The Power to Love

"Now how can we do this? Where does power to love like this come from? Just think how astonishing this is when it appears in the real world! Could anything show the truth and power and reality of Christ more than this?

Let me just give you part of the answer from Matthew 5:11-12,

Blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me. 12 Rejoice. and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Jesus says that not only can you endure the mistreatment of the enemy, but you can also rejoice in it. Why? Because your reward in heaven is great.

Which means that the command to love your enemy is a command to set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth. The command to love your enemy is a command to find your hope and your satisfaction in God and his great reward--not in the way people treat you. The steadfast love of the Lord is better than life (Psalm 63:3).

Loving your enemy doesn't earn you the reward of heaven. Treasuring the reward of heaven empowers you to love your enemy."

This excerpt is taken from John Piper's sermon "But I Say to You, Love Your Enemies, Part 2." Click over here to see the rest of the article.

A reminder

Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From where does my help come?

My help comes from the LORD,

who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved;

he who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, he who keeps Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD is your keeper;

the LORD is your shade on your right hand.

The sun shall not strike you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all evil;

he will keep your life.

The LORD will keep

your going out and your coming in

from this time forth and forevermore.

Why can't we be friends?

We've all seen it before (at least those of us who have Facebook pages... isn't that all of us?): this friend or the other has done a spring/fall/spiteful/pick your adjective 'cleaning up' of their Facebook friends, and now they're ready to tell those left standing just how lucky they were to make the cut.

"If you judge people, you have no time to love them."
- Mother Teresa

For some reason or another - I'll probably figure out in the writing of this blog post - this sort of thing never did sit well with me. I get that 'having a Facebook' is a personal thing; something for people to personalize and add silly sibling quotes and their latest TV show obsession (yes, it's an obsession) to. And therefore people want to see things on their newsfeed that make them happy and friends with encouraging/insightful/philosophical posts, pictures of their cute children, and reviews of the latest and greatest restaurants and products. Nothing wrong with that.

"I no doubt deserved my enemies, but I don't believe I deserved my friends."
- Walt Whitman

Here's where the issue begins for me. As a Christian, I am called to reflect the Lord in every aspect of my life - even Facebook. It's easy to do when everyone else around us is posting wonderful Christian-y stuff, and indeed the Bible does say that "bad company ruins good morals" (1 Cor. 15:33). Surrounding ourselves with those that have like-minded beliefs and who will encourage us in our walk with Christ is something we are supposed to do. But. We are also called the "light of the world" and the "salt of the earth" (Matthew 5) - we cannot put ourselves in a cloister and expect our light to shine or people to be intrigued by our 'saltiness.'

"Friendship without self interest is one of the rare and beautiful things in life."

 - James Francis Byrnes

Ah yes. My point. I guess what aggravates me about all this friend purging is that it seems sort of selfish. It's not bad to have Christian friends in your newsfeed - not at all! But deleting people simply because 'they aren't a terribly close friend at all, really' or 'they turned out to be such a loser' is a mite self-centered (this IS Facebook after all) should perhaps make you stop and thing twice about why exactly you're doing it. I'm sure many of you have heard the saying that points out "you may be the only Bible some people ever read": can you endure a few strange/depressing posts or maybe some foul language, knowing that you are shining a light into this person's life - perhaps the only light? Think about it.

A catch-me-up... for you-who-care

So I was trying to figure how to make this short, sweet and painless... this blog isn't really about my life - at least, I try to keep it that way - but I feel like I owe an apology to those who have suffered almost an entire year without my adorably snarky and amazingly deep blog posts. So. Don't take this as an excuse, 'cause it's not - I haven't been so very busy as to not even post once a month; I have no excuse. This is my way of making it up in some very tiny smallish way to you, my awesome readers.

(to mix this up, I will not be numbering my list. try to figure out the thought process that went into these symbols, and enter the jumbled mess that is my mind-in-progress.)

! (not.) Work continues as usual. This June I will be celebrating three years at my current job, though there is a potential major career change currently in the works. You may or may not get to hear about when/if that does/does not work out.

