Die Already!

In Michigan, spring not only means ice storms and tornadoes, but the appearance of massive brown spiders crawling up and down your basement and bathroom walls.

Seeing them is not exactly the problem.

When you no longer see them the problem begins.

“WHERE DID IT GO?” Your mind races as you duck into the bathroom. “It was just on the ceiling above the toilet two minutes ago!” You circle the room, turning with alert eyes and ears; fly swatter and bug spray as lethal weapons in your trembling hands.

Suddenly, you spot it on the sink.

Crikey, look at those legs!

You could almost hear that rattlesnake sound from the movies as you whisper “I’ve got you now!” You roar a sinister laugh and begin to trash talk the lazy arachnid that is relaxing in the pristine bowl where you brush your teeth. “Prepare to meet thy maker!”

Thwap!

Aha! You are the champion! You have killed the world’s nemesis, you’ve-

IT’S STILL MOVING! What the-? 

(cue record scratch)

“Die, arachnid, die!” With a mighty Indian war whoop, you tighten your grip on the lethal weapons and make a face that would scare an old man. So much for trashtalking the eight legged disgusting invader. Your work is cut out for you!

Ten minutes and 78 thwap attempts later, the spiders legs have stopped doing their on-their-back-fast-forward-self-contained-kickline dance and you triumphant call your dad into pick it up and flush it to the underworld.

All in a day’s work!

Sometimes it seems like you can hear a faint roaring crowd and “We Are The Champions” playing in the background.

Thank you, thank you!

Sometimes, we can be like spiders. While God is not out to destroy us, He certainly wants our selfish side to die and be transformed by His love. Too often, we see people “get saved” then stay the same. Allow Him to change you!

As the song “Changed” says (sings? )

We have been blessed – now we’re going to be a blessing
We have been loved – now we’re going to bring love
We’ve been invited – we’re going to share the invitation
We have been changed – to bring change, to bring change
We have been changed – to bring change, to bring change
Thank You for this new life, thank You for the invitation!
God, we want to live and then we’re going to shape the nations ” in Your name!

What good is it if we take on the name Christian and go on living like before? It’s like getting married, taking on the guy’s name, then going back home to live.

God wants to change your heart and make you into a special person, fit for furthering His kingdom.

So, let’s play out the scenario, only from God’s perspective. He’s not exactly trying to kill you, but make you surrender your will. In His hands are not lethal weapons that will kill you, but ways that will transform you.

You’re like a spider, scurrying around, trying to find a nice place to chill out and live out your life.

God sees you even if you’re not living life in the open. Whether you’re like the spider on the ceiling or the spider behind the bathroom mirror, He sees what you’re up to! And He’s after you!

“Lauralea, come on! Let’s get you out of the habits you’re in.”

“Lauralea, don’t try that!”

“Lauralea! Stop thinking that way!”

“I love you, but you seem to love yourself and your ways more than you love me. Why do you pursue these things first? Why do you come to me last?”

“Stop running!”

“How much time did you spend at that activity… and why didn’t you spend any time with me today?”

“You will is not a reflection of mine… I’m going to shut some doors.”

“Die, will, die already!”

God may not be frustrated like we are and is definitely not after you with a giant flyswatter. He is patient. But He’s waiting. Come to Him. Stop doing the little on-your-back-fast-forward-self-contained-kickline dance whenever God knocks you off your feet through reprimands and circumstances. Stop running and hiding, because He can see you!

When He catches up with you, He won’t flush you to the underworld, er, hell. If you are a true child of His, your future is secure. But your holiness, self righteousness, self esteem, self worth, and self promotion must be replace with His holiness, his righteousness, and an esteem for spiritual things and things of worth. Self promotion and its insecure feelings will turn into confidence in God’s plans for you. Why continue in self focus, why run from God, why be absorbed in worldly things, when you can be transformed?

Stop avoiding God’s hand and voice. Stop fleeing Him and pursuing your desires. Let His desires become yours.

