Church Stuff... and Just Stuff...
Church yesterday was absolutely AWESOME! We had a visiting Pastor in - ANOTHER Pastor Paul -- Rev. Paul V. Bickel. He teaches religion at a Lutheran high school up past Baltimore. He was speaking to our first reading which was Isaiah 45:1-7, in which God chooses Cyrus (a non-believer) to do His work, and reminds US that He is the ONE God, the ONLY God and that He is Lord of ALL things. His sermon was long and it was GOOD - but the ONE thing that I wanted to bring here today is this. He reminded us that he is a HIGH SCHOOL teacher (I've been there, done that!) and that as such his kids do NOT believe everything he tells them! (imagine that!) High school age kids ask the tough questions! And one of the questions that they ask him over and over and over again is ... Pastor Bickel, how do you KNOW? How do you KNOW that our God IS the right one? All the people who belong to all those other religions are JUST as convinced that THEIR knowledge is true and accurate and that THEY believe the right thing too! So how do you know that Christians are the ONLY ones who are right? ... Now I've wondered this myself in my life. And I don't know how I know! I just "have faith"... and that's what I always tell my people. And my people just always shake their head at me and think I'm crazy and life goes on. So I was very curious as to HOW Pastor Bickel KNOWS too! And this is the answer that he gave... the one he gives to his students. He said... I KNOW because Christianity is the only one that WORKS. It is the ONLY religion where man is saved by GRACE, and not by his own works. Alllllllll the other religions rely on man being "good enough" ... on man "doing the right things"... and man can NEVER be good enough. Where do the other religions draw the line? How much goodness is enough goodness? When does God say okay - you passed the test? Ooops! No... you came up one shy! You were almost good enough - but not quite! Sorry. No. God is LOVE. Perfect love. He created us because He was so overwhelmed with His own love that He had to have someone to share it with! So He created man... and all he wants from us is that we accept His love and love Him back. And when we DO that, His Holy Spirit works through us to make us WANT to TRY to be good enough for Him ... even though that can never happen! And so He sent us Jesus... a part of His very self... to pay the price for OUR sins... so that we can live eternally with Him. HOW GREAT is our God!!!But... since I don't want to just trust ONE Pastor's word for it... and since I have not personally studied the other 452,000 some odd religions out there... does anyone know of ANOTHER religion that does NOT rely on the good works of man to get to Heaven? IS there another religion that believes we are saved simply by LOVING back? I'm just askin'...
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I do thank allllllllllll of my great friends who suggested only painting the ONE wall yesterday! *smacks head* ... why didn't I think of that!? LOL! Actually I did. The problem was that the 3/4 of the room we had painted with the first can covered 2/3 of each of the long walls, and one of the short walls. Which meant that it pretty much ALL had to be repainted. And then as we found out it had to be repainted TWICE because the first color was different ENOUGH that it needed two coats to cover it! Of course, I also had to RE- cut in around all the cabinets and the windows and the ceiling and the floor..... OY! But it's done now! And I'm actually GLAD it happened because the 2nd color was actually the RIGHT color and is EVEN brighter than the first color was! And now I can go back to painting cupboard doors and start working on the trim! But at least now their IS a light at the end of the tunnel! Whooooooo hoooo!
Oh! A Mom story! She came into the kitchen yesterday -- Dennis was actually HELPING me - I think he was feeling sorry for me at this point! (and perhaps he wants the kitchen DONE too - so I'll cook again!) But anyway - she came in and he was painting behind the fridge... I was standing on the counters cutting in above the cupboards and she says "Is there anything I can do to help?" Before he had a chance to say anything I said - SURE! Grab a paintbrush! You can start on that wall over there! Oh my gosh! Her eyes got big as silver dollars! She said "Oh no! I can't paint!" ... and I turned around and looked at her and I asked, you mean to tell me you've NEVER painted a room before? ... And she said, "Oh yea! I've painted rooms before. But that was a long time ago! My arms are too short now!" Dennis and I both had to stop painting for a minute we were laughing so hard! Poor woman -- got those shrinkin' arms!