@Camp Iroquoina: for the first time in several years I was able to travel with the greater portion of my family to pretty much my favorite place on earth. A whole week of drinking in nature, getting to hang out with my best PA friend, helping out - or getting in way, depending on your perspective - in the kitchen (hello first ever mass-produced dish that I made all by meself)... truly the vacation I needed.

#lastsemesterEVER hopefully. I rounded out my school career with journeys in Algerian Literature, Utopias and Dystopias, Technology in Society and Culture, Insects and People, archery, fitness walking (never again), social dance. Utopias was probably the class where I learned the most, and social dance and archery tied for first place in the 'best class ever' category.

'$' stands for the money I will soon owe the government for funding my college career, since I graduated magna cum laude with my B.A. in English from North Carolina State University on December 15, 2012. *commence belated confetti tossing* That was an amazing weekend as well, since I got to meet a pen pal - and not just any pen pal, but the one I've have the longest - when she came up from Texas especially for the graduation.

[90]% = the time I have spend sleeping and working since my aforementioned graduation. Job-hunting, helping out in various and sundry ways at home, getting into contra dancing and other random activities have taken up the last 10%.

^_^ contra dancing deserves its own mention here, since it's one of my new dancing obsessions. Ballroom dancing is a little hard to come by when it's not in a controlled PE environment, but contra dancing - which doesn't require you dragging a partner along - is great fun, a good way to hang out with friends and get some awesome exercise at the same time... in a nutshell, most diverting. You should go check it out now. go, shoo! this post will be here when you get back.

& last but not least, a relationship update: I'm not going to gush about all the 'God moments' I've had, because that's not what I do - here or anywhere. It's still a journey of seeking, finding (mostly still seeking) and soul searching, and I'm not anywhere near where I want to be. But I'm okay with being a work-in-progress, because God is definitely at work here.

A 'holy' day?

One of the most spiritually dark days of the year is tomorrow. My parents decided from the very beginning that our family would not participate in Halloween activities and I was aware of the basic reasons why, but as I was not able to give my wondering friends an explanation that satisfied both them and myself, I chose to write my final research paper in high school on the history and mystery surrounding Halloween to be able to more fully explain my parents' (and what would soon become my own) convictions. I was deeply disturbed by what I found - some of the things I encountered gave me nightmares, and I found the time I spent in research mentally and spiritually depressing. Since that time it has been an issue that is close to my heart, and I could - and did - write pages upon pages on it. But I'm going to try to keep this brief and clear, and let readers take away from it what they will...

First off, don't think I'm hating on those people - even Christians - who choose to participate in Halloween activities. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ~ Ephesians 6:12 We're not called to criticize others for what they do, but pray continually that we can be a shining example for Christ and a prayer warrior that the Devil fears to go up against. However we choose to deal with Halloween, it should be done in a way that brings glory to the One that  redeemed us from the wickedness of our hearts, and our words and actions on that and any other day of the year should be salt and light to a lost and dying world. (Matthew 5:13-14)We can't change a heart, but God can. Let us do our part and leave the rest up to him.

That doesn't mean I don't have any pet peeves with regards to Christians and Halloween. Indulge me with this one: harvest parties. Am I against dressing up and getting together with friends for some food and fun? Hardly! But giving people a "safe alternative" to Halloween celebrations makes it look like there's a hole to fill - that they're somehow missing out on something if they don't have anything to do on Halloween. If anything, this is the time of year when we should be making an extra effort to set ourselves apart as "a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." (Titus 2:14) Halloween is not a time for compromise, and 'harvest parties' are just that.
Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?  ~ 1 Cor. 10 : 19-22

Set Halloween aside as a time for prayer, and battle for those that are seeing (or even celebrating) the darkness. Instead of giving out candy, take the kiddos aside and explain to them why you choose not to take part in any celebrations on October 31st. Get out the popcorn and ice cream and make a movie night out of it, and watch something fun, uplifting and/or educating. There are so many things you can do to show the world that this is a day where you're not going to sit on the fence - or lean against it and watch. Take a stand. Make a statement.

