Ever had one of those days where you just NEED to hear from God? Ever had one of those YEARS when you need to hear Him?
What prayers do you say?
Monday, December 28, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
If Jesus wrote a letter about christmas...
It might say this:
It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season. Maybe you've forgotten that I wasn't actually born during this time of the year and that it was some of your predecessors who decided to celebrate My birthday on what was actually a time of pagan festival. Although I do appreciate being remembered anytime.
How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
Now, having said that let Me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn't allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santa’s and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn If all My followers did that there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town.
Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish: I actually spoke of that one in a teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one, look up John 15: 1 - 8.
If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it:
1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.
2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.
3. Instead of writing the President complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up. It will be nice hearing from you again.
4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.
5 Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.
6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference.
7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas" that doesn't keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If the store didn't make so much money on that day they'd close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families
8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary-- especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name.
9. Here's a good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don't know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the Salvation Army or some other charity which believes in Me and they will make the delivery for you.
10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.
Don't forget; I am God and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I'll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I'll help you, but the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love and remember :
I LOVE YOU,
JESUS
It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season. Maybe you've forgotten that I wasn't actually born during this time of the year and that it was some of your predecessors who decided to celebrate My birthday on what was actually a time of pagan festival. Although I do appreciate being remembered anytime.
How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
Now, having said that let Me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn't allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santa’s and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn If all My followers did that there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town.
Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish: I actually spoke of that one in a teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one, look up John 15: 1 - 8.
If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it:
1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.
2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.
3. Instead of writing the President complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up. It will be nice hearing from you again.
4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.
5 Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.
6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference.
7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas" that doesn't keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If the store didn't make so much money on that day they'd close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families
8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary-- especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name.
9. Here's a good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don't know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the Salvation Army or some other charity which believes in Me and they will make the delivery for you.
10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.
Don't forget; I am God and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I'll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I'll help you, but the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love and remember :
I LOVE YOU,
JESUS
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
I'm just amazed... Billy Corgan is a Christian??
http://www.everythingfromheretothere.com/2009/11/09/forgiveness-is-the-key-that-unlocks-the-door/
That's so awesome...
For those who aren't sure who Billy is, he is basically the smashing pumpkins... writing, composing, recording... you name it. If you are familiar with any of the Smashing Pumpkins music, you know that he was a very troubled soul who seemed to be adamantly against anything Christian.
Lyrics from "Zero" (from SP)
Emptiness is loneliness, and loneliness is cleanliness
And cleanliness is godliness, and god is empty just like me
Intoxicated with the madness, I'm in love with my sadness
Bullshit fakers, enchanted kingdoms
That's just one example. From that mindset to this mindset:
When you are attacked, forgive your attackers, for they know not what they do. When you mess up, forgive yourself, even if you know that you shouldn’t be doing what you are doing. Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door....
I forgive myself for not meaning more, being more, saying more, doing more. I AM that I AM. If I choose happiness in this moment, it also means I accept my long list of limitations: I do not have the ability to fly thru the air, I cannot save all the babies from dying, I can’t sing a high A note, no matter how hard I try. There are, of course, many more limitations, but those are the ones that come to mind at the moment.
I forgive myself for all the dumb, silly things I have done. I forgive myself for all the dumb, silly things I haven’t done. I could explain each mistake to you point by point, but it would only attach me to your judgment and forgiveness. I could defend myself of all I stand accused of, but that would only make me guilty. After all, why would I defend myself at all? The act of defense alone would indicate some form of acknowledgment, wouldn’t it? That is the way it works in a system that knows no justice and no forgiveness. You stand accused for crimes against humanity, and they barely have the time to tell you why.
God knows my heart, just as God knows your heart. So, what if God is nothing but a cold computer, calculating nothing but raw physics and karma? Wouldn’t you rather be worthy of Love than demanding of it? If you answer no to that last question, then you are in the wrong place. You would be better served going to your door, because there is a big wolf waiting for you there, and he is known to be quite impatient.
