What a week! In the past week and a half, we’ve gone between 70 degrees and snow, and added a tornado for sound effects.
In our little church (about 50, including children, on Sunday morning), in the past week and a half we have lost our former pastor’s wife (they retired less than two years ago, and last summer he was up to conduct a wedding in our church), our oldest woman (92), fathers of two church members (including one who came to our church as he was able), and the cousin of a church member. We had three funerals in two days; Thursday we had an out-of-state funeral, a local viewing and funeral, and a local viewing. We ourselves went to the other viewing first, knowing that a lady in her nineties who spent her last few months in a nursing home would probably get mostly church members at her services, and the widower needed our presence, if only for a few minutes since we had our own to attend.
Nearly all of my husband’s cousins (from both sides) were present at the funeral (some drove a long way and he hadn’t seen them for many years); Mom and Dad were the last uncle and aunt on either side, and had been almost a parent figure to several who had lost their parents or had abusive parents. All the siblings and spouses of his late wife were there (they live locally, but one set has two grown special needs children who can’t be left alone), and most of our church family made it to the viewing or the funeral or both. It was really cold at the graveside (about 20 degrees), feeling all the colder because we rarely saw such temperatures this winter.
Other aspects of this week, which I won’t go into, have been particularly hard or stressful, and it would be good to have continued prayers.
Chas, I’m not good at this stuff. I don’t even know how to send AJ pictures. However, I have learned how to share my Facebook posts onto these threads. Some time back I learned how to post pictures on Facebook and Twitter. If I need help, I’ll seek out a 12 year old to guide me.
🙂 Income tax is finished and gone.
State and Federal. It bugs me to have to pay NC $20.00 to file electronically. In prior years I sent them paper. But the PO is too far away and the hassle is exponentially greater here than in H’ville.
My young friend, who was originally from Chile, probably wishes it were that close to us.
I think a lot of young people would be simply amazed at the fun the Senior Citizens have at the potluck and jam we were at last night. This is put on monthly and my husband is one of several performers on occasion, as he was last night. The musicians are also all Senior Citizens.
There are a few middle aged couples who also come out to enjoy an evening of dancing. One forty five year old drives 65 or so miles to pick up her grandfather and bring him dancing. They dance almost every single song. One 92 year old also dances almost every song with various woman who are there alone. One couple met, had their reception at one of the shows and recently celebrated their two year anniversary.
There is no alcohol, but it is obviously not needed for all these people to have a ball. If only the young people could realize that.
One thing that bothers some is that these people even dance to the gospel songs that are song. It causes some to no longer sing these in this venue. The show always ends with all the performers on stage singing, “I Saw the Light.” There were even a couple of dance couples dancing to that!
Wondering what others think of the dancing to gospel songs? It is not something I have ever given much thought. This is not liturgical dancing, of course. I sometimes wonder, given the words, how they can do that. I assume they are only listening to the beat.
🙂 For the good fun these people have–both musicians and performers.
Kathaleena – My guess would be, as you said, that a lot of the people dancing to the gospel songs are merely dancing to the music, not really paying attention to the words.
But some would say that dancing in joy to a gospel song is biblical. David danced in worship before the Lord, & from the way it is described, it wasn’t a choreographed sort of thing. I have sometimes danced around to Christian music myself, & some churches have people dancing in the aisles. At our church, we don’t dance in the aisles, but many of us kind of semi-dance where we stand.
Others may disagree. I would be interested in reading their opinions & reasons.
In our sermon today (on Rom. 14:1-4) our pastor confessed to realizing how judgmental he was in the past when he’d attend churches where the music was perhaps more shallow theologically, more emotion-driven, and went on for longer periods than many of us are used to.
He also shared about a his involvement in the past couple years with some 12 pastors in our community, all from different denominations who had some serious doctrinal differences, got along so well as brothers in Christ. They were together in a mission to help a particular church that was struggling and our pastor said that in spite of some of the rather deep divisions doctrinally, they all thoroughly enjoyed each others company, saw one another as Christians answerable to God, and trusting simply in that — they had a Master and none of them was He 🙂
If a prohibition is not in scripture, btw, there is liberty — though one should be sensitive to the weaker brothers.
As an example, our pastor said many years ago he was leading a Bible study and a young attendee took major offense when he laid his Bible on the floor. In future meetings — while there was no such prohibition to be found in Scripture, of course — he made it a point to NOT put his Bible on the floor for her sake.