Die Already!

they’re rebellious and i’m loving it

I was on an extremely secular college campus last week. I am planning to gain college credit by CLEP-ing every two weeks at this college, which means I’ll be there often…

Upon arrival, the place looked respectable, with a postmodern art sculpture outside and plants everywhere. As I walked inside, the smell of cigarette smoke mingled with the indoor Subway, loud music blared and people were dancing on the tables. Teachers and staff in inappropriate clothing joined in the fun, stealthily grabbing food from the Subway and throwing it around. A guy walked around with a large portable karaoke system and described every woman he walked past.  Some random guy called out BINGO numbers to no one in particular. I was able to find one staff member watching two homosexuals “interact”; and asked her for directions to the testing center. “Don’t take the stairs, they are not safe,” she cautioned me first.

As I waited for the elevator to take me up to the testing floor, some black guy in an oversized letter jacket saw my Star-Of-David necklace and called me a ‘(expletive) Jew-lover’.

The place was a zoo. I’ve heard of such things ever since I was youngin- college campuses are for wild parties, college campuses are for goof offs, college campuses are godless folks who want to avoid deep thinking… the list goes on.

We see the secular mindset overtaking people everywhere. It seems rampant, especially in places like this.

I also saw a student services board that clearly defined the topic I’m continuing on: demographics. The said board had numbers and addresses of relevant services for students. One under women’s services was the local Planned Parenthood, located conveniently 1-1/2 miles from campus.

It seems bleak to see such behavior, to notice troubling (literal!) signs, to hear things some liberals say. But… aren’t they aborting their offspring? What type of people are having babies?

From my observations:

-In Shipshewana, IN; I played a game with myself all day to count heads in Amish family buggies, broods of kids in flea markets, and families in stores. Most buggies had 3 to 5 kids in them.

-In our Christian homeschool group, I went through the directory and counted kids per family, then averaged the number out. I came up with 4.36.

-At a Christian camp I went to this summer, 1/3 of the people came from families with 5 or more kids. They were all “average” Christian people, too.

-My friends from a particular activity I did when in school were all unsaved/humanistic in thinking. Some were only children, others were the eldest of 2 or youngest of 3, but never more than that. My friend “Yvonne” was teased about her large family of 4 kids.

The point I want to make is simply: The secular folks aren’t having enough kids. Look who is. Though the humanist scholars are producing disciples now, these disciples won’t produce kids later.

What does that mean?

Guest Post~ Of Wrestling and Excuses

My blogging friend Melinda has written today’s post. I appreciate Melinda’s friendly heart that is expressed through her blog:

Radiant Purity and True Beauty

Her blog has been such a blessing to me, and it will bless you as well.

Now for her post:

 

I don’t know why it was so difficult this time.  I had done it plenty of times before. But after my heart was broken, I didn’t want to trust God with it again.  I had my excuses.

 

“God, why must I trust you for the person I marry?  You already have hurt my heart in that area.  I tried to do everything right!  No, I want control over that area of my life.  I can’t trust You in this area.”

 

They were pitiful excuses.  I couldn’t trust the Creator of the world and my Heavenly Prince who wrote my story before I was born with my life.  As a result, I wasn’t happy.  Discontent, fear, distrust and self-pity reigned supreme in my life.

 

My wise mother noticed and perceived my problem (how do mothers know?) and told me late one night, “I think you need to surrender your desire for marriage to God. I don’t think you are trusting Him in that area.”  Faced head on with my problem, I blubbered around, sobbing the same excuses I told God. “But He gave me something I didn’t want last time.  Why should I trust Him again?”

 

I fought against it for awhile.  The Love that will not let me go, however, won the day.  I surrendered my whole life anew to Jesus Christ.  I chose to trust Him completely for my future, including who, when and if I should marry.  I realized I am without excuse.  He who wrote my story demands full obedience to His Will and plan and His will and plan are perfect.  His promises are sure.  Instead of wrestling, I will trust.  Instead of making excuses, I will rest in His care.

