold to his teachings...maybe they're not actually His disciples?

What are Jesus' teachings? There are many, but they always get pointed back to the Greatest Commandments: Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The other is Love your neighbor as you love yourself. This is the yoke of Christ.

It sure seems easy. It sure seems like there should be no hubbub over this, no reason to have to write this, and so on. But this is a HUGE yoke. This is the yoke that we have been given to keep us on God's final path, the path to glory for Him and unto the end of the age.

Again, it should still seem easy. But what does this entail? Well, for one, holding to Christ's teachings. For example, bearing this yoke makes the world hate us, because we hold to Christ's teachings. The world hates us for being one with Christ! Not only that, we must choose to deny our lusts, our greed, our prejudices, our wants, in order to fulfill the first commandment. This is taking up our cross. It involves loving even our neighbor. This doesn't mean just our next door neighbor or the holding the door for the guy behind you at a restaurant. It means loving your enemy. This doesn't just mean the guy who called you a name or the girl who snubbed you, or even the guy who hit your car and ran. In the post-9/11 era it's easy to know exactly what you personally would like to do if you were face to face with bin Laden or another terrorist or whomever is our enemy. On a personal level, it doesn't matter what they did. If they are hurt, you must help them, for example. Don't you see how tough this is, and how people will hate you for it? How often every day do we show disdain for the non-Christians, and in fact, our brothers and sisters in Christ?

Just then the two simple yet 'Greatest' commandments seem very hard. Possibly intentionally harder than the Law the Israelites were under.

Jesus knows we can't do this constantly and consistently. Of course he forgives. That's part of why we get rest for our souls. Another is that the reward for taking the yoke upon ourselves is the reward at the Last Day. But He commands us to take the yoke upon us. It is definitely not optional. We must take the yoke upon ourselves to find the rest for our souls.

Even the demons believe in Jesus, as mentioned in the Epistle of James. And we know Satan knows Scripture, because he even tries to use it against Jesus during the temptation! So you can be sure his cronies know Scripture too. But the simple matter is that they won't put the yoke on themselves.

But what does this yoke end up doing to us? It makes us do what our master wants us to do. It keeps us in line so we can do the work He wants. Whether the work is following the two Great Commandments or the teachings that Jesus gives us in the gospels (which all point to the two Commandments), we still do it under the yoke of Christ, which allows the Holy Spirit to work in us. The works are a byproduct of being under this yoke that constantly drives us and guides us, and have little to do with us. We put on the yoke and become the vessels for the Holy Spirit to perform God's will, which show as...fruit of the Spirit.

It's easy to say you're one with Christ and yet not be burdened and choose to not burden yourself. But the thing is, we don't get awesome privileges on earth: we get the hardest work ever. It's also easy to say you're doing a whole bunch of work, but if it's under your own created yoke and not under the yoke of Christ it is pointless toil without any grace and rest for your soul.

christianity @ 2008-09-06T17:33:00

2008-09-06T16:03:23Z

Today I've started to read a wonderful book, "The white rose", by Inge Scholl. Does her name sound familiar to you? It would be good if it were so. Hans and Sophie Scholl, together with many other german students, were the center of a group of students in Munich who stood in resistance to the nazi regime in the middle of the last century.

It is an awesome read, and more than once brought tears to my eyes. And an enormous relief. Not all germans were nazis. Yes, many hid from their responsibility, but many others also were hopelessly encircled by the nazi machine. But that was the case with the Scholls too. Yet they did something.

Their biography is very honest. Like many other german youths they had been deceived by the Nazis too. They found, love for their homeland could not be a bad thing. Sticking more together as a nation could not be a bad thing. Improving Germany's situation could not be a bad thing. But unlike many others, they didn't stop thinking for themselves. Which eventually changed their views radically. First they emigrated into the inward. Into the christian-humanist family, into the religion, into poetry, philosophy and art. But at some point, they stood up. Knowing what they were facing if caught, they knew that something had to be done. Like many other german resistants of the conservative spectrum they dreamt of a liberation of Germany from the inside out. They hoped for a revolution.

As history shows, they did not succeed with that goal. But they helped save something. Call it honor, call it the german face. They help young germans like me not to be thrown off german history with total disgust. SOME people cared.

My old life I spend in a communist background, in former communist east germany. I kinda thought communism and socialism had the monopoly on resistance against fascism. But that's not the truth. There were german christians, catholics, protestants, and others, who knew what was going on. The white rose gives a good example of that. There were no ultraheroic deeds like assassinations or guerilla warfare. Maybe there should have been such things. But people did what they did - trying to save the dignity of everyday life in peace and trust between neighbor and neighbor. They and others like Bonhoeffer gave us a gift, an idea. And I think I can see God's hands there. Sophie Scholl, shortly before her execution by the nazis, had a dream in which she was wearing a bride's clothing to carry a baby, her idea, to the baptism. She was wandering through the mountains, and there was an abyss before her. She fell down, but not before being able to place the baby at the side of the abyss. Her idea lives on.

I think there was a movie about them some time ago. I didn't see it, but I will see whether I can get the DVD some day. If you want to check it, here's the wikipedia link. It's pretty interesting as well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_rose

It's wonderful that there were such people, and that they were christians. It shows that we are not called to the supergreat feats, but there are things we all can do. A little bit of heroism is in all of us. We only need to find this spark in us. Jesus had it too, the bible calls Him a hero too in accounts of the OT, the hero of the tribe of Judah. I read this book and felt God touch me. I haven't had this for a long time. Thanks, Hans and Sophie, thanks Christoph, thanks Alex and Kurt and all the others.

christianity @ 2008-09-06T09:35:00

2008-09-06T08:44:07Z

A recent post had much to say about the european Union , and the need to 'watch and pray', yet I don't think that the Bible is very specific about ' end times' - any time coulda been 'End time' - the fall of Rome, the Black Death, the Fall of the British Empire - but we are still here.

Yet, as I say, many make much of the EU as being the place that will give us ' the Antichrist'.

Are there not 12 stars on the EU flag? isn't that a nod to Revelation? Well, there are more than 12 member states in the EU now - I dunno if the flag will get a makeover, but i have to say I am doubtful about this whole 'EU= The Antichrist' thing.

I feel it would be helpful if we knew how mature Christians from more established traditions read these passages that the 'rapture ready ' crowd want to show us.

How do the Orthodox and Roman Catholics among us see it?
So long as the Christians who believe in the imminent Rapture are the only ones talking, I get that the whole truth will never emerge. So, if you are not part of this tradition , could I ask for your take on things and what leads to those conclsions.

