Grace?

Well, to start, the wedding I was at was nice. It was one of the first weddings I actually saw a care for God in the relationship, that showed the understanding of what marriage was. Anyway, it was good, the bride was radient and the groom was goofy, so all in all it was a HIT! :)

Tonight I was reading through my blog and something I wrote struck me. I missed in saying something. I said:

So what about not understanding grace is a "false gospel"? This I don't understand. I don't know that I ever will.

The thing is, who really understands grace? I mean honestly understands it. I don't. To me its something so far beyond my thinking. How could a God that really at the end of the day say "To hell with them" (literally) decide that we deserve unmerrited favor, a gift such as looking passed our dirty stains? You see even the best of us cannot understand the borders of grace. They are so far reaching that we can't even begin to see it. Its almost like a sunset or even a sunrise, you can see the light at the end but you know its too far to begin to reach. I personally sometimes struggle to understand grace. I feel so undeserving. I know myself in the dark and how could God, this perfect being, look upon me and say,"well, done. come be with me." WOW! And we find the awe of God in that moment and in that moment we "know" grace.
In a the venture of trying to find a picture I found this and I will end here because it says what I want to say:

Grace is a gift of God. Because it comes to us at God's initiative, there are some things we can't do about grace. We can't earn it. We can't control it. We don't have to deserve it.

If grace is out of your hands, so to speak, how do you engage in the spiritual practice of grace? Accept that you are accepted. Practice receiving. Receive objects, love, help. Notice when presents and presence come to you without your effort.

Quote and Picture from here.

Common Sense

My dad has a saying, I'm not sure where he got it, but he says, "Common sense, it just isn't common enough."
I have been thinking about this saying or words "common sense" lately. Blake has been sharing with me how people have told him that to have "common sense" is unbiblical. Now, I tend to not give humans a lot of credit. I tend to think we are a stunted people, but is it not logical that God gave us our brain and although "common sense" isn't common enough we should know to use the brain we were given?
This leads me to my last question, why does everything have to be proven in the Bible? I mean isn't it enough that God gave us the bible to show us His character, His overall heart for us and others. Why is it in the grey matter of what is not written we have to "read between" the lines and put something there that was never there in the first place? To me that would mean we need to use some "common sense", well I guess my dad was right again! ;)

Need To Write

I feel the pressure to say something today. I have some things that are at the tip of my tongue, but I don't know if they are worthy to share yet.

I'm thinking about sharing some thoughts I have on the headcovering. Since I am now visiting a more conservative Brethren fellowship I have been tossing this issue. I will more than likely post about that next week. Just to give you a running start I have been thinking about it has a part of a symbolic worship in the Emerging Church. Don't freak on me yet, I will share more later.
I'm also will be revisiting my ideas on the "false gospel". Blake and I have discussed this some more and he had some thoughts I thought he was going to post on his blog but now he is some deep theological debate *yawn* ;) . Anyway, I will be getting back to that soon as well.

This weekend will be.......

WEDDING BELLS!!!

Congrats To Matt and Danalyn!

I will be singing at their wedding this weekend and Blake will be an usher. Since my camera broke I don't know if I will have pics of us, but I'm going to see what I can do for sure. :) Anyway, it will be an eventful weekend for sure!

I'm COMING OUT, I'm Coming......

Its time to come clean. I think y'all are very dirty, please go forward....
and be dirty no more! ;)

Building Boundaries

I think there comes a time in our lives when we have to decide what boundaries we are going to have. Its hard sometimes because you don't know which are the good ones and which are the bad. Blake and I have had to do a lot growing up the last couple of days or week really. We have had to see who is toxic in our lives, who is creating drama in our lives and what we are going to do with it. Its hard to look at someone and say to yourself,"they are toxic, they are drama, hold your boundaries". I tend to open my arms to people, I love to do that, but I have had to learn the great lesson once again of boundaries. So Blake and I sat down today and decided what we needed to do with certain toxic people in our lives. If felt good for once, together, deciding who were going to let in our world and who we were not. Yet to also say, some of these toxic people we can't avoid, what do we do in this case. I don't know if we will handle it right the first time, but I guess we are on the road to boundaries as a couple. I think this has been the hardest thing as being married and learning to be one. As well, learning to trust each other in this as well.
I say all this to ask, as a couple (married if possible) how have you learned this lesson? What is your advice. I will tell you what Blake and I working, we are working together (purposefully) to have a quiet life. Meaning, learning to filter drama and learning to filter toxic people. So knowing I have some experienced readers here I ask for your advise. It is gladly welcome.

