To think before you speak means loss of pride

Today I had an interesting situation. But, before I get into that, let me preface the situation with a story...

About three years ago, I hit my all-time spiritual low. I had been in deeper sin before hand, but never fully came to grips with it. Well, it finally hit me when I had to actually admit I had done some serious wrong in my life. I started reading about how to overcome temptation and this whole sin thing (what we shall call, tritely, "Spiritual Self-Help"). Well, I must have bought 150 books over the coarse of the past three years, or so. Well, reading the Bible itself, as opposed to reading all this other spiritual mumbo-jumbo, became a strong desire. Now, I'm in a Presbyterian church, and their doctrine is Calvinism. I talked to some friends who were biased against it, and I put my heels in the ground in order to not learn about it. Well, the more I dug my heels, the more I wanted to know for myself what I was against. Well, I'm now at the point where I'm almost totally for Calvinism. I'm learning about God's sovereign grace, and how he predestined and foreknew my life. I'm starting to feel like I'm growing spiritually, now.

Well, I'm just trying to go through life without looking stupid.......... It's not working out too well.

I'm finding out that the stronger I desire to become, the weaker and more mistake-prone I become. I mean, you can say the RIGHT thing at the WRONG time and still look stupid. You might be right, but it's not the right time to say it and you burn a bridge. I think I did that today.

STORY - this lady at school has been helping me sub for this Mariachi Music class. (NOTE: When the normal teachers are there, there are 4-7 teachers/para-pros. Well, when I'm there, it's just me... and sometimes this other lady. Well, she was telling me that the only way I'm going to get along with these kids is by having several adults in the class to help me. I said that part of the problem is that there are too many teachers, and there is not one main teacher laying down the law. Now, I don't mind her help, but all I was saying is that the kids need one teacher with one set of expectations - not 4-7 teachers with 4-7 different expectations. Well, I think I ticked her off. I may have been right in what I said, but not in my timing.

So, life goes on and I feel like a complete and total doofus!

With another problem to life, and a cry to our Lord, this is JS with True PC.

Help!

Personal Christianity means something that most people cannot describe. I see these Christianized self-help books all over the place that talk about "7 steps to this," "2 steps to this," or "50 steps to that."

I've often wondered what it means to "spend time with God," as if it were some sort of enigma that no one could ever REALLY figure out. This blog is dedictated to that cause, as well as to attempt to right some wrongs in our society, like truth (or, at least, the fight to keep it relevant). Our society today is so stuck on this post-modern behavior so prevelant today that says, "My truth is not your truth." Well, if we actually step back into time, truth actually had a meaning, and still does for some. Truth starts out as something that had an original. If Noah Webster had ever spoken outside of his dictionary, I know his definition of 'truth' would be "that which coincides with the original."

So, what is the original? (The only thing tough about answering that question is ticking people off. The goal of true personal Christianity is to draw others to Christ. I will not always be successful at this.) Every central religion around the world (whether it be Bhuddism, spirits of the Native Americans, or the like - believe me, there are thousands of these gods or spirits) will point to something that looks very similar to the God of the Bible.

I was listening to Kay Arthur speak recently, and she spoke of a very primitive tribe north of Australia. And, what she said astonished me. An American researcher was visiting there and witnessed a country ready to kill each other. He tried to speak with the tribe he was "in" with, to beg them to change. Nothing. Finally, this man was ready leave and abandon this poor country. Yet, while the others looked on in astonishment, they realized that there was civility, truth, and love to live for. So, here's what happened. Each head of the two tribes (the ones ready to kill each other) took their firstborn sons and exchanged them, saying, "as long as these children live, peace will reign between our tribes." They were, strangely, called 'love children.' As the sons were exchanged, members of each others tribes met each other with embraces, hugs, kisses, and words of encouragement.

Hmmm. Sounds very similar to what Jesus did for us on the cross. God gave us his Son, and Jesus died, and rose again so that we might live in peace with God. Strange, though. The love children in our situation were God's Son, Jesus, and our sins. No works on our parts can ever repair what damage had been done. Only through God's forgiveness was there restitution.

Well, with something to chew on, this is...

JS <><