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Posted by: SeLahGirl at 8:59PM EST on September 24, 2008
Hello myCCM ppl ^_^
I am so excited about the new features on the revised site.
Fred has put together a team of Beta site testers to check it out, and I
absolutely love it!!! The new format is so much easier to use, with so many
new, very cool features. For example, when you want to add a friend, you just
click the add link and a pop-up note appears confirming the invitation. It
never moves you from the page you are focused on. That way simple pop-ups
replace having to deal with several links and page changes to get back to what
you were working on. Similarly, you can check your inbox and friend requests by
a simple click. A pop-up appears at the top of the page, so you never have to
leave the page ur still working on or reading. I luv the convenience and the
speed gained when I’m buzzing around my profile or chatting with friends.
The new music player is also a major plus. I can’t wait for
the launch so I can add more artists to my player. I also love that the bottom
right corner has a mini-chat box live… so you can chat with ur friends while
never leaving ur main page. It’s like the best features of myspace, facebook,
and myCCM all rolled up into one... with new additional bonuses even. Haha.
I’ve added some pics already, customized it with my pretty pink flowers and
black background… and I’m in the process of moving my blog to the new site as
well. Right now, I have it scattered across four different sites and have been
waiting for a good place to settle it all in one. It’s looking like this may be
it.
So yeah, just wanted to put the word out there about the new
format so you can be watching for the launch. I think ur gonna love it as much
as I do. VERY convenient and lets you create a page that really expresses who
you are and what ur about. Can’t wait for you to see it. Be sure to send me a
friend request when it’s launched. I look forward to hearing from everyone.
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Posted by: SeLahGirl at 3:37PM EST on September 12, 2008
(and the conversation continues as do my wild and crazy thoughts. haha)
... ^_^ yes, I get the basic concept of prophetic/pastoral working hand
in hand and the necessity of both. Pastoral being to build up, and
prophetic being to tear down the stagnant. Call it whatever you want if
you don't like those terms, but I agree that some elements of the
church undergo change and adjustments to cultures and generations. And
there are some that simply don't like change of any kind, so feathers
often get ruffled with every time of necessary transition.
However, I believe there is a core that should not be touched. The
fundamentals of the faith. Change the packaging or the language all you
want, but changing the heart of the teachings of Christ is another
matter. Feeling that the Scripture is a bad interpretation in spots and
demeaning it... leaves a generation and future generations with no
tangible guidance, no touch-stone to keep their balance and compass
aligned.
God created us physical creatures and whether a
torn page or a memorized passage or twenty copies of the Bible... there
must be a consistency of Scripture for believers to hold onto when the
world around them is shaking violently. I believe that the Bible is
inspired by God and without error, no matter the translation that God
puts in your hands or the language it's in... I believe he will put a
version of the Bible (or a passage from one) in your hands that will
guard the Truth that he wants you to live out. As to the other matter
of violence...
Violence is to be avoided, sometimes with
loss and with the need to suffer sacrifice. But there is a measure of
necessary violence imo. Otherwise, why do we have police and army and
other measures of defense in society. It keeps order and safety.
Otherwise you end up with movements of ethnic cleansing that we see in
history and currently around the world. People with no way to meet
violence with violence to defend themselves, their children are
becoming victims and orphans and being tortured right now while
self-proclaimed peace keepers sit in posh surroundings and discuss
sunshine and puppies.
It's happening today... children are
being raped and murdered while ur typing ur response to this post...
Convert to Islam or die *period* Convert to Buddhism or die *period*
Both are realities today... and in the past during the crusades,
Convert to Christianity or die *period*
It took violence
meeting violence to stop injustice and the slaughter of the innocent.
Not without attempts at diplomacy... but when all reasonable appeals
were rejected and bodies were laying in the streets... good people had
to take up arms to stop the violence.
I will not hold
someone's hat while they rape my daughter, christian or not christian.
