Revival

It’s Like Putting Lipstick on a Pig

I know the phrase. I’ve used the phrase. One thing I haven’t done is tried putting lipstick on a pig. The logistics alone make this quite the monumental feat. As I said, I’ve never tried but if you use your imagination, you can hear the squeals, picture the battle of wills and even smell the… those with a less vibrant imagination are thankful they don’t see, hear, feel and smell the way those of us who can get lost in our own thoughts do. Putting that aside, putting lipstick on a pig is not only tough, it’s not worth the effort.

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Bad Theology Leads to Good Living

I have made the decision to live out bad theology in an attempt to please God. This sentence in itself might be considered bad theology. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6) and yet I appear to be substituting a way of living for faith. This is only the beginning of me messing with theology. Worse still, I hope I can convince you to live out the same bad theology, to please God by substituting my thesis way of living.

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He Loves Me Just The Way I Am

I don’t know about you, but I find this comforting. In my life I have sinned too much to ask God to love me based on who I am or what I have done. To be loved just as I am, is a miracle in itself. While I believe I love others with some of the same unconditional love, I must admit I often fail. I want to be like Jesus. I want to offer truly unconditional love. I want to love like Jesus. I guess I just have to stop expecting others to do what is right, to change, to seek to be more like they were created to be, lowering my expectations so I can simply love. To be like Jesus is to love with no standard, no expectations; to live and let live, isn’t it?

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Poking Holes in Our Holiness

Do I need to aspire to be more holy? Isn’t what Jesus did enough? Am I not saved by grace instead of my works? Can’t I just embrace Jesus and His teachings; isn’t that enough? Isn’t my Holiness assigned to me because Jesus paid the price I could never pay? I’m not perfect, I am not expected to be perfect, do I need to strive to be perfect if perfection is not attainable or required? Do I really need to struggle with my sinful nature if Jesus already paid for my sins?

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Ring the bell.

I had to go to the hospital for bloodwork. I don’t mind bloodwork; I am not positive but I am pretty sure by now I could take my own blood and start my own IV, I’ve seen it done on me so many times! This time was a little different. They put the needle in the same way and used the same tubes. The amount taken was relatively small compared to the last time (5 vials vs 16). Then the always fun aim test. Last week I talked about Paul using, “falling short” which is based on a military idea of missing the mark in archery. As I did the last test I thought to myself, ‘self; if you were Paul writing to the modern day version of the Romans, you would probably have used this sample cup metaphor instead of the bow and arrow.’ If you don’t know what test I am talking about I will not try to explain it other than to say if you miss the mark they make you drink water and do it again!

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What makes us different?

The upside of living in a beautiful country…

…like Canada or the USA is we want for very little. The downside of living in Canada or the USA is we want for very little. The power of God is often missed, written off as part of our everyday lives. It is difficult to see God as active in our lives unless we make an effort to look for Him in action. In countries less fortunate than ours, every day is a day to discover the depth of God’s love for His children. God is seen, felt and heard in the activities of the day and His provision and protection are obvious to those who call Him their Heavenly Father.

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