It is mid day and I have just read through the days news. Among all the stories, two have caused me to pause.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/05/politics/senate-pact-act-animal-cruelty-felony/index.html
and
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/11/06/776765601/judge-scraps-conscience-rule-protecting-doctors-who-deny-care-for-religious-reas
It is official.
Animals are more important than humans.
Do people not see how wrong this is?
Animals should never be mistreated or tortured. In addition, unborn humans should not be killed.
By denying health practitioners the ability to NOT perform abortions based on religious reasons, you deny that humans should have any rights at all.
This is wrong.
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
Friday, January 1, 2016
To Read
A new year is upon us and I have never been more excited. One of the many things that I plan on doing this year is completing a reading challenge. 13 books in one year, 1 every 4 weeks. I know I know. That is not a lot of books and it is a shame that I have to start so low. BUT for someone who loves to read though has a tendency to never finish books this is a challenge for me. I have finally accepted that I need the structure and the accountability. Where is the accountability coming from you ask. Well, my friends/coworkers have decided to take on the challenge as well. We have each already chosen our books, talked about our books, and even purchased some books. Seeing as that we encounter each other pretty much everyday, we will be able to hold each accountable. I will complete this challenge. I know I will.
On the off chance that you are interested at all in what I will be reading and in case you are still reading this post, here is a list of the books I will absorb this year.
A book about Christian living: 7 Women by E. Metaxas
A biography: Tolkein by Humphrey Carpenter
A classic novel: The Sun Also Rises by E. Hemingway
A book someone tells you "changed my life": ???
A commentary on a book of the bible: Esther (TOTC) by D. Reed
A book about Theology: The Case for Christ by L. Strobel
A book with the word 'gospel' in the title: The Friday Gospel by J. Ashworth
A book your pastor recommends: ???
A book more than 100 years old: Three Men in A Boat by J. Jerome
A book for children: Are you there God? It's me Margaret by J. Bloom
A mystery or detective novel: In the Woods by T. French
A book published in 2016: ???
A book about current issues: I am Malala by Malala
10 of the 13 books have already been picked out. The other 3 will be decided as I go along. Along with the reading challenge I want to also write about what I read. I imagine that my posts on the blog will be like a sort of book review. I do this simply to keep me on track and to practice writing. Putting my thoughts in cohesively fluent sentences has never been a strength of mine. I aim to remedy that.
With that being said, I shall call it a night and let you get on with yours.
Be well.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Aimless Living
I am beginning to write a new post but there is a grave issue at hand. I have no topic. What should I write about? I began this blog in the hopes of improving my writing and to see if I could discipline myself enough to become a proficient writer, though without a topic, my blog is not much use. For lack of anything better to say I will just write about my day.
Today was probably the most unproductive day that I have had in a long time. I did absolutely nothing of value. This sluggish body of mine decided to wake up around 9:30 am. The sun was already high in the sky and my room was beginning to heat up. Like most people, my first act upon waking up was to use the commode. As always it was a pleasant experience. I was comfortable again and all I could think of doing was to lay back down in bed, open up my laptop, and watch a few episodes of Cheers via Netflix. Oh how I both love and hate that glorious time wasting tool!
After a couple laughs and several hours I eventually stumbled out of my room in search of food. So what did I have for my first meal of the day? What nutritious substance did I decide to consume in order to refuel my body after such a laborious morning? The most heavenly breakfast known to man. WAFFLES! They were warm. They were toasty. They were covered in butter and syrup. Breakfast of champions! Yeah right, champions of laziness. Whats this? I new email. Who could it be from? My new employer had sent me forms to sign regarding my on-site housing. Exciting!
Forms were signed and faxed. What now? Vacuum the house. Check. Now what? Wash your face, throw on your overalls, and enter back into the vortex known as Netflix. Eventually I find my way back to the world of the living and decide that it is time to get out of the house. To be honest, I just wanted to drive my new car around. She is a lovely car. A grand little thing with both power and beauty. The two of us end up at a little coffee shop. So here I am drinking iced Scottish Breakfast tea and writing nothingness to whoever happens to read this. Bless your heart.
This day has plagued me. Aimless living is sometimes a hard habit to break.
Today was probably the most unproductive day that I have had in a long time. I did absolutely nothing of value. This sluggish body of mine decided to wake up around 9:30 am. The sun was already high in the sky and my room was beginning to heat up. Like most people, my first act upon waking up was to use the commode. As always it was a pleasant experience. I was comfortable again and all I could think of doing was to lay back down in bed, open up my laptop, and watch a few episodes of Cheers via Netflix. Oh how I both love and hate that glorious time wasting tool!