But I think his overall point was that of attitude and demeanor toward other Christians (as well as non-Christians). He suggested we’ve all been guilty of “despising” others in these areas.
Kizzie, I don’t have a problem with clapping or dancing in worship, theoretically. I think David’s and Miriam’s dancing in worship shows that God has no problem with it – it is interesting in David’s case, when Michel criticizes him for his lack of dignity in dancing before the ark, she is punished for it. I’ve long had the sense that the angels move in a kind of dance, as they are often described in visions of heaven as going up and down, or running and returning. I certainly wouldn’t have a problem with the situation K describes, with people dancing to gospel songs during a jam. However, one thing we are told in Scripture about our corporate worship is that it should be done decently and in order. I’m not sure, given people’s very diverse dancing styles (or lack thereof) that it would be conducive to maintaining order. Furthermore, it might cause less of an emphasis on worshipping through song, which is definitely instructed in Scripture. So, I’m all for dancing in worship at appropriate times, but probably not in Sunday service.
As for me personally, I’m too self-conscious to be a good dancer in public. I start feeling shy and then I get all awkward. But often, in my mind, I dance, and sometimes, if I’m very happy and thankful, I might dance outwardly a little where no one can see me. I’m like Mumsee. She always says she’ll drink wine in the Resurrection – I think I’ll dance.
In our lessons from the Pakistani convert to Christianity from Islam while living in Greece, we learned that it is absolutely a no no to put the Koran down on the floor. So, also, though there is no directive to us on that, I try to be aware of others when I set mine down.
I’ll have to admit that I’m pretty careless. I don’t think about where I’m placing the Bible. Same as any other book of value.
😦 We had lunch at Appleby’s today. We had coffee with lunch.
They served it in glasses. Not mugs, glasses.
On the way out the door, I mentioned to the lady that it felt unnatural..
Has anyone ever had coffee in a glass?
Cups, Styrofoam, metal cups with handles, but never before in a glass.
Chas, among the miscellaneous mugs in my parents’ home is one that is made of glass; however, I would think that a glass without a handle would be dangerous for any hot beverage. You go to pick it up, your hand starts burning, you drop the glass, and get boiling liquid all over you.
Mumsee, I learned that when I was in West Africa, when worshipping with converts from Islam, don’t place your Bible on the floor or on a chair. Since they are accustomed to treating a holy book with a lot of respect – in a Muslim home that owns a Quran, it sits on a special shelf by itself wrapped in a cloth – it sends the wrong signal when we treat our Bible carelessly.
Doing a story one one of local mosques many years ago, one of the women gave me a Koran, though she said I should wash my hands before touching it — can’t remember if anything was said about placing it on the floor, but in context I would have assumed as much
And I remember the Bible-on-the-floor issue was raised once at a former church when we choir members would bring small Bibles with us into the choir loft. If I’m hemmed in at church and there’s no place to put all my things next to me, I do find I’ll set my Bible on top of my bag on the floor, not on the floor itself (also makes it within easier reach that way). But I don’t recall the issue being raised recently by anyone I know.
I’m assuming my parents at some point said something about never setting the Bible on the floor, as it is something I’ve always been careful not to do. It would be impractical to impossible never to put it on a chair–I haven’t been inclined to own coffee tables, so I have had times when pretty much all the furniture in the living room was some form of a chair (and I can’t see the need for that prohibition), but I don’t put it on the floor. (I “see” the idea for the prohibition, but it doesn’t feel disrespectful in the way that putting it on the floor does. I’ve never said anything to anyone else about putting it on the floor, but it isn’t something I usually see done.)
Wandering Views 
😦 I’ve been trying to figure out how Ricky attached a picture to his post yesterday, but can’t do it..
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What a week! In the past week and a half, we’ve gone between 70 degrees and snow, and added a tornado for sound effects.
In our little church (about 50, including children, on Sunday morning), in the past week and a half we have lost our former pastor’s wife (they retired less than two years ago, and last summer he was up to conduct a wedding in our church), our oldest woman (92), fathers of two church members (including one who came to our church as he was able), and the cousin of a church member. We had three funerals in two days; Thursday we had an out-of-state funeral, a local viewing and funeral, and a local viewing. We ourselves went to the other viewing first, knowing that a lady in her nineties who spent her last few months in a nursing home would probably get mostly church members at her services, and the widower needed our presence, if only for a few minutes since we had our own to attend.
