92 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 12-23-15”

  4. Interesting question because in some ways, every decision is life-changing. Knowing you mean “significant change” it is still interesting because sometimes small decisions end up having way more impact than you ever imagined they would.

    Philosophizing aside, I think ours was to move from Baltimore (City) to the farm country of Pennsylvania three years ago. As most of you know, we did that with our son, DIL, and two granddaughters. It has been a fabulous three years and was a great decision. And looking back on it, we enjoy seeing how the hand of God led us through the process, to the right house, and to an awesome new church. God is Good. All the time.

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  6. That isn’t rain out there. It’s tears from the ski slopes.

    The last, but not the most important, decision was when I agreed to move from Annandale to Hendersonville. I didn’t want to do it, but I’m glad I did.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  7. We are out from under the the severe weather watch. It is headed north east from here, so watch out Janice.
    I’ll swanny those weathermen were pure giddy with the prospect of a tornado. One even slipped and said something in the negative tense that let you know he was disappointed the storm was dying down so soon. He then went on to explain that just because the watch had lifted we still needed to be aware of all the other dangers. I have said it many times, when they act like this it conditions us to ignore them when something is really serious and people are going to DIE. Did you know that in in 2004 there had been a storm headed towards New Orleans and they evacuated? It wasn’t much of a storm so it really is no wonder to me that Katrina hit New Orleans and people didn’t evacuate.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. I agree with Linda. Little decisions along the way lead to life changing events. I look back and regret some of those small decisions that lead to big decisions that lead to where I am now. Of course I remind myself that things end up the way they are supposed to.

    The biggest decision I think I ever made was to not take NO for an answer. Several doctors told ex-husband and me that we would never have our biological child. Eventually they told us that I would possibly be able to have a child using a donor. One doctor even suggested that he had delivered several children to a couple where the man was sterile. She just scoped out the scene and found a likely candidate to father her children….. That was my last appointment with THAT doctor!
    Eventually I ended up with the Absent Minded Professor. He prayed with us before each procedure. The one that worked he laughed about having on his “lucky” Christmas Socks. I worked hard for BG and I got her. She may be the death of me, but she is MINE. I will also go so far as to say that I could have brought anyone’s baby home the first week of her life. I didn’t feel any connection, along about day 7 or 8 I fell in love. Birthing them isn’t what makes them yours. Loving them and enduring the heart stomping they put you through makes them yours. Even this morning in the midst of every electronic devices in this house going off with the weather warning she came and got on the sofa with me —she was scared. She needed her Mommy.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  9. Second QOD.
    Where do we stand on “Children’s Tables”? Youngest Son is bringing home a woman and her two children for Christmas. I have a large dining room and table but I only have 6 chairs. I don’t have two extra chairs I can use. I was considering calling and asking someone to borrow two chairs from then but remembered I have my little girl table and two chairs in the attic. I have room in the corner of the dining room to set it up, set it with the same china and even have a Christmas table cloth that will fit it.
    Those with multiple children/grandchildren help me out here. I was an only child and I have an only child. I have never been at a children’s table

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. Probably for me, the decision to change churches and denominations was the last big life-changing event. I believe it expanded the number of good people I know in our community as well as it helped my spiritual growth as a believer and follower of Christ. It took me several years to make the full change. I can’t remember for sure, but it probably happened about seven years ago.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. Miss Bosley slept most of the night in her bed. She is in cuddle mode now.

    My brother came over to help with a leaky bathroom sink faucet. I think he is adjusting to Miss Bosley who he calls by various names like Rosco, Crosby, and other such mangled names to tease. She hangs out with him and is so happy to have him and Wesley here for extra people to try to rule over.

    Poor brother! Again the little job turned into something awful and now the sink has a steady small nonstop stream. The plumber has been called. We had planned to watch a movie and enjoy popcorn with brother, but it got too late to do that. At least he seemed to enjoy the roast beef hash and carrots I fixed for dinner.

    My brother is good with fixing things and has a lot of experience. I guess the house has just gotten so old that it needs people who are professionals who have seen everything.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  12. I’ve told you this before, but Kim mentioned small decisions that have huge consequences. It was a small decision.

    On November 5, 1955, all the friends I attended FBC Columbia with were somewhere else. I attended church alone. I decided to sit in the balcony. I don’t know why.
    I had never sat in the balcony of FBC before. Never since.
    I only sat in the balcony of FBC Columbia once.
    After the service, I happened to meet Elvera Collins walking down the steps beside me. Invited her to lunch.

