Category: Christianity in America

Oh, no! No night?

I must admit that there are days when the fact that heaven will have no night really worries me. Like most Americans, who like to stay busy and “productive,” I look forward to night – the time to relax and then zonk out into blissful unconsciousness.

But my children, and I remember myself as a child, do not hold the same fondness for the night. Oh, they like the relaxation of watching a favorite TV show, playing a favorite video game or reading a book, rather than needing to do homework or chores. But they do not want to go to sleep – they do not look forward to the end of the day like I do.

Why is that?

I think it is because they are better at living in the moment – not letting the past ruin their present. I like to go to bed so that I can start fresh again the next morning. They start fresh every moment, forgiving and letting themselves be forgiven, letting the Big people in their lives do the worrying. They move on instantly to the next big adventure.

I guess that is why God said we have to be as little children to enter heaven – we have to want the day to never end!

To spoil or not to spoil

When my children were young I received this advice: Don’t give children extravagant experiences, like a trip to Europe, what will they have to look forward to when they are adults?

I do not want spoiled children who think if they wish it, someone will give it to them. But the following thoughts keep pressing on my mind.

Where did St. Francis of Assisi and St. Patrick come from? Both were the sons of wealth. Even Martin Luther and John Wesley didn’t come from nothing. There are numerous people who came from nothing and God used them for something great – many of the 12 disciples, for instance. But even the first missionary to the Gentiles, Paul, was from “something.”

Why did all of those privileged people leave it all, even sometimes being disowned by their families, to serve God? I believe it is because they had tasted everything this world had to offer, and found it lacking.

I want my children to be spoiled for this world, to realize that the only true joy can be found in losing yourself in God’s will.

I don’t want them looking forward to experiencing life here on earth. I want them looking forward to heaven and trying to bring some of it here.

While they are still told, “no,” a lot, because that is an important part of life, if it looks like they are being spoiled, hopefully they are!

Not a hater

I can well imagine that many of you are ticked at me and not sure if you ever want to read any of my posts again. Here is a follow-up to my previous post.

I have a dear friend at church who had chosen a homosexual lifestyle. We had a wonderful time exchanging pleasantries and even sharing deep sorrows that we knew the other would pray for, as well as joys that we knew the other would rejoice with us over. However, I always felt like I was only getting to see a caricature of the real person.

I suppose you could blame it on them not knowing if I would really accept them if I knew the whole truth. And I suppose that could be true.  I never felt God asking me to talk to this person about their lifestyle, just to be a loving friend.

But then everything changed this summer. I don’t know the why or how of it, but they decided to turn away from homosexuality, and I cannot even begin to describe the changes I saw, though I will try.

They had always stood tall and wore a pleasant smile. But now it is like something is standing tall within them, and the smile is so peaceful and confident and compassionate. The eyes don’t just twinkle, but glow with a deep intensity and openness that, quite frankly, intimidates me. I am used to being the open one, and they put me to shame! There is a joy and sense of wisdom about this person that one seldom sees. They have truly become who they were created to be, and are causing others, including me, to want that peace and confidence of being in God’s will.

As a friend of mine wrote on Facebook several days ago: “‘Alternate lifestyles’ are highly destructive to the body and mind of people who engage in them.  In my mind, love does no harm and that can’t be said of these relationships.  I’m not a hater.  I just feel sorry for people who are harming themselves and others.”

I had always believed the above quote, but still felt it difficult to encourage others to leave a lifestyle they liked, because I know how hard it is to give up habits that I know are not good for me. But after seeing the amazing freedom that my church friend is living in, I am praying for that for everyone. Why suffer needlessly?

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  John 8:36 (NIV)

Don’t limit people’s right to love?

So then it should be ok if we marry our pets, our children, our parents, other relatives we adore, more than one person? Biology shows that a man and a woman were meant to marry. If we simply base our decisions on the whims of what we think love is, the thoughts I suggested in the first line are not far from becoming reality.

I find it fascinating how, in public, people say that they support same-sex marriage, but when allowed to vote on the issue anonymously, more often than not, the majority votes against it.

That’s all I’ve got.

Is work fun?

It wouldn’t be called work if it was fun!

A friend of mine piped up with a theory she had been studying in college recently about how humans like to work, thus making my comment null and void.

I had to think about that for awhile.

It is true that the first human was immediately put to work caring for the garden of Eden and naming the animals. There is no statement about whether he enjoyed it or not. But since life was unspoiled by evil at that time, then I think it is reasonable to assume that he found it fun. Men and women were also commanded to rule over all of the earth, and every living creature, which must entail quite a bit of work. Finally, we were created in God’s image, and he obviously likes to work or none of us or this world would exist.

So why is it that we often complain about, and actually loathe working?

After sinning, the earth became cursed, so we need to work much harder than before for the same results. Also, we no longer want to do what God tells us to, even though his plans are promised to bring about the best results for us. So we end up places that aren’t a great fit for us. And we are lazy and hedonistic.

When we learn to trust and obey God again, we often find our work to be more fun. But because neither we nor this world are perfect, there will be times when work just won’t be fun.

But in the next life, work will again be the fun that it was originally created to be. What work will we be doing? That is beyond what any of us have been told.