After a couple laughs and several hours I eventually stumbled out of my room in search of food. So what did I have for my first meal of the day? What nutritious substance did I decide to consume in order to refuel my body after such a laborious morning? The most heavenly breakfast known to man. WAFFLES! They were warm. They were toasty. They were covered in butter and syrup. Breakfast of champions! Yeah right, champions of laziness. Whats this? I new email. Who could it be from? My new employer had sent me forms to sign regarding my on-site housing. Exciting!
Forms were signed and faxed. What now? Vacuum the house. Check. Now what? Wash your face, throw on your overalls, and enter back into the vortex known as Netflix. Eventually I find my way back to the world of the living and decide that it is time to get out of the house. To be honest, I just wanted to drive my new car around. She is a lovely car. A grand little thing with both power and beauty. The two of us end up at a little coffee shop. So here I am drinking iced Scottish Breakfast tea and writing nothingness to whoever happens to read this. Bless your heart.
This day has plagued me. Aimless living is sometimes a hard habit to break.
Monday, September 28, 2015
God and Man
"Do you want to go to breakfast?"
All I could think was that it is early on a Saturday morning...of course I want to go to breakfast!
We get ready, hop in the car, and I smile with the anticipation of an all you can eat Mexican breakfast buffet. Within seconds of being on the road my father asked me another question only this time it was somewhat more weighty.
"Amber, what is atonement?"
Silly me. I should have known better than to think that we were going to have a light-hearted carefree morning. My dad was in a thinking mood and I had not even had coffee yet! Surprise, Surprise.
I responded "Atonement means to make right. I have done wrong before God; Christ has made it right by His death and resurrection." "Yes. So is that atonement limited or unlimited?" my father asked.
"You're teaching about Calvinism in Sunday school tomorrow aren't you?" He laughed and said "How'd you guess?"
Later that evening we picked up the conversation in full force. We were too distracted earlier by eating and the food-coma afterward blocked all reasonable thought. Now that all was digested and our energy was restored, theology did not seem so daunting a task. Anyone who has heard of Calvinism is probably aware of the acronym TULIP. This is basically an acronym for the 5 main beliefs of Calvinism.
Total Depravity of Man - Every aspect of humanity is tainted by sin
Unconditional Election - God elects individuals to salvation based entirely on His will
Limited Atonement - Jesus only died for the elect
Irresistible Grace - We can not resist God's call to grace
Perseverance of the Saints - Once saved always saved
In preparing his lesson, Father was trying to make sense of how our church approaches each of these beliefs. More importantly, he was trying to clarify what God has made known to us through the scriptures regarding these points. You see, our church (First Fundamental Bible Church), is a bible based church that does not take the scriptures lightly. Our teaching comes from the Word and we do our best to not deviate from it. We don't teach religion, legalism, faith by works, or the prosperity gospel. We do our best to shy away from man based mumbo jumbo and try to focus on what it means to live in relationship with God through His Son by the Holy Spirit.
From the start, Father and I both asked the same question. Did Jesus really only die for the elect? Correct me if I am wrong but last time I checked, Jesus never limited His saving grace. He came so that all men might be saved (1 Timothy 2: 3-4). Atonement has to be unlimited because Christ bore the sins of all mankind, not just those of the 'elect' (1 John 2:2). Not all mankind will be saved. Not all people will ask forgiveness of their sins. BUT, salvation is open to all people. God knows who will be saved. We certainly do not know. That is why we must evangelize to all people.
Pops leaned toward me, raised his eye brows and while looking at me over his glasses solemnly asked, "So can you resist God's grace?" I was stumped. If I say yes than I limit God's power and reject His sovereignty. If I answer no than I take away man's free will and responsibility for self. God would not force anything upon us right? He would never force us to love Him so why would He force His grace upon us? But grace is an undeserved gift that is freely given. It is a GIFT. We can reject that gift but it is still given.
But I think the idea of Irresistible Grace goes even deeper than that. As we both sat and thought about it, father eventually said, "Maybe we can't accept God's grace and that is why He has to call us." DING! That was it! We inherently have no choice but to resist God's grace because of our sin. Therefore God has to call us to grace in order for us to be saved otherwise we would be able to boast about our salvation (Ephesians 2:8-10). Due to our depravity we want nothing to do with God and His gift because we would rather stew in our own muck. Without the call of God and the pull of the Holy Spirit on our hearts, we can not experience grace and forgiveness. We have to be prompted. Once prompted, we can not resist because we see the need for salvation.
