As Christians, we always question how we should celebrate Halloween. It's a day considered evil, when trouble reigns. Right now, if I were to go outside there would be hundreds of people wondering around causing trouble. Cheap, dangerous fireworks are going off every second, probably being shot at people. Somewhere someone is throwing eggs at people's cars, and possibly toilet papering someone's house.
If you didn't know how Halloween came to be, the myth is that today is the end of the witch's calendar. November 1st marks the first day of the new year, with winter right abour the corner bringing death with it. Its supposedly a day when the gates of evil open up and the dead can come back to wander the earth. Then one day the Catholic church decided to take this day over, make it "Christian". November 1st was designated as All Saints Day, or All Hallows Day, a day to remember the saints. The day before become All Hallows Eve, eventually Halloween.
For me, Halloween means nothing. I'm home cooking and cleaning and blogging as usual. It's just another day. But this day does have special meaning for another reason. On this day, in 1517 Martin Luther published his 95 Theses on a Catholic church door. This is recognized as the catalyst for the Protestand Reformation. Before this day, all Bibles were written in Latin, and the average person had no access to God's Word. The Church kept the people in ignorance, making laws they had to follow in order for them and their loved ones to get to heaven. The reformation changed all of that! Eventually the Bible was translated into English and the common man, that's me and you, could read and meditate on God's Word.
I don't know about you, but for me, I'm very grateful for this day in History. I'm grateful that I can have a personal relationship with Jesus, without needing a pope or priest. I'm grateful God accepts my confessions anytime, anywhere! And I'm especially grateful I don't have to obey laws that say I need to give the church all my money so that my loved ones can get into heaven!
Happy Reformation Day Everyone! To celebrate, read your Bibles and give God thanks!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
MIA
Hey everyone!
I know, I know...I've been missing for a looooong time! I am so sorry. Please forgive me!
You're probably wondering where I've been...
And the answer is, right here living life as usual. I've been extremely busy lately. I think Daniel and I finally have a rhythm to our week and its pretty grueling. Monday nights is Bible study, Tuesdays I've committed to spending time with my sister, Wednesdays we have small group with some people from church, Thursday is date night, and of course the weekends are always busy with different stuff. Somewhere among all that I still have to (more like attempt to) keep my house clean and feed my husband.
I know my schedule is probably tame compared to some of you but for me its pretty crazy. I don't think I could keep it up for life. But for now, we have no kids so we can manage!
In addition to all that, I got a new toy that's really distracting. I'm not sure if i told you guys, but I got a promotion at work! I'm now officially a Senior Auditor! Whoo Hoo! lol...just kidding! It's a decent position, with a whole lot more responsibility, so I will probably have to add working overtime to my schedule soon. Thankfully it came with a small raise, so I bought myself a promotion/birthday gift. An Ipod Touch...It's great! I can do anything on that thing! Except Blog...that would take forever. I'll try not to let it get in the way again.
Also, last week I read an amazing book. A friend of mine lent me Prague Counterpoint by the Thoines. It was a touching story about Austria in World War Two, and a few people who were willing to take a stand for goodness and for God. It's amazing how much you can learn from historical fiction! For instance, did you know Hitler took prayer and Bibles out of schools in the Third Reich (his territory) and replaced them with prayer to Him and a book he wrote while in prison?? And he took over a ridiculous amount of countries, while England and France looked the other way because they didn't want to get involved in a war and were basically just completely complacent? If they had taken a stand for what was right at the very beginning there never would have been a WWII and those hundreds of thousands of people who died would have been left to live and leave legacies behind. It's so sad. A real lesson in doing the right thing right away. If you guys are looking for something good to read, and have exhausted all Francine Rivers books, I would recommend checking out some of their books. They're pretty decent.
So that's where I've been. Again, I apologize...I'll try to be more present!
Oh P.S....updates on my goals...quiet time is going much better for the most part. But everything else is a complete failure. I'm still working on it...but I could use some encouragement!
I know, I know...I've been missing for a looooong time! I am so sorry. Please forgive me!
You're probably wondering where I've been...
