pinksunfiredragon's Revelife

Making Time for God

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 16:32:50 GMT

So, it's been two months since I've posted here. Why? I don't really know. I haven't really felt like I've had anything to post, and I think that might be because I've been slacking off in my time spent with God. I've been more worried about "things" and "doing stuff" than I have about making time to spend reading God's word and praying. Even worse, even when I do have some time on my hands that would be best spent with Him, I tend to distract myself with pointless things.

I need to make that commitment to God, that I'll spend that time with him. If I can spend time with my friends, why can't I make time for God? I keep a rather detailed schedule of my time, why don't I have time to read my Bible in my plans? It doesn't help that my church is 9 miles from my house. We've had inclement weather here recently, which makes that 9 mile drive very dangerous, so we haven't been going. Next week, I'm scheduled to work on Sunday, so that wipes out next week too. We won't even be going to Christmas church this week because of how our time between both families is scheduled out.

God's been prodding me lately to spend more time with Him. I need to spend time reading His word and time in prayer with Him. I need to be able to get to church to be with fellow believers and participate in worship.

How do you make time for God in your life? Does it happen spontaneously or do you need to schedule your "God time" into your life?

Love Your Neighbor

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 15:59:25 GMT

I think most people here know that my favorite subject to blog about is love. Not just shmoopy, kissy-face, sappy "luuuv", but LOVE. The kind of love that God shows us and says that we should show to one another. Today at church, one of our new pastors preached on loving each other, and I really felt that this was a good time to review it here too.

Matthew 22:37-39
Jesus replied, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself."

Luke 6:31-33
"Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that."

John 13:34, 35
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another."

These are just a few of the many verses in the Bible that talk about loving each other. Jesus spent so much of His ministry preaching about love and with love. He didn't perform His miracles to be the center of attention or to be the life of the party. He did them out of love for others.

When we go out in the world, how easy is it for us to overlook others' needs? Pastor Brenda told us in her sermon that she was at the grocery store the other day. There was a young mother with a screaming baby a few lanes over, trying to check out. Although the screaming baby got everyone's attention, the other shoppers all ignored the mother, who was close to tears. Finally, a young couple, looking work-weary and tired themselves, went up to the mother and whispered in her ear. She broke down crying and nodded, picked up her baby and sat down on a bench to feed the child, while the young couple continued loading her groceries up in bags, and even helped her bring her purchases out to the car after she had finished. This young couple took 5 minutes out of their busy day to help a young mother in need, and not only were they a blessing to her, but also to everyone checking out that night. A random act of love doesn't just affect the persons directly involved, but also anyone that's watching.

There are about 4,000 people in my church. If each of those people went out and showed God's love to 20 people this week, that's 80,000 people affected. If each of us did that every week for a year, we'd show God's love to over 4 MILLION people over the course of that year. Now, that might seem like a huge number of people, but remember, I'm not talking about going out and overtly witnessing, simply showing God's love to other people.

What would happen if every Revelifer went out into the world and loved just 5 people this week? How many people could we affect this week? Or this year?

Identity Crisis

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 01:49:12 GMT

Lately, I've found myself questioning who I was, who I am, and who I am becoming. I think I might actually be smack dab in the middle of a quarter-life crisis. It wasn't that long ago that I was Miss Popular. I was frequently the center of attention. I was out with my friends all the time, and I didn't care who thought what of me. I was a little crazy and out-of-control, but overall, I was just a really fun person to be around.

As I've gotten older, things have changed in my life. I've gotten married and I've rediscovered my faith. I've settled down and learned to enjoy staying home and resting. But something a little scarier has happened too. I've gotten boring. I've always been a little eccentric and crazy, and now, I'm just plain. I've never been content with being plain. When did I become this boring person?

I'm having a hard time finding the balance between being the fabulous social butterfly or being a good wife and faithful Christian. When I start drifting to being a little crazier, I can't help but wonder how much of it is just vanity? I don't want to be one of those Christians that speaks eloquently about Jesus, only to turn around and care more about makeup or celebrity gossip. When I go out with my friends, can I have a good time and be a fun person to be with, without compromising my beliefs? It's such a delicate balance, with an increasingly large gray area. I want to wear cute clothes, but I don't want to show off parts of me that are only meant for my husband to see. I want to hang out with my friends, but my friends aren't Christians. They seem to think that being a Christian means that you need to behave like a nun. They don't understand that I cringe inside every time I hear them exclaim, "Oh my God!" I don't want to shun my social life, but where is the line drawn? Should I be at home reading my Bible while all my friends are down at the bar having a good time?