    I am convinced that this was a pre-arranged meeting

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  14. Musical Advent Calendar – Day 23: This folk carol is sometimes referred to as the Shropshire or Herefordshire carol in reference to the English counties where it was collected. The British composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams used the Herefordshire tune in his ‘Fantasia on Christmas Carols’ (1912), which is where this arrangement comes from. There are only five verses in the performance, although there are at least nine verses in existence.

    This is the truth sent from above,
    The truth of God, the God of love;
    Therefore don’t turn me from your door,
    But hearken all, both rich and poor.

    The first thing, which I do relate,
    That God at first did man create
    The next thing, which to you I tell,
    Woman was made with him to dwell.

    Then after this, ‘twas God’s own choice
    To place them both in Paradise,
    There to remain from evil free
    Except they ate of such a tree.

    But they did eat, which was a sin,
    And thus their ruin did begin;
    Ruined themselves, both you and me,
    And all of their posterity.

    Thus we were heirs to endless woes,
    Till God the Lord did interpose
    For so a promise soon did run
    That He’d redeem us with a Son.

    And at this season of the year
    Our blest Redeemer did appear
    He here did live, and here did preach,
    And many thousands He did teach.

    Thus He in love to us behaved,
    To show us how we must be saved
    And if you want to know the way
    Be pleased to hear what He did say.

    Go preach the Gospel new, He said,
    To all the nations that are made
    And he that does believe in me,
    From all his sins I’ll set him free.

    God grant to all within this place
    True saving faith—that special grace,
    Which to His people doth belong—
    And thus I close my Christmas song.

    Like

    Reply

  15. The hordes have descended. The doorbell rang at about 6:30 last evening, and there they all were, seven smiling people on the doorstep. I wished I had a camera, they were so naturally grouped with the little people at the front. Then they tumbled into the house. Boys seem to have an alarm clock set for seven each morning. They have been told not to wake us up when they get up, but by 8:20 this morning, third nephew, who is “fouw”, decided to take matters into his own hands. He stood outside my parents room saying, pointedly, “Gwandpa ‘n Gwandma, good mowning!”

    Liked by 6 people

    Reply

  16. Merry Christmas, Mouse!

    But fess up, is that cat angel female?? 🙂

    Miss Bosley must love the constant faucet stream.

    Two more days and I need to find stories. It’s desperation time …

    There’s one I need to do, but it’s complicated and I hate to dive into it right before a holiday — but I’ll give the guy a call today and see if maybe that would work.

    Meantime, I postponed my dentist appt that I’d set for late today (to get a small filling), rescheduled it until after the holidays in January.

    Like

    Reply

  17. For me, it was someone else’s decision that changed my life – Emily coming back home, with Forrest. It has been very challenging & frustrating at times, but it has also been an incredible blessing.

    Like

    Reply

  18. I have done a children’s table. It was not far from the grownup table. It was the little one I had for my children when they were young. Only the youngest could sit at it. I think these can be quite fun and magical as long as it is treated as a special place.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  19. Kim – When their granddaughters (my two girls & my niece) were little, Mom & Dad had a kids’ table for them, but it was very near the adult table, so that we were still all together.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  22. The children’s table is the best spot in the house! I speak as one who sat there for years! I was the youngest child so had been included with teens and adults all my life (my siblings are 9-13 years older than I am). I became an adult at 10 and started sitting at the kids table as soon as the nieces and nephews were big enough. At first I was insulted, but I quickly realized that was the fun spot. Even now my oldest niece and I gravitate to where the kids have gathered. We fit in well there!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  23. My last major decision was to marry this man, become a wife and stepmom, move back to the Midwest, and in the process change churches and become part of his family–and leave the siblings I lived close to behind. I don’t think I need any more big ones for a while, but that one was worth doing.

    I’m basically a boring person who would happily live in the same home, attend the same church, work the same job, drive a car for 10 or 12 years, wear the same clothes for a decade. But these are the major life decisions I can think of (other than the ones every does, like learning to drive and moving out of the parental house):

    I moved from Phoenix to Chicago to attend college, figuring I’d never live in Phoenix again and not knowing if I’d gt back during my four years (I did get back to visit twice for a week or two).

    I moved into a neighborhood where every household on the street but ours was black, in order to engage with neighborhood children, some of whom attended my church.

    I gave up everything I knew in Chicago to go freelance (14 years in one church, 10 years in one job, 7-8 years in one house), moving into a city where I had two people I barely knew and no one else, giving up a job with good job security to live among strangers and make them friends, and somehow make a living. To make it more complicated, I changed denominations and also bought a house, and then my mother died, all within six months.

    I chose to take in foster children–maybe the hardest thing I have ever done, but I loved those little girls for six weeks with everything I had, and so did Misten.

    For the third time in my life, four years I picked up stakes and moved to a city where I knew virtually no one, leaving behind the close friends and church members who’d been in my life for eight years, and moving far from the family members who were a big part of the reason I moved down there in the first place. I was gaining more than I lost, but the losses were real.

