Yes!

Yes!
As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been “Yes and No.” For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not “Yes and No”; but in him it is always “Yes.” For in him every one of God’s promises is a “Yes.” For this reason it is through him that we say the “Amen,” to the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 1:18-20Something my pastor said a few years ago in his sermon has stayed with me through today ...Because of the way the world works, because of all the NO's we hear from the time we're tiny tots ... How difficult it is for us to trust in Christ's YES to us. Could it be there are times we return to being that little boy, cringing, our lips quivering, waiting for the accusatory finger and the angry voice...but instead we hear a YES. ... That the God of the universe wants US to rest in Him, even if we in the past, or even are currently dropping the ball as it were ...

Just thought I would throw that out there in the wee hours of the morning ...

Tim

1 John 5:14-15
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him.

Christmas in January

Today was the day of the long awaited Chiloquin Elementary School Christmas Pagent! Alas, last months was canceled because of blizzard conditions. Today however, was the day of the big performance ... Here is my daughter Hannah (5th from the left) and the rest of Miss Henson's Fourth grade class, kicking into a rousing number called "The Fruitcake Song." The show must go on does it not!

Tim, the proud Dad after all ....

Revisiting the Amish

I posted on my very brief idea of should I become Amish awhile back. Not that I'm hankerin' to become Amish ... I just like electricity to much! lol Anyways I saw an interview with an Amish Bishop and wouldn't you know it ... A lot made sense!

These are not exact quotes as I'm trying to pull them out of my head ... But take electricity for example ... I guess the Amish aren't against it per se and even use it in their barns! Just not allow it in their homes. Just not conducive to a family life "God wants us to have." You don't go to bed when you ought, get up when you ought, then there's the invasion of TV's, stereos, all sorts of things that "disrupt the rhythm of life. They just "take up your time." Hmmmm

Then there's cars .... They even hire people to drive them in them. But alas, it makes it to easy to get away from one another. "People ought to be with those they no and love, instead of wandering off God knows where.

Then there is the telephone ... They have phone booths I guess, but again, not in their home. "They just invite people to interrupt you whenever they like. If you are in bed with your wife you can count on it going off!" LOL Seriously, he said that!

I can't say I'm ready or willing to give up the modern world and become Amish ... But technology needs a muzzle on it I think. Especially TV programing! And caller ID and the answering machine has to be one of the best devices ever invented!

Any thoughts?

American Church Style

I don't think that one could never accuse American Churches of having overwhelmingly good architectural style. Our European friends have us beat hands-down in that category, as can be seen in this photo of a breathtaking church in Iceland.





I will confess that viewing pictures of the magnificent churches and cathedrals of Europe sometimes make me wonder uncomfortably about the wealth that went into their creation. But gotta be something to be said about gathering to worship in a place of such stunning architectural beauty and I find myself wishing that a stronger aesthetic streak ran in American circles.

I may have noted this link before, but it seems relevant here:

http://slate.msn.com/id/2127615/

Some of these new churches are striking, but they seem less about spirituality and more about showmanship. I will not deny those are impressive structures, but why do they all have to look so much like airport terminals? lol

Have a blessed day everyone!

Tim

Back to Dunkirk???

An article I stumbled across ...

Christians called to abandon public education

Posted: December 28, 20089:15 pm Eastern© 2009 WorldNetDaily

You've heard all about the disputes: "Silent Night" banned at the "holiday" program, artistic references to the Bible censored and faith-inclusive children's programs facing discrimination.
Now some people are fed up with public school treatment of Christianity and have launched a campaign calling for a rescue of kids from government education programs – a "Call to Dunkirk."
The name Dunkirk is famous for the hundreds of thousands of World War II allies saved in May 1940 when a flotilla of pleasure boats, fishing craft and others rescued the soldiers from the beaches near Dunkirk, France, where they were trapped by an advancing German army.
Full article here:
http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=84603

YouTube video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRGZLSVph3A

Looking at the video I would have to say that was one of the most offensive propaganda videos I think I have seen in a long time!. Equating public school teacher to Hitler (with convenient Hitler film clips to boot!), Stalinist collective farms, calling public schools "soul killing government indoctrination centers," is a bit much, don't you think?

My thoughts? Well-run Christian schools and quality home-school programs are certainly a viable option for Christians. If one perceives that the public schools become a tool of social engineers to teach anti-Christian messages, then Christian parents may find that removing their children from public schools to be the only option. However I think the problem with the public schools is the lack of parental responsibility for the academic and behavioral advancement of their children. It is no wonder that so many Charter, and Home Schooled children do better than our public schools, they have greater parental involvement and ability to only educate those students they desire. The point of the Social Engineers is valid problem, but NOT the main problem. I would submit that neglecting parental responsibilities IS Anti-Christian.

The mechanism exists for school accountability through school board elections, PTA's, and state and federal grievance procedures. This again has been neglected by the all to often "Too busy to get involved" parent. the problem is that our schools are merely the symptom of a societal breakdown and not the cause. It does however become a vicious cycle, but I believe we should "fix" the society and then the educational system will follow. Their "successes" with certain charter schools only reinforces what the problem is. It is NOT a viable alternative without a quantum shift in our culture back to parental responsibility which schools and homes have NOT supported.

I believe that as Christians we should become more involved with our schools not less! Even using the World War 2 metaphor .... We came back to take the land, not just withdraw from it!

Any thoughts?

Boxing God

Personally, I am convinced that I am "only scratching the surface" when it comes to knowing God and experiencing the present reality of His Kingdom. It is hard when everyone seems to be experiencing something and you are not. I had a lot of that feeling when I ventured into the Pentecostal world. When everyone appears to get "slain" and nothing happens to you, you can feel a little out of place. I have since learned that many simply conform to what appears to be happening to others. Someone might call it "faking" but having been there myself, I am a lot more merciful! When one looks at the "fruit" obviously a lot of these people have it down!

On the other hand, when I do experience something tangible of God, it is so powerful to me that I am sure it must be the main event! There is this big pull to say that my experience is the one to expect if you know God. If you buy my theology, you may become frustrated and despair of knowing God if you don't have the same experience. My theology then drives you away rather than encouraging you.

I think we should never be encouraged to neglect who God made us to be! I think that our spirituality easily forgets how personal and intimate God is. I just wish we could all be more honest about what we actually experience ... Yes, there are some general similarities about the spiritual life, but most of it is very personal and unique. Someone with ADD is not going to be a good contemplative for example. We humans have such a bent to want to 'fix' everyone according to our experiences. My creativity, such as it is, and who I "am" comes from my thinking style, my ability to skip around and see things from different directions. That's not something I want to lose. It seems to be a negative quality only in regards to how some (maybe most?) people see spirituality.

Many of us see God in a little box. Maybe the key is learning to see God everywhere ...

Pharisees

I know ... A strange question but I'll throw it out there anyways ... Is it okay to hate smug, religious authoritarian hypocrites? Because Jesus would call them things like brood of vipers and hypocrites. so like, can we? Frankly, I think on the Christian walk, its normal to experience a season where we become pharisaical, then what happens when or if we too pass through that phase? It being a harder thing to realize about yourself. like most Pharisees can't see that they are Pharisees, they think everyone else is soft on sin or this or that.

"I don't want to go to that church because there are too many hypocrites there!" I'm sure you have heard this said before or maybe you have said it yourself. Well, no one is perfect and what better place for hypocrites to go than to church. The good news is that once through the phase, a person learns some humility and an ability to accept others, no matter how "stupid" they are. Nothing is easy about this Christian thing ...

Just some thoughts this evening ...