Learning to Trust God

2008-09-06T03:43:11Z

I haven't written very much about my personal life in the past few months, other than the fact that I had pulled back from discernment of the priesthood, gotten back together with Kristen, and that I possibly have cancer again. And I know that's a lot, but there has been so much more going on, and I've been having a difficult time getting a handle on everything. Lately things have started to become a bit clearer. In fact, I've realized what my greatest obstacle to walking my path has been, my whole life, but especially these past three and a half years since I've returned to my Catholic faith. I have a problem with trust. Specifically, I have a problem trusting God. The consequence of this lack of trust has been that ever since I've come back to my faith I have been attempting to control every step of my path. I've been trying to tell God what I want to do for Him, instead of resting in Him with a receptive heart ready to listen. This desire of mine to control every step of the way has led to rather disastrous ramifications, and it is directly responsible for the chaos of my life today (and chaos is a theme I will return to presently, because there is another revelation there). Allow me just briefly to walk through these past few years to demonstrate what I mean.

I don't want to go into great detail about my coming back to the Church, because I've done so before. But when I did return, it was in rather dramatic fashion. I had been living very badly for 10 years, and I had more or less abandoned my faith, with little less than a thread still keeping me attached. I reached a point when my restlessness began to consume me. I knew that I couldn't keep living as I was, knew that I couldn't allow my void to stay so empty, and knew that my choices in filling it were only making the abyss grow deeper. At the height of my restlessness, the world experienced the death of Pope John Paul II. That event served as a major catalyst, the beginning of the turning point in my life. I cried for about a week after he died, and it had very little to do with actual sadness over his death. Rather, it was because of the spotlight being shined on his life, how with every challenge, every affliction, every turn of the road, Karol Wojtyla said yes to God at every single step. For me this pointed a stark contrasting light on my own life, and how at every significant moment, at least from the time I was 18 or so, I had said no to God every step of the way. So many times He had reached out to me, and so many times I turned away and said no thanks, I'd rather do it my way. I'll be okay, I'll just let You know if I need help. Thanks anyway. John Paul II's death made this reality of my life become painfully clear and present, and so I cried tears of a deep pain, a pain at the very core of my being. It was the pain of rejection – not God rejecting me, but me rejecting God.

My soul now being in complete turmoil, knowing that I had gone terribly wrong but not knowing what to do about it, I received a phone call from my father. My father too had been having struggles with his faith. While he never abandoned his faith at all, I think it's fair to say that he went through a period of being very lukewarm about it. But he too was having an awakening of sorts, and so taking a shot in the dark, never expecting me to accept since he did not know what I was going through myself, he called me one day and invited me to go on a Catholic men's retreat in Malvern, PA. To his surprise I jumped at the chance. Immediately I knew that this was just what I needed. So I went with my father on this weekend retreat, and it was fantastic. The highlight of the weekend was the half hour that every retreatant gets in private adoration, meaning that I had the opportunity to go into a beautiful, small, private chapel where the Blessed Sacrament was exposed and spend a half hour alone with Our Lord in total silence. Never will I be able to do justice in words to what happened to me there. What I can say is that at that moment, in the very presence of Jesus Christ, the living God conquered me, and once again I cried. These tears were very different, though. These were not tears of pain, or of sadness, or really even of joy. They were more like tears of release, and in those tears all the poison of my soul came flooding out of me, while simultaneously I was being filled with the love of Christ. I was home. I was home with Christ and home in the Church once again.

Now this is where the trouble begins, or rather the beginning of an entirely new set of massive mistakes that I would make, understandable as many of them might be. Having come from where I was back into the Church, the prudent thing to do would have been to recognize my newfound desire to serve God and His Church, and to set myself on the task of listening to where He might be leading me. At that point I should have sought a spiritual director, sought guidance, and allowed myself to grow in my rediscovered – and in many ways newly discovered – Catholic faith. But prudence has never been my gift, and so instead I immediately, that very weekend, made a major announcement – I had decided to become a priest! I mean, looking back, while I understand being caught up in the emotion of it all, there was simply no way in the world I could have been ready to make that decision. Certainly God had called me to conversion, and perhaps it was true that He was calling me to the priesthood, also, but I gave myself no time for discernment, I sought no confirmation or guidance from a trusted spiritual guide. I just decided that this was how I was going to serve God, and that's how it would be. Once again, I decided to do it my way.

On one hand, following this path to the priesthood did bring with it some tremendous spiritual growth. At that point I did begin speaking with people, and I did find a spiritual director. I began to immerse myself in prayer and in spiritual reading, and it was at that time that I discovered Saint Augustine, which of course eventually led me to the Augustinians. But again, even in my meetings with my spiritual director and with the vocations director of the Augustinians, I was not seeking guidance on how to listen; I was asking them to lead me to the priesthood. In other words, I was telling them where I was called and asking them to take me there. Both my spiritual director and the Augustinian vocations director recognized this immediately, and so they set out, thankfully, on teaching me how to slow down, not to rush anything, to listen, and simply to allow all of this to unfold. They were attempting to re-calibrate me to God's rhythm so that I would no longer seek to move according to mine. They had some success, but my resistance was strong.

Soon thereafter I enrolled as a freshman at Villanova, not as a step along the path of discernment, but simply a step that needed to be taken so that I could become a priest. Nothing would deter me from this goal – not even God Himself. And so it went for the first two years, and I developed a reputation around campus, one that still exists to some degree today. I was Michael, the older guy on campus who was going to be a priest. But then I met Kristen. Kristen was and is absolutely amazing, and I fell hard for her almost immediately. But at the same time, the thought of falling in love terrified me. One of the problems with the fact that I made this impulsive decision to pursue the priesthood as a part of my conversion back to the Church was that in my mind, the two were intrinsically connected. I hated the way I lived before coming back to the Church, and I never wanted to return to that life. I was terrified that if I gave up on the priesthood, I would lose it all. It was as if being a priest was the only way I could be a Catholic, as if my faith was somehow bound up in my pursuit of the priesthood. Again, it was just a case of me trying to be in control of every step. I would not let God transform my heart. I would not let God take me and do with me what He would do. Rather, I decided how I must serve God and go to God, failing to recognize that the true mystery of the Cross is that we don't need to go to God, but instead God comes to us.

But Kristen was something special, and so I allowed my emotions to take over. Once again, just like my decision to become a priest at the first hint of a sign, I did the same thing with Kristen. Instead of recognizing my feelings for her and deciding that I needed to take a step back and listen, trying to hear what God was speaking to me in this, I decided that her entering in my life was the definitive sign that I was meant to be married, and so I went head first into a relationship with her. And it was an extremely passionate relationship, and we were saying I love you within a matter of weeks, if that long. Everything moved so fast, and again, I decided that this was how I would serve God, by marrying Kristen and raising a good Catholic family. But, of course, my restlessness would soon return.