    Someday I shall probably move from here, but I hope that I will have a husband to move with (as opposed to moving as a widow), and that in itself should make it a smaller life change, though not necessarily an easier move physically.

    Like

    Reply

  25. I remember sitting at a kids’ table at my aunt and uncle’s house, I think it was in the kitchen, behind a swinging door? But I think we all kept wandering in to pester the adults. 🙂

    Which reminds me of the time that I decimated all the pumpkin pies as they were lined up on a kitchen counter at that same house. I don’t really remember it but heard the story repeatedly — I scooped one little-girl-sized handful out of the middle of each pie.

    My mom, needless to say, was mortified when it was time for my aunt to serve the dessert.

    Can’t take me anywhere.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  26. Kim, as for changing churches, I had longed for more spiritual meat in sermons for awhile because I listened a lot to Christian radio and found that to be more helpful than the Sunday sermons. When son needed a youth group I attended that church with him and felt I got more in depth Biblical teaching there. It was a difficult switch since I was pretty close, and still feel that way, with the people in my husband’s church. The people in both churches have been super nice to our son. One Sunday when son was at the Baptist Church and I was at church with my husband I got sick and passed out. They took me to Emory in an ambulance. The pastor’s wife at the Methodist church went over to pick up Wesley from the Baptist Church to get him to the hospital.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  27. I’ve made a few massive, life changing decisions in my time, how else does one end up living in Africa when not born there? Probably what will prove to be a major life changing decision was deciding back in February that it was time to start eating healthier and lose weight. I knew the Lord was directing that action from me so I had to choose to obey. Little did I know that 4 months later I would be told that my return to the field was contingent on me losing a certain amount of weight. I was so glad I had been obedient to the Lord! If I hadn’t, I would still be stuck in the U.S. trying to explain to people why I was still there. Chances are there will be other positive benefits (besides the obvious health benefits) to that decision to put that food idol on the altar.

    Liked by 7 people

    Reply

  28. Janice, I felt the same way after reading RC Sproul’s “Holiness of God” and then attending some lectures, conferences, etc. where there was so much more depth than what I heard Sundays at my evangelical Quaker church.

    It was a hard transition, I had a lot of emotional ties to the Friends (Quakers), but when I bought a house and moved across the harbor, there really were no Quaker churches that close to me anymore (geographically — I cold drive to a few easily enough, but the commute was longer than I liked, about 40 minutes). The one Quaker church that was closer, an inner city church, was largely a Cambodian mission church (stretching back to the days when the Vietnam War ended) and I didn’t think it would provide much spiritual grown for me, which I needed at that time.

    So I began checking out some conservative Presbyterian churches, found a small one I liked very much and stayed. I transferred to a larger congregation (in the same denomination) about 10 years ago.

    Church changes are always hard — and they should not be done for frivolous reasons — but in my case I really felt drawn to hearing something deeper every week.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  30. My sister implemented the kids table this Thanksgiving, populated with Emmy (almost 5), Sammy (3), and their cousin, Luke (3). They were within sight of the adults but not closely monitored. She set up her video camera focused on them and created an edited version of the movie afterwards. It is absolutely adorable.

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  31. I will have them in the same dining room with us. They are after all coming into a strangers home where the only people they know is their mother and Youngest Son. I don’t want to shuffle them off in a corner somewhere. They will have the same dinnerware and food as us, I may have even thought up a special centerpiece just for them.

    I left the Episcopal Church but that wasn’t hard. They had become crazy.
    I briefly toyed with the idea of joining the local Baptist church but I missed the liturgy.
    I became an Anglican almost 5 years ago. I am where I belong. I mean, where else would I be hosting my Bible study group for Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo next Monday night?????

    Ajisuun, how has it been to stay eating healthy in a different culture? Easier perhaps?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  32. Children’s table. Yes. And we still use it. It is the same size as the dining room table and is next to it. It holds about eight or ten people as overflow. So, if we have adult company, the oldest of the children can sit with us as there is room, the rest sit at the other table. They have more freedom to eat like slobs if they want, though I have noticed they are less messy over there….interesting…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  33. Shrimp and Sausage gumbo!
    Maybe I should become an Anglican.

