:: Sisters' Weblog: It Bloggles the Mind! ::

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United States, Tennessee, Humboldt, English, Susan, Female, 36-40, Christianity, Bible Study, church, music, trumpet, CD's.

Katie's blogchalk:
United States, Tennessee, Humboldt, English, Katie, Female, 30-35, Christianity, Bible Study, church, mom with two kids, full-time student.

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:: Saturday, November 02, 2002 ::

The Bible says we should speak edifying words about our brothers and sisters in Christ.....encouraging words, not harmful ones.

"Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." Eph 4:29-37

I say this as I attempt to remove the plank(s) from my own eye. When personal thoughts are available to the public, one should always be careful to consider the effect the words said may have on those they speaks of as well as those who are listening. Although what we speak may not necessarily be "evil," it may not necessarily be "good" either. What one person considers "dirty laundry" another may see as perfectly harmless. What one person considers harmless may cause pain for another.

A message to all bloggers:

"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds." Heb. 10:24

:: Katie 11/2/2002 12:22:57 PM ** ** [+] ::
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I praise God for my sister who lifts me up with her kind and loving words. They are encouraging to me (although a bit exaggerated.) I most certainly am not the saint in the picture Sue paints! But I know that I am very blessed to have her friendship.

:: Katie 11/2/2002 12:22:15 PM ** ** [+] ::
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Sweet Tooth

Am I the only one who loves to eat frosting right out of the container?

My dentist loves me.

Oh, I got a reply to the email I sent to that church that I was holding so much bitterness against. It was what I expected, nothing grand except the praises to our forgiving Father and all is well. I am feeling better about things these days. God can deal, I give up.

-Sue

:: Susan 10/31/2002 07:30:45 PM ** ** [+] ::
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Healing

I think the time is near. God is healing me. I have finally gotten to the point where it is more of a drag to hang onto unforgiveness and bitterness than to just let it go and let God deal. I have held onto resentment and anger too long. I was hurt by a church. I watched that church reject one of its own and not deal with a situation I thought should have been dealt with better. My pride, my sin, allowed me to feel justified in being angry and critical of that particular group of Christ followers.

satan used my pride to wear me down, actually I allowed satan to throw his darts at me and peck away at me through that sin. Make me bitter and become a less effective witness for the Kingdom. My gift of prophecy is awesome, but sometimes having the Truth revealed to me so easily makes it hard for me to understand that other's are not as keen of the Truth or how to apply it to life. This frustrates me and sometimes enrages me. But, as a grow and mature in my faith, I am learning better to deal with the "side-effects" of my spiritual gifts.

I was saved in April 1999 and by the end of that year it was clear that God was moving me from my home in Iowa, to the Bible Belt, here in TN. I thought He was moving me here to be an awesome witness because I was so onfire for Christ! My plan was to move here and see my friends husband get saved and therefore their troubled marriage healed. I had it all planned out. Unfortunately, God's thoughts aren't my thoughts, and His ways are not mine. Scratch that...I should say fortunately His thoughts aren't mine! Whew! We'd all be in BIG trouble if that were the case!

When I moved down, everything started to fall into place. I got a job immediately, I had a roof over my head and eventually my own place. My friend and I took time each week to go to the Tennessee River for Bible study and worship time and boy! Do I miss those times!

It took only a few months for satan to start working on me. His darts came through different people and some were "Christian" people. That's the part that hurt the worst! I grew very bitter and angry for various reasons and held much resentment toward certian people and groups of people. It grew and grew and got out of control and only hurt me and my relationship with God. I didn't like the person I was becoming!

Well, this type of thinking has gone on inside me for almost 3 years. It has made me so irritable! It has taken away my joy. My first Love! I was blaming Christians for my misery...because they weren't living up to the standard of "Christian"! Katie asks me why I think I set the standard. She knows how to turn my finger around and point it right back at me! Praise God for her! It has been difficult adjusting to the Bible Belt culture. There are so many "playing" Christian. I don't want to play Christian. I want to be conformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ. While I'm criticizing the "Christianity" of others, I am doing exactly what I accuse them of doing. My awesome sister in Christ tells me that I'm trying to do God's work for Him. She's right, I have tried to. I also failed badly and in the end have made only myself miserable and my framily too. I think I have learned that God will deal with the Christian who is diligently seeking to do HisWill. God will deal with that Christian, as He has myself, when they stray from the path.