After dating Kristen for about six months, I realized that I possibly could have made a big mistake. I knew that I was acting as impulsively as ever, and so I decided I really needed to consider things again. I went down to North Carolina for a week to be with her family, and then as soon as I got back I left for another retreat weekend, in hopes of figuring things out. The truth is that there was some real progress that weekend, and I began to think about this in the right way, and I began on some level to begin to listen. I started to allow myself to be passive in my discernment, to allow God to come to me, to allow my heart to be open in His presence. But that didn't last very long, and so again I made an impulsive decision, ended my relationship with Kristen, and once again pursued the priesthood full speed ahead.

But, of course, the vacillation was not over yet, as I still had not learned to trust God, I still had not learned that my job was simply to love Him, and allow Him to reveal His plan in whatever time frame He desired, and that so long as I continued to foster a desire to please Him, that in fact would be pleasing to Him. I will return to this in a moment, but for now I was not done with my vacillations, and in many ways, as hard as this might be to believe, the roller coaster was just about to begin. After spending the summer working to separate myself emotionally from Kristen, and help her to do the same, my thought was that with the summer apart, and with our schedules the coming school year being such that we wouldn't have a great deal of time to see each other, we would have the separation we needed to enable us both to get over each other. But of course, that would not happen. The separation I anticipated was not to be, because it was just weeks before school began that I was diagnosed with cancer, and Kristen was my rock through it all. In the months after my diagnosis, surgery, and ensuing treatment, she was by my side every step of the way, and instead of us having the opportunity to have time apart, we were spending more time together than ever. And with that, with the fact that our emotions and feelings had never really had time to cool down, and added to that the emotions that come along with a cancer diagnosis, everything was once again thrown into confusion. And so starting from that diagnosis and lasting the entire school year, I was living this sort of dual life, where I was telling her verbally that she needs to move on, and that I was going to be a priest, but physically and emotionally I was indicating just the opposite. It was not fair to her, to be sure, but I just didn't know what to do.

Finally in the second semester, when I was healthy once again, I started pushing her to begin dating other guys, hoping she would be able to move on. The problem is that she listened, and began dating someone, and it started getting a little bit serious. And with that, especially since I had never really allowed myself the opportunity to separate from her emotionally, I found myself getting jealous, very jealous. And as soon as those feelings of jealousy reached a certain point, once again I acted on impulse, and I abandoned my pursuit of the priesthood again, and told her I wanted to marry her. This seemed like a great decision at first, and finally we openly began to declare our love once again, but she was having trouble trusting that my decision was real, and the reality is that I was having trouble trusting it, too. I knew I had acted on absolute impulse yet again, but at this point, I was so tired, I was so worn down, that I no longer cared about what was right or wrong, what I really wanted, I no longer cared about anything other than not having to think about these things anymore. So I convinced myself that no matter what, I would pursue this relationship with total abandon. In other words, once again I was going to do it my way. And it turned out to be perhaps the biggest disaster of them all. Throughout the entire summer nothing worked out right between us, we argued for the first time ever, she was unable to separate herself from the guy she had been dating, I was pushing her to do things my way. Eventually Kristen decided she just needed to get away from everything, because it was tearing her apart, as well, and she just didn't know what she wanted to do. So after graduation in July she moved back to North Carolina, and she accepted a job in Texas. As it stands, she and I have no idea whether or not we're getting back together. Right now, both of us just need time away from it all.

The turmoil of this summer got to be too much for me. On top of everything, after once again making a radically life-altering decision on impulse that just added one more twist to the roller coaster of my life, it was discovered that my cancer may have returned (something which I will know for certain next week). That really ended up being the limit for me. I've since more or less just become numb. Every part of my life turned apathetic, and I longed to get back to school, for the change of scenery, for the structure, for the community, for the nearness it brings me to the sacraments (being able to go to Mass every day, weekly confession, adoration, etc.), having my spiritual director right here with me, I've needed all of that. And in the time I've been back, I've finally been able to reflect a bit on everything, on the summer, on my life, on where I keep going wrong. And that brings me to some of these realizations. The two primary ones involve what I referenced regarding my inability to trust in God, and the theme of chaos.

As far as trust in God is concerned, what I've recognized is that in this life, it is very rare that God will explicitly reveal His desire for us, His plan for us, such that we will have a detailed life-plan laid out for us that tells us exactly what we are going to do because we are certain that it is what God wants for us. Rather, we are called to walk by faith, and it is this faith that allows us to be purified in love, which is exactly why St. John of the Cross refers to faith as a dark night of purgation. Let me explain. Christ tells us that the greatest commandment is to love God with our whole heart, mind, strength, and soul. This in fact is what God desires from us and asks of us. When we do this, we establish for ourselves a certain compass for our lives. We walk according to the desire to please God, to serve God, and to love God. When we let this love of God be our compass and guide, it is then that we no longer need to know exactly what lies ahead of us. This is why faith requires an element of trust. My problem has always been that I could not handle the uncertainty of not being able to see very far ahead of me. The light of my future only extended a brief pace ahead of where I was, and that for me was a very scary thing. I think it's understandable, given how colossally I had failed at life for so long, and how afraid I am of failure in general. It was always so difficult being 25, 26, 27 years old and having absolutely no goal in life, no college behind me, no real thought of going back, no thought of what I wanted to do. It was, quite frankly, embarrassing. And so this is where the control comes in, and how it reveals how little I was trusting God. The fear of uncertainty I think is probably one of the greatest challenges to the spiritual life. After coming back to the Church and to my Catholic faith, had I really allowed God to work on my heart, had I allowed myself to become passive in His presence, receptive to the transformation He desired for me, I would have eventually learned to trust even in the midst of the uncertainty. That is exactly what faith is about, knowing that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose (Rom 8:28). But I did not trust this, I did not trust that in loving God I could be assured that He would work for my good, that no matter what happened in my life He would be with me, protect me, instruct me, guide me, provide for me. So I sought only to secure my own good, even under the cloak of seeking to do God's will. But it was never really God's will that I sought, it was only my own. So now, finally, I am learning to give up this control. I have taken a step back from everything, from discernment, from relationships, from everything, and I am going to simply focus on my school, my health, and most importantly, on building a relationship of trust with God, learning to truly seek to please Him, to let my love of Him be my guide, and to let the fear of uncertainty no longer possess me and control me.

Right now, as I said, my life is in absolute chaos, both internally and externally. In a way, though, this is exactly what I need to begin this development of trust in God. I've been spending a lot of time recently examining the creation accounts in the Book of Genesis, and I have found real hope in the first account, especially. There is so much more to that story than simply the effect of God's hand in the creation of the world. It really serves as such a beautiful metaphor for our relationship with God in this life. The chaos of the abyss mirrors the chaos of my own life, and yet in that story we see that God can send His Spirit upon the chaos and create something beautiful and perfect, and peacefully ordered according to His will. And what is most striking about that story, and how it contrasts with the fall of man related in the second account, is how the chaos offered no resistance to God's hand. It was not a matter of God struggling with the chaos and arising victorious, forcing it into this creation of His. Rather, the chaos was simply moved by God, passive before God. There was no resistance offered to God's work until man is taken out of his original environment and placed into the garden. Then man resists God's work, and the chaos returns once again. So in my present state of chaos, I am learning to simply let God be God, to do His work in me, and to trust that His Holy Spirit will indeed transform my chaos into something that is very good.