That's just plain awesome in my book. That's so... REAL. So much MORE real than those who once were what i thought a Christian was supposed to be. I myself was once a hypocritical Christian. I didn't even see it. But by my actions at that time (sinful as they were and as ashamed as I am about them), being shunned by "Christians" from my inner circle of friends, and my plea to God for forgiveness, I finally saw that hypocrisy. I don't think I would have saw it without this succession of events.
Am I where I want to be with my relationship to God? NO. But I don't think one ever does totally get there... to get there would be complacent. I think the struggle to TRY to get there is what brings one closer to God. That act of real tears... of real pain from real remorse.
But I'm at a much better place now. I'm happy, but I still struggle with guilty feelings from past sins... which leads me to struggle to get closer to God.
Hell - if Billy can do it, I can too!! :D
That's so awesome...
For those who aren't sure who Billy is, he is basically the smashing pumpkins... writing, composing, recording... you name it. If you are familiar with any of the Smashing Pumpkins music, you know that he was a very troubled soul who seemed to be adamantly against anything Christian.
Lyrics from "Zero" (from SP)
Emptiness is loneliness, and loneliness is cleanliness
And cleanliness is godliness, and god is empty just like me
Intoxicated with the madness, I'm in love with my sadness
Bullshit fakers, enchanted kingdoms
That's just one example. From that mindset to this mindset:
When you are attacked, forgive your attackers, for they know not what they do. When you mess up, forgive yourself, even if you know that you shouldn’t be doing what you are doing. Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door....
I forgive myself for not meaning more, being more, saying more, doing more. I AM that I AM. If I choose happiness in this moment, it also means I accept my long list of limitations: I do not have the ability to fly thru the air, I cannot save all the babies from dying, I can’t sing a high A note, no matter how hard I try. There are, of course, many more limitations, but those are the ones that come to mind at the moment.
I forgive myself for all the dumb, silly things I have done. I forgive myself for all the dumb, silly things I haven’t done. I could explain each mistake to you point by point, but it would only attach me to your judgment and forgiveness. I could defend myself of all I stand accused of, but that would only make me guilty. After all, why would I defend myself at all? The act of defense alone would indicate some form of acknowledgment, wouldn’t it? That is the way it works in a system that knows no justice and no forgiveness. You stand accused for crimes against humanity, and they barely have the time to tell you why.
God knows my heart, just as God knows your heart. So, what if God is nothing but a cold computer, calculating nothing but raw physics and karma? Wouldn’t you rather be worthy of Love than demanding of it? If you answer no to that last question, then you are in the wrong place. You would be better served going to your door, because there is a big wolf waiting for you there, and he is known to be quite impatient.
That's just plain awesome in my book. That's so... REAL. So much MORE real than those who once were what i thought a Christian was supposed to be. I myself was once a hypocritical Christian. I didn't even see it. But by my actions at that time (sinful as they were and as ashamed as I am about them), being shunned by "Christians" from my inner circle of friends, and my plea to God for forgiveness, I finally saw that hypocrisy. I don't think I would have saw it without this succession of events.
Am I where I want to be with my relationship to God? NO. But I don't think one ever does totally get there... to get there would be complacent. I think the struggle to TRY to get there is what brings one closer to God. That act of real tears... of real pain from real remorse.
But I'm at a much better place now. I'm happy, but I still struggle with guilty feelings from past sins... which leads me to struggle to get closer to God.
Hell - if Billy can do it, I can too!! :D
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
What is church REALLY supposed to be like?
A small group of Christians in the year 88 AD:
"Some of us are Jews; some are Greeks or Romans. Some are citizens; many are slaves. But we are all Christians, disciples of Jesus the Christ.
