Summer

Just so everyone knows: During the Summer months I won't be writing near as frequently as I have been. Don't be surprised if there aren't too many new posts over the next few months!

Comfortable

Yesterday some friends/students and I were talking briefly about Christianity. One of the students said that they didn't want to have to do anything with God because He bosses people around. He felt like it was stupid to be a Christian because you do whatever God tells you to. His equation was like this:

Accept God + Do whatever God wants you to = Go to Heaven after you die.

I suppose you could word it like this, but God doesn't want you to love Him so that He can boss you around. He loves you because He loves you, because He created you! Besides, God's ideas for your life are immeasureably better than your own plans, so why not follow His ways? For example: Turn the other cheek. Yes, turning the other cheek is probably best instead of retaliating beacuse retaliation can have long-lasting negative effects. Just one example.

Someone else said that they didn't like that we talked about Christianity because it made them feel uncomfortable. Oh, I'm so sorry, it's my job to not rock the boat, I forgot (sarcasm). Besides, don't you think your sinful and sexually suggestive remarks make me feel uncomfortable, considering I'm trying to avoid those things? Not to mention that nearly everyone made fun of the fact that some older men were handing out free pocket testaments on campus the other day. But I think that's great. Those people who got a free pocket Testament (which is a compact version of the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs) have no reason to say that they didn't know the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Sometimes I forget that as a Christian I am a minority. I guess this was a wake-up call.

A bit of what I've been learning...

Hey everyone! I told you that we've been studying Heaven and Hell at Gen-x recently and I just wanted to share a few tidbits about that. A classmate of mine said that he was pretty sure Hell would be basically separation from God, and according to scripture, he's right. It sounded to me like this was his gut-feeling, so I don't know if he knew about this verse or not (did you?) I didn't know the verse for sure until last week either. Anyway, here's the verse:

"He will come with His mighty angels, in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don't know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from His glorious power. When He comes on that day, He will receive glory from His holy people-praise from all who believe."
2 Thessalonians 1:8-10

Just like Darkness is the absence of Light, Hell is the absence of God.
Did you know that Hell and the After Life is talked about over 600 times in the Bible??
Did you know you don't get there by just being a good person?? Hell is not just for murderers, rapists, dishonest business people, and mean dictators-it's for anyone rejecting God. Thankfully, when you're being judged, Jesus says that you're clean-if you're a believer. Let me know if you have questions about this. More on this later. In the meantime, think about it. Hell is serious stuff.

Arguing with Muslims part 2

Here's the second point that I wanted to highlight from the article by Willimon that I mentioned in yesterday's blog. Willimon mentions that Muslims are not impressed with our so-called-faith here in America due to our materialistic and sex-saturated society. I agree. He says:

"I think Muslims have got it right when they say that Christians in the West appear to have produced, or at least acquiesced to, a pagan, sex-saturated, violent, materialistic society. Muslims seem to despise us not because we're so free (wrong, G.W. Bush) or because we're so very Christian (wrong, Jerry Falwell) but because we're so awefully pagan."
Do you think this is an accurate description of American society?

"It's no wonder that most Muslims are unimpressed with our God. We invoke God's name as we bomb, occupy and dominate Islamic cultures. We may say on our money "in God we trust," but Muslims suspect that oil, power, and wealth are our true hearts' desire. I wonder if Muslims look at us and think, "You're going to have to look a lot more redeemed before I'll believe in your redeemer."

What ideas/things do you think are our society's true desires?

Arguing With Muslims

Recently in my Religion in America class, we read an article by William H. Willimon titled "Arguing with Muslims." The article is taken from Christian Century Magazine from November 16,2004. Anyway, Willimon argues in this article that the way the Bible portrays God and the way that the Qu'ran portray God are so drastically different that it is clear that Christians and Muslims do not worship the same God, contrary to some popular belief. He adds, "We should not sugarcoat differences with Islam. The God Muslims worship is different fom the one Jesus called "Father." I agree.
Here are some other quotes I found interesting from his article:
"I defy anyone to attempt to read through a translation of the Qu'ran, the holy book of Muslims, and come away saying, 'Well, Jesus and Muhammad are headed in the same direction.' Muhammad routinely says things thta just would not fit into the mouth of Jesus."

"Muhammad was a sort of knight, an astute military man, a government official and a wise teacher who ended his life in serene beatification. Jesus was a teacher who brutally died at the hands of the military, the government, and the religious establishment, refusing to lift a hand in self-defense, and then was raised from the dead."

