Bill’s Front Porch

I just heard a short devotional on the radio and it REALLY made me think about things!  It asked the question, “Are you working for Christ for nothing?”  THAT got my attention, and I listened to what followed.  It was so very short that he didn’t get a chance to go deep enough, but the main point was that if you are working for Christ and are grumbling, complaining, telling everyone how much you are doing or how much you are sacrificing, what you do will not be rewarded.

I got to thinking about how much of what I have done will not be rewarded.  I also got to thinking about how much of other people’s “good deeds” will not be rewarded either.  If we are “working for the Lord” and are grumbling about others, holding grudges, griping because we have to be there, etc. it will be all for nothing.  I shared with our praise band the other Sunday how blessed we are to be here, early, and be able to do what we are doing!  I think that Satan has really gotten us to think backwards about what we do for God.  He has convinced us that it is sacrifice, or “work” (in the bad sense) and that we have a right to complain, or to talk about others while we are doing it, as long as we do it.  (Another scripture just came to mind about people standing before God saying that they did all of this stuff and He says, “Depart from me, I never knew you.”  That is really scarey!)  Well, all of this is to say that I am really trying to make my work count for Christ and not complain, or grumble, or talk about others, or whatever.  I am also trying to look on the things that I do as gifts from the Father. (Before I accepted God’s call, I used to sit in the auditorium of our church and think, how great to work here every day!  It’s time to return to that line of thinking!)

Well, I guess that is all for now.  I could really go much deeper, but I will leave that to the rest of the folks on the porch.

The reason that I entitled this “Am I A Jellyfish??” is that they have no backbones.  They just kind of lay around and “go with the flow” so-to-speak.  They have no direction, they don’t swim very well against the tide, and they always seem to end up on the beach laying there and looking pitiful.

OKAY, the reason I ask this is because I ABSOLUTELY HATE CONTROVERSY!!!!!  I used to tell myself I enjoyed debating, and when I know that no one is mad, then I’m alright with it, but when I feel that someone may be getting angry or upset (whether real or perceived) I have to make everything wind down so everyone is happy again.  I used to think it was just being a “jellyfish,” then I thought that I was a peacemaker (which made me feel better), now I’m just not sure anymore.  Is anyone out there having an identity struggle with this as I am?  Is it natural to hate conflict, or is it just being a “jellyfish”?  I mean, I will confront when I have to, but ONLY when I have to!

I mean, it seems like some people exist for the debate.  Is it the way that God has “wired” us?  Oh well…just a thought.

I just read a very thought provoking blog on dolan’s blog (axegrinder.org).  I’m sorry that I still can’t seem to learn how to do a link, just hit the axegrinder link on the side and go to it.

 Anyway, he talked about moral relativism and legalism and how some people can be convicted of a sin (such as drinking alcohol) and some people are not.  I realize that this is a touchy subject, but I am really not talking about that subject so much as to where it led me.

I came to the point that we ask ourselves the wrong question when we deal with these areas because, I think, we are operating out of different frames of reference when it comes to motivation.  I think that people want a line that they can get to, but not cross, so they won’t sin.  Youth do this alot when it comes to dating.  They ask, “How far is too far?”  The question is, “Is it holy?”  When you ask how far, you are asking how close can I come to the sin without actually sinning.  Carrying this a little farther, we can say that we are asking “How far away from God can I live without actually being too far?”  Shouldn’t the question be, “How close can I get to God?”  When we ask the “Is it holy?” question we are living our lives from the point of view that I want to draw close to God.  If whatever it is does not do that, I don’t want to do that.  The closer you live to a cliff, the greater the chance that you will fall off of that cliff and be crushed on the ground below.  When you seek to live far from the cliff, your chances of falling off decrease tremendously.  The cliff is still there, you are just not in a position to fall off of it.

I think many of us, as believers, are looking too much like the world because we are operating from this mindset.  How much can we enjoy the world, live like the world, look like the world, and not become the world.  Let’s try the opposite thinking of seeing how different from the world we can become!