We think he was born about 88 years ago--that's why we call this the 88th year of our Lord. We believe he was crucified in 33, but we're not sure. All we have are some partial accounts of his life and teachings, plus a few copies of copies of letters from Paul or one of the others. The Lord's first disciples are almost all gone now. There are rumors that John is alive, but he is not here and we don't know where he is. Peter and Paul and many others were killed in 64, when Rome burned and Nero blamed it on us.
The Jews rebelled against Rome in 67. When the Christians in Jerusalem saw the city surrounded by armies, they remembered what Jesus said about that, and fled across Jordan to Pella, in the desert. The Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70, and by the time the fortress at Masada fell in 73, they had crushed the entire Jewish nation. Now they are after us, too. The three generals who decimated the Jews each became Emperor, one after the other--Vespasian and his two sons, Titus and Domitian. Now, we must hide because Domitian is trying to restore the Roman religion. He executes both Christians and Jews.
But tonight we are all here, together, and perhaps safe enough for the moment. So ... why have we come? Why do we slip out at night, away from our masters and hiding from the Romans, to meet in caves and catacombs and darkened rooms? What do we expect to happen that is so different, so attractive, so important, that we risk our lives to be here?"
What if we all placed ourselves into that situation--mentally, emotionally and spiritually? What if we could lay aside all the unnecessary paraphernalia, embellishment, and other trappings we have inherited from nineteen hundred years of church councils, tradition, theologians, translators and interpreters,?
We have to remember that First Century Christians did not have a creed, a prescribed order of worship, a special church language, a hymnal of their own, a set of scholarly commentaries, or anything like that. They didn't even have what we now know as the New Testament.
So ask yourself, "What kind of church meeting would bring me out at night if the government was trying to kill me?" Today, we can't even get people to church if it rains. What was it? What was there, in those early Christian meetings, that we don't have? What did they do that we don't do?--and what do we do that they never heard of? What has been added, and what has been lost?
"Some of us are Jews; some are Greeks or Romans. Some are citizens; many are slaves. But we are all Christians, disciples of Jesus the Christ.
We think he was born about 88 years ago--that's why we call this the 88th year of our Lord. We believe he was crucified in 33, but we're not sure. All we have are some partial accounts of his life and teachings, plus a few copies of copies of letters from Paul or one of the others. The Lord's first disciples are almost all gone now. There are rumors that John is alive, but he is not here and we don't know where he is. Peter and Paul and many others were killed in 64, when Rome burned and Nero blamed it on us.
The Jews rebelled against Rome in 67. When the Christians in Jerusalem saw the city surrounded by armies, they remembered what Jesus said about that, and fled across Jordan to Pella, in the desert. The Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70, and by the time the fortress at Masada fell in 73, they had crushed the entire Jewish nation. Now they are after us, too. The three generals who decimated the Jews each became Emperor, one after the other--Vespasian and his two sons, Titus and Domitian. Now, we must hide because Domitian is trying to restore the Roman religion. He executes both Christians and Jews.
But tonight we are all here, together, and perhaps safe enough for the moment. So ... why have we come? Why do we slip out at night, away from our masters and hiding from the Romans, to meet in caves and catacombs and darkened rooms? What do we expect to happen that is so different, so attractive, so important, that we risk our lives to be here?"
What if we all placed ourselves into that situation--mentally, emotionally and spiritually? What if we could lay aside all the unnecessary paraphernalia, embellishment, and other trappings we have inherited from nineteen hundred years of church councils, tradition, theologians, translators and interpreters,?
We have to remember that First Century Christians did not have a creed, a prescribed order of worship, a special church language, a hymnal of their own, a set of scholarly commentaries, or anything like that. They didn't even have what we now know as the New Testament.
So ask yourself, "What kind of church meeting would bring me out at night if the government was trying to kill me?" Today, we can't even get people to church if it rains. What was it? What was there, in those early Christian meetings, that we don't have? What did they do that we don't do?--and what do we do that they never heard of? What has been added, and what has been lost?
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