Once again, I've allowed too much time to pass without blogging. It isn't because I have nothing to say! Ask my friends and family about that. They'll assure you that I always have something to say about everything. The problem is, what do I say to you here, in this forum?
The thing that comes to mind right now, which came up earlier this week in my class, is teasing. In my books, the characters tease each other. Some people are uncomfortable with the teasing, some find it perfectly normal. Is the teasing right or wrong?
In class we talked at some length about the teasing. The group was divided. It was an eyeopener when one of the women who was actually somewhat uncomfortable with the teasing between the characters, said that sometimes she wishes she had friends and family with whom she could tease like that. It would be incredible to have friends who know you well enough to tease you but love you well enough to never be cruel in the teasing. I have to say that it is! I have friends who tease me and are teased by me.
Sometimes their teasing acts as a reality check to see how I'm doing with becoming more Christ-like. Sometimes it's great to know they love me in spite of my faults. Never are they intentionally cruel to me. I know the difference because I know people who are intentionally cruel in their teasing.
And that was the final consensus in my class. Teasing, like anything, can be good or bad. The intention determines which. Anything done to be intentionally cruel is very bad.
But, hurt and intentional cruelty are two different things.
But lest this blog become too long, I'll need to pick up with that on another day. Maybe it'll even be less than a month before I blog again!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Cherished Ideas vs. The Bible
What to blog about? That's my problem. I have so many things to say, but I say them in the books I'm writing and in the class I teach, so a lot of times I don't have much to say when my Outlook reminder to blog pops up. So I click [snooze] or [dismiss] and go on to something else.
One of the things that motivates my writing and teaching is to drive people back to the bible, and deep rather than just a shallow 'what can the bible tell me about my life' kind of reading. I want people to take their cherished traditions to the bible and see if they hold up against it.
Often we build concepts on a verse of the bible. A verse. One. This is a process which doesn't take into account the rest of the bible on that topic. It can be a misleading process. An example that has popped up more than once recently is the idea of the Generational Curse.
I bet you're familiar with the idea. It's based upon the curse from the Law: "I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me" (Exodus 20:5; also found in Exodus 34:7; Numbers 14:18; Deuteronomy 5:9).
But, as Christians, we have to read the rest of the story. What about Jeremiah 31:29-34, Ezekiel 18 and Galatians 3:10-13? What do they have to say about the curse of the law?
(No! I'm not going to give you the answer! If one of my motivations is to drive people back to the bible, isn't this a good opportunity to make you open up your bible and see for yourself what those verses say? I'm going to encourage you to think rather than blindly accept what someone else told you.)
One of the things that motivates my writing and teaching is to drive people back to the bible, and deep rather than just a shallow 'what can the bible tell me about my life' kind of reading. I want people to take their cherished traditions to the bible and see if they hold up against it.
Often we build concepts on a verse of the bible. A verse. One. This is a process which doesn't take into account the rest of the bible on that topic. It can be a misleading process. An example that has popped up more than once recently is the idea of the Generational Curse.
I bet you're familiar with the idea. It's based upon the curse from the Law: "I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me" (Exodus 20:5; also found in Exodus 34:7; Numbers 14:18; Deuteronomy 5:9).
But, as Christians, we have to read the rest of the story. What about Jeremiah 31:29-34, Ezekiel 18 and Galatians 3:10-13? What do they have to say about the curse of the law?
(No! I'm not going to give you the answer! If one of my motivations is to drive people back to the bible, isn't this a good opportunity to make you open up your bible and see for yourself what those verses say? I'm going to encourage you to think rather than blindly accept what someone else told you.)
Friday, September 24, 2010
Sex, lies and fantasy
Time to blog again. Uh, no, way past time to blog again. The problem is that my brain is focused on another project - a book I'm doing the final edit on, and it needs to be done tomorrow! (At least I'm not at the 'yesterday' point yet!)
That reminds me of a question I had to answer on a survey about sexual addiction. (Yes, there's a long story behind that, related to Pure Desire, but that will have to wait for another time.) Anyway, the question was something like 'do you often find yourself in fantasies?'
I was puzzled about how to answer that. I'm a good Christian, so I don't want to lie. Is it a lie to answer not the question itself but what you believe is the intent behind the question?
The problem with my life is that I have a very active fantasy world in my head. I once stopped myself just before I told someone that I could get Steve Jeremiah to talk at their event. He's a fictional character that exists only in your books, lolo!