Nearly all of my husband’s cousins (from both sides) were present at the funeral (some drove a long way and he hadn’t seen them for many years); Mom and Dad were the last uncle and aunt on either side, and had been almost a parent figure to several who had lost their parents or had abusive parents. All the siblings and spouses of his late wife were there (they live locally, but one set has two grown special needs children who can’t be left alone), and most of our church family made it to the viewing or the funeral or both. It was really cold at the graveside (about 20 degrees), feeling all the colder because we rarely saw such temperatures this winter.
Other aspects of this week, which I won’t go into, have been particularly hard or stressful, and it would be good to have continued prayers.
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Absolutely, Cheryl. Will keep you all in our prayers.
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Interesting thoughts on dealing with homosexuality; this girl’s maturity amazes me. We HAVE to be graceful.
http://www.jonahdorris.com/2016/11/12/emily-thomes/
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Chas, I’m not good at this stuff. I don’t even know how to send AJ pictures. However, I have learned how to share my Facebook posts onto these threads. Some time back I learned how to post pictures on Facebook and Twitter. If I need help, I’ll seek out a 12 year old to guide me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂 Income tax is finished and gone.
State and Federal. It bugs me to have to pay NC $20.00 to file electronically. In prior years I sent them paper. But the PO is too far away and the hassle is exponentially greater here than in H’ville.
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Ricky, I’ve tried copying the url to a FB post to share but as I recall it didn’t work for me — is there a different way?
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DJ, (And I’m not trying to be funny) What is “the url”?
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The way I share a Facebook post to this thread is as follows:
1. I hit “share” on my own post after broadening the privacy setting for that post.
2. I hit “copy link”.
3. I come here, tap the screen and hit “paste”.
I generally do it on my iPad, but I think it also works on an iPhone.
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DJ, I’m sorry. I accidentally elaborated at 3:32 on the political thread.
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Ah, well that sounds easy enough 🙂
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Here we go:
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I never realized that Chile went right across the United States! 😉
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They’ve tipped Chile over. All the people are gonna fall out!
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Kizzie, At least they tilted it so that the Andes are on the bottom. Maybe the mountains will hold the people in.
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Good point, Ricky!
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My young friend, who was originally from Chile, probably wishes it were that close to us.
I think a lot of young people would be simply amazed at the fun the Senior Citizens have at the potluck and jam we were at last night. This is put on monthly and my husband is one of several performers on occasion, as he was last night. The musicians are also all Senior Citizens.
There are a few middle aged couples who also come out to enjoy an evening of dancing. One forty five year old drives 65 or so miles to pick up her grandfather and bring him dancing. They dance almost every single song. One 92 year old also dances almost every song with various woman who are there alone. One couple met, had their reception at one of the shows and recently celebrated their two year anniversary.
There is no alcohol, but it is obviously not needed for all these people to have a ball. If only the young people could realize that.
One thing that bothers some is that these people even dance to the gospel songs that are song. It causes some to no longer sing these in this venue. The show always ends with all the performers on stage singing, “I Saw the Light.” There were even a couple of dance couples dancing to that!
Wondering what others think of the dancing to gospel songs? It is not something I have ever given much thought. This is not liturgical dancing, of course. I sometimes wonder, given the words, how they can do that. I assume they are only listening to the beat.
🙂 For the good fun these people have–both musicians and performers.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Kathaleena – My guess would be, as you said, that a lot of the people dancing to the gospel songs are merely dancing to the music, not really paying attention to the words.
But some would say that dancing in joy to a gospel song is biblical. David danced in worship before the Lord, & from the way it is described, it wasn’t a choreographed sort of thing. I have sometimes danced around to Christian music myself, & some churches have people dancing in the aisles. At our church, we don’t dance in the aisles, but many of us kind of semi-dance where we stand.
Others may disagree. I would be interested in reading their opinions & reasons.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Btw, in case it wasn’t clear, I don’t mean that the people dancing to the music but not paying attention to the words are doing anything biblical.
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In our sermon today (on Rom. 14:1-4) our pastor confessed to realizing how judgmental he was in the past when he’d attend churches where the music was perhaps more shallow theologically, more emotion-driven, and went on for longer periods than many of us are used to.