I have no problem staying home and spending time with my husband. I love being a housewife. But I want a social life too. I don't want to be known as a boring person. But then I feel like I'm letting my faith slide if I'm having too much fun.

How do you find the right balance between your faith and your fun? Is it really as difficult as I'm making it out to be?

On a positive note, I won the third Reveloot Giveaway! How cool is that? I'm pretty excited about it. I never win anything!

Cotton Candy

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:57:03 GMT

*Note: I don't like to post on controversial subjects, but this is something that's been itching at me for a while.

A few weeks ago, we were spending time with my husband's family, and his mother mentioned that she was reading "Your Best Life Now" by Mr. Osteen. "Oh, have you read his book?" she asked me. I said no, and that I most likely would not. "Oh, don't you like him?" she pressed. (Mind you, I try to avoid these conversations with my mother-in-law, as I rather enjoy the fact that I get along with her fairly well, and I don't really care to offend her.)
"Well, no, in fact, I don't like him."
"Why not? He seems very nice and he's got a really positive message."
"Well, he's not teaching a complete Gospel and he rarely uses Scripture properly, to start."
I really didn't want to get into the conversation at all, and luckily, we were interrupted by Grandma before I had to go into much more detail.
*************************************************
Tonight, my husband was channel surfing, which is actually not that easy when you don't have cable. He landed on Joel Osteen's Sunday evening broadcast, as he's done several times before. I sat down and watched it with him, and cringed every time that I heard Joel say "abundance" and "free", among other things. Then at the end of the show, Joel invited any unsaved people to pray with him. It went about like this: "Lord, I want to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior and to make you Lord of my life. Amen." No mention of asking for forgiveness for our sins. No mention of WHY we need a savior. Just that we want to luuuv Jesus. Throughout his show, he twists Scripture to support his prosperity message. He takes verses that speak of our eternal life in Heaven and takes them out of context to make it sound like we are supposed to be showered in supernatural blessings in this lifetime, and that all God wants to do all day is to give us our greatest desires.

Joel Osteen is dangerous to the true Gospel. Millions of people watch his show, and thousands attend his church to hear his positive message. But Joel's positive message isn't in the Bible! Joel is teaching that God is going to make us happy and healthy and wealthy, if we just believe that He will. The Bible does NOT teach that. In fact, the Bible tells us that it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter Heaven. We read in the Gospels about how Jesus' disciples left everything they'd had to follow him. They were the original believers, and Jesus sure didn't make them rich!

Joel has repeatedly avoided talking about sin, Hell, judgment, and even the fact that Jesus is the only way to Heaven! In fact, on Larry King Live, Joel actually dodged the question "Is Jesus the only way?" by answering "Well....I can't really say...."

SERIOUSLY??

This is a man that many people are relying on for the entirety of their Gospel message. They are being fed a cotton candy Gospel. All the fluff, none of the substance. If we don't know about sin, how can we know how much we NEED a savior? Without sin, without the absolute depravity of man, there is no need for Jesus to die for us. Our good works are nothing but dirty rags to God. We NEED Jesus for our sins to be forgiven, and if I had to guess, I'd say that a lot of Joel's congregation has no idea *why* Jesus died for us.

This video (clicky the linky) really sums up how much Joel Osteen skews the Bible message. It's only 3 1/2 minutes and worth the watch. I don't want this post to come across as being alarmist, but this guy needs to be exposed for what he really is. A smiling motivational speaker that makes people feel good, definitely NOT someone meant to be a pastor of the largest church in the world.

Work In Progress

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 09:04:24 GMT

As I mentioned yesterday, this past week at work, I'd been working overnights to help reset our toy department. This is no small task. It involves literally flipping the entire department. Some things are moved only an aisle or two, other things are completely moving across the department. There were 5 of us working 5 nights to get it done. We came close, but due to circumstances much beyond our control, we were unable to complete the task. We came close, but we didn't quite get it done.

Last night, I dreamed that I was at work, doing the same thing I'd been doing the past 5 nights. I was plugging along, trying so hard to move forward with the project. I was standing in front of a big, empty, unfinished wall, frustrated that I couldn't keep going, that I wasn't able to finish the project right then and there.

And then I woke up. The last thing I remember was staring at that wall, as it waited patiently for the finishing touches, clean shelves, new shelf strips, fresh new labels, and then finally, the merchandise to be placed on it. And right then, I realized that the image of that wall in my head was something God wanted me to see.