    Seriously, the neighbor across the street left the Episcopal Church and became an Anglican.
    I’m not sure I know the difference. His change was about same sex marriage.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  34. Kim, it has been easier in some ways, harder in others. Obviously, relative inaccessibility to junk food is a plus, but at the same time, the healthier versions of things aren’t available either. If you want it you have to made it yourself! It is also challenging to get a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables here in the village. Since I decided from the beginning that I wasn’t going to follow a special ‘diet’, but would instead make healthier choices and count calories, that has made the change easier since it was based on a work with what you have mentality. I’m obviously doing something right since I have lost 15 pounds in 3 weeks since arriving. I always lose when I get here, but I didn’t think it would be so dramatic.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  35. The Anglican’s in America put themselves under the Bishops of South Africa in the beginning because they were/are much more conservative in their religious beliefs. We have grown now to the point that we have several diocese and bishops in the United States. Many left and are still leaving over the homosexual issue.
    The other issues include:
    The Presiding Bishop (the head of the church in the US) was a woman who was fast tracked. She had only entered the ministry 8 or so years before and had been a marine biologist. She referred to “Mother God” and likened the process of becoming a Christian to child birth.
    She also said the Apostle Paul was a misogynist for casting the demons out of the woman who could foresee the future therefore denying her a way to support herself.
    The list goes on and on and on and on.

    Most recently my former church married two women who denied they were lesbians for decades. They had “just been married to abusive men and decided to raise their children together and share responsibilities”. One was my former therapist. When I asked her point blank if she were gay she said emphatically NO. She is who I saw when my marriage was on the rocks and I was trying to decide whether or not to divorce G. Hmmmmm…….I just wonder what kind of therapy I got. Again, I go back to things working out the way they are supposed to in my life. I am married to an even tempered, kind, and generous man.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  36. I hear on the radio that an airplane is having landing gear trouble. It has returned to the airport.. It is flying around in a holding pattern to burn off fuel.
    Believe me, that is the worst kind of flying. Just trying to burn off fuel.
    We did that several times. No fun.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  39. Many mainline Presbyterian congregations & members are also dealing with the leftward changes in that denomination, with gay marriage being the most recent issue driving people (and whole churches) out.

    But gay marriage really is just a result of another, much bigger and more foundational, problem that became rooted in mainline denominations decades ago: questioning the authority of the Scriptures. Once that happens, cultural changes begin to exert an influence on denominations, from saying Jesus is the *only* way to ordaining female pastors and elders to … Fill in the blank.

    Bit by bit. The changes may be incremental and seem innocent at first. But they all ultimately will lead to apostasy. Thus many woke up to the latest, gay marriage being adopted, and wondered — what the heck just happened?

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  41. Biggest decision: Going to school in 2008. It was something that I had prayed about alot and knew without a doubt that it was God’s direction for me. Through many twists and turns, it lead me to my husband.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  42. Son is playing piano again. I asked what he’s playing and he said a Bach fugue (sp?). Then I, asked about the Beet Hover and he said it was a sonata. It is difficult to get much discussion from him when he is trying to concentrate on reading the music and playing since he has not been at the piano for about six months. He never had formal lessons like my husband did.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  43. Chas, this is the Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo that brough NJL in at 2nd place in a cooking contest. She should have won, but it was New Jersey after all…. 😉

    Off to lunch and back to ironing..

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  44. Another thing that played into my thoughts on changing denominations was that I felt convicted to have a baptism by immersion to follow in the way Jesus was baptized. I wanted to be baptized in the Jordan River, but I could do a believer ‘ s baptism at the church five minutes from home. I had been baptized at age twelve by sprinkling in the Presbyterian USA church when I was not a full believer. I could have asked to be sprinkled again in the Methodist church, but that did not seem an acceptable way to deeper commitment for my situation.

    Like

    Reply

  45. It was so hard for me to change churches that I stopped attending for a little while between churches. I felt terrible, like I was rejecting a whole group who had been so kind to us, but I had to choose on the spiritual rather than social level to go deeper with Jesus. As for the political level, friends at the Methodist church tended to be conservative and Republican except for the pastor’s wife who had a Kerry sticker on her van. Younger people in the church were mostly Dems but we were friends with the older group.

    Like

    Reply

  46. 6 Arrows’ QoD: I’ve tried to make a major life-changing decision in the past couple of years, but I keep getting stopped. I couldn’t go back to school, and I couldn’t go back to Africa. I’ve got so used to the hairpin curves of life in my twenties that it feels wrong to jog along at a humdrum pace.

    Kid’s table QoD: We loved the kid’s table. We could have our own conversations without being stymied by adult input. We had a small table for little people and then when one could no longer fit under that table, there was the card table in the living room. The things we would get up to. There was one chair that we could remove the back from, so it was a standing practical joke to whip the back off while someone was leaning forward and occupied. Switching plates or hiding them was also standard practice.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  47. Occurred to me later, too, that the story of the fall of denominations fits in with the idea that it is really a lot of small decisions (or seems like it, it started with a big decision about Scripture that wasn’t seen as such) that lead people on a particular path.

