This might be more of a rant than an encouragement... but I will try to lean to the positive! Yesterday I wasn't feeling very social but I attempted to push through it by stopping by a couple of our local stores. (small town dollar store and hardware store) I sometimes go through phases of semi depression especially when I've been inactive, such as the life of a teacher on summer vacation. I realized that I needed a project. I need to be industrious and feel a sense of accomplishment to balance myself. In addition to this physically non productive state that I've been in lately, I've been very cranial and internal. This very blog is the product of my deep contemplation on things that are biblical and Godly. I've spent the better part of the last month in bible study and thinking on how I should approach people in order to share the gospel.
No, bible study and prayer doesn't depress me. :) But... I am an introvert and the more time I spend alone the less I want to get out among people. The more I sit and read, the more I want to sit and read! I was at the point of needing to break out of that robe/coffee cup/laptop mode that I was in and DO something! That was what was on my mind when I went to town yesterday. At the same time I didn't want to go. Sometimes it takes a lot of effort to relate to people... even people that I know.
So... I walk into hardware store and made a right turn into the first paint aisle. I wasn't there for a full minute until I felt the presence of someone quickly approaching. The following exchange didn't take 20 seconds, but it has made me think for over 24 hours now!
Man: Everybody's painting today! (loud and boisterous)
Me: I guess it's a good day to paint. (small voice)
Man: (can't really remember what he said here - something about painting for awhile or getting tired of it)
Me: I'm looking for a project. (in an attempt to not be rude and allow exchange to die on my part)
Man: HA HA HA!!! You just come to MY church.... We have all kinds of projects you could do.
Me: (I let the exchange die.)
I immediately went a couple aisles over to wait and see where the man would go next Yes, I was trying a avoid him! I heard him visit with the cashier and when she asked if he wanted his purchases on a ticket he loudly and proudly announced " _______ _______ CHURCH" loud enough to be heard in the back of the store. I didn't know the man, but I deduced that he was the new pastor at the prominent denominational church in town. I was sick to my stomach and wanted him to leave. He doesn't know me from Adam (well, Eve) and I could be lost and headed for hell for all he knows! I could be in deep mourning for someone. I could be all kinds of hurting and searching.... but he didn't even stop to think what I meant by 'needing a project'. I'm still shaking my head over this one!
Christians need to be careful in all of their interpersonal exchanges, even casual ones! This man left me without words, but now I have this overwhelming feeling that HOW we talk to people is so very crucial! I am not a prospect for HIS church, but what if I were? He would have lost me in that little 20 second offhanded conversation! In ALL that we do, we need to be careful and concerned for others. Our approach, even before we know the spiritual condition of a person should be respectful and kind. There's a real need for humbleness so when we are in a situation that we are't running people over with our mouths and attitudes.
Not that everyone we talk to are frightened little birds... but in reality... some are indeed frightened little birds! I felt stomped upon yesterday and that man will never know. How many times have I been guilty of that very thing? In Philippians 2:3 Paul says, " Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant of yourself." Yes, this is speaking about relationships within the church, but aren't we to seek and find people to add to the church. We certainly can't add to the church if we are stomping on them before we get them there! Jesus warns us to be careful of our words in Matthew 12:36-37.
In closing I want to encourage all of us to remain humble and to be careful of our words so that the Lord is blessed and gets the glory of another soul being added to His church! How wonderful it would be to know that my kind words provoked a stranger toward Jesus!
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Friday, July 11, 2014
Is Salvation as Simple as ABC?
I acknowledge I am a sinner in need of a Savior - this is to repent or turn away from sin
I believe in my heart that God raised Jesus from the dead - this is to trust that Jesus paid the full penalty for my sins
I confess Jesus as my Lord and my God - this is to surrender control of my life to Jesus
I receive Jesus as my Savior forever - this is to accept that God has done for me and in me what He promised
http://www.sbc.net/knowjesus/theplan.asp
Sounds good, right… Easy peasy! Thousands of children are learning this plan all across our nation, and probably worldwide, in SBC’s Vacation Bible School this summer. There are even little jazzy songs, complete with hand motions, that teach this into the very heart of the young Baptists. It is known as the ABC’s of salvation and pastors, teachers and Baptist parents all over use it to “lead sinners to Jesus” through the “sinner’s prayer” or what is now being referred to as a “suggested prayer”.
