I've been meaning to post for over a week now, but am not actually posting what I was thinking of posting. Instead, I'm going even deeper than I had planned.
I know that we don't know the hour or the second that Jesus is coming back, but isn't it hard to not think about it more and more as we see earthquakes and wars and tsunamis and volcanoes and and and . . . And it sort of hits me that I might not have a baby before Jesus comes back. Isn't it easy to get wrapped up in our plans for the future, thinking about everything from having kids to raising them, what they'll be like, who they might marry or where they might go to school, grandkids, retirement, and then something happens like an earthquake in Japan and a war in Egypt, and all of a sudden, you're remembering that while it is good to make some plans, it's better to remember that we are not promised tomorrow?
And on that note, we've had a sort of sad and amazing week this last week. A family had been visiting the congregation we attend the last couple of weeks, having just moved to the area from California. It's a young couple with five children from age 8 to 11 weeks. Last Monday, she had a brain hemmorage. They went in and did surgery and said it went well, but it was still touch and go. All through the week, the church prayed for this family, visited the hospital, took food, called, sent cards, etc. She was doing well. They unwrapped her head, she was conversing with sign language, she even started swallowing again. Saturday, though, she had a low-grade fever all day and then it spiked that night. They think she had a heart attack and by 2 on Sunday morning they pronounced her brain dead. She passed away Sunday afternoon.
I still can't wrap my mind around it. The Bible tells us life is short, but sometimes we forget that. We get so wrapped up in living life on this world that we forget how fragile it is. So, please, pray for the Gosch family because they have a hard road to travel still.
And please, remember how short life is. And go love your family while you can. Because we don't know the hour . . .
Monday, March 28, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Bible Study
No. I am not posting a Bible study on here right now. But I am posting ABOUT a Bible study. Let me start from the beginning (a very good place to start).
I am a C. I am a C-H. I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N. Know that song? It's in my head. But it's also true. I'm a Christian, in case you couldn't tell from other posts I've put on here. And I can't imagine life any other way. Part of that is because I was brought up that way. But more than that, I know even more now than in the past that life without God would much worse than life with Him. At least with Him, there is hope. And my church family is amazing.
So, I'm sure, for those of you who don't know me (if there are any of you out there -- I really have no idea who all reads my blog), you want to know what "flavor" of Christian I am. I am a member of the Church of Christ. No. I do not believe we are the only ones going to heaven. I will leave that judgment up to the Judge who can make such a call. I do, however, believe that the Churches of Christ are the ones closest to what the Bible says the church should be, who worship like the original church did, and who have it the closest to being right. If I didn't feel that way, I'd go worship somewhere else. As my husband says, everyone believes they are right -- if they didn't, they'd changed what they believed because no one wants to believe something they know is wrong.
The point of all this follows:
We've had some mormons come to us, wanting to do a Bible study. I really didn't know much about Mormons except that they believed Joseph Smith was a new-age prophet, they followed the Book of Mormon, and they make up a large part of Salt Lake City. Yep. That was about the extent of it.
Also, I had never really done a Bible study with anyone before. Not really. This is sort of strange, because I am a preacher's daughter and went to a Christian university and am attending a congregation mostly focused on evangelism right now. But I still hadn't ever had a true blue Bible study. So, I decided if God was sending one to me, I should take it.
It was two college-age girls who are on a mission trip. We chatted for a while that day and they told me about the "great apostacy" and about Joseph Smith and that all I had to do was pray and read the Book of Mormon and the Holy Spirit would let me know that it was true. They then set up a time to come back when my husband would be there -- my husband was a Bible major, FYI.
So, last Friday afternoon, they came once again and we talked in circles around each other for an hour or so. Basically, all they want us to do is read the Book of Mormon. We don't really feel like we need to read it since the Bible tells us everything we need to know to be Christians and find salvation and get to heaven. AND, there is no proof that the Book of Mormon is actually an inspired word of God from a new-age prophet. There is no proof that the people in the book ever lived or that any of what they say happened happened. There is proof that the things in the Bible happened. Lots of it. So, the only reason we should believe anything about the Book of Mormon, according to them, is through the Holy Spirit letting us know it is the truth.
In my head I'm thinking, but wait. So, if I pray to God to show me it's true, and then read something like the Koran, and I feel better about life and have a better relationship with God while I'm reading it, does that mean it's true, too? Because that's how they knew the Holy Spirit was telling them the Book of Mormon was true. This logic doesn't stand. I have learned a lot, though, about their faith and all the loopholes to show that it doesn't make sense. I'm not sure how to lovingly point all that out to them, though. They're coming back tonight to follow up. It's been an interesting experience if nothing else. I will say they truly believe in the bottom of their hearts that this is true, and I am very impressed by their desire to get out there and spread their good news. I just wish they were spreading real good news.
I am a C. I am a C-H. I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N. Know that song? It's in my head. But it's also true. I'm a Christian, in case you couldn't tell from other posts I've put on here. And I can't imagine life any other way. Part of that is because I was brought up that way. But more than that, I know even more now than in the past that life without God would much worse than life with Him. At least with Him, there is hope. And my church family is amazing.
