Is God lost?

I have had quite a few emails lately, asking me "what happened to God" in my posts. With a blog title that so prominently refers to Him, it appears people believe I have lost sight of the Almighty in what I write.

I can assure you... God is still on the throne.

Those who know me spiritually know that I am a relatively tolerance based moderate. Jesus is shown to have tolerated much more than he went around turning over tables, in order to show all people how He expected them to live. Believe me, God Himself tolerates much more than even I do.

This article is not about tolerance, but tolerance is exactly why I do not constantly blast The Word of God throughout each post I write. Pastor Mark Driscoll, of the Mars Hill Church in Seattle, wrote a great article on tolerance for those who want to know more.

If people saw my draft folder here on my blog site, they would see countless draft topics for articles. This is because God speaks to me about many things, and if I do not write them down I will never return to them. I always prayerfully consider if it is a subject that He is asking me to write before I write on it. Many of the ideas are for me to study, or that lead to other things.

For example, there is a draft in my folder on God's unconditional love and dogs. I love speaking on this subject, and have done so at many churches. Over the past two years, it just has not been the proper time to write on this subject. It is not that I do not believe in the message; rather it is that He gives me so many other messages that have priority.

That does not mean, however, that I always write the subjects He wants me to. As a loving God, He allows me the freedom to sometimes wander and write on subjects that resulted from my thinking about subjects He has given me, but are not quite His point in the idea. I am human, after all.

I wrote on one of my investments not too long ago. I am pretty sure God did not expect me to write on the company, but He allowed me the freedom to write about something I am passionate about and related to His thoughts about the health of the people of the world.

Do not worry. God is still in control.

Thanksgiving Wishes - avoiding the stress

I was asked how I avoid the stress of the holidays the other day. Simple. Keep focused on the true meanings of the holidays. 

We historically set aside this day to give thanks to God for what He has given us in life. Far too often we allow the pressures of excess and commercialization to distract us from the true meanings of holidays. Buy more, eat more, watch more is supposed to equate to loving others more. We often worry about the traditions more than the reason we celebrate. 

To this extent, my family has chosen to break "tradition" this year. We will eat a relatively modest meal together. It will consist of Russian mors, ham, potatoes, squash, fresh baked rolls, and (traditional) pumpkin pie. The focus of this meal is not football, or gorging ourselves. It is purely about the family and giving thanks to God for all He has blessed us with. 

It will be a stress free and joyful holiday for us. 

On this US Thanksgiving day, I want to express my thanks for all my family, friends, and acquaintances, past, present and future. Each one of you has blessed us and brought us to where we are in our lives today. May God bless you more than He blessed us. 

Alas, those darn Catholics (or Protestants)

It is interesting to me when I hear the phrase "Christians are their own worst enemies."

We often have battles between denominations, and even label some as "cults". In my eyes, we need to couple the words of Matthew, "if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matt 5:19a), with the words of James that "for whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it" (James 2:10).

If you do couple these two verses, you find that although what others believe does not always mesh with your beliefs, a) you are as guilty of sin as they are, and b) they'll still be in the Kingdom of Heaven. But for the Grace of God... I don't know about you, but least in the Kingdom is far better than not being in the Kingdom at all.

That said, I heard a comment today about how "Catholics are not Christians, because they do not know they can talk to God themselves", referring to the sacrament of Confession. They wanted to know why Catholics go to a priest for confession, when Protestants talk to God directly.

Well, simplifed answer is that it makes a person set aside time and focus on their sins. No magic involved. It is no more right than asking God forgiveness directly, it is just a means to an end. If you are disciplined enough to remember to talk to God about your sins, and ask His forgiveness, you will be forgiven. Yes, Catholics do trim it in tradition a bit... you need to go go confession to take communion... but hey, all religions practice traditions.

We could also talk about "Jesus on the cross" and "the empty cross" disagreements (one is a reminder that Jesus died for our sins, the other that he rose from the dead); "the golden trimmings" of the Catholic church" versus "the bare necessities" of the Protestants; "Sunday keepers" and "Sabbath keepers"; "tongues" and "no tongues"; "musical instruments in church" or "not in the church"; and everything in between.

No matter these, the only requirement for being a Christian is told in John 11:25:26 "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and he who lives and believes in me will never die" (See also: John 6:35, John 7:38, John 12:46).