I am that wall, and God is setting me up to be bright, shiny, new and full. I am a work in progress, and although I might not be finished on my time line, God will continue working on me until He thinks I'm ready. Lately, I've been frustrated that my life isn't exactly going according to my time line. Anyone that knows me even slightly well knows that I'm really looking forward to starting a family and becoming a mommy. I've been married nearly a year now, and there's no babies in sight. In fact, my husband and I are waiting a couple years before we have kids, so that we are financially capable of supporting them. This comes as no small frustration to me, as I feel as though I'm putting my life on hold, waiting for something that may or may not happen. I've spent a lot of time in prayer on this matter, and I really think that last night's dream confirmed to me what God has been trying to tell me all along.

I'm not working on my time line at all. I can do nothing outside of God's plan and timing for me. And I can have faith that He has my best interests at heart. If that means that He's not going to let me be a mommy for a few more years, I need to accept that. I can see, thanks to the mental image of that big, empty wall, that God is still working on me, so even though it feels like my life is standing still, He is moving forward and slowly and maybe even imperceptibly working on me the same way I was working on resetting those walls. He's making me bright and shiny new so that I can be the best mom possible.

How is God working on you right now?

Befriending an Atheist

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 20:51:59 GMT

I've been "neglecting" both of my blogs, but this one even more than the other one, the past couple weeks. I've been really busy, and I just got done spending this week working the overnight shift. I'm hoping I'll be able to get back into the regular swing of things within the next couple of days. Until then, forgive me if my thoughts seem a little disjointed, as I'm somewhat sleep-deprived right now.

At work, there's a girl (we'll call her K) that runs the department next to mine. I get along well enough with K. In the past, we've had our differences, but now that we're working alongside each other much of the time, we've been getting to know each other a lot better, and we're slowly developing a friendship. K's best friend just moved across the country, and her other best friend lives a couple hours away, and is married with a kid, so K doesn't get to see her much either. I can tell she's feeling a little lonely, and I'm more than happy to cheer her up. This past week, K worked the overnight shift with me, so we spent 40 hours, pretty much side by side. We've had a lot of conversations and goofy moments, and the friendship that had been building seems to be growing even more. This is great news for me too, as I don't have many friends here, and I feel kind of isolated, especially living on the very edge of the suburbs, because I don't get back "into town" very often, so to have someone to talk to is great.

K and I have one big difference though. She's a very outspoken atheist, and I'm obviously not. She is probably the single most respectful atheist I have ever met though. We are able to see past that glaring difference and respect each other's beliefs. We are even comfortable enough with it that we are able to have a few jokes about it. One day, K sneezed, and I looked at her and said, "Well, usually this is where I say 'God bless you!', but....I'm just not sure what to do here!" We both laughed, and it spurred a discussion on what to say when an atheist sneezes (She'd frequently heard "Take care" as an appropriate response). It's become a bit of an ongoing joke with us.

In the time we've known each other, I've never known her to say anything mean or offensive about my faith, which seems to be rare for the atheists that I've met. And because she shows me that respect, I return that respect by not overtly witnessing to her. I believe that I've shown her through my actions how my faith affects me, which I think is part of why she does show me that respect.

I think a lot of the time, we as Christians spend a lot of time sheltering ourselves and saying that we can't be friends with non-believers. And I also think that when we do that, we miss out on not only the chance to show others the Christian faith, but we miss out on some really great friendships too. K and I will never be "best" friends, but I am really happy to be able to call her my friend.

How do you feel about being friends with non-believers? How "diverse" is your group of friends?

God's calling for me

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:02:19 GMT

I apologize for my lack of posts/comments the past week and a half. It's been absolutely insane around here. I'll have a new Scripture Memorization up next Sunday. We were out of town this past weekend, then Monday night we had stuff going on, and last night I was out bowling. I'm really glad for tonight being an easy night!

My husband and I have been attending our church for about a year now, and we really like it. We were fully ready a year ago to become members. Our church has membership orientations about 3 times a year. Last fall, two of the three Sundays that classes were on, we would be out of town for the wedding and honeymoon. Then this past spring, I don't remember exactly what for, but we would be out of town for both sets of classes. So finally, last night, I got a call from the membership coordinator at church and we got signed up for this fall's classes. I'm so VERY excited about this! I haven't had a real church home in years, and something about Mount C. just feels so right. I can't thank Pastor Pari enough for recommending it to us. A few weeks ago, Pastor Dave had a very impassioned sermon about how our church has been slacking off and becoming lukewarm recently, and how that needs to change. That right there was my conviction that this is where we belong. I've known for a while, that God is calling me to something bigger, but I haven't been sure what. I've known that He's not calling me to bring in new believers. I've never been good at witnessing to non-believers, and I just knew that wasn't what He was working on for me.

