a short story made long......

I want to tell you a story about a litle girl who lost her mother when she was 7 years old.
The little girls' father was devastated and lost....he was quite unable to care for his young children, so....
....he took another wife, very, very soon after his first wife died.
The little girl missed her mommy so badly....but, she was happy when daddy brought her a new mommy.....for a while.
The little girls' big brothers and sister were not too happy with their father for trying to replace their beloved mother so soon after her death and so began a conflict so hard and long that it ripped this precious family to shreds.
Years went by.....
the little girl grew.....
she grew into a teenager.
The teenager had become aware of the conflict and had begun to try to make her way around it, but everywhere she went she ran into walls: walls of resentment, walls of anger, walls of judgment, walls that threatened to crush her....and so, she avoided the walls as best she could and she embraced the conflict, for you see, it was what the family feasted on daily, it was what gave the family life.
Years went by....
the little girl was not little anymore and she had become an expert at not needing anyone or anything, for, you see, she had discovered that vulnerability was the enemy and made you weak, and she was strong, she was a survivor....
She survived her beloved mothers' death and she had survived the family conflict.
She was strong.....but everything has a price....and the price the little girl had paid to survive was very high.
She had discovered the true opposite of love: apathy...and she was an expert.
So, she made friends.....
The friends became her family and all the things that go into a familial relationship went into her friends...and they were precious to her, more precious than anything.
One day....the little girls daddy died.
She had to make a choice:
what do I do with this pathetic family that my dead parents have left behind?????
The little girl knew that the conflict was still there, rather like the big blue elephant in the middle of the room that no one would look at, but the family had long since tired of the feasting.
She decided to embrace them.
She tried very hard to build a relationship with them.
How do you build on a foundation of apathy????
It was impossible.
Years went by......
..... the family went away....along with the conflict, the pain, the frustration, the anger......all gone......
For, you see, there was no mother to spread her wings and gently draw her babes into her breast where they would be safe from harm.....
The little girl missed her mommy.....and wondered why her family had been through so much, yet, had learned so little.
We must make the most of the time we have here on earth, for our life is like a vapor.......

a joke....

So, Bill Gates dies......and goes to the "Pearly Gates" where he is greeted personally by God Himself!
God tells Bill that he will get to preview his final destination before choosing where he wanted to spend his Eternity.....
First, God takes him to Hell and it is filled with white beaches, beautiful women, tropical drinks with little umbrellas, gorgeous blue water......
Then, God shows Bill Heaven and it is a glorious place filled with angels and people hanging out on clouds and playing their harps.....
Well, Bill was quite taken with the white beaches and beautiful women and so he told God that he would like to spend his Eternity in Hell.

Two weeks later.....

God visits Bill in Hell and sees him in agony, in chains and in darkness, and utterly alone......
Bill asks God," What happened to the white beaches, and blue water and, little drinks with umbrellas....?
God smiles and says," Bill, you of all people should have known....that was just a screen saver....."

Love is the answer....

Has anyone seen the "Kingdom of Heaven"?
I really have no desire to see it other that for my own appreciation for great film making, however, it has sparked some reflection anew for me.
The "Crusades" were a despicable example of the tyranny of the so-called Christian church during the Dark Ages.
It makes me so angry when I think of those "crusaders" going forward to kill and maim in the name of Christ, the arrogance they must have had to believe that they were justified by their "faith", and who gave them the directive, anyway???
God?
I think not.
Hmmmm......
It doth sound quite familiar, doth it not????
Are we not still reaping the consequences of that awful history????
The "crusaders" gave Christianity its bad rep and may have spawned a hatred that is still leveling its awful sting.
Winning the world for Christ has nothing to do with violence and hatred and narrowness, but, it has everything to do with love.
"A new commandment I give to you, that you Love one another....that they may know you are my disciples."
Jesus spoke these words to his disciples right before He left this earth.

"Father, fill me up to the top with your love, that I may spill it out onto your people and they may know that you are God....."

blood sacrifice for dummies....

I was listening to Bill Ritchie on CSN yesterday and I had what Oprah would call a "light-bulb-moment".
He was talking about how the Church has sort of taken on a hands-off approach to the "atonement" of Christ' blood.
Nobody really wants to know that it is ONLY through a blood sacrifice that we can have redemption of our sin. right?
He went on to say that in Old Testament times, during certain festivals, there were so many animals sacrificed that it must have stunk to high heaven and aren't we glad we don't have to adhere to the old Law because Jesus was the Lamb of God and He was the Ultimate sacrifice....the Ultimate atonement.
Cool...I knew all that.
He just kept driving the point home: "there has to be blood shed to atone for our sin! It is the way God set it up."
Remember way back in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned and they became aware of their nakedness and tried to clothe themselves with fig leaves?
Pastor Ritchie said," What did God do?"
What was the consequence of their sin?
God killed animals......to get their skin....so that He could cover them.
God has always covered sin with blood......always.
That affected me....I'm not sure why.
I guess I always thought the act of clothing them was because He cared for thier comfort.....when actually, He was just revealing His true Nature.....and, it has never changed.
So, go with me on this: IF, there was never any sin, THEN, there would have been no reason for shed blood.
WE killed Jesus...our sin.....killed him....not the Jews or the Romans....humanity, God's own creation....killed Jesus.
Ane, yet, He LOVES me!!!!
How?
Because He lives within my heart. He forgave me and He changed me and I feel His love.
Amazing......Grace.

thanks, Bill
:)

did you know.....

