anyone else feeling a little buried in snow?

 

 

tomorrow

 

 Tomorrow

Tomorrow--
A sneaky thief,
It seeks to rob me
Of the joy
That's mine today.

Cleverly, cunningly
It scripts screenplays
Of challenges and pleasures
That tomorrow
May or may not bring.
It whispers fears--
It dangles hopes--
By capturing my thoughts,
Would it consume today?

Today--
It's all that's truly before me--
All God has given me grace to bear.
Tomorrow's joys and challenges--
I put them in God's hands,
And I choose to leave them there.

- author unknown to me -

The house of God???

 

Over here at (http://www.examiner.com/practical-christianity-in-raleigh/sunday-101-what-is-the-house-of-god), they are asking the question “what is the house God”?  Take a moment to read the article. 

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I love how the author ends the article…

The reality for Christians is they are the temple of God and the house of God. So, when you walk into a church building, you are not entering the house of God. Instead, if you are a believer, when you walk in, the house of God is entering the building.

Continue reading on Examiner.com: Sunday 101: What is the house of God? - Raleigh Practical Christianity | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/practical-christianity-in-raleigh/sunday-101-what-is-the-house-of-god#ixzz1CXi5pZu8

good advice…

 

Lori from THE GENEROUS WIFE writes:

It's incredibly important to hang out with other believers.  Without that we tend to get a bit lost and directionless.  The enemy can pick us off more easily.  I know, sometimes it's very difficult to find a group of believers with which to be family.  I just encourage y'all to keep looking and in the absence of a larger group, invite a believing couple over for dinner or meet weekly with a good friend.  Share, pray and encourage each other.  Don't go it alone.

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25  NKJV

learning methods…

 

Dave Black wrote:

The purpose of a seminary, in my opinion, is not to disseminate information. Most of what we learn in lectures can be gotten in one fourth the time by reading books. Now here is a very curious thing. I found that most of my college and seminary professors used the "you sit still and I instill" approach to teaching. We students would sometimes describe the process in less flattering terms: "One end gets numb and the other end gets dumb." The access of knowledge over the past 20 years via the Internet has made strict lecturing redundant in many cases. The classroom, I think, could better be utilized for discussion of what the students have already read prior to coming to class.

 

The two points I took out of this were:

(this one made me laugh… but I know it is true) - professors used the "you sit still and I instill" approach to teaching. We students would sometimes describe the process in less flattering terms: "One end gets numb and the other end gets dumb."

(I love this idea for learning) - The classroom, I think, could better be utilized for discussion of what the students have already read prior to coming to class.

 

Alan Knox has a series on his blog called SCRIPTURE AS WE LIVE IT.   It is always interesting to see what verse he picks out and then interprets into how we LIVE it versus what the verse is actually saying.  Alan says:

The purpose of this feature is to get us to think about what Scripture says compared to how we actually live and what our traditions teach. Since I’m very interested in ecclesiology, many of these passages will deal with the church. But I will also include other Scriptures as well. I would love to see alot of interaction on these short posts.

 

Today’s verse  takes on Colossians 2:20-23. 

This is how Alan presents it on his blog:

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you why don’t you submit to regulations — “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used) — according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion godliness and asceticism and severity to the body, but and they are of no great value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. (Colossians 2:20-23 re-mix)

 

In this format in can be hard to read, so here it is without the strike outs:

This is how we Christians seem to live out this verse:

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why don’t you submit to regulations — “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used) — according to human precepts and teachings? These have wisdom in promoting godliness and asceticism and severity to the body,  and they are of  great value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. (Colossians 2:20-23 re-mix)

This is how the verse reads in the bible:

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

 

 

Makes one think…. how do we live out this scripture?  Hmmmm????