Christine's Blog – June 2011 Archive (20)

‘Which church is the right church?’  ‘Where should I take my kids to Sunday School?’  ‘Oh, yeah, we’ve been meaning to find a new church, but with sports and stuff, it just hasn’t happened.’  ‘Kinda stopped going because I just couldn’t relate, I know I should go back … where should I go?'

Hold the phone. 

I am sure you have noticed the big push to get back to basics—at least, in mid to upper class areas.  A lot of folks are feeling so harried by their daily pace, they long for…

School is out . . . time for some fun.  Usually, the local teenagers head to Rivi, (short for “Riviera” Beach), at the south end of our Southern California beach town.  However, Dylan and his friends have discovered another recreational water spot—you drive inland, down a country road, and then walk in still further to discover a great place to jump off the rocks to water some 25 to 30 feet below.  …

Great is the Lord!

If you could answer all of your questions about God, he would not be eternal.   If you could understand all of God’s thinking, he would not be infinite, and your thinking would not be finite.  If you could figure out everything about his ways, and what he would do next, then you would not need faith, whereas the writer to the Hebrews clearly stated that, “without faith, it is impossible to please…

“O to know purpose and meaning in this life!”  That has been the cry of humanity since Solomon expressed “Vanity of Vanities!  Life is meaningless!”  To know that we were created for a purpose is to be rich indeed!  The first steps have been taken in the discovery of our purpose—an understanding that:

>God has a purpose for each of us

>God created us in his image

>Before we were even born, God knew us—God had a plan for us

>His plans for us include a…

god means for your life to have purpose…

read this verse with that in mind:

¨And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.1   We begin with these profound words that Paul wrote to the church at Rome; two thousand years later, we children of God still count on the hope and the promise of this verse!  Today I read ‘called according to His purpose’ with fresh…

Keeping in view the themes of Romans—such as Romans 5.1-2, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.”  We have access to God through Jesus Christ; and one day, it will be because of that, we will live forever with God.  Consider this:

“Many years ago two of my daughters and I were in Washington, D.C., where I spoke at a church…

The prophets had prepared them for his coming for hundreds of years, and yet most of the Jews of the day missed it.  What was God’s heart toward them?

“Does this mean, then, that God is so fed up with Israel that he’ll have nothing to do with them?  Hardly.  Remember that I, the one writing these things, am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham out of the tribe of Benjamin.  You can’t get much more Semitic than that!  So we’re not talking about repudiation.  God has been too long…

I have always liked the beach—even the not-so-pretty, not-so-warm beach on the San Francisco Bay—where I grew up.  But thank God, I wasn’t at Crown Memorial Beach in my hometown of Alameda on Memorial Day this year!  The beauty of the beach and beach-going would have been forever ruined.  Each time I think about what happened, I am shocked and saddened all over again.

Gathered on the shore were first responders (at least a dozen), and about 75 other people standing and…

Your worldview is your philosophy of life—the way you look at the world.  ‘Could be a Christian worldview which has its inception in God the Creator, or a secular one, which probably does not.  Either way, how you look at life on a daily basis is affected by it.  Whether life seems to be ordered or random, including one’s sense of purpose, is affected by personal worldview.

Some people just ask the hard questions earlier in life, I guess.  She had a head full of blonde curls and big…

Oprah made the term ‘spiritual’ very popular—think about it.  However, on the last day of her show she seemed to fully claim Christianity.  What does it mean to say that we are a Christian?  Many people call themselves ‘Christian’ but if asked to define what they believe, they would be hard pressed to explain just what a Christian believes.

These are the non-negotiables, and the Scriptural support for them:  Essentials of the Christian Faith

1.  In the beginning, God.…

I couldn’t duck the question anymore.  Truthfully, there is a part of me that would like to avoid answering the question.  I just know too many women who put great stock in what Oprah has to say . . . I know too many women who plan their afternoons to watch—and even more who record to watch at their leisure—her daily program. 

‘Wondering about a person’s stance on anything?  Listen to what she says, and then take a look at the positions she espouses.   “I am a Christian who believes…

Before I launch deeper into the worldview/Oprah discussion, I felt prompted to send this today.  There is nothing like the truth and power found in the Word of God.  I am confident that there are some of you who need to consider God’s promises to you at this very time . . . Pakistan?  Ghana?  UK?  Singapore?  The Philippines?  Wherever you find yourself, in whatever circumstances – these promises are for you.

Promises are significant and telling.  When someone keeps his promises to…

What is your worldview?  We’ve all got one . . . a worldview.  Simply, it is the way we see the world . . . our philosophy of life.  Whether or not we have articulated it, we live by it every day.  Our worldview is shaped by many things—upbringing, education, what we read and watch, (Oprah), opinions of friends and family, and the culture in which we live.

The question I put before you today is this:

              Is your worldview a godly one?

                     Is it…

Contentment seems elusive these days. 

I sat across from her at lunch today, as she told me “something is missing from my life”.  To look at her, you certainly wouldn’t think that!  I mean, she is attractive, affluent, of mature age and wisdom, well put together, confident, and has been in a friendship with God for many, many years.  Yet she is unsettled.  After talking for a while, I think we hit on the reason.  Perhaps her struggle might just define yours, so let’s talk.  Yesterday…