 

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” -Jeremiah 29:11-13

A New (mail) Order

It’s been an interesting week for snail mail at our house. Besides a few (really expensive) clothing catalogs a day; we’ve received some religious material as well.

Last week, we received a Qu’ran and two booklets about Islam from an organization that vowed (at a recent large meeting in Chicago) to spread Islam.

Today, the most peculiar book arrived. The title is simply “Earth Blessings.”

I thought “Oh boy.”

The subtitle is: “Prayers For Our Planet.”

I thought “This will be fun.”

The book is actually a devotional for the use of “helping people know their oneness with God, that they may open themselves to the presence of God and recognize divinity in all circumstances.”

It is full of ‘Christian’ devotionals that sound more like affirmations for inspiration or mantras New Agers use to encourage their meditation towards higher consciousness. Included at the end of the devotionals are Bible verses.

“I am blessing the world with my loving, faith filled thoughts and prayers.”

“My environment – the climate, Earth, and life that surround me- is continually blessing me. Everyone, everything in all of creation, is interconnected, and there is an exchange of good…Genesis 1:31.”

Another:

“I have faith that all things are possible with God in the midst of me.

There is nothing which I cannot overcome since God in the midst of me is all powerful. I have supreme faith in God and unswerving faith in myself…I have abounding faith that God in me does all things well. I have faith in fellow man. I know that God in him is now exalting him to a consciousness of better and nobler things…Proverbs 28:20

Some other mantras and excerpts:

“I am a spiritual being with a true talent for right thinking and living. I have not begun to realize my spiritual powers. I have truth inside of me… Romans 12:2″

“How I wish I were a lake.”

“I may at times become so caught up in my daily routine that I forget to stop and become aware… that God is continually creating my world. I experience God through nature.”

“I tenderly care for the earth with love and poise.”

“I am thankful for all the gifts I see in nature.”

The funniest devotional was “Orderly Weather” I’ll admit I laughed until my side cramped up:

“I bless the weather with divine love. Whenever these words flow from my mind and heart, a new attitude toward weather conditions is established through me. God’s love working through me helps me to respond to all types of weather with poise and calm. I sense a new security wherever I go because I know that the blessing I give makes safe and harmonious my way regardless of weather conditions.”

Whoa.

It may seem like a bunch of funny baloney, but some Christians are lapping it up like thirsty dogs.

There is nothing wrong with saying “Christ in me” or “being a good steward of the earth is important.” We know we mean Holy Spirit’s sanctification and Christ in our hearts through salvation. We know we are supposed to have dominion over the earth in the command from Genesis.

But are we divine? We may be souls, a spirit housed within a body, but we are human as well. We cannot lean out the window and bless the F-3 tornado bearing down on our house with “divine love”. God is in control, and we can respond well to situations by trusting in God. We never become divine. We become immortal upon death, but we never reach a level of divinity. We only become glorified… after death.

No matter how poised or tenderly we hoe and rake the earth, we aren’t anymore at “one” with it than we were if we were planting a tree on it. We’re just called to have dominion. Poise and tenderness is up to you…

There is nothing wrong with being thankful for nature. But who created it? We don’t see divine trees and flowers. We see order. A creator. General revelation is not seeing divinity in something. It’s revealing THE Divine.

We are NOT talented at being good and thinking right things. We are fallen beings. Do you think a lot of good thoughts? Are you selfless or selfish first? We are not good. We have no power. We can do nothing without Christ. We never see Christ on the beach waving his arms back and forth telling his disciples to repeat after him in chanting “I am God.”

Believers of pantheistic worldviews are hard to evangelize; many do believe in Christ as an example of a human that reached divinity. Even this devotional used Biblical texts to point out the “fact” we are called to reach upward, wake ourselves up, and become divine. Usually, these verses are twisted out of context.