Just a thought.

Things have been crazy lately, but God has blessed, as He always does, and we now have another girl living with us!  (I was wondering if anyone can tell me how the addition of one person can increase the laundry load by a factor of ten??)  We are having a wonderful time together and everyone is adjusting well.

Several things in the last couple of days have made me think about family, and, more specifically, the spiritual family that reminded me again of how wonderful it is to be a believer in a giant family.  All of this with our new family member has been amazing!  I have had people praying with us and rejoicing with us, it is incredible.  Then we needed beds, and more family members came through.  We need to buy a few things and more brothers and sisters have come through for the extra stuff.  It is more than that, though.  I went out delivering flyers and was talking with some children in the neighborhood.  A concerned mother came out and when I introduced myself and that I was with the church, a big smile come over her face and she talked like we were old friends (or relatives).  That happened more than once.  Another man came out of his house as I was passing by and I introduced myself.  He just started talking to me about how he had gotten away from God and how he needed to come back to Him and we talked and I encouraged him (strangers until we learned about our relationship in Christ).  Monday, Karon and I were visiting and we went to a house and knocked on the door.  A neighbor came and looked at us and told us nobody was home so we talked to him.  When we each found out we were believers, it was like a family reunion and all we could talk about was the Lord.  Karon met a lady at camp “War Eagle” (sorry, I didn’t mean to cuss on the porch) and she said that the lady had lost a child three years ago and both of them wept together and they had only known each other a few minutes (long enough to discover they were sisters in Christ).

I am so very thankful that God has reminded me of this.  It seems that I have been a Christian so long that I have taken it for granted.  I was thinking that non-believers don’t have that connection, that extended family, and it makes me sad.  It is not that we are better, but Christ has given us a very special gift that we need to appreciate, cultivate, and share.

J.T. and I just got back from a conference in Birmingham on men’s ministry and it was tremendously informative!  I must say that I went to be able to spend time with J.T. but I was incredibly blessed and challenged by the conference.

 Many things were said that I needed reminding of and some things that I need to think about.  One of the things that was said is that we have “feminized” the church and that is one reason that many men don’t come.  I’m not sure what that means in real life.  Any ideas?  We also talked about how men don’t have many strong relationships with other men (if you ask many men who their best friend is, they will tell you someone from high school that they hardly have any contact with anymore).  I think some of that is a pride issue (many men don’t want to admit that they have a need), but I wonder if it is more than that.  I have really tried to expand my circle of friends in these older years of my life and have found that I have missed many joys in not doing this sooner.  Men, what do you feel that needs are in men’s ministry and how can the church meet those needs.  Ladies, from an objective point of view looking at this, what do you see?  Just wondering.

Bill

Just an aside: Laura brought up a very good point on the last discussion about it being hard to evanglize those who think they know everything.  I think that Jesus was frustrated (bad word, but maybe you get what I’m saying) with the religious leaders in His time because they already felt that they knew everything and were unteachable.  An example being the parable of the pharisee and the “sinner” going into the temple.  The “sinner” came out forgiven, the pharisee did not.

Sorry for my absence from the porch lately.  I was sick for a while and had to go inside, then my internet connection was really messed up (it is still not right) so I couldn’t even get on the porch!  I missed my rocking chair, the soft breeze, the sounds of spring (it is always either spring or fall on the porch), but most of all my friends.  Thanks for all of the expressions of support and concern.  Also for all that you have done for me.  I have gotten a request to explore more deeply the area of end-times evangelism.  This is probably a subject that needs to be on our minds all of the time.  Watching our world, the attitudes of people (even in our family of faith), and the environmental manifestations, I think that we are very close.  So close that I wonder if Elizabeth will be around long enough to get married (of course there have been times in the past, as she interacted with Karon, that I have wondered that same thing but for a different reason)!  I really do wonder if we, as Christians, have lost that love for the lost, or that fear of hell.  Has the concept of eternity just totally gotten lost in the living for the minute world that we find ourselves?  Why don’t we (including me) evangelize more, or, for some of us, even a little?  Is it just this disobedient heart that we have?  Is it the fact that hell, eternal destruction, and “life” without hope doesn’t move us anymore?  You know, it just came to me that it shouldn’t matter if something “moves” us or not anymore.  It should be that we do it because we are commanded to and it was important to Jesus.  Maybe it’s time that I got off the porch and did what I know to do.