    The sacraments also were an issue in my decision to change churches (although the Bible does not say Jesus was immersed). We ‘pour.’ And the Lord’s Supper is observed weekly, which I love.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  48. In the early days of Anabaptists, the “cult” of the middle ages, they practiced pouring.
    The issue wasn’t the mode, but Believer’s Baptism. That is, believers were baptized again after conversion. In those days, everyone was baptized as a baby.

    total immersion, as we practice it, was often not practical in those days.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  49. I have no idea of what my credit score is, but it seems that everyone in the world wants me to borrow money from them. The one in my spam is just above the one urging breast augmentation.

    🙄

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  50. It is amazing Chas. Those scam company’s have taken to sending me “checks”. Just yesterday I was approved for $35,000. Who needs that kind of borrowing power on non secured debt???????

    Like

    Reply

  51. I enjoyed reading all your answers to my QoD (and the other things discussed, too). Thanks.

    This is what jumped out at me the most (from Ajisuun):

    I knew the Lord was directing that action from me so I had to choose to obey.

    And this, also, at the end of her 11:07 post:

    Chances are there will be other positive benefits…to that decision to put that…idol on the altar.

    I asked my question today, knowing that there is a big change coming very soon in my life, and, like Ajisuun said, I know God is directing me in this, and that I must choose to obey.

    Like several of you said, a lot of times the big life changes come about through numerous small decisions along the way. I won’t recount all the little details (I would never remember them all, anyway), but the gentle promptings of the Holy Spirit over many months, even a few years now, ramped up in intensity about the time my father-in-law died nearly two months ago now.

    By the time the second week of this month was over, I knew without a doubt that the Lord was calling me to lay the idol of internet addiction on the altar.

    I prayed to know when. Immediately? At the end of this year? (The latter was what I sensed, because it seemed like a natural stopping point, but I prayed afterward that God would clearly reveal His timing to me.)

    Today it is clear to me that tomorrow will be my last day with reading/interacting on blogs. Not because they’re a bad thing in and of themselves — I have derived many blessings from being here, for one example — but because the good became the enemy of the best for me.

    And for my family.

    It’s been almost five years since we got internet at home, and, though there were many factors in the changes my family has gone through, it is undeniable that my computer overuse was a significant part of those changes.

    I’ve been married for 29 1/2 years, and the last few years have been rockier than ever before in our marriage, though there has been recent improvement, for which I am very grateful to God.

    Homeschooling almost went down the tubes.

    And other things you don’t know about have been impacted, too.

    Life is short, and if I say that family is most important (after God — that goes without saying), then I had better live that way.

    I am not, though, and the Lord has made it very clear that I need to be fully engaged.

    And I know the only way I can do that at this point in my life and walk with Christ is to reengage on a face-to-face level only, so that the cyber world no longer sweeps me away.

    Is this a permanent decision? I don’t know. Perhaps there will be a time in my future when I can return and still keep my priorities straight.

    But I know the enemy of my soul is going to be working hard to buffet me. I know how he works, especially on media fast days. Did God really say…? “What was I thinking…I completely forgot about this when I walked away…” Etc.

    At times of struggle like that, though, I find 1 John 4 comforting:

    Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

    And 2 Corinthians 12:9a:

    And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

    I’ve rambled long, so I’ll end now. None of us knows what the new year will hold, but I’m praying that yours will be blessed, all of you.

    (And I’ll be back one more time tomorrow, because I’m guessing there will be one more installment in the Musical Advent Calendar, Roscuro? 🙂 Thank you again for all the lovely music you have posted.)

    And thank you to all of you for your understanding and love. Indescribable.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  52. But some fall for it Kim.
    My dad would have. He was always hoping that someone would send him some money in the mail.
    Nobody ever did.
    I have missed numerous chances to get rich.
    That’s the reason I’m not poor.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  54. Mumsee, it is ALL Janice’s fault but I play a couple of games of Soduko on my phone a day. I have played 311 games on the hard level on this phone (I had played a couple of hundred before they had to send a new phone to me).
    It is my relaxation.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  61. 6 Arrows, when you say this:

    “But I know the enemy of my soul is going to be working hard to buffet me. I know how he works, especially on media fast days. Did God really say…? “What was I thinking…I completely forgot about this when I walked away…” Etc.”

    It sounds like you believe “God said” that the internet is wrong, or wrong for you. I never ever want to align with the devil, but here I really do think there are legitimate grounds to say where has God said such a thing? If you feel like you overuse it and can’t use it in moderation and you have enough friends in real life and don’t need the contact on here, that’s great. I’m sure we all wish you the best.