I know this to be true because I used to teach it! I learned Baptist doctrine throughout my childhood and teen years and taught bible classes as ‘the preacher’s wife’ in several SBCs over the last 25 years and thought I was doing the Lord’s work. Now… after several months of prayer and supplication I understand that this simple plan not only falls short of the truth of God’s instruction, but is dangerous to the souls of our loved ones!
Let me illustrate how this ABC plan works outside of the walls of the Baptist Church. Let’s take a physical condition that most of us face in our daily lives as Americans. Let’s go on an ABC diet! I think that this type of diet will appeal to most of us.
ABC Diet
I believe in my heart that eating right and exercising is the only way to lose weight – I will trust that my body will respond to a healthy eating plan and will strengthen from my workouts.
I confess that I am now ‘on a diet’ – in this confession I will also clean out my kitchen and throw out the bad food and I might even go as far as going grocery shopping for the good stuff. I might even stop by the local gym and give them some money so I can have access to their facility.
I receive my new body! I will be slender and healthy forever. Amen.
As you can tell, this plan seems to be lacking some substance! There’s no true effort involved. Buying a gym membership is NOT the same thing as doing four 90 minute workouts a week… every week! Stocking the fridge with healthy food does no good if you are at McDonald’s every other day!
This might be a great STARTING PLACE in your diet, but it does not replace the everyday work that will be involved in a truly successful diet! The same wording of the SBC’s ABC plan of salvation is just the same. It is a good start, a turning of the mind and heart, but it will not ensure salvation. The very real fact is that Baptist ministers promise that it does! I want to scream from the rooftops to stop teaching and promising this. But… who would listen? This, my Christian friends, is why it is so difficult to witness to a Baptist. This is instilled into little hearts and minds from the cradle.
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Why Blog?
Before I begin I would like to define the purpose of this blog. The apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 3: 17 "Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." and in the 23rd verse of that same chapter, "Whatever do you, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men." So as I begin, I am thankful to God for this very story that I will attempt to tell and I will do my very best to bring Glory to Him!
This blog has three purposes:
I want to share my story of how I came to understand the Gospel Truth as it is written in God's Word. To begin with my story you should know that I was a lifetime church attender and thought that I was on the right path for most of my 43 years. I know a lot of scripture and most all of the bible stories because I loved learning about God, Jesus and the bible as a child, teen, and all the way through my adulthood. I 'accepted' Jesus as my savior at age 9 at the very first occasion of understanding and was baptized at 13 because adults in my life thought it would be best to wait and 'make sure I knew what I was doing'. Well... little did they know that it would be another thirty years before that would happen!
*Disclaimer* I do not wish to anger any of my Baptist friends! That is NOT the intent of this blog! I wish only to tell my story and share my understanding. I do hope that you continue to read... this is partially for you!
Our little family was just as happy as we could be serving the Lord in the Baptist Church for almost twenty years. Within the Baptist Church you are free to interpret the bible as you think best, but there were certain things that were 'understood' within the church. Just a couple of the really important ones are "saved by faith, not of works" and "Once saved always saved". As a pastor's wife I struggled with the "once saved always saved" portion, but I never really let it bother me deeply. The "saved by faith" thing never really bothered me until we came across a Baptist brother that was vehemently against the church of Christ doctrine of baptism. The more he spoke against "salvation through water baptism" the more I realized that I believed it! But.. I did nothing about it. I try not to cause trouble. I'm pretty quiet and keep most of my thoughts to myself... so I did as Mary and 'pondered things in my heart' for a couple of years.
In 2007 things started to change for our family. Actually, 2007 was a breaking point for us. The church where my husband was pastor had a change in leadership (in committees and in deacon reign of power through death). That year there were just a few older, die hard baptist men that decided that my husband was not baptist enough for them and began to make our lives within the church miserable. Now... we were very comfortable there. We had a great salary, free housing and paid utilities! I was able to finish my college education and just started my teaching career that same year. But... everything fell apart. We ended up jobless, homeless, and hopeless. We did have a circle of dear friends that loved us enough to hold our hands through this process. They left the church when we did and reorganized themselves into a fresh little fellowship and asked my husband to lead them as pastor. I don't think that they realized just how broken we were. We were shaken to the core! We limped along, with my husband still jobless (the new pastorate did not have funds to pay anyone) for a couple of years until we decided it was time to 'come home'. Home was only an hour away, but in reality it was a completely different place all together. Our social circle was no more. My husband and I clung together and moved home, humbled and down trodden. In the process of the last couple of years our three children had reached adulthood. They had witnessed our despair as older teens and I will never get over how I failed them, as a mother, during that crucial time of their lives.