So, I'm sure, for those of you who don't know me (if there are any of you out there -- I really have no idea who all reads my blog), you want to know what "flavor" of Christian I am. I am a member of the Church of Christ. No. I do not believe we are the only ones going to heaven. I will leave that judgment up to the Judge who can make such a call. I do, however, believe that the Churches of Christ are the ones closest to what the Bible says the church should be, who worship like the original church did, and who have it the closest to being right. If I didn't feel that way, I'd go worship somewhere else. As my husband says, everyone believes they are right -- if they didn't, they'd changed what they believed because no one wants to believe something they know is wrong.
The point of all this follows:
We've had some mormons come to us, wanting to do a Bible study. I really didn't know much about Mormons except that they believed Joseph Smith was a new-age prophet, they followed the Book of Mormon, and they make up a large part of Salt Lake City. Yep. That was about the extent of it.
Also, I had never really done a Bible study with anyone before. Not really. This is sort of strange, because I am a preacher's daughter and went to a Christian university and am attending a congregation mostly focused on evangelism right now. But I still hadn't ever had a true blue Bible study. So, I decided if God was sending one to me, I should take it.
It was two college-age girls who are on a mission trip. We chatted for a while that day and they told me about the "great apostacy" and about Joseph Smith and that all I had to do was pray and read the Book of Mormon and the Holy Spirit would let me know that it was true. They then set up a time to come back when my husband would be there -- my husband was a Bible major, FYI.
So, last Friday afternoon, they came once again and we talked in circles around each other for an hour or so. Basically, all they want us to do is read the Book of Mormon. We don't really feel like we need to read it since the Bible tells us everything we need to know to be Christians and find salvation and get to heaven. AND, there is no proof that the Book of Mormon is actually an inspired word of God from a new-age prophet. There is no proof that the people in the book ever lived or that any of what they say happened happened. There is proof that the things in the Bible happened. Lots of it. So, the only reason we should believe anything about the Book of Mormon, according to them, is through the Holy Spirit letting us know it is the truth.
In my head I'm thinking, but wait. So, if I pray to God to show me it's true, and then read something like the Koran, and I feel better about life and have a better relationship with God while I'm reading it, does that mean it's true, too? Because that's how they knew the Holy Spirit was telling them the Book of Mormon was true. This logic doesn't stand. I have learned a lot, though, about their faith and all the loopholes to show that it doesn't make sense. I'm not sure how to lovingly point all that out to them, though. They're coming back tonight to follow up. It's been an interesting experience if nothing else. I will say they truly believe in the bottom of their hearts that this is true, and I am very impressed by their desire to get out there and spread their good news. I just wish they were spreading real good news.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Luke 1:37
I teach second grade on Sunday mornings and this was our memory verse for last week. Don't want to look it up? Let me quote it to you: "For nothing will be impossible with God."
We had used it as our memory verse for the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. If you don't know what I'm talking about, DO go look that one up because it's one of my favorite Elijah stories -- I Kings 18.
BUT, as I'm doing my Bible reading this morning, I'm using the English Standard version of The One Year Bible. I like the way it's arranged because it has for every day, a snippet of the old testament, a snippet of the new testament, and a psalm and a proverb. Today's new testament snippet was from Luke 1 where we're getting into what some people refer to as the Christmas story. The angel is telling Mary that she's going to have a baby and she asks how since she is a virgin. The proof he offers is that her cousin, Elizabeth, who is older, is now six months pregnant, and he says, "For nothing is impossible with God." I've heard that verse my whole life, but I think that's the first time it dawned on me that it refers to two different women getting pregnant miraculously. And I know that every pregnancy is miraculous in its own way because it's creating a new life, a new soul. But sometimes, it is more miraculous than others. Like, in having Elizabeth, who could not get pregnant, get pregnant. And the day I discover that I'm pregnant, this verse will echo in my mind, because of the miracle of it all.
We had used it as our memory verse for the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. If you don't know what I'm talking about, DO go look that one up because it's one of my favorite Elijah stories -- I Kings 18.
BUT, as I'm doing my Bible reading this morning, I'm using the English Standard version of The One Year Bible. I like the way it's arranged because it has for every day, a snippet of the old testament, a snippet of the new testament, and a psalm and a proverb. Today's new testament snippet was from Luke 1 where we're getting into what some people refer to as the Christmas story. The angel is telling Mary that she's going to have a baby and she asks how since she is a virgin. The proof he offers is that her cousin, Elizabeth, who is older, is now six months pregnant, and he says, "For nothing is impossible with God." I've heard that verse my whole life, but I think that's the first time it dawned on me that it refers to two different women getting pregnant miraculously. And I know that every pregnancy is miraculous in its own way because it's creating a new life, a new soul. But sometimes, it is more miraculous than others. Like, in having Elizabeth, who could not get pregnant, get pregnant. And the day I discover that I'm pregnant, this verse will echo in my mind, because of the miracle of it all.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
To Move a Mountain . . .
From my Bible reading this morning:
Mark 11:22-24
"And Jesus answered them, 'Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, "Be taken up and thrown into the sea," and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.'"
I really need to remember this more often.
Mark 11:22-24
"And Jesus answered them, 'Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, "Be taken up and thrown into the sea," and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.'"
I really need to remember this more often.
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