Challenges Are Actually Chances

Exodus 33:14 - And he said, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."

Deuteronomy 33:25 - "Your bars shall be iron and bronze, and as your days, so shall your strength be."

Psalm 29:11 - May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!

Psalm 29:11 (NLT) - The Lord gives his people strength. The Lord blesses them with peace.

Hebrews 13:20-21 - Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Dear God, the biggest challenge for me today has to be the elections. Help me remember to choose the candidate who will hold the best interest of the least of these in the forefront and not continue to deny healthcare to them or continue to try to take it away from them. Help me to reflect on those points about what Your sheep would do and how to treat the least of these as I would treat Jesus. Help me also as I ponder more about what Brittany Maynard decided with regard to life and death decisions and to keep sharing the TRUE Gospel message with others about Your grace and Your love. And lastly, please lead us to the mouse that might actually be a kangaroo before it drives us completely insane! Thank You. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

Tuesday Thought

So this Westboro Baptist Church group which has extremist thinking and seems fixated on the sin of homosexuality and wants to blame every bad thing that happens on homosexuality is coming to Tuscaloosa to assert their misbelief that the tornadoes of April 27, 2011 were God's wrath for homosexuality? Well, this could be interesting!

They are a hate group. They make Christians, TRUE Christians, look bad. They give God a bad name. 

Their website address? www.godhatesfags.com. Ordinarily, I wouldn't be so bold about things like this, but seriously, I do feel that I must speak up on this. 

First of all, yes, I do believe in predestination because it is scriptural. Second, I do believe Jesus came to die for our sins to make a way for us to come to God. It's called grace. Third, I do believe that sexual immorality is a sin based on Scripture, but I don't believe God sent disasters just because of that. I looked up the flood they referenced on their site. No where in the first six chapters was there reference to sexual immorality (that I could make out literally). God was sad that people had become so violent so He destroyed them. There are, after all, many sins. 

I live in Alabama. Let me tell you what I remember. When that tornado came (which I literally called a monster), it tried to destroy a state, a region. Physically, it did destroy a lot. But let me tell you what else I saw in the hours, days, weeks and months that followed. I didn't see a God of hate and judgment. I saw a God of love, compassion, grace and mercy as people came from all the state and the country and even from around the globe to help Alabama residents recover. I saw outpourings of love from all over the world. Does that sound like the wrath of God? 

Alabama stands strong in the face of adversity. Alabama will always stand strong. 

What this WBC group does is wrong. They spread hate. Our response should be love and grace. I secretly pray that a minister will join any counter protest against them and share the TRUE Gospel with them. Because they clearly haven't heard it. 

And Wiki, as much as I am against it, has a good write up on them and their leader.  But what I would love to see and hear is what area pastors have to say about this group and its beliefs. 

In the end, we are not God and we don't know everything about God except for what He chose to reveal to us. In the end, God is the only one who can judge anyone. But in the meantime, we must fight against false teachers, which is what WBC is. They are a sick people, and much to my shock, the irony is that another hate group, the KKK, finds WBC to be too extreme even for them. 

Dear God, I pray over this stir that WBC is causing touting that natural disasters are because of Your wrath. I am sad that this group misinterprets Your Word and perverts in such a manner that it can literally cause people to turn away from You and from TRUE Christians who are not hateful. I know You are in control of all things even when I am less than certain, and You are even in control of this situation. I know You hate no person. You hate the sins they do and You feel sorrow for them, but You love them all the same. I pray that You awaken WBC to their wrongdoings and continue to work in those who encounter them in a positive manner. It's in Your hands. Thank You for loving me and for blessing me. Thank You for blessing Alabama and for loving its residents. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Window in the Skies by U2 Homework

I said I was going to take the pastor up on his holy week challenge as soon as I was well enough. So here I am typing as I am working on the assignment. His challenge was to listen (or view) "Window in the Skies" by U2 and see how much of the gospel message is interwoven through it. The video is available through VEVO on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK_q7tEOPA0. I would recommend following the lyrics as you listen or watch and those are available at: http://www.metrolyrics.com/window-in-the-skies-lyrics-u2.html.

Frankly, I feel it is not one of their better songs and I have a limited exposure to the group, so of the few songs I have actually sat through the entirety of, this is not high on my list.

It sounds like another one of those "mushy" love songs almost on the verge of break up.

It does have some unique musical qualities and riffs.

Where I could see the gospel message is with the stone moved and all debts removed.

I can honestly say though that one part that might bother me some is the line: "I know I hurt you and I made you cry/Did everything but murder you and I." Why? Because when you hurt someone, whether intentionally or unintentionally, whether through words or deeds, you basically do murder them. And if that hurting continues, it can get to a point where you practically kill their soul and their spirit. That eventually starts coming through to the outside, the physical being.

And reflecting on that line brings tears to my eyes as I face both the receiving and giving end of hurt that has been murderous and that I long to see a restoration through.

I have a lot to learn.

One of my reflections this past weekend was on Titus 2:11-3:8, a passage that most of the people I know from church could either recall from memory or recall the gist of considering we only spent about a half a year in that passage. But I can kind of see how that passage was reflected in this song.

I still do not quite understand how the gospel message rings through a lot of U2 songs, but I am teachable and open to debate on it.

Let's just say, this song has a much different tone than their songs from their earlier years.

Holy Week Challenge

My pastor put some of us to the task this week and I think I may be taking him up on it, but before I do, I wanted to flesh out a question to ponder. How exactly is there a gospel message in some of the U2 songs? As a preteen, I did not get much exposure to the group's music. Certainly got little to no exposure to them as a teen. I attended a private school based at a church that very much could qualify as legalistic. So when I had more exposure in college, I initially thought "Hmmm...another group singing about mushy love topics." My pastor is a fanatic when it comes to U2. Then again, he is a fanatic about Les Mis, Narnia, Tolkein (enh...aren't we all fanatics about something at some point? Me: TobyMac, Rebecca St. James and apparently Superchick seeing how I can identify a Superchick song on television shows now, and Julie Andrews; my aunt: Elvis). Fanatic is actually a good term. So of course, as a result, my exposure has been heavier. And I'm struggling to see and hear the gospel in a lot of their music. BUT...I will take my pastor's task to heart and come back on here with the results. Soon as I feel better. For now, I have to take some medicine and rest since I got a vaccine yesterday and am not feeling very well today. By the way, nothing but love here right now. Nothing but love.