When you wish you had done things differently ...
Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive? But you offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear you.
Psalm 130:3-4
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Today's Promise From God
When you're worn out from the routine of life ...
I long to obey your commandments! Renew my life with your goodness.
Psalm 119:40
I long to obey your commandments! Renew my life with your goodness.
Psalm 119:40
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Today's Promise From God
When you want each moment to count ...
I focus on this one thing : Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
Philippians 3:13-14
I focus on this one thing : Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
Philippians 3:13-14
Monday, May 16, 2011
Sue's Graduation and new books to share!
Over this past weekend my husband and I attended Susan's graduation from St. Elizabeth's College of Nursing! We are so proud of her and the ceremony was held in a beautiful Catholic Church by the campus. Let's all send good prayers to Sue with continued success in her career as a nurse. My mother is a nurse and I have so much respect for both my mom and Susie. There is so much hard work involved but their commitment to their patients comes from their hearts and their need to care for others. Congrats Susan!
I also wanted to share 2 books that I picked up from the Salvation Army. (Note: This is a great way to support your local Salvation Army and to benefit yourself too - go in and look for any Christian books. Even if you find duplicate copies or books you already have purchase them to pass on to others!). I found The Pray of Jabez : Breaking Through to the Blessed Life by Bruce Wilkinson and The Promised Savior : The Meaning of Christmas Revealed Through Time and History by Randy Hurst. I look forward to reading both and letting you know what I think!
I also wanted to share 2 books that I picked up from the Salvation Army. (Note: This is a great way to support your local Salvation Army and to benefit yourself too - go in and look for any Christian books. Even if you find duplicate copies or books you already have purchase them to pass on to others!). I found The Pray of Jabez : Breaking Through to the Blessed Life by Bruce Wilkinson and The Promised Savior : The Meaning of Christmas Revealed Through Time and History by Randy Hurst. I look forward to reading both and letting you know what I think!
Today's Promise From God
When God has called you to a task ...
Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.
Isaiah 41:10
Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.
Isaiah 41:10
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Doctrine Week 3 : Creation : God Makes DISCUSSION
Hello! I finally had the opportunity to finish the 3rd Sermon in the Doctrine series from Mars Hill Church. If you would like to watch please refer to the links at the right and select 'mars hill church'. This will connect you to all videos and discussions we've had so far.
I hope some of you also took some time to watch the sermon and can discuss along with me. This particular sermon was on the Creation. Pastor Driscoll states that the Bible stories are more of a theological history and a guide to heaven rather than a scientific text. The Creation is not about who and what but God's work. I think this is a wonderful way to explain what the Bible does for us. Many people do want to pick it apart and contest the contents of the Bible with science without recalling that the Bible is a book of stories mean to teach us how to live as Christians in order to get to heaven. The Creation story tells us how we came to be here and the privilege we have been given to be here with God as our creator and savior. We can not begin to understand ourselves without acknowledging the existence of God, as he created us. When Pastor begins to discuss the various interpretations of the Creation by Christians (I didn't realize there was much much debate within the Christian community on the story!) he proposes a closed hand/open hand theory which he describes as a discussion without the division. I was overjoyed that he said this because I think this goes for all topics! I used to loathe discussing politics without a format like this. Often times, people get pleasure from not only arguing a point but pressing it on you without any relief! This would frustrate me and ultimately kept me away from what could have been wonderful discussions. Discussion without division is something everyone could gain from and no better format to discuss The Creation.
Something really grabbed me during this sermon and it was the statement that the creation reflects the creator. As an artist this held much meaning for me. I tend to do drawings and/or paintings that are personal for me and display beauty. We live in a truly remarkable world. Nature in itself can leave you speechless. With technology today we have been able to see television series like Planet Earth and Life that give us a glimpse of the beauty of nature that some of us with never have the pleasure of coming face to face with. People are beautiful and so unique. What does this tell us about our creator, God? Well, it certainly confirms everything I've read about why God made us. He loves us, He loves his creation, He loves beauty, He loves nature and put all us all together so that he could enjoy his creation and we could enjoy what he has created.
Who would have guessed that with all the beauty in God's creation there would be anything to discuss, right?! Hehe, well of course, there is the debate on how old the earth is and the belief that there is a young earth vs. old earth. The young earth is describes as being anywhere from 6,000 to 10,000 years old in reference to the genealogies in the Bible. Some believe that the earth may just look old and was made mature as Adam was created mature, as opposed to him being created an infant. This does not coincide with the scientific explanation of the earth being roughly 4.5 billion years old. From my understanding of the Bible isn't it possible that He did create the Earth and then at a later date created everything else? I believe Pastor may have touched on this when discussing a gap in Genesis. What I found amazing was that even non Christians agree that homo sapiens show up within the last 10,000 years which completely agrees with James Usher's studies from the 1600's on the biblical genealogies. Since the Bible does not directly give the earth's age there is more freedom to debate there but as far as humans - it seems that the consensus of about 10,000 years is applicable whether your Christians or not. In the end, I agree with Pastor that no matter how old the earth is, there is great significance in the creation of human life being young and being accepted by all to have occurred around 10,000 years ago. There also seems to be a general consensus that a big bang, or big God occurred which I like to refer to as the BIGinning :) Pastor mentions that Christians don't reject science but naturalism. This was followed by a huge sigh of relief on my end because grade school kind of gave me the assumption of science vs. Christianity. When he said this and further explained I was relieved to know my thinking was wrong and that's something I can move forward with!