And the answer is, right here living life as usual. I've been extremely busy lately. I think Daniel and I finally have a rhythm to our week and its pretty grueling. Monday nights is Bible study, Tuesdays I've committed to spending time with my sister, Wednesdays we have small group with some people from church, Thursday is date night, and of course the weekends are always busy with different stuff. Somewhere among all that I still have to (more like attempt to) keep my house clean and feed my husband.
I know my schedule is probably tame compared to some of you but for me its pretty crazy. I don't think I could keep it up for life. But for now, we have no kids so we can manage!
In addition to all that, I got a new toy that's really distracting. I'm not sure if i told you guys, but I got a promotion at work! I'm now officially a Senior Auditor! Whoo Hoo! lol...just kidding! It's a decent position, with a whole lot more responsibility, so I will probably have to add working overtime to my schedule soon. Thankfully it came with a small raise, so I bought myself a promotion/birthday gift. An Ipod Touch...It's great! I can do anything on that thing! Except Blog...that would take forever. I'll try not to let it get in the way again.
Also, last week I read an amazing book. A friend of mine lent me Prague Counterpoint by the Thoines. It was a touching story about Austria in World War Two, and a few people who were willing to take a stand for goodness and for God. It's amazing how much you can learn from historical fiction! For instance, did you know Hitler took prayer and Bibles out of schools in the Third Reich (his territory) and replaced them with prayer to Him and a book he wrote while in prison?? And he took over a ridiculous amount of countries, while England and France looked the other way because they didn't want to get involved in a war and were basically just completely complacent? If they had taken a stand for what was right at the very beginning there never would have been a WWII and those hundreds of thousands of people who died would have been left to live and leave legacies behind. It's so sad. A real lesson in doing the right thing right away. If you guys are looking for something good to read, and have exhausted all Francine Rivers books, I would recommend checking out some of their books. They're pretty decent.
So that's where I've been. Again, I apologize...I'll try to be more present!
Oh P.S....updates on my goals...quiet time is going much better for the most part. But everything else is a complete failure. I'm still working on it...but I could use some encouragement!
Friday, October 8, 2010
Proof I'm getting better at cooking...
I am NOT defensive!
Good morning guys,
TGIF! And also, thank God its a long weekend! I have a full and exciting weekend ahead of me, and I can't wait!
I started this morning, the way I start almost every morning...reading my blogs. I think I'm subscribed to about 30 :) It's just so interesting to start the day reading about other people's days and being inspired/convicted/encouraged/etc.
This morning I came across an interesting article. A pastor in the States recently posted an article about yoga and its spiritual foundations, concluding that Christians should not practice yoga. He made some very good arguments, and quoted a few experts (dedicated practicers- is that a word?) of yoga.
Yesterday, Yahoo posted his article on their site, and caused a huge stir among Christians. A lot of people were upset, and hundreds emailed him to tell him that. Today, he talked about this upset, and defended his article. He said "We are in worse shape than we thought. I have heard from a myriad of souls who have called me insane, incompetent, stupid, vile, fundamentalist, and perverted. Some others are best left unrepeated. These souls claim to be Christian, but offer no biblical argument nor do they even acknowledge the basic fact that yoga, as a spiritual practice, runs directly counter to the spiritual counsel of the Bible. "
The whole thing got me thinking...when someone confronts you about an issue incompatible with you faith, why is our first reaction always defensiveness? We quickly speak up to defend ourselves and our actions, even if it means insulting the person who is just trying to help.
As Christians, shouldn't we be seeking to grow and become more holy? And shouldn't we be willing to do so at any cost? Even if it means giving up something we love? So by that logic, our initial reaction shouldn't be to think of ways to justify ourselves, but to stop and seriously consider whether what we're doing is a sin, and might be keeping us from growing closer to God.
If after considering this seriously we still believe our actions are holy, then we can come up with real, Biblical reasons for continuing with them. And our response will be loving, not nasty and ignorant.
Sorry for preaching. This message is as much for me, as for those reading. My devotions have been focusing on pride this last week, and it really has been thinking about pride in my own life. A few years ago, I was considering practicing yoga myself. But before I started, I decided to do the research to see if it could be reconciled with my faith. I decided it couldn't. But if I hadn't done that research and now regularly practiced yoga, I wonder how I would have responded to that argument. Defensively? Or with the intention to grow?