Willimon has some things to say about American culture that I found insightful as well, but I'll save those things for tomorrow. :)

Eschatology

Last night at Gen-X we started a series of new studies on eschatology, aka studying the end times. It should be good stuff-I look forward to learning tons of new stuff. Honestly, I don't know too much about Heaven, Hell, and all that "good stuff." I'll share some things with you as I learn them. Last night was a bit of an introduction, so I don't have too much on it yet for you. I'll post something else later today-something interesting about Muslims and Christians.

Another stupid attempt

By the way, yesterday's professor reference was not to Bob. (Just for your personal comfort and relief).

Once again I find myself irritated by those people who claim to be "spreading the Good News" by doing so in a protest-like manner. For example, singing songs about being anti-gays and strongly pro-life does nothing but make people angry, if not angier toward those people who claim to be Christians. I did not see this brief occurence on campus today, but I heard about it. How stupid. Yes, I'm against homosexuality, and yes, I'm, pro-life, but Jesus wants me to demonstrate LOVE to others-and that includes gays and people who support abortion. He ate with tax collectors and prostitutes. Jesus was truly a radical. Isn't that awesome!? I think he'd be very disappointed with how people are handling social issues of the day. I try to extend love to the people, but hate the sins. Their sins aren't any worse than mine in God's eyes anyway. However, if they don't accept Christ, their sins will not be pardoned on Judgement day.

Understanding

Today I'd just like to say that I'm thankful that God is an understanding God. He knows that I'm often busy with school work and, unfortunately, He gets put on the back burner for a bit. I'm much closer to God during the summertime because I actually have time to read my Bible much more and more time to attend church events and Bible studies. Anyway, God is much more understanding than many professors. It's difficult to get EVERYTHING done for EVERY CLASS. If God was a professor, he'd understand that. Some of my proffs are working on my nerves because they aren't very understanding right now as the semester draws closer to a close. I'm asking God for patience with dealing with these difficult people. I'm also praying for sanity during these next few weeks. UGH! I can't wait till this semester is over.

The End

As my mind was wandering yesterday (imagine that!), I thought of something my good friend Mike said at a Bible Study I was at one time. Mike was talking about the existence of God and Christianity in general and how some people really struggle to believe in all of it. He said something like this:
"I believe that Jesus died for me and that I will go to be with Him when I die. But what if I'm wrong? What if there is no God and I come to find at the end of my life that it was all a lie, all pointless. SO WHAT? I may have lived a fuller, happier, more moral life, but that was it. Now, think of the opposite spectrum. What if I'm right? What if the only way to get into Heaven is to believe it, to feel it, to really live it? No loss for me-what about you? Are you scared to die? I'm not."
I think this should spark some good thought-out comments. Keep 'em coming! Have a great weekend everyone! Enjoy this awesome weather God's giving us!

April 17th

Sorry yesterday's blog was sssooo long, a lot to swallow I presume. Hope you thought it was informative though :)
I've been really busy with school lately; the last three weeks are always hectic! I need to make sure that I take some time to enjoy the beautiful weather, pray, and spend some time in God's word. Technically, I pray several times a day though. I don't necessarily get down on my knees in a quiet room or anything, I do "sentence prayers" all through out the day. For example, if I want to pray for my friend who is sick, I just say, "God, please comfort and heal ____ today. Ease her discomfort and pain and I pray that she would be back to 100% soon. Thanks." That's it. I love sentence prayers-God doesn't want me to ramble on and on anyway. He knows what I'm thinking. Enjoy the nice weather!

Sacredness of Life

Yesterday someone asked me a question that made me realize that I should try to clarify something about me being mennonite. As with many religions, there are several denominations of Christianity, and even several different variations of those denominations, and Mennonites are no exception to these variations. I really thinkt that the number of denominations out there is rediculous and says a lot about how people are really picky about whether a church or denomination "suits their preferences." Anyway, there are a few differences between the more plain Mennonites and myself, a more modern/contemporary Mennonite.

ME: I wear pants, I don't wear a prayer covering, I wear jewelry, I think contraceptives are okay but I also believe in the sacredness of life, I drive a car that is not black and has a sunroof, I go places other than church on a Sunday.

Obviously, you can understand what they do/do not do based upon what I do/do not do as listed above.

