Category Archives: SPIRITUAL INTEREST

Posted on

GLOOM and DOOM; SOCIETY’S GOD-SIZED NEED

We Sure Could Use A Little Good News

Lyrics in this classic of Anne Murray’s, “A Little Good News,” speak to my sentiments exactly. We could use a little good news today. Makes the old days seem not so bad, right? Unfortunately, there is always bad news. What we have not done before is live in a culture that glorifies its fascination with death, immorality, perversion, and self-exaltation. It’s taking us down a deep, dark tunnel. Yikes.

I like positive interactions. I like to be loving with everyone. I wish for happy endings and kind responses. I care and want others to care. Bad news depresses me. Positive news uplifts me. I used to believe I would only write goodhearted messages. Now I realize the futility in that. People need truth more than they need positive mantras. Though that doesn’t keep me from hoping for better days ahead.

THE DECLINE OF A SOCIETY

When wrong becomes right and right becomes evil.

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. -Isaiah 5:20

After the depressing, horrific, unfathomable shootings last weekend, I didn’t want to write at all. It was just too much. Did you feel that way? Tragic. Nowadays any one of us could be a recipient of someone else’s anger, rage, hate, murdered in a store, post office, church, concert, movie theater, school, playground . . . or anywhere.

Shooters are darkened in their thinking. Such evilness has become pervasive. Wickedness is multiplying. Forces of darkness are shrouding this culture, and some other cultures, like a state of gloom and doom for the damned. Christianity offers a counter voice to this incendiary violence. Truth’s voice in the marketplace, to shine light in dark places, rests with all who believe in the the gospel that brings a message of hope for all people.  We Christians are the bearers of that message to a world that desperately needs it (but resists it).

Christians instinctively know this.  Jesus’ message of life matters. The soul of our country and its institutions, matter. What can we do? Bury our heads like ostriches? Nope. We must engage in life with others, with our hearts, minds, and souls. Our littles are watching. Our interactions are speaking. Our pocketbooks are documenting.

A smile, an affirmation, a kind word, a moment of truth talk, honesty, clarity, and charity, they all matter tremendously. I smile just thinking about it. My light is dim compared to a lighthouse’s, but it is still my own and influences all I do.

I wrote two tweets related to the double tragedies, one in response to this man’s tweet.

My twitter response to a tweet about causes of terrorism~

It may start with callous disregard wrong mindedness. Negative emotion then escalates >godless, wrong thnkg >ugly thnkg >anger >hate >evil >wicked thnkg >RAGES >evil overtakes >ferments >despises others w/ sense of superiority & power >executes despicable acts against humanity.

My tweets yesterday on Twitter~

Will we as a people connect the dots?

I think a much deeper conversation needs to be had, about human worth and how to put teeth in it by valuing all human life, unborn and born; about morality and personal responsibility; about how to take charge of what we feed our minds and fixate on for entertainment, just for starters.

ALARMING TRENDS

Our society makes choices that purposely exclude/minimize the Christian voice from the public conversation. I recently learned that a purging is going on that removes or hides specific Christian blogs, products, accounts, tweets, posts, books, and movies from some public and social entities. A blog simply isn’t found because it’s been buried where search engines can’t find it. A book isn’t found because it’s no longer for sale. An entity is “poof,” no longer “there” because it was disallowed and termed “hate” speech because of its spiritual message that challenges the current societal climate.

My friends, what is now being expunged (banned) by inroads of political correct ideology as the perceived correct framework for society, is that which, conversely, would help society, not harm it; would release us from bondage to evil, not confuse it; would give life to the soul, not death to a nation’s soul-side.  It exposes deceptive messages.

Hedonism is “doing what is right in their own eyes,” the pursuit of pleasure for pleasure’s sake. No rules. No responsibility. No right and no wrong. Just do whatever makes you happy. Like no-fault insurance, hedonism has got you covered. You can do what you want to do, except, that’s not quite true. Every action has a reaction. With minimal belief to guide moral restraint, society spins out of control as it seeks the lower common denominator that demonizes self-limitation and self-governance.

Society doesn’t wear it well, though. Culture soon self-sabotages and corrupts under its own self-inflating influence. All the while, the arch enemy of good cheerleads the effort. He’s got a hand in every despicable, diabolical, destructive pot, and its contents are brimming with vast areas of human bondage and carnage (suicides, murders). Godless parameters for social interactions pervade, distract, confuse, destroy and corrupt. NOT A GOOD THING for any of us. It’s even got its hooks in the church, by in large unbeknownst to their community.

