Sometimes when it feels like the whole world is in an uproar, believe it or not, I DO find it hard to go on my blog and talk about what’s going on in our little bubble this week.

I do read the news. My heart does go out to the suffering. We do teach our boys about the world they are growing up in. We do our best to look at all sides of each issue. This just felt like an especially rough week in the world, didn’t it? And it’s only Monday night!!  Yikes.

There’s the race riots in Baltimore, an area where we have many friends, the earthquakes, the war in the middle east, horrible storms, and there is always, always political fighting going on.

It’s a fallen, hurting world. It’s a world that needs Jesus. Sometimes I wonder why so many people, especially the very young 20 somethings, have this attitude of rebellion toward all of Christianity. Rebellion towards racism and oppression, I get that. But why are Christians such a target? I think there are two reasons for this, completely unrelated:

1. Jesus confronts people with a choice: Belief or denial. Was he a Savior, or was he a lunatic? Are we sinners in need of a savior? Or are we fine? Do we have a soul? Or when we die, is it just over?

People hate that. They want to “do what we wanna do” and have no consequences. Some people do not want to be told there are absolute rights or wrongs, and yet there are so many sins that we can still all agree are sins: bullying, cheating, pedophiles (although I’m sure eventually some idiot will champion that cause), sexual abuse, rape, etc.

If we can agree to that, then I think we are agreeing that actually there ARE some moral absolutes.

…24“If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. 25“But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.’ 26“When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,…

John 15:24-26

The other reason that people hate Christians is different:

2. When Christians misbehave. I don’t think anyone actually expects Christians to be sinless. I think they just need us to be kind. No beating them over the head with our Bibles; just basically not being jerks. We need to adopt a meek attitude, not a “better than thou” attitude.

Jesus spoke to the leaders of the time about this A LOT.

“‘Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.’

And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.”         Luke 11: 52-54

We need to be careful that we don’t do that. I have no intention of ever hindering anyone’s path to reconciling themselves with God. This blog will never be a high horse that I stand on and shout to people their faults. That is not what God wants from me.

“Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle showing all humility to all men.”   Titus 3:1-2

I love God’s word, and when read as a whole, it has the power to build, strengthen, encourage, instruct, and inspire.

…20for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. 21Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. 22But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.…James 1:20-22

I am not called to write about current events or political hoopla. I am just a witness to the light, and I think that sharing happy, funny stories from my life might encourage my friends and family and give you a laugh, so that is what I write about. I know that God has done great things for me and those around me, so I like to talk about that too.

Most of you are far away from us. I only wish that you all had blogs about your daily lives so I could better keep up with you!!  I’ll just settle for Facebook, until you set up your blog. 😉

So when it feels like the world is falling apart, and I’m over here talking about how cute Brain Pop Jr. is, have no fear. I do notice. I’m not apathetic or ignorant.

But life goes on, and my personal mission is clear.

…7Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?8He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?

We are enjoying the blessing of having our children home with us. I don’t know if it’s knowing I only have four weeks left of teaching or what, but I am so filled with joy right now. The boys were so cute tonight. I have to share this:

Alan: Joshua, will you say our blessing tonight (before supper)?

Joshua said the prayer.

Caleb: Oh me!!  I want to say one too!

Joshua: What! Oh, Caleb, but I’m starving here!

Caleb: Okay, I’ll say it, and Joshua you can still eat while I say it.

*Everyone seemed to agree to that. We bowed our heads again.*

Caleb said his prayer. It was a really sweet one.

Daniel: OH!!!  Me! I want to say one now. Caleb, you can eat. Joshua, and you, if you need to.

Daniel said his prayer. It was sweet. Also, it was looooong.

Alan: John David? Would you like to say one too?

JD: *face covered in pizza, pizza pretty much finished: just looked at us and chewed*

Finally, we all got to eat.

🙂

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Nonna, sharing with us examples of gold, frankincence, and myrrh at Christmas.

Studying Jesus this year is something that has me just plum ecstatic! Last year I was in the Old Testament. I didn’t enjoy that much. I was like, “Oh yeah, I need to read my Bible today…” Some of the chapters were exciting, but once I hit Ezekiel, it wasn’t fun to me. I was just counting down the days until Matthew!!!

Bible study has been a passion of mine since I was in middle school. I don’t like taking other people’s word for something as complex as the Bible. I like to study it myself, as well as listen to excellent preachers and teachers who have had way more theological training than I have! 

Today I read Matthew 10. Here are a few things I learned from Halley’s Bible Handbook:

-“It took Jesus about a year and a half to complete his choice in disciples, and then they were with him about two years.”  (page 435)

– I guess I knew this, but I never really THOUGHT about it:  In Jesus’ day, there were no newspapers. The ONLY method he had to get his message out was word of mouth. Wow. Thankfully, that is no longer the case. 😉

– When the disciples began to follow Jesus, they were following him as POLITICIANS, because they thought Jesus came for an EARTHLY throne. They had no idea they were becoming preachers.  Haaaa!!  Jesus told them “kingdom of heaven” countless times, but I don’t think it sank in until he’d been crucified and resurrected!

IF they had realized that by following Jesus, they were in the process of becoming preachers, making history, and would one day also be martyred, do you think they would have followed Jesus so readily?

Maybe yes, maybe no, but that just goes to show we’re better off not knowing our futures…

-The disciples’ role was simply to tell the story of Jesus. I love that. I think of myself as a storyteller myself. I hope that I can learn to do a better job of telling the story of Jesus. (Jesus and his disciples also healed the sick and raised the dead as they went. Now that would be a great power to have!)

