Fact: I Don’t Always Agree

 

It always makes me feel a bit off when a preacher or teacher I listen to says something that I do not agree with. That is the case with John Piper this week and his comments on excommunicating a believer who marries a non-believer from church, and (even so) why someone would choose them as a mate. I also recently found out he doesn’t believe in the Rapture (which I do :: pre-tribulation 100%), and there are a few other things within his camp that have been spoken I do not adhere to. And while this isn’t the first time, I have not come into alignment with a teacher of the Word, it does bring up my thoughts on “denominations” as a whole. I mean there is but 1 Bible (i.e.: the true Word of God as given by power of the Holy Spirit) and it seems more and more denominations every year. Also there are various translations, some right (for ease of understanding and modern language) and some very wrong. The former really boils down to a difference of opinions and laws, rather than the original division of the church which was by location. I was raised in Southern Baptist, Baptist, Pentecostal, and Non-Denomination churches, so in my early adult life I did attend Bible studies and  services with various other “sectors” of the Christian faith which in turn solidified how I now say, “I am a believer in what the Bible (Word of God) says, and Jesus Christ as Savior”, rather than give a specific sect. There is a lot of variances out there folks!

Am I alone in my thoughts on this? I dare think not, and I know 100% that scripture is set forth to challenge, change, and refine who we are to be evermore transformed into the image of Christ, but I'm not sharing any new revelation by saying that there are some variances across what is thought from church to church, even within a denomination itself. My mom refers to them as "their own rules and bylaws, taken from their own interpretation of the Word". She chuckles saying, "It ain't like God is going to have Presbyterians in one corner and Baptists in the other, everyone who has accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, is His child, we are a family, together". 

When I read the article I thought about Hosea who God commanded to marry someone who was going to be unfaithful (over and over) in order to complete His will and show His love, mercy, and grace in comparison to a nation.

When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.” So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
Hosea 1:2-3 (NIV)

So then when I come upon something like this, I think about how I recommend people (to watch) and share some of their works, and how someone might think that I agree 100% with everything they say, but please know I don’t. Another example for this point, I am inked, not once or twice, but five times. So I say this search the scriptures, commune with God, ask the Holy Spirit for discernment and He will speak to you on a real, intimate, and personal level regarding that which you are reading, watching online, or even being taught in your home Church. There is no doubt that I have changed from being someone who thought all preachers spoke the truth, to a more discerning listener who once heard a pastor say he would only donate Bible to the homeless if it would increase his weekly attendance count, to know we are all imperfect creatures, trusting in a perfect God, formed of the blessed Trinity (Father, Son, & Spirit).

Peace, love, and blessings to you through our Savior, Jesus Christ! 💙

Thankfulness In The Season of Covid

 

By no means am I the only one to write on this topic, and yes it is after Thanksgiving, but as we are told in the Bible, “we are to the thankful at all times” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

I cannot say with full certainty how anyone is or has been doing during 2020. Though we share in words and delight in various exchanges, I, being a human myself, know how much a person can hide within themselves, their true and solo pains. Not that this is inherently bad, just in a year that is already whack-a-doodle, I (myself) don’t want to add to people’s burdens, with something that perhaps is fleeting within my own mind space.

Alas, in month 10 of quarantine and the final month of 2020, which sidebar: the jokes that hindsight is 20/20 and that 20/20 is excellent vision seems just downright ridiculous considering the year; I think I have been the most consistently thankful to God that I have ever been. Though days are repetitive and sometimes so are my prayers, I end this year seeing things a whole lot different than how it started. God provides for us so much that we truly don’t need but want in order to make our lives “better” or “more comfortable”, but what value do things have when there are people who aren’t going to spend forever with the Trinity?

A downside of so many repetitive days has brought an invasion of my mind focused on past failings for sure. Not just I, but my husband and my mother have had to struggle with things from the collective years of our lives coming into our memory, taunting us, and reminding us of sins long forgiven. What I focus on when those times come is a simple truth, without the mighty hand of God, I would not have made it through. I am thankful for Him sparing my life and leading me to this time and place, albeit not ideal by normal standards. There was a time when I longed to be around my mother, to get to spend time with her as death has always seem to hang over her, but God in His mercy has granted us time together. Well her story from start to what will one day be her end if nothing but a testimony to God, but it is not the time for me to go into that now. 

But in this time of Covid, continued times of lock-downs, isolations, and whatever else may come (because really can we ever even go back to life like before?), open yourself up to see what all God truly has done FOR you instead of all that we have had to seemingly “give up” for the sake of saving others physical lives. Ask Him to show you what you can do for Him, for His kingdom in this season of the world, or in preparation for whatever lies around the next turn the world takes. Remembering that you, being a child of God, are ultimately safe and secure, for it is written:

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and
they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father,
who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
I and the Father are one.”
John 10:27-30 (NIV)

If you are not yet counted as one of His sheep (bka saved aka reborn), but want to know more information you can find it here.

If you need prayer or someone to talk to, there is someone waiting to speak to you (you can text or call): 1-877-800-PRAY

Peace, love, and blessings to you through our Savior, Jesus Christ. 💙