TGIF! And also, thank God its a long weekend! I have a full and exciting weekend ahead of me, and I can't wait!
I started this morning, the way I start almost every morning...reading my blogs. I think I'm subscribed to about 30 :) It's just so interesting to start the day reading about other people's days and being inspired/convicted/encouraged/etc.
This morning I came across an interesting article. A pastor in the States recently posted an article about yoga and its spiritual foundations, concluding that Christians should not practice yoga. He made some very good arguments, and quoted a few experts (dedicated practicers- is that a word?) of yoga.
Yesterday, Yahoo posted his article on their site, and caused a huge stir among Christians. A lot of people were upset, and hundreds emailed him to tell him that. Today, he talked about this upset, and defended his article. He said "We are in worse shape than we thought. I have heard from a myriad of souls who have called me insane, incompetent, stupid, vile, fundamentalist, and perverted. Some others are best left unrepeated. These souls claim to be Christian, but offer no biblical argument nor do they even acknowledge the basic fact that yoga, as a spiritual practice, runs directly counter to the spiritual counsel of the Bible. "
The whole thing got me thinking...when someone confronts you about an issue incompatible with you faith, why is our first reaction always defensiveness? We quickly speak up to defend ourselves and our actions, even if it means insulting the person who is just trying to help.
As Christians, shouldn't we be seeking to grow and become more holy? And shouldn't we be willing to do so at any cost? Even if it means giving up something we love? So by that logic, our initial reaction shouldn't be to think of ways to justify ourselves, but to stop and seriously consider whether what we're doing is a sin, and might be keeping us from growing closer to God.
If after considering this seriously we still believe our actions are holy, then we can come up with real, Biblical reasons for continuing with them. And our response will be loving, not nasty and ignorant.
Sorry for preaching. This message is as much for me, as for those reading. My devotions have been focusing on pride this last week, and it really has been thinking about pride in my own life. A few years ago, I was considering practicing yoga myself. But before I started, I decided to do the research to see if it could be reconciled with my faith. I decided it couldn't. But if I hadn't done that research and now regularly practiced yoga, I wonder how I would have responded to that argument. Defensively? Or with the intention to grow?
Friday, October 1, 2010
Wake Up!
Soooo I took a big step today. I made the committment to start waking up early! I joined the Maximize Your Mornings challenge over at Inspire to Action.
As I've mentioned many times before, I am NOT a morning person. I hate waking up early, and absolutely love hitting the snooze button "just one more time"...
But it' just not working for me. I always oversleep and end up rushing to get ready for work. Then I have no time for devotions or breakfast and suffer for it all day. Plus I'm pretty sure that last 15 minutes hurt more than it help, because I end up feeling groggy and unfocused all day.
Under this challenge, we'll be waking up earlier a little bit at a time, until it becomes a habit. The goal is to evenutally have enough time in the morning to have quiet time, exercise and plan your day, in addition to the normal getting ready for work stuff. So it should go hand in hand with my new running plan!
The plan has an ebook with advice and a strategy for making waking up early a life long habit. And everyone will be connected by their forum and twitter (which I do not have). They're just starting with week 1.
As I've mentioned many times before, I am NOT a morning person. I hate waking up early, and absolutely love hitting the snooze button "just one more time"...
But it' just not working for me. I always oversleep and end up rushing to get ready for work. Then I have no time for devotions or breakfast and suffer for it all day. Plus I'm pretty sure that last 15 minutes hurt more than it help, because I end up feeling groggy and unfocused all day.
Under this challenge, we'll be waking up earlier a little bit at a time, until it becomes a habit. The goal is to evenutally have enough time in the morning to have quiet time, exercise and plan your day, in addition to the normal getting ready for work stuff. So it should go hand in hand with my new running plan!
The plan has an ebook with advice and a strategy for making waking up early a life long habit. And everyone will be connected by their forum and twitter (which I do not have). They're just starting with week 1.
This week's goal is to GET OUT OF BED! When the alarm goes off, I have to just roll out of bed and resist the urge to go back to sleep. I can do that right?
Anyone want to join me?
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