49 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 9-18-18”

  1. good morning almost everyone.
    Good night Jo.
    I was messing around on yesterday’s thread and saw this before I left.
    But I’m off to fix breakfast for TSWITW now.

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  2. Oh yes, in the mention of churches yesterday, I forgot to mention that I did attend a house church once for a time, a few weeks I think but it might have been a few months. I was about 14. Mom and Dad had been approached about a church start-up, and they knew some of the people involved, so we attended.

    After a few weeks, they determined that what pulled that would-be church together was dissatisfaction with the local churches, and that wasn’t in itself enough to create a healthy church, and so we stopped going. I suppose that wasn’t a true “house church” because the idea was to eventually form a larger body, but I can’t really imagine a church having as its explicit purpose staying small and continuing to meet in homes, either.

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  3. My church is an independent Bible church and I have been attending since 1973. The church is over 150 years old and used to be congregational, but became independent when they no longer believed in the inerrancy of scripture.

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  4. Morning! That is a beautiful photo up there Janice! We had a spectacular sunset last evening with a bright orange sky. I only get to see it through the trees and not the full effect along the mountain range but it is beautiful nonetheless!
    Our small group Bible study starts back up tonight and we shall be studying the book of Acts.
    I have attended many churches over the years. I first attended an Evangelical Brethren church as a child. They united with the Methodist so then I became a Methodist. I began following Christ in the Baptist church. We then found ourselves in the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church in Myrtle Beach and that is the denomination where we are today, attending in Colorado Springs. We have been a part of Calvary Chapel, Vineyard, Open Bible, RPCNA, and a large non denominational church. We have made many life long friends through attending all of these churches for which we are so incredibly thankful.

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  5. Oh I guess I forgot a couple other churches we attended. In FL we attended a church started by Jamie Buckingham and then a church plant from the bigger church. I am not certain if that was a denomination or not. And when in Clemson we went to a sort of Pentecostal church where they didn’t believe in women wearing makeup nor wearing pants. Well I did both and they still loved me and we have remained friends with the Pastor and his family after all these years. They even visited us here in CO 😊

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  6. Good morning. The photo is what the sky looked like as we left the office a few evenings ago. We’ve had some lovely skies based on the hurricane. We got the better side of it all. That beauty was a reminder to pray for those being flooded by the ugly clouds.

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  7. I’ve been out cleaning up after the storm. A big mess out there but no damage. Some limbs down, none bigger than your arm. If you in the other parts of the country see on FoxNews, etc., lots of people in N & S Carolina are wiped out. No homes anymore. And yesterday, I don’t know if it’s re-opened, I-95 was closed in NC. But I, and all my people are ok.

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  8. We left for the office at 6:30 so I could drop Art off and get back home by 8:30. I got home at 8:40. We are having the cracked windshields in both our cars replaced today. After that is done then I will get back into the Atlanta traffic to head back to the office. Maybe this windshield replacement goes along with that dream I had where cars were dismantled. I need to get them fixed not only for looks, but also because of trading one in on a purchase.

    I need to look back at yesterday’s post and read it about the churches. We did go to the one in the downtown of our county seat which wss not the downtown Atlanta church, where the Senior pastor was let go and then an associate woman pastor left and then another. We met with a few splinter people who really liked the Senior pastor at the local YWCA (that was the location I had suggested), but after a few times I realized the group was being based on more of following the pastor than in following God, so we moved on. This was while I was transitioning from being a nominal Christian, while I was being dtawn more and more to an authentic relationship with Jesus.

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  9. NancyJ. I mentioned before, my parents belonged to the Church of God, Cleveland, Tenn. (I explain that because I understand there are lots of denominations that claim that title.)
    Anyhow, they didn’t believe women should wear makeup, jewelry, pants nor cut their hair. Not drink, smoke, nor run around with wild women.
    My dad was saved three times because, he was saved, but had this strong habit of smoking cigars. Smoking was forbidden and he thought those cigars would send him to hell. But he eventually overcame it. He was a good man and I never worried about him.

    I say that, to tell this. My sister and her husband belonged to that church. One Sunday morning, their preacher was preaching a strong sermon about women wearing makeup and jewelry.
    My sister noticed that he was wearing a shirt with cufflinks and a tie-tac. They left that church in anger and the family literally fell apart. Her husband died not belonging to a church. Sister belongs, and works with a Methodist church now.
    It’s amazing what tragedy a pair of cuff links can do.

