Leaving Church
February 1, 2012
by: Lynette Woods
We consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting. 2 Cor. 4:18.
When God first called us out of religion twelve years ago, we didn’t understand exactly what He was asking us to leave.
IBEX: Glimpses of the Interstellar Material Beyond our Solar System
February 1, 2012
A great magnetic bubble surrounds the solar system as it cruises through the galaxy. The sun pumps the inside of the bubble full of solar particles that stream out to the edge until they collide with the material that fills the rest of the galaxy, at a complex boundary called the heliosheath. On the other side of the boundary, electrically charged particles from the galactic wind blow by, but rebound off the heliosheath, never to enter the solar system.
Size of God
February 1, 2012
God faith, fear, God, mundane, sovereign, worry, worship Leave a comment
There are times when we feel as if we are simply living from day to day, driven by the wind of fate. Or worse, we feel as if our lives are controlled by evil people. Although we are able to sing about about an omnipotent God in the worship of our congregations, life is not lived behind stained glass. In our homes or workplaces, our faith is challenged by the circumstances of the mundane. We must ask if our faith and perspective of God is large enough to carry us through the mundane.
The times our faith is tested by the mundane routines of life are when we begin to question if there is any purpose to our lives. If we question the purpose of our lives, we are also questioning the one who gave us life. In Isaiah 40:21-24 asks us the rhetorical question, “Have you not heard of the power of God?” He knows that we have heard of the power and strength of God, but that we were caught up in the difficulties of their activities and must have forgotten that YHWH is still the Sovereign Lord.
The prophet begins to describe this awesome God who seems to be too easily forgotten. He is viewed as enthroned by all people, who are like grasshoppers. This reminds the reader that even their greatest enemy is still under the domain of the Almighty God. Nature is also under God’s divine sovereignty. Rulers are placed in and taken out of positions not by their sole ability or fate, but by God. The issue at stake here is to determine what issue causing anxiety is larger than God? We should view God’s lordship in comparison to the triviality of our “giants” of anxiety. We must not proclaim God as Lord in praise on Sunday only to let to let that proclamation pale in light of adversity on Tuesday. God is the Lord on Tuesday as well as Sunday.
In verse 25, the voice of the Lord is heard asking, “Who is comparable or equal to me?” God is a jealous God who desires all the worship of followers and is not willing to share any of that worship with any object or idea. The prophet joins in to argue that, in observing creation one sees the power and strength of God. In fact, the prophet is urging us to look in a different direction to view God in a different light.
Apparently the problem rests with the words and the complaints of the people who feel that God has abandoned them (v27). But again they are reminded that the Lord does not grow weary or tired, and is in actuality the giver of strength and power. Those who learn to trust in the Almighty God will find their strength renewed. During the mundane, when our language betrays our faith, we should take another look at the sovereign God and replace our faltering hope. The natural result will be a refreshing and renewing of our strength of the day.
Games
January 19, 2012
Serious Thoughts family, friends, games, worship Leave a comment
You ever watch people play those games where you grab a stuffed animal out of the plastic bin with a mechanical grabber. What about the game where you drop your quarter in and hope slider will make the other quarters drop off. You watch these people drop quarter after quarter in there. They will run and get more money to drop in the machine. “I almost had it that time!” “Just one more quarter will make them all fall.” I worry about those people.
They have began to worship that little stuffed animal or stack of quarters. No. Think about it. They have spend all there money to get a three dollar fuzzy bunny. That is worship. They have set aside all else for the pursuit of that goal. That stuff people do in church on Sunday mornings isn’t worship. It is singing. Worship involves a total pursuit of an object with all your hearts, minds and soul. That girl in high school, that new car (or that old restored car), or that new house.
You know the old saying that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. We can began to worship that other yard. We forget the family and friends that we have. We can leave a job that we have prospered in and go full- hearted after that new and better thing.
The sad thing is that which you worship will rule you. That fuzzy rabbit can own you. That different woman can own you. That better job can own you. People give themselves a sense of strength and pride when they pursue these things. I am driven and pursuing something better for myself. I am growing, I am progressing. No. You are following like a mindless fool blown by the winds of fate and whim.
We paly games with ourselves and the real losers are all to often those around us. We need to worship those close to us. Those that nurture us. Those that stand there and finally say, “NO! You cant have another dollar. Stop playing the game and let’s go”
Eagles
January 8, 2012
pondering compassion, eagles, facts in question, opinions, understanding 1 Comment
Did you know that the name of the band is “Eagles” not “the Eagles”? I know I am crazy random sometimes. But I have a larger point. Wonder how many other things in our life that we know – we really don’t?
I am not big on absolutes. You may tell me that the sky is blue. Depending on the time of day and season in my location, it may be blue, orange, red, purple or grey. The grass is green? Some of mine is brown, golden and blue tinged at this very moment.
Now I hear your argument. I am telling you how the grass and sky are where I am right now – and that is my point. Some facts are dependents of our place in time and our situation.
Think about it. Government assistance is bad. It creates weakness and laziness. People become dependent on the government to meet their needs. Until… that government assistance is coming to that person. Public roads and schools and libraries are government assistance. I can’t buy all those books, hire a private teacher and feel a building with training equipment.
It goes beyond that. I am not self-sufficient when I buy insurance for my home, car and life. It is rare that my premium payments become enough to cover a catastrophic surgery or illness. Do they cover the replacement of all my belongings and house in the event of a storm or fire? Do they cover the cost of car replacement, injury to my passengers or the person that I hit with my car or the property damage my wreck caused?
People who are depressed just need to suck it up and stop their whining and laying around. Does that apply to me when my loved one is back in America while I fight in the hills of Afghanistan? Does that apply when the doctors find a mass that is too large to remove and too advanced to treat. When I am lying at home with Hospice visiting for pain management and to boost my quality of life as I die? Does it apply to the ones watching my slip towards that appointed end?
There are facts in each of our lives that we have build our lives on. I wonder how many of them are as trivial as whether its “The Eagles” or “Eagles”? I wonder how many of them taint our outlook on others and how we relate to them.
Helping Hand
January 5, 2012
Photography flickr, help, hometown, owensboro, red cross, tornado Leave a comment