I will not let a rapist sleep in her room to protect his rights in the
name of keeping peace instead of providing a safe place for her and
guarding the door. And I don't think God frowns on me picking up and
using whatever I need to to stop someone from committing violence
against my child. It's not my decision or desire to harm them -- they
made the decision to risk their own life when they decided to bazooka
my door down and attack my daughter's life.
Some men don't have sex and I respect their commitment.
Some men won't pull the trigger on a gun and I respect their
commitment, but I wouldn't want them as a husband or running anything
that guards what I hold precious.
And I don't think God calls me a sinner for that.
What's important to you? Are you driven by selfishness or by justice
coupled with mercy? God judges the motives of the heart. He THREW
tables over in the temple and made his own weapon to drive people out
of the temple because he was zealous about what was important to him.
Yet, he died on a cross and refused to call a legion of angels down
upon people that sinned against him.
Violence is not the
answer, it is to be avoided when possible, but it will be a part of
reality for the saved and the unsaved as long as this cursed world
continues. This is not paradise. One day it will be... but for now we
live in a war zone and it will never be a pretty place.
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Posted by: SeLahGirl at 1:45PM EST on September 12, 2008
From a discussion about the emerging church.
...I have
only skimmed the last two pages of this thread, but it is speaking to
so much that has been turning over in my heart recently. There is a
strong move that has entered mainline Christianity that is really being
shoved into the faces of believers... it's not really new... it just
has new names and new denominations and new movements hiding it's
face...
it's an attempt to demean/remove the power of the blood/sacrifice of Christ and his teachings,
to redefine it, to rewrite it based upon a different truth, a different
doctrine, and yet to call it by his name, still confessing him, but in
reality -- still rejecting him.
4Jesus answered: "Watch
out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming,
I am the Christ, and will deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and
rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things
must happen, but the end is still to come. 7Nation will rise against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and
earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of birth
pains. (Matt 24)
our weapons against spiritual forces
are the word of our testimony and the blood of Christ. Remove the power
and significance of the blood and we have no testimony. My current
sunday school teacher spends week after week demeaning the Bible and
elevating the positive culture of Islam... the philosophies of men and
tossing of eccentric Greek and Hebrew words are used to present the
Bible as a book of myths created by the error of well meaning men. Two
of the four pastors are voting for liberal, pro-abortion candidates and
have stated so. The other two may be as well, I just haven't asked.
something eerie is happening in the mainline church... the word of God
is being denied and the work of the cross is being demeaned... and the
ppl of God sit and scratch their heads, shrug their shoulders, and
watch the clock until class is over. The Trade Center was bombed, our
nation attacked by terrorists, years were spent in talks to politically
approach the matter without violence... and while the wonderful Islamic
nation chattered away feeding the egos of mild-mannered mediators and
peace-seeking agendas... they plotted and attacked us on 9-11.
" 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace. "
(eccl 3)
We are not to initiate violence, but when attacked we can defend to
stop the violence committed against us and our loves ones and the
innocent. There is a line that we can defend with violence if
necessary. The error comes when we fail to use restraint and to reel in
our emotions so that we don't cross that line and enter into vengeance
and revenge. That is when it requires sacrifice and loss and Godly
character to refrain from lashing out in our anger to the point of
becoming the aggressor driven by greed and selfishness rather than the
sole desire to protect and stop the violence of injustice. Sometimes
the ppl of God must be violent in order to quell violence and genuine
injustice, just as David and Israel and the Allied Forces were against
Hitler. We're not perfect at it... but we must try, we must do our best
always remembering (Micah 6:8)
8 He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
I thought perhaps it was just the church I left several years ago... or
perhaps it was this specific EMERGENT movement... but I think perhaps
it is a smell that is drifting into every denomination and every form
of organized religion everywhere. Here are some thoughts I wrote to a
friend recently...