He ends with a discussion on atheistic evolution which was a shock to hear about. In my mind, Atheists don't believe in God and I've never put much more thought into atheism than that but he Pastor went on to describe how their belief is that we come from nothing, go to nothing, life is full of unyielding despair, random, chaos and no real purpose. And he concluded that these beliefs are basically biased and just bad science. That was enough information for me! I don't think there is an alternative to Creation. Where we come from determines our purpose here and where we will go. We come from God and we were here to fulfill His Word in order to one day go to heaven. Doesn't get any better than that! Who wouldn't want to live a life serving God? There is so much good to be done and joy and happiness to experience - it's no wonder God set this life up for us, he loves giving us joy through the obstacles he helps us overcome and the passion to love others and so on and so forth! As Pastor Driscoll states, the Creator entered His creation and made Jesus to identify with us. Jesus resisted sin, never exchanged the truth for the lie and he paid the penalty for our sins. In Oneism, all of these distinctions are erased. There is no savior, no one outside of the circle to believe in, have faith in. Distinctions are necessary, as stated above, to understand ourselves. If not for distinctions we would have no God, no creator, apart from which we would not understand ourselves.
How's that for food for thought?! I feel like I have so much more thought to put into all I've just written even! Whew :)
I hope some of you also took some time to watch the sermon and can discuss along with me. This particular sermon was on the Creation. Pastor Driscoll states that the Bible stories are more of a theological history and a guide to heaven rather than a scientific text. The Creation is not about who and what but God's work. I think this is a wonderful way to explain what the Bible does for us. Many people do want to pick it apart and contest the contents of the Bible with science without recalling that the Bible is a book of stories mean to teach us how to live as Christians in order to get to heaven. The Creation story tells us how we came to be here and the privilege we have been given to be here with God as our creator and savior. We can not begin to understand ourselves without acknowledging the existence of God, as he created us. When Pastor begins to discuss the various interpretations of the Creation by Christians (I didn't realize there was much much debate within the Christian community on the story!) he proposes a closed hand/open hand theory which he describes as a discussion without the division. I was overjoyed that he said this because I think this goes for all topics! I used to loathe discussing politics without a format like this. Often times, people get pleasure from not only arguing a point but pressing it on you without any relief! This would frustrate me and ultimately kept me away from what could have been wonderful discussions. Discussion without division is something everyone could gain from and no better format to discuss The Creation.
Something really grabbed me during this sermon and it was the statement that the creation reflects the creator. As an artist this held much meaning for me. I tend to do drawings and/or paintings that are personal for me and display beauty. We live in a truly remarkable world. Nature in itself can leave you speechless. With technology today we have been able to see television series like Planet Earth and Life that give us a glimpse of the beauty of nature that some of us with never have the pleasure of coming face to face with. People are beautiful and so unique. What does this tell us about our creator, God? Well, it certainly confirms everything I've read about why God made us. He loves us, He loves his creation, He loves beauty, He loves nature and put all us all together so that he could enjoy his creation and we could enjoy what he has created.
Who would have guessed that with all the beauty in God's creation there would be anything to discuss, right?! Hehe, well of course, there is the debate on how old the earth is and the belief that there is a young earth vs. old earth. The young earth is describes as being anywhere from 6,000 to 10,000 years old in reference to the genealogies in the Bible. Some believe that the earth may just look old and was made mature as Adam was created mature, as opposed to him being created an infant. This does not coincide with the scientific explanation of the earth being roughly 4.5 billion years old. From my understanding of the Bible isn't it possible that He did create the Earth and then at a later date created everything else? I believe Pastor may have touched on this when discussing a gap in Genesis. What I found amazing was that even non Christians agree that homo sapiens show up within the last 10,000 years which completely agrees with James Usher's studies from the 1600's on the biblical genealogies. Since the Bible does not directly give the earth's age there is more freedom to debate there but as far as humans - it seems that the consensus of about 10,000 years is applicable whether your Christians or not. In the end, I agree with Pastor that no matter how old the earth is, there is great significance in the creation of human life being young and being accepted by all to have occurred around 10,000 years ago. There also seems to be a general consensus that a big bang, or big God occurred which I like to refer to as the BIGinning :) Pastor mentions that Christians don't reject science but naturalism. This was followed by a huge sigh of relief on my end because grade school kind of gave me the assumption of science vs. Christianity. When he said this and further explained I was relieved to know my thinking was wrong and that's something I can move forward with!