When I'm working on a book like I am now, it's hard to do anything else. Even sometimes when I'm watching TV with my husband, half of my brain is on one of the books I'm currently working on. I almost resent doing anything that doesn't advance my writing/editing, even things I really love to do.
I wonder if that's normal. Is it good? Is it neither good nor bad? Is the point that I need to prayerfully evaluate what God wants me to do and sometimes subjugate my desires to what I know needs to be done?
If you see me and I seem distracted, don't worry. I probably am. Just give me an "earth to Cheryl!" call and remind me that I have a life too!
That reminds me of a question I had to answer on a survey about sexual addiction. (Yes, there's a long story behind that, related to Pure Desire, but that will have to wait for another time.) Anyway, the question was something like 'do you often find yourself in fantasies?'
I was puzzled about how to answer that. I'm a good Christian, so I don't want to lie. Is it a lie to answer not the question itself but what you believe is the intent behind the question?
The problem with my life is that I have a very active fantasy world in my head. I once stopped myself just before I told someone that I could get Steve Jeremiah to talk at their event. He's a fictional character that exists only in your books, lolo!
When I'm working on a book like I am now, it's hard to do anything else. Even sometimes when I'm watching TV with my husband, half of my brain is on one of the books I'm currently working on. I almost resent doing anything that doesn't advance my writing/editing, even things I really love to do.
I wonder if that's normal. Is it good? Is it neither good nor bad? Is the point that I need to prayerfully evaluate what God wants me to do and sometimes subjugate my desires to what I know needs to be done?
If you see me and I seem distracted, don't worry. I probably am. Just give me an "earth to Cheryl!" call and remind me that I have a life too!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
A Good Day?
Have you ever had one of those days when you feel like you're forgetting something? When something is 'off' but you can't quite pinpoint what?
I'm having one of those days. It's mildly disturbing, but maybe blogging will help me.
I've had lots of these days in the past. In fact, there was a time when it was pretty much my standard day! But they aren't so frequent anymore. And they aren't all that disturbing anymore either. (Note that I said 'mildly disturbing' above.)
The reason I'm not very disturbed is that as I've grown in my relationship with God, I've learned that these kine days are 'new creation' days. They're part of what the Apostle Paul talks about in Ephesians 4:22-24 when he said we are "to be made new in the attitude of [our] minds."
When nothing feels right, I have learned to press on with what I know. In the pressing on, I always break through to something better - a greater trust in following God even when I don't know where I'm going. Whether or not I accomplish something by worldly standards, I certainly achieve something of spiritual value. That makes it a really good day!
I'm having one of those days. It's mildly disturbing, but maybe blogging will help me.
I've had lots of these days in the past. In fact, there was a time when it was pretty much my standard day! But they aren't so frequent anymore. And they aren't all that disturbing anymore either. (Note that I said 'mildly disturbing' above.)
The reason I'm not very disturbed is that as I've grown in my relationship with God, I've learned that these kine days are 'new creation' days. They're part of what the Apostle Paul talks about in Ephesians 4:22-24 when he said we are "to be made new in the attitude of [our] minds."
When nothing feels right, I have learned to press on with what I know. In the pressing on, I always break through to something better - a greater trust in following God even when I don't know where I'm going. Whether or not I accomplish something by worldly standards, I certainly achieve something of spiritual value. That makes it a really good day!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Blogs and Phones
I guess you know by now that I'm not a faithful blogger. The strange thing is that I love to write. I'm always writing. I've written seven books in sixteen months and a host of other things. So why don't I write my blog?
The problem with a blog is that it's supposed to be a means of communication. Writing a blog that no one responds to is like talking on the phone but no one is talking back. Before too long, you hang up.
Now, I'm not going to hang up my blog. I'll keep writing it, but I'm not going to promise there's going to be a post every week or every day or every other day. I do know that once someone begins to "talk" to me, I'll stay on the line!
BTW, if you are interested in the rest of the Holy Spirit and tongues discourse, check out my website. Sometime in the next week, I'll be posting the rest of my thoughts there in one file.
I hope to hear from you. I will be back, sooner than later now that I've figured out the problem of why I don't like to blog.
The problem with a blog is that it's supposed to be a means of communication. Writing a blog that no one responds to is like talking on the phone but no one is talking back. Before too long, you hang up.
Now, I'm not going to hang up my blog. I'll keep writing it, but I'm not going to promise there's going to be a post every week or every day or every other day. I do know that once someone begins to "talk" to me, I'll stay on the line!
