OK, So I'm still stalling but...

Yeah I'm stalling on the post i am and have been working on for a couple weeks now. I am doing so because I am busy and I am being careful with my word choices and what i say as to not add to the white noise that we call online social media and blogs. I am trying to be: real and reasonable; open and sensitive; gritty and true (in both senses of the word). So until I finish writing and editing what I am trying to say I postpone and stall. so rather than me add to the white noise here are links to good posts and articles I read this past week from other blogs which stood out to me.

Bri Dupree -Judging Worship: "How foul my worship must smell in the nostrils of God when I turn up my own nose at the ways others worship?"

Tim Gombis - On Thomas, Who Doubted: "May we, O God, by grace believe/and thus the risen Christ receive/whose raw imprinted palms reached out/and beckoned Thomas from his doubt."

Jason Boyett - Mumford and Christian Celebrities: "Let’s enjoy his art for what it is. Let’s stop worrying about high-profile Christians, stop obsessing about fame, stop hoisting the legitimacy of our own beliefs onto someone else’s powerful shoulders."

Sammy Adebiyi - The Gay Community and A Troll: WARNING: This post contains language that may be offense to some. If you are easily offended by language you may want to skip this article.

Tim Gombis - Paul's Politics of Exile: "American evangelicals would do well to consider how Israel’s exile shaped Paul’s conception of the church—his vision of a weak and vulnerable wandering people among the nations."

Brandon Ambrosino - Being Gay at Jerry Falwell's University: "It's a typical story, really. Boy meets girl. Girl goes to college. Boy follows her to college. Girl decides to date other boys. Boy decides that's a good idea, and also dates other boys."

An Open Letter to the Church from Lesbian Sister of Christ

In response to the debate going on in the USA Supreme court as well as the court of the public forum about homosexuality I want to re-post this post.

Reprinted from Original post by Hunter Baker

Please Read the whole letter to Understand

To the churches concerning homosexuals and lesbians:

Many of you believe that we do not exist within your walls, your schools, your neighborhoods. You believe that we are few and easily recognized. I tell you we are many. We are your teachers, doctors, accountants, high school athletes. We are all colors, shapes, sizes. We are single, married, mothers, fathers. We are your sons, your daughters, your nieces, your nephews, your grandchildren. We are in your Sunday School classes, pews, choirs, and pulpits. You choose not to see us out of ignorance or because it might upset your congregation. We ARE your congregation. We enter your doors weekly seeking guidance and some glimmer of hope that we can change. Like you, we have invited Jesus into our hearts. Like you, we want to be all that Christ wants us to be. Like you, we pray daily for guidance. Like you, we often fail.

When the word “homosexual” is mentioned in the church, we hold our breaths and sit in fear. Most often this word is followed with condemnation, laughter, hatred, or jokes. Rarely do we hear any words of hope. At least we recognize our sin. Does the church as a whole see theirs? Do you see the sin of pride, that you are better than or more acceptable to Jesus than we are? Have you been Christ-like in your relationships with us? Would you meet us at the well, or restaurant, for a cup of water, or coffee? Would you touch us even if we showed signs of leprosy, or aids? Would you call us down from our trees, as Christ did Zacchaeus, and invite yourself to be our guest? Would you allow us to sit at your table and break bread? Can you love us unconditionally and support us as Christ works in our lives, as He works in yours, to help us all to overcome?

To those of you who would change the church to accept the gay community and its lifestyle: you give us no hope at all. To those of us who know God’s word and will not dilute it to fit our desires, we ask you to read John’s letter to the church in Pergamum. “I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore!” You are willing to compromise the word of God to be politically correct. We are not deceived. If we accept your willingness to compromise, then we must also compromise. We must therefore accept your lying, your adultery, your lust, your idolatry, your addictions, YOUR sins. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

We do not ask for your acceptance of our sins any more than we accept yours. We simply ask for the same support, love, guidance, and most of all hope that is given to the rest of your congregation. We are your brothers and sisters in Christ. We are not what we shall be, but thank God, we are not what we were. Let us work together to see that we all arrive safely home.