God has helped me realize, truly know, that my bitterness and anger has hurt no one but me. I decided that I needed to confess. I guess on tv the cool thing to do would be to go to the church, stand up at the invitation and announce my sin and ask forgiveness. Instead, I sent an email. I explained that I want and need their forgiveness. I explained why I harbored bitterness/resentment and that I am guilty of the same thing I accuse them of. I am prideful. I have bitterness. It is subsiding.

I am awaiting a response to my email. It has been 2 days now. It really doesn't matter if I get a response or not because God is healing me. He alone is in control. I forgive. He forgives me. My yoke is heavy and I give it to Him.

WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO!!! \o/

:: Susan 10/30/2002 08:21:18 PM ** ** [+] ::
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Sue!

That was awesome! You should be a preacher! Okay well then, you should write to the newspaper!

:: Katie 10/28/2002 01:57:23 PM ** ** [+] ::
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Life...Everlasting

Did you ever think about not dying? About living forever, here, on planet earth? I have thought about dying, but never really about the consequences of not dying.

I used to stay awake at night tossing and turning because I was afraid to die. Especially in 8th grade, the Cold War was still on and the Russians were feared. I was afraid of Nuclear Holocaust at the hands of the Russians and it really kept me awake at night. I remember the movie "The Day After" which I did NOT watch because I thought it would multiply my fears.

Up until a few years ago I would lie awake at night pondering death because of the simple fact I am getting older. It frightened me to think about the fact that I was possibly about half way through my life and my youth was behind me. All I had to look forward to was getting older, and dying. It was scary.

Today I went to see the movie Tuck Everlasting. It really made me ponder what it might be like to live forever. To be immortal means I wouldn't die. I couldn't die. I could get shot in the head and not die. I could leap from the top of the Sears Tower and break my neck, be splattered on the sidewalk, and in a few moments simply get up and walk away. The car wreck I had would be an inconvenience, but again, I would walk away from it with no effect on my health or life. I couldn't die.

In Tuck Everlasting the female lead character, Winnie, sits at the "fountain of youth" and considers taking a drink. With her hand cupping the water and stirring it about she thinks about the boy she is in love with who will never die. He tells her that he wants her to drink from the fountain so that when he comes back to her they can live together forever. (Jesse, her love interest needs to go away to hide so people won't discover the spring that offers immortality. He tells her he will come back to her when it is safe.) Winnie also thinks about the words of wisdom from Tuck, the father, who is also immortal and will live forever. "What we Tucks have you can’t call livin’. We just are, like rocks stuck at the side of a stream. You can’t have livin’ without dyin’. Don’t be afraid of death, Winnie. Be afraid of the unlived life." The movie brings about some interesting points about life and how it is meant to be a cycle and people are supposed to go through its intended stages. While the girl contemplated drinking from the spring, Tiffany, my friend's 10 year old daughter said to the screen "don't drink it!". I asked her after the film..."Tif, what? Did you want Winnie to die?" and I'll tell you her response a little later.

One of the characters tells about how his family, wife and kids, grew up and all died off. He spoke of being at Gettysburg and watching brave men die and that he couldn't. He couldn't die. Life began around them, ended around them, but the Tuck family couldn't die. The cycle of life continued on, basically without them. They adapted their lives to the changing times, but they didn't change with them. As Tuck put it, they just "are, like rocks stuck at the side of a stream". For the Tucks, time moved forward...but to where?

I can think right now about how much has changed in the 36 years I've been alive. I remember the first time we could tape a tv show and watch it later. The VCR, what a neat idea! It was so exciting to know I'd never miss Little House on the Prairie! Popcorn used to be popped in oil on the stove, now it's in microwave bags. There was that short time that hot-air popcorn poppers were all the rage! Got my first CD player in 1985, before that it was vinyl records. I sure miss the big whompin' album covers, it was an art! Debit cards. Heck, writing checks is all but obsolete! How about the Internet? E-mail? Instant Messaging? Those terms never entered the mind of any people I see pictured in my high school yearbook. Personal Computers are in almost any home nowadays, and in my home growing up the technological advances were limited to the Dataman (remember that?) and the big one was the Atari 2600 Game Console! Woo! Nothing like Target Shoot! Imagine living generation to generation and never changing with the times. The movie really made me ponder the consequences of not dying, of not changing with the times, of watching generation after generation come and go and not going with them.

