The Problem With Atheists....

Kyle... yes, I will name him "Kyle"

Kyle fancies himself a very extraordinarily intelligent guy. He thinks he knows everything there is to know, and that is why he is proud to be an atheist, and not another "idiot Christian". Who could be so ignorant to believe the Bible is true? What a bunch of myths and fairytales, he says. He thought he could win me over to his much more superior point of view, one that gazed loftily over all the heads of the (in his mind) ignorant Christian masses of dumb sheep.

I shared this with Kyle:

and he thanked me and laughed, and said "Yes, I see it is an Atheist meme that shows how backwards Christians are!"

Then I pointed out that the atheist is headed downward and the Christian is going up, and that it is a perfect depiction of the fact that atheists will come down from their lofty superiority, while those dumb Christians down there are headed upward.

Kyle stopped laughing.

White as Snow

A few days ago I walked  to the center of our town (our town is very small so it was only about 3 blocks down the road).

Walking along I saw a couple boys playing in the snow. They had been building a snowman but got sidetracked, or tired...

Yesterday's stroll by this spot revealed their finished product

The leaves add a nice touch :)

When the snow first fell last week it was a beautiful white blanket that made everything look so clean and pure. It reminded me of the verse in Isaiah:

Isaiah 1:18 (KJV) Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

 But after only a few days the leaves and dirt ruin the beautiful white.

In my discussions with legalists the discussion always turns to ourselves needing to keep ourselves white through our works and our repentance. I agree that we need to repent of our sinful missteps, but is it our work of repenting that cleanses us, or is it Jesus? The Bible tells me that repentance is a gift:

2Ti 2:24-26  (KJV) And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,  In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;   And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

Our walk in a sinful world makes our feet dirty in our walking...Jesus said to Peter that He had to wash only his feet after the rest of him had already been washed clean.

 John 13:10a (KJV)  Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean

When I was a Seventh day Adventist we observed the ceremony of foot washing. It was to remind us that we serve each other, but it became a legalistic ritual that lost it's meaning in the doing and often there were those members who would remain home on the day they knew the ritual was to be performed. Now when I look back on that, it is a perfect object lesson for me to understand that serving the Lord and serving each other has nothing to do with performing righteous acts to make ourselves to look holy and pious to our fellow believers. What service we do is not to reveal our goodness and righteousness, it IS to reveal God's goodness and righteousness.

Why do we keep turning these things back toward ourselves, to serve our own vanity? That is the question, isn't it?

Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord!

Have you even gone Christmas Caroling?

I used to go Christmas caroling when I was a youngster. One of my favorite hymns was "O Come All Ye Faithful". This is a beautiful rendition  performed by Celtic Woman:

Should We Do Christmas?

Often I think "I should post something on my blog..." and get sidetracked, like I often do, laundry, dishes, going to the post office, getting a few groceries, etc. The reason I began this blog was to put down my private musings and make them public. Perhaps there are others who likewise struggle with all kinds of things that this world presents us with, and likewise cannot make heads or tails out of any of it...well maybe that is too pessimistic, some of it does eventually sort itself out, or it drops out of my consciousness because eventually I come decide it didn't really matter as much as I thought it did after all.

Some of my recent mental wranglings have been over gun ownership vs. gun control, legalism vs. God's grace, Judaism vs. antisemitism, and whether or not to celebrate (Christmas) ... and of course in Christ, if we truly are in Christ there certainly is a measure of freedom in these areas, and yet there is a "right way and a wrong way" in all these things. Since it is so close to Christmas, please permit me, dear reader, to go there, to the topic of Christmas ....

There is so much debating (is that too soft? bantering? bickering? fighting???) on this issue, and truly the way the debates have been going makes me believe more strongly that we indeed are in the very last days prior to the Lord's returning, because there is much confusion and mistrust these days...

One side says Christmas is PAGAN so to even give it a kind nod is going against everything God stands for. It is EVIL!!! Throw it out, mistletoe, Christmas trees, Santas and even Baby Jesus because Jesus wasn't born on December 25th anyway....and the MAS in Christmas points to Catholicism and false worship...

Another side says we should worship and celebrate Jesus incarnation every day, even December 25th regardless of whether that was the day of His birth or not...what's the harm? And these days with so many wanting to reject anything with Jesus in it, isn't it proper, and even more... critical...that we keep the CHRIST in Christmas?

I think you might perceive that I tend toward the second position, although I see no need to have a dead Christmas tree in our home nor statues of Baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, etc decorating our home. I'm conflicted about seeing nativities in public places because although I enjoy the reminder of the Bible account of His birth, I don't find support for having idols to His image as needful. I appreciate the Christmas cards and well wishes they bestow on us, and do have them in the living room prominently displayed during this season, and think on the senders when I look at them there.

I agree with the Apostle Paul that we need to be convinced in our own conscience, seek out all the facts about Christmas, why early Christians desired to set one day aside to celebrate Jesus' birth, seek out why some (many?) are so adamantly opposed to the celebrating of Christmas...and then decide for yourself, not so you can beat others over the head for their incorrect celebrating or not celebrating, but so that you can honor the Prince of Peace peacefully in this, and in all things.

image link