********

Those were all points from Halley’s, but I want to add a couple thoughts. I love studying Jesus because he was the only man that never sinned. The rest of us, even the ones that think they are starch-clean-perfect, sin probably every hour.

This was my favorite set of verses from chapter 10. This sums up to me the GREAT LOVE of Jesus. Not one of us, even our greatest heroes, will ever “arrive” at perfection. Even once we accept Jesus, we must always seek his forgiveness and rely on his grace:

“Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.”    Matthew 10:32-33

Who will go on to DENY Jesus THREE times?

Peter.

And do you believe that Jesus will deny Peter before God in heaven? No, no, he will not, and that is why you cannot take out one verse from the Bible and try to build your theology around it. This is not a contradiction at all. This is called taking the Bible and understanding it as a whole, rather than thinking you can isolate a few words and say that they are contradictory.

Peter was the most famous of the disciples. Jesus said of Peter, “That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”  Matthew 16:18.

Peter was forgiven of this sin that he had committed. We all sin.  We all need Jesus.

To me this is just another example of the amazing love of God. God knows what we are, and he LOVES us. He will never twist our arm to come to him, but if we seek him, we will find him.

“Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not thereofore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.”  Matthew 10:29-30

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October 31. It isn’t just Halloween–a very odd candy holiday in which perfectly happy, normal people throw skeleton decorations in their front yards. I don’t mean to be the Halloween Scrooge, but Halloween gets on my nerves. I passed a house yesterday with three fake tomb stones in the front yard. On the stones, the family had written the names of their children (living children).  Weird, ya’ll. I don’t care what holiday that is. It’s weird.

As far as I’m concerned, it’s a day where my children eat too much sugar and ask me to spend a bunch of money on costumes. Then we attempt trick-or-treating, until some neighbor takes it all too seriously and comes running out with a hockey mask and a chain saw. One of my children always gets scared and wants to come home.

Or, the funny thing is, they are so excited to have six pieces of candy in their bag, they say, “Yes!  Let’s go home and eat all this candy!!!”

I’m much more intrigued by a whole other event that took place on October 31, 1517. Yes, THAT Martin Luther: the one that started the whole Protestant Reformation. I mean, it had to be done. In those days, the Church was selling “forgiveness for sins” in exchange for money. What! Martin Luther was a highly dedicated Augustinian friar, with a doctorate in Bible, so he knew his Word backwards and forwards. He wrote down every single way in which the selling of indulgences was unBiblical and an exploitation of the poor. He sent this letter to his bishop. Some say he even nailed it to the door of the All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg.

Now you know I’m on board with someone who takes that kind of stand.

This is not to say anything against the Catholic Church nowadays, but in Martin Luther’s time, reform desperately needed to happen. As for the church now?

Psst….When it comes to Christianity, being a follower of Christ does not depend on what denomination of church you go to. All churches consist of lost and saved people alike, I am convinced.

What matters is the heart. That’s what God looks at. Is your heart right with God? How does one even get “right with God”?

Well, the Bible says that we can’t really, on our own. None of us are righteous, no not one. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

The Bible states that we are all in need of a Savior, and that savior is Jesus.

In 1517, the Church (not God’s Word), also taught that we needed a Savior, but not just that–we also needed enough good deeds, and we could just buy the good deed part by giving money to the church.

Wrong.

A clean heart cannot be bought.

I think John describes salvation best, in the verses that we always teach our children first:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

John 3:16

To be right with God, we need to come to a place where we see our sins for what they are–sins. We need to confess that, ask for forgiveness, believing that we can get that through Jesus. Why Jesus? Because he lived this life as a person, even though he is God, and he never sinned. However, he took OUR punishment for sin upon himself, simply because God loved us.

Jesus reconciled us to God.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.  Ephesians 2: 8-10

It’s a choice we all must make: to believe or not to believe, but if you choose not to believe, I hope you have well researched that decision. Life is so much better with Jesus in it.

Don’t you love a man who stands up for what he believes is right? Martin Luther didn’t turn his back on the church because of all the hypocrisy. Instead, he tried to change it. He educated, he persuaded, he was bold, and he was brave.

Eventually, change did happen, but at first all Martin Luther got for that was……excommunicated from the church. As it turns out,  choosing to stand up for what’s right isn’t always popular.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

A few facts you may not know about Martin Luther

1. Martin Luther taught other reformers to not resort to violence in their quest for church reform since that is not Biblical. That reminds me of how Martin Luther King, Jr. also sought non-violent means to promote Civil Rights. There’s the connection.

2. Martin Luther wrote catechisms to teach the basics of Christianity to the people.

3. He also wrote a new Mass in German so that the common people could understand it, and he omitted everything that “smacks of sacrifice.” Luther preached that Mass was a gift, not a sacrifice.

4. Luther wrote gobs of hymns.

5. Luther translated the New Testament into German, but they say it was slanted towards his interpretations.

6. Luther always took the firm stance that communion was literal, not symbolic, as many reformers believed.

Happy Martin Luther Day! Have a great weekend.

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.  1 Corinthians 16:13

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A while back, I typed out the story of how and why I have chosen this life of following Jesus. However, I made the mistake of never actually posting it on my home page, so many of my blog readers have never read this particular story, and it is the most important story I know. This set the entire course for my life.

Click here to read My Story of Faith. I would love to hear stories of faith from all of you!! I’ve often heard people in church circles say that the only testimony that they think is powerful is one where God saved a person from a hard life of drugs or such. While yes, that is a great testimony to what God can do, I think all believers have a great story to tell. What’s yours?

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