He ends with a discussion on atheistic evolution which was a shock to hear about. In my mind, Atheists don't believe in God and I've never put much more thought into atheism than that but he Pastor went on to describe how their belief is that we come from nothing, go to nothing, life is full of unyielding despair, random, chaos and no real purpose. And he concluded that these beliefs are basically biased and just bad science. That was enough information for me! I don't think there is an alternative to Creation. Where we come from determines our purpose here and where we will go. We come from God and we were here to fulfill His Word in order to one day go to heaven. Doesn't get any better than that! Who wouldn't want to live a life serving God? There is so much good to be done and joy and happiness to experience - it's no wonder God set this life up for us, he loves giving us joy through the obstacles he helps us overcome and the passion to love others and so on and so forth! As Pastor Driscoll states, the Creator entered His creation and made Jesus to identify with us. Jesus resisted sin, never exchanged the truth for the lie and he paid the penalty for our sins. In Oneism, all of these distinctions are erased. There is no savior, no one outside of the circle to believe in, have faith in. Distinctions are necessary, as stated above, to understand ourselves. If not for distinctions we would have no God, no creator, apart from which we would not understand ourselves.
How's that for food for thought?! I feel like I have so much more thought to put into all I've just written even! Whew :)
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Back on Schedule!
It's been a while since we've shared thoughts on a Mars Hill Church Sermon so here is #3 in the series we've slowly but surely been following.
Susan has already watched and I am trying to watch and give you my discussion piece within the next few days! With the weather getting nicer I've made a bad habit of not updating this regularly but I made a promise to myself last night that I would certainly keep up. It is too easy to say, "Oh, I'll take care of that another day" and God, just as anything you love, care for and have faith in, is not someone to place on the back burner. I'll be back with a discussion soon! Feel free to watch this video and share in discussion using the comment box!
Harvest of Blessing UPDATE : I continue to collect both monetary and item donations. It must be noted that it can take up to 6 months before a package is delivered. As I've mentioned before, one package of items is still in transit to Asingan from the US that we've sent with items donated from various people. We appreciate the continued support. If you'd like to know more please check out our facebook page and help!
Susan has already watched and I am trying to watch and give you my discussion piece within the next few days! With the weather getting nicer I've made a bad habit of not updating this regularly but I made a promise to myself last night that I would certainly keep up. It is too easy to say, "Oh, I'll take care of that another day" and God, just as anything you love, care for and have faith in, is not someone to place on the back burner. I'll be back with a discussion soon! Feel free to watch this video and share in discussion using the comment box!
Harvest of Blessing UPDATE : I continue to collect both monetary and item donations. It must be noted that it can take up to 6 months before a package is delivered. As I've mentioned before, one package of items is still in transit to Asingan from the US that we've sent with items donated from various people. We appreciate the continued support. If you'd like to know more please check out our facebook page and help!
Today's Promise From God
When you feel vulnerable to spiritual attack ...
If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you.
Psalm 91:9-10
If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you.
Psalm 91:9-10
Monday, May 2, 2011
Easter
First off .. my apologies!! It's been so long since I've updated. We have been in and out of town for the past 2 weeks with the Easter holiday and making rounds visiting family and friends. For Palm Sunday we went to a different church in our area and we truly loved it. We had a wonderful experience there. Everyone was easy to talk to, Addison did great in the nursery (her first time being left with anyone other than a relative!) and it was a "special" Sunday service in that they did a mock interview with Pontius Pilate. The acting was great and very informative.
For Easter Sunday we went to my in laws close to the city. Mom was singing and playing the bells for the service so we had fun watching her. I was really excited for Easter this year because this is the first year celebrating as a Christian. Because I wasn't involved with the church much of my high school and college years I think this was the first year Easter meant much more to me than hunting for eggs and the basket full of goodies that the Easter Bunny has left somewhere! Hehe. Seriously, though, I don't think I even knew until now that Good Friday and Easter memorializes the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. What a weekend for Christ - sacrificing everything including his life so that our sins could be forgiven and they staying true to God's word and literally rising from the dead. This was extremely significant not only for what Christ did but because this opened many people's eyes to His truth. Christ rose just as God had intended and now many could see that this was real and as a result of all those who gained faith in Christianity we are all able to fill our lives with God's love.
I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter weekend!
For Easter Sunday we went to my in laws close to the city. Mom was singing and playing the bells for the service so we had fun watching her. I was really excited for Easter this year because this is the first year celebrating as a Christian. Because I wasn't involved with the church much of my high school and college years I think this was the first year Easter meant much more to me than hunting for eggs and the basket full of goodies that the Easter Bunny has left somewhere! Hehe. Seriously, though, I don't think I even knew until now that Good Friday and Easter memorializes the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. What a weekend for Christ - sacrificing everything including his life so that our sins could be forgiven and they staying true to God's word and literally rising from the dead. This was extremely significant not only for what Christ did but because this opened many people's eyes to His truth. Christ rose just as God had intended and now many could see that this was real and as a result of all those who gained faith in Christianity we are all able to fill our lives with God's love.
I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter weekend!
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