I said I would do it and I did! Here is the new page, connecting all my green activity suggestions.
Category: Inspiring
Is the Internet Evil? — a reblog from Unshakable Hope
I know people might read the title of this post and think I’ve decided to take a break from my usual hope-centered posts, but I haven’t; this post is also about hope.
A few years ago I was watching a show about ancient Rome on the History Channel. One of the most fascinating segments was on the incredible highway system the Romans had built throughout their empire. These Roman Roads were built to exact specifications to handle cart and foot traffic. This intricate network of roads facilitated trade and commerce as well as making it much easier for people to travel.
Read more here.
Overheard: At the Foot of Mt. Sinai
Recently our church studied the Book of Acts.
We saw early Christians respond with courage to severe persecution.
We saw miracles were normal for the early church.
We might say such strong faith is something we long to see in our church.
But do we really?
We sing, “Revive us again,” and “Mercy drops round us are falling, but for the showers we plead.”
But do we really desire and plead for the presence and power of God to revive us?
I wonder if we are content with the “mercy drops”.
Maybe really we are satisfied to have the Lord simply break through, every now and then, to do a mighty thing or two among us, but we really aren’t serious when it comes to wanting to see the full power and presence of His Holy Spirit.
Now some say we are living in a different dispensation and that the age of miracles is over — that was for a specific time and place to authenticate the message of the apostles, but we no longer need that today.
- English: Sunrise on Mt. Sinai in Egypt (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Really!!
The church doesn’t need the power and presence of Holy Spirit today?
Miracles are happening in mission fields where people have never heard of Jesus, why not here?
Is not “Jesus Christ […] the same yesterday and today and forever” as it states in Hebrews 13:8?
I’m afraid we have become comfortable and accustomed to the absence of God’s Presence in our meetings.
In reality, maybe the Presence of God scares us, just as it scared the Israelites at Mt. Sinai, and as a result, we don’t experience the miracles of God.
And our faith is dying.
When God sends forth the Holy Spirit, amazing things happen:
Barriers are broken.
Communities are transformed.
Unity is established.
Diseases are healed.
Addictions are broken.
Marriages are reconciled.
Hope is established.
People are blessed.
Revival comes.
That’s what the preacher said.
And we know there is more he didn’t say.
Much more.
Let’s go for it.
Weekly Photo Challenge – Lunchtime!!! Mmm!!!
What to have for lunch – the eternal question.
Spending my daytime often solo, I have devised the plan I love:
Cook a decent supper, and then reheat for lunch the next day.
Our supper last night was sublime. If I do say so, I cannot help it. I just had to try this combo. I could not stop myself.
The results?
A few swai filets, breaded in egg, almond meal, and course black pepper, sautéed in olive oil, served over a bed of hot morrow squash, al dente, in a sauce of winter onions braised in butter and sour cream, with swai pan glazings and a skif of cayenne stirred in.
We nearly foundered.
But “nearly” only counts in hand grenades and horse shoes.
I got my reward, very carefully warmed over, today, with a cuppajo, or should I say, a very aromatic mug of Arkansas’ own Biff’s coffee, from which I receive no remuneration save the golden drink, itself.
Drool on, Michelle W.; I can’t help it.
The Solution
I suffered from going into the past to worry about a future that never came about.
However, I did stop worrying about the past-future-what-ifs and I’d like to share with you how to do it, in case you find yourself needing to know.
1. Stop imagining.
My kids tell a joke, disguised as a riddle, which begins: Imagine you are in a car rolling backward down a hill toward a lake. The troubles and frustrations described in the joke continue to the point of desperation. There is seemingly no way to survive being drowned in that lake when the question comes: What should you do? Once the victim of this joke tries every possible solution to this seeming riddle and then gives up, the joker gives the answer: STOP IMAGINING! At that point it is very funny.
If you tell it right, the relief in the air is almost palpable at that moment, because the listener latches on to the story because we all have imaginings like this from time to time.
You may have imagined worries, but you can have that palpable relief, too.
In real life.
Imagination is a wonderful tool, in its place—but stop imagining.
2. Take every thought captive and make it obey the truth.
Realize there is something or someone trying to take away your sanity and you need to fight to get it back. Tell yourself the truth, aloud, if needed.
Ah, but what is truth? How can anyone ever possibly know what might have happened?
Don’t go there!
Take that thought captive!
Here is the truth: You are not in control. You do your best with what you are in control of, and then other forces are in control of all the rest. You try hard to be in the right place, doing the right thing, at the right time, and then, you let go.
The truth is that God is in control and you are not God. He rules the world. He determines. Not you. Not me. Not any malfunctioning gearbox, not any tornado, not any burglar, not any hormone, not any doctor, not any police.
God.
We read the stories all the time of those who escaped harm while doing the wrong thing. People hide from tornados in flimsy shelters and the whole building blows away except for the flimsy shelter. We read, also, of a tornado that swoops out of nowhere to pick up only one person and passes on to do no more damage. Burglars flee when someone rolls over in bed; other burglars take everything. Careless women have healthy babies; careful women deliver stillborn babies. And on it goes.
