I have to address this before we get too far down the road. People often ask things such as "what denomination are you?" or "are you equally yoked?". My denomination is Christian. My wife's denomination is Chrisitan. Yes, we are equally yoked.
In the early church, there was no denomination. Christians were Christians. If you look at the splits in Christian organizations, from the very first one, they have all been over a disagreement on interpretation of scripture. Every spit in a church rests on interpretation of scripture. Every belief in Christian faith that disagrees with another, hinges on interpretation of scripture.
What we as Christians need to remember is that all those that call on the name of Christ are Christians (Acts 2:21).
I have often heard protestants say "our cross is empty, because we know Jesus was raised from the dead. Look at the Catholics, their Jesus is still dead". But if you understand the beliefs of the Catholics, you will understand that Jesus is on the Catholic cross as a rememberance that Jesus died for our sins. Some churches believe in being vegetarians, some believe in Saturday Sabbath, some believe in dressing up for Church, some believe in "come as you are". Is one church "The" church, with "The" correct beliefs?
I hate to say it, but "no", there is no "perfect" Church or Denomination (1 Corinthians 1:11-13).
People have different personalities and relate to things differently. People have a natural need to "be right". People have a natural need to point out other's faults while ignoring their own. All I can do is point to Romans 15:5 and encourage people to look past their Christian beliefs and try to understand the beliefs of other Christian faiths. In this, you can see how we are the same.
If you disagree with my views, so be it. I will hang onto Matthew 5:19 and Matthew 11:11. I'll hang out with John the Baptist and the other "leasts".
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Watching the signs
When I started this blog, I debated if I would run out of things to say. But God, in all his wonder, continues to teach daily to those who are willing. Today, I want to relate my wife's view of God's hand, in "watching the signs".
She went to work at 9:30am this morning. Upon arriving, she saw one of those miniature bottles of hand lotion, and recognized it as the ones that the Evergreen Hospital uses. The first thing that went through her mind was "Kevin has a doctors appointment today, he's not in the hospital". She then left the break room, and went up to the office. They asked her to go to the bank with the deposits from yesterday, and she thought it was odd that they were sending her almost 1 hour and 15 minutes early. But she took her purse from the locker, the deposits, and off she went.
Strangely enough, it was just at that time that the Woodinville EMT was loading me into the Emergency Response Vehicle. I had had my blood pressure drop out, and not only had I just sent her an SMS, but the EMT called her phone.
In Irina's eyes, she sees that God not only prepared her for the trip to the ER, but he also orchestrated the early trip to the bank. Had she not gone to the bank at that moment, her purse would have sat in her locker for another hour or two, and I would have been long and deep into the hospital ER (where there is no cellular service) by the time she found out. Did I mention that my SMS was too cryptic for her to know what was going on, had she not been able to call at that time?
Sitting in the ER, she related this story to me. As she noted, many people chalk such things up to "coincidence". However, such coincidences can only be orchestrated by a wise and loving creator.
As my wife does, think about the coincidence next time, and see if you can find the signs God gave you beforehand.
She went to work at 9:30am this morning. Upon arriving, she saw one of those miniature bottles of hand lotion, and recognized it as the ones that the Evergreen Hospital uses. The first thing that went through her mind was "Kevin has a doctors appointment today, he's not in the hospital". She then left the break room, and went up to the office. They asked her to go to the bank with the deposits from yesterday, and she thought it was odd that they were sending her almost 1 hour and 15 minutes early. But she took her purse from the locker, the deposits, and off she went.
Strangely enough, it was just at that time that the Woodinville EMT was loading me into the Emergency Response Vehicle. I had had my blood pressure drop out, and not only had I just sent her an SMS, but the EMT called her phone.
In Irina's eyes, she sees that God not only prepared her for the trip to the ER, but he also orchestrated the early trip to the bank. Had she not gone to the bank at that moment, her purse would have sat in her locker for another hour or two, and I would have been long and deep into the hospital ER (where there is no cellular service) by the time she found out. Did I mention that my SMS was too cryptic for her to know what was going on, had she not been able to call at that time?
Sitting in the ER, she related this story to me. As she noted, many people chalk such things up to "coincidence". However, such coincidences can only be orchestrated by a wise and loving creator.
As my wife does, think about the coincidence next time, and see if you can find the signs God gave you beforehand.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
God's Lessons
mus·ing (my z ng) adj. Deep in thought; contemplative. n. 1. Contemplation; meditation. 2. A product of contemplation; a thought. (www.thefreedictionary.com/musing).
This definition fits the state I have been in for the past 3 months, in regards to my life and God's hand in it. I visited the hospital 5 times in this period, with varying diagnoses, until the doctors found a tumor on my pituitary gland. This has given me great opportunity to review my life, and see things in a different light.
I do not believe God "blessed me" with a tumor to teach me a lesson. This is a belief that many Christians take when something unexpected happens in their life. What we need to remember is that life happens to us because Adam and Eve disobeyed. However, Romans 8:28-29 tells us that all things work for good when God is involved.
This is how I view my situation: I got a tumor because I am human. It was "luck of the draw". God made no grand plans to give me a tumor. But because I was willing to involve Him in the situation, He is using it to teach me many valuable lessons on a daily basis.
I will share my reflections here as time goes on. Some of these lessons are small, some large. But they are all things that I would not have otherwise taken the time to see. For His willingness to teach, I give thanks to Him. 1 Thess 5:18.
This definition fits the state I have been in for the past 3 months, in regards to my life and God's hand in it. I visited the hospital 5 times in this period, with varying diagnoses, until the doctors found a tumor on my pituitary gland. This has given me great opportunity to review my life, and see things in a different light.
I do not believe God "blessed me" with a tumor to teach me a lesson. This is a belief that many Christians take when something unexpected happens in their life. What we need to remember is that life happens to us because Adam and Eve disobeyed. However, Romans 8:28-29 tells us that all things work for good when God is involved.
This is how I view my situation: I got a tumor because I am human. It was "luck of the draw". God made no grand plans to give me a tumor. But because I was willing to involve Him in the situation, He is using it to teach me many valuable lessons on a daily basis.
I will share my reflections here as time goes on. Some of these lessons are small, some large. But they are all things that I would not have otherwise taken the time to see. For His willingness to teach, I give thanks to Him. 1 Thess 5:18.
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