A Sister in Christ

The Trinity: A Puritan Prayer/Devotion

THE TRINITY
from the book Valley of Vision 


Three in One, One in Three,
God of my salvation,



Heavenly Father, blessed Son, eternal Spirit,

I adore thee as one Being, one Essence,

   one God in three distinct Persons,

   for bringing sinners to thy knowledge and to thy kingdom.

O Father, thou hast loved me and sent Jesus to

     redeem me;

O Jesus, thou hast loved me and assumed my

      nature,

   shed thine own blood to wash away my sins,

   wrought righteousness to cover my

      unworthiness;

O Holy Spirit, thou hast loved me and entered

    my heart, implanted there eternal life,

    revealed to me the glories of Jesus.

Three Persons and one God, I bless and praise thee,

    for love so unmerited, so unspeakable,

    so wondrous, so mighty to save the lost

    and raise them to glory.

O Father, I thank thee that in fullness of grace

    thou hast given me to Jesus, to be his sheep,

      jewel, portion;

O Jesus, I thank thee that in fullness of grace

    thou hast accepted, espoused, bound me;

O Holy Spirit, I thank thee that in fullness of

     grace thou hast

       exhibited Jesus as my salvation,

       implanted faith within me,

       subdued my stubborn heart,

       made me one with him for ever.

O Father, thou art enthroned to hear my prayers,

O Jesus, thy hand is outstretched to take my

        petitions,

O Holy Spirit, thou art willing to help my

    infirmities, to show me my need,

    to supply words, to pray within me,

    to strengthen me that I faint not in

        supplication.

O Triune God, who commandeth the universe,

    thou hast commanded me to ask for those

       things that concern thy kingdom and my soul.

Let me live and pray as one baptized into the

     threefold Name.

A Preview of Whats to Come

Right now I am working on a new set of posts that is somewhat inspired by the series my young adults bible study is going through, somewhat inspired by the upcoming Holy Week, and somewhat  based on what I have been thinking about and/or studied. so here is a piece of beautiful music for you to listen to, to enjoy, to prepare you, and for you to jam out to. Until Monday when I post again enjoy:

A Series of Confessions: The Dark Side of the Heart

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioRrydp6FTI

I have come to realize, no come to accept and acknowledge that I am very much controlled by my emotions and the circumstances around me. I sometimes feel very emotional and those emotions, whether good or bad, control me; that is until I realize how ridiculous I am being.

This being said I have come to realize, accept, and/or acknowledge that this also effects my faith and daily walk with Him who created and saved me. I am very easily swayed or distracted from my personal walk. This actually causes a vicious cycle of life for me. I know my days are infinitely better if I am in communion with God and am fully relying on Him; If I am not in communion with Him, through prayer, scripture reading, and other spiritual disciplines, I end up becoming emotional, in a bad way. I become callused, hurt, depressed, angry, or some other emotion;,which leads me not to my knees but away from that and towards some destructive thing, or other and brings me back to the place I have left. The exact place I didn't want to return to. This starts the same emotions again. Then cycle starts over and over again but in a downward spiral pattern.

How sad it is. I will be on Fire for the Lord and slowly let it fade to almost nothing, then being kicked in the butt or smacked upside the head and change and to let the fire grow to a blaze again only to allow it to fade. It all starts with how much sleep and the quality of it, friends, stress, and other stuff taking priority over what really matters; it's quite sad actually.

And in those days where I feel like "God, Why do you love me? How Can You? I am so ugly, so dark, soon and so on... "

God Shines his light in my darkness and smiles on his child, "My child, my son. yes you have fallen, yes you still have to deal with your brokenness and your sin but i have forgiven you, washed you white as snow in my eyes for not only have i cleaned the slate for you i have thrown it out and its on the ocean floor forgotten."

On Major Changes, Changing Majors, & Trusting God, Part 1

It was during Break and it was an e-mail. An e-mail that held my fate, an e-mail that told me whether or not I was going to graduate on time, if I could continue on the path I had planned out for myself. I took a deep breath and clicked it open and it stated:

David, 

I regret having to write this email: but you did not make it through, not by a long shot. Your final percentage was 64%, and this simply isn't good enough to give you a decent chance in 2320... I'm sorry Dave, but you can't go on to 2320.

I apologize that I must be the bearer of bad news: but that is where we stand.