In the summer of 2010 the Lord blessed us with two good jobs and a home in our old hometown. My parents were wonderful encouragers to us. We began to look for a church to go along with our new life. Now 'empty nesters' we thought that we were ready to move on. A small country Baptist Church was pastorless and soon called my husband to be their pastor. It wasn't long before I realized that I just wasn't ready for that. He kept that position for a short time and resigned. We tried a few churches here and there.... but it just never seemed right. For the first time in our married life, we didn't attend church on Sunday! It was very weird!
Last Christmas (2013) my dad asked my husband to do him a 'favor' and handed him a book and told him to "read it all the way through, even if it makes you mad. It will make you mad.... just read the whole thing for me." My husband agreed and after a little 'church of Christ' talk it was time for us to leave their house for the day. On the way home my husband told me, "I'll read it for your dad, because he asked me too, but don't expect me to change my beliefs." I was in agreement with him and, honestly, a little relieved that I wasn't part of that little exchange. I was free not to read.... or so I thought. :)
He read quietly for the next few post-Christmas, pre-New Year days. I periodically asked him what he was thinking about it but he just gave me noncommittal sounds. One night he plopped it my lap and announced, "We'll talk about it after you read it all the way through." Ugh! I was caught. I had to read the blasted book if I wanted to know what he was thinking.
So... I read.
If you aren't aware of the book I'm referring to, it's entitled "Muscle and Shovel" and is authored by Michael Shank. Only 359 pages long and written in an easy narration, it's probably the most difficult book a Baptist will ever get through!
My highlight of learning was that the sinner's prayer was nowhere to be found in the 66 books of the Holy Bible! That 'profession of faith' that I founded my eternal salvation on at age 9 was not in the bible! I was appalled! Furthermore it made me question my baptism because I knew that 'remission of sins' was no part of it. My world had been rocked, again! My husband and I began to attend church with my parents but spent weeks debating our baptisms with one another until we decided that we should be baptized for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 10:48, Gal 3:27) On February 23 we did just that! Not a day has gone by that I have regretted it or even second guessed it!
We are in the process of learning... to really know the Word of God in it's simplicity, without a denominational agenda or teaching. I have been more in the Word in the past few months than I have in my entire life! If you know me personally, and you are not church of Christ, you might be upset with my words. I do not write this to anger you, but to attempt to share the light that I have been blessed with seeing for myself. If you continue to read out of curiosity that is more than fine with me!
To my baptist friends, I want you to know that I love you deeply and I pray that you are able to take the word for what it says one day.
To my church of Christ friends, I hope you find encouragement in my posts for your own evangelism. I know that most of you have loved ones that don't know the truth.
This blog is to share the truths as I learn them. I have a few more posts to make before I am current with what I am learning now.
This blog has three purposes:
- to speak God's truth
- to serve as an encouragement to Christians as they share the truth with others
- to serve myself and those close to me as a journal of my spiritual growth and understanding of God's Word
I want to share my story of how I came to understand the Gospel Truth as it is written in God's Word. To begin with my story you should know that I was a lifetime church attender and thought that I was on the right path for most of my 43 years. I know a lot of scripture and most all of the bible stories because I loved learning about God, Jesus and the bible as a child, teen, and all the way through my adulthood. I 'accepted' Jesus as my savior at age 9 at the very first occasion of understanding and was baptized at 13 because adults in my life thought it would be best to wait and 'make sure I knew what I was doing'. Well... little did they know that it would be another thirty years before that would happen!
*Disclaimer* I do not wish to anger any of my Baptist friends! That is NOT the intent of this blog! I wish only to tell my story and share my understanding. I do hope that you continue to read... this is partially for you!
Our little family was just as happy as we could be serving the Lord in the Baptist Church for almost twenty years. Within the Baptist Church you are free to interpret the bible as you think best, but there were certain things that were 'understood' within the church. Just a couple of the really important ones are "saved by faith, not of works" and "Once saved always saved". As a pastor's wife I struggled with the "once saved always saved" portion, but I never really let it bother me deeply. The "saved by faith" thing never really bothered me until we came across a Baptist brother that was vehemently against the church of Christ doctrine of baptism. The more he spoke against "salvation through water baptism" the more I realized that I believed it! But.. I did nothing about it. I try not to cause trouble. I'm pretty quiet and keep most of my thoughts to myself... so I did as Mary and 'pondered things in my heart' for a couple of years.