    But I don’t think that checking a blog can be equated to Satan’s temptation as to what God has really said, because in fact God didn’t say that. It’s great to spend more time with family, and only you can know whether you’ve been short-changing them. But time with friends isn’t wasted time, unless it’s more complicated than that. (I myself chose not to go on Facebook until I had family reasons to go on it, and for me it was too big a time-waster, so when the family reasons to be on it ended, I happily went off again. So you may well have other sites where you hang out, and too many of them–I don’t know.)

    Anyway, I know you have some of our e-mail addresses, and it would be great if you stay in touch.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  62. Cheryl – Maybe I am misunderstanding your words, & maybe it is a matter of semantics, but do you not believe that the Holy Spirit leads us to make decisions, & that ignoring those “leadings”, “urgings”, “promptings”, “conviction”, etc. is disobeying God?

    Many of us would say about those leadings, conviction, etc., that “God told me. . .” or “God has led me to . . .” (although I do believe in being very careful about saying that – I tend to say “I think God has led me to. . .” if I say anything like that at all).

    Like

    Reply

  64. May I just tell you that I am liking me some Amazon Prime today. I got a bee in my bonnet to order 8 Gumbo spoons and some BIA Cordon Bleu Bowls yesterday for my dinner on Monday night. I received an email today to track the package for the spoons. It said they had been left in or near my garage. I walked outside and there they were. My bowls will be here tomorrow. It is all part of my grand plan to switch over to all white dishes, because the very pretty ones I have –well I am tired of them. I have eaten off of them over half my life

    https://www.replacements.com/webquote/MIKSIBL.htm

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  66. I love white dishes, so simple and plain. They were my first set (from Sears & Salvation Army) and I still have them.

    But I like solid colors, too, as in the Fiestaware look (I also have some vintage pieces of that).

    So who remembers the Monkees? This was posted today and it really is quite beautiful, I hadn’t heard them doing a harmony like that before.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  67. 1 Cor. 10:23?

    In determining what we do (or don’t do), it seems that it really is a matter of personal spiritual discipline when something is deemed out of whack or is taking up too much of our time (while distracting us from other pursuits).

    Like

    Reply

  68. The last time the subject of baptism came up, someone (I forget who) had a good point, but it was the last comment on the thread, & I don’t know how many actually saw it: Why would John & Jesus have gone into the Jordan only to stop & pour some water over His head?

    There are at least a couple verses about baptism being a picture of us being buried with Him, & then raised with Him, which the immersion method demonstrates.

    (In saying this, I don’t hold anything against those who sprinkle or pour.)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  69. Kim, I have switched to all white dishes, too. That way the dishes go with any colour scheme and you can mix in some of your old coloured ones when you want to accent that way.

    Like

    Reply

  70. Karen, I think it’s more than a matter of semantics, and I do believe God guides us (prepares us for certain things, directs our paths, etc.). I think the Holy Spirit can convict our conscience that a certain action is sin.

    But modern evangelicalism has two conflicting positions that we try to hold simultaneously and yet they are in conflict. On the one hand, we confirm sola Scriptura and believe that the canon is closed. We would say that God’s dealings with the prophets and apostles was unique (that He didn’t give private revelation to everyone in Bible days, but only to a few) and that we actually have more than the prophets and apostles had, in having His complete written Word.

    On the other hand, we look for unique and special guidance. We want a clear yes or no on “should I marry this person? should I take this job? should I go shopping now?” And yet God doesn’t promise such specific guidance. When I was looking to marry my husband, I prayed about it and I sought counsel. But I didn’t wait for a “green light” from God, a specific “yes, you should marry this man.” Scripture doesn’t tell us that such things are necessary in our decision making. When I made plans to leave Chicago, I firmly understood that it would not be sinful to stay, and it was not sinful to leave. I could serve God either place, my clear ministry had come to an end, and I wanted to leave. So I left. I know people who turn their every decision over to God (which checkout line, God?) . . . and I think there are several problems with that.

    (1) God has told us how to make decisions, and asking for a direct word isn’t part of it.
    (2) Clearly God doesn’t spell out all the details of all of our lives. Is that because He loves some of us more? Are those who fail to seek His answer on “which grocery store should I shop today?” less mature Christians, or are they actually sinning?
    (3) It is extremely easy to confuse our own subjective feelings with God’s leading. How many times have you heard “God told me to marry her” or even “God told me that he really made me gay, and I needed to be true to myself, leave my wife, and marry a man so that I would be true to how He created me”?
    (4) I personally have been in several conversations with people when they told me casually “God told me ________________.” In some cases, what they are saying is in some contradiction to Scripture (though not obviously sinful); sometimes it isn’t. But “God told me” shuts down conversation and decision-making. If someone tells me, “God told me to marry this man,” who am I to say, “You know that man sent two girlfriends to the hospital with broken bones just in the last year, right?” Because if God has said this is right, such considerations are trivial. My advice is irrelevant, or even cause to question God.
    (5) When God spoke to the prophets, generally His word was for more than that prophet–it was truth to be communicated to a wider community. God has now communicated fully with all of us, in a completed form, His Word. If He now speaks to individuals for their own private edification, it would seem that instead of His Word being the final word, it was really just the beginning and He now is supposed to give individualized prophecies. But are these for more than the private person, or just for that individual?

