To My Kids

Kids, this is one of the posts that will help you to know your mom better one of these days.  Honestly, I'll probably say these same things to you at some point, but in case you forget, you'll see this and say "oh, yeah!  Mama was all about that!"  By the way, is it Momma or Mama?  I really won't care what you call me, so long as you do.

Anyway, when you get around to reading this and you compare dates, you'll see this and the last post came out around the time of Mississippi originally passing HB 1523.  Look it up - but, I'm sure we'll have talked about it when you get to the age where you can understand all the nuances.

What I want to say doesn't directly relate to this bill.  What I want to say deals with what you need to remember, when you get older, and you have to listen to or debate with people who vehemently disagree with you.  It's going to happen, so knowing how to do it intelligently and with an attitude you can be proud of is a good thing to learn.

Case in point - that last post probably wasn't the best example of how to behave.  I was mad as spit and needed to vent.  Granted, I didn't say a lot of things I wanted to say, but speaking when mad is rarely a good idea.  Be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger - James 1:19, KRV (Kackley Revised Version).  Here's the hard part:  in this day of electronic thought-sharing, there aren't very many people who are quick to listen or slow to speak or slow to anger.  They tend to be just the opposite, and I'm guilty of it often as well.

But, if you want to please God, then you need to do those things.  If you are quick to listen first, then you are sure to hear someone out entirely and are able to truly discern what they are saying and (if God gives you wisdom) what they are actually meaning when they say it.  Hopefully it will mean that you will be harmless as a dove but wise as a serpent when you answer them.  But the other benefit of being quick to listen is that the person doing all the talking will understand that you are attempting to understand from where they are coming, and that *might* help them to be more cordial and cooperative with you.  When it comes to things of a spiritual or political nature, most folks aren't interested in having their minds changed nor are they interested in an honest debate.  But listen to them first.  That is the right thing to do.

Then, be slow to speak back.  If you've hooked up with someone who just wants to blather on about what they think and about how horrid and hateful anyone is who doesn't agree with them, then the time you spent listening will let you discern that and you will have been able to come to the understanding that the time you spend "debating" this person will be nothing more than an argument.  Proverbs is full of advice about avoiding quarrels.  2 Tim 2:23-25 (KRV) tells us to stay away from foolish arguments with people who aren't interested in learning about both sides.  But if you do get involved and you consider yourself to be a Christian, then you need to get about being patient and kind and loving.  If you want to have any chance to have a positive effect on someone, you MUST be patient and kind and loving.  If you bite back harshly, you will NOT have a positive effect and you're probably going to leave a bad taste in the mouth of the other person.  Don't tell people you're Christian.  SHOW them.  I had a moment of doing the opposite this past week, and I wish I hadn't.  I really wasn't horridly mean.  Y'all know I don't like to make people feel bad.  But I spoke when I shouldn't have to some people who were in absolutely no position to listen and I didn't take enough care to position my words in a loving manner.  It didn't go over well.

Aaaand the hard one:  be slow to get angry.  Look, I know when you get older and you get into discussions with some people about doctrine, and you get with that one person who only wants to argue with you and who will. not. listen, you're going to feel angry at some point.  I was angry during that last post, so obviously, getting older doesn't help you with the slow to wrath thing.  And, the quick to listen part can often make the slow to anger part reeeallly hard, especially when the name-calling starts.  But, I promise you, my dearest offspring, you'll much more regret popping off than you will with holding your tongue.  You'll know when it's time to speak and if you've been trying hard to not let inconsiderate words make you angry, then what you say will be reasonable, true, and easy to understand.  (Not necessarily easy to hear, because the truth is often not taken well.)

There will plenty of times that doing the good work of going through this process will help you to learn more about a subject which will increase your compassion.  That's a good thing.  Sometimes, you might learn enough to even change your mind.  But when it comes to doctrinal issues, always go into the process with your standards in place.  You know what Grace is and you know what it does in our lives.  You know how to define the Elect.  You know what undeserving wretches those Elect are.  You know that sin is sin, no matter how popular it may be.  Know your standards by knowing your Bible.  Then you'll have some pillars upon which to begin to develop opinions that are *yours*.  You'll have the ability to learn more and gather information about the world around us.  And, sometimes, you'll just have to walk away from someone without telling them what you think.  Don't let an untruth about God go unanswered, unless the time you spent listening to that person made you aware that you would be "casting pearls before swine".  Then you walk away and try hard to feel compassion for that person and treat them as you would like to be treated.

You can love someone and disagree with them.  You can love someone and not allow them to change your truths.  You can treat someone with respect even when they are unkind to you.  You can turn the other cheek even when someone is so obviously wrong on an issue.  Always be bold about your faith, kids.  Always.  But follow the Lord's instructions on how to deal with quarrelers, and you can be sure your faith will not lead another person astray.

And know that your Momma loves you no matter what.  <3 p="">

It's All Personal

[Enter a new blog type for me which is loosely categorized as "I need to vent and some of this may tick you off and I'm really sorry about that, but every thing that builds up pressure must either have a pop-off valve or it will explode".  My intention of posting is to solve that pressure build-up because just unloading on my ever patient husband wasn't enough.  I guess when I'm inundated electronically with a certain thing, I feel the need to pop-off electronically, too.]


From the beginning of time, there has been a war between between Right and Wrong.  Evil warring against Goodness.  Goodness does allow Evil to "win" from time to time, but make no mistake, Goodness will triumph at the end and Evil knows it.