In 2007 things started to change for our family. Actually, 2007 was a breaking point for us. The church where my husband was pastor had a change in leadership (in committees and in deacon reign of power through death). That year there were just a few older, die hard baptist men that decided that my husband was not baptist enough for them and began to make our lives within the church miserable. Now... we were very comfortable there. We had a great salary, free housing and paid utilities! I was able to finish my college education and just started my teaching career that same year. But... everything fell apart. We ended up jobless, homeless, and hopeless. We did have a circle of dear friends that loved us enough to hold our hands through this process. They left the church when we did and reorganized themselves into a fresh little fellowship and asked my husband to lead them as pastor. I don't think that they realized just how broken we were. We were shaken to the core! We limped along, with my husband still jobless (the new pastorate did not have funds to pay anyone) for a couple of years until we decided it was time to 'come home'. Home was only an hour away, but in reality it was a completely different place all together. Our social circle was no more. My husband and I clung together and moved home, humbled and down trodden. In the process of the last couple of years our three children had reached adulthood. They had witnessed our despair as older teens and I will never get over how I failed them, as a mother, during that crucial time of their lives.
In the summer of 2010 the Lord blessed us with two good jobs and a home in our old hometown. My parents were wonderful encouragers to us. We began to look for a church to go along with our new life. Now 'empty nesters' we thought that we were ready to move on. A small country Baptist Church was pastorless and soon called my husband to be their pastor. It wasn't long before I realized that I just wasn't ready for that. He kept that position for a short time and resigned. We tried a few churches here and there.... but it just never seemed right. For the first time in our married life, we didn't attend church on Sunday! It was very weird!
Last Christmas (2013) my dad asked my husband to do him a 'favor' and handed him a book and told him to "read it all the way through, even if it makes you mad. It will make you mad.... just read the whole thing for me." My husband agreed and after a little 'church of Christ' talk it was time for us to leave their house for the day. On the way home my husband told me, "I'll read it for your dad, because he asked me too, but don't expect me to change my beliefs." I was in agreement with him and, honestly, a little relieved that I wasn't part of that little exchange. I was free not to read.... or so I thought. :)
He read quietly for the next few post-Christmas, pre-New Year days. I periodically asked him what he was thinking about it but he just gave me noncommittal sounds. One night he plopped it my lap and announced, "We'll talk about it after you read it all the way through." Ugh! I was caught. I had to read the blasted book if I wanted to know what he was thinking.
So... I read.
If you aren't aware of the book I'm referring to, it's entitled "Muscle and Shovel" and is authored by Michael Shank. Only 359 pages long and written in an easy narration, it's probably the most difficult book a Baptist will ever get through!
My highlight of learning was that the sinner's prayer was nowhere to be found in the 66 books of the Holy Bible! That 'profession of faith' that I founded my eternal salvation on at age 9 was not in the bible! I was appalled! Furthermore it made me question my baptism because I knew that 'remission of sins' was no part of it. My world had been rocked, again! My husband and I began to attend church with my parents but spent weeks debating our baptisms with one another until we decided that we should be baptized for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 10:48, Gal 3:27) On February 23 we did just that! Not a day has gone by that I have regretted it or even second guessed it!
We are in the process of learning... to really know the Word of God in it's simplicity, without a denominational agenda or teaching. I have been more in the Word in the past few months than I have in my entire life! If you know me personally, and you are not church of Christ, you might be upset with my words. I do not write this to anger you, but to attempt to share the light that I have been blessed with seeing for myself. If you continue to read out of curiosity that is more than fine with me!
To my baptist friends, I want you to know that I love you deeply and I pray that you are able to take the word for what it says one day.
To my church of Christ friends, I hope you find encouragement in my posts for your own evangelism. I know that most of you have loved ones that don't know the truth.
This blog is to share the truths as I learn them. I have a few more posts to make before I am current with what I am learning now.
Hello
Welcome to my little place on the web. I'm looking forward to posting about things that are meaningful to me. If you chose to follow my blog, I hope you find something meaningful as well!
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