He also shared about a his involvement in the past couple years with some 12 pastors in our community, all from different denominations who had some serious doctrinal differences, got along so well as brothers in Christ. They were together in a mission to help a particular church that was struggling and our pastor said that in spite of some of the rather deep divisions doctrinally, they all thoroughly enjoyed each others company, saw one another as Christians answerable to God, and trusting simply in that — they had a Master and none of them was He 🙂
If a prohibition is not in scripture, btw, there is liberty — though one should be sensitive to the weaker brothers.
As an example, our pastor said many years ago he was leading a Bible study and a young attendee took major offense when he laid his Bible on the floor. In future meetings — while there was no such prohibition to be found in Scripture, of course — he made it a point to NOT put his Bible on the floor for her sake.
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Other issues — drinking wine, etc. — probably hit closer to home for many Christians today who struggle with liberty in those matters.
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But I think his overall point was that of attitude and demeanor toward other Christians (as well as non-Christians). He suggested we’ve all been guilty of “despising” others in these areas.
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Kizzie, I don’t have a problem with clapping or dancing in worship, theoretically. I think David’s and Miriam’s dancing in worship shows that God has no problem with it – it is interesting in David’s case, when Michel criticizes him for his lack of dignity in dancing before the ark, she is punished for it. I’ve long had the sense that the angels move in a kind of dance, as they are often described in visions of heaven as going up and down, or running and returning. I certainly wouldn’t have a problem with the situation K describes, with people dancing to gospel songs during a jam. However, one thing we are told in Scripture about our corporate worship is that it should be done decently and in order. I’m not sure, given people’s very diverse dancing styles (or lack thereof) that it would be conducive to maintaining order. Furthermore, it might cause less of an emphasis on worshipping through song, which is definitely instructed in Scripture. So, I’m all for dancing in worship at appropriate times, but probably not in Sunday service.
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As for me personally, I’m too self-conscious to be a good dancer in public. I start feeling shy and then I get all awkward. But often, in my mind, I dance, and sometimes, if I’m very happy and thankful, I might dance outwardly a little where no one can see me. I’m like Mumsee. She always says she’ll drink wine in the Resurrection – I think I’ll dance.
LikeLiked by 2 people
In our lessons from the Pakistani convert to Christianity from Islam while living in Greece, we learned that it is absolutely a no no to put the Koran down on the floor. So, also, though there is no directive to us on that, I try to be aware of others when I set mine down.
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I also try to be careful with my Bible when others are around. Not that I am in the habit of tossing mine around at home….
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I’ll have to admit that I’m pretty careless. I don’t think about where I’m placing the Bible. Same as any other book of value.
😦 We had lunch at Appleby’s today. We had coffee with lunch.
They served it in glasses. Not mugs, glasses.
On the way out the door, I mentioned to the lady that it felt unnatural..
Has anyone ever had coffee in a glass?
Cups, Styrofoam, metal cups with handles, but never before in a glass.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not only is it unnatural, the coffee cools quickly.
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Chas, among the miscellaneous mugs in my parents’ home is one that is made of glass; however, I would think that a glass without a handle would be dangerous for any hot beverage. You go to pick it up, your hand starts burning, you drop the glass, and get boiling liquid all over you.
Mumsee, I learned that when I was in West Africa, when worshipping with converts from Islam, don’t place your Bible on the floor or on a chair. Since they are accustomed to treating a holy book with a lot of respect – in a Muslim home that owns a Quran, it sits on a special shelf by itself wrapped in a cloth – it sends the wrong signal when we treat our Bible carelessly.
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All things to all men.
Doing a story one one of local mosques many years ago, one of the women gave me a Koran, though she said I should wash my hands before touching it — can’t remember if anything was said about placing it on the floor, but in context I would have assumed as much
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And I remember the Bible-on-the-floor issue was raised once at a former church when we choir members would bring small Bibles with us into the choir loft. If I’m hemmed in at church and there’s no place to put all my things next to me, I do find I’ll set my Bible on top of my bag on the floor, not on the floor itself (also makes it within easier reach that way). But I don’t recall the issue being raised recently by anyone I know.
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I’m assuming my parents at some point said something about never setting the Bible on the floor, as it is something I’ve always been careful not to do. It would be impractical to impossible never to put it on a chair–I haven’t been inclined to own coffee tables, so I have had times when pretty much all the furniture in the living room was some form of a chair (and I can’t see the need for that prohibition), but I don’t put it on the floor. (I “see” the idea for the prohibition, but it doesn’t feel disrespectful in the way that putting it on the floor does. I’ve never said anything to anyone else about putting it on the floor, but it isn’t something I usually see done.)
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