You see, we’ve got work to do. Let’s get to it.

SPEAK LIFE in your daily living. We can stand tall and walk with purpose. We can walk in the light. We can live our Christianity without compromise, shame, or fear. We can determine to show up with a smile. God helps us. He’s good at what he does. He empowers the effort. We can count on him to do just that. He’s the best One for the job. You can take that to the bank.

Now I’m happy. I’m remembering my purpose. I have life in my soul that shines for Jesus and because of Jesus. God has put me here for a reason, to shine, shine, shine. That’s pretty special, right?

Shine, Jesus, Shine.

Shine for Jesus.

When wrong becomes right and right becomes evil.
Click To Tweet

Leave a comment.

Posted on

COMMON GROUND in a DIVERSE CHRISTIAN LANDSCAPE

Here’s What I Know~

God uses all kinds.

God uses all sorts of people, places, and things to get His message out. To name a few: books, publications, interactions, recordings, movies, services, ministers, missionaries, music, resources, circumstances, and denominations. No person or organization has the corner on the market. I believe this to be true across the board. This awareness comes as an interesting realization once you stop thinking in terms of limitations and begin seeing in terms of opportunities.

I challenged myself to write out a list of specific spiritual books that have impacted my understanding in some remarkable, lasting way. The books are quite different from one another but each has left an evergreen imprint. Their authors have helped me consider deep, and often difficult or uncomfortable, concepts and all have contributed depth and richness in my conscious awareness. These books have expanded my faith and caused me to grapple with their content and meaning.

Like many from a strong fundamental, denominational heritage, I wasn’t always so open. I feared exposure to expanded ideas about belief and spiritual duty. I didn’t realize one can read outside the margins of your own doctrinal beliefs and gain additional understanding. Everything changed once I let go of the reigns and let God take charge. I had asked God to teach me whatever He wanted me to learn. He has kept His side of the bargain. I have to say, I like it much better this way. Life has an element of surprise to it now. Life is never boring when God has your attention.

On some future date I plan to share with you a list of these books for your own perusal and enjoyment. You will be invited to  pick, diss, or ignore them as you see fit. Or you can read what strikes your fancy as jumping off points for spiritual development. I know some readers will take issue with one or more of these authors or books because of their diversity (and that’s okay and to be expected). Yet, this is my journey. You don’t have to like or read any of them, but actually, I don’t think that will be the case. My spiritual walk is all the richer for the reading of historic and contemporary Orthodox, Anglican, Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal writers, with a couple of Christian mystics thrown in the mix. Who would have thunk it?

A word of caution is in order. Spiritual discernment is critical to this process and one must be grounded in God’s word. Otherwise, one might stray from the truth and become confused. When God checks, I stop. It’s a knowing, and I’m sensitive to it. I do not expect to agree with everything in a book, in fact, I don’t think I ever do. But I do find nuggets of truth in most every book excepting the ones that have little life to them. I sense their writers aren’t writing from the heart.

My list currently stands at 32 books by 32 authors. Thus far. Truthfully, I am amazed how God opened the dialogue after I determined to let go of my limited thinking and He had my full attention. The process wasn’t a walk in the park, however. Usually it came about as the result of pain. In my case, almost always a precipitating crisis spawned a new direction, which resulted in a greater, expansive, foundational awareness of spiritual truth. But that is another story. God is not in a box, no matter how much we want to put Him there. Aren’t you glad?

We learn and grow as we seek God with our hearts, minds, and souls. We absorb whatever He gives us. The path of ‘living’ spiritual life is, at best, unusual, unpredictable, and meandering; but it is such a beautiful one. Even though I struggle at times, I embrace the spiritual path. God keeps me at the place of ‘further still.’ I’m glad to say there is no end in sight.

Although your path is not my path, there are similarities between us. You approach your Christian beliefs from a viewpoint unique to you, and that’s a given; but there should and will be some concrete similarities in our beliefs. That is, as long as we both are serious in our devotion to God. The Christ life is lived out. Redemptive life is something we experience, have experienced, and will continually experience through the mind of Jesus Christ, the will of Father God, and the indwelling and enabling of the Holy Spirit.

The biblical narrative has a predominate message that flows from its beginning to end. Like in any well-crafted story, the pivotal point is the most important, exhilarating, and gratifying. In this case, it is the finished work of Christ from which He lives and breathes in our beings. He is alive.

CHALLENGE

Write out a list of the most influential books/authors you’ve read. See what you come up with. Why did they leave a lasting impression?

Care to share one or two of them? Be my guest (I double dog dare you). Others would like to know too, not just me.