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  10. Michelle, I hope I haven’t been obnoxious in “correcting” your theology. It’s just that having been rescued from a Baptist/fundamental background, I find our Lutheran theology to be very precious.
    Mumsee, please don’t lump all Lutherans together. The LCMS (Michelle and me) and WIsconsin Synod (6 Arrows) are totally different than the ELCA, which is always the “Lutherans” you hear and read about in the media. Worlds apart.

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  11. That got sort of muddled. We were meeting at the Y as we were trying to start a new church with that pastor who got let go. This was a mainline Presbyterian church.

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  12. So glad you and your kin are all okay, Chas. I feel so bad for all those affected.

    We are currently in a Free Lutheran Church. Our pastor had to retire from here a couple of years ago. He had been the pastor for many years. The current pastor is part time and is Baptist in his beliefs. Needless to say, this makes for some interesting complications. We are not members but long time attenders. The pastor’s wife and daughter just moved to WI to find a better job. So now, our pastor and his family live apart. I see none of this as positive, but it will be interesting to see how God is working and both the church and the pastor. He is a good speaker and has a heart for evangelism. That is his background. Being a pastor is a new thing for him and he struggles with that. Whether our church will survive is a question in my mind. I pray about it all and contribute where I can.

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  13. Chas I am so very thankful you did not experience major damage from the storm. I saw photos of the damage at Brookgreen Gardens. Many downed branches and trees but they are now in the clean up stage…no damage to the buildings nor sculptures….they will reopen soon.
    I once attended a retreat we had with our Pregnancy Center workers. Our speaker was a Pastor from the Springs. He boasted that his lips had never met tobacco, alcohol nor coffee. After his presentation, one of the ladies pointed out he was over at the soda machine drinking his Coke…. 😮

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  14. Lovely photo! I have a lifelong love of trees or cactus sent into silhouette by a sunset. The silhouettes of other things, too, that are recognizable, such as antlered deer or a log cabin.

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  15. There is a business next door to us on one side that is not so attractive (a glass business that often involves dumpsters with sounds of old glass being thrown in and crashing). But I can raise the camera lens up above that to get lovely sky and tree shots. On the other side is a well kept home and across the street as well. The office has a real down home feel if you can get past the occasional sound of crashing glass 😂

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  16. The guys are here ficing the windshields. The place next to the office does not do auto windshields. I did find out the guys came here from south of the office and they fought horrible traffic. If I had known, it would have been simplier to have met at the office.

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  18. It is a little late here. Dj, I got your bug bites. Eight bites on my legs today and they are already swollen and look infected. And, of course, itchy. With no school tomorrow I decided to check in here. I also made a post on the prayer board. One of our doctors is in my Bible study that met tonight.

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  19. Cheryl – I know what you mean about silhouettes in the sunset. I especially love the sight of bare trees (after the leaves have fallen) looking black against a darkening sky. So strikingly beautiful.

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  21. Thanksgiving is going to be different this year, and I am a bit nervous about it.

    Nightingale and her good friend Virginia are planning to have Thanksgiving here, along with Virginia’s boyfriend Behrang (of Iranian descent, but born in India, I think) and her brother who lives with her. Chickadee says she will be here, too. (And yes, Nightingale asked me for my approval on these plans. She didn’t merely tell me this is what we’re gonna do.)

    Virginia and Behrang are in a different class than we are. We are lower middle class and they are upper middle class. Her job description on Facebook says “Manager- Aftermarket Metallurgical & Chemical Quality Control, Quality and Process Engineering”, for which she travels quite a lot, even abroad. (She was in Shanghai not too long ago.) Behrang is a mathematics professor.

    So they’re both super-smart as well as more well-off than we are.

    Our house is in such need of repair and renovation, and much of our furniture is ready for the dump heap. I know that all this stuff is not really important, but it bothers me.

    But they are dear friends of Nightingale’s, so they must be nice people. They accept her and love her. (I met Virginia recently, and she was nice and gracious.)

    Also, this will be the second Thanksgiving without Hubby. The second. That means time is moving on, and he is a bit further in our past, and he really isn’t coming back. This living without him is permanent, the “new normal”.

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  22. And it is individuals within the church rather than the church itself that does the hurting. From what I have seen, it is typically the wealthiest givers who tend to feel ownership of the church that can bring on a lot of hurt.

