Building projects require some preliminary work, and the other day my back yard got its share of colored paint so the contractor would know where to dig. (actually so he would know where not to dig.)He spent a lot of time with a shovel looking for electric or gas lines, but couldn't find them. The next day he had the yard painter come back to repaint. so he could dig some more. Turns out he would have spent a lot of time looking because the lines were painted in the wrong place.
It reminds me of that old(?) song: "Lookin' for Love in all the Wrong Places". You just can't find something when it isn't there. Doesn't matter that someone said it was there or might be there, that it used to be there, that it should be there, or that you want it to be there; if it's not there, it's not there.
And if you're looking in the wrong place, you'll probably find something, it just won't be what you thought you were looking for.
Or maybe it's like the treasure maps we used to have as kids, "X" might have marked a spot, but I never dug a big enough hole to find the buried treasure.
A lot of people treat prayer like that too. We say we're praying, but in actuality we're just going to God and telling Him what we want Him to do for us in a particular situation. We're drawing lines so we know where to dig for the answer. Then we sit back and wait, and when we don't get the answer that we told God would be an acceptable response, we decide that God wasn't listening or God doesn't answer prayers, or worse that God just doesn't care. Sometimes we've drawn the lines in the wrong place.
Wrong!
Sometimes we just need to get out of God's way, and let Him answer our prayers in the way that He thinks is best. The lines we draw, the "X" that we put on the map, the places we decide would be the best places to look just might not be right.
Learn to let God decide for you, and you might just be surprised.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Married, or just dating? Book review: Why Church Matters by Joshua harris
“Married, or just dating?”
I enjoyed Joshua Harris’ book when it was published several years ago under a different title: Stop Dating the Church. I enjoyed reading it again as Why Church Matters: Discovering Your Place in the Family of God.
Harris invites his readers to look at their relationships with the church in the context of a marriage. Are you married to the church, or do you try to put the church into the category of ‘friends with benefits”?
The author encourages us to become passionate about our relationship with the church, to see it more than something we do on Sunday morning, whether we want to or not. God's plan for the church is something exciting, but unless we fully engage, we miss out on all that it has to offer. It’s the age old dilemma of those who want to claim Jesus as Savior, but refuse to acknowledge Him as LORD. We want to pick and choose, to take the parts that make us feel good, and leave the rest.
Christ calls the church His bride, and in a very real sense when we think of marriage, think of this beautiful person with whom we want to spend the rest of our life, we think in terms of passion, of love, of commitment. Unless there were some ulterior motives, we wouldn’t go into a marriage relationship with the idea that once you get married you’ll spend one hour a week together, and during the time you’ll be bored silly. Yet people want to sign up to be part of the church, the bride of Christ, and go into the relationship with that attitude…
As Christians we have been given access to the most exciting news the world has ever known, it’s up to us to joyfully proclaim that news. Harris in this engaging book offers some suggestions to help us find or reclaim that passion that should be part of our relationship with the Christ and the Church. He invites us to take that next step, to make the commitment, to become as passionate about the church as we are about our hobbies.
There’s a stark warning for church leadership too, if your local church isn’t biblical, if it’s nothing to get passionate about, then people who want to get passionately involved might just move on.
Wondering what’s missing on Sunday morning? This book is for you!
5/5
I enjoyed Joshua Harris’ book when it was published several years ago under a different title: Stop Dating the Church. I enjoyed reading it again as Why Church Matters: Discovering Your Place in the Family of God.
Harris invites his readers to look at their relationships with the church in the context of a marriage. Are you married to the church, or do you try to put the church into the category of ‘friends with benefits”?
The author encourages us to become passionate about our relationship with the church, to see it more than something we do on Sunday morning, whether we want to or not. God's plan for the church is something exciting, but unless we fully engage, we miss out on all that it has to offer. It’s the age old dilemma of those who want to claim Jesus as Savior, but refuse to acknowledge Him as LORD. We want to pick and choose, to take the parts that make us feel good, and leave the rest.
Christ calls the church His bride, and in a very real sense when we think of marriage, think of this beautiful person with whom we want to spend the rest of our life, we think in terms of passion, of love, of commitment. Unless there were some ulterior motives, we wouldn’t go into a marriage relationship with the idea that once you get married you’ll spend one hour a week together, and during the time you’ll be bored silly. Yet people want to sign up to be part of the church, the bride of Christ, and go into the relationship with that attitude…
As Christians we have been given access to the most exciting news the world has ever known, it’s up to us to joyfully proclaim that news. Harris in this engaging book offers some suggestions to help us find or reclaim that passion that should be part of our relationship with the Christ and the Church. He invites us to take that next step, to make the commitment, to become as passionate about the church as we are about our hobbies.
There’s a stark warning for church leadership too, if your local church isn’t biblical, if it’s nothing to get passionate about, then people who want to get passionately involved might just move on.
Wondering what’s missing on Sunday morning? This book is for you!
5/5
Sunday, August 14, 2011
it's a beautiful day
I haven't been here lately, i've been reviewing lots of books and articles, but they were submitted for a grade, and weren't the books that I've been getting from publishers. The last paper for this class was submitted on Friday... now a break until October.
we had a baptism at church this morning and that's always fun, and participated in a funeral this afternoon. Also fun, but in a totally different way.
actually picked a couple of cucumbers today, along with some tomatos, squash, eggplant, and peppers. Fresh veggies taste so much better than store-bought ones.
Get to mow the lawn this evening (it's starting to cool down) and maybe do some baking.
..
...then i can start reading for pleasure again. I miss it-- and my kindle is full of books waiting to be read and reviewed.
Nolan starts school tomorrow. My baby is in 9th grade - hard to believe it, but he's almost 15.
Yes, it's a beautiful day. Hope you're enjoying it!
we had a baptism at church this morning and that's always fun, and participated in a funeral this afternoon. Also fun, but in a totally different way.
actually picked a couple of cucumbers today, along with some tomatos, squash, eggplant, and peppers. Fresh veggies taste so much better than store-bought ones.
Get to mow the lawn this evening (it's starting to cool down) and maybe do some baking.
..
...then i can start reading for pleasure again. I miss it-- and my kindle is full of books waiting to be read and reviewed.
Nolan starts school tomorrow. My baby is in 9th grade - hard to believe it, but he's almost 15.
Yes, it's a beautiful day. Hope you're enjoying it!
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