A few months ago, especially when I found Revelife, God made it clear to me what He wants me to do. I am to work with the church, with existing believers, especially with lukewarm believers, to bring them back into the passionate, fiery love for Christ that we all experience at the beginning of our walk with Him. To encourage those who are struggling in their faith. To be compassionate and show concern for those who are having doubts. To bring up those who are lukewarm. At this point, I'm still not sure exactly how he's planning this for me, but it's slowly becoming clear to me, and now that I'm taking this first step into being involved with the church, it's building up in my life.

I'm seeing this in my everyday life already. Two of my very good friends are life-long Lutherans, and yet, it's painfully clear that they aren't well-educated on the Lutheran faith. The one friend readily admits this, and seems interested when I'm in "teaching mode". The other, we are going by steps. I'm seeing with her what I see with many denominational Christians. So many of them aren't really taught the faith, outside of "Jesus loves you and you're going to Heaven", and then worldly influences start to creep in. My friend makes references to past lives and karma. I kindly remind her that Christians don't believe in past lives and karma. I think she's starting to see how the world has snuck into her beliefs. I *hope* she sees it.

I know that I am FAR from perfect, but I think that God sees my failings as such an example to those He's calling me to minister to. I think when Christians realize they aren't perfect and can't be perfect, that they find themselves losing hope, and finding it harder and harder to keep up the walk with Christ that they are called to.

This got a lot longer than I intended it to, but I was kind of letting the Spirit lead me on this post. I hope you've made it this far. :) If I don't see you before then, I'll be back on Sunday with a new memorization post. :)

Scripture Memorization Week 3

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 21:02:27 GMT

First off, I want to apologize. I haven't had a whole lot of blog time this past week, so not only have I not posted, but I haven't really had time to leave comments either. I think I've managed to skim almost everyone's blogs, so I apologize for not leaving comments! But moving on....

So far through scripture memorization, we've covered:

John 3:16-17 - For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Deuteronomy 6:5 - Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

I don't have them memorized word for word yet, but each passing week, as I review them, I'm getting a lot closer, and I am able to remember the book, chapter, verse and general idea of each of them.

So this week, I'm moving on, keeping with the theme of going back to the basics of Christian faith. For this week, I'm choosing Romans 10:9 - "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord', and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." This is a really simple statement that helps to define our faith. We believe that Jesus is Lord, He *is* God. And we tell people about it. We share our faith with others, believers and non-believers. We open our mouths and tell people that we believe that Jesus Christ is our God. And we also believe that God brought Jesus back from the dead. So often we forget about this part! If there was no resurrection, there would have been no eternal life. The resurrection proves to us that Jesus is who He says He is. We have that evidence that Jesus is God. Without the resurrection, our faith means nothing. Because of the resurrection, we have hope and faith that we will share in that eternal life with Jesus Christ someday.

How AWESOME is that?!

The Most Important Thing - Scripture Memorization Week 2

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 01:34:55 GMT

Deuteronomy 6:5 (NIV) - Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Today at church, we had a guest preacher, and his sermon was entitled "The Most Important Thing". It was about Deuteronomy 6 and focused on verse 5, shown above. Moses knew that his time was coming to an end, and the Israelites were about to cross over into the Promised Land. He was repeating the Ten Commandments to them, making sure that they understood them before he was gone. In Deut. 6, he summed up the entirety of their faith in this one sentence: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Pretty simple. I really liked how this tied in with my post last Sunday about how easily John 3:16,17 sums up the Christian faith. I see it this way: John 3:16,17 tells us the "what" of what we believe, and Deut. 6:5 tells us the how.

Today's sermon confirmed to me that God is telling me to go back to basics with my faith. For the past year or so, I've dug and dug and dug, trying to figure out every single little "important" detail about the Christian faith, and even more specific, the Lutheran faith, and even MORE specific, the ELCA Lutheran beliefs (oh, what a downward spiral!) When we started going to this Lutheran church, I was so persistent to ensure that their beliefs were parallel with my own, that I found myself spending more time researching things like infant baptism and the Real Presence, that I forgot to just spend time with the Lord. I forgot to ask Him to show me the way, to show me which of the "technicalities" He thinks are important, to show me what He wants me to do for Him. I spent less time in prayer and more time digging, looking, searching for answers that I now realize I won't know the definitive answer to until I meet Jesus face to face at the end of my life.

God wants something different from me. The little things are important, but He's telling me that they're not near as important as I am making them. God is reminding me of The Most Important Thing: That I need to love Him with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my strength. He'll handle the rest.

How did you meet your spouse or significant other?

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:06:09 GMT

I got him at Wal*Mart! You can get anything there!

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