BTW, if you are interested in the rest of the Holy Spirit and tongues discourse, check out my website. Sometime in the next week, I'll be posting the rest of my thoughts there in one file.
I hope to hear from you. I will be back, sooner than later now that I've figured out the problem of why I don't like to blog.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
The Holy Spirit and the gift of tongues (pt. 11)
So, after sending Peter to preach to the God-fearing gentiles in Caesarea, the Holy Spirit falls on the new believers suddenly and unexpectedly. As in Acts 19, one of the signs that shows he has infilled the gentiles is the tongues. As we already saw, the Greek word used here is the same word used in all other places in the New Testament where tongues refer to languages. There is no separate word for foreign languages and for ecstatic utterances (e.g. private prayer language; ‘tongues of angels’). Some theorize that here in Acts 10 these tongues must be ecstatic utterances because foreign languages would fall on ‘deaf’ ears (meaning there would be no one to understand them), but the text does not tell us that. This is a difficult argument since the very nature of ecstatic utterances means that it also falls on ‘deaf’ ears unless there is an interpreter present, another gift of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit gives tongues, it must always be interpreted for anyone to understand it, whether it is tongues of men or angels. (We’ll look more in depth into this when we get to 1 Corinthians.)
The reality is that if Luke had thought it was important for his readers to know whether the tongues here or in Act 19 was of men or of angels, he would have clearly stated it. Thus we see the same thing we saw in Acts 19 – the tongues is not the important part of this story. It is simply a small piece of the larger story of the Holy Spirit moving and creating a new people of God.
In my next blog, we will consider the similarities and differences between the episodes in Caesarea and in Ephesus.
The reality is that if Luke had thought it was important for his readers to know whether the tongues here or in Act 19 was of men or of angels, he would have clearly stated it. Thus we see the same thing we saw in Acts 19 – the tongues is not the important part of this story. It is simply a small piece of the larger story of the Holy Spirit moving and creating a new people of God.
In my next blog, we will consider the similarities and differences between the episodes in Caesarea and in Ephesus.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
The Holy Spirit and the gift of tongues (pt. 10)
After Peter goes to Caesarea from Joppa, he tells the gentiles that there was a deeper meaning to his vision. More than animals were made clean: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean” (Acts 10:28).
When you’re reading the bible, one of the things to look for is repetition. Something said multiple times in a passage is probably important. The repetition of the vision and the continual reminders that these are gentiles tell us this is the heart of the whole passage. God, by coming to earth, dying on the cross and rising to eternal life, has restored the gentiles to him. No longer are they “unholy or unclean.” The Holy Spirit seals the deal with his infilling.
The fact that the Holy Spirit is the prime mover of this story is shown in his infilling, but the visions of Cornelius and Peter set us up to expect it. We are also on the alert because it is Peter, not Saul who is going to the God-fearing gentiles in Caesarea. In Acts 9, Saul was specifically named as God’s “chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles” (v. 15) and yet we do not see him making any inroads into that gentile mission before the action moves to Peter (9:32) who makes the first trust for Jesus into the gentile nations. This serves as a reminder that the Holy Spirit moves where and when he chooses – he is not bound by human agents, but it also tells us that the Holy Spirit’s gifts and callings aren’t exclusive – he will sometimes move believers to act outside of their area of calling. (This whole episode is also very important to later action in the church. It’s foundational to the circumcision debate, but we’ll need to explore that later.)
When you’re reading the bible, one of the things to look for is repetition. Something said multiple times in a passage is probably important. The repetition of the vision and the continual reminders that these are gentiles tell us this is the heart of the whole passage. God, by coming to earth, dying on the cross and rising to eternal life, has restored the gentiles to him. No longer are they “unholy or unclean.” The Holy Spirit seals the deal with his infilling.
The fact that the Holy Spirit is the prime mover of this story is shown in his infilling, but the visions of Cornelius and Peter set us up to expect it. We are also on the alert because it is Peter, not Saul who is going to the God-fearing gentiles in Caesarea. In Acts 9, Saul was specifically named as God’s “chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles” (v. 15) and yet we do not see him making any inroads into that gentile mission before the action moves to Peter (9:32) who makes the first trust for Jesus into the gentile nations. This serves as a reminder that the Holy Spirit moves where and when he chooses – he is not bound by human agents, but it also tells us that the Holy Spirit’s gifts and callings aren’t exclusive – he will sometimes move believers to act outside of their area of calling. (This whole episode is also very important to later action in the church. It’s foundational to the circumcision debate, but we’ll need to explore that later.)
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