Living life with steps of faith

We have lived so long in the covenant of grace, we have forgotten what life was like during the covenant of holiness. This morning as I continued my chapter a day reading through the holiness code of Leviticus, I was struck by the contrast between Jesus' role as the great high priest and the original boundaries drawn for that role.  The great high priest had been set apart from the world.  He was to live in such a way that his lifestyle represented the holiness of God.  He couldn't marry whomever he wanted, but must marry a kin who was a virgin.  He could not attend his wife's funeral, nor touch her body. If his child had any physical disability or "abnormality" the child would not even be considered for the role of the high priest in the future.  See Leviticus 21. Although Jesus never married, his life crossed the boundary lines of the holiness code.  He shared a cup of water with a "loose" woman, a Samaritan no less. He touched the coffin of th...

I feel like my brain is being re-wired.  Actually, whenever I read God's word I feel the fresh breath of the Spirit's wind cleansing out my mental cobwebs and giving me new clarity of thought.  But, today I have to admit a courage-giving movement of the Word in my life.  I return to what I knew, but with greater buy-in and more depth of understanding. Infertility can strike the core of one's gender identity.  Doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman - there is a part of your femininity or masculinity that is attacked.  Part of the healing process is a restoration or a new creation of that identity.  What does it mean to be a woman whose womb doesn't seem to work?  What does it mean to be a man whose arrows miss the target?  Our culture is over sexualized.  I think that is one reason that homosexuality gets so much attention - we care a little to much about our gender as it is related to our sexuality. We overemphasize this character t...

--> Sermon: Love - Romance/Eros                                                           Scripture:  Song of Songs 1:1-4a, 4:9-10, 6:3a, 8:4                                     "A man was reading his paper early one morning at the breakfast table. His wife came over to him and patted him on the shoulder. She looked at him, smiled, and said, “I bet you don’t know what today is, do you?” He looked at her and said, “Of course I know what day it is!” and went back to reading his paper. He didn’t have a CLUE what day ...

This morning during my devotions I read a quote that really struck my attention.  I would use the quote here, but if I did I would be taking it out of context as I don't believe I interpreted it as the writer intended. But, how I interpreted it was meaningful to me.  The idea I heard was that sin is something we discover that becomes deeply ingrained within ourselves.  I like this idea, because as I have discerned sin in my life, I have often found that it is something I've been doing for a while and never considered to be sin.  I often find my recognition of something in my life as sin to be quite surprising and then I feel sorrowful because I hadn't realized how what I had been doing had been so hurtful to myself and others.  I like this concept because it speaks to those areas that seem so right at the time and can be justifiable until we are enlightened to view it differently.  And I like this perspective because it shows how sin can go unrecognized, an...

I was just searching the Internet looking for a middle-eastern nativity scene for purchase.  In that search I came across a brief article about a human-sized "political" nativity scene that was vandalized at a church.  I thought this a bit strange, and realized that a Christian could be charged with vandalizing a Christian nativity scene, because they considered it sacrilegious, but if a Muslim stole an image of Muhammad, because they found it offensive, it might be considered practicing religious freedom. In our society, to some degree certain religious beliefs and commitments are idolized, whereas others are scrutinized - and not with the same measure.  In this fictional scenario, the media and protestors would be up in arms advocating for the Muslim who rightfully was defending Mohammad, and would also be up in arms in opposition to the Christian who was defending Jesus.  At the same time, in other parts of our country, the Muslim would not even have a chance t...

So, I just stumbled upon a contest, where members of the U.S. American church are challenged to write a letter to the church answering the question, " If I could say anything to the church, what would it be?"   The contest ends tonight at midnight (oops - I guess it ended at noon - I missed it).  Here is the website that details the contest:  http://promoshq.wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/211410 Since I just stumbled upon the contest, here is my impromptu response (hopefully this counts as submitting it in the contest?): Dear church,             Don’t be so concerned with fitting in with culture.  I remember how hard you tried as pre-teens to gain approval from your peers, how in middle school you were taunted for the way your faith made you stand out, that is okay.  It is okay to not fit in.  The early disciples didn’t fit in, “and more were added to their number each day.” (Acts 2:47) ...

Isaiah 55 - 56:8 (NIV) "'Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters;  and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.  Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?  Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.  Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live.  I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.  See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a ruler and commander of the peoples. Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations you do not know will come running to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor.'  Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.  Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the LORD, and he wil...

A business owner decided to settle her accounts.  Known for her graciousness, she had given out several loans to her employees.  As she began this process, she scheduled a meeting with a man who owed her over 2 billion dollars.  Since he was not able to pay, the owner explained that she would have to begin filing the papers for a lawsuit against the man.  Knowing this woman was well connected with the legal system and had strong grounds for the suit, the man knew he would lose everything, including his wife and kids.  At this, he fell to his knees before his employer and begged, saying "Be patient with  me. I will pay back everything. Just give me more time. I will pay it back." The employer knew better.  She knew he hadn't yet paid him back and that the debt was so great that it would be impossible for him to even make a dent in what he owed.  So, she took pity on him and forgave the entire debt.  He left her office with a huge weight li...

For over a year now, God has been speaking to me about the topic of homosexuality.  I am now waiting anxiously for a book on "Gay Theology" to arrive in the mail.  This morning I read the 5th chapter of 1 Corinthians which addresses a sexual immorality "that does not occur even among pagans" and that is of a Christian man having intercourse with his father's wife. Yesterday I had a conversation with a co-worker about homosexuality.  She asked me about the passage in the Old Testament that is dismissed by people because it is "just an Old Testament law and we don't follow those anyways."  I believe she was referring to Leviticus 18:22. SACRIFICIAL LAW SYSTEM I find it a bit amusing when people choose to discredit this verse.  Yes, there are different types of laws in the Old Testament and many Christians choose to no longer follow those laws.  For example, Christians believe they are released from the priestly laws of the sacrificial system be...