Living life with steps of faith

[a] Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land. A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found. But the meek will inherit the land an

Everyone has there own ideas of what "fitting in" looks like, yet there seems to be a level of undefined socially acceptable behavior that is commonly accepted within a community. And then there are those people who don't fit. Some people see them as a pain that "must be dealt with" while others see these social misfits as "angels" that have important messages to share if one just looks beyond the surface appearance. I was grocery shopping late one night earlier this week and I looked up and there was Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite on a floor mopping machine in the meat section. He smiled at me with a Pedro grin and I had to keep myself from chuckling, until I ducked around the next aisle's shelving. An awkward friend shared tonight about his last dance at Prom and how he danced with an invisible partner. The dance ended with his peers clapping and making mocking comments, but he didn't ear the words as words of mockery, but rather words of a

Lately I've been thinking about the community of God. It really is rich! Where else can such a diverse group of people hold together with one commonly held belief? Sure the church is a very segrated building, but the Church, with a capital C, is very diverse. Nearly every clique, ethnic group, language, personality, and mind is represented in the church body. Yes, we have conflict. But we have a diversity of feelings, thoughts, and perspectives. We are all ages. We are all continents. We are at all levels of development. Yet, we believe as one that God is a personal God and that Jesus is the Christ, the promised Messiah, the son of God sent to earth, crucified and resurrected. And we accept this as the truth by which we live.

For the past year I have been reading a great book titled "The Miracle of Dialogue." I have also observed my well-used freedom and/or lack of restraint in sharing my thoughts publically. I have been challenged by Scripture and shared thoughts and quotes from friends to consider my motivation and purposefulness in speaking. All of these thoughts have brought me to a point of dilemna. There is one train of thought that says "everything you know does not need to be shared. The less words spoken the more powerful affect they have on others." There is another train of thought that says "God has given you the life experiences, the knowledge, and the wisdom that you have in order to be able to share it with others. These gifts are not meant to be kept, but to be shared." One thought that was shared at a regional ministry meeting keeps bouncing back and forth in my thoughts, "there is their reward." A co-worker in the kingdom shared about how she an

I mentioned to a group of ladies at my workplace the fact that the guy I am interested in is considering going to seminary. They expressed concern for the fact that both of us would have jobs that did not promise financial stability. I thought it was kind of odd. As Christians we are called to live differently than the world. Our faith should and does affect our values. Prior to this recent discussion I thought "the love of money" was in reference to really desiring to be more than financially secure and one's willingness to sacrifice one's integrity for financial gain, but now I am beginning to wonder if "the love of money" includes the lack of willingness to sacrifice and be uncomfortable financially in order to be obedient to God's call both personally and universally. We are all called to give. A friend and I debated the purpose of celebrating St. Nicholas Day. She saw it as a pagean celebration honoring someone for one incident when they gave

Today I was blessed with Scripture. Lately God has been reminding me of His call to all believers to live holy lives. His Scripture has come alive and I have been encouraged to continue to humbly stand in the faith even when others are encouraging me to function according to the world's standards of professionalism and personal success. I read the story about the sons of Zebedee and their desire to sit at the right and left hand of Jesus. Jesus uses this conversation to remind His disciples that it isn't about who finishes first or is seen as the most important, but that He calls us to live following His example as a servant and humble man.