...so I luv them, just don't receive
their yuck into my life. I know that sounds angry, and there are some
elements of anger that remain, but I am at peace with God about it. I
have asked him to hold nothing against them for the sins committed to
me and my children... but that if they continue ripping ppl and
families apart that God would stop them from committing further evil...
according to His mercy and His wisdom. There is nothing that I can say
that matters to them or their ppl... they serve their own little
kingdom and I leave them with God until God tells me differently.
Actually, I fear for them because they have closed their ears so
tightly and refuse all accountability as they continue in their sins.
Ppl track me down at the grocery and other places (as much as I try to
avoid it all) and they begin to weep and share how their family has
been bullied and manipulated and out of church for months now. It's
heartbreaking. I have no answers for them, tho I cover them with prayer
and with love.
Life goes on, and God is Good all the time
and he has beautiful ppl every where. I feel like I am breathing fresh
air now that I am outside the walls of Vineyard. There are so many wide
open doors to minister for Christ, to reach out to the hurting, to
share the love of Christ. These last days are full of deception and
counterfeits. Every thing my family and I have walked thru has equipped
us to recognize the fruit of everything that calls itself of God, as
wool or wolves. We live in a scary hour for the ppl of God. I often
wonder if the organized Church is not nearing the end of it's
existence. There is a counterfeit that has emerged calling itself
contemporary, and the new face of the church. But it is full of
compromise and disdain for the word of God. It wears a mask of
false-humility and calls itself a follower of Christ but it does not
follow his teachings...
It seems to me that the true
believers are scattered across the world. So much so that the face of
it, isn't really visible yet. It feels as though she is so much closer
to being that Acts church than ever before. The signs and wonders are
soon to come and perhaps she will finally be without spot or wrinkle
like she was when she was first handed the commission by Christ. As
fulfillment of it nears completion, perhaps she will no longer dwell in
the palaces and kingdoms built by men... perhaps she will be pilgrims,
wanderers, actually watching and waiting for the return of her Lord to
take her Home. Homelessness... that seems to be the emerging state of
true believers...
(Phil 3)
" 17Join with
others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who
live according to the pattern we gave you. 18For, as I have often told
you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of
the cross of Christ. 19Their destiny is destruction, their god is their
stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly
things. 20But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a
Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ..."
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Posted by: SeLahGirl at 10:02AM EST on September 3, 2008
Quietly and Gently to the Slaughter
(John 8:1-11)
1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2At dawn he appeared again in
the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat
down to teach them.
Chapter 7 ended by saying that
they all went to their homes... and here we see that Jesus went to the
mount of Olives. He had no where to lay his head, he was not at home in
this world, he was at home when he entered into prayer. What a picture
for us... what a glimpse into what it is to follow his example... no
matter where we find ourselves physically in this world... we are
always home spiritually because home is being where he is... and as
long as he is with us, we are always with him.
God with us...
I just never get tired of saying that. I never get tired of thinking
about it for hours day and night. I never see it as anything less than
a miracle and the greatest gift that could be created or thought up,
given or received... all things are contained in that one Truth...
every good work, every blessing, every concept of true peace and joy
and contentment exists in that one thing that he came to fulfill
Emmanuel, God with us.
"18I
will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long, the
world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you
also will live. 20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father,
and you are in me, and I am in you. (John 14)"
"18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on
earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the
age." (Matt 18)"
3The teachers of the law and the
Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand
before the group 4and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in
the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such
women. Now what do you say?"
What a contrast we see...
the way the Pharisee handled this woman with blatant disrespect,
standing her in their midst with the smell of her sin still on her
disheveled clothing.. shaming her, no mercy, no kindness, no move
toward restoring her, forgiving her, and helping her to become a force
to help others living in similar sin... what a deadness, how far an
image from even the God of the Old Testament. They used her as a pawn,
a puppet, to parade around for their own intent and purposes, to feed
their own self-righteousness and arrogance. They use the law for their
own selfish ambition, their own greedy gut. And they devour people in
the process, they rob them of their hope, of who they could be if they
would turn from their sin. How cruel...