Oh! A Mom story! She came into the kitchen yesterday -- Dennis was actually HELPING me - I think he was feeling sorry for me at this point! (and perhaps he wants the kitchen DONE too - so I'll cook again!) But anyway - she came in and he was painting behind the fridge... I was standing on the counters cutting in above the cupboards and she says "Is there anything I can do to help?" Before he had a chance to say anything I said - SURE! Grab a paintbrush! You can start on that wall over there! Oh my gosh! Her eyes got big as silver dollars! She said "Oh no! I can't paint!" ... and I turned around and looked at her and I asked, you mean to tell me you've NEVER painted a room before? ... And she said, "Oh yea! I've painted rooms before. But that was a long time ago! My arms are too short now!" Dennis and I both had to stop painting for a minute we were laughing so hard! Poor woman -- got those shrinkin' arms!
Labels: Churchy Stuff
posted by Melli at
8:02 AM
9 comment(s):
Oh yeah, I just love mom!
By
Anonymous, at
10/20/2008 9:55 AM
...that's cute...arms are too short. Gotta love it.
I told Bud about the blueberries...and he said he's on his way!!
And Melli, the recipe is no secret...use any recipe that you use to make the pie, and instead of the milk it calls for, substitute that with the same amount of egg nog....it makes the pie oh so much creamier and makes that wonderful gloss...and browning wonderfully. It's delectable. Here....have a piece!!
By
Hootin Anni, at
10/20/2008 10:55 AM
Don't you just hate it when your arms get too short to paint!!! I'm just getting over losing an inch in height--need every bit to balance out my width. . .BTW, thanks for last week's recommendation of the book on care giving for family members with Altheimer's. I fear I may need it soon. . .
For this week's Fun Monday I'm being a bit lazy and routing readers to my most recent post, "On to Amsterdam", which is an account of a "normal" travel day from London to Amsterdam on my recent trip to Europe. Check it out if you'd like to see some windmills and canals--and diamonds!
By
Faye, at
10/20/2008 11:38 AM
Funny about the short arms. :-) One thing I love about painting is that you get results pretty quickly -- but you do have to slow down for the details like window frames.
Loved what the visiting preacher had to say! I have wrestles with "How do I this this is all really true" occasionally -- I think probably most people have. When it comes to the big picture, whether there is a God at all, just thinking about creation. I can't believe all of this just evolved. Flawed as it is by the fall, there are still obvious marks of a designer, a Creator.
When it comes to whether Christianity itself is true, what Pastor Paul said helps me, too, as well as the Bible itself -- the fact that it was written over hundreds of years by several different authors, yet it is harmonious. The parts that might seem at first to contradict another really don't when you study it, and there are books that go into that kind of thing. Plus there is fulfilled prophecy and lives changed.
I don't know of another religion that is based on grace alone. There are some which don't believe in hell or any kind of punishment, but even though they might believe in a sense that therefore everyone is saved, their belief about how you "advance," what rewards you get, etc., are based on works rather than grace.
By
Anonymous, at
10/20/2008 1:18 PM
I'll have to remember that next time Charlie asks me for help. I'd love to but my arms are too short. Glad that you can still find the humor.
By
Lazy Daisy, at
10/20/2008 2:10 PM
Glad the painting is done. Really glad your happy with how it turned out.
My arms aren't shorter but both Betty and I are shorter than we used to be by an inch or two. Maybe the arms come next.
From the time God pulled me out of my atheism and dumped me into the faith I knew Jesus was real and this was the faith for me. I do the best I can to share it with others but they have their own faith journey and I can't make it for them.
By
Dr.John, at
10/20/2008 6:08 PM
This excuse I will keep in mind !! Next time I am asked to do something what I don't like I will say that my hands or arms shrinked with the age, hahahaha !
The religion questions are very difficult and complex. Religions based on God (Jews) God+Jesus (Christians) Allah = God + Mohamed (muslems) say basically all the same. The differences were made by humans so has nothing to do with God.
For me personally religion and God are two very different things. I can believe in God but not in a religion. Religions are not honnest they all serve a man's interest.
By
Ingrid, at
10/21/2008 12:47 AM
I know God is real because I have a personal connection to him. Like Dr. John said, I can want that for other people, and I can share how I know with other people, but I can't make that conclusion for them. There are a few people who make me really wish I could.
By
Anonymous, at
10/21/2008 3:47 AM
Oh No one more thing that I have to look forward to in my advancing age..SHORT ARMS?? WOW!! smiling!! That is really funny.
We are studying Isaiah now and it is wonderful great study!! Glad you had a great Sunday..
I am so sorry that my scrap blog could not be made bigger from yesterday..Today i put the link in so maybe if you have time you can go and REALLY see it..
By
Ramblins of a middle-aged goddess, at
10/21/2008 8:37 AM
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