.........that Mt. St. Helens erupted 25 years ago from yesterday??????
Also.....my 14th wedding anniversary!
How will we celebrate?????
By taking the entire family to Star Wars!!!!

(I'm secretly quite excited to see the movie....is that wrong?)

"May the force be with you."

I feel wacky, oh so wacky.....

Did you ever wonder how deodorant works?
I do....
How about that hand sanitizer?
I thought the only thing that could kills germs on contact was BLEACH?
Did you know that zit cream, Compound W, and aspirin are related???
It's true....
zit cream is "salacylic acid", Compound W is salacylic acid 5%, and aspirin is acidysalycylic acid.
Innersteen......
How about daily bread?
The scriptures say in Luke that we all need "daily bread".
Do you think that includes Krispy Kreme doughnuts????
How about pancakes?
Isn't daily bread....bread that comes daily???
Boy am I hungry.....I should pray....for my daily bread.
Have you had yours??????

Luke 11:3-
"Give us this day our daily bread."

Disaster Relief wants YOU!

This weekend is the Disaster Relief training taught by Gary Floyd and the Red Cross.
It has been innersteen to hear the history of DR in our association.
Do you want to know how it started?
Some guy from Texas took his RA's camping the same time a hurricane hit and they ended up feeding 150 people with their buddy burners, right there in the camp site!
That was the catalytic event that started things in motion and now, the SBC DR is THE presence at diasters.
When a disaster happens, and we respond, we are considered the "professionals."
I have 3-4 more classes to take to become certifiable...I mean certified, for Mass Care, Shelter Care, and my personal favorite; the ERV(Emergency Response Vehicle).
When axed about why I wanted to do this? I responded; we're called by Jesus Himself. I want to touch people with the love of Christ.
Gary Floyd told us last night that the SBC is looking to send 90 10-man units to India before June 2006 for help in the rebuilding effort.
I'm thinking.....working long hours in a really hot, sticky, place....devastation everywhere....people needing to be touched......standing on once lovely beaches......showers available only from a truck and only once a week....rampant pestilence and disease......knowing that these people consider me an infidel and hate all that I stand for...........an apportunity to share a cup of cool water with the least of these.......priceless.
Wanna go?

a special message.....

Happy Birthday.....dear Sydnie,
Happy birthday to you.....and many more.......

Love ya, kiddo
:-)

Open mouth, insert foot....

OK, so I told you about the youth conference I attended 2 weekends ago, but what I didn't tell you is that the Disaster Relief people fed us lunch.
The people I was standing in line with asked about the trip to Florida and was this what I did there and such.
I told them about the trip and explained the heirarchy of Disaster Relief:

Blue Hat- a little lower than God, don't mess with him!
White Hat- Blue Hat's gopher
Red Hat- he sweat's alot and looks tired.
Yellow Hat- worker bees

So, as we're going through the line I spot Blue Hat and tell everyone around me to give him the reverance he deserves, right?
When we come upon him we all bow to him and laugh and I explain that I was down in Florida for the Relief effort and I understand his position.
He asks my name, to my surprise, and I tell him....he knows me!
I look at my friends and say,"See, he is a little lower than God."
Everyone nods.....
I found out later that Blue Hat was Gary Floyd, the head of somethin' big in our Assoc. and, more importantly, he was the one who sent me and our group to Florida.
I felt.....foolish, really stupid cuz I was playing with Gary Floyd for heavens' sake!
He caught me later to make sure I was going to do the Disaster Relief training in our area this weekend, "Yes, sir!" I replied.
Now I have to be on my best behavior....I hate that!
Uhhh........

I'm a wannabe....

Beth Moore is so cool......I want to be just like her when I grow up.
She's a snappy dresser, she's funny, oh, she's way Godly, she still plays with Barbies, I think the one she had was "Chillin'- at- the -Beth- Moore -Conference
Barbie."
I'm totally cereal when I say that she is so passionate about God and she is the picture of an intimate walk with Jesus Christ.
Beth, you rock!

My blessing.....

OK, so this last weekend as we were preparing to leave for Youth Conference in Vancouver, I was listening to the pledge-drive for the K-LOVE radio station.
I was thinking....I should pledge, afterall, we listen to it and enjoy it all day....naahh...somebody else will do it.....
Then I thought: if someone from our area called in to pledge half an hour, I could meet the other half of the pledge.
Just then, I kid you not, someone came on from Richland, WA to ask if someone could meet the other half of the pledge.
OK, I get it, I'll do it.
So I did.
As the gal was taking my info I was telling God that this was not out of sacrifice, it was a no-brainer and I was just being obedient to His leading, right?
I didn't need a blessing......
The gal then proceded to tell me thank you for pledge. K-LOVE could not be on the air without the pledges from listeners, yadda, yadda, yadda, and, Lori, she told me, you can give your pledge until the day Jesus returns!!!!..........
" I can?" I asked her, stunned.
"OK"
I hung up the phone, stunned.
I get to give my pledge until JESUS RETURNS!!!!!!
I get to give my pledge until JESUS RETURNS!!!!!!
WOW!
I thought it was a yearly pledge...I didn't know that I GET TO GIVE MY PLEDGE UNTIL JESUS RETURNS!
Wait a minute.....why didn't she just say it was a lifetime pledge?
Why didn't she tell me that I can give until I die?
Kind of strange, don't ya think?
Ohhhh....I get it, God, that was for me, right?
He blessed me, anyway.
Did you just tell me that I will not die before Jesus returns for the Church??
I believe so.

Our God....is an awesome God.