And to close, just because I like this relevant video, here is the Extreme Tree Huggers group called EarthFirst! (again).

Is There A Wrong Kind of Comfort?

“Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there. I do not sleep
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond’s glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn’s rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush.
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die.”

I’ve heard it at funerals of good Christian people who didn’t believe in reincarnation, but this is what the poem implies.
Of course, those redeemed by Christ technically go on to live in heaven and eventually the new earth, but we aren’t found in rain, or in wind, or in snow, or in fields. When we look at the sparkles in snow, we don’t hear people say, “Hey, it’s Grandma.” Or think “Uncle Billy is out there waving in the field!” Those who do think so imply a sort of pantheistic theology.

‘All is of one, for life is an energy that is fixed and you do not die, your energy only renews itself in a new form’ view.

I’m afraid someone wrote this wanting to bring comfort to those suffering a loss of a dear one. This is a critical point for those suffering loss- a point where they either cling to The God or adopt a new view. Satan could easily trick people into believing false ideas through poems such as these.

Which leads me to the question, is there a wrong kind of comfort?

If so, what kind of comfort should we give?

—-

BTW~ I’m officially a college freshman! I’m studying for my first CLEPs- English Comp and Natural Science. I hope to be a sophomore by spring.

Evil and Suffering: Epic Answers for Epic Questions

Why would a good God allow bad things to happen? -or- Doesn’t evil mean there’s no God- at least a perfect, loving God?
First of all, God knew when he created Lucifer that he would one day fall, and eventually take humanity down with him. He couldn’t have created an eventual evil world without knowing he would redeem it. His nature is perfect goodness. God is the “father of lights” and his word guides our feet like a light. It’s been said countless times for ages and ages that evil is darkness- black magic does harm, criminals causing harm have “dark minds”, etc. God is light. How could he let the two co-exist?

Is light the absence of darkness or is darkness the absence of light? Light can’t be where total darkness is. Dark can’t overtake light. Light penetrates things. You can bring in light to make a room brighter, but you can’t take darkness out by flipping a darkness switch. You can turn off the light, but you’re still using light. Even when you turn off your lights at night, your eyes adjust and we can still see things. You might not see them as clearly, but the point is, light overtakes darkness. Turns out the two aren’t so interdependent- if so at all. In order for evil to exist, there had to have first been good to be opposite of. Could God create evil? More on that below
The spirit of the question “How could God let the two coexist if they don’t depend on each other?” is summed up thusly: God is letting the two remain. If there was no evil, there’d be no need for Jesus.  Well, why doesn’t God destroy evil? If God were to rid of all the evil in the world, he’d have to rid of us too. I’m not sure what agnostic or atheist or sane person would want to be first in line on the day God purged the universe of evil.

Humans with the nature of sin tend to do a lot of bad things to each other. They kill each other like they have no conscience. Hence, we could call this evil ‘moral wrong’ for it defies some kind of standard (see first chapter in Mere Christianity for more).

But of course, we have criminals who have odd feelings of pleasure when hurting innocent people, such as cult leaders who indotrinate followers to give up young girls for rape, or guerillas who force young boys into fighting violent gang wars or drug wars (like the LRA), or people who like to kill babies.

We also have bad things that happen almost naturally, like the Japanese tsunami or famine for lack of rain. They don’t appear to have a purpose other than to cause havoc and injure people. We can label this natural evil. The video below sums it up:

“People starving in the streets/Cuz they can’t get enough to eat from God.”

Logically, they’re asking “Why would a good God allow evil? Why would he make food and then not let the people in his image eat it?”

Their reasoning goes like this:

If God were good, He would destroy evil.

If God were powerful, He could destroy evil.

Evil hasn’t been destroyed.

So there’s no God.

—

Knowing the logic we learned from above, let’s answer the question:

Could God create evil?