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  24. No worries, Linda. An LCMS retired principal attends my Bible study and sits next to me each week. It’s all friendly but I appreciate when she clarifies my teaching from a Lutheran perspective! 🙂

    Interestingly, we use an IVPress study because my elderly ladies don’t want to do homework anymore and really enjoy the discussion. The study provides us with 10-12 questions each week and we go at them. Sometimes the questions don’t jive with Lutheran theology (or occasionally any theology I can tell), so we reject the question and discuss the point.

    It all works.

    We start in an hour, so I better get dressed! 🙂

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  25. I just came to say I am still alive and kicking.
    I caught up on some of the church you have attended posts.
    First I will address this to myself. If it happens to poke at you, then that is what it was meant to do. If not then you have nothing to worry about.
    “Be careful, Kim, how far you climb up on that high horse. It’s a long, disgraceful way to fall down”.
    I have told you many times, I used to be the most judgemental person I knew. Now? Nah, not so much.
    I was christened in the Methodist Church. Terrorized in the Independent Methodist Church. Discovered God loved me in the Episcopal Church. Was restored in the Anglican Church. I have dabbled in the Baptist Church off and on most of my life. If you invite me to your church, I will gladly go with you.
    As for the age-old question of whether or not you can lose your salvation. The best answer I have ever heard is, “Beleive you can’t and live as if you can”.

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  26. Oh Kizzie I pray you can enjoy your guests and that they might be ministered to by you during this Thanksgiving. See past the ‘stuff’….YOU are the gift in their lives…..
    When we first moved to the forest my neighbor a property over walked over to meet me. She informed me that there was a ‘wine club’ in the neighborhood and that I would never be invited. I just smiled and said ‘ok’….she went on to tell me the reason I would not be invited is due to the fact that my house isn’t ‘nice enough’….she explained the ladies of the group were snooty and only wanted to see your stuff and how expensively you lived. It is funny because I met some of the couples while I served on the HOA board and they were quite lovely. They even came to my home for informal meetings and never treated me as though I was “beneath” them. Trust the Lord to reveal to others who HE is through YOU….we reach others through His grace and mercy…. 💕

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  27. Painter is here — making good progress now, though he fashions himself a color consultant and it always trying to talk me into changing up the color schemes here and there. 🙂

    There’s some concern about some damaged stucco along the bottom of the south wall where plants, moisture and the sun have taken a toll through the years. He said I could replace that stucco or go ahead and use the extra-bonding primer and paint, though he thinks it may not adhere long term. I’ll talk to the real estate guy about it (he and painter clash big time so they can’t discuss it together but I can get a 2nd opinion from him by sending him photos).

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  29. People are people, Kizzie, they all have their insecurities, too, and probably wonder if you look down on them because they tie their shoes differently. Just love on them and enjoy.

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  30. I grew up in a Mennonite Brethren church. They are very mission-minded and evangelical – not at all like a Mennonite Church is. Sometimes I think the only similarities are the food and common expressions used. Husband and I started attending Christian & Missionary Alliance when we were still dating and then sort of alternated between them and the MB church until we moved away for college. There we attended a Baptist church (that’s where I learned that not all Baptist churches are alike). We then moved again and attended a very small Baptist church in Golden that met in a Seventh day church. When we moved to Radium Hot Springs we found another Alliance church to attend. Since then we’ve only attended Alliance churches except when we were in Val Marie where we went to a little gospel church that only had a building because the former denomination had wanted to sell/demolish the church but one of the current attender’s name was on the deed so the church stayed. It was essentially a house church that met in a church. There was no pastor, no board, no real organization because we all just realized we needed a church and there was simply no other church anywhere nearby (unless you count the RC church or the United – I don’t). I think we met every other Sunday night as most had quite a drive to make to get to that town. There was really only us and 2 other families. We currently attend an Alliance church in Prince Albert. It’s the same church husband attended as a child for a few years, but they’ve repaired the wall where he put his head through wrestling with his friends. 🙂

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  32. I do hope that somehow Jesus will be seen through me to them.

    Nightingale has said that she and Virginia have sometimes had discussions about money, in which Nightingale has tried to explain to Virginia the realities for people who don’t have a lot of disposable income. V will suggest buying something or using some service, and N will point out that most people can’t afford those things.

    So since we will be hosting Thanksgiving here, I guess it’s time to get around to some of the cleaning and straightening projects I’ve put off. I think I am finally ready.

