On Earth…

Imagine a heaven where there are masters and slaves. In the New Testament, Paul instructs masters and slaves on how they are to treat one another. In the past, those verses have been used to justify slavery. To say that God approves of it. Now we have gone beyond those scriptures to realize that one human being owning another is not Kingdom-like. It would not be found in heaven. In fact, Paul’s letter to Philemon is evidence that Paul was not , in reality, a proponent of slavery. That he was coping with the culture in which he found himself. He requested that Philemon free his slave, Onesimus. That showed what he really thought about slavery. Maybe that is the reason the tiny book of Philemon is in the scriptures.

Then, imagine a heaven where there are earthly lords and peasants. Nope. Can’t imagine such a thing.

Then, imagine a heaven where women are subject to men and not allowed to use their God-given gifts to work among God’s people. Can we imagine a heaven like that? I can’t. We are told by many that, because Paul instructs a church that women are not to teach men, they are still under that instruction. They are told that Paul said that for all churches forever. His instructions about slaves and masters were, obviously, not for all churches forever, but his teaching about women was. Is that Kingdom-like?

When we pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, we are asking God to make earth like heaven. We are committing ourselves to being the people through whom God’s will is done on earth – to make earth as heaven-like, or Kingdom-like as possible. I don’t see how we can pray that way while, at the same time, we subjugate women by barring them from exercising the gifts God gave them in the Church. How is that Kingdom-like? It isn’t.

Five Minute Friday

I’ve decided to participate in Lisa-Jo Bakers five minute Fridays. Every Friday, she posts a word on her blog. We are to write about it for five minutes, with our internal editors in the OFF position. Just write whatever comes to mind. Then post to her site which is here. Here we go!

The word for today is: together. GO

We are all better together. We are the BODY of Christ, but only when we are together. Not a foot over here, and a finger over there, but together. It is together that we have all the gifts. What I have that you need is there and vice versa.

In Alaska, the rugged individualist is admired, as is self-sufficiency. Hmm…  Maybe it will be important, someday, that some Christians have embraced self sufficiency and hung on to the ways of living without the modern conveniences we are so accustomed to.

These modern conveniences are part of why there is so much less togetherness. How often do you see women hanging out laundry and talking to their neighbors these days? It is more likely that they don’t even know their neighbors!

And, I used to be in favor of busing kids around to mix up the schools a bit. But now I have seen how that has ruined communities. STOP (Aren’t you wondering how busing ruined communities lol!)

Update

That last post was written over two years ago! Much has changed since then. My son is doing well. It took two tries and a timely trip to jail for almost 90 days, but he is currently, doing well. He turned around and turned toward God while in jail, and after jail, spent six months at Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge. In less than a month, he will be clean for a year! I rehab land, they would not count the first three months, because he was in jail where he had no choice. But I come from Mom land and I will count it.

Made in the Image

Let me start by making it perfectly clear that I am not God. I don’t think I am God, and in fact, I don’t want to be God.

I am, however, made in the image of God (according to Genesis), and so are all other human beings, so it is likely we can get a glimpse of God, every now and then, when interacting with other people. Especially people we love and care about.

Take my son, for example. I have 5 daughters and 1 son, so I guess you could say, he’s my only begotten son. He is no one’s saviour, though, even though he is sacrificing himself.

He is a drug addict. He doesn’t communicate with me. The last phone number I had for him doesn’t work anymore, and I don’t know where he lives.

I am not whining about these things, though I do grieve the loss of  the life he could have had. I am telling you these things, because I want you to know what I have learned about God through this situation. They are things I already knew and could pontificate about already, but now, that intellectual knowledge has become experiential. Personal. Heart knowledge. Here they are:

1. There is nothing we can to to make God stop loving us.

I know. We’ve heard it all before. It sounds trite, trivial, uninspired, irrelevant. How many words are there that mean bland?

But think about it. Is there anything your child could do to make you not love him or her? Yes, they do things we don’t approve of. I mean, even if you had to, for some reason, lock him or her out of your house, wouldn’t you still love that child? Even if they cause you pain, you still love them.  If you didn’t love them, there would be no pain.

So, am I a better lover than God? Of course not! If I, in my fallen, imperfect self can love my children no matter what, how much better does God love his creation?

2. God hates sin for a reason.

God didn’t just conjure up the Ten Commandments to add stress to our lives!

My son doesn’t talk to me, because he knows what he is doing. Even though I would love to talk to him, whatever he is up to, he knows, so he is not comfortable calling me. And, even if he does call me, the knowledge of how he is living his life lingers below the surface of our conversation, making it superficial and strained. The straining comes from acting like everything is fine, from wanting him to know that I love him even though I know what is going on in his life.

In the same way, people don’t want to talk to God, or even acknowledge his existence, because we know what we have been up to. We prefer to hide, like Adam and Eve did in the garden of Eden. We know that if we talk to God, WE will feel uncomfortable, uneasy, ashamed. We separate ourselves from God, even though God would love to hear from us. He grieves over the separation we cause.

That’s why He hates sin. It separates us from Him, and from each other.

3. The door is always open.

I just want to have a relationship with my son. He doesn’t have to do everything right first. He doesn’t have to perform for me. I love him as he is. I would like for him to have a good life that he can look back on without regrets, but I can’t do it for him. I just want the relationship. I am always available for that.

In the same way, God wants to have a relationship with us. We don’t have to clean up first. He loves us right now, as we are, and he won’t love us any more if we clean up. He wants us to have lives that we can look back on without regrets, but he can’t do it for us. He wants the relationship, and He is always available for that.

God’s love is perfect. You can’t make perfect better.

My relationship with my son has shown me that it is true; God doesn’t cast people out of His presence. They cast themselves out. They run away from Him, because THEY don’t want to face Him, not because He doesn’t want to have a relationship with them. There really are no strings.

That is what people are unable to trust or believe in: There really are no strings.

Splashdown!

Before putting a post in a new blog, it says this:

“Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn’t here.”

I seriously thought about just leaving it that way, with my title, subtitle, picture, and About page. I thought it would be kinda funny. You know? Things to Remember, and then find out that what I am looking for (Things to Remember) are not there! It made a statement just as it was.

But, obviously, I am not leaving it that way, because there are things I want to remember. So what does that mean? That I am afraid I will forget? Maybe.

I am not a deep person. Occasionally I will  have an earth-shaking revelation that I think will change my life forever. It consumes my thoughts for days. And then I forget all about it. It is like it never happened.

Then there are just the little, everyday ponderings and observations of the world that get lost in the messy file cabinet of my mind. I think that’s why young people can remember everything; their file cabinets aren’t so full. As we get older, we keep putting more and more things in there, until we lose track of where things are. In fact, some things (many, actually) we forget are there at all!

So, this blog is my attempt to hold on to some things. I will be looking back into old journals (which tend to have maybe 5 pages written on) for inspiration, and I will make observations about God and the world. I hope I say things that are controversial and thought provoking, but that isn’t a requirement. I just want a place to store things I want to remember.

And, maybe someone else will find it interesting.

Blessings!