Home Again!!!

About a month ago I had a huge heart attack and some other complications arising from that! But ... Friday I made it back home and am beginning recovery!!! Praise God! Thanks to everyone for their best wishes and prayers!

Have a most blessed evening!!

Blah Charlie Brown!

I suppose some of you are wondering what the deal is with the blog lately -- why I haven't been posting with my usual regularity. Some of it, maybe most of it even has to do with this bronchitis thing, which the new med's seems to be working on ...

I don't know. I'm just feeling blah lately -- think Charlie Brown in A Charlie Brown Christmas, complaining to Lucy that "I know I should be happy, but...." It's hard to think or to write or to get moving. I'm trusting it's just some sort of cyclical ... serotonin ... some kind of phase ...

Finding The Will

The phrase "finding the will of God" is a popular one. But when thinking of it I can't remember any New Testament command to 'find Gods will' or find any instructions to go about it. So the question becomes, does God even have a specific and detailed mysterious at best will for us?

In a few scriptural cases people were directed where to go, who to see. I've had the obvious "sign" every now and again in my life as well. There seems to be no indication at all that the day to day lives of average Christians were directed that way, however. The conclusion I come up with is that its Gods will for us to make Biblically based decisions about the issues we face. Could it be that many Christians are suffering because they are waiting for God to make clear decisions for them. Sincerely believing they are "waiting on God," or "letting go and letting God." Could it be that God expects us to think, research, seek counsel in order to make wise decisions? Maybe we are to take baby steps so we can get ready to run the race.Could it also be that for whatever reason we are just being indecisive while waiting for God to send a thunderbolt or some obvious sign like an answer out of heaven. Taking the risk out of it all. Meanwhile ... a decision is forced on us with the passage of time. Could this be the reason some of us don't have a mate, the job we want, a calling or whatever? And when all this procrastination leaves a sad result we may wonder why God has it in for us. And we are alone or ...

In Colossians Paul tells us that the way to understand God's will is through the gift of wisdom. " ... we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding." (Colossians 1:9) In Colossians 2:3 he gives the source of this wisdom "...Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." In James 3:13 we have, "Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in humility that comes from wisdom." I take this to mean that wisdom is evidence of Christ living His life in us. In Romans 12:2, "Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good pleasing and perfect will."

Could it be that we ARE Gods will, or a least in His will when we live our lives close to Jesus in our choices in life? Maybe a more mature faith is when we know He is there with us when we do make decisions and takes risks, instead of relying on some sign to come. I think that he wants us to take steps ... in short go for it ... knowing He will be there when we fall. It may be more a matter of finding the will, than waiting on it.

Just some thoughts ...

Tim

The Brothers Karamazov/Father Zossima on Love

In The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Father Zossima’s humanity and his simple faith in the healing power of love were stressed. Now, another dimension is added. In these chapters we see that he can easily maintain an intellectual argument. Here is his response to a woman who tells him that she is afraid to die .... What do you think?

Go and Fear no More

"Don't be afraid of anything, ever. And do not grieve. AS long as your repentance does not weaken, God will forgive everything. There is not--there cannot be-- a sin on earth that God will not forgive the truly repentant. Why, a man cannot commit a sin so great as to exhaust the infinite love of God. How could there be a sin that would surpass the love of God? Think only of repentance, all the time, and drive away all fear. Have faith that God loves you more then you can ever imagine. He loves you, sinful as you are and, indeed, because of your sin. It was said long ago that there is more joy in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ten righteous men. Go now, and fear nothing. Do not be offended if people treat you badly. Do not hold it against them. And forgive your departed husband all the harm he did you. Become truly reconciled with him. For if you repent, you love, and if you love, you are with God. Love redeems and saves everything. If I, a sinner like yourself, am moved and feel compassion for you, how infinitely much more will God! Love is such an infinite treasure it can buy the whole world and can redeem not only your sins, but the sins of all people. So go and fear no more."

My Type/ A Jung Thing ...

So I like online tests and quizzes (and I've taken this one before) and thought I'd share the Jung Typology test with everyone.

My results:

Your Type is

INFPIntrovertedIntuitiveFeelingPerceiving

You are:
slightly expressed introvert

moderately expressed intuitive personality

moderately expressed feeling personality

slightly expressed perceiving personality

Do I really know what this means? No. Just what the online blurbs tell me, but it was entertaining.

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp Try it out!

Candles in the Wind

Generally we have a candle burning somewhere in the house. I think it may be just a comfort thing, they are romantic and they look cool. However with Pentecost coming up here is another thought presented by Rev. Benjamin Mayes ...

"We've always said that the candles we light represent the light of Christ, and that is true, but I was thinking that as we consider the tongue of fire on the candle, we should be reminded of the tongues of fire that appeared on the heads of the Apostles and the rest of the disciples on that first Pentecost (Acts 2:1-12). And then as we recall that event, we consider that today the Holy Spirit is present, and at work among us, through the Word and Sacraments, and so that tongue of fire on the candle is a symbol of the presence and work of the Holy Spirit."

I thought that was quite a good thought!

God of Thunder

I shall be going back to 10 hour workdays starting today which makes one a tad grouchy, especially as the week goes on. I was going to write on some positive thing about God, being a Christian or whatever but I'm not in the mood...lol

God is a God of love, as we all know, but there are other attributes as well. God can also get really ticked off! In Numbers 13-14 God was really torqued at the Israelites because of their unbelief and even threatened to destroy them. Then an amazing thing happened as God "changed His mind" after listening to an appeal of mercy from Moses. This is interesting as does God need mortals like Moses to reason with Him and hold Him to His promises? God obviously CAN be hurt by the people He loves.

What I get from this and other parts of the Bible, especially the Psalms and the Prophets, that He wants to engage our minds AND emotions. He wants us to feel fear, alarm at whats around us, the tension of our will against His. He wants us to sense when things are wrong, and wants us to ask and ask again until we find out where that wrong is. Much of God does seems to have the goal of shocking us to our senses. To get to that awareness where we become eventually contrite and humble before Him (repentance) and with others. This is where mercy is found. Grace received does enable grace to be given...

It doesn't seem to be a matter of being nice to a God who could fry you in an instant but being very real with Him. Its not appeasement per say but struggle that gets us to the place of intimacy... (Kinda reminds me of the story of Jacob.) Our God is also the God of Thunder ... and not just this cheesy, wishy washy, always positive wimp type of god...

Just some thoughts ...