Helping the Poor

2008-09-06T01:39:22Z

I had the wonderful opportunity to go with a group to the rural Philippines a few months ago on a mission trip. God blessed the work of our hands in SO many ways while we were there. I've posted some pictures and thoughts here if anyone is interested.

christianity @ 2008-09-04T23:51:00

2008-09-05T06:51:46Z

Hi everyone, looking forward to conversing. If you want to know a little about me,I`ve written an introduction in my journal.

christianity @ 2008-09-04T11:16:00

2008-09-04T17:15:28Z

God loves you as who you are right in this very moment, but He loves you enough not to leave you there.

May God's blessing be on all of you, and may He fill your heart with His love. He is so good :o)

Prayer request for Habitat for Humanity worker - UPDATED

2008-09-04T13:34:08Z

Update September 5, 2008

It is with great sorrow we inform you that our great friend, Senior Crew volunteer Mel Hechel passed away today after sustaining an injury on the worksite in Seymour. Mel exemplified the spirit and dedication of Habitat volunteers everywhere. He had built homes in the Fox Valley with Greater Fox Cities Area Habitat for Humanity and around the world with Habitat for Humanity International. His skill, his knowledge, and his gentle caring manner will be greatly missed.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Habitat for Humanity Update ~ September 3, 2008

S P E C I A L B U L L E T I N

As you may have already heard, one of our beloved senior crew members was injured Tuesday morning on the worksite at 744 Foote Street, Seymour.

Apparently a plywood sheet on which he was walking broke. He fell approximately eight feet into the basement of the house under construction and suffered an injury to his head. He was flown by helicopter to Theda Clark Hospital where he is, at this time, undergoing treatment.

The investigation of the worksite has been completed and we are cleared to continue building this home.

The family of this volunteer has set up a website where you can read updates on his condition and post messages. They are checking it regularly and they do appreciate everyone’s kind words and thoughts. Please do not hesitate to extend your wishes for his recovery on this website. Please keep this family in your thought and prayers.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/melhechel

Update from the website: The CAT scan is showing damage to the left side of his brain, and behind his right eye.

One of the best books I have ever read (this is the closing passage and, really, the best part)

2008-09-04T11:00:30Z

WHAT IF?

The salvation of the whole created order is assured through the two missions from the Father, that of the Son and that of the Spirit. These two missions are present at the interior of each other, though without confusion. They cannot exist divorced from each other. But in order to understand the unique character of each mission, it might be useful to look at this impossibility, that is, if the one mission of the Spirit did exist without the one mission of the Son, and vice versa, what would be the result?

The Spirit is communion (koinonia), sharing, participation, fellowship in trinitarian life (2 Cor 13.13; 1 John 1.1-10; 3.23-24). Without the mission of the Spirit there is neither communion with God, nor communion among believers. We remain separated from God, and scattered fragments among ourselves. Without the mission of the Spirit the mission of the Son cannot begin, has no goal, no terminus. Without the mission of the Spirit the history the Son constitutes by entering time at the Annunciation and at Bethlehem lacks the act of purposeful movement. Without the mission of the Spirit the son of Mary of Nazareth remains an unusual man without a substantive religious identity significant for life beyond the boundaries of his country. Without the mission of the Spirit the mysterious acts of Christ do not become real in us, but remain acts of an ancient wandering preacher who told memorable parables and lived a selfless life. Without the mission of the Spirit we cannot locate the Christ or his saving history, and the mission of the Son lacks the specific weight of God. Without the Spirit, the Son is the way, and the truth and the life, but without actualization. Without the mission of the Spirit the life in the vine and the branches is not the same. Without the mission of the Spirit we are not children carrying within a life which is already eternal. Without the mission of the Spirit we are not bearers of the seed which will spring forth in the resurrection. We will remain in our graves.

Without the mission of the Spirit the church remains in fixity, a splendid stasis, frozen in time, without movement, without an end. Without the mission of the Spirit what is left of faith and experience are the dried structural bones of religion. Liturgy is ceremony and ritual, prayer is formula, theology is the proposition of ideology that excites and changes no one; we remain without the knowledge of God, without touching or being touched by the reality of God. Without the mission of the Spirit no one can grasp the hem of the Son's garment, we never receive the eternal life extended to us, the sending of the Son is a dispatch into a void, a messenger who never arrives, a light illumining nothing, a road to nowhere, and the resurrection is a non-event. Without the personal mission of the Spirit we remain in our sin, and our graves are our permanent home. Without the mission of the Spirit the universal reach of the arms of the cross never become concrete reality in the church and the world. We are without hope of salvation.

Why is all this true? Because the Spirit has exclusive possession of that road between God and humankind. Or rather the Holy Spirit is that road. Without the trinitarian highway that is the Spirit, God cannot reach us and we cannot reach God. We are closed up in our selves, and God is imprisoned in the splendor of divinity. These closed doors are flung open because the Spirit is the goal of the work of Christ, before he hands over the kingdom to the Father.

Without the mission of the Son the Spirit is devoid of the flesh and materiality that make salvation history possible. Without the mission of the Son, the mission of the Spirit floats above time, looking for flesh it can touch and transform. Without the mission of the Son the Spirit is a hand deprived of something to grasp, lacking a mystery to be present to, devoid of a mystery to make real in history and in our hearts, divested of a ministry to empower, bereft of children to transform into daughters and sons, wanting in offspring to gather into unity in the church and in human community. Without the mission of the Son the church is a mystical illusion, shadows upon the wall. Without the mission of the Son matter remains a crass materiality, the universe never arrives at Easter, and sinks into decay. Without the mission of the Son the Spirit is a finger of God lacking a history to touch. Without the mission of the Son the Spirit is a ladder to nowhere, and history never arriving at the Father.

But the two missions are not separate. Cannot be divorced. Each is present at the interior of the other, a deep calling unto deep, light illumining light, witnessing to the love of the Father, bending over the world with troubled love, gathering humanity and the universe with two divine arms, the Son and the Spirit, into the untroubled glory that is the ultimate consummation of all.

--Killian McDonnell, The Other Hand of God: The Holy Spirit as Universal Touch and Goal, 228-229.

frowardness

2008-09-04T07:18:31Z

I think the bible calls this a sin. I used to think differently, but I guess I've come to the point where I admit that it's a sin. I think there are things in life which I may do as I please, provided I don't sin with these things. So for example, I think I am fine to play computer games, not the bloody ones, not the creepy ones, the good stuff. What I am convicted now about which is not ok, is to create and search for doctrines which my conscience knows not to be biblically sound. It's very froward to do so, froward in the sense that believing these doctrines isn't "sheepish" but "goatish". And I don't want to be a goat.