(aside to Dolan, can you please add Deanna’s, Cami’s, your’s, and the church’s blog sites to my “links” or whatever that is, if they are not there already?)

I know that I am behind, technology-wise (and in many other areas too!), but J.T. and I just toured the world on Google earth and it is the coolest thing that I have ever seen.  If you haven’t gone there, you have GOT to do the Grand Canyon thing!  Try it!  Also, does anyone have any great web-sites that they have found and want to share???

By the way, no, this isn’t how we spend our time at the church, and yes, I do work (sometimes).

I was reading a blog on Jips Journal (I wish that I could link this, but I still can’t do it.  I know, Dolan has told me several times how to do it, but I still can’t get it right!  Anyway, try to visit there if you can, there are some great things there!) and it got me to thinking about people in general and I was wondering, does anyone feel like people are changing (for the worse I mean)?  I watch my youth struggling with different problems and is seems that most of them have something in common:  kids just being downright mean!  Am I remembering wrong or did the kids that your grew up with at least have some loyalty?  I know, we could be pretty mean to each other, but from the things that I am hearing from other parents, kids don’t really know what friendship means anymore.  The concept of sacrificing for a friend, or standing with them, or standing up for them is almost foreign to them, unless it is to hurt another youth.  I know that youth have much more potential and they can certainly worship much better than I could when I was growing up, so I am not saying that everything is wrong with them, but this just seems to stand out to me.  Am I wrong?  Is my view slanted?  I would love to hear what other adults think.  And one more question . . . Are adults following suit?

Alright, its not a front porch unless you get into a political discussion sooooo . . .

I am struggling right now with the illegal immigrant debate.  On the one hand I am trying to see the side of love and grace and amnesty.  On the other I am having a hard time getting around the word “illegal.”  I know that these people want a better life, but doesn’t the fact that they are breaking the law have to count for something?  The only thing that keeps us from chaos is our laws and our adherence to them.  If we can start choosing which laws we will abide by and which we won’t, then we are going down a very slippery slope that I’m not sure we want to go down.  If we do, I don’t think we can ever go back up again.  If it is a bad law, we change it, but we enforce it until it is changed.  I don’t particularly like the tax system as it is now, and it would help give my family a better life if I chose to ignore it, but it is the law (hopefully it will be changed and done better in the future) and I must abide by it.

 I could very well be wrong on this issue.  Please comment.

I’m sorry I haven’t sat down on the porch for a while.  I have sat out in the yard listening, but haven’t come up to contribute lately. 

I just want to say from the outset that I have realized that I am one of those people that HATE change!  Elizabeth is fixing to (boy am I Southern!) graduate, our family dynamics may be changing drastically (don’t worry, Karon and I are fine), and several other things are in the works and I DON’T LIKE CHANGE!  Is that part of the allure of heaven, that things that you love won’t go out of your life, or change?  I think about the people that have gone out of my life and it really makes me sad.  They haven’t died, they are just “out of my life” for lack of a better description.  Some have moved, I have moved, circumstances have changed, etc.  I’m thankful for the people that have come in, but I don’t like it when people go out.  Maybe that is why I spoke of the “new country” earlier.  It would be great for everyone to make our own country and no one could move away (does that sound a little like communist Russia?).  Oh well, I guess I’m just feeling a lot of emotions and I need to let it out.  I DON’T LIKE CHANGE! (Have I said that already?)  Well, now I’m sounding like Deanna so . . .