    All in all, I am content to know that God has spoken in Scripture, and I don’t need new, specific words from the Lord. As I make decisions, I pray for God to give me wisdom, and I seek counsel and weigh the options. But I don’t expect new, private revelation to guide me more specifically. I do think that God may sometimes lay an answer “in our lap.” In my single days I might have prayed for a new roommate and then run into someone at church who was looking for a roommate. I might be pondering a decision and a sermon seems to speak to it. But saying “God told me” is saying that I’m a prophet, and I’m not. Considering that false prphets were to be stoned, it isn’t a role I’d want to take upon myself!

    I know this is long, but hopefully it answers your question.

    Like

    Reply

  71. Karen, I see that I didn’t answer whether obeying urgings is disobeying God. It would depend on the situation. If I want to do something and my conscience (or the Holy Spirit) pricks me, and I do it anyway, then that is clear disobedience. If I’m in a conversation with an unbeliever, and a clear opening presents for me to give the Gospel, it might be disobedience not to speak of Christ. If I hear of a financial need of someone close to me, a need that I can help with, and I reject feeling any responsibility for it, that may be disobedience. (Then again, I may hear of a “need” but I know this person is irresponsible with money, or I don’t have resources to help even a little. But if I know I have an opportunity to be generous, and I choose not to be, that may be disobedience–but it’s disobedience to the commands of God, not to some internal feeling that might be something other than conscience. It might be false guilt or a desire to appear generous.)

    If I get the sense “I really should go to Wal-Mart right now and get that toothpaste my husband needs” and I choose not to follow through, then no, I am not disobeying God. (Unless my husband told me earlier today, “I really need it today, because I’m almost out.” Then I’m disobeying God by not honoring my husband.) Can God use such promptings? I’m sure He can. But to say that is God commanding something, and that not doing it is disboedience, is a stretch.

    Like

    Reply

  72. The question we want an answer to right now is, do we support letting the refugees into our country? As Christians, we are to offer aid. Does that mean entry to the country? As Americans? Does our Christianity not allow us to participate as Americans? Not all questions are easily answered, especially if you are the one entrusted with the welfare of your family.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  73. Cheryl, ignore the part of my post you quoted. It didn’t come out the way it should have, and I’m not very good at explaining.

    Karen and Guess Who are getting at the heart of what I was thinking. This isn’t an across-the-board, internet-is-bad, nobody-should-be-on-it sort of thing. The way *I’m* using it is getting in the way of the good I should be doing.

    It’s very complicated, and there’s a lot you don’t know.

    Liken it to drinking wine, if you will. Nothing wrong with that, in moderation (which is how I drink it). In fact, there are benefits that can be conferred.

    But not if you’re pouring yourself a full glass for the 25th time in a day and you’re as good as passed out in your chair when all is said and done, and the important things in life got almost entirely passed by — again — today.

    That’s not life, and it’s not obedience, either, when you take a good thing and overindulge, to your loved ones’ detriment.

    James 4:17 has been on my mind a lot: Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

    I know the good I am supposed to be doing, but I’m failing at it. (With my family, anyway.)

    If I could use the internet like I do wine — a moderate amount of it each day, if I remember I’ve got some — that would be great.

    That is far from the reality, though.

    I may have sounded too much like this is a permanent decision, though I said I didn’t know if it is. I’m not of the mindset that I’m an addict for life, and have to swear off the internet forever.

    But it is a problem now, and something has to be done.

    I value you all, and the friendships I have made here (and, yes, at another site, too — I’ve been there longer than I was/have been at WMB/here), and sincerely hope I didn’t sound like I was casting it all to the wind. I wanted to be transparent about the struggle I am having, and not just disappear without a word, for whatever length of time it will take.

    Also, yes, I thought about emails, too, being that I’ve got several of your addresses. I may keep in touch periodically, as the time I spend emailing hasn’t been nearly as much a problem area as the long periods of time I spend on blogs each day. But I hope it doesn’t become a “gateway drug,” if you will, back into the big wide world of internet overuse again.

    Does that make sense? I guess if I could just do the “nutshell” version, it would be to tell you, you guys aren’t the problem. I am. So if I seem insensitive, or like I don’t want anything to do with you anymore, that’s not my intent (and nobody implied that, either, I should point out).