I've been doing this thing for some days now. I've tried to help my parents a bit more, I've tried to resist and clear up some bad thinking I've had. I've tried to follow the purpose of scary biblical texts and let myself be scared from certain evils so that I don't fall into them.

How would you define frowardness? Is every eccentricity a froward thing to be gotten rid off?

Pope Benedict XVI on St. Paul's Conversion

2008-09-03T23:47:52Z

Here is the next installment of Pope Benedict XVI's catechesis on St. Paul, this time focusing on his conversion. Enjoy!

Paul's Conversion

"We Are Christians Only If We Encounter Christ"

VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 3, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered during today's general audience in Paul VI Hall.

The Holy Father continued today the cycle of catecheses dedicated to the figure and thought of St. Paul.

* * *

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

Today's catechesis will be dedicated to the experience St. Paul had on the road to Damascus, commonly called his conversion. Precisely on the road to Damascus, in the first 30 years of the first century, and following a period in which he persecuted the Church, the decisive moment of Paul's life took place. Much has been written about it and, of course, from many points of view. The fact is that a complete turnabout took place there, a total change of perspective. Henceforth, unexpectedly, he began to consider as "loss" and "rubbish" all that before was for him the highest ideal, almost the raison d'etre of his existence (Philippians 3:7-8). What happened?

In this respect, we have two sources. The first type, the most well-known, are the accounts owed to Luke's pen, who on three occasions narrates the event in the Acts of the Apostles (cf. 9:1-19; 22:3-21; 26:4-23). The average reader, perhaps, might be tempted to pause too long on certain details, such as the light from the sky, the fall to the ground, the voice that called, the new state of blindness, the curing when something like scales fall from his eyes and the fasting. However, all these details point to the heart of the event: The Risen Christ appeared as a splendid light and addressed Saul, transforming his thinking and his very life. The splendor of the Risen One left him blind; presenting also externally what the interior reality was, his blindness in regard to the truth, to the light, which is Christ. And then, his definitive "yes" to Christ in baptism reopens his eyes, and makes him truly see.

In the early Church, baptism was also called "illumination," because this sacrament gives light, makes one truly see. All that is indicated theologically was realized in Paul also physically: Once cured of his interior blindness, he sees well. Hence, St. Paul was not transformed by a thought but by an event, by the irresistible presence of the Risen One, whom he could never again doubt, so strong had been the evidence of the event, of that encounter. The latter changed Paul's life fundamentally. In this connection, one can and must speak of a conversion. This meeting is the center of St. Luke's account, who quite possibly used an account born, probably, in the community of Damascus. The local coloring suggests this by the presence of Ananias and the names, both of the street as well as of the owner of the house where Paul stayed (Cf. Acts 9:11).

The second type of source on the conversion is made up of St. Paul's letters themselves. He never spoke in detail about this event; I think he assumed that everyone knew the essentials of his story. All knew that from being a persecutor, he was transformed into a fervent apostle of Christ. And this did not happen at the end of his own reflection but of an intense event, of an encounter with the Risen One. Although not mentioning details, he refers to this most important event, that is, that he is also a witness of the resurrection of Jesus, the revelation of which he has received directly from Jesus himself, together with the mission of apostle.

The clearest text on this aspect is found in his account of what constitutes the center of the history of salvation: the death and resurrection of Jesus and the apparitions to witnesses (cf. 1 Corinthians 15). With words of very ancient tradition, which he also received from the Church of Jerusalem, he says that Jesus died crucified, was buried, and after his resurrection appeared first to Cephas, that is, Peter, then to the Twelve, and afterwards to 500 brothers who were still alive at that time, then to James, and then to all the apostles.

And to this account, received from tradition, he adds: "Last of all ... he appeared also to me" (1 Corinthians 15:8). Thus he clarifies that this is the foundation of his apostolate and of his new life. There are also other texts in which the same reference appears: "Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship (cf. Romans 1:5); and elsewhere: "Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?" (1 Corinthians 9:1), words with which he alludes to something that all know. Finally, the most complete text is found in Galatians 1:15-17: "But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and had called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia; and again I returned to Damascus." In this "self-apology" he underlines decidedly that he is also a true witness of the Risen One, that he has a mission received directly from the Risen One.

We can see that the two sources, the Acts of the Apostles and the Letters of St. Paul, converge in a fundamental point: The Risen One spoke with Paul, called him to the apostolate, made him a true apostle, a witness of the resurrection, with the specific charge to proclaim the Gospel to the pagans, to the Greco-Roman world. And, at the same time, Paul learned that, despite the immediateness of his relationship with the Risen One, he must enter the communion of the Church, be baptized, and live in harmony with the other apostles. Only in this communion with all will he be able to be a true apostle, as he wrote explicitly in the First Letter to the Corinthians: "Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed" (15:11). There is only one proclamation of the Risen One, because Christ is only one.

As we see in these passages, Paul never interprets this moment as an event of conversion. Why? There are many theories, but the reason is very obvious. This change of his life, this transformation of his whole being was not the result of a psychological process, of a maturation or intellectual and moral evolution, but it came from outside: It was not the result of his thinking but of the encounter with Jesus Christ. In this sense it was not simply a conversion, a maturing of his "I," rather, it was death and resurrection for himself: a life of his died and a new one was born with the Risen Christ.

In no other way can this renewal of Paul be explained. All psychological analyses cannot clarify or resolve the problem. Only the event, the intense encounter with Christ is the key to understand what happened: death and resurrection, renewal on the part of him who revealed himself and spoke with him. It is in this more profound sense that we can and must speak of conversion. This meeting was a real renewal that changed all his parameters. One can now say that what before was essential and fundamental for him, now has become "rubbish" for him; there is no longer "gain" but loss, because now only life in Christ is what counts.

However, we must not think that Paul locked himself blindly in an event. In reality, the opposite occurred, because the risen Christ is the light of truth, the light of God himself. This enlarged his heart, and opened it to all. At that moment, he did not lose all that was good and true in his life, in his heritage, but understood in a new way the wisdom, truth, and depth of the law and the prophets; he appropriated them in a new way. At the same time, his reason opened to the wisdom of the pagans. Having opened himself to Christ with all his heart, he became able to engage in a wider dialogue with all, he made himself everything to all. Hence he could really be the apostle to the pagans.

Let us now look at our situation. What does this mean for us? It means that also for us, Christianity is not a new philosophy or new morality. We are Christians only if we encounter Christ. Of course he does not show himself to us in that irresistible, luminous way, as he did with Paul to make him Apostle of the Gentiles.

