Christine's Blog – May 2011 Archive (19)

This is the day the Lord has made.  I will rejoice and be glad in it!  The psalmist said it, but my heart is right there with him today.  I am sitting on the beach, looking out at the Pacific Ocean, and remembering.  Driving the two miles down the hill from my SoCal house, ‘me and my posse of boys’ noted how many American flags were displayed.  Today is that day that Americans have designated Memorial Day – a day to remember those who have sacrificially served our country.

I wish to…

Truthfully, over the years, I never gave my feet too much thought—that is, unless they hurt!  For instance, about 20 years ago, I sold shoes at Nordstrom in downtown San Francisco for a while.  Oh, my goodness, MY feet never hurt so badly in all my life!  And dealing with women in the shoe department?  Please . . . don’t get me started!

Then there was the time when I was at a party in Northern California and a long-time friend of my older brother stopped, made a point of looking down…

Good Day~

“You Christians are all alike,” he derisively flung at me . . . “You are so narrow-minded, so arrogant--saying Jesus is the only way to God!”

Honestly, I hadn’t expected to be sparring with a skeptic that night; no, a different purpose had brought me face-to-face with this caustic fellow.  It was several years ago, and I had been asked to contact a local shopkeeper and young mother, who had just been diagnosed with stage-four breast cancer.  “Please Christine, can’t…

Good Day!

Growing up in the Baptist church, I heard folks say things like, “I was saved when I was 12 years old,” or “Where did you get saved?” or “I am praying that he will be saved.”  In every case, they were talking about when (or if) someone came to faith in Jesus Christ.  But somewhere along the line, the word “saved” has gotten a bad rap.  Is it because people associate it with loud, finger-pointing televangelists?  Perhaps.  Is it because people think of ‘getting saved’ with…

A Prayer for Giving of Ourselves … a prayer for giving others Christ.  Romans 9

Our greatest fulfillment lies in giving ourselves to others.1 

In fact, Paul said, ‘Tis more blessed to give than to receive.’2   

Hmm . . . I think I feel like praying . . .

Dear Lord,

We read that Paul was so deeply burdened for the souls of his brothers that he would give up the one thing that meant more than anything to him—your love!—if that would mean the Jews would come…

“Do you See What I See?”    Romans 9.1-5

Christmas, 1969—school Christmas pageant.  I was sure that when Darlene Goss sang ‘Do You Hear What I Hear?’ there was no more beautiful girl alive.  Now, I was in 5^th grade and she was in 6^th, but I thought she was magnificent, and her song alluring.  Of little lambs and dancing stars and shepherd boys… all asking, “Do you Hear What I Hear?  ‘See what I see?”  Then the shepherd boy asks the king, “Do you know what I…

Good Morning! 

Just the other day, we saw how plainly, how passionately Paul articulated the value of God’s love in his life . . . and that, no thing and no one would ever separate him (or us) from the unconditional, all-consuming love of God.  Reading further, I have to ask myself if Paul was schizophrenic; he now says he would be willing to forego his relationship with God  . . . IF it would mean that the Jewish people would come to saving faith in Christ. Let go of…

Two people. podcast:

There is an old guy . . . there is a young guy.

Both are Christians . . . both are controversial.

One has violated a Scriptural truth, and maybe the other has too.

Let’s start with the old guy.  He has predicted that Jesus Christ is coming back next Saturday, May 21st to judge all of humankind and to gather up the faithful.(1)  That, Friends, is contrary to what Jesus said about his second coming.  "No one knows about that day or hour,…

Two things.  (and then Romans 9)

I am not in control.  Oh sure, I can make plans and even commit them to my calendar, but in the end, I do not control whether this thing or that thing will come to pass.  ‘Fact is, I can make all sorts of plans, but the final outcome is in God’s hands.  It was many years ago when I memorized these verses, “Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit. Yet…

It is hard to believe it was eight months ago when we first cracked open Paul’s letter to the church at Rome.  And now we find ourselves with eight chapters under our belt.  (New readers join us all the time, so for those who would like to go back and reread earlier Romans briefings, go to www.pastorwoman.com, and click on Bible teaching, Morning Briefings, and scroll down to Romans.  All 66 studies from Romans are…

Good Morning, my friends-

You are the Beloved. You are much loved by God.

And, as we read yesterday in “Love and the year 1970,” NOTHING can separate us from God’s love.

Being the Beloved expresses the core truth of our existence. 

I am putting this so directly and so simply because, though the experience of being the Beloved has never been completely absent from my life, I never claimed it as my core truth.  I kept running around it in large or small circles,…

Chosen—it means God is FOR US.  Romans 8.31-34

I was speaking on the subject of friendship.  Specifically, I was trying to give a definition for a true friend.   A true friend is someone who says to the object of her affection, ‘I am FOR YOU’.  It means:  I will cheer you on ... I will believe the best in you …  I will release you of my expectations of you … I will hold you close to my heart, but not demand you be close at my side … I will endeavor to ‘hear’ you when you have…

“HOSANNA in the Highest!"

I was sitting in my home office, with my Bible open, and thinking of just how good and gracious God is to us.  I cannot revisit the life (and death) of Jesus Christ without thinking of his great love for us.  A line from a melodious worship song ran through my mind, ‘hosanna, hosanna . . .’ and I thought of the townspeople waving their palm branches and saying ‘hosanna’ to Jesus.  But I couldn’t think of the origination of the word, so I looked it…

Prayer MATTERS.  

“Could I ask you an honest question?”  I asked, looking around at the faces of my Women of Passion last week.  Responding to their nods, I said, “Why is it so difficult to pray aloud?” Mini conversations broke out on both sides of our long luncheon tables …  It seems that people are just afraid they won’t ‘get it right’.  Their prayer won’t sound right—well, at least not as good, or as right as another’s!  ‘She practically sounds like a minister when…

A song . . . a 1966 movie.  And sometimes in my mind when I step back from something, ‘try to see the bigger picture, it is those words than run through my mind—‘what’s it all about, Alfie?’  Funny thing is—looking up the lyrics today, I see that they really are quite meaningful; we’ll get back to that . . . in the meantime, where have we just been? 

We looked at Jesus’ final night with his disciples-

How he pleaded with the Father to change what would be his…

GOT HIM.  9/11—do you remember?

Yes, I read when I am on the cardio machines at the gym . . . and in addition to studying Scripture and various commentaries, I read books on the power of prayer, and other inspirational Christian writings.  Interestingly enough, on the morning after Osama bin Laden’s demise, this was where I found myself today:  “I was an office worker assigned to the Tunnels, Bridges, and Terminals Department of the Port Authority of New York.  On the morning…