God - God versus religion

Suffering for doing good

If you’ve got that feeling to do good things, even with the potential cost to you, with no ulterior motives, with nothing but unselfish love for someone like your elderly neighbors that you’re shopping for, why not acknowledge that’s God? Jesus told us He’d try to get our attention.

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

Why not open that door and start bringing an end to the suffering for doing good?

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Where is God in the Coronavirus?

A look at ourselves

Where is God in the Coronavirus / Covid-19 Virus / whatever you call it? The first place to look is in the mirror. Whether you’re Christian or not, look in the mirror. You can learn something from what you see.

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Why do you live? The economy or God?

A look at ourselves

Why do you live? The economy or God? Really, that question comes down to who’s your “god”? Do you live for the god of money – the economy? Or for the God of the Bible? It’s a question that starts at the top – sort of. With our president – Trump. And now it’s filtering down through our governmental leaders. Which brings in yet another “god” – the god of government.

In spite of the fact that Trump call himself the greatest president ever for Christians, there has to be a question as to who is his real “god”. And now, enter Dan Patrick, Lt. Governor of Texas. A Republican. Let’s look at a news article on msn.com, titled Dan Patrick says he is willing to risk his own life to allow economy to resume.

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Do Christians need tax breaks to give more?

A look at ourselves

Christians need tax breaks to give more? The headline in Christianity Today is: Christians Urge Congress to Incentivize Charitable Giving. I wonder, how many times did Jesus appeal to the Roman government to lower taxes for any reason, let alone to allow people to give more. What about the early church leaders? Did they appeal to the Romans?

The short answer is – no! I can’t even imagine it. And yet, here’s what the CT article says:

“This level of stimulus does not scratch the surface for what charities, nonprofits, and houses of worship need during this time of crisis,” wrote the Southern Baptist Convention’s public policy arm, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, which is calling for a two-year universal deduction for charitable giving, with no cap.

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Is the work really done? – Lyrics from Christian Music

Seeing God in Christian music

Is the work really done?
When we sing this song, do we just hear “The work is done” – and then assume the work of Christianity is done? It’s an important question. I recently published something about the Great Commission, in which Jesus gives His followers our orders on how to go forward in life.

The response I got from one person was “The work is done, man”. I was shocked. But then this morning I heard the song with those words – The work is done. Is that where the person who wrote the reply got his thinking? Honestly, I don’t know. But do we take the time and put in the effort to find out what the author of the song meant?

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Don’t settle for less, #08: Don’t avoid all conflict

Settling for less

So the bottom line is that sometimes, conflict is necessary. But with Jesus’ life as an example, with His teachings to go by, and from what Paul and others wrote, most of the time conflict probably isn’t necessary. Especially when it’s between Christians.

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Is abortion the only pro-life issue?

Abortion

She doesn’t know what to do. She doesn’t really want to have an abortion. But doesn’t know what else to do, because the Christians are screaming at her to not have the abortion. But then if she has the baby, she also knows those many of those same Christians have, under the name of their political party, made it pretty much impossible for her to support the child. And, few of them will offer any kind of help.

Tell me. Who all sinned in that scenario?

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Trust in God; Trust also in me – especially with cancer

Don't waste your cancer, Learning from a dog

Trust in God; Trust also in me – but how and why?

Interesting, isn’t it? The why part is actually relatively easy to see. If we trust God, then our hearts won’t be troubled. That’s the goal, isn’t it?

But the how part. Even though I want the goal of not worrying, not being troubled, trust is so hard to come by.

The thing is, from watching the dogs I’ve had, I can see that trust is possible between them and me. Even Hachiko, the most scared dog of all, came to trust me. Even though things happened, like the can of paint.

So if I take the relationship between Hachiko and me – use it to see what a relationship could be like between me and God – it helps. Helps me, anyway.

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what can Christians learn from politics?

Each day has enough trouble of its own

Learning from a dog

Each day has enough trouble of its own. Isn’t that the truth? I’m guessing pretty much everyone reading this feels that way. It’s true. But do you know where it comes from? Further, why it was said? I’ve known the where part for decades. I’ve been learning the why part for the past ten years. From my dogs. All five of them.

No – you’re not in the wrong place. This is about Jesus and Christianity. And dogs. Why not? Dogs are part of God’s creation too. In fact, back when the movie version of The Shack came out, I wrote the following as my conclusion to what I titled, Why God is a curvy, black woman in ‘The Shack’?

Should God choose to present Himself to me as a dog (if He hasn’t already) – I would totally understand why, and be thrilled that He chose to present Himself in a way that was not in the least threatening to me.

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Don’t settle for less, #07: Don’t relentlessly collaborate

Settling for less

Don’t relentlessly collaborate as a “thing” for successful people seems to be at odds with being a successful Christian. After all, what about church? Bible study? Small groups? Christian community? Aren’t those all important things for a Christian? In fact, these Christian community meetings are so important, the author of Hebrews wrote about it in a passage the NIV titles A Call to Persevere.

But ultimately, for a Christian the key to success is knowing the difference between someone who can help us lead the kind of life taught by Jesus and led by the Holy Spirit, and someone who leads a life taught from the ideas of man rather than God.

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