Best,
Teacher

Let's Rewind a bit: We all have dreams growing up of being a fireman, astronaut, actor, vet, or policeman, but very few of us ever keep one dream and switch around until the last moment... when we declare ur major in college. Even then we sometimes change our minds.We figure out our lives in High School now a days.

We plan out every detail of what college, major, job, where to live, how many kids, and so on....

That was me. I had made plans to be a Music Teacher, change lives through music like in Mr. Holland's Opus or Music of the heart. I didn't figure this out until the end of my junior year in high school when I decided to combine my two interest, interacting with kids and music.

I had been bugged by my mother since middle school to think of what I wanted to do with my life. She meant well because when it came to that she was on her own growing up. She had to figure it out without any help and she wanted to help. So she pushed me and well I made a choice and all the right doors opened. I picked my college and was accepted to the school but also to the music education program.

That's when i ran into a road block, the music major's weed out class: Aural Skills. Aural skills is also know as ear training is a skill by which musicians learn to identify, solely by hearing, pitches, intervals, melody, chords, rhythms, and other basic elements of music. The application of this skill is analogous to taking dictation in written/spoken language.

I Barely passed Level 1, took me 3 tries to pass level 2, and still needed to pass levels 3 and 4 to get my degree. This pass semester I was a passing Aural Skills III with a C-, and that is all I needed. Yet, it all came down to the final and I felt confident, since I got a 75% on the practice final. I walked out dazed and confused which did not help me in my sight-singing half of the final either.

So Then all I could do was pray and wait for the grades to come out. I had asked my professor to send me an e-mail telling me my grade before the grades came out.

And there it was, the e-mail just sitting there in my in box. An e-mail that held my fate, an e-mail that told me whether or not I was going to graduate on time, if I could continue on the path I had planned out for myself. I took a deep breath and clicked it open.

I just sat there, took it in, took a deep breath and then closed it. I now needed to figure out what to do with  my life next... and the saying rang true: "the best laid schemes of mice and men/ oft go awry."

Christians: Haters of All Mankind? Part 3

This is the last post in this series. And this one is a story, story about me, of all people, on my way to church Monday 1/2/12 for the bible study that started this whole series.
..............................................................................................................................................

I had just finished dinner and looked at the clock, it told me I had about 2.5 hours till the College and Career group meeting started and so I had about 2 hours give or take before i had to leave. this gave me a chance to change out of my pj's I was wearing all day, take a shower and maybe even read more of my current reading choice.

Time flew by as i accomplished all my goals. I grabbed my bible, my journal for notes, my current reading selection, coat and then proceed to check, keys, cell, i-pod, and we are good.

The drive was good, not too much traffic seeing it was the day after New Years and many people had off or took off because  *cough, cough* they were sick. so as I chug down Route 1 to church in my 2000 Ford Station wagon jamming to Needtobreathe on my i-pod I start thinking about the day,what the New Year holds and just how life is going to unfold.

"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." is a small bit of truth from the good old movie Forrest Gump. Well, this is a bit of truth that i should live by because of what happened as I neared the church.

As i pulled up to the traffic light, waiting to cross the road to get to church. As I came to a complete stop I notice the man who had just crossed the street to the Right of my car. At first I didn't take to much attention to him because there is a convenience store on that corner as well as a bus stop and Train Station to my left.

But as I sat there waiting I noticed he was not moving fast, he had a cart and a crutch. Then I noticed why he was moving slow on this cold night and had a crutch his one foot was badly out of place. He was walking on a ankle and the side of the foot on one side.

My heart broke, and I wanted to offer him a ride to where he needed to go. Then fear crept in. I started debating back and forth about being on time, what if he has a knife, what about my stuff, WWJD, How am I going to be able to stop in the middle of a busy road, and its so cold out...

Then the light Turned green and I went to church. Still debating to myself I find a parking spot and go in. I realize I am really early due to the lack of traffic. We pray for the night and have our study.

During the study of God is love we have a group discussion on what is love? One guy points out we are to love the homeless, the orphan, the widow, etc. and my stomach swallows my heart and ties itself into knots. I know this I have done street ministry before, I care but when I feel safe.

I was wrong, I could have helped the man but I didn't, I am still working on my Love for Others as I am working on my Love for God. So I also need to practice what I teach, Love the lost even the ones you don't know.