However, we can also encounter Christ in the reading of sacred Scripture, in prayer, in the liturgical life of the Church. We can touch Christ's heart and feel him touch ours. Only in this personal relationship with Christ, only in this encounter with the Risen One do we really become Christians. And in this way, our reason opens, the whole of Christ's wisdom opens and all the richness of the truth. Therefore, let us pray to the Lord to enlighten us, so that, in our world, he will grant us the encounter with his presence, and thus give us a lively faith, an open heart, and great charity for all, capable of renewing the world.

[Translation by ZENIT]

Sermon for the 17th Sunday after Pentecost

2008-09-03T21:46:04Z

Rev. Charles Lehmann + Genesis 50:15-21 + Pentecost 17

In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.

Our world is full of strange things. One of the most odd is that many of you actually want to be here. The Lord promises to speak His Word in the church. He has given the Holy Scriptures. He has even called me here to preach His Word to you. He has placed me into the office of the ministry by the laying on of hands. And He wants me to speak for Him.

But why would any reasonable sinner want to hear what God has to say? Why would anyone who knows that they are sinful want to hear the word of the Holy One who cannot tolerate sin? God's holiness will always destroy sinners. It's really strange, if you look at it logically, that any of you want to be here or to hear that. So why are you here? I suspect that it's because you know something I haven't mentioned yet. Maybe you think that God doesn't just have a word of Law for you.

If that's what you're thinking, then you're absolutely right. Hear the Word of the Lord: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. Do not fear, people loved by God. Your Lord has sent me to comfort you. He has sent me to proclaim the year of His favor. God has died for you on the cross. He has forgiven your sins. He has won life and salvation for you and for all who believe. So, really, it's not so strange that you want to be here. It makes a lot of sense that you want to hear God say that He loves you.

That's because you know what sort of God you have. You know that He has already poured out His anger on His Son. He loves you. It is a strange and wonderful thing to be a sinner who is loved by the holy and righteous God. By comparison, the story that we hear in today's Old Testament reading is very normal. It's not surprising that Joseph's brothers are afraid of him. It's not surprising that they don't expect to survive the encounter. No Hollywood screenwriter could write a scene more dramatic than the one we heard this morning in Genesis 50. Joseph is the regent of Pharaoh. He has been holding court and speaking for the king of Egypt for twenty-six years. He is dressed in gold and fine linen. His beard is braided, oiled, and adorned with gold. Joseph, son of Jacob, oozes power.

At fifty-six years old he is the most powerful man in the world. With one word he can kill. With another he can bestow immense wealth. And at his feet, lying prostrate, are his brothers. They are terrified. Joseph has their lives in his hand. His brothers know that all Joseph needs to do is speak a word, and they will be killed in an instant.

Death is what Joseph's brothers expect. And more than that, it is exactly what they deserve. In order to understand why this is so, we have to think about what had happened forty years before. When Joseph was just seventeen, his brothers were jealous of him. They hated him for the love given to him by Jacob, and they hated him for the dreams given to him by God. Because of their jealousy, they stripped him naked, threw him into a cistern, and then, after they changed their minds about killing him outright, they sold Joseph into slavery.

Boys will be boys, and brothers will be brothers. Scratches, scrapes, and black eyes aren't uncommon in houses filled with little men. We've all seen it, and some of us have lived it. Conflict is never worse than when it's in your own family. And though it's unlikely that any of you have been stripped, beaten, and sold into slavery by your brothers, we all know what it feels like to be hurt by people we love. The only thing worse than being hurt by our loved ones is when we hurt them. The knife of betrayal hurts us most when we're the ones holding it.

Joseph had lost everything at the hand of his brothers. His freedom, his family, and all that he had known during his seventeen years of life had been taken from him. First he was a slave, and then he was thrown into prison because he had been falsely accused of rape by his master's wife. By the evil act of selling their brother for twenty shekels of silver, Joseph's brothers had made him one the most hated members of Egyptian society. As far as the Egyptians were concerned, Joseph was a slave, a traitor, and a rapist.

But we're not just talking about Joseph and his brothers. It happens in our families too. We don't have to go to the Scriptures to find examples of families that have been hurt by jealousy, pride, and all sorts of sin. Evil is all around us. It afflicts all of our relationships.

But what Joseph's brothers meant for evil, God used for good. God used their hatred, jealousy, and the suffering they inflicted on Joseph to save thousands of lives. God used Joseph's brothers to send him to Egypt, and then, by giving Joseph the interpretations of Pharaoh's dreams, God had enabled Egypt to store food during seven years of bountiful harvests. This, in turn, allowed Egypt to provide for both their own people and those of the surrounding nations when seven years of famine struck the land.

Because of the gift of interpretation that God had given Joseph, Pharaoh made him governor of Egypt when the seven years of plenty had begun. Nine years into Joseph's reign as Pharaoh's governor, the famine had struck Canaan and Joseph's brothers came to Egypt to buy food. Joseph could have killed his brothers on that day twenty-four years before today's reading, but he didn't. Instead, Joseph hid his identity from his brothers, filled their bags with grain, and sent all their money back with them. Joseph's brothers deserved his full wrath, and he could have given it. He had the power. He had the authority. But what Joseph's wicked brothers actually received from him was love and mercy. Gift upon gift.

When Joseph's brothers were on their way home, they found the money in their bags along with the grain. This worried them greatly. They didn't know Joseph had hidden the money in their bags. When they needed food again, they were afraid to return to Egypt. They expected him to accuse them of theft. But they didn't have any choice. Only Egypt had food. So Joseph's brothers returned to Egypt with double the money they'd brought the first time.

They still didn't know they were talking to Joseph. They protested their innocence. They swore that they had not robbed him. They trembled in fear. Joseph's reply must have shocked them. It was not what you'd expect to hear from a servant of Pharaoh. Joseph said, “Do not be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; I received your silver.”

These are interesting words. After all, God didn't put the money in the sacks. Joseph did. But Joseph doesn't see it that way. He knows that God has sent Him to Egypt. Joseph knows that anything that he gives, the Lord is giving through him. Joseph believes that he is the Lord's instrument. So, to Joseph it makes perfect sense. “Do not fear. God gave you the treasure. He just used my hands.”

It's not long after this that Joseph finally reveals himself to His brothers. He tells them that he does not hold their sin against them. He promises to provide for his father's needs, his brothers' needs, and all their families' needs. Though Joseph has received only evil from his brothers, he gives them all the wealth of Egypt.

So why the fear in today's reading? Why, seventeen years later, are Joseph's brothers still so terrified? Joseph has given his brothers no reason to fear. He has steadfastly kept his word to them. He has cared for them for nearly twenty years. He has brought the family back together which his brothers had torn apart.