I want to explain the contraceptive/sacredness of life thing:
Often, not always, plain Mennonites have tons of kids. A family of ten kids is not unusual for a plain (also called Old Order) Mennonite family. That's fine-If you can provide for 10 kids adequately and love kids, go ahead, have those babies, more power to you! However, understand that each of those children have value and worth in God's eyes. Often many plain Mennonites will come into the pharmacy with their seven, eight or more kids and order them around as though they are dogs, often losing track of several of them as they roam the store (you can usually find them in the toy aisle). They speak very little to their children with the exception of barking at them to put things down or to simply "come here." I've never heard a positive word of affirmation to these kids. I think that every human being deserves to be brought up in a loving environment where they never doubt if they have value and worth. Personally, I don't think that they way some of these plain Mennonites raise their kids encourages that. Instead, a rigorous work ethic and a "silence is best" mentality is taught to these kids. If I'm going to have a child, I want that child to know that I and God love him or her, not that they were just another kid I had. Wouldn't it be the saddest thing ever to have so many kids that you can't keep track of them and provide equal love for each of them? The Amish are guilty of this too, and it is not unheard of that both young Mennonite and Amish children are frequently hit by cars or killed by farm equipment simply because no parent was available to keep an eye on them. What does that say about their views on the sacredness of life?

not much today...

Hey everyone! Not much happened in my little world today so I don't have much to say. However, blogdogg raised a question about mennonites on my last entry that I may discuss in the future. I'll stew over this topic a bit. till next time, have a joyous day in Christ.

Spring!

I think that God reveals his majesty in nature, especially this time of the year.

"They know the truth about God because He made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and the sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities-His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God." Romans 1: 19-20.

I took these pictures recently around my home and while on a hike this past Saturday. How could evolution possibly make things so beautiful and complex??

Basic # 3: The Holy Spirit

Here's basic #3 of me being a Mennonite, again first quoted from Confession of Faith from A Mennonite Perspective:
"I believe in the Holy Spirit, the eternal spirit of God, who dwelled in Jesus Christ, who empowers the church, who is the source of our life in Christ, and who is poured out on those who believe as the guarantee of our redemption of creation.

Through the Spirit of God, the world was created, prophets and writers of Scripture were inspired, the people were enabled to follow God's law, Mary conceived, and Jesus was annointed at his baptism. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus proclaimed the good news of the reign of God, healed the sick, accepted death on the cross, and was raised from the dead.

At Pentecost, God began to pour out the Spirit on all flesh..."

The Holy Spirit is one one the three parts of the trinity. When a person becomes a believer, the Holy Spirit comes and dwells within in their soul and heart, just as it happened to the early believers at Pentecost (Acts 2). In other words, God lives within you. The Holy Spirit helps us do things that we could never do on our own, whether speaking in tongues, preaching to thousands of people, kicking a drug habit, or making a right choice. In Christians, that "little voice inside your head" that tells you what to do to bring glory to God is often refered to as the Holy Spirit. H.S. is hard to grasp, but I know that I've done some things that I knew God wanted me to do that I would have never done on my own. The H.S. gives that strength-everyday, in big ways or small. more on this later.

Seven Places

I like songs that come from a unique perspective, say, God's maybe. For example, here are the lyrics from a song called "Little" by Seven Places:

in a little while I will go for you

in a little while I will bleed for you
in a little while I will hang for you

in a little while I will call for you

you, I only want to spend my time with you

I cracked my skin so I could be with you

I made the world to stop it just for you

I want to be with you

there's a little place that i will build for you

there's an empty space that i will fill in you

you, I only want to spend my time with you

I cracked my skin so I could be with you

I made the world to stop it just for you

I want to be with you

My favorite part about this song is that it reminds me why Jesus died on the cross-for you, for me. The craziest and awesomest part is that He WANTS to spend time with us. He's a loving God, a God who longs to have a relationship with us. That's what they're singing about when they say that God wants to fill that empty space. That old saying is true-there's a God-shaped hole in all our hearts that only God can fill.

An ongoing struggle...

This blog may seem like a pity party, I'll lay that out up front. However, my blogs are supposed to be about my struggles, joys, and misc. about being a Christian. So, here's a current struggle:
I don't think I'm an ugly person, but, being a typical woman, I often wish that there were things different about my body. I'm not muscley at all, but I'm not fat- I'm trim. And of course, there are some other departments where I'm not so "well-endowed." Anyway, it's difficult to find clothing for me-especially because my pants size is between sizes, I have narrow feet, and swimsuits and dresses are jokes. I know it could be worse. And I virutally have no time to "work out" like all the cool college girls do-I'd rather spend the time getting school work out of the way so that I don't have to stay up really late at night. I have a love-hate relationship with shopping, depending on whether I can find clothes or not.
So how does this hinder me in my walk with God? I'm a little torn: God wants my body to be a temple, so I should treat it with respect and give it what it needs to be healthy, so I feel guilty for not making time to work out. Atleast I'm not drinking and smoking I guess. However, God wants me to be satisfied with what he provides me with-this body is what I have so I should be thankful to be breathing. And on another note, God makes all thing beautiful in time, so perhaps I'll be more beautiful in time. However, what God sees as beautiful is more than just physical, I think. I try to take comfort in knowing that when I go to Heaven I won't have this body anymore. I'll be new and improved. Jason's such a trooper with trying to help me out with dealing with this. He tells me I'm beautiful all the time, and for that I truly am greatful. He knows I need to hear it-and he says it with honesty. This is really something I think I need to be praying about. I'm thoroughly sick of dealing with stupid self-esteem issues and I want to be comfortable with how I look as much as I'm comfortable with who I am. The Devil takes hold of us in silly ways, doesn't he?