If you're interested in reading further, here are some good links:
Should Christians participate in Halloween?
Christians and Halloween

What's the difference?

A boy makes his girl jealous of other women. 

A gentleman makes other women jealous of his girl.

My kinda guy.

the Founder of our faith...

... is Paul. whoahhwhatwaitwho? my religion teacher thinks an awfully good case could be made for it. I mean, he did write some pretty awesome literature - all his letters to those churches are fairly compelling. And don't even get me started on Romans, one of the most-read religious documents of all time. I mean, come on here. Who else but the eloquent, educated and convincing apostle Paul could have given such a foundation for a religion such as Christianity?

Oh, I don't know.

maybe Jesus?

"...the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls." ~ Hebrews 12:2-3

It really couldn't be much clearer. As much as I like you, Paul - sorry man. You're not winning this one =)

the creation of Eve

We will be looking at Genesis in my religion class today - most likely with a certain emphasis on the Creation story (though there might be a small discussion on human sacrifice in the Bible... *le sigh*). While I was reading through our assigned chapters for today, I remembered a quote I had seen some time ago, and was able to find it fairly quickly using Google. It's a favorite of mine:

"Woman was taken out of man; not out of his head to top him, nor out of his feet to be trampled underfoot; but out of his side to be equal to him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be loved." 
~ Marguerite De Valois

There is no finish line...

... or so proclaimed a Nike slogan that I glimpsed on a t-shirt recently. While I would like to believe that whoever came up with that phrase wanted me to have that invincible, "I can run forever!" feeling by looking at that shirt, I couldn't help but feel a little depressed when I saw it. While we are exhorted to run ("Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us"- Hebrews 12:1), and by the grace of God we can hope to run faster and farther than we ever thought we could ("I can do all things through him who strengthens me" - Philippians 4:13), we are still human, and mortal, and one day the race will end for us. [and I'm just a little uncomfortable at even the mere thought of running forever - I mean, forever IS forever, people!] But will we just run into a black hole, a nothingness where we can't even see what we were running towards?

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing." - 2 Timothy 4:7-8

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable."
- 1 Corinthians 9:24

"His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.'" 
- Matthew 25:21

There is a finish line. And there is a prize. May we run, ever aware not just that we run, but of why we run. May we never take our eyes off our crowns of righteousness. May God find us faithful.

God's Own Fool - Michael Card

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

1 Corinthians 1: 18-21

Of thee I sing

"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it."

~ Mark Twain

"I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually."

~James A. Baldwin

"Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong."

~ James Bryce

"Gentlemen have talked a great deal of patriotism. A venerable word, when duly practised."

~ Robert Walpole 

"Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime."

~ Adlai E. Stevenson 

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness."

~Erma Bombeck

"The highest patriotism is not a blind acceptance of official policy, but a love of one's country deep enough to call her to a higher plain."

~George McGovern

"And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

~ John F. Kennedy

"See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.' What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him?"

~ Deteronomy 4:5-7

My bubble

{pic credit}

Still in your bubble today?

But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.

Romans 2:8

Everyone else vacations... we Christians retreat

Just had to throw that in there, but this weekend was less of a retreat than a charge and less of getting a cool drink from a water fountain than getting a cold blast from a fire hose. The last few days my seven sisters and I were on a father/daughter retreat at a little place called Cherokee Cove with a bunch of the dads and gals from our church. It was a fun, refreshing and challenging time for me as we were called to reflect on our relationships not only as dads and daughters, but as sons and daughters of the Savior. Many messages, challenges and powerful testimonies were shared over the course of the weekend, but it was this passage I found in my personal reflection time that stood out to me the most and that I felt I should share with someone... since I couldn't get up the courage to stand up and share it with the group during the last discussion of the retreat. [call it what you will - stage fright, plain old being shy... can't do it.]

