Watch "Crowder - Come As You Are (Lyric Video)" on YouTube

A song for your enjoyment and pleasure. Earth has no sorrow that heaven can't heal.

God Reveals

Why bother reading the Bible? And especially for the non-believer.

First off, all the usual. The Bible is full of wisdom, strong life lessons and philosophy. But… there are plenty of books that teach wholesome living and morals. Books that don’t go into all the mystery of God. What good would reading the bible do for a non-believer when there are plenty other easier to read books?

Because…

God reveals himself through the Word.

 

Take 1 Samuel 3 verses 1 -10 as an example.

The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.

One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the LORD, where the ark of God was. Then the LORD called Samuel.

Samuel answered, “Here I am.” And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.

Again the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

“My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”

Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.

A third time the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

It's hard to believe that Samuel grew up serving and ministering in the tabernacle, but he did not yet know the Lord. Our modern-day "church brat," and he didn't know the Lord. But God revealed and Samuel listened. He became a great leader and prophet of God. Because he listened.

God reveals. It's all throughout the Bible, and what a great read!

The Book of Revelation on Apathy

ap·a·thy

/ˈapəTHē/

noun: apathy

lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern

Our church recently voted to disaffiliate with the United Methodist Church, and then to affiliate with the Global Methodist Church. While not one to typically favor division, this is the best course of action for our church. You see, the United Methodist Church was becoming apathetic with its doctrine, even going so far as to say Jesus was "a" way to salvation. Not "the" way. 

This reminds me of the 7th letter to the church in Laodicea in Revelation, which warns against apathy. 

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write the following: “This is the solemn pronouncement of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the originator of God’s creation: ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot! So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth! Because you say, “I am rich and have acquired great wealth, and need nothing,” but do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked, take my advice and buy gold from me refined by fire so you can become rich! Buy from me white clothing so you can be clothed and your shameful nakedness will not be exposed, and buy eye salve to put on your eyes so you can see! All those I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent! Listen! I am standing at the door and knocking! If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come into his home and share a meal with him, and he with me. I will grant the one who conquers permission to sit with me on my throne, just as I too conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

Revelation 3:14‭-‬22 NET

God doesn't want apethetic churches, nor does he want his people to be apethetic. Lukewarm living is not a good option. For me personally, I can't pretend it doesn't matter when some I love have lost their faith in Christ. What can I do? Not sure, but I want everyone to know the love and grace of Christ. Everyone.

God loves us all.

Stay Tuned

Stay tuned..... for a major revamp!

It's been a decade since my last post, but it's coming back and better than ever with more meaningful content.

First of the Month Book Review - Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan

Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Honestly I thought I would like this book very much since it was about family relationships (and came highly recommended), but I am sorry to say that I was disappointed. Not in the writing, it was good. Not in the setting, enjoyable too since it was Maine and New England and I've lived there and loved it. But in the characters. I just didn't like them.

A good novel will have bad characters with rotten characteristics, but even the worst of characters will have some redeeming qualities. The characters of Maine did not. They are just not likeable. Take Alice, the matriarch of the family, for instance. She doesn't like her own kids, grown now with kids of their own, and frankly, she doesn't like her grandkids either. Worse, she not only dislikes them, but she actually enjoys being mean and making them suffer (all while going to church every morning).

What I liked best about the book was the backstory of Alice's sister's death at the historic Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire - a true event that happened in Boston in 1942, and resulted in a reform of safety and fire codes throughout the country. That part of the story was interesting.

What I liked least were the characters, unkind and selfish, as well as the ending. I kept reading thinking somewhere, someway, someone would have a redeeming quality that would make the story worth reading. But it just didn't happen that way.

Maine is very negative and almost depressing to read, and not a book I would recommend.

Want to Make Christmas Special? Really Special? Here's How...

For three Christmas seasons, my family and I have hosted an international student through Christmas International House (CIH), a peacemaking program designed to provide international students a place to stay during the Christmas break when college campuses are deserted and dormitories empty. The experience is incredible, and I invite everyone to consider participating in this year's event.

The benefits to the program are numerous. To the attending student, CIH provides a place to stay and opportunity to learn about different areas of our country. They are able to develop new friendships with their host families and with other international students in the program. Christmas is celebrated with their host family, and for many, this may be their first Christmas holiday ever.

For the host family, the benefits are just as numerous. Families are able to attend any or all of the program activities with their international student, making the Christmas holiday truly time spent together in fun. Strong friendships develop, and host families learn about new cultures and more. CIH promotes unity, that we are all part of the human family, despite differences in culture and ideology.

Originally, we worried that hosting a student would take away from our "family time" and make Christmas less special. What we discovered was completely the opposite. CIH creates so many shared and happy experiences during the holidays and with students we've cherished and will remain forever in our hearts. IT HAS ENHANCED OUR CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY!

Each year, numerous students are turned away due to lack of host families available to take them. This year I am working on putting the program together for Houston. You don't have to attend my church, or even be a Presbyterian to participate. All you need is desire to do something kind, and open your heart and home, and the treasure awaits you.

For anyone interested in participating or if you want more information, please contact me.

You can read more about the program on the Christmas International House website and by reading some of my blog entries from previous years concerning the program. Just type "Christmas International House" in the Search This Blog box in the left column of this page.

Texting While Driving

I remember when they passed seat belt laws in Texas. I reluctantly got in the habit of buckling up. But it was a good thing, and if the law weren’t in place today, I would still buckle up. After all, it makes the possibility of my surviving an accident so much higher. It helps me, and my passengers who also buckle up, be safer. So while my buckling up may not do much for you, it’s good for me, and I’m happy to oblige.

It's odd that we have seat belt laws in 49 states, drunk driving laws in 50 states, yet there are very limited texting while driving laws. To me, texting while driving more resembles drunk drinking than it does seat belt usage, and should be treated similarly.

Seat belts protect passengers, but they do nothing to prevent accidents. Texting while driving endangers passengers and causes accidents (like drunk driving does). So it seems weird that most states have a law that requires you protect yourself (seat belt), but they don’t have a law that prevents you from injuring others (texting). Or if there is a law, it’s limited, such as no usage around a school zone or with passengers in the car under age 17.

Also odd, almost everyone I talk with agrees that texting is bad while driving and claim not to do it. Yet it only takes a few miles down the road to see that’s clearly not the case. People text and drive a lot! What can possibly be so important in that 160 character message to risk lives?

I wonder if some day there will be a law completely banning texting while driving? Who knows, but in the meantime, I can tell everyone I know not to text and drive. And I urge you to do the same. Texting while driving is bad for everyone, and not only endangers the lives of those texting, but the innocent victims that are hit as a result. And sometimes the accident is so bad, that even the seat belt isn’t going to save you.

Short Story - Signs of Love

A year or so ago, the Humble Fiction Cafe (HFC) writers group had decided to do another group project in which we would all contribute short stories to a book, with those stories centered around a fictional place called Moot. A spin-off, if you will, to our Split book of short stories, but with a completely different theme.

The town of Moot was an odd place, with occasional supernatural occurrences by the lighthouse. Moot, by the way, was not on the ocean, but had a rather large lake outside the center of town.

Without enough group enthusiasm however, the project quickly died (and unfortunately so has HFC for all intents and purposes), but not before I drafted a story. I thought I would share that story here. I hope you enjoy.

Signs of Love
A short story by Sheryl Tuttle
Click the link above to read the story