Comfort

A friend of mine just found out that her good friend has cancer. She's so upset and wants to be a good friend without treating him different at the same time. Last night I was looking through my little book called Promises for a Jesus Freak so that I could find a verse that would comfort her. I ended up texting her this:
"For he gives us comfort in all our trials so that we in turn can give the same sort of strong sympathy to others in their trials." 2 Corinthians 1:3/4
She was thankful for this verse because she's trying to grasp why this is happening to her friend. She knows that these things happen for a reason but she doesn't want to hear that right now, understandably. I wanted her to know that God comforts us and helps us through this crap so that we can help others that go through it too. She needs to be strong to help the friend who has the cancer. And who knows, maybe down the road she can help comfort someone else too.

Costa Rican Chris

Here's a link to the blog of a guy named Chris who goes to my church but is on a year-long mission trip in Costa Rica right now:
http://costaricanchris.blogspot.com/

burned-out

sorry I don't have much to say today. I'm pretty tired and stressed-out tonight. Christians aren't always happy you know-I have some ups and downs like everyone else. I'm not depressed or anything though, just overwhelmed with classes and with planning the Relay For Life thing with Gen-X. (I'm the team captain). A longer blog for tomorrow...

Signs of the times?

I won't get a chance to post tomorrow, so here's something for you now. I took this picture yesterday afternoon-it's a sign I pass everyday to LVC. I love this business' boldness: it reads, " Jesus Died For U, will you live for Him?"

My evening off

I really don't see how people can be so busy each night of the week and still be sane. Mondays and Wednesdays I go to Bible Studies and,seriously, that's plenty of busy evenings for me. How do pastors and clergy men stay sane with doing all their church work, so to speak, each night of the week. I think God wants us to have down-time, to relax, refuel, and reflect on things. I'm posting this because tonight is my down-night. And what makes it even better is that Jason didn't have to work today so we can hangout right when I get home. :) I think that if it stays nice outside today, we'll go hiking or something. That's another thing I think God wants us to do-get outside and enjoy his creation.

Refuel

Wednesdays, other than Fridays, are my favorite night of the week. The "Bible Study" I attend is on Wednesday nights, providing an opportunity for me to refuel smack in the middle of the week. I put Bible Study in quotation marks because I don't want you to think that i't's some academic-like setting with Bible scholars-it's not. This Bible Study, called Gen-X, is actually at the home of an older couple at my church. (Their kids are grown and married/not living at home anymore). It's very discussion-oriented, but we of course base our studies off of scripture. Not the same people lead all the time either. I've led a few Wednesdays. The group is post-high school age up till 30-year-olds. A good mix! A lot of us "Gen-xers" are from Ephrata Mennonite Church, but a lot of people are friends that don't go to EMC. Anyway, I'm pretty pumped for Gen-X tonight.

Basic #2: Jesus Christ

So, here's basic #2 for you!
"I believe in Jesus Christ, the Word of God become flesh. He is the Savior of the world, who has delivered us from the dominion of sin and reconciled us to God by humbling himself and becoming obedient unto death on a cross. He was declared to be Son of God with power by his resurrection from the dead. He is the Head of the Church, the Exalted Lord, the Lamb who was Slain, coming again to reign with God in glory. "No other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." (Again, taken from the Mennonite Perspective book.)

In other words: Jesus is God in the form of a person, yet He is/was all person and all God in the same being. Jesus died on the cross for everyone because He knew that we couldn't be perfect on our own. By believing that Jesus died for your sins, you don't face eternal damnation in hell, but get to spend eternity with Him in Heaven. Also as a Christian, your perspective on things shifts from "What does this World want from me?" to "What does God want for me to do for this world?" Nobody else can save humanity other than Jesus. He is the Cornerstone of the church and of grace.