That was never the
intent of the law given thru Moses, that was never the heart of God, it
was not him who tried to crush the very spirit of a fragile soul sick
with sin. It was the corruption of a leadership entrusted with much. It
was the sin of evil men that overshadowed that of a tainted woman. Even
the law, was about reasoning together, about looking forward to that
day of forgiveness, about turning from sin and crying out to a God of
mercy, trusting his judgments. Moses begged the mercy of God on behalf
of a people in sin... the Pharisees didn't even reflect the character
of Moses (let alone God or Christ)... the very name they hailed as
being the righteous law giver. They lacked his heart for God, to lead
people to Him rather than themselves, to serve his kingdom and not
their own, to work for his glory and not to horde glory for themselves.
6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
Their motives were not Truth or the will of God. Their motives were
rooted in self and in personal agendas and arrogance. Their question of
"what do you say?" was about to be answered as we see the stark
contrast between religion and Christianity, between darkness and the
light...
But Jesus bent down and started to write on
the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he
straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin,
let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8Again he stooped down
and wrote on the ground.
In his silence, he spoke. Their
own conscience ate them up as the Spirit of God spoke to their
thoughts... shining light upon the darkness that had consumed them...
revealing their own sin and hypocrisy... not to shame them, but to
convict them... to offer them the same opportunity to turn from their
error and sin that Christ was offering to this woman whose spirit they
were devouring. In that light, Truth cannot be denied.
Perhaps he wrote the sins of those men in the sand, perhaps he wrote
the laws that each of them had broken. Laws that only they had known
they had broken, laws that they thought no one else knew that they had
broken. Perhaps the rocks were dropped in shock and shame, as they were
forced to see their own filth and made aware that it was not as well
hidden as they thought. Not a one could cast a stone, because in that
moment, I believe the Christ and the Spirit of God swirled around these
men so that their own guilt and sin was illuminated and undeniable.
9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older
ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing
there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they?
Has no one condemned you?"
11"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
I love the sternness and yet the great compassion of Christ. I love
that he does not enable her sin, but instead handles it as something
undesirable and dangerous to everyone. He insists that it be gone and
that she turn away completely from it. And yet, there is such a love
and genuine kindness that cannot be denied. He is the only one among
them that could have cast a stone at all, and yet he refused to take it
in his hand or even consider such an action. Rather, he felt the sting
of that stone in his heart, he knew it would be him that would suffer
the blow of those stones in a very short time -- it would be him on a
cross that would suffer the consequence of this woman's sin and that of
her accusers.
But without hesitation, he releases her from
her guilt and the debt of her sin and takes it upon himself (without
anyone knowing the depth of what he just did, no one else but Father
and Spirt). Just as he releases the Pharisee at the cross as he asks
the Father to forgive them because they didn't know the depth of what
they were doing. Just like he forgives me and you and all who will call
upon his name. There was no question that he understood that every sin
he forgave, every person he released from the bondage of the law, every
soul that he gave the right to live to... was a person that he would
have to take the place of... he died on that cross and became that
arrogant, selfish Pharisee... he became that woman caught in
adultery... that one who had an abortion... that one who pulled the
trigger and took the life of another...
It was no small
thing each time he said, "neither do I condemn you." Even though it was
a very different dynamic when he said it. Because each time he said it,
he willingly took on the sin, the punishment, the debt, of every person
involved. He was the cleaner, the scapegoat, the door to freedom for
each of us. This scene ends so quietly, so seemingly easy and without
violence...
but it is only one example of the Lamb led to the slaughter.
Of the depth of what our Lord did for each of us, of the far-reaching
violence of his sacrifice as he released this woman and each of us...
only to turn and walk up that hill and lay down on a cross to die in
our place. It was our sin. It was us. We did it. We clasped the hand of
sin and made a deal with death. And Jesus freed us from it. We savored
the sweetness of that sin... and he died from the poison of it. There
is no one like him. There is no God like him.