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  33. Had a nice talk with my pastor’s sweet wife after service this past Sunday. She reminded me that there are people ready and willing to help us if needed, and I just need to call her and she will make it happen.

    Speaking of church on Sunday. . .Cindy, the lady who drives me to church, had let me know last week that she and her husband would not be here Sunday. So I got in touch with a lady named Christine, who has repeatedly offered her help, knowing it would bless her to have this opportunity to help. And she was indeed happy I asked.

    After service, J (that’s his name – not Jay) and JoAnne took me home as they usually do. As I was making my lunch, Christine called. She said she had gotten caught up with chatting, and then didn’t see me around. I thought she knew that J and JoAnne would be taking me home. I apologized for not mentioning that to her, and we had a good laugh.

    It has been sweet and touching how J and JoAnne have watched out for me since Hubby’s death. We were all friends, and would sit near each other in church, with us usually in the row in front of them. Now I sit right next to them.

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  34. Kizzie, I am putting on my Southern Belle Persona and making my most Uppity Miss Manner’s Decrees:
    TRUE Hospitality is about the fellowship. It doesn’t matter what kind of furniture or dishes you have. It matters that it is clean and that you are willing to share. People who judge you because you don’t have sterling silver and Spode china aren’t worth your time nor hospitality.

    SECOND, let the people who want to help you, help. If you need to clean your house before you feel comfortable letting people in then, by all means, tell the people you go to church with and let them help. Some of the repairs around the house, your church may have skilled people who would be happy to do these things for you.

    Let them. Let us.

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  38. “Letting other help” is often the hardest part if you have been doing everything yourself. I don’t mind giving the guy across the street $20 to cut my grass. And he could use it. It’s just that I never had anyone cut my grass before. It just bothers me that someone else is doing it.

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  39. Kim – I really do understand that. 🙂 It’s just sometimes disappointing to me that my home doesn’t look the way I would like it to, the way it could look if we had the money to fix it up. But on the other hand, I am generally content with, and grateful for, my home. When I take a step back, I realize it really isn’t that bad. Some details may be bad, but the general effect is pretty nice.

    Although I would love new living room furniture, because what I have is pretty old and beat up, I should wait until Janie is older and calmer.

    As for the cleaning, I like to handle it myself, and I get a great deal of satisfaction in doing a deep cleaning, which I handle a section or room at a time. Nightingale will help with the last-minute cleaning the week of Thanksgiving. The projects I referred to above are the kind that I need to take care of myself, little by little. Things like going through a bunch of stuff in my bedroom, or figuring out how to rearrange some things in a room to look a little better.

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  40. A shame that the pastor preached against jewelry for women while wearing jewelry. As for women in pants, a pastor we admire us that when God said “woman shall not go out dressed as a man” there was no such thing as pants. Everyone wore robes. The difference would have been in the belt and/or head covering, or some other minor difference.

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  42. That is where my sis in law comes in. “This is leaving. When is the last time you used that? Do you like this? ” and whoosh, it is gone and life is easier. Churches have many women like that just waiting to be asked. And they have a lot of women like me, slowly getting the house back to some semblance of order. It works.

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  43. Chaos apparently reigned at my house today, which I’ve learned about through a series of frantic texts from painter who detailed a plugged & then lost spray paint nozzle, the neighbors’ dogs getting out, a dropped empty Gatorade bottle into my outdoor drain pipe that he said he finally had to suction up with a vacuum (to avoid having to tear up the driveway — again).

    It all sounded worthy of a Laurel and Hardy episode.

    Or maybe we can pitch it as a new reality show.

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  46. Thank you, AJ. 🙂

    It was a pleasure meeting you, Cheryl, and Elizabeth, and Linda. I can’t tell you how much it meant to me that you all drove all the way up here for Hubby’s service.

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  47. It’s not really the main furniture itself that needs to be moved, but considering some other smaller items that may be moved or gotten rid of. Nightingale is my “decorating consultant” with things like that. The other day I told her that I was going to find a place for my autumn garland, and joked, “And you’ll probably move it on me.”

    But speaking of moving furniture, we are considering moving three rooms around – The Cats’/Chickadee’s room, off the dining room, would be the new living room (as it was several years ago), my room would be The Cats’/Chickadee’s room, and the living room would become my room. If you knew the configuration of my home, you would see that that is like moving them all in a clockwise rotation.

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