Ouch! Did I Write That?

I am trying desperately to get rid of things. I am trying to make my life more manageable. I didn't expect to be compromised with a bad neck and back so early into my adventures as a retired person. It's an aggravating experience because it magnifies my flaws. I should have done this decades ago. Somehow I have been too occupied with procrastination and/or attaching emotional significance to things to be able to see them for what they are... dust collectors.

Time brings change. I used to work for a Christian college and had a ministry where students came over for dinner and a night away from the dorms. I was the luckiest woman in the world to have these young folks over. Wait, I don't believe in luck. I was blessed. I am learning to be careful how I say things. I fail miserably but this is an easy goof to make and to fix. It wasn't luck but providence that brought these young people into my life. Anyway, besides watching ER and other favorite television programs there were lots of movies to see. I got into the habit of buying new release DVDs and having them on hand. For a while I had hundreds. I have culled the herd a few times, but the truth is I haven't watched one of the DVDs that I have hung onto in over a year. I vacillate between keeping them and getting rid of them. Having Netflix makes the decision even more difficult. Time has changed my perspective and my need for DVDs.

I really do cherish the time I had with the students. It is an amazing treat to see who they have become and how their walks with God have progressed. I appreciate that I am getting to see some of those student friends become husbands and wives, and moms and dads. It is rewarding to see the college romances bloom into marriages of commitment. I admire strong, resilient relationships founded in the principles and foundations of God's Word. It is a marvelous thing to behold.

While I was cleaning I found the outline of a talk I gave to the women of the college. The topic was "Healthy Relationships." Have you ever found something you penned years ago and upon seeing it for the first time in years, sat down to read it immediately? It's almost like receiving a letter from someone you haven't heard from in years....or like getting a collections notice. It can go either way. For me, it was a moment of conviction. God coming to collect on something I have put in writing and haven't lived up to myself. Some of these bullet points caught my eye:

-Why all this talk about healthy relationships? Galatians 5:13-26.

-God created us to be relational; first with Him and then with other people.

-Outside of Himself, relationships are the greatest tool God uses to sanctify and refine us.

-The 50/50 myth is a lie, You have 100% responsibility for your interaction with others.

Then I came to some notes I had written and reading them pierced my heart like shots fired from a high powered conviction gun. I told the young women that God must be their primary relationship. Knowing how easy it is to blow off 'devotions' when you're a busy college student I had written this down:

" Quit starving your soul. If you cannot spend 15 minutes a day with the One who loves you perfectly, how do you expect to have healthy relationships with sinful people?"

Ouch. I didn't make it to church or bible study this week. I haven't spent time in the Scriptures nor have I made prayer a priority. I hate it when I shoot myself with my own words. It proves I know better. So, if God can use the dust collectors in my house to convict me, what do you think He would accomplish with a diet of prayer and truth?

James 3:1 Let not many {of you} become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment.

James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

Character Flaws, Sin and Remediation

I have been thinking about my last post in which I offered to talk about how having a job has shown or magnified my character flaws. Before I do though, I want to distinguish between character flaws and sin. My character flaws predispose me to sin in certain areas more readily than in others. Indulging in my character flaws is sinful. Entertaining the idea of indulging my character flaws is sinful. They are the weaknesses in me where my flesh makes itself known by screaming, "You know you want to!!" Too often I hear Christians lamenting that they "make mistakes" or are victims of their genetic make-up and intimate that they should, therefore, be excused from culpability for being prone to certain activities. Our cultural dependence on a medical model to define our behavior has given many what they see as a plausible excuse for sin. I don't see that caveat in the Word. For Christians, the Word is always our standard. It is the standard by which all will be j

Fear Down, Hope and Peace to Go!

Last night I had the honor and privilege to present some information to the women of my church. I cannot begin to tell you how much I love and appreciate them. The seminar I did was on fear. God is clever and He had me present the information to them because I needed it. It's not that I don't want to study things for my own benefit and growth, but whenever I do a topical study to teach it, I see how badly I needed it and how much more I have to repent of than I realized. Sometimes you don't know what you don't know. That's a topic I want to return to in another post. I want to talk about the ladies for a moment. They are an incredibly loving group of women. Women who seek God and are teachable. They have gone out of their way to include me and love on me, which speaks volumes of their characters because I am not all that lovable. I am not being self-deprecating here. I am a mix of endearing and maddening qualities like anyone else. What I am telling you is

Super Church a song for the Emergent-sy

In the early 70s I was in a youth choir at my church. Our youth pastor was a musician and his way of connecting with us as a group was through the choir and music. Somehow there was an affiliation between him and The Continental Singers, New Hope and Jeremiah People. He was worked with Moishe Rosen of Jews for Jesus too, I think. Are any of these names familiar to you? Though I remember the church fondly I was a profoundly lost and troubled young woman during my years there. That and time have muddled the memories quite a bit. Today I was digging through some old paperwork and one of the books to the musical we did. It's Getting Late For the Great Planet Earth, a folk rock oratorio by Cam Floria. Yes, that's right. Cam Floria put Hal Lindsey to music. There's a lot to laugh about and some to groan about but as I was looking through the songs and remembering, I found this little ditty and I only wish I could sing it for you. Just remember that this is circa 1972 and even th

rambling rosemarie

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