Not dying? What is there to look forward to? I live now with a hope that when I die, I will live eternally with my Father. My Savior will look into my eyes with more Love than my earthly body, mind and soul can even comprehend. While I used to be afraid to die, I can now embrace it because of the Hope I have in Jesus Christ. God created us to live forever, our sin messed that up, but He offered us a new way to accept eternal life with Him. If I couldn't die, what would there be to look forward to? Time would move forward...but to where?

Tiffany's response to the question, did she "want to see Winnie die?" was "how did she know he would come back for her?" Interesting. I had not expected that answer, nor did I even ponder it. It's a good question. I won't give away the ending, but I will say that I know that He will come for me because I did drink from the Living Water. I have eternal life. It is that life I can look forward to. I can't imagine living this life without that Hope.

My body will die. My spirit, my soul will live forever. I thank the Lord that He has not bound me to this body forever!

:: Susan 10/27/2002 07:30:50 PM ** ** [+] ::
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Would Jesus Play the Lottery?

All church going people know, or should know, the answer to that. No! Jesus would NOT play the lottery. Did you ever stop to question why?

I knew that He wouldn't play the lottery and my answer as to why used to be because "it's gambling". Gambling is not a Godly thing. But there's more and I learned a whole bunch from Chuck, one of my pastors, at Northbrook Church today. Can you believe that my heart was pricked during a teaching on the Lottery today?

Tennessee right now is set to vote Nov. 5 whether or not to have a State Lottery. Churches here are rallying against it, and today I learned why it is a bad thing.

Jesus would NOT play the lottery because:

I. IT IS MOTIVATED BY GREED - Greed and God can not exist in the same heart. (Luke 12:13-21)

People who support the lottery claim it is used for education. While a small portion of it may be used that way, is that really the reason people play it? Does Joe buy a ticket thinking "I'm going to contribute to the education of Tennessee's youth"? I doubt it, I think Joe wants to win the jackpot.

II. EXPLOITS THE POOR - Jesus loves the poor. The lottery hurts them. (Luke 18:18-23)

I learned today that in statistical studies on the lottery, it shows that those people with incomes below $10,000 a year participate in the lottery more than any other group. Middle income families a little less and high income brackets rarely at all.

Studies also show that at the end/beginning of the month, once welfare checks are recieved, that there is a spike in lottery sales in poor neighborhoods. The lottery is looked upon by the government as a way to get back the money from the welfare system.

There are more lottery outlets in poor neighborhoods than in affluent ones, because that is where the players are.

III. IT IS POOR STEWARDSHIP OF GOD'S RESOURCES - Everything on earth belongs to God. (Matthew 25:14-30)

The lottery is like playing the midway games at the fair. You know you will lose, therefore, why spend money on playing? Statistically there is a greater chance of being struck by lightning TWICE, than winning the "big one".

Chuck also had a guest with us today who wrote an article in the local paper about statistics on the lottery. Who plays, what income brackets, chances of winning and the consequences of winning (if it ever happened: divorces,bankruptcies)

He also shared that Jesus had more to say about money in the Sermon on the Mount than He did about faith. You can't serve two masters: God and money.

When the teaching began he read to us excerpts from a recent letter to the editor of the local paper. The reader stated "if I want to drink a beer and scratch a lottery ticket it's my right!. He also condemned pastors because the only reason they are against the lottery is because they are afraid people will spend money buying tickets and not on the "precious tithe". I feel bad for the writer of that letter. He/she is lost and just does not get it.

Chuck said that it is his right, but basically that it was not God's will. The church is against the lottery because it is against the character of God. As a church we should oppose it and it is our responsibility to keep secularism from creeping in and desensitizing us to evil. Chuck said it a lot better than I have...I think I will get the CD! Want one? E-mail me!

At the end of the teaching Chuck encouraged all Christians to think critically and "Christianly" about gambling and the state lottery. It is a good challenge.

How a person lives his life shows his walk with the Lord.

:: Susan 10/27/2002 07:21:04 PM ** ** [+] ::
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