The Holidays...Sacrifices to the gods...

Admittedly, the e-mails have been few and far between this “holiday” season. Perhaps I’ve been to focused on shopping. Last weekend we had a good experience cooking a meal for some very hungry folks in Woodlawn. It was a great group of workers…including many of our kids on the front line. That had to be the best part of the whole thing. The other thing is, the people we cooked for aren’t that much different from you an me…not different at all… I think our kids just saw people coming to a meal. Thank God.

I know Jamie and Blair have sent around the lessons stuff. I will open up the blog to allow any comments/postings from anyone…so please post as we discuss things in class… www.rmcbuilders.blogspot.com.

To reflect on the tragic death of a security guard at Walmart on black Friday, I would like to share this commentary from an NPR commentator. As we are moving around this year, and every year, we should remember that people are more important than stuff…that love is really the best gift to others and to ourselves.

All Things Considered, December 3, 2008 · After Sept. 11, 2001, President Bush told us to go shopping.
Seven years later, Lehman Brothers went under.
In the aftermath, our panicked leaders prophesied doomsday if we didn't immediately go shopping to save America from recession.
And so we went shopping! We so went shopping, in rumbling herdlike elephant masses, we killed a guy who didn't get out of the way fast enough. It's a tragic incident, but by no means meaningless. Shopping is a religion, and some religions demand sacrifices.
The Wal-Mart employee died for us on Black Friday, but have we stopped to think what his sacrifice means? Not at all: We're stampeding right on through to the other side of Christmas. We aren't just shopping: We are saving America.
There were some voices that said on TV that maybe we should start saving instead of shopping. We heard those voices, too, especially when gas was $4, but we seem to have quickly forgotten them. Save what?
The business of America is business. And for you and me, Mr. and Mrs. Citizen Average, that means shopping.
I'm not going to make anything out of the fact that the killer mob stormed Wal-Mart, not Neiman Marcus, because the tragedy could have happened anywhere. Shopping mobs are unstoppable regardless of whether they are after diamond-encrusted slippers or Chinese lawn ornaments. The urge is the same: Get to it before they quit running the sale ads and America goes down.
And now that we are officially in a recession and too tired from shopping to figure anything out, they are making us feel guilty of murder, which we may well be. But we were just following orders.

Islamist...not terrorist...notes from ASH...

I went to the lecture by Dr. Esposito, a renowned religious/political analyst at Samford University on Thursday Oct. 9. Title of the lecture "Is Terrorism Ever Allowed In Islam?"

Short answer: No...

However, all of the negative stereotyping and media hype about the "bad" Muslims put a different view in our heads...Nothing of the good between the Muslims and Christians is ever publicized highly in the media...THEREFORE, see this web site: http://www.acommonword.com/ - it is a documented compilation of the Muslim and Christian community and both of their views on things going on in the world and the response from each denomination. Click on the left hand side to see the agreement made between the religions and the responses of Christians and Jews to this.

There can be religious interrelation...there can be tolerance...there can be love and understanding... IF ONLY THE MEDIA would help portray those things...

If you want to talk to me about the lecture and what was said about terrorism and the use of the excuse of "a war for the people on 'God's' side" I would be glad to share my notes. Maybe I will type them out one day and send another email...Maybe.

until then-
ashley

Freedom of Expression

On Sunday, Andy brought up a situation in which an employee might be stopped from adding scripture versus to the bottom of her e-mail communications. Is this right? Would it have been o.k. to have "intellectual ideas" from Gandhi or Buddha?

Greg said he was told he had to remove his Bible from the top of his desk. Is this religious persecution or sensitivity to your fellow man?

Your thoughts...

What's Going on With God and the Economy?

This is so stressful, this time we are living in. I can't help but watch CNN like what's happening is going to change what I eat for lunch...or if I can pay for it. I'm watching the DOW like it's the speedometer on my life...the EURO like its up or down movement will make me content or send me into a tail spin. This isn't right. I'm a Christian for God's sakes... Say a prayer, believe that He's in control. It's supposed to make everything o.k. People are calling asking for food to feed their families...what about my family? I'm worried about loosing my health care coverage...we have (in a biblical-neighbor sense) brothers, sisters, and friends in war zones and developing countries who don't have medicine, food, or a Walmart to buy them in...

So how do we slow down, back up, and let our God get a grip on our emotions day to day?

Pride, Resentment, Ingratitude...

Last Week’s Lesson - Was The Sins that are Deceptive…but deadly… I added the last part because we talked about Pride, Resentment, and Ingratitude. Our lesson taught us that these sins grow and fester and corrupt our entire being, if we don’t work on them. Many times, they are the root of a lot of vile and evil stuff that comes from our lips and inspires our actions. Good news though…God’s spirit within us overcomes our sin and our weakness. What is the most important part of attacking our sin? Being a cool looking Christian…getting a better spot at the table on Wednesday night? Of course…it is so that we can more useful to God every day of the week. What has he called you to do today? Listen for the answer…

The point is not to be a better person...there's no hope in it. It's to be a better follower of Christ. Why? So we can follow Christ...duh. We don't do it FOR anything other than to fulfill our purpose on this earth. We should be loving, ministering, helping, feeding, holding, carrying each other everyday. It's the ENTIRE reason for living. There isn't anything else that isn't LOVING... IT sums it up, it is the beginning, then end, and the everything. Without it...nothing matters...With it...everything matters and has purpose. Thanks to God. He is why we have the capacity to LOVE...He is LOVE.

I got a plank in my eye...

Our SS Lesson 9/7/08 came from Mathew 23:

"Woe to You, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For You clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full bf greed and selfindulgence."

Reminds me of the inside of my son's sippy cup after it sat in the car for a few days. It looks good, but boy will it give you stomach ache if you drink it. The idea that Jesus was trying to get across is that the real condition of our heart is what matters...not the outward show of religion, spirituality, or church-i-ness. I think I'm making up words, but you know...

It's amazing how easy it is to simply talk about Christianity. It is another thing to genuinely live it out. Is this a problem you share? How do you work to overcome it? Prayer and contemplation should yield true change in our hearts that becomes evident in our actions. It's like the really nice looking fruit tree that fails to produce fruit. What's the point?

Refrigerator Rights

For those of you who were not present at church today (9/7), or even for those who were, Jim mentioned, in the midst of his sermon on not "walking" alone, a term used by author Will Miller known as "Refrigerator Rights." This notion of being so comfortable at someone else's house to just get up and go grab a snack or drink from the frige, is a really neat concept. As we are growing together in our class, one of our new goals is to reach a more personal and intimate relationship with all of the class members - a few of the additions to our everyday Sunday meetings are meant to harbor and nourish these relationships. Think about who you would give refrigerator rights to!