I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,

and I will be their God

and they shall be my people.
Therefore go out from their midst,

and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;

then I will welcome you,

and I will be a father to you,

and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.

2 Corinthians 6:16b-18 

The God of all the universe, who with a word spoke the sun, moon, and stars into being, desires us for us to be his sons and daughters. The most eternal, holy being, the One who was, and is, and is to come, came to earth just to show how much he loves us and wants to call us his own. What a precious thing! But this perfect, awesome Being also calls us in our journeys as his sons and daughters to become more and more like him, to long to follow after his example and precepts, to strive to show his likeness in everything we do and say. And therein lies my greatest struggle. I am a very content person, which is a good thing when it comes to things like my singleness, my job, and just where God has me in life right now. But it's a huge stumbling block to me when it comes to my relationship with Christ ~ I get comfortable so easily, so quickly, and comfortable is never the place I should be when it should be my desire to be be "conformed to the image of his Son" (Romans 8:29). There's always something in there if I just beg God to show me where I have fallen short, and he "is faithful and just to forgive" (1 John 1:9) and bring me back into a place of safety and peace in his will. Lord, show me today where I can become more like you!

When I climb down the mountain//And get back to my life//I won't settle for ordinary things//Gonna follow you forever//For all of my days//I won't rest//'Til I see you again...

May this be my prayer ~ that as I come down off this physical and spiritual mountaintop I will continue to walk in the paths God has seen fit to show me, not willing to settle for comfortable and ordinary things but striving daily to show the world even a glimpse of the glory that he has shown me.

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

Romans 10:14

I like doggies. Hence, you must suffer doggie commercials.

 

So what's rhetoric to do with these? They're funny, and doggone {pun intended} cute. As long as you remember the commercial, you'll remember what it's for, and that is exactly what the people who made them wanted to happen. Coincidence much? Not really.

Umm... yeah.

{picture credit}
Remember how the world was supposed to end yesterday?

Well, I'm still here. And you must be, too, since you're taking the time to read this. So much for that.

 {picture credit}
ahahaha. ever thought about that?
Or maybe this is the explanation. Whatever the case may be, I personally find all the doomsday talk a little ridiculous. Even if you did know when it was going to happen (and I guarantee you never will), what effect would that have on anything? The day of the Lord will come "like a thief in the night" (2 Peter 3:10), and when it does, are you prepared to step into eternity?
That should be the question on your mind.

Hello Summer

{Hello summer}

{hello gloriously empty calendar}

{hello cracking the window at night for a cool breeze}

{hello coloring with crayons just 'cause I can}

{hello sleeping in 'til ten}

{hello subduing the urge to burn my philosophy textbook and selling it to Amazon instead}

{hello capris and flip flops}

{hello reading the the books *I* want to read}

{hello finally having the time to organize my room}

{hello pushing my baby brother in the swing}

{hello (hopefully) twice as many hours at work}

{hello sleepovers and chick flicks}

{hello staying up t'il 2 AM because I want to, not because I have a major paper due tomorrow}

{helloooo, summah!}

[inspiration cred goes to Simply SA and her 'Hello Monday' posts]

Whip My Hair - Willow Smith

I hate this song. It bugs me to no end, and every time it comes on the radio at work, I have to fight the urge to run screaming. I detest it to the very core of my being.

So why post a song that you can't stand, you say?
Because it still gets stuck in my head. And why is that? Presentation. It's catchy. If anyone else told me to whip my hair,  they'd be on the floor and I'd be re-loading before you could snap your fingers. And as much as I hate to say it, if Willow Smith told me to do it, it just might happen. Rhetoric is so much more than just words. It's everything. Say anything in the right way, to the right people and at the right time, and you can say whatever you want. It's that simple.

And just so you didn't have to go count it yourself (because I know you want to know), she says it seventy times. S.E.V.E.N.T.Y. T.I.M.E.S. (yeah. that's the part that bugs me.)

