We cannot expect the world to believe that the Father sent the Son, that Jesus’ claims are true, and that Christianity is true, unless the world sees some reality of the oneness of true Christians.
– Francis Schaeffer, The Mark of the Christian
The Christian ethic is always the first line of defense, whether in the second century or the twenty-first.
– D. Jeffrey Bingham, Pocket History of the Church
When sin arises through controversy and presents a front to thwart the minsitry of a believer, we can no longer argue based on reasonableness and logic.
…Sin is not reasonable…
…it does not follow logic…
…it bobs and weaves…
…it sneaks…
…it hides…
… in order to achieve its purpose…
…the destruction of the ministry of the believer!
Remember the situation with Jonathan Edwards? There were some in his church who wanted to be rid of him…who slandered him…who continued to change their methods of “indictment” in order to claim victory. Perhaps we therefore do not fight this…focus instead on if we are walking with Christ and being obedient to the LIFESTYLE set forth by our Lord Jesus Christ.
Lose weight…get out of debt…more time with family…quit smoking…get organized…the annual resolution list that surfaces each January. I’ve never been much into making new year’s resolutions, or goals, or whatever you want to call them. I’m not particularly against the idea, just never participated much. And yet this year I’m moved to challenge myself and others to, in the least, make one resolution: Get in a fight!
Fight?? Yes, fight!
Dear friends, although I have been eager to write to you about our common salvation, I now feel compelled instead to write to encourage you to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
Jude 3
Resolve to fight for the faith in 2010! The Christian faith is not the “natural” way of life. Thinking Christianly is not the first thoughts that flood our mind. Acting Christianly is not our first impulse, nor is it modeled often for us to observe. We must contend for the faith, lest it become but a faint whisper that is drowned out by all that surrounds us.
Jude is not alone in his appeal to the early church. The Apostle Paul exhorts Timothy to hold fast to the faith that has been passed on to him (1 Timothy 6:12). To the church at Ephesus, Paul instructs them to put on the armour of God (Ephesians 6)…who puts on armour unless he is going to battle? May we remind ourselves, constantly, that we cannot afford even a moment of passivity in our faith!
Oh that this year I would heed the exhortation to contend for the faith!
If you care take a look; if not, I won’t be offended 
The winds of change are blowing…
The main word is cool, but I’m really lovin’ one of the synonyms. This is Scottish, mind you, and I found it on a coaster at a friend’s house.
STEAMIN’ (stee-min) slang, chiefly Scot.
adj. drunk, inebriated, the state of having consumed too much bevvy (nice!)
(see also ‘guttered fu’, gassed, blootered, stoned, mingin’, welly’d, hingin’, buckled, wrecked)
I think “blootered” should be a verb…try it out, you’ll like it!
Radio Flyer wagons…they don’t make them like they used to! So, I embarked on a bit of a restoration project. If you remember, I mentioned the unearthing of Mere’s childhood wagon. Well, five months later the transformation is complete. Luke loves it…in fact he sat in the wagon Christmas morning and opened his other presents
when approached concerning merchandise that you know very little about:
> act CONFIDENT, not hesitant (you’ve already given yourself away)
> if the merchandise is not on the sales floor (or you just don’t know where it is), pretend like there is more stocked in the back and you have just sold lots…makes the buyer think it is a hot item, thus more desirable
> throw in some technical jargon (whether it applies or not) when answering questions, you might sound impressive
> be PROACTIVE (whatever that might be for the situation)
okay, I actually don’t agree with all of these. Sure, be confident and DEFINITELY BE PROACTIVE!! But, please do not act like you know stuff when you don’t…it is really bad when the consumer realizes that you know less than he does. Just fess up and say “I don’t know.” That will take you a lot further with me than any of your pretend games.
I enjoyed one such encounter last night. Two sales guys tried to get the other to help me (strike 1)…yaay, I got the loser. Always sparks confidence in the consumer. He could at least locate the merchandise, but was not sure why there was nothing on display and the boxes were jumbled around inside the locked case. I stood there patiently, yet he offered no pitch or attempt to see what I was interested in. Excellent sales technique…make the consumer continually ask. Figuring I had a guy who didn’t know much about, well…anything, I asked him what the difference was between two models. Oh…his response was golden…
I’m gonna go out on a limb, and say that this one (newer model) is bigger.
Really?!?! A newer model, costs $300 more, and you’re telling me that the difference is that it is bigger??? At least try and hide your lack of knowledge! These are electronics…newer generally = smaller; newer = does more things; higher price = better quality, faster, sleeker, longer lasting, etc. There are lots of adjectives you could pick and still stay with a general answer…but bigger?? (strike 2)
Still no attempt to show me anything or ask what I’m looking for. I asked if I could see one of the items, so he made a call for the keys over his nifty headset….(waiting)….(no interaction)…do you think you could call again?…(waiting)…(no interaction)…is there anyone else who might have a set of keys? Nope…(waiting)…(no interaction)…okay, well, I guess I’m gonna go. Maybe you should try doing something, such as going to find the manager, the keys, someone else to help, ANYTHING ACT LIKE YOU ARE THE LEAST BIT INTERESTED IN HELPING A CUSTOMER! (strike 3)
…waking with no particular agenda (aka not having ”a plan”) for the day can be relaxing
…letting someone else set my to-do list is fun
…the joy of having nothing in particular to do, but enjoying every minute of everything you do
Luke is a great help at remembering!
If stopping for gas and encounter two gas stations on opposite sides of the road, having identical prices, and one is super-busy while the other is not…there is a reason why one is not busy, so go wait in line.
