Ah, the Economy...

So, I hear the economy is in a down-spiral...It seems as though things are going hectic. And here we are, waiting once again for the government to decide to if they are going to bail out the failing economy.

I heard a preacher speak last night in regards to this. He basically said that some non-Christians he has spoken to are not really that tore up about the economy. Yes, they lost money, but they have a "oh well, what can I do about it?" He said he spoke to a man who lost about $6,000 dollars in the last couple of weeks, but the man simply said, "I have moved my money around and hopefully that will help. There's not much I can do about the loss, so I should focus on what I have." Yet, the preacher said, he has spoken to Christians who seem to have one hand on the remote and the other on the gun. It's almost as though it's the end of the world for them because they have lost money.

Of course, it's easy for me to say all of this because I don't have any money in any stocks or any money invested. But I wonder...

When did we lose faith in God? We say we are people of faith, and we honor and respect those "great men and women of faith", but honestly it seems as though faith has become a meaningless 5 letter word among Christians.  Apparently some think that to have faith in God means to believe in Him, but even the devil believes in God and the demons shutter, I don't think we would call them "great men or women of faith". Faith isn't only about believing. In Hebrews 11, there is the great "Faith Chapter" where the writer of Hebrews presents many people from the Old Testament times. Each one begins with, "By Faith...". It was "by faith" that Moses stood up to the Pharaoh, it was "by faith" that he left the comfort of Egypt to live in the desert. It was "by faith" that he led the Israelites and crossed the Red Sea. Each and every person starts with "By Faith". Could it be that these people simply believed in God? Of course they did! Could it mean that they had faith that God would provide? Of course they did! But there is one thing we miss in this chapter. After each and every "by faith", there is an action that follows. It was by faith, because of faith, faith made them do this. Faith leads us to action. We can claim to have faith all day long, but until we live a faith that we proclaim then all is void.

What does this have to do with the economy? Well, not much. But it has everything to do with us. Perhaps if we take our eyes off of the stock market for one second, if we take our attention away from the economy, then we would once again see a God that is awesome and wonderful, and remember that this is not our home but we are aliens here. We have a far greater promise that what we see here. And yes, I know it's hard to remember that when you are buried deep in debt or stress or whatever is plaguing you, but if you have faith then 1) you trust that God will see you through and 2) you will pushed to some action for Him. I wonder if the writer of Hebrews were to write about your life, what would he write? "It was by faith that Bob, when he........" What follows next? What does your faith cause you to do? Do you say, "I have faith that God will take care of my bills" then sit on the couch and wait?

God is greater than this economy. God is more powerful than the stock market. And God has prepared a place for Christians to spend an eternity that is FAR GREATER than anything in this world. The question is, are you that person of faith?

Servants who Serve...

I wonder...

We sing songs about working for the kingdom, we talk about being "servants", yet so many Christians (I am including myself) sit on their butts when it comes to service! We sit in our churches and we talk about the "work of the church" and we fight and bicker over the budgets for work, but we never realize that we are sitting in a building arguing about work...irony?

When I use to schedule days of service for the youth, you would have thought that I was trying to pull their teeth out. Wait, that's a bad illustration because I think for some of them they would rather have their teeth pulled out than serve others. Why is that?

1. It's too hot! Yet Jesus ministered, healed, and loved people in the desert. It's not too hot, we have become too lazy.
2. I'm too busy! Love each other as you love yourself...so, if we are too busy to stop and help people, just call yourself the priest in the parable of the good Samaritan
3. If you don't have fun then people will leave! While I agree partially with this, if we convert people or keep them with "fun", then when will we show them that service for God is more important than going swimming for God or playing Lazertag for God?? On the other hand, we need to show people we can have fun!
4. It's the weekend! I work/school during the week and I need a break! Again, I agree. We all need some time off. But what if we are sitting at home for a break and meanwhile there is a widow or disabled person who really, really needs someone to help them? Is it more important for us to be lazy than to help others who, maybe without our help wouldn't make it?

Don't think I am down-playing leisure or rest, because I love those the most of anyone! But, what about what James tell us in his book?...

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress...

Well, I know this is repetitive. I know that for ages we have been talking about serving others, but when are we finally going to shut the talk and start being servants who actually serve?

ABOVE THE LAW!

I know, I know, it's the title of a Steven Segal movie. And, if it has Steven Segal in it, it can't be good! I mean, the guy claims to kick the stew out of people, and yet his hair never moves! And has anyone ever realized he looks like an Asian Clint Eastwood? You know who is a real action hero? Chuck Norris! Cause when Chuck Norris does a push up, it's not Chuck pushing Chuck up, it's Chuck pushing the World down.

Okay, okay, back to what I started with. Recently here in Arkansas a push was made by some conservative Christians to have a law put on the ballot come November. Basically, this law says that single people who live with their boyfriend/girlfriend and are sexually active can not adopt a child. When I spoke to someone who supported this, they said it was basically a way to insure homosexual couples can not adopt children. While I can understand that, I feel that perhaps we have overlooked a few things on this proposal. First of all, how can we determine if a couple is sexually active? I mean, is that going to be a question on the application for adoption now? And if we determine that these people are living in sin and therefore are not qualified for adopting, then we should probably add the questions, "Do you spend a lot of time staring at porn?", "Do you and your spouse spend over half of your time physically fighting?", "Do you lie?", "Do you covet other people's stuff?"...get the point? I just think that if we are going to try to pass a law against people living in one type of sin, shouldn't we be consistent?

Another question I have is which is more important: insuring that homosexual couples and those with live-in partner can not adopt all the while leaving more and more children in foster care, lacking the essential love that children need? I know this is a deeper issue. It's more like choosing the lesser of two evils.

But perhaps the most important question I have is this: what good are we really doing for the Kingdom by forcing such laws against people? It's movements like these that give bitter feelings to those it affects. If this law passes, and I am out in town and I see a single person and I try to talk to them about Christ (let's say they tried to adopt), what do you think their response would be? I know many Christians say they are trying to have a Christian effect by doing this, that they are trying to change the world through legislation. I respect them for their drive and desires and passion, but I just wonder...Jesus tells us how to change the world: to go and spread the Gospel and make disciples by teaching and baptizing. I tried to re-read Matthew 28, and I am pretty sure it does not include, "protest and make signature petitions to have a law passed". I am in no way trying to say we should not vote or support many law that attempt to protect ethical and moral principles but while I think that at some point we have to stand up and say, "this is too far", I see so many Christians that will have debates, arguments, and spend so much of their time trying to convince people who they should vote for. Then I sit and wonder, if they spent that much time trying to convince people why they should go for Jesus, maybe then these political debates wouldn't be needed so much.

All I am asking is, don't we have a much better calling and commission than trying to pass laws against "sinners". We have the opportunity to share the love of Christ and our Father with people, to reach out and show them that God forgives and God loves them. Isn't that greater than any law we could ever pass?

My First Post!!!

I don't know what I am doing here! I am new to the blog world, but sometimes I wish I had an outlet to vent, to write down things that I ponder and wonder about. I hope this blog can help someone who is struggling with something that I am struggling with. I hope that anything I write can help someone understand better what they may be going through. We all go through struggles everyday in our lives, and we need each other to lean on and gain support from. I hope that somehow God will use my random thoughts and questions to effect something! Please feel free to leave feedback, share my blog with others, or just ignore it all together. I may not post as regularly as I would like to, seeing as I am balancing 9 classes this semester and adjusting to life with a newborn, but don't give up on me!

Thanks for visiting!

P.S. If I offend you, please feel free to discuss it with me. If we can't talk about issues with other Christians, then how can we reach out to a world that is struggling?