NT Wright:

The entire canon of Scripture tells a story which, from a bewildering variety of angles, is all about what God is doing about evil. (From Evil and the Justice of God, 76)

“All things were made by him…” All means all, right?

From “got questions?”

Question: “Did God create evil?”

Answer: At first it might seem that if God created all things, then evil must have been created by God. However, evil is not a “thing” like a rock or electricity… Evil has no existence of its own; it is really the absence of good. For example, holes are real but they only exist in something else. We call the absence of dirt a hole, but it cannot be separated from the dirt. So when God created, it is true that all He created was good. One of the good things God made was creatures who had the freedom to choose good. In order to have a real choice, God had to allow there to be something besides good to choose. So, God allowed these free angels and humans to choose good or reject good (evil). When a bad relationship exists between two good things we call that evil, but it does not become a “thing” that required God to create it.

Perhaps a further illustration will help. If a person is asked, “Does cold exist?” the answer would likely be “yes.” However, this is incorrect. Cold does not exist. Cold is the absence of heat. Similarly, darkness does not exist; it is the absence of light. Evil is the absence of good, or better, evil is the absence of God. God did not have to create evil, but rather only allow for the absence of good.

God did not create evil, but He does allow evil. If God had not allowed for the possibility of evil, both mankind and angels would be serving God out of obligation, not choice. He did not want “robots” that simply did what He wanted them to do because of their “programming.” God allowed for the possibility of evil so that we could genuinely have a free will and choose whether or not we wanted to serve Him.

Let’s go back to the logic:

 

If God were good, He would destroy evil.

If God were powerful, He could destroy evil.

Evil hasn’t YET been destroyed.

Therefore, in the future, God will destroy evil.

If a person is going to answer this theological question correctly, he should study the theology surrounding evil. We’ve glanced at creation- where God said “It’s good.”

It’s called the new earth. Christianity is based on the Bible: God’s drama of redemption. It’s not some fuzzy love letter to us, though some parts are lovely. The bible is there to answer the big questions, to show us what He’s up to next. If people would only pick it up and read it like they meant to learn instead of “getting something out of it.” That’s another story.

Okay, so God and evil are here. He’ll destroy it someday.

Then why does he let me suffer? Doesn’t he care?

On the cross, Jesus felt all our sin and anguish, he was paying the pricefor everyone. ALL our sin. That’s nearly 7 billion of us now, maybe couple more billion. You know how bad it feels to sin and feel horrible about it. How about times 20,000,000,000-ish?

 Isaiah 53:4-5

Surely he has borne our griefs
   and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    smitten by God, and afflicted.
 But he was wounded for our transgressions;
   he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his stripes we are healed.

When people are suffering, we can first of all help them by shutting up. Never say “Oh, it’s okay…” or start quoting Bible verses at them. When the time is right, gently tell them that Jesus felt the sin and sorrow himself. Our God suffers with us.

‘Live With Purpose’ (a tidbit of Chapter 1 of my book)

How often do we think ‘September thoughts’? “Since the school year is starting, I will do ____” or “I can have 30 weeks to study ____ a little bit more.” It’s easy to think we can let our schedules and circumstances determine our life; to help our future along. It’s like living on autopilot: letting social life, full calendars, games, appointments, and homework become our purpose for living. And for us college women and beyond, it’s easy to think housework and college and chores is all that’s worth living for.

These activities are all worthy and many are necessary to living. Chores need to be completed. Homework must be finished. Doctors need to be seen. Teeth need to be filled. It’s life.

But, when we start to look to our calendars to determine what’s next, our lives are set to live on autopilot. And when a huge change comes (like graduation, for example), we aren’t sure what we’re supposed to do. We feel lost, like our social life has been stripped away; we feel like we have no reason to exist: like we have no purpose… like God has taken everything we liked to do away!