Audience Awareness: Stephen vs. Paul

A recent lecture in my 'Biblical Backgrounds of English Literature' class brought up an interesting topic in the form of two speeches given, both in the book of Acts, one by Stephen (who ended up being stoned to death for it) and one by the apostle Paul (here - verses 22-34). Please stop here and read those now, 'cause if you do, what I'm about to say will make a lot more sense.

In essence, both their speeches are very much alike. Both are cutting to the quick with their audiences and telling them what they needed to hear. But that's where the 'alike-ness' ends.

   Stephen's speech is rather little long-winded, but he knew what held the attention of his listeners and boy howdy, did they listen. Like I said before, he got killed for what he said. But before that happened, he held the captive the attentions of his audience - the Jews - as he gave them a rundown of their long and storied history, drawing on knowledge they had probably had since childhood, and used that assumed knowledge to drive home his point.

   Paul, on the other hand, is addressing a crowd of people who couldn't be more different from the pious Jewish elders: Gentiles, Greeks more specifically. He couldn't assume any prior knowledge of his chosen topic - salvation through Christ - with a bunch of people who had never heard of the guy. However, he took the fact that they had an altar dedicated 'to the unknown god' and used that fact as a jumping off point for introducing them to the unknown god they were so curious about.

Neither of these men were specially trained to say what they did, but both had a passion for their topic and an acute awareness of the audience they were addressing. And that's what got people to listen. What you say to whom really does matter.

If you think your birthday has no significance....

... Google it. I guarantee you'll get giggles, food for thought, and maybe a little sentimental (yes, I know that last part isn't grammatically corect. but hey, work with me here). I also guarantee your ego will inflate just a tiny bit. And yes, I know you're about to open that new tab and go do it. But read this post first .... please?

April 12th is the 102nd day of the year (103rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 263 days remaining until the end of the year.

Today in history: 

467: Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.

1204: The Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade breach the walls of Constantinople and enter the city, which they completely occupy the following day.

1606: The Union Flag is adopted as the flag of Great Britain.

1861: The Civil War begins as Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter in South Carolina.
1934: The strongest surface wind gust in the world at 231 mph, is measured on the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire.

1945: Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States, dies of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia, at age 63. Vice President Harry S. Truman becomes president.  

1961: Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man to fly in space, orbiting the Earth once before he makes a safe landing.

1975: The U.S. admits defeat in Cambodia and removes its remaining embassy personnel from the capital, Phnom Penh.

1981: The space shuttle Columbia blasts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on its first test flight.

1983: Harold Washington is elected Chicago's first African-American mayor. 

1990: Jim Gary's "Twentieth Century Dinosaurs" exhibition opens at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

1997: Police in Sarajevo discover mines under a bridge just hours before the arrival of the Pope.

2009: American cargo ship captain Richard Phillips is rescued from Somali pirates by U.S. Navy snipers who shoot and kill three of the hostage-takers. 

This day is also celebrated as:

Halifax Day (North Carolina)

Cosmonautics Day (Russia)

Birthdays:

1777: Henry Clay, American politician; U.S. congressman and senator.

1903: Jan Tinbergen, Dutch Nobel Prize-winning economist.

1916: Beverly Clearly, author

1947: David Letterman, talk show host

          Tom Clancy, author

1956: Andy Garcia, actor

1990: Kirsten Irish, English student

Ha! so that was the ulterior motive here. And now everything becomes clear ;-)

What's Your Narnia Name?

Mine is Queen Helen.

Wonder how I got it? ...yeah, it's a long story. But long story short, tonight several family members and I actually sat down and had a semi-serious discussion on giving every. single. one of us Narnia names. We started out with "good" names and had so much fun we went on to "bad" names. After much bantering and bickering, each of us had a pair of names we were at least partially satisfied with. It was then we got to really sit back and think about why we had been given those names ~ and how strangely appropriate they were. It's a subtle ~ and yet, not-so-subtle ~ rhetoric that hints at your character and who you are as a person in just a fun little naming game.


So go ahead, ask your family ~ what's YOUR Narnia name? :-)