The truth is partly in the timing. When God determines it is time, then it is time. We all want to escape all danger, harm, shame, etc., but after doing all we can do, then the ball is in God’s court, and when it comes to THAT ballgame, God wins.
Of course, the fatalist will say, “Then why try?”
We must try hard to stay alive and to keep others alive, if at all possible, because life is a precious gift from God and we are to use it to His glory. We are not to become fatalistic or desponding, but to trust Him to make the best possible outcome from our entire life. We are to cooperate with Him, but not to worry about if He knows what on earth He is doing.
True freedom from worry over past-future-what-ifs came for me — and I hope, for you — with these thoughts:
- My baby did not die that day. (It took me a while to get that part.)
- Therefore, it was not God’s will for my baby to die that day.
- Therefore, it was impossible that he could have died that day.
There could have been NO what-ifs that could have changed that. Since then I have even met a family whose son was run over, with no lasting harm coming to him. It’s all about Who is in control.
And it’s not about you or me.
The glorious liberty that comes from the truth, can set us free from all fear of death and all guilt.
We should do our best and trust God. He can and will take care of the what-ifs.
This is truth.
I pray you can apply it to your life.
Overheard: Saving Satan
Surprised? Just think a bit: If you make war against someone, you have to believe he exists, don’t you? Right. So, the demons and their captain do believe Jesus exists, and, Scripture says, they at least have the sense to tremble at the thought, which shows they are not dumb.
Think some more: The old arch-nemesis can disguise himself in a multitude of ways, and it is obvious he has made his way into church membership in lots of places.
Right?
So, let’s see if you would agree he could join your church if he walked the aisle and asked the preacher if he could join. The folks at our church were fascinated with this exercise, and amid very quiet listening, got quite a few chuckles, which I will indicate here with asterisks (*).
Let’s ask all the typical questions we think are so important for church membership, and see if we would let satan join our congregation, as he has so many others before*:
- Do you believe Jesus is the Son of God! — Of course, satan would agree. The evil one knows this is true and can agree to it, if it serves his purposes. After all, this fact is the inspiration for his hatred.
- Do you believe Jesus was born of a virgin? — Again, he knows this is true; saw the star over Bethlehem, himself, right?
- Do you believe Jesus died on the cross? — You know, he’d be thinking, I offered Him a way out but He was too stuck on Himself to take it . . . but he would say, “Of COURSE!”
- Do you believe He rose from the dead? — Here he might hesitate. After all, it was his worst nightmare.* But still he would give a “yes” to this question.
- Are you willing to baptized as a sign of your faith? — He would never refuse baptism, would never have a problem with it. Of course, he might sizzle . . . *
- Will you commit to attending church weekly? — He might think: Thought you’d never ask!*— but he might say, “I won’t miss a single service! I’ll be there every time the doors open!”*
Sounds like a great prospect, so far, doesn’t he? Would he make it into the membership of your church’s congregation?
Now here is the final question:
- Are you ready to repent? Will you quit fighting God and start life over? Will you trust and obey Jesus Christ as your Lord in every area of your life?
And exactly at that point is where it all breaks down.
As it should.
Because faith, by itself, when it is not accompanied by works, is dead.
James 2:19 – You believe that there is one God. Good. Even the demons believe that — and shudder.
Wax Wanes
Sincerity
The word “sincere” mean without wax.
Really.
Well, we use it to mean believability, but “sin-” means without and “cere” means wax.
You see, long ago, when the best container for holding liquids was made of some sort of fired clay, of unknown quality and skill, it was totally easy to mess up and crack one of these containers.
Totally.
Not like having engineered, mass-produced, tempered glass, at all.
Even the vendors and potters, themselves, could accidentally cause a small crack to occur in the product.
Oops.
A rather useful way to fix this problem, back then, was to pour melted wax over it and let it soak in, to seal it, buff the wax to make it shine, and if no one noticed, you could pass the container off as whole.
Not a cracked pot.
The trouble often came, though, that when a homemaker poured hot liquid into one of these waxed pots, she would discover a leak and realize what she had: damaged goods. She might not know whether she bought it that way, or bumped it herself, unless she could observe wax floating atop the liquid.
She might not discover it until the next morning.
She never could prove she had not waxed it, herself, though, so never could get any satisfaction, aside from spreading the news to her friends, to help them avoid this vendor.
While she might enjoy that as payback, she still needed a new pot. One that was without wax, “sincere”.
______________________
I recently signed a letter “sincerely” and immediately thought of the word history. I asked myself: Really? Am I sincere? Am I laying a coating over cracks in my believability? Am I pretending? Is this the truth? If not, will I be discovered?
I did not answer. Maybe I did not like the answer. Instead, I wrote this post.
Safer.
Maybe I’m a cracked pot? Should I avoid all heated content? Is there any other way to fix it besides waxing it over?
Yeah.
Home's Cool! 