The night had grown old. The heat had subsided. Theology didn't seem so unsettling. My father and I had finally worked our way past theology, what man has to say about God, and we got to the heart of the matter, which is what God has to say about man. We are ALL sinners and separate from God. He loves us and wants to be in relationship with us. Christ atoned for our sins so that we might accept Him and have eternal life in heaven with Him. It's as simple as that. So do you accept Him?
I do believe that theology is important and that it has its valid place within Christianity. But I also believe that we can let it get in the way of our relationship with God because we can make things more complicated than they are. Let's be careful not to let this happen.
C.H. Spurgen said it best "I thank God that He early taught me the gospel, and I have been so perfectly satisfied with it, that I do not want to know any other."
All I could think was that it is early on a Saturday morning...of course I want to go to breakfast!
We get ready, hop in the car, and I smile with the anticipation of an all you can eat Mexican breakfast buffet. Within seconds of being on the road my father asked me another question only this time it was somewhat more weighty.
"Amber, what is atonement?"
Silly me. I should have known better than to think that we were going to have a light-hearted carefree morning. My dad was in a thinking mood and I had not even had coffee yet! Surprise, Surprise.
I responded "Atonement means to make right. I have done wrong before God; Christ has made it right by His death and resurrection." "Yes. So is that atonement limited or unlimited?" my father asked.
"You're teaching about Calvinism in Sunday school tomorrow aren't you?" He laughed and said "How'd you guess?"
Later that evening we picked up the conversation in full force. We were too distracted earlier by eating and the food-coma afterward blocked all reasonable thought. Now that all was digested and our energy was restored, theology did not seem so daunting a task. Anyone who has heard of Calvinism is probably aware of the acronym TULIP. This is basically an acronym for the 5 main beliefs of Calvinism.
Total Depravity of Man - Every aspect of humanity is tainted by sin
Unconditional Election - God elects individuals to salvation based entirely on His will
Limited Atonement - Jesus only died for the elect
Irresistible Grace - We can not resist God's call to grace
Perseverance of the Saints - Once saved always saved
In preparing his lesson, Father was trying to make sense of how our church approaches each of these beliefs. More importantly, he was trying to clarify what God has made known to us through the scriptures regarding these points. You see, our church (First Fundamental Bible Church), is a bible based church that does not take the scriptures lightly. Our teaching comes from the Word and we do our best to not deviate from it. We don't teach religion, legalism, faith by works, or the prosperity gospel. We do our best to shy away from man based mumbo jumbo and try to focus on what it means to live in relationship with God through His Son by the Holy Spirit.
From the start, Father and I both asked the same question. Did Jesus really only die for the elect? Correct me if I am wrong but last time I checked, Jesus never limited His saving grace. He came so that all men might be saved (1 Timothy 2: 3-4). Atonement has to be unlimited because Christ bore the sins of all mankind, not just those of the 'elect' (1 John 2:2). Not all mankind will be saved. Not all people will ask forgiveness of their sins. BUT, salvation is open to all people. God knows who will be saved. We certainly do not know. That is why we must evangelize to all people.
Pops leaned toward me, raised his eye brows and while looking at me over his glasses solemnly asked, "So can you resist God's grace?" I was stumped. If I say yes than I limit God's power and reject His sovereignty. If I answer no than I take away man's free will and responsibility for self. God would not force anything upon us right? He would never force us to love Him so why would He force His grace upon us? But grace is an undeserved gift that is freely given. It is a GIFT. We can reject that gift but it is still given.
But I think the idea of Irresistible Grace goes even deeper than that. As we both sat and thought about it, father eventually said, "Maybe we can't accept God's grace and that is why He has to call us." DING! That was it! We inherently have no choice but to resist God's grace because of our sin. Therefore God has to call us to grace in order for us to be saved otherwise we would be able to boast about our salvation (Ephesians 2:8-10). Due to our depravity we want nothing to do with God and His gift because we would rather stew in our own muck. Without the call of God and the pull of the Holy Spirit on our hearts, we can not experience grace and forgiveness. We have to be prompted. Once prompted, we can not resist because we see the need for salvation.
The night had grown old. The heat had subsided. Theology didn't seem so unsettling. My father and I had finally worked our way past theology, what man has to say about God, and we got to the heart of the matter, which is what God has to say about man. We are ALL sinners and separate from God. He loves us and wants to be in relationship with us. Christ atoned for our sins so that we might accept Him and have eternal life in heaven with Him. It's as simple as that. So do you accept Him?
I do believe that theology is important and that it has its valid place within Christianity. But I also believe that we can let it get in the way of our relationship with God because we can make things more complicated than they are. Let's be careful not to let this happen.
C.H. Spurgen said it best "I thank God that He early taught me the gospel, and I have been so perfectly satisfied with it, that I do not want to know any other."
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