Warning FALSE Gospel Ahead!

I have heard this a lot lately. Danger! Alert, Alert!!! Watch OUT! What I have found interesting is what is labeled as a "false gospel". This leaves me with questions. What is a false gospel? What I have decided is that these two words have been manipulated in such away as to strike fear into certain sheep. I love the article that I found that talks about certain sheep trying to become the Shepherd and telling weaker sheep what to do. I think this is what has happened with the "false gospel" mentality. We have a sheep who wants to be able to control what sheep they have under them and what better way than to start throwing around words that would strike them into submission. Makes sense? I think it does.
So, I have seen these self-proclaimed shepherds labeling a lot of things a "false gospel". I want to list some of those:

1. Arminians. Now a part of being an Arminian is the belief that you can lose your salvation. Now being raised in a church that taught this I have a fairly good understanding of this concept. Arminians to my knowledge do not deny the virgin birth of Christ, they do not deny Christ was the Son of God, nor do they deny the trinity, they do not deny Christ death and bodily resurrection. So, this is not a false gospel. At the very least it is a very bad understanding of grace. Which I know is slowly starting to apprear more and more in a lot of these circles. So what about not understanding grace is a "false gospel"? This I don't understand. I don't know that I ever will.
2. Calvinism. Ok, again we can go through the list just as I did with Arminians: Calvinist to my knowledge do not deny the virgin birth of Christ, they do not deny Christ was the Son of God, nor do they deny the trinity, they do not deny Christ death and bodily resurrection. They only try to better define God's character, who He will save and why or why not, why God saved us, ect. Now what about this is a "false gospel"? I'm not a 5 Point Calvinist by any means, but having a husband who is I hear about it a lot. When talking to him I have yet to hear a "false gospel". Where exactly is the "false gospel"? Where is the big ole' buggie man?
3. Postmodernism. Now this is a little different, but I want to address this just a little bit. postmodern is a philosophy, its the environment we are in. So a "false gospel" can and even will come out of this. Just as it would with modernism. But is a Postmodern Christian or an EC person preaching a "false gospel", I guess this would depend on the person and what they are preaching. You see on this notion you can't label an environment a "false gospel", but yet I have seen it done.

So, we are back to what is a "false gospel", to me and I guess I'm wrong with all the screaming I have heard lately, a "false gospel" is anything that teaches outside of 1. The virgin birth, 2. Jesus walked this earth, he was man,but fully God, 3. The Holy Trinity, 4. The Death, Burial, Resurrection of Jesus Christ, 5. The belief upon Him you will be saved. Now, I'm dense here, I'm not as smart as my husband, but I'm wondering is this a "false gospel"? And to end those who are so quick to label what is and what is not a "false gospel" can they not in turn be suspect themselves? Things that make you go "hhhmmm"

Blessings!

Extreme Crying

Every Sunday I cry! I can't help it. I watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition! I think it is awesome that this show comes on Sundays. Its yet another reminder durning the day of living the life of Christ. There is always some reminder, either of a community coming together for a family or a bunch of strangers just helping because they know its the right thing to do. What I also love is the families. This week was one of the most moving. This week was about a man, James Dolan, who lost his sight to a shooter. The man came in shot James and 2 others. James survived. What I found so beautiful about this story was his relationship with his family, but the realtionship with his wife. She is so faithful to him. But he did something I think I will not forget for along time. He bought her, her faveorite flowers and had them ready for her in their new bedroom. Sometimes tragic situations drive couples apart, but this situation drove this couple closer together. I appreciated their story so much. I truely suggest that if you have not watched this show to watch and watch what God teaches your through it!