    There’s just a whole lot that needs addressing in my life outside of the ‘net right now, as there has been for a long time, and I simply mostly ignored the mounting problem.

    Forgive what is probably a scattered, disjointed reply. It may sound like there are inconsistencies, but that is likely due to my inability to write well.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  80. The Bible refers to the Holy Spirit as our counselor, & says that God gives us wisdom when we ask for it. There have been several times in our lives when we knew beyond a doubt that God was leading us one way, or warning us off from another way. For instance, when looking for a house, we almost bought a particular one that was beautiful, but each of us “had a feeling”, which we felt was from the Holy Spirit, telling us not to buy that one. (We each had that uncomfortable feeling building up in us for a bit before we talked to each other about it.)

    Later we realized it would not have been good for us to buy that house.

    Cheryl, as for your example, a Christian who has been properly taught would accept a reply similar to this: “Are you sure that was God? This man has been abusive to his other girlfriends. Sometimes our feelings can trick us.” Some women would accept your words, others might be set on marrying the guy no matter what.

    Like

    Reply

  85. Chas, it doesn’t bother me much when someone says casually, “I feel like God wants me to . . .” They might well have been reading Scripture and see something missing in their lives, or they see a need in their community, or whatever. But if someone tells me, “God told me to sell my house, give all the money to my church, and move to Puerto Rico,” my first thought is going to be that he’s in a cult and his pastor has found a way to manipulate his members into giving him all their belongings and to believe it’s God’s will.

    And if a person gushes, “I just know God brought him into my life. In fact, I asked God if I should marry him, and he told me yes,” I’m going to want to know is he a Christian walking with the Lord. (In my experience, the person gushing with “God told me” often doesn’t know the answer to truly basic questions like that.) What’s his character like? Does he want kids too? Have they talked about how they’ll educate them? If it’s all “Oh, God brought me to him, and he’s just wonderful, wonderful, and I know it will be great,” then I know that she is looking at “feelings” and attributing them to God’s will and she hasn’t done her homework. But if she’s convinced enough that God wants her to do this, she won’t care about my questions at all, and unless I’m really close to her, I won’t ask them.

    Like

    Reply

  86. Karen, as to the “feelings” about not buying that house, I’m not going to say it wasn’t the Holy Spirit. It might well have been. But I’m inclined to say (1) unbelievers get such feelings too and (2) if it is the Holy Spirit nudging you not to do something, then doing it in spite of those misgivings would be sin, and I don’t think the Holy Spirit works by vague misgivings. In other words, I’m inclined to say that Scripture presents the Holy Spirit as convincing us of sin and pointing us to Christ, not keeping us away from those brussel sprouts that were poisoned. Now, God works in multiple ways (including angelic protection), so I’m not going to say that a “sense” about something didn’t come from Him. But personally I think it’s safer (and more biblical) to say, “It just didn’t feel right to either of us” and not second-guess exactly why we had that sense.

    See, my parents and my husband’s parents occasionally made decisions by deciding some “sign” was from God. In one case, when a real-estate agent didn’t show up on time, it was seen as a sign they weren’t supposed to buy that house. In another instance, a yellow rose on a plaque someone gave me when we were moving was proof that we were indeed supposed to move to Texas . . . and a car breakdown on that trip ended up being proof that we weren’t. But God isn’t that “tricky,” giving us obscure signs we are supposed to interpret to find His will (if we’re good enough at decoding). It’s better to do the research, decide whether we like the weather in that town in Texas, whether there will be jobs for the kids since they’re teenagers now, whether we can afford the cost of living, whether there are good churches in the area, and so forth. Relying on decoding those signs ended up putting us in a place that should have been obviously a poor fit (since I was 15 and my younger siblings almost 14 and 12 and there was no possibility of a job for us in the community . . . Dad was retiring and Mom was a housewife, so jobs for them weren’t necessary, but you don’t take your teen children into a community where there are no jobs within 15 miles). God has told us to make decisions with counselors and thinking things through, not through decoding feelings and signs.

    A “sense” that something is off can be very useful. Maybe the real-estate agent is dishonest. Or the house is unsafe, or the neighborhood deteriorating, or the house just doesn’t feel homelike. If it doesn’t feel right, then it doesn’t hurt to walk away. But our reasons for doing something should ideally be deeper than “it just felt like the right thing to do” even if that good feeling seems like God’s blessing. If it’s as simple as renting a $300 apartment, then the feeling that this is right might be simple enough and not a big deal. But if we’re signing a 30-year mortgage we’d better have done our homework, and if we’re getting married we definitely need to have done so.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a reply to ajisuun Cancel reply