What to Do?

So often there are times in life when you don't know what to do because you have conflicting messages coming your way. For instance this sign is by my church. At first glance you think it is a negative message because of the 'no left turn' sign below and so almost everyone wanting to take a right turn sits at the red light while a huge line forms. They are paralyzed by the sign which intends to let you know it's OK to take a right turn on red. During the holiday season they put up a temporary flashing lighted sign which says "Right turn on Red OK". People stop and still make a traffic jam because there is a mall nearby.
That is just like the concept of the law. Even when it is trying to be positive it is negative. It just does not release you to live freely. Grace on the other hand, seems to do much better at setting you free. I know in my own life there are many times when I feel restrained from action because something is nagging at me not to move because I might just screw up or be unacceptable if I blow it. That's not the way of grace. I'd like to live in the way of grace more fully.

Road Home

Here's the sight I get everytime I head home. It is awesome to see the mountains and be reminded of the glorious place I live. This is one way that God reminds me of good stuff every day.

People in the Storm

Here is an exerpt from an essay by Frederica Mathewes-Green called "Loving the Storm-Drenched". She speaks of the cultural tensions that seem to exist between the media and the church and the posture that the church seems to take as one being attacked by what seems to be a conspiracy against the church and her morals standards. I love how she challenges our posture to culture. To read the entire essay go to www.frederica.com, click on the article.

"God has not called us to change the weather. Our primary task as believers,and our best hope for lasting success, is to care for individuals caught up in the pounding storm. They are trying to make sense of their lives with inadequate resources, confused and misled by the Evil One, and unable to tell their left hand from their right (Jonah 4:11). They are not a united force; they are not even in solidarity with each other, apart from the unhappy solidarity of being molded by the same junk-food entertainment. They are sheep without a shepherd, harassed and helpless (Matt. 9:36). Only from a spot of grounded safety can anyone discern what to approve and what to reject in the common culture.

But we must regretfully acknowledge that we too are shaped by the weather in ways we do not realize. Most worryingly, it has induced us to think that the public square is real life. We are preoccupied with that external world, when our Lord's warnings have much more to do with our intimate personal lives, down to the level of our thoughts.

So, when Christians gather, there's less talk about humility, patience, and the struggle against sin. Instead, there's near-obsessive emphasis on the need for a silver-bullet media product that will magically open the nation to faith in Jesus Christ."

May we love the people around us well.

Laughing

So I saw a post from Mattie g. He said he had fun laughing the other night and that he needs to laugh more. So I responded to him with this;

- o laughter, what a concept. Man there is something so pure life about laughing. I laughed so hard the other day with my kids, Kris p., nick and kelly. my gut was busting. They were talking about celebrity jeopardy, the category of "the pen is mightier" just about killed me! -

I need to laugh more like I need to pray more, maybe even more than that. This is how my kids are such a gift to me. If I am with them for just a little while, we begin doing something that is funny; The boys a little more than han, but han brings an eye for beauty into everything, which is just as good as laughter. So maybe I need to post about that. Beauty and laughter, what a life!