I confess I used to live on autopilot. Looking to the next thing on the list to determine what I should do. It is how we young single women start to feel discontent when we’re 18 or 21 or 30 and not married- or even seeing anyone. We’re too used to everything coming at us in an orderly fashion, being in control of our lives. When things like a job, marriage, or college don’t come our way, the discontentment sets in.

In reality, God is not taking anything away from us. WE are living without purpose.

“Our hearts are restless, Lord, until they rest in You.” Saint Augustine

So often, we’re caught up in living life to simply live life, we forget what we’re here for. We were made for God, not the next big thing! It is only when we live for God do we genuinely begin live vibrantly, wholly, and fully.

How do we do that?

Well… that’s what my book is all about!

“When people stop believing in God, the problem is not that they believe in nothing, but that they believe in everything.” -G.K. Chesterton

Romans 8 (and what I’ve learned about the nature of God and the nature of me)

There is something about this chapter that draws me back to it over and over.

1. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This whole chapter tells us who we are as Christians. If I ever successfully lead someone to Christ, and they ask “Then what?” I would take them through a study of Romans 8 then Ephesians. Hey, now that my book is in oblivion, I could start writing a study on this…

Anyway. ahem. I’ve come to realize yet again the only way to be genuinely content, happy, and Christ-centered is when I’m not pursuing things I want.

I’ve been learning a lot about prayer recently, too; and the verse about the Holy Spirit making known our requyests without even saying them eloquently makes me want to burst with peace and assurance! Since we are saved to do good works, and we cannot lose our salvation; we should constantly be seeking things above. Sometimes, sin distracts us, though. It doesn’t take much to pull us away from Christ, but sadly, it happens. We become a little more carnally minded than we should. We fall into a great heap of trouble and see no way out. I am so thankful for a God who loves me, but hates my sin with a holy passion! He opens my eyes to breaches in my wall, to echo Nehemiah’s dilemma. I am determined to not let the wall of my fellowship Christ around crumble or be diminished by anything of the Father of lies. 

That’s why I went through this process recently. Christ has become more real to me. I feel light, clean inside and out. Even if you’re not a set-apart “girl,” you warriors could benefit from taking a step back and examining your life, too. We’re all human. We all sin. Princess or Warrior, lady or gent’a'man, I hope you click on the link and take a look at what “Cleaning Out the Sanctuary” really means.  I dare you. Click on it!

Christianity vs. Islam

We’re going to compare Christianity with Islam, and see what “God” is like in each. I’ve read a ton on Islam, including the Qur’an, and I feel the need to share what I’ve learned. I made note of many verses that contradicted the Bible. Islam intrigues me- it makes me wonder why God allows Satan to make such a religion to grow, and who would take the time to think up a religion like this… it boggles my mind.

The first major difference we will notice is:

Christianity: Trinitarian Theism- or one God, three persons. 2 Cor. 13:4, Matt. 28:19 both refer to Son, Spirit, and Father. (If you know of more verses on the Trinity, let me know)

Islam: Unitarian Theism- in Surah 5:73 It says They surely disbelieve who say: Lo! Allah is the third of three; when there is no Allah save the One Allah. Perhaps the idea of the Trinity was too confusing for Muhammad. It confuses me too, but I believe it. It’s not illogical. What logic law does it violate?

The second major difference is:

God cannot lie or change-   James 1: 17: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no varying, neither shadow of turning.      Titus 1: 2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.

Allah lies and changes: Sura 8:30 They plot and plan, and Allah, too plans, but the best of the planners is Allah. Another translation uses “schemers” another, “plotters” and another “deceiver”. The word plotter seems to imply Allah is not all knowing.

Mondays and Fridays will be “VS.” days for now. Maybe not while I’m away in August, but definitely for now. I have no plans to make theme days, like blogs everywhere around me are doing. But it should be interesting. And if you are bored to tears, let me know somehting you’d like me to write about, and I’ll make a post just for you.

Someone guessed the answer correctly (of the two of you that guessed!) ENVY