The answer is actually quite simple. Even though they should, Joseph's brothers don't trust him. They don't believe that it's possible that Joseph would forgive them on his own. Joseph's brothers think that it is only out of love for Jacob that he has spared them. But now Jacob is dead. What will keep Joseph from killing them now?

The answer is in Joseph's question. In our reading he asks, “Am I in the place of God?” The answer probably isn't what we'd first expect. Is Joseph in the place of God? Yes! Absolutely! He is in the place of God. And that is why his brothers should never have been afraid.

The Lord is slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. Our God forgives iniquity. The Lord repays evil with mercy. Joseph had already forgiven the sins of his brothers. He spoke on this day the same word that he had spoken seventeen years before. He said, “Do not fear. You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.”

If Joseph had been acting on his own, he might have punished his brothers. He might have sold them into slavery, put them in prison, or had them executed by Pharaoh's army. But Joseph was in the place of God. He gave to His brothers exactly what the Lord gives to you. Love. Mercy. Forgiveness.

We are just like Joseph's brothers. We're insecure. We're afraid. When we think about our sin it becomes hard to believe that God could really love us. Consider your past week. What sin have you committed? What relationships have you hurt? Each day we commit deeds that should earn us the Lord's wrath. How is it that any of us are here today? Each morning that we wake up is a day that God did not give us what we deserved while we were asleep.

But that is the way of God. It is the way of God to love those He has redeemed. It is the way of God to die for sinners. It is the way of God to forgive. It doesn't make any sense. There is no logic to divine mercy. For God to love sinners is utter nonsense. It's hard to believe God could love me. It's hard to live in the freedom He gives. It's hard to let God's perfect love cast out our fear.

That's because we are like the brothers in today's story from the Old Testament. Joseph's brothers stripped him of his coat of many colors, and we cast lots for God's clothing. They sold their brother into slavery, and we nailed our Savior to the cross. They let their brother be convicted of a crime he didn't commit, and we let God the Father punish His Son for our crimes. Joseph's brothers condemned him to years of suffering, and we have killed the author of life.

You are like Joseph's brothers. Joseph comforted his brothers when they were afraid. Joseph forgave his brothers' sins. Joseph provided for all of his brothers needs. Joseph even took care of his brothers' little ones. When fear would strike his brothers, Joseph would comfort them again and again and again. Joseph never tired of showing mercy to the ones who had betrayed him.

You are like Joseph's brothers. Jesus comforts you when you are afraid. Your Savior has forgiven all your sins. The Lord gives you life, salvation, and all that you need for this body and life. When fear strikes you, Christ comforts you with all His promises. Your Lord and Savior never gets tired of telling you of the love He has shown for you on the cross.

When the crowds cried out for Jesus' death, they didn't mean it for good. When they shouted, “His blood be on us and on our children,” they weren't asking for a blessing. They were evil and murderous words. They meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. Though every one of our sins sent Jesus to suffer and die on the cross, God has accomplished our salvation through it.

Just think of it. God has sent me to proclaim the forgiveness of your sins. He has sent me to tell you that He loves you. He has sent me to comfort you in all your affliction. God's not going to change His mind. He's not going to get tired of forgiving you. There is no fear that He does not want to destroy. There is no distress in which He does not want to comfort you. Not even killing God can make Him stop loving you.

God is good. He desires you. He wants to be with you forever. Today He is going to give you His body to eat and His blood to drink. Rejoice, people loved by God. Your sins are forgiven, and you are free.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and your minds in faith in Christ Jesus.

Last post of the day

2008-09-03T03:07:40Z

This is the weekly walk e-mail that I get from James MacDonald. I hope you all can read it.

I Cannot Please Everyone
The Weekly Walk

So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. Matthew 15:6-9

I become like a circus juggler when I try to keep everyone's opinions of me high in the air. One person thinks I should be like this; another scrutinizes me for something else. Do you get it too? Before long, all the expectations of other people come crashing down around our feet. Playing to the demands of others runs in opposition to authenticity.

Jesus lived with that kind of pressure. In His Sermon on the Mount, He focused primarily on the Pharisees, the Bible-thumpers of His day. On the positive side, the Pharisees took the Bible very seriously. They confronted error, they separated themselves from the world, they were hypersensitive to the application of God's Word. So what's wrong with that? Nothing--that's all fine. But Jesus identified their acute internal problem in Matthew 15:8, "This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." Ouch! Furthermore, Jesus was simply quoting His Father, recorded back in Isaiah centuries before, when He gave the same spiritual diagnosis to the people of his time.

The Pharisees put on a good show, but Jesus saw right through it. They wanted to look like they had it all together with God, but hadn't privately done the heart business with Him. Looking the part was all they cared about. As Jesus said, "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them . . ." When Jesus used the term righteousness here, He was talking about practical righteousness, the things you do as a believer to outwardly express your heart before God—read your Bible, pray, share your faith, be in a small group, work for the Lord, give to the poor. Don't do these to impress others, He warns. Pay attention, be on guard, He cautions. Play to an audience of One.

Notice He didn't say you should hide your spiritual disciplines from people or enter a monastery. Some people have misunderstood His point. The issue isn't location, it's motive. People are going to see you live your life; that's not the problem. You don't have to keep secret the fact that you go to church, raise your hands in worship, and get on your knees to pray. You don't have to shield your Bible when you open it because you have written personal notes all through it. But when you do all those things so that people will see you--that's the problem. Doing spiritual things so other people notice goes right to motive. If you're acting godly with the desire to get attention, affirmation, or strokes from folks--you just got all the reward you deserve and lost God's approval in the process. When you get that pat on the back from your neighbor, then God is like, If that's what you were going for, man, you got it! There's your reward, buddy.

We are called to be living for a higher reward--a reward from the Lord Himself.

Question about transgendered individuals

2008-09-03T00:02:50Z

What are your thoughts on people who choose to change from female to male and vice versa?

Some might say we shouldn't change the way God made us but we change a lot of things about ourselves ... IDK. Just let me know your thoughts :)

And if this needs to be moved to another community let me know.

The Name

2008-09-02T15:43:09Z

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name... -Philippians 2:9

1) What is "the name which is above every name?"
2) What does the writer mean when he asserts that this name is "above every name?"
3) Why did God give Him this particular name?

christianity @ 2008-09-02T07:05:00

2008-09-02T05:06:00Z

What's your favourite music to listen to when reading the bible? I discovered I like chinese traditionals without vocals, it seems to fit really well.

Wealth

2008-09-01T23:39:04Z

hoard not,

what is of earth.......

all are gifts from God,

for the Children of God,

upon the earth,

to use, fashion, wear, eat

share ,

what you can not use........

give to those in need

wealth collected,

from my gifts

while others suffer or go without......

is a sin........

