Living life with steps of faith

There are over 14,000 uses for salt! Salt can be used as a preservative. It adds flavoring to food. Salt can either cause harm when rubbed into a wound, or it can be used by doctors as a saline solution to bring healing. Salt cleanses and purifies and is most affective when more than one grain is used. Jesus tells us Christians that we are the salt of the earth. (See Matthew 5:13) We preserve the Christian faith, add flavoring to life, can either cause more harm to an open wound or help bring about healing. We can forgive (share the cleansing we’ve received through Jesus) and strive to live a moral, pure life. We are more affective as a team than as individuals. This weeks challenge: Find a use for salt and figure out a way that we as Christians share a common purpose with that use for salt. Then share that purpose on this blog. For example, one leader at my church said that salt causes a person to be thirsty for water and how in the same way, we as Christians help others to be ...

I am sooooo pumped! In just 3 months, I will be taking Greek! I bought an olive green, modern feminine spiral notebook today to use for my Greek notes. Next step - begin memorizing the Greek alphabet! Woo hoo! Have I used enough exclamation marks yet?

As many of my blog readers have already noticed, I have been having a difficult time lately with all of the changes that are occurring in my life. They are not necessarily negative changes, but they are movements in a new direction that doesn't yet feel fully determined. And the changes require letting go of a lot of things, both positive and negative in my life. These changes range from passing on a ministry that is dear to my heart to simplifying my life by getting rid of belongings. They are good, they are edifying for me, and they are edifying for the body of Christ. But that doesn't make the changes much easier. Today was the beginning of another change in my life, another unexpected, but again much prayed for change. (And I think that is all I'm going to say about that right now.) Anyway, my boyfriend and I chatted tonight and he shared that he thinks that I am being pruned. I agree. I love how God speaks to me through my boyfriend. I've never had a relationship q...

While looking for sermon illustrations for next Sunday's sermon, I came across this poem that was written 51 years ago! The accuracy of it is pretty incredible. Let me know what you think. "First dentistry was painless; Then bicycles were chainless And carriages were horseless And may laws, enforceless. Next, cookery was fireless, Telegraphy was wireless, Cigars were nicotineless And coffee, caffeinless. Soon oranges were seedless, The putting green was weedless, The college boy hatless, The proper diet, fatless. Now motor roads are dustless, The latest steel is rustless, Our tennis courts are sodless, Our new religions, godless." Arthur Guiterman, Gaily The Troubadour, 1936. http://net.bible.org/illustration.php?topic=1759 I'm sure these statements by Guiterman were considered impossible to some in his day.

Last night I read the story of Samson as recorded in Judges 13 - 16. During my reading, I was drawn to the idea of Samson's lifetime dedication to being a Nazirite, not by choice, but by command, and the lifestyle he lived. Often when I think of a Nazirite, I think of someone with a special calling and anointing from God and someone who is in some way "more special" than other Christians. Prior to last nights reading, that "specialness" focused on the obedient, more holy lifestyle of sacrifice and commitment, but after reading through the whole story of Samson's life in one setting, my thoughts strayed from my previous understanding. On one hand, I considered the inaccurate, but often unconsciously accepted theological idea of our sins being weighed in balance to our righteousness. If our righteousness outweighs our sins, then we are considered to be "good" Christians. Whereas, if our sins outweigh our righteousness, are Christianity is somehow que...

I've been trying to figure out why my heart has felt torn since I made the decision about a year ago to leave the ministry that I helped start in 2004. To put it simply, I really don't want to leave. This ministry is my passion and my heart. But, I realize that I don't have the same resiliency as some missionaries do. I need the support of my family and of the office that oversees the ministry in a manner that is deeper than permission to run with the ministry. I guess I am tired of all of the negative feedback I receive from the one's I love. I don't like to see how the sacrifices that I make in order to do the ministry affect them. I wonder if I had my own home and was able to at least support myself financially if I would still feel the same way. Would these changes make it so that they could focus more on the good of the ministry rather than the ways it has changed who they expect me to be? I am also worn out from the fight. Putting my reputation and identity on...

Here is an interesting post about contemporary viewpoints on sexual expression in relation to the media: Sex on Campus And your thoughts...

Love. It is such a simple word, yet at the same time it can seem so complex. But, is it really? There seems to be a difference between human love and God-given love. Human love has strings attached and is not all-abiding. Love given by God is eternal and exists whether it is deserved or not. A good ministry is found on God's love. Today I wrote an email to someone I love and I shared some confused thoughts in a way that might not seem all-loving, but were not meant to harm. Then tonight, as I was reading through 1 John, I came across chapter 4, verse 18 which reads, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." I realized that it is because of the love this person shares towards me, that I was able to write my true thoughts and feelings, because I did not fear the person's response. Which then made me think about how much more vulnerable we are with those ...