In the meantime, Evil, who is the Enemy of those who belong to Goodness, does whatever he can to complicate and obfuscate their lives.

Enter terminology.

In my short life (short to someone who is, say, 77), I've watched "church speak" evolve.  It's just like regular speech.  The things that come out of younger folks' lexicon in the larger metropolitan areas eventually make their way everywhere and within a year or so make their way into adult speech, at which time of course, the kids quit saying it.  (Example - only using the first syllable of a word.  Presh instead of precious.)  "Church Speak" is always changing as well, in order to better fit a movement's motives or to keep up with what is being said in the mega-churches of the bigger cities, possibly.  It's always been that way and will always be that way until Christ comes back.

Example.  Two hundred years ago, the question may have been "Have you been baptized?" which would indicate the desire to know if you identified as a Christian.  When I was a kid, "Have you been saved?" and "Have you accepted Christ?" were the common questions.  I began to notice a slight shift in the terminology as people were able to be more vocal on a broader stage because of blogs and such, and the question changed slightly to "Have you given your life to Christ?" or "She chose to follow Christ".  The meaning was the same, but where the first questions were more honest in their intent, the later questions weren't so blatantly "I was part of my salvation, because Christ didn't complete the work Himself."  The newer phrase "Let Go and Let God" can also have that meaning, although it's also meant to imply a need to quit fighting the Spirit who intends to lead you down the path that leads to peace.

Now, all the above, unless you're Primitive Baptist or someone of a Calvinist sort of order (PB's aren't Calvinists, but our doctrine feels quite similar) may ruffle feathers, so just shake that off and let's continue.  I am open to doctrinal discussions, but I'm not trying to debate works vs. grace right now.  I'm here to get something off my chest that gets thrown around in political/social arguments all. the. time. these days.  Here comes my electronic pop-off valve.

The idea of "My God" and "My Jesus".

::exhale::

Y'all, there is one God.  He exists as a triune being made of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  This is what I believe because logic leads me to that understanding and the Spirit gives me the faith to believe the things that I can not see.  He is a personal God in that Jesus Christ, upon dying on the cross, rent the veil.  He opened the door between us and God; nay, he obliterated it.  He didn't make a way to salvation, He finished it.  He took his clothing (of righteousness) and put them on us so that we could commune with God the Father.  He took His and secured them.  ALL OF THEM.  I love Dolly Parton singing "He's Alive", (I just got chills typing that) because of the words "Heaven's gates are open wide".  They are - because Christ personally took care of the barrier between us and Heaven.  By us, I mean every single Child of God.

But God - whether you speak of the triune being or of the Father, the Son, or the Spirit individually - is God.  He is and He runs things.  You don't get to define Him.

Let's take the abortion argument.  (I sat here for a minute to try to come up with a cutesy, obscure example but we all know what the hot button topics are, so I'll just pick one of them.)  When a defender of the practice uses the terminology "Well MY God wouldn't want someone to be unhappy, and if someone isn't ready to have a child, then they will be unhappy", they are showing their doctrinal hand.  This introduces the idea of a personal Jesus or a personal God - one who is defined by the "user" rather than by Himself.  While I will concede that the development of the worship of God is a personal thing based on where one is one's study and experience, one begins a descent down a slick slope when one starts to define God.  (Please allow me to insert this:  Most people who get abortions are scared and make a bad choice and later regret it.  Please know that you are loved and there are groups that are already in place to help you deal with and heal from this burden.)

Ah, Leah.  You sound sanctimonious and as though you think you know more about the Bible than me.  You fool.

Oh, I'm a fool, in so many ways.  You're right about that.  You may very well have studied the Bible way more than me, which wouldn't take much.  If I am sounding sanctimonious, it's because I'm a subpar writer, because all I'm doing right now is venting.  But I ask you this - what good is a God who can be defined by the "user" rather than by Himself?  That would indicate that God is not God but, rather, Man is God.  That's the danger of letting popular phrases sneak into your lexicon.  Eventually, your brain works on them and they change the way you look at God.  The Enemy doesn't go around proclaiming huge, enormous lies that are easy to spot and brush off as nonsense.  He speaks with words that are really logical and pretty much the truth except that maybe one word/thought gets just a little bit altered.  But that tiny alteration can change an entire value system.  He told Eve "you're not going to DIE.  It's not like you're going to take a bite of the fruit and just fall over dead."  And she didn't, did she?  Not right then.  But everything changed.

Oh, so you think you know God better than me?

Not really, no.  I mean, I don't know - do you think you know God better than me?  That's a non-helpful question and is meant to change the discussion.  What I'm saying is that if you're going to speak of the God in the Bible, and use His words as part of an argument, then in order for the argument to be valid, you have to speak of God as He has defined Himself.  You can't make one up.  Either it's all inerrant or it's not.  Either God has defined Himself or He hasn't.  And for Pete's sake, why would you worship a god that is changeable (read: unstable or not reliable)?

::exhale::

I have read a lot of arguments the last few days that began with the precept that "My Jesus would never -fill in the blank-".  Those well-meaning but misguided folks are the ones who have chosen a man-made religion, even though I suspect most of them don't realize it.  And it started right in the church when we let the phrase "personal relationship with Jesus" get completely out of hand.  Specifically, out of His hand.