China Challenge

2008-09-01T17:15:06Z

Just want to let everyone know that we are extending the deadline for the China Challenge by one week. If you would like to support the pastors of China's persecuted underground Church, please make your donation right away (in multiples of $20) using the button on RBCC's home page: www.redbankchurch.com. You also have time to send a personal note of encouragement to the pastor or pastors you are supporting.

More details are available on the site, if you need them. You can also send an email to my LJ account if you have any questions.

Thank you all for making this project such a success. We have received enough contributions from all over the world to support more than 300 pastors. And the quality of the cards we have received is just incredible. Take a look at our Webshots page for samples.

fear and trembling

2008-09-01T15:33:01Z

Work out your salvation in fear and trembling, for it is God who works on you.

Does this mean that I literally have to fear God so much that I tremble, for example when I read the bible?

The fear of God is a theme all over the Old Testament. In fact, in Isaac's day there was a name for God that literally meant "Isaac's fright". This continues in the prophets where a fearful reading of the word is commended. God says that His eyes are on those who tremble at His word.

However, there is also the Epistle of John wherein God says that those who fear have not been made perfect in love - and that those who fear have torment.

Personally, I have been a lot in spiritual fears. I might call them horrors, even. I guess some of this is normal - I, a puny Earthling belong to God who drowned the whole world for their sins. I am nothing compared to Him. I am made in the image of God, but I am only a spark while He is a sun, in fact an infinitely big sun.

Problem is, though, this horror of God simply is impractical. Instead of furthering my growth as a christian, it stunts me. And it produces suffering which make it appear as if God gives us suffering. And I don't mean the slight suffering Paul speaks about, I mean real suffering that is more nightmarish than anything else. I am a very imaginative person, and often I think much - living in horror isn't something I bear very well.

Anyway, the words in the Epistle of John mean that fear shall not be the end. It's convenient to consider fear and even horror as a proper thing for a believer to have, it's all over the bible anyway. But again, there are John's words.

I think I must conclude that the fear of God that is especially admonished by the OT, is a great respect for God. It's not supposed to be a horror which eventually might turn into a dread. Else we'd ignore all the other things given to us by God, peace, love, the many gifts of the spirit like patience and friendliness, etc. It is simply a matter of fact that real horror of God is contrary to these other things.

The problem of fear is that when accepted, fear is always intense. But this intense fear will eventually prompt you to seek the good apart from God. We're made that way. When God doesn't alleviate our fears and shows us no way how to handle them, we eventually leave God. When you are in real fear, hope has no effect.

John writes that perfect love casts out all fear. Fear is supposed to keep us from sinning. We find what sin is in the law and the prophets, and the way to fulfill all these things is through love. Now when love casts out fear, this means that God doesn't want us to stay in fear. But this was exactly the mistake I had made, thinking that fear is supposed to stay with me my entire life. It's not. I will not be required to fear if I exercise love. I am about to fulfill all of law and prophets when loving - why would God want me to live in a scare?

I had a mentor some years back who told me that fear makes us very vulnerable to the enemy. It's true. I've had my own real experiences with that. What the devil may not get through seduction, he will eventually want to take through deception. Though I am not perfect I have become somewhat resilient to seduction. But deception through fear is much more difficult. We know God can be scary. The bible talks about it. But in the same time, we have been given so many promises from God. And then there are our personal experiences of God, which, if properly understood, make us recognize God's purely good character. God is really a delight in the truth, not someone to dread.

But fear means that we are prone to believe something wrong. When in fear, our minds are not in peace and cannot work as properly as they should. We get focussed on seeking an exit, just some way out, without being able to properly see the light which would illumine our mental world so that we may see that we are not in any true danger. I am persuaded that if you move in the right direction, God will never work on you through scares. Add to that the sacraments, like the sacrament of confession and absolution - we don't even need to be afraid to make mistakes. As long as our walk goes in the right direction, God will provide us with anything we need, spiritually. I think that fear, like the law, is for the unbeliever, not for the faithful.

I still tremble when God's greatness is revealed to me. I still tremble when I read certain tough parts of scripture. But I don't leave it at that. The solution is to love God. Either through resisting evil and thereby walking righteous with God, or through admittance of being wrong, admittance to deserve punishment - and recognition that I need forgiveness, which again is something which God graciously gives to us.

I respect God, a lot. But respect alone doesn't suffice. I'm glad about this. I am glad and happy that God invites us to love Him. Love is more than just respect. It is something God has for us too - while He doesn't respect us at all. :) Love is wherein God and us can really unite. He has loved us first, and thereby gave us the means to live in love for Him. One meaning of love is to give someone what he really needs. What I really need is forgiveness - and God in Jesus Christ gives that to me abundantly. And only the state of mind of the one who knows that he needs forgiveness, and has received it, can be able to become a better son of God over time. How could it be any different?

Please pray for New Orleans

2008-08-31T03:21:08Z

DEVELOPING STORY

updated 30 minutes ago

Mayor: 'Get out of New Orleans right now'

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city beginning at 8 a.m. Sunday but urged residents to flee now. "You need to be scared," Nagin said as Hurricane Gustav roared into the Gulf of Mexico with 150 mph sustanied winds. "And you need to get your butts moving out of New Orleans right now." full story

Please, let's pray that Gustav weakens and/or misses New Orleans. Let's pray that we don't have another Katrina disaster. Also, pray for those in Cuba, Jamaica, and Haiti.

ETA: Although it appears that New Orleans is in the main path of destruction, please pray for the neighboring states as well.

Three Gospels

2008-08-31T00:34:20Z

Has anyone read Three Gospels by Reynolds Price? Thoughts?

Gambling For God

2008-08-31T00:14:27Z

I was reading my local newspaper today. And I read an article in the faith section describing a practice I'd never heard of before. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a corresponding article online, so I'll do my best to summarize. Apparently, several churches have begun to practice unusual methods to increase attendance. One such method is instituting raffles. The most popular prize for a raffle is fuel perks. These churches are openly using fuel perks to encourage church attendance. It is the reason they were instituted according to the pastors of these churches. Some go as high as fifty dollars, although most are much lower. (Seems to me the fifty dollars would be better spent in the collection plate.)

Someone from a Christian ethical group was quoted as calling this practice "unseemly" and "misguided." Is he right? Is it wrong to basically have gambling in a church to encourage attendance? Gambling has always been strongly discouraged, at least in every church I've been associated with. Raffling may be a mild form of gambling, but nevertheless is it worth it to use this method to increase attendance? I realize churches often use raffling for other things, but it seems like it's going a step beyond to use it to encourage attendance. There's a difference between raffling for charity and raffling to increase the rolls. In my opinion, you may as well be paying people to attend church. There are a handful of churches who seem to feel the church itself is more important than the God it is supposed to be worshipping. Why isn't it good enough to worship God to show our gratitude and obedience and for nothing else?

Should I expect a one in fifty chance of winning an ipod next time I go to Sunday service?